Top 5 Things I Learned In Landover (by Alex Abnos)

Hampered a bit by the silly limit on Real Madrid player access (vive la mixed zone!), NSC correspondent Alex Abnos has managed to mold his report from Sunday's friendly with D.C. United into a swell Top 5 List...

#5 - Manuel Pellegrini thinks he has more good defenders than he actually does.

Last year, Los Merengues gave up about 15 more goals Sevilla and Barcelona (a ka the other two of the top three teams in La Liga). Of those 15 goals, almost half (six) were scored by one team (Barcelona) in one game (their 6-2 demolition of Real, at the Bernabéu, no less). It seemed to be obvious at the end of the season that the defense needed major improvement if Real was going to return to their Galacticos-era heights.

So, naturally, they went out and blew all their cash on Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Kaká.

It boggles the mind how such an obvious weakness can be overlooked, but Manuel Pellegrini appears to be perfectly happy with his current crop of defensoras.

"I'm very pleased with our performance," he said after the United game, a 3-0 Real win (YouTube link). "We do have to address the defense, but most of the players are new on our defensive line, and we're just going to keep working to make sure that we'll do okay."

To be fair, Real did go out and get right back Alvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool, in addition to Valencia center back Raul Abiol. But two new faces does not a defense make - especially when the rest of them include the sometimes-shaky Pepe, the not-really-a-defender Marcelo, the oft-injured Christoph Metzelder, and the untested Ezequiel Garay.

#4 Real Madrid won't be selling Arjen Robben. Or anybody else, for that matter.

At least, Pellegrini says they won't. Despite a whirlwind of rumors surrounding two-goal-scorer Gonzalo Higuain and the remaining Real Dutch contingent (Van der Vaart, Van Nistelrooy, and Robben), Pellegrini made it quite clear after the game that the club is not looking to move any more players.

"There is no specific player who is on the transfer block right now," he said. "Robben is just another player on the roster, and as of right now he is not being looked at to transfer."

You have to wonder if today's performance by the Dutchman had anything to do with that. The game truly shifted in Madrid's favor with Robben's introduction, as he flew down the wing with reckless abandon and played a key role in all of Madrid's three second half goals.

Pellegrini also mentioned that the club won't be buying anybody else, but you already knew that.

#3 - Josh Wicks is not that bad of a keeper

Due largely to his experiences with the traveling awful soccer circus that was the 2008 LA Galaxy, the former A-League Goalkeeper of the Year doesn't seem to get much respect around the league. By halftime today, though, he might have turned a few heads.

Wicks came up big with five saves in the first half, including some impressive ones against the likes of Esteban Granero, Higuain, and some guy named Kaká. Even with United's second half meltdown, he very well could have been DC's Man of the Match.

"It was a good overall effort defensively," United coach Tom Soehn later said of the first half performance. "(Wicks) continues to grow, and he made some big saves for us today.



#2 - DC United is better than Toronto FC

Call it a subjective opinion if you like, but Real Madrid manager Pellegrini said as much in his post-game press conference. "I thought we played much better against Toronto," the Chilean said, before adding "but today we played a more difficult opponent."

Disregard him if you must, but keep in mind that A) he's the manager of Real-freaking-Madrid, so chances are he knows a thing or two about this stuff, and B) the scoreline actually backs him up. United defended well, protected the ball, and occasionally had some nice interchanges that led to offensive chances. The problem, of course, was finishing those chances.

"I thought we came out and accomplished what we wanted to for about 55 minutes," Soehn said after the game. "We pressured high and forced a lot of turnovers in higher parts of the field, but in the final third we just missed a little bit all the time. Against good teams you're only gonna create a couple really good opportunities. We were unfortunate not to get something out of ours."



#1 - Even the best players in the world aren't immune to heat.

With temperatures on the field pushing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it would have been slightly unfair to predict a crisp, high-tempo affair between DC and Madrid today. But what was really surprising was the lethargic nature of many of Real's players. Even Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to wilt in the heat, missing a wide-open chance on Josh Wicks early in the first half and looking generally lethargic throughout his 45 minutes on the field.

Indeed, the heat may have helped decide the outcome of the game. "The difference is they were able to bring in world-class subs that were fresh on a hot day like today," United Coach Tom Soehn said afterward.

What, he doesn't consider Ely Allen and Brandon Barklage to be world-class? Harsh.


- Alex Abnos