the future is bright

As things have gone from bad to worse recently, Barcelona fans have increasingly focused our hopes on young players coming out of the club's much praised youth system. In fact, most of the best and most consistent performers in the past two seasons have been new cantera graduates - Messi, Iniesta and Bojan in addition to those who have been stalwarts for a while like Xavi and Puyol.

Unfortunately, Barcelona's reserve side, Barca B (who will be changing their name back to Barca Athletic as of next season) were relegated from the Third Division (or Second B, as they call it in Spain) at the end of last season. They were directionless, unmotivated, and relying on a few star names (mainly Giovani Dos Santos and Bojan Krkic) to carry them through - is this starting to sound familiar to anyone?

Fortunately, the board bought back playing legend Pep Guardiola to coach the B team in June of last year. Since then, he's done a great job restoring discipline, morale and a sense of identity to a squad with no ideas, no direction who had been stripped of their brightest stars.

They've now won their group of the league and go into the promotion play-offs in a very favourable position for the semis as they'll be facing a team who finished fourth in their group and they'll have the second leg at home.

Congratulations to them.

And well done to Pep for this achievement (make no mistake, getting Barca B back in shape was a mission, no matter which division they were playing in). El Pais has a brilliant article on his coaching methods, hinting at what his approach to the first team will be like next season. It's well worth reading even through the muddle of Google Translate.

the kids are alright (and scarily talented)

There were 7 Barca players in the Spain squad that just won the European U17 title, beating France 4-0 in the final. (It would have been 8 or 9, but a couple of them got injured before the tournament - it seems the injury curse even affects the youth teams.)

They were: Alejandro 'Alex' Sánchez (GK), Carles Planas, Martín Montoya (DF), Oriol Romeu, Adriá Carmona, Thiago Alcántara (MF), Rubén Rochina (FW)

Montoya is a very promising fullback, which is nice as we haven't produced one in a while. Ruben the striker's not bad either - although he is, in the way that young players tend to be, a bit of a lone ranger. The big star amongst that group though is Thiago, who is the son of former Brazilian international Mazinho. He's a creative midfielder who has been compared in style to Deco.

(Ruben also deserves a special mention for scoring a brace for the Juvenil A team to win their Clasico against Real right after coming back from the tournament.)

And I haven't even mentioned Gai Assulin, the Israeli who has already made his debut with the national team at the age of 16, and who has made quite a splash in the B side this past season already.

At a time when the first team's reliance on the youth system is greater than ever, despite the increasing spending on big names, it's reassuring that we've got so much to look forward to.


(I am slowly and painfully writing my tribute to Frank Rijkaard, as well as an ode to the tridente (R-E-M) which was the most feared forward line in Europe for approximately one glorious year.)

News round-up: Barca transfers and La Liga title race

Barca transfer news

Edmilson says that he's ready to leave if the club want him to, with Marseille a possible destination. He also has some sober insights about the Liga finale.

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon denies reports that the Saviola deal is done. I really hope he's right, here. This move would be the worst possible outcome, from my perspective.

Undeterred by the angry response from Lyon which greeted Barca's rather low offer for Abidal, we have enquired after Tiago instead, according to the French club. Not sure about this idea. I see what they're trying to do, and yes we do need a defensive midfielder, but we don't need another Motta, as much as I love him. What we do need is someone like Edgar Davids in his prime, who had such an effect when he was signed 3 years ago. (I keep saying we need a Frank Rijkaard, really, but where are we going to get that?) What little I've seen of Tiago doesn't give me much confidence that he's the one we're after. Surely we can spare some cash for such an important position.

Eto'o's not going anywhere, like I keep saying. AC Milan can stop trying to unsettle him any minute now...any minute now. Great friendship between the two clubs and all that. Really.

Title race updates

For those of you who are not living and dying by this title race, the fixtures for the last week of La Liga are:

Real v Mallorca
'Nastic vs Barca
Sevilla v Villarreal

As the table stands now: Madrid 73, Barca 73, Sevilla 71

Differences are decided by head to head results, which are as follows: Madrid 5 - 3 Barca, Barca 4-3 Sevilla, Madrid 4 - 4 Sevilla (Sevilla has the superior goal difference)

Related news items

"The single motive of my life is to defeat Barça." - 'Nastic coach Paco Flores gets just a little carried away. I know they don't like us there, but that's a bit much, isn't it?

