Barca 3 - 0 Atletico, presswatch and other news

(I've recently taken over the Argentina World Cup Blog, so that's where all Argentina-related posts will go in the future.)

Atletico were the last team to beat Barca at Camp Nou in the league back in February of 2006. Since then, Barca have gone 30 games undefeated at home, of which 22 were victories. So you could say that this was a bit of a test.

positives

• The midfield, especially Deco, who has regained the form of his first season and is once again the complete player, and Iniesta, who has really taken to the holding midfield role with intelligence and aplomb.
• Messi's amazing run continues. It's worth pointing out that he has now scored 20 goals in his last 23 games for Barca, starting with that hat-trick against Real Madrid in March, but the biggest difference between the Messi of this season and, say, two years ago is that he can now take on the responsibility of carrying the team forward.
• Whisper it, but Ronaldinho is starting to look fitter. I don't want to tempt fate, because we've had so many false dawns before, but maybe, just maybe, he is going to be fully fit soon.
  
• Puyol looks great after his comeback from injury, and the much-anticipated partnership with Milito seemed to work like a charm.
• Oleguer has played well since Zambrotta got injured. Shocking, I know. But since we went through the double-winning season with him playing rightback in almost all the big games, you'd think more people would remember that he is a decent player - not great, certainly not as good as Zambrotta, but not that bad either.

negatives

• Glad as I am that the '3 little ones' midfield is working, we've got a problem coming up quite soon: Deco is on 4 yellows. What are we going to do when he gets suspended?
• took our foot off the pedal when 2-0 up: dangerous hint of complacency?
  

Barca now have their 6th consecutive victory and are unbeaten so far this season, which sounds pretty impressive but as Frank Rijkaard would no doubt point out it wasn't easy.

It is interesting that, as usual, he has been keen to criticise the players for their lapses in victory, this time about losing concentration in the second half. This is part of what I like about him - when we lose or draw, he doesn't get overly negative, and when we win, he never gets carried away.

Javier Aguirre was classy as always in defeat, crediting Barca while refusing to blame poor old goalkeeper Christian Abbiati for his blunder.

Lastly, this match was notable because it finished with 8 home-grown Barca players on the pitch, and that was just on our side. (Atletico's Luis Garcia being yet another Barca youth product.) Given that those 8 players were Valdes, Oleguer, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Giovani and Bojan, the cantera certainly looks to be in good health.

other news

Puyol, Messi and Ronaldinho have been named in the FIFPro World XI for the 06/07 season, which makes Barca the best represented team in the XI and tells us that these guys are very popular, if nothing else, since the vote is taken amongst their peers. I say that because neither Ronaldinho nor Puyol (much as I love him) were at their best last season, both for fitness reasons. Messi, well, I think there's little question that he is deserving.

13 players have been called away on international duty. Unlike Laporta, I will not say that player should take it easy, but here's hoping that everyone returns fit and ready to play. Here are the call-ups:

• France (Euro qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Lithuania): Thuram, Henry and Abidal
• Spain (Euro qualifier against Denmark and friendly against Finland): Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta
• Portugal (Euro qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan): Deco
• Iceland (Euro qualifiers against Latvia and Liechtenstein): Gudjohnsen (who is apparently fit again)
• Spain U21 (Euro qualifier against Poland): Bojan
• Argentina (World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela): Messi and Milito
• Brazil (World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Ecuador): Ronaldinho
• Mexico (friendlies against Nigeria and Guatemala): Giovani
  

I previously mentioned Cesc Fabregas' comments about how Henry intimidated the other players at Arsenal. (I should probably make it clear that the comments were made in a friendly spirit and that Henry himself agreed with Cesc.) It is funny how his role has changed at Barca, though, because while still playing a guardian role to the youngsters, he's no longer the one great star. This has been echoed in his latest comments, which I found interesting:

"I learn so much every day playing and training alongside people like Lionel Messl, Samuel Eto'o or Ronaldinho," he said."But Thuram is also still doing it and I use that to gain inspiration too."

He also made a good point about the work put in by the squad, which is not always recognised when people talk about stylish victories:

"It is a great team when you win. We have extraordinary players and everyone is talking about us," he continued."But even with all those great players it is not always easy."

Lastly: scoring poll, anyone? Who's going to score first, Giovani or Bojan?

Presswatch

Phil Ball on fine form about Valencia's problems and a history lesson on Levante; the ever-amusing Sid Lowe on Barca-Atletico; Tim Stannard of La Liga Loca with a great rant about the current Spanish TV dispute that is depriving audiences all over the world of some fine football; and a nice article on the FIFA website about the Messi-Aguero rivalry and friendship and their respective rises to fame and fortune.

non-Barca news

This is actually kind of Barca related - club legend Hristo Stoichkov has left second divison club Celta Vigo for 'personal reasons'. The press says he was sacked, but the club president maintains that is not the case.

The UEFA Cup draws are out. Atletico have a reasonable draw in Group B, with Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Moscow, Copenhagen and Aberdeen. Villarreal have AEK Athens, Fiorentina, Mlada Boleslav and Elfsborg in Group C. Finally, Getafe rounds out the Spanish teams in Group G, where they will face Anderlecht, Tottenham Hotspur, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Aalborg.

News ahead of the Atletico game

Stuttgart 0-2 Barca

A 2-0 away win against the German champions, who hadn't lost at home for 19 games - yeah, I'll take that. We've never had an easy time in Germany, and this was no different. This result, combined with Rangers' fantastic win, have left us very well placed in the group.

However, Rijkaard criticized the forward line for being wasteful and hinted that the star players would have to work harder. The players who were interviewed - including Valdes, Oleguer and Deco - seemed to agree.

"The only thing he can't do is play in goal." - Rijkaard on Andres Iniesta.

And damn right, too. Iniesta is a brilliant talent who is criminally underrated. Frankie also praised the crucial saves made by Valdes, the great job Abidal did as an emergency centerback, and the fitness of Ronaldinho.

Congratulations to Xavi for becoming the player who has played the most international club matches for Barca at 86 games, 70 of them in the Champions League. Remarkably, he's still only 27. His first Champions League game, incidentally, was that memorable 3-3 draw at Old Trafford in 1998.

Congratulations are also due to Leo Messi, who has scored 7 goals in his last 5 consecutive games for Barca. The Argentine is currently top of the scoring charts in both La Liga and the Champions League, despite not being an out and out striker. So you could say that he's got some form at the moment. This bests his record last season of 5 goals in 3 consecutive games. (It's worth pointing out that despite missing 3 months through injury and thus only playing 36 games for Barca last season, he managed 17 goals, a remarkable tally.)

So, 5 victories in a row, 15 goals scored, 3 conceded. Not bad. 11 of those goals came courtesy of Messi and Henry, which is a pretty scary statistic (the others are an own goal, Iniesta, Marquez and Puyol).

injury crisis time

This was the state of our defence after the Stuttgart game. Available players:

defensive midfield: Marc Crosas
rightback: Oleguer
central defence: Thuram (yes, we've only got one fit central defender. Oh dear.)

Thankfully, both Puyol and Milito trained on Thursday, so it seems that they will be fit to face Atletico Madrid, fingers crossed.

The news on Marquez is not as good. He's going to be out for a month with a torn muscle in his right leg, which means we've got no defensive midfielders for a month at the very least. Any more of this and I'm going to start missing Motta. (He's injured too? Oh. Poor guy.)

So here's the injury list as it stands currently:

Long term - Eto'o (2 months, torn leg muscle), Zambrotta (1-2 months, torn leg muscle), Toure (1-2 months, torn femoral biceps), Marquez (torn leg muscle), Edmilson (2-3 months, knee problems)

Short term - Gudjohnsen (knee trouble)

I'm starting to see a theme here with the long term injuries, and I don't like it.

Barca v Atletico

Atletico are never easy opponents for Barca, and the state of our defence does not inspire confidence at the moment. Mr Guardiola? Can you spare, say, your entire defence? The first team needs to borrow them.

On the other hand, our 'black beast' and former chief tormentor Fernando Torres has now left for Liverpool, which is nice, if not for the fact that he's been replaced by Diego Forlan.

The Barca website builds the game up thus:

All in all, Sunday’s match in the Camp Nou looks set to be a classic encounter: fourth versus fifth, two historic rivals, two attacking teams, the two top scorers and two teams in great form.

Atletico star Sergio 'Kun' Aguero has been speaking about the great start to the season made by both himself and good friend Leo Messi. The two little Argies top the goalscoring charts in Spain with 5 goals each. Not bad for a pair whose combined age is 39.

