Uninvited Guests
by Mohamed Haniff
As I settled in to watch Racing Santander take on Espanyol, an old friend of mine debated the strength of competition in La Liga, stating that there are certain teams he couldn't bare watching. The example thrown at me was Sporting Gijon vs. Levante; my friend conceded that Levante were flying high but that he still couldn't take them seriously. Alas this is the feeling most of us have had about Levante as we groggily scanned the league tables, expressing initially our shock at where the little Valencians find themselves; and then usually a scoff followed by a snide remark about how soon they will plummet. I myself have fallen into this trap, simply waiting for the underdogs to disappear and leave the big two to duke it out in peace. However should we be doing this? Shouldn't we be celebrating the achievements of this side so far?
In many of these instances when we see a side like Levante leading the way we assume it is a combination of two things; large batches of luck and an easy fixture list. However when one takes a look at Levante's unbeaten start to the season, they have disposed of Villarreal, Malaga and Real Madrid by a combined score of 7-0. Their latest 3-0 walloping of Villarreal occurred in the Yellow Submarine's home stadium, El Madrigal. In many ways Levante's scintillating start to the season is the polar opposite of Villarreal's blunt displays so far. Some could blame it on the Champions League hangover but the fact remains that they have looked unimpressive for weeks, where as their neighbours Levante have kept defying the odds.
At the moment there are three major Primera teams in the Valencia region; Valencia, Villarreal and Levante. As one might expect Levante has traditionally been excluded from the conversation, games against Levante have often been seen as formalities for the other two sides from this area. Last season however with the help of the talented manager Luis Garcia Plaza, the Blaugrana were able to comfortably steer clear of relegation. However Garcia Plaza jumped ship to Getafe leading many to believe that this would be the beginning of the end for the side; however they seem to be growing in confidence as the weeks go by.
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The evergreen Sergio Ballesteros, one of la liga's most ridiculed centrebacks is a major player in this Levante story, throwing many of his doubters to the wayside with a string of dominating performances at the beginning of this season. Levante have the look of a side flung together, not carefully selected, when one peruses the 25 man roster for the club. Players like Valdo, Asier Del Horno and Javier Farinos, have been around the block a few times, never really setting the world on fire; the early going of this season however has made more than a few people sit up and take notice. Against Villarreal it was the winger Juanlu who stole the show for the Blaugrana, getting himself on the score sheet twice. Juanlu, himself a journeyman, having been at nine clubs in his eleven year career has had a blistering start to the season; popping up on the left hand side on Sunday to score a well taken volley.
Levante's game is not one built on fluidity or creative flair, but their organization and concentration are the cornerstones of their success so far. In the game against Real Madrid, we saw Los Merengues stymied at every turn, unable to get a look in, as Levante defended valiantly and held onto their shape, before firing in the only goal of the match. After the game Jose Mourinho was quoted as saying,
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“I don’t want to detract merit from Levante, who always do very well when they are allowed to play their game at their stadium. I congratulate them for being clever. They know how to waste time and how to not give the ball back. They know this because it’s also part of football. Our players don’t feel comfortable in this sort of habitat and Levante know it.”
Mourinho implying here that Levante were forced to resort to underhanded tactics in order to gain the victory over his side. While I would not expect Mourinho to scream from the top of the Santiago Bernabeu how great Levante played, surely they deserve a bit more credit than that after blunting one of the sharpest attacks in world football.
This is the type of attitude that has become symptomatic when speaking about a side like Levante. They are painted as the uninvited guests who dare spoil the party that the big clubs have taken months and months to plan. This is the kind of attitude that we should be discouraging; while it may be too much to expect Mr. Mourinho to ever change his tune, instead of us waiting for the underdogs to fall why don't we just be glad that we have an interesting talking point in what was meant to be a predictable season in Spanish football.
While I certainly don't expect them to stay at the summit of La Liga we should all just enjoy it while it lasts. Savour this simple time of the season before Barcelona and Real Madrid renew their rivalry, complete with goals, eye gouging and insults. These are the teams that make football the people's game, so let's keep the goodwill flowing.