Sevilla's Chevanton is not happy about the refereeing, which he says has affected Sevilla's title changes. No doubt he's right, and if the bias towards the big two, especially at home, didn't exist Sevilla would probably have an easier time of it. Although to be fair they've blown their chances almost as many times as Barca have this season. No matter what happens, I think they're going to be my team of the season, just for their accomplishments thus far, which are no mean feat given the domination of the established old order in European football.

Barca 'keeper Victor Valdes (who has had an excellent season, really) still believes in the remote possibility of the blaugranas coming out on top.

The ever-wise Raul says that nobody should believe that the title is already won and urges caution ahead of their game. The Madridista media, for one, don't seem to have heard him, but fair enough given the circumstances.

In related news, Calderon denies celebrating winning the league one game early. Again, I can understand why he was excited - I would have been, too, and as the media are saying, they've got 9 fingers on the trophy. Just one more week. You've waited 3 years (which is I believe about the same length of time as Barca's last drought), surely that's not difficult?

The ever-sensible Juande Ramos of Sevilla isn't too happy about Real's celebrations, but still thinks they'll probably win it. I really like Ramos. He's a good manager who just gets on with the job and is always diplomatic.

The Brazilian national team are adamant that Robinho report for international duty instead of staying for Real's game.

Diarra, on the other hand, is ready to abandon club for country to play for Mali in their crucial qualifer for the African Cup of Nations.

On the other hand, Eto'o's not going to play for Cameroon, but they're doing pretty well anyway with 12 points from 4 games, so unlike Mali they don't have much to worry about. He also has some harsh but very pertinent words regarding the Liga finale in the article linked above.

Just as an aside, I have to say, this entire mess where as many as 27 players could be missing from their final game because of international commitments can be entirely blamed on the ineptitude of the LFP (the Spanish FA). Nice scheduling, guys.

Update: Real claim that they have made deals with both Diarra and Robinho's national federations that will allow them to play in the last round. Dunga still doesn't sound happy, though.

Gudjohnsen has been ruled out for Barca with a knee injury. On the Real side, David Beckham's ankle is still giving him problems and he is racing to be fit.

Controversial Spanish NT coach Luis Aragones wants Barca to win the title. Aragones used to coach both Barca and Real's opponents Mallorca (not at the same time, obviously), where he had a stormy but ultimately successful working relationship with a certain Cameroonian striker with the first name Samuel, who calls him 'grandpa'. Anyway, I really don't know what to add to this weird bit of news. Some part of me wants to say that it's really inappropriate for Aragones to comment on this issue, as there are players from all three title-chasing clubs in his national team and there have been enough controversies over selections and who gets to rest ahead of their club matches as it is. But then I suppose he's free to say whatever comes to his mind, as his record shows. So thanks, Luis - I think.

Barca striker Maxi Lopez, who is on loan at Mallorca, has vowed to do his best to help Barca win the title. That is rather sweet of him, and I dare say that if he manages it his own stock will rise amongst those in charge at the Camp Nou. Talk is easy, but the sentiment is definitely appreciated. Vamos Maxi!

Edited to add: updates on a few of the news items above

Barca news and press round-up

Barca have no games for 2 weeks. I'm actually pleased about this as it gives me a chance to catch up on blogging. There are about 3 unfinished articles and a couple of match reports coming up. But first, a news round-up.

internationals

10 members of the squad are off on international duty. Details:

Xavi, Iniesta and Puyol (Spain) - the usual suspects head off for vital Euro 08 qualifiers. Puyol is suspended for the Denmark clash in the Bernabeu, which is followed by playing Iceland in Mallorca.
Gudjohnsen (Iceland) - speaking of which, captain Eidur has also been called up for the aftementioned game.
Ronaldinho (Brazil) - Ronnie will head off to Gothenburg to play Chile and then to Stockholm to play Ghana as part of Brazil's friendlies schedule.
Marquez (Mexico) - captain Rafa will be involved in pre-Copa America friendlies against Paraguay and Ecuador back in Monterrey and Oakland respectively.
Gio Van Bronckhorst (Holland) - as a senior member of the Dutch squad, Gio will probably end up playing both Euro qualifiers against Romania and Slovenia respectively.
Zambrotta (Italy) - Zambrotta returns to the Italian squad for the Euro qualifier against Scotland.
Thuram (France) - the veteran defender has been called up for an Euro qualifier against the mighty Lithuania and a friendly against co-host nation Austria.
Eto'o (Cameroon) - Sammy finally makes his return to the Cameroonian NT for an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia in Yaonde.