The game will also see the return of some familiar faces to the Camp Nou. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, Thiago Motta is unfit and will not travel. Fellow youth team graduate Luis Garcia will be returning, though, and I hope he gets a good reception. I've always liked him, and he certainly contributed a lot to Barca's rise in the 03-04 season. Also returning will be Simao Sabrosa, who had the misfortune of being signed by Louis van Gaal at a time when he wasn't ready for La Liga. He has now developed into a mature player as well as a skilful one, and will no doubt be a handful for the Barca defence.


On a different note, here's a great article about Barcelona's cantera, or youth system.

Lastly, it seems like former Barca assistant coach Henk ten Cate, who is now coach of Ajax, will indeed be joining Chelsea - the club he branded 'pathetic', amongst other things, during Barca's turbulent meetings with them in 04-05 and 05-06 - as an assistant coach. This is the man who allegedly kicked a Chelsea staff member up the backside. I'm strangely saddened by this.

Argentina vs Australia squad news

This is the list of 21 players who have been called up for the friendly against Australia, to be played in Melbourne (in the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground) on the 11th of September:

Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe, Spain), Oscar Ustari (Getafe), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar, the Netherlands)

Fair enough, given the situation with Carrizo (which I'll touch on below). I'm becoming increasingly concerned about playing time for Ustari at club level as well.

Defenders: Daniel 'Cata' Diaz (Getafe), Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid, Spain), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain), Nicholas Burdisso (Inter, Italy), Javier Zanetti (Inter), Gabriel Milito (Barcelona, Spain), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich, Germany)

I can understand the need to experiment, but I would have liked to see Garay get another call-up. He's definitely a solid performer, and the defeat to Norway cannot be blamed on him. (Playing Gabi Milito at leftback, however, has to be one of the strangest decisions I've ever seen. With all the players Argentina have, you'd think we would have a couple of leftbacks to spare when Heinze isn't available.) I've put Demichelis in this category because Basile has called up so many defensive midfielders that I doubt he also wants Demichelis for that position. Still not too sure about Coloccini, although I hear good things about him at club level playing rightback.

Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Maxi Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Jonás Gutiérrez (Real Mallorca, Spain), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, England), Cristian Ledesma (Olympiakos, Greece), Federico Insúa (Club America, Mexico)

Gago must be getting concerned about his amount of playing time at Real now that the double pivot era seems to be over, especially when he's competing with the brilliant Mascherano. Gutierrez has been called up a couple of times, and he's done well for Mallorca in the past, but to be honest, I'm not sure he's the answer. Ledesma is a bit of an unknown for me, although I've heard good things. Insua has been on good form since going to Mexico, and it will be interesting to see if Basile intends to give him the responsibility of being the playmaker.

I'm still advocating for Aimar and D'Alessandro, but they've been off-colour for Zaragoza so far this season, so we'll have to wait and see.

Forwards: Javier Saviola (Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Hernán Crespo (Inter), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United)

I'm glad to see Aguero called up, since he's very much deserving. Other than that, my concern is still the lack of no.9 options other than Crespo.

Unfortunately, Diaz, Crespo and Maxi Rodriguez have all had to pull out of the squad for various reasons. This means that Basile is left with a squad of just 18 players to face a difficult opponent on their home ground.

That doesn't even touch on the urgent and very serious problems that Basile must address before World Cup qualification starts with a match against Chile, which is our next game:

• Many of the countries went to the Copa America with an experimental squad in order to prepare for the qualifiers. We didn't.
• This lack of preparation has been compounded by the inactivity at club level of several important players, like Crespo, Riquelme and Carrizo (who has been loaned back to River but is at risk of not starting).
  
• Riquelme's case is the most severe, since he won't get called up if he's not playing at club level, and Basile had built the team around him in the Copa America.
• The team doesn't have the time to look for a new playmaker and to calibrate their strategy to that player.
• There is uncertainty in defence with the retirement of previous leader Ayala.

So to sum up, we don't know how we're going to play, and who should be playing. Needless to say, this is not a good situation to go into the qualifiers with.

La Liga Round-up: pre-season madness

Don't you love the pre-season? You're free to feel ridiculously optimistic for the season to come, with hopes and dreams yet to be shattered by the rigours of competitive games, and seeing changes take effect is always exciting. Here's what's been going on in the last ten days.

Barca

At the beginning of the week, cules received the happy news that every single player had managed to return from their holiday on time to report for training. This may seem unremarkable to many of you, but trust me, it's an achievement.

We also saw Gabi Milito presented before he went off to enjoy his holidays, which will see the Copa America trio of him, Marquez, and Messi begin training on the 7th of August. Therefore the three will be missing the Asian Tour. With the injury to Puyol, we're being forced to play Thuram with Oleguer for every single game in Scotland and Asia. Oh dear. (Just to clarify - I think Thuram is class, it's just the combination of him and Oleguer that worries me.)

Iniesta's not going anywhere, although I do hear rumours that him and Messi are both up for (entirely deserved) contract renegotiations this season.

Thank God for Xavi Hernandez for articulating the mixed feelings of a sizeable contingent of Barca supporters regarding the transfer of his close friend Javier Saviola to our friends in the capital. Sensible as always.

Poor Eidur Gudjohnsen's been denied a chance to compete for a starting spot in pre-season as Rijkaard experiments, since he was left behind in Barcelona due to a troublesome injury.

Barca played their first pre-season game against Dundee United (a marginal 1-0 win), with all three present new signings making their debuts and doing fairly well.

The second game against Hearts bought an improved performance and a brace from a lively-looking Ronaldinho. He had so many false dawns last season that I'm loathe to hope, but from all reports Ronnie's finally stepped up with the added competition of Henry and started working hard again. Great news and possibly the best thing about the Henry signing so far, if it continues.

Speaking of which, in stark contrast to Freddie Ljungberg, Titi remains convinced that Arsenal can win the Premiership this season and refuses to say a word against his former club. Good. I hate it when players do what Ljungberg's just done. It almost always comes off as petty, and why do that to the fans who've loved the player for years?

In the aftementioned friendly against Hearts, youngsters Bojan Krkic and Gio Dos Santos both impressed alongside Henry in attack. I'm extremely pleased with the technical team's decision to keep the two of them as cover for TREM (typing out their names everytime gets a bit annoying in those formation discussions everyone's engaging in now, but there's no way I'm touching that 'fantastic four' stuff - hype like that never helped anyone).

I know some people would rather see the two of them loaned out to get top-flight experience playing regularly, but here are my reasons:

1. Most of the young players we send out on loan don't come back. Either something goes wrong, they're forgotten in favour of the next big star being bought in, or some other big club comes in and snatches them away right under our noses.
2. Related to that, both Krkic and Dos Santos are in danger of being tempted away by clubs who seem to love scouting around our cantera (youth system) the same way Cesc and Pique were. No big club is going to offer them anything better than squad player status at first, so a promotion to the first team is the best advancement they could hope for.
3. Rijkaard did a great job bringing Messi into the first team gradually, and I'm sure he could make sure that Krkic and Dos Santos progress properly too.

There's some good news on the financial front for the club. I have to say, much as I may criticise the board for a lot of things, one thing they've done absolutely right is to manage the club in a fiscally responsible manner. The horrible financial situation we were in just 4 seasons ago is unimaginable now.

Having said that, I can't help but be angry whenever they do something like this. Yes, financial realities of modern football and all, but surely it's a bit much to dirty the great stadium like this in its 50th anniversary year, which is being celebrated with such fanfare? I've long had my problems with the club's association with Nike in the first place (being so entangled with a company accused of unsavoury labour practises, some involving children, seems like rank hypocrisy of the kind people love to accuse us of, especially since there's an Unicef logo on the shirt just below the Nike swoosh), but this is really cringe-worthy.

Real

Bernd Schuster fires the first shot in what should be an interesting war of words between him and Rijkaard this season. Frankie might be generally a mellow guy, but if anyone has been proven to get under his skin other than Jose Mourinho, it has to be good old Bernd. (Rijkaard's claim that myabe he could agree with Schuster's assessment of the Barca-Getafe game if he was drunk out of his mind was one of my all time favourite Frankie-isms.) We're set for an interesting season.

More trouble for Antonio Cassano, the most unpopular man in the Real squad. Gonzalo at All in White has a post up about this.

Miguel Torres and Iker Casillas are recovering well from their injuries.

Real's first pre-season game bought a win against Stoke City (2-0), with Raul scoring.

Schuster speaks about what he needs to complete the squad.

Sevilla

The club were fined for incidents in last season's UEFA Cup match against Osasuna.

