Athletic Club Bilbao

The recent transfer news from Athletic Club Bilbao has Javi Martinez leaving the club for Bayern Munich. The idea on paper is a great one with the Basque club receiving $49.3 million for the transaction.

In return, the Bundesliga club will receive a midfielder who is a leader in the center of the playing field, according to ESPN Soccernet. Martinez would be joining greats such as Sergio Aguero, who left La Liga for associations like The Premier League or Bundesliga.

In practice, the idea is a bad one from the beginning. There are many reasons why, but there are four important ones that should be considered.

La Liga Remains a Duopoly

The word duopoly, as defined by dictionary-reference.com, is "the market condition that exists when there are only two sellers." A sports example of a duopoly would be FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga.

While there are other clubs in La Liga, the predominant and powerful ones are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Thomas Hallett, who is a fellow B/R writer, argues that the transfer of players such as Javi Martinez and Fernando Llorente would reinforce the status quo in La Liga.

While begging to differ in the case of Fernando Llorente, Mr. Hallett is right about how La Liga teams outside of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are weakened by moves to other leagues.

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are accustomed to such transfers because of the amount of money that they can spend. Athletic Club Bilbao and other La Liga clubs are not used to such transfers, taking into account that they are small clubs with limited budgets.

Excessively High Expectations

Ottmar Hitzfeld, who was coach of Bayern Munich, warned the club about signing Martinez. Hitzfeld said in an interview with DAPD (with h/t to Goal) that Martinez will have excessively high expectations upon arriving at the Bundesliga.

The pressure would be extremely high and only second to the amount of money that Bayern Munich is paying Athletic Club Bilbao. Mr. Hitzfeld is right because the amount of pressure (as well as scrutiny) could affect a player who is unable to withstand it.

The majority of the fans of Bayern Munich are very demanding of their team. At the same time, there exists a minority in Bayern Munich (as well as other clubs) that demands more from the players but is never satisfied. An example for this comment is needed.

The example is when Arjen Robben was booed by Bayern Munich supporters during a friendly match between the Netherlands and the Bundesliga club. He were booed because Bayern Munich had lost to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League.

Bayern Munich later apologized to Robben for what transpired against him. The question is: Could Javi Martinez handle the pressure? It has yet to be answered.

Non-recognition?

Nonrecognition also personally hurts the underwriter. The declaration by Franz Beckenbauer of Bayern Munich to Sport 1 with a h/t to Goal of not having heard of Martinez is condescending.

Beckenbauer later stated that he is sure that Martinez will perform well in the Bundesliga club. If this is the beginning, I would not like to see the ending.

Marginalization?

Who could forget when Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez signed with Manchester United in the year 2010? Hernandez was the biggest news in Manchester United and England.

At the present time, the future of Hernandez is in doubt after Robin Van Persie signed with Old Trafford. The same thing may happen to Martinez in Bayern Munich.

It is easy to say that all of this is because of money. The difference is that there are also feelings that take into account the personality of the player and the club size.

Conclusion

While it remains to be seen what will transpire, it is hoped that Martinez knows what he is getting into. It is also hoped that whatever decision he makes will be to his benefit.

My best wishes to the B/R readers until next time.

Fernando Llorente expressed a desire to leave Athletic Club Bilbao as reported by Euskal Telebista (ETB or Basque Television in Spain) with a h/t to AS. The news comes at a time when Athletic Club Bilbao is preparing for the 2012-2013 season.

Llorente leaving Athletic Club Bilbao may be the best thing that may happen to him and the club. The reasons (and their origins) are many, but the time has come to discuss the ones that matter.

Marcelo Bielsa

It appears that Llorente and Marcelo Bielsa (Athletic Club Bilbao manager) do not enjoy a healthy manager/player relationship. According to Vozpopuli (a Spanish Sports website) with a h/t to ESPN Soccernet, Llorente is not happy with the course taken by Bielsa for Athletic Club Bilbao.

Llorente has tried to accommodate Bielsa's style of play, which is high in tempo and style coupled with rapid movements. The attempts to accommodate are compounded by injuries that Llorente suffered.

Bielsa has blamed Llorente for the losses of Athletic Club Bilbao in the last Copa Del Rey and Europa League.  According to ESPN Soccernet the acrimony has reached such a level between the two that Llorente does not want to be in Bilbao whilst Bielsa is there. 

The people of Bilbao (according to ESPN Soccernet) have supported Bielsa in the battle. They heckled Llorente when he appears on the field when news of his desire to leave surfaced.

The most important factor in a club is a healthy relationship between the manager and their players. When that relationship is damaged beyond repair, the time has come to move on for the parties involved.

The same applies when a player's relationship with the fan base of a club appears to be irretrievably broken. The sooner the player leaves, the better.