injury news

Deco has had an operation on his finger following the injury he sustained in a challenge against Recreativo. For what it's worth, club doctors say that he will be able to resume playing with 'special protection' in 3 weeks time - which is rather convenient. He'll have to miss Portugal's qualifiers in the next two weeks, and the visit of Depor, but he was booked for the aftementioned challenge and would have been suspended anyway. So it all works out. Hopefully he will return on time against Zaragoza, as his form was much improved in his last outing.

transfer news

The only credible transfer news lately has been about who's not going anywhere. Belletti renewed his contract, finally putting those AC Milan rumours to rest. The new one-year extension will take him through to 2009. Jorquera also recently agreed improved terms and will be available to give reliable if unspectacular performances in Spanish Cup games until 2008.
Zambrotta has come out and denied that he wants to go back to Italy - apparently after settling in, he's finally beginning to enjoy himself in Spain. I'm very pleased about this, as Zambro is my favourite (non-Argentinean) full-back (not just in Barca, but in European football) and I would very much like him to continue playing for us.

Rijkaard has also spoken out on the constant speculation linking him with a move to AC Milan. He feels that he 'owes a debt' to the club for putting their faith in him and basically in his own roundabout way said that he would not leave unless results compelled him to, or if the club didn't want him anymore. He's a polarising figure amongst Barca fans, but personally I would rather have him than anybody else, even with all his tactical flaws. Hotheaded he may have been as a player, but his behaviour as coach has been impeccable and many times by his words and actions he has made me proud to support Barca.

news story of the day

Most football fans could probably name a favourite retired/former player from their club off the top of their head. Barca fans have a lot of choice - Maradona, Cruyff, Rivaldo, Suarez and so on, not to mention members of the Dream Team.

My personal favourite happens to be someone who achieved nothing at senior international level and retired after years in the wilderness after being tainted by a ban for allegedly taking illegal substances. That doesn't sound too great, especially considering some of the other options, but he was and continues to be hugely respected in Spain, even amongst Madridistas. They say that he was the only Barca player the Bernabeu never booed. He is the reason Barca's youth academy has become a mass production line for a certain type of midfielder. Ask Fran Merida, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta or even Xabi Alonso who they idolize, why they became the players they are today; ask Xavi who he measures himself by; and they'll give you his name.

He was known as that rare species, an articulate and intelligent footballer whose soft-spoken elegance led to years of ignorant innuendo about his sexual orientation. He was a passionate advocate for the Catalan team and its occasional captain. He gave up law school for football.

I am of course talking about the inimitable 'Pep' Guardiola.

Guardiola's understanding of football is total and intuitive, but he is also capable of explaining the concepts with clarity in simple terms. One day, he is going to make a fantastic coach.

When he speaks, people listen. And he chose to speak in defence of Ronaldinho:

“He’s got a right to imperfection and also needs to be judged by his performances over a period of time, not with a game-by-game judgement from critics. He may have dipped a little from what he was doing before, but it’s inhuman to expect any football player to be on the top of his form, beating personal records and carrying a team on his shoulders the whole time. Nobody in the history of football has maintained that standard all the time."

He also said that he wanted Rijkaard to stay, defended the recent use of 3-4-3, and praised the 'extraordinary class' of Messi while urging people not to pressure him on the goalscoring front.

and a light-hearted note to end on...

I've been wondering where Edmilson has disappeared off to in the last few weeks. He wasn't picked for Brazil and he hasn't played for Barca for a while. I hope he's doing alright. Poor guy's not had the best of luck at Barca, injury-wise.

