José Mourinho has been and is about to be gone on his hols. Cesc is still at Arsenal. David Villa has finally left the Mestalla and Atlético wonâÂÂt be following their annual manager-firing tradition, this summer. Not just yet, anyway.
This is all very bad news indeed for Vicente del Bosque who now has the full attention and all 15 beady eyes of the Spanish press on La Furia Roja with the World Cup just a week away.
So far, there has been very little actual news to report from SpainâÂÂs Alpine retreat in the Austrian hamlet of Schruns.
It appears to have rained every day. Sergio Ramos was interviewed by the most surgically-enhanced, pert-assed TV reporter in history and brilliantly maintained eye-contact with her throughout the encounter.
And the local police closed the road outside the teamâÂÂs hotel in the mornings and evenings so as not to disturb the sleep patterns of SpainâÂÂs pampered players.
The sideâÂÂs two warm-up matches have followed the pattern of those being played by every other participant in the World Cup - a sluggish kickabout with the aim of weeding out the Walcotts and avoiding any clots breaking their legs.
But for the press, the friendlies are a wonderful opportunity to go nuts, freak out, panic and predict doom and gloom for their respective teamâÂÂs chances in South Africa.
Last Sunday, Spain beat Saudi Arabia 3-2 and a few dodgy moments for Iker Casillas had some nutjobs claiming that VÃÂctor Valdés should be starting ahead of the national captain.
It was all bunkum of course with Del Bosque maintaining that there was âÂÂno debateâ about his place in the side and the Barça man himself dutifully opining that âÂÂI donâÂÂt understand why there are any doubts about his quality.âÂÂ
Spain were back in action - in a half-heartedly kicking a ball about sense of the word - with a 1-0 victory over South Korea on Thursday, with a cracking strike from Jesús Navas winning the encounter.
Although the performance was less than sparkly, it didnâÂÂt need to be anymore than that. MarcaâÂÂs editorial on Friday wisely notes that âÂÂnow is not the time to sound the alarms...itâÂÂs the time to keep the faith in a team that has earned the right to deserve all our support.âÂÂ
The Spanish side are now returning home to play a friendly against Poland on Tuesday in Murcia - and their notoriously lumpy pitch which ruined Maxi RodrÃÂguezâ career - before travelling to South Africa on Thursday.
Domestic matters
Meanwhile, back at the ranch in la Liga, the insults, slurs and threats of legal action continue to be the dominant theme of the Barcelona presidential campaign.
Future strategies for the club are still a non-existent discussion point amongst the infantile egomaniacs with mudslinging being a far easier alternative.
Marc Ingla claims that poll favourite Sandro Rosell âÂÂhas lied and keeps on lyingâ in regards to alleged investigations into a Brazilian company where Rosell is the main shareholder.
The Joan Laporta continuity candidate, Jaume Ferrer, has also been at RosellâÂÂs throat by accusing him of racism after he curiously chose to complain that there were too many African players in La Masia who were blocking the paths of locally born youngsters, and that there had to be doubts over the ages of those coming from Cameroon.
âÂÂThere are a lot of black people born in Lleida and thatâÂÂs Catalan,â noted Rosell with MarcaâÂÂs Santiago Segurola also writing that hâÂÂit upsets me that he puts the emphasis on African kids and not those from Argentina or Europe.âÂÂ
Valencia have ditched their now unaffordable sporting director, Fernando Gómez, with the Mestalla president claiming that âÂÂsometimes [decisions] will be unpopular and unpleasant, but they have to be taken. We need money to pay debts and to give to our creditors,â admitted Manuel Llorente.
Elsewhere, AS are claiming that the sale of Málaga football club to Qatari squillionaire, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Thani is âÂÂa matter of hours awayâ and Roberto Soldado has double-speaked superbly by claiming that he is quite happy at Getafe but that his â¬10 million transfer fee is too high.
âÂÂIn these times of crisis, the president is asking a lot for me,â claimed the Valencia or Atlético bound chance-misser extraordinaire.
More fromLa Liga Loca
More World Cup stuff: Features * Lists * Interviews
FFT.com: Features * News * Interviews * Home
Interact: Twitter * Facebook * Forum
