PitchPlease

Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the press after the 5-1 win over Valencia to reflect upon his team’s thumping victory, and in doing so he spoke to praise both Rodrygo Goes and Vinícius Júnior as he said: “This was their best level, they just needed time to get back to showing their best qualities. In the last two games they’ve done it very well, finding spaces and playing with extraordinary quality. We can say that they have returned.”

Ancelotti on whether this was the team’s best performance of the season Asked whether this was the best game played by Real Madrid this season, Ancelotti provided a clear response: “Was it the best performance? Yes. Valencia haven’t shown their best because we played a very good game, the first 15 minutes we could have defended better, but from there the game was perfect.

Ancelotti on the best individuals When pushed for a best performance, Ancelotti was reluctant to single out any individuals and pointed to the team performance as he said: “Vinícius and Rodrygo both did very well, as part of the wider team who all played very well. I don’t like to assess on an individual level, but as a team they did a splendid job.”

Ancelotti on what he told the players he took off When asked what he told the players he brought off, Ancelotti shared some insight but also responded in his typical humorous style as he said: “Vinícius said that he wanted to play more, and I told Brahim not to make tacos because I don’t like them.”

Ancelotti on Dani Carvajal With a goal, Dani Carvajal was another of the stand-out performers and Ancelotti analysed his display by saying: “He’s a very, very good full-back both in and out of possession. Our play out wide was very good, with Rodrygo on the right with Carvajal, and Vinícius and Brahim on the left. That was what helped us to win this game.”

Ancelotti on Andriy Lunin Ancelotti was also asked about Andriy Lunin, the stand-in goalkeeper, and his recent quotes that he had perhaps been unfair with him in the past. He said: “I don’t know if I was unfair with him, when you have a squad of this level, you have to be unfair with someone. Like Luka Modrić today, he could have started and he added value when he came on, but unfortunately that’s my job.

Ancelotti on Eduardo Camavinga Another star man was Eduardo Camavinga, and Ancelotti was asked if his current form is his best while playing in the holding midfield role. Ancelotti responded: “I think he does it very well in every position which makes it hard to know where to put him. In the pivot role, I think he’s showed his best level in these past few games without Tchouameni.”

Ancelotti on his substitutions Questioned as to why the substitutes were not given more game time with the result seemingly settled early on, Ancelotti responded bluntly: “The game is only over when the referee blows the final whistle. I don’t ever see a game over at 4-0, so I make changes to try and win the game.”

Ancelotti on the team’s form Looking at the wider context of recent games, Ancelotti praised his team for their excellent form over the past three games at home in the last week: “I think everyone has played very well in the last three games, we were missing something against Rayo Vallecano, but we’ve played very good football, consolidated, with commitment, and dedication.”

Ancelotti on Jude Bellingham and the international break Providing an update on midfielder Jude Bellingham, Ancelotti said that he will travel to England before returning in the international break: “Bellingham will go, yes, to be evaluated and he’ll come back after that, because he hasn’t played today. He is doing specific work to strengthen his shoulder over the next few weeks, but he will be back to playing after that.

Ancelotti on Girona Finally, asked about title rivals Girona, Ancelotti was asked if they could be a new Leicester City, and he responded: “Girona are doing very well, better than us. They don’t have European competitions either, so can fight for every game. They are a rival who can fight for LaLiga, without a doubt.”

Already deserved more for his performances as a sub

Def worth a read!

Following Real Madrid’s 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano, Carlo Ancelotti appeared in the Bernabéu press room and analysed the draw. He was in an optimistic and positive mood, insisting that the team had played well.

Analysing the performance, he said: “We just lacked a goal. I think we had a good attitude and energy, but we didn’t get the result we wanted. We shot 23 times and had no shots against. In the first half, maybe we forced it to the left too much when we should have used the right too. We did that more in the second half. We tried in every way, with crosses, vertical passes, but it didn’t come off. I think we were good, but sometimes this can happen that you don’t score. The important thing is to keep trying until the end, which we did. I don’t just look at a match depending on the result. There’s no drama, we’re well-placed in the title race and well-placed in the Champions League.”