UEFA magazine had a rather amusing and endearing story about the Brazilian, which I'll quote in full here:

Footballers and their cars, eh? Or 'rides' as some of these whipper-snappers will have it. All flash, and no doubt with the latest mod-cons like go-faster stripes and CD players. Thank God for FC Barcelona defender Edmílson to restore some motoring sanity, professing his love for that most honest of jalopies, the humble tractor. "If I wasn't a footballer I would have become a long-distance truck driver," he told Britain's Daily Telegraph. "Even today, when I go back to my father's farm, I love to drive his tractors." Practical, reliable and sturdy. And tractors are not bad either! (Thank you very much, and good night.)

FORCA SAVIOLA! (and Zanetti is forever, or at least I hope so)

France 0 - 1 Argentina

How many times am I going to end up singing the praises of El Conejo this season? First Barca, then for my beloved Albicelestes, he's made the difference. More later on the game itself (France put out a good line-up, and that was an old, old Argentina side, but the amount of experience helped) as well as the other friendly results (Iniesta scoring at Old Trafford!), but for now...

Frankie, Txiki, Laporta:

Can we keep him? Please?

Sincerely,

An increasingly antsy supporter

more good news

Roberto Ayala has signed a 3 year contract with Villarreal after contract negotiations between him and Valencia broke down yet again. I'm glad he's going to my second team, because he's still got a lot to give, even at his age, and I was so pissed off with the way Valencia's sporting director Carboni treated him despite the vital role he has played for the club during his many years at Valencia.

Spain 2 Argentina 1 - A Dissection

First of all, I have to congratulate whoever decided to play the match in Murcia, on a newly re-laid pitch which led to two injuries and at least two more scares. Neither manager wanted to play on that pitch, and with good reason.

The most serious of these is the one that forced Maxi Rodriguez out of the game early on. Poor Maxi - his injury is a huge blow to both Argentina and his club Atletico, who are doing very well at the moment. The lastest news seems to be that he's going to be out for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage, which is truly horrific news. Atletico must be concerned about losing one of their best players for so long, and this is just awful for Maxi personally since he looked to be on track for his best season in Spain. Get well soon, Maxi!

The other injury that really got on my nerves is the one sustained by Carles Puyol in the warm-up. He'll hopefully only be out for a short time and might be back in time for the Chelsea game. The two scares I mentioned are Luis Garcia, who was set to start but instead came in from the bench, and Carlos Tevez, who played on despite a knee injury. Hopefully neither will turn out to be serious.

Spain

4-4-2: Reina; Sergio Ramos, Juanito, Pablo, Capdevila (Antonio Lopez 46'); Angulo (Fabregas 76'), Albelda (Xabi Alonso 46'), Iniesta, Xavi; Villa, Torres (Luis Garcia 57')

I'm happy for the Barca boys, especially captain Xavi, a wonderful player who I'm very fond of. His goal was a cracker, beautifully set up by Iniesta's run. Iniesta had a brilliant game overall, highlighting just how criminally underused he has been in the Spanish team. Granted, they have a lot of midfield talent - Fabregas, Albelda, Xabi Alonso, Senna, the aftementioned Xavi - but what a waste. His time will come, though, perhaps in the next World Cup. In the meantime, Aragones has proved me wrong about wingers - he doesn't seem to need them after all. That said, Argentina didn't exactly use the wings either, so it's not a foregone conclusion.

Argentina

-----------Abbondazieri
Zabaleta--Ayala--Milito--Arruabarrena
--Gonzales--Mascherano--Bilos*
--------------Insua
-------Messi-------Tevez

*replaced Maxi Rodriguez early when he had to go off with a knee injury.

After the subs -

-----------Abbondazieri
Zabaleta--Ayala--Milito--Arruabarrena
---Gonzales--Somoza--Bilos*
--------------Aimar
------Saviola------Aguero

Now, before I dig my nails into the whole thing, a caveat. It is no great disaster to lose narrowly to a team like Spain. Certainly this is a better result than the loss to Brazil. Having read the Brazilian media's complaints about the quality of opposition they've had for friendlies (New Zealand and Kuwait come to mind from recent games) I think matching up against top-quality teams like Argentina are doing is better. Even if we lose the experience gained is valuable. We have friendlies against the likes of France and Germany lined up for next year, which has to be a good thing for this young team. The overall reaction from Argentina fans seems excessively strong given the above. That said, there are some causes for concern.