Exciting but mentally fragile young winger Jesus Navas was going to miss the pre-season due to his homesickness and anxiety problems, but changed his mind at the last minute. I wonder if that has anything to do with the scolding he's gotten in the press from some team mates and the fact that apparently negotiations for a more lucrative contract had stalled over his problems. In general, I'm quite sympathetic towards players with issues like Navas (Riquelme's depressiveness is like a distant cousin to Navas' anxiety), but you do have to wonder if his promising career will be derailed by this if it isn't at least manageable by therapy.

In quite unfortunate news, captain and hardman defender Javi Navarro is going to be out for 2 months with an injury. Let's hope by the time he's back, Sevilla have safely gotten through the Champions League qualifiers and claimed at least one of the two pieces of silverware they're up for in pre-season (the Spanish Super Cup and the European Super Cup), especially since they'll be defending the latter title.

Valencia

Former Real Madrid defender Ivan Helguera was presented before Valencia took off on their pre-season training camp. Can I just say how weird it is to see Helguera in another team's shirt? But then I'm going to take a while to get used to a lot of the transfers of players who've been at their clubs for a good few seasons to pastures new (Klose, Toni, Torres, Henry, Forlan, Atletico's Luis Garcia, Ayala, Gabi Milito, not to mention Saviola).

Valencia beat Inter comfortably (2-0) in the Emirates Cup, a pre-season tournament hosted by Arsenal.

Atletico

Atletico had a scare in their Intertoto match, losing the first leg 2-1. This prompted emergency measures like cutting short the holidays of Diego Forlan (having played in the Copa America) and Sergio Aguero (having just won the U20 World Cup) to have them play in the second leg at home.

They won the second leg on a single Forlan goal to go through on away goals, so I guess it paid off.

Speaking of Sergio Aguero, he's come back from the U20 World Cup laden with silverware, including a winner's medal, the Golden Boot and the MVP award, just like a certain Leo Messi did at the last tournament (and Javier Saviola before that in 2001). Congratulations to him, and - drifting off-topic for a moment - to the young Albiceleste in general, for continuing Argentina's proud tradition and strong track record in youth football. I was very impressed by Aguero's desire to participate in the tournament, even going so far as to call up the coach and ask to be included in the squad. This eagerness to serve will probably help him get imminent call-ups to the senior side that may be denied others who decided to go on vacation instead of playing for their country.

Getting back to Atletico, their adventures in the transfer market continue, having signed Simao Sabrosa from Benfica and let Martin Petrov leave for Manchester City. I have to say, I'm kind of sorry that Petrov is gone, but Simao looks like a sensible purchase (although, 20 million euros...how much did Chelsea pay for Malouda?). He's matured since his last stint in La Liga, and will probably settle better this time.

Everybody's saying that Jose Antonio Reyes has signed, but there's been no official confirmation ( that I know of) yet.

Osasuna

New signing Hugo Viana has unfortunately injured himself on his first day and will be out for 3 months (!).

But the club has something to be happy about, as they've got Arsenal's vastly promising young Mexican Carlos Vela on loan for a season. My understanding is that Vela's only being loaned out at this point because of work permit issues. Definitely looking forward to seeing him play in La Liga.

Villarreal

Good news - Turkish forward Nihat has recovered fully and is ready to have his first proper season for the club. With the departure of Forlan, Villarreal do need all their existing strikers at their best.

Even with Nihat fit, coach Pellegrini still reckons that they need another striker, and a couple of centerbacks. I couldn't agree more. The departure of a lot of experienced defensive players means that Villarreal certainly looks a bit light at the back right now.

Here's something that happened a while back, but which I completely forgot to mention - the club have signed Real Madrid's backup keeper Diego Lopez.

Real Betis

Betis have been very active in the transfer market, but the latest news has been more about who's not going than who's arriving. Firstly, midfielder Assuncao's not going anywhere, but 'striker' Robert has been booted out the door.

A lot of sides are looking for decent centerbacks in this transfer window (a topic which is probably worth a post, actually), and Betis captain Juanito has become sought after. The club are determined to keep hold of their talisman, though.

Getafe

New signing Boca centerback 'Cata' Diaz arrives.

Uche signs from last season's miracle team Recre, and makes all the right noises about looking forward to working with Laudrup.

Others

Tim from La Liga Loca has some friendlies news amidst his usual excellent round-up.

Mallorca have signed David Navarro - he of the infamous Inter fist-meets-nose incident - from Valencia.

Free agent (and incredible sulk) Diego Tristan signs for Livorno.

Valladolid's Diego Figueredo can look forward to a stern punishment for being six days (!) late to pre-season training.

Iago - who surely has one of the greatest literary names for a footballer ever - wants more playing time at Depor. No word on whether he will hatch a nefarious plan that involves slandering one of the starters' wives to get what he wants.

Non-La Liga

Hilarious offering from Eurosport: what if all those crazy transfer rumours were true? What kind of bizarro world would European football be?

Lastly, a thought-provoking piece from the Guardian about the somewhat snobbish designation of the 'true fan'. While I wouldn't go as far as the writer, I do find it problematic that just because by the accident of birth I wasn't born in Barcelona and in fact ended up living half a world away that I'm automatically less of a fan. It would be odious and hypocritical of me to rant about my fan credentials, but I would hope that if there had to be some test of 'true fan', my writing on this blog would be the subject under scrutiny, not whether or not I live in Spain.

La liga and Copa del Rey round-up

Barcelona

On the Barca front, there's further good news about Samuel Eto'o, who has earned great credit during his recovery from injury. On the one hand, his absence has made Barca fans appreciate his importance and character even more, and now people who wanted to replace him with Fernando Torres at one point (in response to which I can only say that person knows nothing about football) think that he's irreplaceable - which is true. It works both ways, of course - I think Eto'o himself has matured during his unfortunate down-time. His behaviour in the past 3 months has been impeccable, earning plaudits from the fans for his determination and work ethic. Anyway, his nightmare is nearly over, and he's set to return to training on Monday. Oh happy day indeed.

To be honest, I was quite worried about the team at the beginning of the year, especially after the whole delayed arrival thing. Which, by the way, Ronaldinho still hasn't really explained, although Deco is now exempt from criticism in my book since he apparently presented medical documentation of his (pregnant) wife's sickness scare in Brazil to the club - which was the cause of his late arrival.

Neither of the Brazilians were in the squad for the Copa del Rey game, because they were doing double sessions of physical training to get fit in time for the big one this week: the Barcelona derby, an always exciting and contentious affair. Both Zambrotta and Oleguer should be fit for the clash, which combined with the recovery of Motta and Gio would abruptly end Barca's short injury crisis. And good thing too, since Espanyol's Olympic stadium is never an easy place to get a result.

...except that would be too easy. The latest is that while Oleguer will be fit, Deco will not be, having injured himself in training on Wednesday. It's a shame since he has such a good scoring record against Espanyol. Zambrotta has been declared fit, but Rijkaard has decided not to risk him.

Espanyol have their own problems, of course, with a rash of injuries ruling out several players including possibly veteran striker Walter Pandiani, which would be a big blow for them. Unfortunately my favourite young Argentine right-back Pablo Zabaleta will also miss the game through suspension.

Another little twist in the saga: Espanyol have all but announced that they intend to bid for Saviola after his contract expires in June of this year. Nice timing. I don't see this happening, but I didn't think Becks was going to MLS so soon either, so we'll see.

My hopes for the game? A win for Barcelona, of course, and no red cards would be nice too. I think last week's sparring match between Diogo and Fabiano in the Zaragoza-Sevilla game has satisfied the universal demand for perverse footballing entertainment for a while.

Alaves 0-2 Barcelona

Forca Saviola! He's now Barca's third highest scorer, after Ronaldinho (whose 14 goals, many of them crucial, have kept Barca alive so far this season and himself second in the pichichi table) and Gudjohnsen, which is incredible given how little playing time he's had. The press, who were rather nasty to him during the pre-season, have been won over and are pretty much firmly on his side - for the moment.

If it weren't for El Conejo, things could have been very embarrassing indeed. Barca had 70% of the possession and 29 fricking shots, only 7 of which were on goal. Poor Ezquerro in particular really needs to find his shooting boots.

Second-choice goalie Jorquera got a run out in place of on-form number one Valdes, which was nice, and Gudjohnsen got a rest, but other than that Barca played pretty much the first team, which is surprising from Rijkaard, since he's shown no sign of caring about the Copa before, until you realize that he doesn't exactly have a lot of choice where players are concerned right now. Mourinho's moan about having 'no players'? Frankie knows how you feel, Mou.