Ancelotti on being happy despite dropping points Pressed on his positive outlook on the game, the coach explained that he doesn’t just consider the final score when evaluating matches. He said: “In some games we’ve maybe won without deserving to and here we deserved to win but didn’t. I can be sad when we win but don’t play well and other times I can be happy when we play well but don’t win.”

He was then asked if he was referring to El Clásico when mentioned games Real Madrid “won without deserving to” and he replied: “If we had to win one out of the two, better to have won against Barcelona than against Rayo.”

Ancelotti on whether there is fatigue Asked if he feels the squad is fatigued, he was adamant that this isn’t the case, stating: “I think today’s performance shows the opposite. In terms of energy, the level was high. I didn’t see fatigue in the players.”

Ancelotti on the lack of goals On the team’s inability to take their chances, and asked if they’re too reliant on Bellingham, he said: “We have many attacking resources. We created with Valverde, Vinícius, Joselu and Rodrygo. We just lacked some in the finishing. I’m not worried that we didn’t score.”

Ancelotti on the Modrić substitution Luka Modrić was one of the players who was creating chances, so the coach was asked why he substituted the Croatian off. He explained: “We wanted to change the system and open up the pitch with Rodrygo, and play 4-3-3. I thought about who to take off, but I decided to take off Modrić to add more energy.”

Ancelotti on Arda Güler Asked about Arda Güler and when he’ll make his debut, Ancelotti said: “It wasn’t the right moment for that today. It was a hard-fought game, with lots of aerial balls towards the end. We want to be calm with introducing him.”

Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger will be unavailable for the next La Liga game against Valencia after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season in the 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

The German international was booked in the 95th minute for a confrontation with Rayo center back Florian Lejeune, who had gotten in his way near the corner flag after the German tried to push him out of his way and get into the box. The referee showed both players a yellow card, much to the frustration of Rudiger, who had to be restrained by his teammates.

The suspension means that Rudiger will hit the sidelines, leaving Real Madrid with only two fit center backs for the Valencia game: David Alaba and Nacho. The former has been a regular starter under Carlo Ancelotti, while Nacho has been used reliably any time he’s needed to fill in.

Rudiger’s absence is a blow for Real Madrid, who are currently second in the league table, two points behind leaders Girona. The 30-year-old has been one of the best performers for the club this season, filling in with solid performances in the absence of Eder Militao.

Rudiger will still be available mid-week against Braga in the Champions League, where he will most likely start.

Kepa—7: Produced a big stop to deny Sergio Ramos from a header in the second half. No blame on the goal conceded, but did feel like an opportunity Courtois would have saved.

Dani Carvajal—8: Made mistakes, but always made amends: lost the ball in a dangerous position inside his own half, but then made a goal-line clearance. Gave too much space to Acuna on the goal conceded, but then scored the match equalizer off a set piece. Continues to be a bright light this season.

Toni Rudiger—8.5: Never backed down, even when the foe was Sergio Ramos. Put his body on the line defensively and always helped his teammates to double down on the likes of Ocampos or En-Nesyri. Played an inch-perfect ball over the top to Vinicius, which the Brazilian nearly converted.

David Alaba—5: Continues to struggle defending aerial crosses and ended up scoring an own goal for Sevilla to take the lead.

Ferland Mendy—6: Defended well against Lukebakio, but produced next to nothing in the final third.

Tchouameni—5.5: Lost track of Djibril Sow on an early run inside the box that nearly turned into a Sevilla goal. Failed to stamp his mark on the match.

Fede Valverde—6: Worked tirelessly defensively, despite only returning from South America a few days earlier. Scored a goal in the opening 7 minutes of the match, but was disallowed for a marginal offside by Bellingham.

Toni Kroos—7: Produced the assist from a set-piece on a Dani Carvajal goal and was near foot-perfect in the midfield. His cross-field switches had Sevilla’s defense on the backfoot early in the game.

Jude Bellingham—6: The most fouled player in La Liga received 7 more tonight and countless that were not called. It seems there is a new scouting report out: stop Bellingham before he gets in full stride. The fouls created a stop-start nature to his game and meant he could never find rhythm.