Problems: Line-up

I wasn't happy when the starting line-up was announced, but kept quiet in the hopes that I'd be proven wrong. No dice. Let's start from the defence and work our way up, shall we?

To me, there was nothing particularly wrong with the backline. However, poor Arruabarrena is now being slated for his performance at left-back. The chattering classes do have a point in that if Basile was so desperate for a left-back that he recalled a 31-year-old whose last cap came quite a few years ago, he might have gone for former captain Sorin instead. Not that Arruabarrena is bad, it just smacks of an emergency choice given Basile's stated preference for young players. That said, Argentina do seem to have a bit of a problem at left-back. I can only think of Diego Placente and Leandro Cufre who can play in that position. Other suggestions are more than welcome.

On to the midfield, then. I really like Mascherano, and he's a great player, but in current form I really don't know why he started the game. Unlike the problems at left-back, we've got plenty of great holding midfielders, so it's not like there's a shortage.

A position where there seems to be a critical shortage right now is the #10. I realized that when I say 'lone playmaker' that's not actually getting the concept across properly. What I mean by that is the Maradona role, basically. In this game the team missed Riquelme, not the Riquelme of Villarreal's semi-final defeat to Arsenal, but the Riquelme of Argentina 3, Brazil 1, the man who could impose his will on a game. Even the Argentine press - who practically hounded him into retirement - have now admitted he's simply the best Argentinean player right now.

Both Basile's choices to replace him failed that test this time. Aimar should perhaps be given another chance since he didn't get enough time in this game to show what he could do, but Insua has tried and failed twice now. Two games don't tell the whole story, but the question has to be asked whether someone who hasn't exactly made a massive impact for Borussia Monchengladbach this season yet should be the center of Argentina's game. I'm being a bit harsh on the man, since he did set up the equalizer, but all of us expect so much more from our playmaker.

Aimar's situation is that he has both the talent and the form problems of Riquelme. I remain convinced that he can succeed as the #10 if Basile shows enough faith in him. The only thing he can do right now is to continue improving for his club and hope that Basile is watching closely.

Moving on to the front line. Tevez is a great player, but he is not in form right now, and therefore he should not have started. Compounding the problem is the fact that him and Messi are in some ways very similar players - both are more comfortable bursting into the box from out wide or midfield than playing as a central striker. Despite what Basile said about playing Messi in a free role, that's not going to work if he's running into the same space as the playmaker - who also has a free role - all the time and attempting to do the same work. Neither Messi or Tevez are clinical finishers in the 20 goals a season sense. In fact, both are more like a #10, as discussed above. Rather than pushing them forward, playing them a bit further back might actually work better. I understand that they're both not quite mature enough as players to be the playmaker just yet, but both would make good strike partners for a proper finisher.

Saviola and Aguero together make a touch more sense since at least Saviola has some of the qualities of a central striker. Aguero on the other hand is more like Tevez and Messi. He was Independiente's #10 before moving to Spain, where of course they don't use playmakers in the same sense, unless you're Villarreal. Basile knows what these players are like. So why was no replacement for Crespo called up? It's not as if Argentina only have him as central striker.

Problems: Execution

The midfield was pretty shambolic at times, nobody seeming to know what they were supposed to be doing. Neither playmaker could stamp their authority on the game. Insua was all over the place and Aimar failed to shine. Insua also ended up in the same positions as the forwards far too many times, especially Messi. Perhaps that was inevitable, since both forwards were playing like midfielders - dropping deep to win possession, running through the midfield and expecting whoever was on the end of the penetrating pass to finish. Maybe that's a hint to Basile to actually play them in midfield, but I digress. Both Messi and Tevez squandered absolutely golden chances to score off great passes from...each other, actually.

Positives

Zabaleta should continue to be called up. I'm convinced that he can develop into a really good player with more experience. Works hard, never gives up and has a mature head on his shoulders. Additionally, I'm convinced that this backline, even with the current personnel, can work well with a bit more training time together.

Bilos has done well against Brazil and in this game. More chances for him, please, especially now that Maxi's out for so long. There seems to be no need to worry about the midfield in general, with the notable exception of the #10 position. Even then, it seems to me that those who claim Argentina lack suitable candidates for the position need to look harder. We have plenty of options, it just depends on whether Basile wants to use them or not.