Gio and Motta who have been laid up in dry dock both got a run out as substitutes, and in Gio's case he got to play in midfield, which doesn't happen too often. Also notable: is this the first time Saviola and Gudjohnsen have played together? In any case, Saviola and Giuly seem to have a good understanding. Plaudits also go to Xavi and Marquez, the latter after his howler against Getafe, a match in which his other contributions were actually quite good.

Xavi deserves special mention though. The reason I prefer him ahead of Iniesta, despite the youngster's brilliant form, is because Barca control games better when Xavi is playing. He also made 8 successful interceptions in this game, which is astonishing for a midfielder who was never famed for his defensive efforts. What's Rijkaard going to do when Deco is fit? There's a nice selection dilemma for him.

(Curiously enough, Barca had never won at Alaves' ground before this game in 3 attempts. Not a team we enjoy playing against.)

Valladolid 2-1 Villarreal

Villarreal put out pretty much their strongest squad (without the dropped Riquelme) and got beaten away by second division leaders Valladolid. 'Striker' Guillermo Franco, whose continued inability to actually shoot on target has frustrated me for the longest time, even managed to get sent off. I'm not all that surprised, given his tendency to put in stupid tackles, get booked and then run around looking like a pissed (as in drunk) guy spoiling for a fight for the rest of the game.

Villarreal will probably still go through of course since they play the second leg at home, but they need to do something about their limp form and the general malaise first. As for the Riquelme mess, maybe I'll write an analysis of the problems later on, but for now I just feel too crushed about it all. My initial impression, however, is that the off-field problem is solely between the coach, Riquelme and the president.

There is some good news for them - Bobby Pires and Gonzalo Rodriguez are finally back in training after being sidelined with knee injuries at the beginning of the season. The Submarines can really use both of them right now, especially since Riquelme missed training yet again with a 'muscle injury', according to the club (yeah, right).

Atletico 1-1 Osasuna

10-man Atletico held on for a draw against manager Aguirre's former team Osasuna in the Calderon, increasing their run of bad results at home. A draw with ten men wouldn't be so bad if they didn't give up an away goal. Osasuna are not very good right now, especially away, so I expected Atletico to take this, despite missing Argentine goalie Leo Franco and a couple of other players through injury.

Young Argentine striker Sergio Aguero is having quite a good season so far, and for me he's been far more impressive than strike partner Fernando Torres. Critics have pointed out that Aguero has gone missing in some matches, but I believe that's more down to his playing style being somewhat incompatible with Atletico's. Aguero needs to have the ball at his feet near the penalty area to be effective, but Atletico aren't the type of team who like to keep possession. So it's not easy for him to be doing as well as he is, although of course his pace is helping in that respect.

Rayo Vallecano 0-0 Sevilla

A second-string Sevilla side were held to a 0-0 draw by third division Madrid side Rayo Vallecano, who boast the most awesome (slightly mental) female club president in Spain. Needless to say that Sevilla will be confident of picking the minnows off at home in the second leg.

Malaga 0-3 Zaragoza

Congratulations to Barca cantera (youth program) graduate and Andres Iniesta best pal Sergio Garcia for his brace against Malaga (who were in the first division last season) for Real Zaragoza. They put out a fairly strong squad, which doesn't surprise me. Zaragoza have a great track record in the Cup and I expect them to take it seriously, since after all the winner gets an UEFA Cup spot, which would be nice insurance to have if somehow they manage to botch it in the league. I doubt that will happen, but you never know. It would be an understatement to say that Zaragoza will be confident of going through, even if they play a bunch of reserves in the second leg at home.

By the way, I caught some of Zaragoza v Sevilla, and Aimar is on great form. Just wonderful to watch his passing and dribbling. He's even making successful tackles. In my opinion, he's the next best thing Argentina have to an on-form Riquelme, and if he continues on like this I'll be very annoyed if he doesn't start the friendly against France in early February.

Mallorca 1-2 Deportivo

Reserve Baby Depor (Embryo Depor?) won away at Mallorca, with on-loan Barca striker Maxi Lopez scoring what I suspect could be just a consolation goal for Mallorca at the death. Still, congratulations to him for finally getting another one. I doubt Mallorca have what it takes to get a result in the return leg in such a difficult ground. Looking at Depor's team sheet and counting the number of former Barca cantera players makes me smile and wince at the same time. It's good that the likes of Rodri and Verdu (part of Messi and Cesc's age group, I believe) are part of what could be a great new era for Depor, but what a shame that they had to leave Barca to get regular first team football.

Getafe 1-1 Valencia

Getafe got a good draw at home against Valencia (who also put out their first team, go figure), although they will be distraught at conceding a very, very late equaliser after having taken the lead so early. At least their shiny new striker Paunovic got the goal, which is always nice. I thought given their injury problems Flores might want to be careful in the Copa, which supposedly no one in Spain cares about, but it appears that everyone is going for it this season.

Oh yeah, to the small section of racist idiots who abused Valencia's excellent defender Miguel: the whole club gets a bad reputation because of you. I hope you're pleased with your bigoted selves. It's sad, because Getafe's president Angel Torres (a Real Madrid member) is a pretty cool guy, and coach Schuster's doing a good job with his team. That should be the news coming out of their stadium, not this crap.

Scary and awesome Argentine center-back Roberto Ayala's tranfer saga goes on at Valencia, with the Argentine center-back (reportedly targeted by Liverpool and Chelsea) stating his desire for a new deal - which he is not going to get. While coach Quique Sanchez Flores wants him to stay on, sporting director Carboni doesn't. (Kind of like the Saviola situation at Barca). Also, while Ayala was wonderful at the World Cup and continues to put in some excellent performances, he's had problems this season with form and injuries. And he's 33. So that's that.

Poor Vicente is injured yet again. When will the misery end for him? At least Angulo has been in good form lately.

Real Betis 0-0 Real Madrid

Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw by improving relegation battlers Real Betis. Both teams played half a first team squad, although one can't really be sure who's first team at Real Madrid these days. Higuain and Gago both started and looked promising, which is good news for us Albiceleste supporters. Err...not much else happened, I'm afraid.

At least there was an improvement from the last couple of games, with signs of a return to Capello's early season style of uninspiring forward play but great solidarity at the back. Roberto Carlos had to come off injured, further compounding Capello's injury problems (since his back-up Marcelo got injured in training right after his first game in Spain), but at least new boy right-back Torres (not the Atletico Madrid forward) did alright. Interestingly, Capello said that Torres (who seems like a keeper - nice kid) could start again in the league game against Zaragoza, which means that either Helguera or Cannavaro will be dropped, in Cannavaro's case for the second game running - unless of course Capello is stupid enough to play Sergio Ramos at left-back again, and I don't think he is. Although it is understandable that anyone facing the prospect of having to start Raul Bravo tries everything else before resorting to that.

The next big piece of transfer news after Becks to MLS is that Ronaldo is officially being shoved out the door by Capello. I'm surprised teams aren't rushing in for his signature - fat or not, he can still score goals with great technique and instinct alone, as he showed in the World Cup. That said, I have a lot of respect for the player he was, but slightly less for the player he is now. The way his career has gone is incredibly sad. So ends the galactico era, I guess.

By the way, Luis Fernandez seems to be doing very well with Betis so far. I've always maintained that they have too much talent to go down, and it seems like some defensive solidarity was exactly what they needed to pick things up. As long as they don't leak too many, players like Dani and Sobis should ensure that they win enough games to survive. All of this makes Barca's rescheduled trip to Betis' stadium on the 24th even more interesting.

Early preview for Spain vs Argentina

I know it's in a week's time, but what an exciting (friendly) game this could be from two attack-minded teams with plenty of flair between them. Being the staunch Albiceleste fan I am, I want Argentina to win, but La Furia Roja are growing on me as well. They can hardly fail to, with the type of players they have. Anyway, preview time.

Argentina

Two highly important players have had to pull out for Argentina with injuries. Hernan Crespo, the only center forward named in the 22-man squad, picked up a muscle strain playing for Inter and will be out for a month. Gabriel Heinze got injured playing for Manchester United and will be out for two to three weeks. (Side note: this also means that there are no Serie A players in the squad, strangely enough given Inter's tendency to collect Argentineans. Or maybe not, since half of their collection - Cambiasso, Cruz, Samuel, plus the aftementioned Crespo - is injured.)

Basile has not named any replacements, unfortunately. To my mind he should have at least called up a proper center forward - either Diego Milito or Cesar Delgado would do - since one of the problems Argentina had against Brazil was that they lacked a proper finisher. How that's going to change with the same forwards this time is beyong me, but we'll see what happens.