Vinicius Junior—6: An eventful game but not as effective as the Brazilian would desire. Had two shots blocked including a one-touch volley from a Rudiger ball over the top of the Sevilla defense. Battled hard with Jesus Navas and often got the better of him, but referee De Burgos Bengoetxea refused to give Vinicius the correct call — be it a penalty kick, an advantage, or a foul just outside the box.

Rodrygo—5: Fans frustration will be mounting with Rodrygo, but Ancelotti should persist with the 22-year-old. Nearly scored after bringing down a Valverde cross inside the box and shooting at Nyland’s near post. Visibly frustrated and mentally struggling with the lack of goals.

Substitutions:

Eduardo Camavinga—5: Added very little to the game and one of his clearances nearly resulted in a Sevilla goal.

Luka Modric—5: Ancelotti hoped to gain more control with Modric but the game needed to embrace the chaos and fatigue by leaning-in more to players with high energy and mobility.

Joselu—N/A: No impact on the match - struggles in matches with more transitions and counter attacking opportunities.

Fran Garcia—N/A: 4 touches and 3 passes after coming on for the final 10 minutes of the match.

Brahim Diaz—N/A: Had one tackle to win the ball back inside Sevilla’s half, but little else to note.

A Sevilla supporter was ejected from their LaLiga match with Real Madrid after allegedly directing racist abuse towards Vinicius Jr during the 1-1 draw.

The Brazil international played 88 minutes of the fixture at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan where Madrid captain Dani Carvajal’s header 12 minutes from time cancelled out David Alaba’s own goal.

Vinicius Jr later posted on social media about being on the receiving end of racism during the match on Saturday night, which Sevilla have now confirmed was the case.

A club statement read: “Sevilla FC would like to communicate that, after detecting xenophobic and racist behaviour, a member of the public was identified, ejected from the stadium and handed over to legal authorities.

“The individual will also be subject to the club’s vigorous internal disciplinary protocols and have their membership revoked.

“Sevilla FC condemns all racist and xenophobic behaviour and will work closely with the authorities to ensure that action is taken accordingly. This behaviour does not belong at Sevilla FC.”

Vinicius Jr was in the thick of the action throughout the draw, denied a penalty at the end of the first half before he was booked five minutes from time after he clashed with Sevilla goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, which sparked a brief melee between both sets of players.

It was only back in May when Madrid filed racism directed at Vinicius Jr as a “hate crime” to the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office following a string of alleged racist attacks aimed at the 23-year-old.

LaLiga called at the time for a legislation change to allow them to impose punishment on clubs for episodes of racist abuse and Vinicius Jr has stressed once more the need for change, especially with Spain hoping to host the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco.

“Congratulations to Sevilla on the quick positioning and the penalty in another sad episode for Spanish Football,” Vinicius Jr said in a social media post.

“Unfortunately I have access to a video of another racist act at this Saturday’s game, this time carried out by a child. So sad there is no one to educate her. I invest, and I invest a lot, in education in Brazil to train citizens with different attitudes.

“The face of today’s racist is stamped on websites as on several other times. I hope the Spanish authorities do their part and change the legislation once and for all. These people need to be criminally punished too.

“It would be a great first step to prepare for the 2030 World Cup. I am here to help.

“Sorry to sound repetitive but it’s episode number 19. And counting.”

Any idea what this is about?

What's in a Name?

Did you know that you could get DENIED for what you’d like to name your kid?

Posted November 15, 2011

The government of the relatively progressive country of New Zealand recently took a surprising step: controlling what officials considered deviant baby names by banning the use of appellations they have decided are problematic. Kiwis are no longer allowed to call their offspring by names that too closely resemble titles, such as Bishop, Baron, General, Judge, King, Mr., and Knight. Certain letters were also rejected, such as C, D, I, and T. Punctuation marks such as asterisks, commas, periods, and more were forbidden. They turned down three different sets of parents who wanted to name their child Lucifer. Perhaps New Zealanders became sensitive after catching international attention for allowing a couple to name their twins Benson and Hedges in 2008, or for permitting a couple of boys to be called Violence and Number 16 Bus Shelter.