Age Factor

Llorente is 27 years of age and the time for a change is now. When a player reaches his 30's, the body tends to react in a slower manner than the 20's.

The American Rock Group Aerosmith wrote the verse "Time don't let it slip away" in their song "Full Circle". Llorente should take advantage of his youth as a football player and sign with a club with UEFA Champions League possibilities such as Juventus FC.

Juventus

Juventus appear willing to express their interest in signing Llorente for $31.2m. The news was reported in ETB and published in an article written by Doug Patient for Goal.

While there are other clubs interested in Llorente, Juventus and the Spaniard would be a great fit. Juventus has won two UEFA Champions League, two Super Cups, two EUSA cups and three Europa League trophies.

Juventus could benefit from a powerful striker such as Llorente to improve its chances in the 2012-2013 UEFA Champions League. Juventus is currently at 43rd place in the UEFA ranking.

Llorente could reap benefits from a club that won the 2011-2012 Serie A Championship—able to start over at a club that would allow him creativity on the field.

Conclusion

While in favor of Llorente signing with Juventus FC, any club with UEFA Champions League experience should sit down with Athletic Club Bilbao.

The clubs, Llorente and the latter's manager should sit down and negotiate an exit that would benefit all who are involved.

Highly coveted striker Fernando Llorente has informed that he desires a move away from Athletic Bilbao.

It's already been a very eventful last few months for the Basque club. Bilbao lost the Europa League final to Atletico Madrid back in May. Then, in early July, it looked as if manager Marcelo Bielsa had resigned on July 6th, only to do so a few days later.

However, there appears to be no way back for Llorente. AS is reporting that the striker has asked for a move to a Champions League club.

This is the worry among Bilbao supporters and the neutrals who enjoyed the club's run in the Europa League last year. That success incited other clubs to give a lot of attention to Bilbao's best players.

At the same time, Llorente, Iker Muniain, Javi Martinez and Markel Susaeta have all been the subject of transfer speculation. Llorente, though, is the first to go public with his desire to leave the San Mames.

He certainly can't be faulted for wanting to play in the Champions League.

At 27 years old, Llorente is at the peak of his powers. This is the best time he'll ever have to collect a hefty pay increase while also playing a significant role on a club competing at the highest level.

Another reason given in the AS article is a possible souring of the relationship between Bielsa and Llorente.

Bielsa is undoubtedly a world-class manager, but he is a bit eccentric. Despite the fact that most of his players will run through a wall for him, he's bound to rub some the wrong way.

If those rumors are in fact true, then there's almost no way Bilbao will be able to hold on to Llorente.

Juventus have to be considered as possible favorites. Despite winning Serie A last year, the Old Lady is in dire need of a striker.

They were scouting Llorente and Jefferson Farfan at a Europa League match last March.

Luis Suarez has signed a new contract with Liverpool, while Robin van Persie might prove a little too expensive.

Manchester City will also likely throw their hat in the ring, especially if their move for van Persie fails as well.

While no one can be sure where Llorente will be playing next season, you can almost count on it not being Athletic Bilbao.

Athletic Bilbao just got thrown for one hell of a wrinkle in their preseason preparations.

It involves a practice facility that wasn't ready, an irate coach, a physical altercation, back and forth statements, a resignation, a desperation meeting...and then silence.

Reports from ESPNSoccernet and NBC Sports on June 6 suggested that coach Marcelo Bielsa resigned on Friday after a series of events starting at the club's Lezama training ground.

Since then, neither the club nor Bielsa has offered any details on whether the man is gone or not. This leaves no shortage of bemused, irate or confused spectators hanging in the lurch.

The facilities were announced on the club's website to be upgraded on June 11. That gave the companies a little under a month to make all the renovations necessary.

Apparently, they didn't get the job done in time, which is where Bielsa's strange tale begins.

Per NBC Sports:

Short story: Bielsa was involved in a training ground altercation with the club’s site manager, and after a public flogging from Athletic Bilbao (via a statement condemning his actions), he’s handed in his resignation.

Long story: Two days ago, everything seemed fine, but then (B)ielsa confirmed rumors of a training ground altercation between him and the site manager at Lezama, the team’s training ground. Those facilities are undergoing construction, and with preseason fast approaching, Bielsa was apparently irate at the grounds’ conditions. And irate may be an understatement.

On Thursday, Bielsa admitted he physically attacked the site manager, though he would not go farther than a vague confirmation that an altercation had ensued. However, the club (per Bielsa) had to convince the other man not to press charges, making it seem like Bielsa may have assaulted the construction worker.

First off, what Bielsa did was completely inappropriate. This kind of behavior does little to enhance his image or the club's.

Bielsa is probably fortunate that the construction manager got a nice payoff (more than likely, considering that he'd probably have a strong case by Bielsa's own admission) and is not to be tried in a court of law.