My preferred starting 11, with the personnel changes (assuming he plays 4-3-1-2 again):

---------------Abbondanzieri
Zabaleta----Ayala------Milito----Arruabarrena
--M Rodriguez---Somoza---Bilos
-------------------Aimar
-------------Messi-----Saviola/Aguero

I considered previous track record with the team, but mostly it's based on club form and how well these guys have linked up in the past. Abbondanzieri is the undisputed number one, not only because he had a great World Cup but also because he's been doing very well for new club Getafe this season.

At the back, young Zabaleta has been giving his all for Espanyol as usual, even when played in strange positions. I think he's played at left-back, right-back, holding midfield and right side of midfield for them - and that's just this season. Random aside: I do wish he would find a better club. Nothing against Espanyol, but they're so inconsistent despite all the talent in the team and have therefore looked like they're in relegation danger since the beginning of last season. If they do well this season then it's all fine, but if they do get relegated, then I really hope he gets out of there. Anyway, Argentina have had problems filling the right-back position, and he's played well when called up before, so he should start.

Ayala should of course start and be captain, no question about it. Gabriel Milito did well in the single match he played in the World Cup and should fill Heinze's boots effectively once again, partnering one of the best central defenders in the world. He's excellent for Zaragoza and to my mind cannot be blamed for the club's inconsistency as a whole. Again, they have some brilliant players - Aimar, D'Alessandro, Diego Milito, Ewerthon, young Gerard Pique - but somehow fail at getting results in week in week out. Coloccini of the crazy hair should not play unless there's an absolute need, since he utterly fails at being consistent.

Arrubarrena has been a great leader at Villarreal for a long time, giving 100% in every match, and I expect to see the same from him for Argentina after his surprise call-up. I'm not sure how solid he is in defense, but he goes forward quite well - typical Argentinean wing-back, in other words.

In midfield, Maxi Rodriguez's World Cup heroics, not to mention his recent great form for Atletico should see him start. I've put him on the right since Daniel Bilos played on the left against Brazil and did very well, hence his inclusion instead of Luis Gonzales. Somoza starts at holding midfield instead of Mascherano because what I've heard about his form for West Ham hasn't impressed me, plus he's not even properly match sharp yet. It pains me to write this, since I really like Masche and he's been always been great for Argentina, but he was very poor against Brazil and we can't afford that again. Somoza in contrast has been doing very well at new club Villarreal, earning good reviews, and played well against Brazil when he came on.

Insua I haven't seen too much of, nor was I convinced by his performance against Brazil, so - unfairly or not - he hasn't been considered. Aimar has really found a new lease of life at Zaragoza, playing in a more South American style alongside Andres D'Alessandro. His recent form for the club has been very impressive, although there has been the usual murmurs that he should pass more and dribble less, etc. But to me, that's not Aimar's style. After Riquelme's retirement, Aimar is now Argentina's best player, as well as the most creative. Like Riquelme his style is distinctive, and like Riquelme he can run a game if he feels like it. I'm hoping he has a good day, continuing with the great understanding he showed with Messi at the World Cup.

Speaking of which, my favourite Barca youngster should be very pleased to be playing alongside his childhood idol in Aimar. I was concerned with his form after the game against Racing, but it would be crazy not to start him after what he's done in recent games against Werder Bremen and Atletic Bilbao. So the question becomes who is going to partner him? Tevez should not be in contention to me, because he hasn't really gotten into his stride for West Ham and the stress surrounding all that means he probably won't play all that well (like against Brazil).

Saviola on the other hand has been on great form for Barca, where he has suddenly gotten a new lease of life due to the injury to Sammy Eto'o. He would probably just edge Aguero in my book because he has shown 1) that he can score goals right now and 2) he can play well with Messi. Those two train together everyday and therefore probably have a better understanding. Aguero has been on great form too, but - like Messi on a bad day - I'm still not convinced by his finishing. While the two claim that they would play well together because of their friendship and understanding, I'm not convinced since they've hardly trained together. Besides, they both seem more like second strikers to me, and we had that problem against Brazil already.

The major problems I can see with the line-up above, besides the striker issue I've already highlighted, would be 1) a lack of height, 2) a lack of width, and 3) midfield strength. Height problems are pretty normal for an Argentinean side because we've always had great but short players. But this proud tradition could find its most absurd expression in this formation, since the front attacking triangle could have an average height of about 1.67 meters (Aimar-Saviola-Messi). Aguero and Tevez aren't much taller. Thankfully the Spanish team aren't exactly giants themselves, nor are they always solid at the back or good at defending dead balls, so it's not exactly a disaster. Imagine if Argentina were playing the giants of Germany, though.

The second problem mostly stems from the specific opposition we're facing. This Argentina team is usually pretty good at using the wings, attacking with the full-backs linking up with the midfielders who feed the front three, but the single pivot style plus a front two does limit the width up front. This isn't normally a problem, but Spain do play my favourite formation, the 4-3-3, although they don't do it nearly as well as they could, to me. However, they do have excellent wingers and full-backs, not to mention great midfielders to link them, so our full-backs need to be careful, especially since the front two won't be able to help them push the opposition on the wings back in this kind of formation.

The last problem is linked to the second, namely that I can see this midfield being stifled out of the game. Maybe not by Spain, unless they play three central midfielders again (which would be stupid of them, judging by the last time they did such a thing), but Aimar is very liable to being shut down by a physical team, so Maxi and Bilos are going to have to cover for him, maybe even more than they did for Riquelme.

Spain

This will be less detailed as I don't know nearly as much about Spain as I do about Argentina. Still, they're fast climbing my favourites list, despite an admirably consistent tendency towards failure. On to squad news, and Reyes has pulled out with an injury, which is bad news since he's been in such good form lately for Real Madrid. Racist bastard coach Aragones could call up a replacement, but we're not sure who that will be just yet. Raul has been dropped for the first time in forever (literally), which is kind of awkward given the fact that he seems to be getting back to form. I'm not quite convinced that he is, so let's leave that and move on.

My preferred starting 11, out of the 17-man squad list (4-3-3):

-------------Casillas
Ramos---Pablo---Puyol---Lopez
---Fabregas--Alonso--Xavi
--Angulo---------------Vicente*
--------------Villa

*My preferred replacement for Reyes, since there's no one else in the present squad list who can play on the left wing

I love the fact that Spain use 4-3-3 but hate how flat and wingless their particular version can be. So my preferred Spain formation will probably never happen because it actually uses the wings, but nevermind. If Senna was fit he'd play instead of Cesc, because no matter how much I like the Arsenal boy Senna is still more reliable. Angulo and Vicente should be used because they're actual wingers, unlike some of the other players Aragones has used in their positions (Villa and Torres), who would provide some proper width, and they're on form. Villa is preferred to Torres because I think he's the best Spanish center-forward, period, and completely wasted on the wing.

On a final note, this will be a very interesting game in one sense because most of these players will be very familar with each other, since the majority play each other all the time in the Spanish league. So Sergio Ramos knows the joys of defending against Messi, Aimar and Aguero, for example, while the entire Argentine backline (all of them playing in La Liga) will know what a pain Villa can be to stop. It will also pit team mates against each other in Barcelona players Puyol and Xavi against Messi and Saviola, not to mention Atletico Madrid's Pablo, Antonio Lopez and Torres against Maxi and Aguero, and Valencia's Albelda, Angulo and Villa against Ayala. Should be fascinating to watch. Here's hoping for a good game.

the future of Argentina part 3: forwards

This is the last part in my series on the look and shape of the new Argentinean National Team, this time on the forwards. Due to the number of players covered, they've been divided up into two categories - center and second forward. Players are listed by age. At the end I'll sum up their possibilities of being involved with Basile's Argentina and to which extent.

Abbreviations: WYC = World Youth Championship, the U-20 tournament run by FIFA. Held every 2 years and won by Argentina in '95, '97, '01, '05 since Maradona first led his team to win it.

(Note: please take my classification with a pinch of salt, as it's a pretty fine distinction for many of these players.)


center forwards

Julio Cruz (Internationale, Italy) is highly unfortunately to be remembered mostly for coming on for Crespo to little effect in the game against Germany at the World Cup. A veteran of the game at 32, he's only been hovering at the edge of the Argentine squad in the last few years after a great season for Inter, scoring many goals in mostly substitute appearances. It was a choice between him and Diego Milito for the World Cup squad as back-up for Crespo, and he just edged it because of great form leading up to the end of the season. An uncomplaining hard-worker, it's sad that his only World Cup involved only two substitute appearances. At his age surely chances in the NT will be rare at best, although he's a very useful guy to have on the bench.