It often is the case that governments react to specific actions that have drawn notoriety by outlawing them. Such reactive labeling has created a host of "odd laws" all around the world, including bans on getting a fish drunk in Ohio or catching them with your bare hands in Kansas, parachuting by unmarried women on Sunday in Florida, driving a vehicle blindfolded in Alabama, eating a lamb after having sex with it in Islamic countries, spitting into the wind in Nebraska, or threatening (let alone killing) a butterfly in California. And France has prohibited naming a pig Napoleon, which gets us back to the idea of deviance in names.

New Zealand is joined in its anti-naming laws by Sweden, oddly enough, another progressive society, which put the kibosh on Superman, Metallica, Elvis, and Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (pronounced Albin) [what would the artist sometimes known as Prince say about that?], while approving Lego and Google. The Dominican Republic, has begun turning down names that are either confusing or gave no indication of gender, such as Qeurida Pina (Dear Pineapple) and Tonton Ruiz (Dummy Ruiz). Is this, perhaps, a new way that governments are asserting their power to curtail child abuse? Or, have they gone too far in limiting how people name their children, overstepping their boundaries into personal areas?

What is this trend all about? In America, people have a lot of names that might be considered deviant in these other countries. Unusual names are rampant throughout sport, with Stylez G. White, Macho

Harris, Peanut Joseph, Knowshon Moreno, and Selvish Capers having graced the field of football. Baseball has seen Razor Shines, Rusty Kuntz, and Creepy Crespi, along with Sterling Hitchcock, Champ Summers, and Van Lingle Mungo. A few of these odd names even seem like they belong together in pairs, such as Travis LaBoy and Coco LaBoy, Steven Friday and Jeff Saturday, and Antwaun Molden and Anquan Boldin.

Some names, illustrating the principle of "nominative determinism," carry parents' hopes and dreams for their children and may inspire them to follow specific pathways in life, such as Rutgers anthropologist Lionel Tiger, veterinarian and animal behaviorist Michael Fox, Manila archbishop Cardinal Sin, San Francisco dentist Les Plack, and New York attorney, Sue Yoo. Others seem to carry colloquial orientation, such as Symazme Fosho, whose parents, when asked about their child's name, simply pointed to its emphatic nature, as in, "That's her name, Fosho!" Popular among Symazme's cohort is the name Nevaeh, which is Heaven, spelled backwards.

Beckham's child Brooklyn, Ashlee Simpson's Bronx Mowgli, Gwynneth Paltrow's Apple, Jermaine Jackson's Jermajesty, Nicholas Cage's Moxie CrimeFighter, and Frank Zappa's offspring, Dweezil, Moon Unit, Ahmet, and Diva. Are these nominatively determinists? What happened to Sonny and Cher's daughter, Chastity, who turned into a son named Chaz?

Gender-ambiguous or unisex names, also known as" epicene names," have become much more common

(such as Pat, Ryan, Alex, Chris, Sam, with the most currently popular being Rory), despite being outlawed in Germany and other places. Denmark takes an even greater "Big Brother" stance, with a list of 7,000 approved names from which parents have to pick, and anything outside that list requires approval by both the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs and the Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs.

But what about gender-opposite names, where rather than being unclear, it suggests that the person is of the other gender? We had lunch with a friend, who brought along a buddy of his, a guy named Stacy. During the meal they got into an argument when our friend suggested that Stacy's mother must have hated him to give him that name. Stacy angrily defended his name, claiming it was masculine. In chatting with the waitress as she brought our bill, however, it came out that his middle name was the same as hers: Kimberly. That was too much; he ended up picking up the check after hearing our other friend howl again about how his mother must have hated him.

Name arguments are common. One young man we know named Whitney used to fight with his sister about who their parents liked better, with each claiming the other. In the end, he always won by bringing up his name. He reflected:

Throughout my entire life I have dealt with people's awkward reactions when they know they are meeting someone named Whitney and then realize only when I introduce myself that I am a man. This situation presents itself at work all the time - at an introductory meeting where someone is expecting to meet Whitney, only to see me walking up to them and offering my hand. Their faces are often confused. It also presents itself on the phone, for example when I call and a secretary for the person I am trying to reach needs to take a message. When I tell them who is calling, there is always the need for me to confirm that they heard me say my name right.