What's more troubling is that Bielsa must not have been expecting to get told off in public.

Perhaps Athletic would have been better served to keep things a little more under the radar. It does, however, show a brave streak when other clubs might have swept the incident entirely under the rug.

Bielsa cannot be mad at the club for whatever action they took. It was his screw-up that lead to the incident even becoming a problem.

For Bielsa to even hand in a resignation for getting called out on his mistake is, quite frankly, an insult to the club, the players and the fans of the Basque outfit.

On top of all that, the silence from Bielsa and Athletic compounds the problem.

After the inevitable brushfire began sweeping around the web, the two sides met and promptly did...nothing.

Because of no direct language from either side, most news outlets are left speculating the proceedings.

Marca, amongst others, guesses that at least for the moment, Bielsa has not had his resignation tendered.

But, with no direct answers from the club or Bielsa, everyone is left to speculate, which is where both sides are losing.

This is not the kind of story a club or manager can let sit and stew because there is no shortage of speculation and opinion on the matter.

Why neither side has commented after the first batch of speculation took hold and after the meeting held late Friday is befuddling.

The PR work that will need to be done is unimaginable at this point. The club and Bielsa have no one to blame but themselves for not at least acknowledging the situation and explaining where things stand.

Uncertainty at this time of the year is compounded due to the inevitable crossover talk of transfer speculation that will soon follow.

Athletic were initially in the right to let Bielsa know that his behavior wasn't acceptable in the situation that occurred at Lezama.

But, with their lack of announcements and an unclear path, Athletic and Bielsa are now likely in for a far more uncomfortable summer than either expected at the start of July.

UPDATE (7/7/12, 4:15 PM EST)

Marca is reporting that Bielsa has not yet resigned, but has been given a two week period in which to do so.

Quite frankly, unless Bielsa stays, two weeks is plenty of time to completely undermine Atheltic's preseason.

Athletic Bilbao is the David to Barcelona’s Goliath. Barcelona is a juggernaut football club with arguably the greatest player on the planet in Lionel Messi.

Most pundits and fans believe that Athletic Bilbao is completely over-matched for the Friday match, and they’re probably right. In fact, some writers believe that Barcelona will mop the floor with Athletic.

But what if, for one match, that wasn’t the case?

Contrary to taking the easy way out by saying Barcelona will comfortably win the match 2-0 or 3-0, while spending 90 percent of the match on the attack, it’s more fun to make some bold (and I do mean bold) predictions.

First off, if Athletic competes in a close match and makes Barcelona fans sweat bullets for the length of it, the match will have been an embarrassment for Barcelona.

They’re a vastly superior football club that should put the pedal to the floor and show what their capable of doing on the field as a unit.

Barcelona’s main goal scorer, Lionel Messi, racked up 50 La Liga goals this season. Athletic’s leading goal scorer, Fernando Llorente, had just 17 goals. Messi had nearly three times the amount of goals as Athletic’s leading scorer, which puts this matchup into perspective.

With that said, I think the match will be much closer than what many expect. I predict that Barcelona will win the game, but only by a 1-0 or even a 2-1 margin.

Additionally, unless Barcelona scores more than one goal on Friday, I predict that goal to be scored by someone other than Lionel Messi.

If Barcelona comes out in this match and fails to jump all over Athletic, they may get frustrated, start to press the issue and play stiff. If that happens, Athletic could become dangerous as they gain much needed confidence.

In a match earlier this year against Athletic, Barcelona won 2-0 behind goals from Messi and Andrés Iniesta.

Athletic can learn from that experience and make the match closer this time around. If they do so, they’ll manage to raise a lot of eyebrows by exposing a brutally tough Barcelona team.

You never know, if Athletic can pull a rabbit out of their hat and score a quick goal, they may protect a lead and shock the world. We'll have to wait and see.

Athletic Bilbao needs a miracle.

The mediocre Lions will face off against the juggernaut that is Lionel Messi and Barcelona in the 2012 Copa del Rey on Friday. If they plan on pulling off a miraculous upset, they must make massive match-changing plays because they aren’t talented enough to control the pace. Here are the three Athletic players that are skilled enough to turn the tide in the blink of an eye and make Copa del Ray a contest.

3.  Markel Susaeta

Susaeta is the ultimate X-factor. He definitely isn’t the biggest name out there, but he plays the role of Robin for this Athletic Bilbao team.

The winger scored six goals this season, which is good enough for second on the team. He’s also Athletic’s leading assist man, recording seven on the year. For his club to shock the world, he must make a dent in the scoreboard like he’s capable of doing in one of those two ways.

2. Gorka Iraizoz

If Athletic Bilbao somehow manages to score four goals, they got the W in the bag. Why? Iraizoz—even with as many games as the club has lost—hasn’t surrendered more than three goals in a single match since Real Madrid scored four all the way back on January 22.