Hernan Crespo (Internationale, Italy) is the most experienced forward Argentina have currently at international level and probably the best center forward. He has had bouts of erratic form in club football lately and never settled in at Chelsea, but his 29 goals in 54 appearances for Argentina cannot be argued with. The man who took on the heavy mantle of Batigol has done as well as he can be expected to and on current form is certainly Argentina's best option. Joining Inter seems to have sparked off his club career again, some great goals having seen him take the place of Brazillian Adriano in the starting line-up. Must surely be Basile's first choice unless he has other considerations in mind. At 31, though, the Copa America would probably be the extent of his NT career.

Diego Milito (Zaragoza, Spain) has only 3 caps for Argentina. Frankly, I can't understand why. Well, perhaps Crespo's dominance and the fact that he spent two seasons in Serie B with Genoa, but surely someone who has been so excellent for his clubs for the best part of last season deserves a shot? He started at Zaragoza on electric form, notable achievements include a hat-trick against Barcelona in a match Zaragoza won 4-2 and putting 4 (!!!) past Real Madrid in a 6-1 pasting. Sadly both were Cup ties instead of league ones, but with both Spanish giants fielding pretty much the first team those were impressive achievements. Injury troubled him and his form dipped during the latter parts of the season, but frankly the whole club had sunk into a low they couldn't seem to overcome by then. Started this season brightly before getting injured in last week's match. He's 27 years old, just reaching the peak of his powers and in my humble opinion should definitely be given more chances in the battle to succeed Crespo with an eye on 2010.

Luciano Figueroa (Genoa, Italy) cannot be discussed without mentioning Delgado, who I'm going to talk about below. The reason for this is fairly unfortunate - Figueroa doesn't seem to play well without having Delgado as his strike partner. The two did very well together at Rosario Central and in the 2 seasons they were both at Mexican club Cruz Azul. All the other clubs Figueroa has attempted to play for has yelded fairly disastrous results, with perhaps his (very) short spell for River Plate last season an honourable exception. A member of the '04 Olympics-winning team (although I'm not sure he actually played), he somehow has 15 caps and 9 goals for Argentina - not bad, all things considered. It's hard not to admire him moving back to the Argentinean league just to increase his chances of being selected for the World Cup, and it looked like he might have an outside shot until he got a long-term injury. The 25 year old has little chance to play for the NT in the near future, not only because of his Delgado-dependency, but also because he's currently playing in Serie B.

Cesar Delgado (Cruz Azul, Mexico) is the other half of the pairing mentioned above, Figueroa's strike partner at both Rosario Central and Cruz Azul. He's also 25 years old, but there are a couple of key differences between the two. First, Delgado has managed to stay at the Mexican club and is doing fairly well there in his fourth season according to reports. Secondly, he can play well without Figueroa. Partnered Tevez to good effect in the '04 Olympics and has 18 caps for the NT, although his goalscoring record is less than impressive. In terms of talent, though, I think he's a better bet than Figueroa. Basile certainly seems to like him - he was due to be called up for the Brazil friendly until he got injured. Based on that, I'd say he has a good shot of getting into the team in the future.

Fernando Cavenaghi (Spartak Moscow, Russia) was one of the bright young hopes of Argentinean football at River Plate. Top scorer of the '03 South American title winning U-20 side, he was tipped for great things in Europe after an impressive goalscoring record with River in the 03-04 season. Then he moved to Russia and was never heard from again. Actually, that's not true. The problem is that Cavenaghi still hasn't settled in to life at Spartak, two years after moving there. In his first season he scored a mere 6 goals from 25 appearances. Things don't look to be improving this season so far either. It is my fondest hope that he'll secure himself a move out of Russia somehow and regain his form. What a waste if one of the (former) brightest young stars of his generation continues to struggle away from the spotlight. In current form, it would be risky for Basile to call him up, but there's still hope for the 23 year old in the future.


second forwards

Javier Saviola (Barcelona, Spain) is yet another former golden boy of Argentinean football, a story that's becoming sadly common especially amongst playmakers (see: Aimar) and strikers. During two phenomenal years for River Plate as part of a formidable team that also included Aimar, Ortega and Juan Pablo Angel, Saviola confirmed his status as the biggest rising star of his time by finishing the '01 WYC as both Top Scorer and winner of the Golden Ball, a feat that had only previously been accomplished by one man - Diego Maradona, of course. He still holds the all-time top scoring record in the tournament, having bagged 11 goals. After that, it was no surprise when Barcelona came calling.

Sadly, the decision to buy Saviola was made by a President who did not know what he was doing and bought players without consulting his coach (see: Riquelme). That brand of insanity also explains all the contracts of players signed during that era, which contained huge wages and bonuses. To be fair to Saviola, he was pretty good in the 3 seasons he played for Barca. But the problem is that the expectations upon a hugely expensive center forward at a club in such a state of crisis at the time were enormous, and 'pretty good' doesn't suffice. Rijkaard, the new coach, wanted a different kind of player, and the new management wanted to cut costs, so Saviola's transfer saga began. It is necessary to relate all this because that transfer saga is still going on, 2 seasons later. Saviola failed to settle at both clubs he was loaned to, notching up unimpressive goalscoring records. Barca are still trying to sell him, although he has stated his intention to see out the last year of his contract - persumably spending most of his time either on the bench or playing Copa del Rey matches, since he's a fair distance down the striker pecking order.

Anyway, all this hasn't stopped Saviola from reaching 30 caps for Argentina with a good goalscoring record. He was a member of the '04 Olympics squad, had a great start to the World Cup but faded in the match against Mexico and was dumped from the starting line-up against Germany. On form, he's pretty brilliant, but does tend to get into bad patches sometimes and disappear out of games. I actually quite like Saviola, and reportedly his team mates at Barca do too, so if the above sounds frustrated at all, it's only because I think he's put his international career in danger by choosing to stay at Barca. With such fierce and quality competition for his spot, he can't afford to be sitting around. At 25, Saviola should be approaching the peak of his career, and it's sad to see his progress languishing.

Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors, Argentina) is definitely having a much better time with his club by comparison. The 24 year old's career has really taken off in the last 2 seasons, making him one of the most lethal forwards in the Argentinean league. His excellent goalscoring record for Boca led to him being included in the World Cup squad, one of the few Argentina-based players to earn the honour. Unfortunately, he was limited to one substitute appearance against Ivory Coast, where he had to play as the lone striker as coach Pekerman reinforced the midfield by pulling off the other striker Saviola. Still, the big tournament experience can only help him in the future. Palacio only seems to be getting better for Boca, and surely it's only a matter of time before Europe comes calling. Here's hoping he doesn't do a Cavenaghi (see above), since in his current form he has a great shot at being selected for the NT, especially since the coach who has taken him to where he is now picks the Argentinean team.

Carlos Tevez (West Ham, England) or Carlitos, as he prefers to be called, was the main subject of the biggest story of this transfer window. Expectations are mounting on the 22 year old at West Ham, and they are legitimate ones given what he has achieved with his former clubs. After moving to Corinthians as Boca's best player, he scored an impressive 21 goals in 29 games and captained them to the Brazilian title. Carlitos was part of the '03 side that won the South American U-20 title and also an instrumental part of their '04 Olympics victory along with Mascherano, ending the Olympics as top scorer with 8 goals. He's one of the public's favourites, and accordingly has 20 caps, although not all that many goals. A great display at the World Cup earned him further European admirers, although Tevez did not agitate for a move until he fell out first with the fans, then the new coach. I know that Basile admires him, and he's enormously popular so I can't see him not being one of the first choices in the future. The problem is that if he doesn't settle into life in the EPL - and there are no signs yet that he has - a lack of form could see him excluded until he sorts the problem out.

Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, Spain) is the new Romario, the new Maradona or the new Messi, depending on who you ask. He doesn't want to be known as any of those things, naturally, although he's flattered by the comparisons. What he is, is a very, very good prospect for the future. Only 18 this year, he made cameo appearances in the aftementioned '05 WYC, most noticably drawing the penalty which Messi converted (again) to win the match.

'El Kun' became the youngest player to debut in the Argentinean first division at the tender age of 15 years and 35 days old, breaking a record set by - go on, guess - Maradona himself. He really came into his own in the last season, lifting Independiente with his strong runs, passing vision and plenty of goals. The big money move duly came from an Atletico desperate to spend their way out of mid-table mediocrity. He just scored one and made one in their 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in his first start to repay their faith and stake his claim for a starting spot. Best newcomer of the season? A good bet, I'd say, especially if he can help his club avoid their typical curse of flattering to deceive.