(Seriously, Messi or Tevez on the tip of midfield. Try it. If Basile's willing to give him a free role, then why not take the next step?)

Conclusions

In the end, the fundamental problem for Argentina is three fold. First, the bulk of these players are young. Some have played very few or no competitive internationals. Less than half the squad have Champions League experience. That is going to show when it comes to big matches.

Second, the forward line for this game was so lacking in height it was comical - the tallest, Sergio Aguero, is a hardly Peter Crouch-esque 1.72 meters. That in itself isn't a problem. The issue is more that of the four, only Javier Saviola could be said to be anywhere near being a center forward. That position is something Basile will have to sort out fast.

Third, some of these guys were meeting each other for the first time. They had 2, 3 days of training together, and then, bam, they have to play against Spain. It was the same versus Brazil. Argentina aren't going to win matches with this set-up. In this vein, I agree wholeheartedly with Basile's approach to the Copa, which is to get a group of players based in Argentina together to train regularly and add in some players from abroad. He won the Copa in '93 with this approach, so we know it works. That said, I'll still feel disappointed if he doesn't use certain very capable and deserving players who ply their trade in Europe. Roberto Ayala for example - if anyone deserves a trophy to go out on, it's him. It would be a nice thing for Crespo as well.

Logically, when a team built around one player loses that player, it falls to pieces. The job Basile is faced with now is rebuilding the Argentinean team entirely. It's certainly not an easy task. I wish him luck.

Euro 2008 Watch and Barca round-up

Sweden 2-0 Spain

Why, Aragones, why? Having made a good decision in dropping Raul, he proceeds to screw everything else up by playing a narrow 4-4-2. So many inexplicable selection decisions - why Juanito and Capdevila? Why Fabregas and then Iniesta on the left wing? Does Spain not have any actual left wingers who aren't named Reyes?

Less ranting observations - Villa and Torres aren't a bad striking partnership, but part of me thinks that Spain might do well to recall Fernando Morientes and pair him up with Villa given the success they have as partners at Valencia. Puyol and Casillas have real communication problems. In the end, it says volumes that one of the best goal scoring chances for the Spaniards came from Puyol's header from a Xavi corner, which was cleared off the line.

By the way, Aragones doesn't intend to quit. What would make this man resign?

Italy 2-0 Ukraine

A vital result for the world champions, and although they don't quite convince just yet, the return of Luca Toni has to be a sight to warm the hearts of Azzuri fans. What an entertaining player he is. Ukraine were without bed-ridden Andriy Shevchenko and will need to improve if they want to qualify.

England 0-0 Macedonia

Tell me again how different McClaren's England is from Sven's? Those who were never convinced have even more ammunition now. It must also be worrying that Steven Gerrard - one of England's better midfielders, on any day - will now miss the next game against Croatia because of a second booking in two games. Surely a team with the aspirations of England should be able to find a quality replacement holding midfielder when their first choice is injured. McClaren is reportedly upset by England's lack of 'quality' in attack - which would be comical if it weren't so frustrating for England supporters. They were jeered off the pitch by their own fans, which says it all, really.

In other Barca-related news, Portugal cruised to a 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan courtesy of a goal by Ricardo Carvalho sandwiched between a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo, with Deco playing well. France (and Thuram) crashed to a 1-0 defeat in Scotland, Eidur Gudjohnsen's Iceland were defeated 4-0 by Latvia (ouch), and the Netherlands - with Gio in his customary left-back position - were held to a 1-1 draw by Bulgaria, coached by Barca legend Hristo Stoichkov. Bad news for Liverpool, by the way - Dirk Kuyt seems to have picked up an injury. No injuries to Barca players so far, which is good, especially since quite a few of the uninvolved players - Edmilson and Marquez in particular - have picked up knocks recently.

Barca News

Brazil won their friendly with Kuwait 4-0, with Ronaldinho having a bit of quiet game, setting up the strikers rather than running at goal himself. Not a problem, really, but we'll see what happens against more substantial opposition in Ecuador.