As a goalie, Iraizoz is always in position to completely take over the match. He must do just that because Messi will be coming.

1. Fernando Llorente

As Susaeta is Robin, Llorente is Batman.

The Lion King must play up to his potential for Athletic to truly have a shot. He must send one, if not multiple balls flying past Victor Valdes’ head. Llorente is more than capable of putting together a multiple-goal game—he’s done it four times since the turn of calendar year.

If Llorente manages to outplay Messi—a task that’s far easier said than done—all of a sudden, Athletic Bilbao would have a chance to win the cup.  

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels

Tonight, Athletic Bilbao hosted Sporting at the formidable San Mames Stadium.

Marcelo Bielsa, Athletic's head coach, put on a prominent display of attacking football for the home crowd and deservedly bagged a win that takes them to the 2012 UEFA Europa League final.

His counterpart tonight, Ricardo Sa Pinto of Sporting, is certainly no slouch either. He took out Manchester City earlier in this competition so his team were not to be underestimated.

It has to be said, however, that Athletic Bilbao beat the stuffing out of Sporting—but how? Here's a breakdown of what happened tactically during the game.

Rarely do you see such contrasting styles of football on the same pitch.

By now, we all know that Bielsa likes to play possession football and have his team dominate the proceedings. This helps his players maintain the psychological and physical edge on the game.

Sa Pinto, on the other hand, likes to utilise the explosiveness of his players by playing direct, incisive football. His team managed to hurt Bilbao at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, and it was clear to see that he had instructed his team to play in a relatively similar way during the second leg.

Sa Pinto's Incisive, Quick Football

Depicted in the diagram, Stijn Schaars and Daniel Carrico played in one of the most limited midfield roles your likely to see all season—even taking Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo's contributions in the 2010 World Cup for a ride.

It was their job to sit in front of the back four and shield their defenders. When they broke up play and won possession, they were under instructions to move the ball from line to line quickly. They utilised one-touch passing in their quick distribution to Matias Fernandez and Diego Capel.

From here, Sa Pinto was relying on the dynamic and agile nature of his midfield playmakers to carry the ball forward and form a four-man attack.

It was here that his tactics differed from the home leg.

If support was needed, it was never supplied by the holding midfielders—Schaars and Carrico took absolutely no risks in going forward. Full-backs Emiliano Insua and Joao Pereira made the occasional dart forward, but they were nowhere near as marauding as they were on their home patch two weeks ago.

This ultimately left Sporting short of numbers on offence. They attacked with such pace and were stifled so fast that, more often than not, the attack had been quelled before the full-backs could even catch up with the play.

Insua was one of the most influential players on the pitch during the first leg, yet he was almost non-existent during this game.

This was a classic example of zonal coverage of the neutral field, transformed into a deadly and direct attacking threat—except in this instance it was entirely self-defeating.

Bilbao's Dominance Pays Off

As the scoreline suggests, Sa Pinto's methods didn't work. Athletic's dominance in possession allowed them to conserve the energy they needed to take risks. Every time they lost the ball they retrieved it with relative ease.

Athletic's willingness to track back and retrieve the ball saw them comfortably rebuff any potential threat. Iker Muniain was perhaps most impressive in this department.

Athletic lined up and played exactly how we expected them to, yet Sa Pinto could not find an answer. He got the upper hand during the first leg, but that was an off-colour Bilbao we saw and they were never going to put in a replica of that performance.

In this tie, the midfield were quicker, fresher and sharper when carrying out their man-marking assignments. Javi Martinez's return made a colossal difference to their ability to control the game.

A Disjointed, Unbalanced Sporting

Having looked at the distance between Sporting's lines throughout the game, it was clear to see that the formation and careful nature of playing style would never allow the Verde-e-Brancos to gain a foothold in the match.

The gap between the holding midfield line and the attacking quartet up front was astounding—averaging around 20 yards (as an estimated guess) for most of the game. This left both sets of players marooned without each other, as Carrico and Schaars were unwilling to move forward and attack.

Sporting were outnumbered in every part of the pitch, and that doesn't even take into account the sheer number of two vs. ones Bielsa creates with his tactical setup.

Bilbao's Trump Card

Sporting's approach to the game could have worked against a more limited side. It was similar to how Chelsea set themselves out against Catalan giants Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League semifinals, but failed to take into account Bilbao's most dangerous weapon—Fernando Llorente.

We saw some unbelievable touches from the big target striker this evening. He provided two stunning assists that showed awareness and poise, then poked in an instinctive finish to win it for his side.

When Bilbao fail to break through a packed midfield, they can look to Fernando Amorebieta to hoist the ball into the air and let Llorente bring it down. No other possession-based team in the game has a backup outlet as effective as this.

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