Him and Messi are an interesting case to consider tactically, especially the similarities to Riquelme and Aimar, albeit this pair play slightly further forward. Aguero has a powerful, accurate shot that Messi can't match which means that he's better suited to play as a forward. Messi, to me, has a better sense of the entire situation, so he's more suitable to play behind the strikers (hence me including him in the midfielders post). Like Riquelme and Aimar, the two are similar, but not so similar that they can't play together. Messi claims that they could do very well together because of their mutual understanding (the two are great pals - another parallel to their predecessors), so that would be interesting to see if Basile ever decides to play them together again when he's got a proper team and some time to work with them (i.e. not like how the friendly with Brazil). I for one hope that they don't end up being each other's substitute, with the result that one is eternally stuck behind the other for a starting place - for an example one need only look to, yet again, Riquelme and Aimar. I am convinced that Aguero can have a bright future in the NT, as long as he's not rushed into it.


Unlikely to feature

Julio Cruz - age is a merciless thing. So is competition.
Luciano Figueroa - I don't think there's that bad a shortage

Javier Saviola - once he slips out of contention, it's going to be hard to get back in


Likely to feature in Qualifying/Copa America

Hernan Crespo - still number one
Diego Milito - deserves a chance
Cesar Delgado - consistent performer, rated by Basile

Rodrigo Palacio - great current form and a Basile favourite
Carlos Tevez - if he finds his feet in the EPL. Too good to waste.
Sergio Aguero - hopefully will be slowly integrated into the team


Likely to feature in 2010

Fernando Cavenaghi - hopefully will regain his form sometime soon


This concludes my series on the future shape of the Argentinean team. I hope Albiceleste fans feel at least a little better about our team's future and non fans derive at least some enjoyment from my ramblings. Any comments you want to make would be great. I'll follow this up later with a post of random observations I've made while compiling this series, mostly about the spread of leagues and past youth team successes.

reflections on the 3rd week of la liga

My thoughts on some of this week's games, beginning with the customary long write-up of Barca's match.


Racing Santander vs Barcelona

Racing Santander (4-4-2): Tono - Luis Fernandez, Oriol, Pinillos, Ruben - F. Melo, Vitolo, Colsa (A. Tomas), C. Alvarez (Juanjo 56') - Munitis, Zigic (Aganzo 71')

FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes - Zambrotta, Márquez, Puyol (Oleguer 62'), Sylvinho - Edmilson, Xavi, Deco - Messi (Giuly 64'), Eto'o (Gudjonsen 79'), Ronaldinho.

Goals:
0-1 Eto'o (18')
0-2 Giuly (83')
0-3 Ronaldinho, pen. (92')

The Goals

The scoreline makes the game seem more of a walkover than it actually was. The other 3-0 against Osasuna - now, that was an actual walkover. Osasuna played much worse than Levski Sofia did and would have lost by a bigger margin than the Bulgarian side did if Barca hadn't laid off in the second half.

I think it's fair to say, though, that Barca never really bossed this game until what Eto'o called his 'accidental' goal. He also confessed to be uncomfortable with shots from outside the box (our midfielders are more into those), so the piledriver that was fumbled by Racing 'keeper Tono was purely speculative.

The goal did open up the game, though, and both teams had their chances, with all three Barca forwards shooting wide at least once, Ronaldinho guilty of a bad miss after Messi played him through, but the Argentine also shot over when presented with a chance on a plate by Tono.

Giuly came on for the utilitarian Messi, worked his ass off and was rewarded with a great goal of a Ronaldinho pass, breaking through what seemed like the entire Racing defence and slotting home.

The third came near the end of the game, when Gudjohnsen - who hadn't really been all that involved since coming on - went on a barnstorming run and was bought down by poor Tono inside the box. Ronaldinho made no mistake with the penalty against emergency keeper Melo, putting a sheen on the scoreline that Racing could really have done without.

Playmakers

Barca had 4 on the field at the beginning of the match, two in midfield and two up front. Xavi had his usual quietly effective passing game. He's an interesting contrast with Deco in that he doesn't tackle as much, but never wastes a ball. The accuracy of his passing is incredible, too. Deco is the more flamboyant of the two and did more of the dirty work, setting up play and taking shots on goal with seemingly endless energy. I expected Iniesta instead of him for this match, but he's so important to this team that it's going to be hard resting him.

The playmaking forwards, Messi and Ronaldinho, had games that were fairly similar to their midfield counterparts, setting up play, passing well and getting stuck in when they needed to, but for them that's not enough. Sitting deeper will never earn them accolades since they're expected to score goals.

Shooting

I rarely have cause to criticize the Barca offense, and perhaps it's odd to start now when we won 3-0. However, it has to be said that but for wastefulness in front of goal, the game would have been settled before half-time. I think every midfielder and forward missed at least a decent chance each. None of them were quite sitters, but there was definitely too much wastefulness in front of goal.

Selflessness

Samuel Eto'o has 3 assists from the last 4 matches - making him the player with the most assists as well as the top scorer of Barca. People talk about his goals, and yes, they're brilliant, but his game has developed into far more than just that.

It was noted after the game that Ronaldinho and Eto'o - both of whom have been criticized for being selfish in the past - had chances, and passed to a team mate in a better position instead of going for goal.

It was also good to see all the attacking players throw themselves into getting the ball back after they lose possession. Messi in particular has long had this habit, sometimes giving chase even into the opponent's box and demonstrating his surprising physical strength in muscling defenders off the ball. Eto'o has also improved enormously in this respect, at one point chasing an opponent and trapping him against the byline with Zambrotta until he had to kick the ball out.

Defence

After a shocker in the first league match, conceding 2 goals in fairly routine situations, the defence has been much improved in the last 3 games. Zambrotta is settling in well, his attacking runs always look threatening and he's beginning to combine with Messi in particular on the right wing. What amazes me about him is his speed at getting back into position after an attacking run and also his great technique, which was showcased in this game. In one move he held off 3 defenders near the byline, controlling the ball with a series of dummies and touches until help arrived. I think he's really going to enjoy showing a different aspect of himself than the ones most priced in Serie A, which we know he has in spades - discipline, positioning and physical condition.

Puyol and Marquez are reliable as always, somehow keeping big man Zigic quiet even though neither of them are what you'd call tall. Captain Caveman gave his typical all-action performance, and it was good to see him back in form. Rijkaard's rotation magic strikes again. Marquez was very, very impressive, particularly dealing with aerial balls. Thankfully after a forgettable game against Celta he's back to his consistent best. I was so happy when he finally got the recognition he deserved during the World Cup. Mexico's greatest player since Sanchez? I think so. It's always reassuring to have those two patrolling the back.

The same cannot be said of my feelings towards Oleguer, but he did fine coming on for Puyol, and even with him and Marquez Barca never looked uncomfortable defensively. A lot of Barca fans are very harsh on him, but he's not bad in the league.

Sylvinho gave an impressive performance offensively, combining well with Ronaldinho - but I've said that about every game he's played this season. He is in good form and looks like getting more chances this time after not featuring all that much last season. Still not sure I'd pick him if I wanted Barca's best backline defensively, but offers more than Gio currently when going forward.

I'll mention Edmilson here, since his job is mainly defensive. The majority of Barca fans think that he should be the first choice holding midfielder, and it's not hard to see why. Where Motta could perhaps use more experience, Edmilson is assured, tidy and effective. I'm not sure who's better going forward, but Edmilson is definitely better right now overall.

Above all of that, though, the defence was organised for the majority of the game - aside from the opening 10 minutes or so - which is not only great for us fans to see, but a rare occurance. I haven't seen Barca look this assured at the back for a long time, even more so when Thuram is playing, owing to what a Chinese fan called his imitation of the Great Wall.

Unity

To me, despite all the hype Barca have yet to completely hit their stride. In patches of the first half we saw the team at its best, especially around the 20 to 40 minute mark, when they managed to play one-touch passing, quick and fluid pure football, with plenty of individual flair thrown in. I believe the full expression of it will come, after the large squad have all gotten used to playing with each other in their designated roles.

The evidence that I rely on for this is the great atmosphere within the team despite the media's best attempts to stir up conflict with the non-existent "controversy" over Ronaldinho being "dropped" - he was, of course, injured - and Eto'o's tantrum. All the rested players have behaved admirably about their status, and all the new signings have indicated acceptance of the rules this Barcelona is built on, which is that you don't get to play all the games automatically and lapses of discipline are punished no matter how famous you are.