There's been renewed controversy over Chelsea putting tons of sand on the Stamford Bridge pitch before Barcelona visit. I'm not quite convinced just yet that it isn't just maintenance as Chelsea say. Most of the pre-match controversy is press-generated anyway. We'll see what the pitch looks like on the night. However, I have to quote Andres Iniesta (in the press conference before Sweden-Spain):

"We know what Mourinho is like," said Iniesta. "If the game turns out the same as last year then it won't bother us if he puts sand on the pitch...he can put whatever he wants on the pitch - it's all the same to us."

Well said, young man.

Javier Saviola has claimed that he would like a contract extension at Barca rather than a move somewhere else. I believe that the Real Madrid rumours are completely rubbish. By the way, it is my policy to not mention any transfer rumours unless they're credible, so you won't see anything about Gago and Palacio to Barca here. That said, Gago has been telling anyone who'd listen that he'd love to play for Barca or Real - who wouldn't? I don't see the need on Barca's side, frankly. While Edmilson is injury-prone, his young replacement Motta isn't that bad. Buying another defensive midfielder smacks of Galatico-style treasure collecting.

Poor Ludovic Giuly was left mystified yet again as the France coach opted for fricking Nicolas Anelka instead of him to replace injured winger Govou and striker Louis Saha. What does he have to do to get back into the national team, for God's sake?

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.

David Albelda believes the Spanish team is too divided and wants to tell the world

Oh, Albelda. You're a great captain for Valencia and so I try to like you, but then you have to go and say things like this.

"Whether Luis Aragones is there or not, it will be very difficult to achieve anything because there is no unity, in fact it is more like disunity," Albelda told Radio Valencia.

"Now people are asking for a change to the players: Carlos Marchena, Juanito, Michel Salgado, Raul and me.

"It seems we are the ones to blame for the failure at the World Cup even though we rarely played."

"The players and the fans are disillusioned. The fans identify more with their clubs, as do the players."

I thought the point was that Aragones forced Raul into a 4-3-3 that was perfectly fine without him for the France game - which was the one they lost? Also his general cluelessness about how to use the numerous world-class central midfielders Spain were fortunate enough to have at their disposal?

Albelda's right about the tendency for fans to call for the dumping of older players because they think the new kid on the block will make a difference - it's a silly, knee-jerk thing a lot of the time, and experience is very useful in big tournaments.

Everyone knows that the Spanish NT has always had divisions amongst the ranks on a club-based level. In fact, from what I'd heard it was better this year than in the past because there were no strongly and loudly opinionated politicals in the squad. It is clear, though, that the elder Real Madrid and Valencia players in particular are in a clique of their own, especially if you saw Raul shrugging off Luis Garcia to go celebrate with the benched Albelda and Santi Canizares when he scored (now there's a rare occurance these days) against Tunisia at the World Cup. The (current and former) Barca players - Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas - seem to be in their own little group, but I don't know how much of a clique they are.

On the whole, it seems more of a generation gap problem between the elder players who are all familiar with each other and younger ones coming up through the youth teams. I don't really see how complaining about disunity and hinting at the responsible group is going to help restore unity to the team.

Wrestling with Fernando Torres

...not literally, although his Spanish team mates do an awful lot of that. My problem with El Nino is reflective of my problem with the Spanish NT in general: I want to like them, but just can't. I can give reasons for both, but they're arguably not very good ones.


The case for and against Torres

For: he scores some lovely goals, seems like your average clueless but decent footballer, and would never join Real Madrid (always good in my book)

Against: horribly inconsistent, dives, can be a foul machine for a forward, never scores against Real (who he supposedly hates) but always manages to come up with the goods against Barca.


The case for and against the Spanish NT

For: the boys from Barcelona (Puyol, Xavi, sometimes Iniesta and even Valdes), other generally wonderful players (Villa, Cesc, Casillas - yes, even though he's a Real player), the 4-3-3, that sense of inevitable tragedy

Against: a certain mental block that seems to prevent them winning any big games, a racist pig for a manager who seems incapable of deciding on a starting 11 that might actually work with the formation, (and paraphrasing 'La Liga Loca') the part in the Spanish Constitution that states the Captain of Real has to play every game. Now, I actually like Raul, but the above is especially problematic when he's been in a slump for the last couple of years.


That friendly coming up against Argentina should be exciting.