It is telling that Eto'o went straight over to Rijkaard after his goal and hugged him, and also that he went down the line touching all the benched players' hand after he was substituted. Everytime shots cut over to the Barca bench, we see players who are either intent on the match - Puyol being the most obvious example - or laughing and joking with each other (the Brazilians, mostly, and Gio).

Rijkaard

Some people say that Rijkaard doesn't need to be a great coach because he's got such a good team of players. Tell that to Real Madrid's various coachs during the last 2 years. Tell that to under-fire Inter coach Mancini. Maybe former assistant coach Ten Cate was the tactical mastermind behind so many great, game-saving substitutes - we'll see whether that's true this year after he left - but there's no doubt that Rijkaard is the one keeping a group of very talented but potentially violatile players happy and motivated. A handy talent that many would no doubt like to have - Sven, for example.

Statistics

Barcelona enjoyed 77% possession, more than double the number of shots and 90% accuracy in passing. It's that last statistic that I'm most impressed by. Barca always dominate possession and almost always take more shots. But given the double substitution made around the hour mark and Gudjohnsen coming on later on, it's good to see that the passing game is working as well as ever.

On a different note, what a card-happy referee that was. 9 bookings in a not particularly violent game is too much.

Rotation

This season has seen squad rotations of even greater scale than last season, reflecting both the upcoming nightmare schedule and the increased depth of the team. I wholeheartedly approve of Rijkaard's choices even if it means some of my favourite players getting dropped. The only way to ensure that the benched players don't feel aggrieved is to show that no one is immune to being dropped if they play badly. Almost all the big names have been rotated so far this season with the exception of Deco and Eto'o, even the previously untouchable captain Puyol.

I have a feeling that Deco will get rested soon, or at least be pulled off at around the hour mark again as he was against Osasuna. As for Eto'o, if we had a substitute who could produce results like he does, he would get more rest. As it is, Gudjohnsen hasn't quite clicked into the team yet, so he's reduced to substitute appearances at around the hour mark or after that. Eto'o took substitution very well against Santander, which is a good sign when he is actually rested.

Injuries

I hope not. Puyol was substituted because he picked up a knock, though. Eto'o was also kicked around pretty thoroughly, although he doesn't look to be injured.

Santander

They started brightly, but became aimless after the first 15 minutes and were crap for the rest of the first half. In the second half they were much improved and played a more physical, tighter marking game, especially when taking advantage of Barcelona's double substitution before they could settle. Lots of fouls, but that's what the lower ranked teams should be doing against teams like Barca and Madrid.

I will predict that they'll struggle for this season and be in relegation danger again, not only on account of not having won any matches or scored any goals so far. If the hallmark of champions is the ability to win even when you don't deserve to (see: Chelsea) then the hallmark of relegation battlers is losing points at the last gasp when they don't deserve to (see: Watford). Atletico coach Aguirre admitted after their opening home against Santander that they were extremely fortunate to win 1-0. It was a similar story with Getafe, where Santander also lost 1-0. That combined with their inability to take chances against Barca may turn out to be the story of their season.

Racism

Enough. Samuel Eto'o is a brilliant player who happens to be black. Attack him if you must, but why bring race into it? Once again, some Racing fans bring the whole league into disrepute.


Athletic Bilbao vs Atletico Madrid

El Kun

Everybody said he was great, even though most of them had not seen him play before. Of course Sergio Aguero is a great player - anyone who can carry a team in the Argentinean first division at the age of 17 is. But now Spain has seen what he can do, and they're raving about the kid who scored one and was involved in 2 other goals in the 4-1 thrashing of Athletic. The new Messi? If you mean 'amazing amounts of hype around talented Argentinean youngester', then yeah, sure. Here's hoping he can bring some consistency to Atletico.

El Nino

Atletico's victory will have raised questions about just how vital Fernando Torres is to the side, contrary to previous assumptions by some that he was the only thing holding the team up. He may find that the new Atletico under Aguirre needs him less and less. Maybe he really does need to leave his childhood team if he really wants to improve.

Athletic

What can you say? Crisis time, definitely. There were white hankys waved and calls for the resignation of the club President at the game itself. Something needs to be done or they're going to be in a relegation battle again by the end.


Sevilla vs Real Betis

Sevilla

To me, they could be title challengers if they resist the temptation to sell players like Daniel Alves to Real Madrid. Of the two fixtures they have before Barcelona, I don't expect Getafe to really test them especially playing away, but the game against Atletico next week in the Calderon should be very interesting indeed, given the thrashing they administered to Athletic Bilbao. If Atletico can beat Sevilla, then they'll look far more convincing challengers for a UEFA Cup or even Champions League spot.

Betis

That Rafael Sobis - what a good piece of business for Betis. 2 goals in the Seville derby against a very good Sevilla team isn't bad at all. Considering Joaquin's unimpressive display for Valencia and how much cash Betis got out of the transfer, maybe that wasn't such a loss either.


Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad

Capello

You can take the coach out of Italy, but you can't take...okay, that was harsh. But 4-5-1 against Sociedad? At home? Fielding his two arguably most out of form players in Guti and Raul? Not playing the improving Cassano? At least his decision to bring on Robinho for Emerson was good and helped turn the game in Madrid's favour, otherwise the boos at the beginning of the game might have turned into white hankys by the end.

Raul

Unfortunately still crap.

Beckham

I didn't think he was the player at the top of the 'should be dropped' list (see above), but apparently Capello did. Still, at least he came on and scored a goal. Reyes does look rather more lively in that midfield position, and on the evidence of that game can bend it - freekicks, that is - just as well, so maybe he should be worried.

Next week

The table-top clash of Barca and Valencia means that at least one leading team will fall off the pace by the time the dust settles. It's a great chance for Real to leap frog one or both of their big rivals if they can win their game against Betis, who aren't doing too badly themselves. They've lost two games, but considering the opponents - Valencia and Sevilla - and the close results of both games, it's actually a pretty good start for them. Atletico have a good chance to get themselves into the top 6 if they can beat leaders Sevilla, but it's a big ask for an inconsistent team. And besides, Fernando Torres will be back which means no Aguero, at least if coach Aguirre continues to put his faith in inconsistent Mista instead.

Deportivo and Zaragoza will both be looking to move up the table, Deportivo with the easier job away to Levante, and Zaragoza taking on the out-of-sorts Villarreal. It's true that Levante are higher in the standings, but to me Villarreal are more of a quality team, and if they can shake off their customary early-season slump, then they could give Zaragoza a run for their money. This season is a bit odd for me as it is now this clash instead of the Valencia derby which features the Argentinean 'golden generation' midfield pair, Pablo Aimar and Juan Roman Riquelme. It would be interesting to see which of these part-time magicians end up shining more brightly.

As for Barca, given my success predicting the starting line-up this week, I'll venture forward with who I think should start against Valencia.

(4-3-3): Valdes; Zambrotta, Puyol, Marquez, Gio; Edmilson, Deco, Xavi; Giuly, Eto'o, Ronaldinho. Substitutes would probably include Iniesta at some point for Xavi or Deco for the sake of energy conservation for Bremen and Messi for Giuly after the hour mark, since the flying Frenchman runs out of steam sometime around then.

The backline is what I feel to be our best defensive combination against a team with considerable attacking threat. Sylvinho's been playing well, but he's not as good defensively as Gio. Same with Belletti and Zambrotta. Thuram is left out because I think he'll be needed more in the Champions League match against Bremen mid-week. Edmilson should start instead of Motta because he's more defensively sound, Deco, Xavi and Giuly because they're all in good form, Giuly in particular. He can have his off patches, but this isn't one of them. Messi on the other hand hasn't really looked the force he was last season, with Rijkaard stating that he wants to bed Messi in slowly after that niggling injury so that he gets back to top form. I think that's very wise, especially since the Argentine makes such a devastating supersub.

Nightmare schedule

If Barca are to stumble, it will probably be in the next month or so, with an amazingly difficult run of fixtures. First, Valencia visit the Camp Nou next week. Then there's the mid-week game against Bremen away in the Champions League. Away to Bilbao on the 1st of October should be a breather if they continue their current poor form, but one never knows with them. After that Barca host their European Super Cup conquerors Sevilla on the 15th and will be hoping for revenge against the current in-form team of La Liga. But that's not all. Chelsea await in the Champions League on the 18th as the team goes back to Stamford Bridge, and if they survive all that, Real Madrid will surely prove a stern test in the Bernabeu on the 22nd.

Phew, I'm tired just looking at that list. And a bit worried. I wouldn't mind Rijkaard throwing the Sevilla game by playing a weaker team if we could be at full strength against Chelsea and Real, quite frankly. But I guess that also depends on whether or not Sevilla lose between now and then.