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.)

Lyon 2 - 2 Barca ('our forward line is how old?!' edition) and Barcelona derby preview

Against Lyon, a great European side, Barca's 3-man forward line had an average age of 20. Eto'o wasn't quite fit enough yet, Henry's body had finally given out after playing continuously while not 100% fit, and Ronaldinho was on the bench. Andres Iniesta, 23; Lionel Messi, 20; and Bojan Krkic, 17, a forward line crafted in the Barca youth academies, led the line in their stead. And they did a good job, I think it's fair to say, as did the rest of the team. A line-up which consisted of 6 home-grown players managed a good away performance against an impressive Lyon side without the superstar forwards, and without Deco.

In fact, they were excellent in the first 20 minutes, playing rapid, fluid football, and while the rest of the game was not as pleasing on the eye, what made me happy was the mentality on display, a sense of aggression and team work that had been missing from some recent Barca performances. That youthful forward line combined to produce a first goal made in La Masia from a swift counter-attack which took full advantage of their skills and pace.

It's good to see that the midfield doesn't get bossed around as much when Gudjohnsen is there to help Yaya out, but I think there's still a bit of bite missing which should hopefully be remedied when Deco returns from injury.

Both Yaya and Messi are one yellow away from suspension in the Champions League, which means that they'll probably be rested for the last game against Stuttgart, for which Carles Puyol is suspended because of accumulation of yellow cards.

One of the big talking points about the game was the fact that Ronaldinho was a substitute. I've already hinted at what I think is one of the reasons - the team configuration without him allows for more aggressiveness and speed, but I also think that if Rijkaard thinks that he's not ready to play due to either mental or physical fatigue, I trust the coach's judgement.

Rijkaard and the ref

The other big talking point is Frank Rijkaard's sending off. Stefan Farina, the referee, is fast turning into Rijkaard's semi-comedic nemesis. Some of you may recall that he was the referee in the controversial 2-2 draw between Barca and Chelsea at the Camp Nou last season, where he booked a billion players and attracted Rijkaard's ire for 1) deciding on 6 minutes of stoppage time when Barca were leading 2-1, and 2) ending the match on 5 minutes of said stoppage time after Chelsea got their late equaliser. I didn't blame him for the shambles both teams made of the game at the time, but this is the second time he's lost control of the players in a physical game, tried to regain it by booking everyone in sight, and made both teams unhappy as a result.

This time, Rijkaard's ire was attracted by what he saw as Farina's failure to spot fouls on Messi. To be fair to the ref, while there were strong challenges flying in, I didn't see anything especially outrageous. Frankie was probably in the wrong this time, although the fans seem to have appreciated his show of anger on behalf of his players. This is the first time Rijkaard has been sent off since becoming Barca coach.

The players claimed that Rijkaard was only expressing their frustrations, and Xavi has claimed that the players took the words of Rijkaard (in regards to having a 'winning mentality') to heart in their approach to the game, which enabled them to play the way they did.

individual players

defence

• Valdes really should have done better on Juninho's freekick. I know that the defenders bears some responsibility for not getting to the ball, but some of the blame has to fall on Victor. Made a couple of fine saves from the good chances Lyon did get.
• Zambrotta looked a bit better, but still seemed to lack an understanding with the rest of the team, and has somehow become a defensive liability through his lapses in concentration, which is worrying. Did alright against his fellow Italian defender Grosso.
• Milito was reliable as usual, and I've really begun to appreciate his ability to hit passes out of defence. It's something I really missed while Marquez was out of form.
• Like I wrote above, Puyol is somewhat responsible for the first goal, but the rest of his performance was quite great, and as usual, he led the team by example.
• Abidal did quite well on his return to his old stomping ground, and I don't really blame him for the penalty - he was in an awkward position, there was a chance that he might commit the foul, but it was a fair chance to take.

midfield

• I'll probably end up saying this most games, but it bears repeating - Yaya Toure really is a fantastic addition to the squad. He disrupts the opposition's attempts to build play through midfield, plugs the gaps in defence and his work rate is excellent. And I haven't even mention his underrated skill on the ball - after all, he started out as a central midfielder, not a destroyer. All that and a powerful shot as well.
• Again, something else I seem to repeat every game: Andres Iniesta. Fantastic. Passing, dribbling, tackling and tracking back, Iniesta does it all, and does it well, too. Even his shooting has improved.
• Barca fans give Gudjohnsen a hard time because he's not the most technical player, and can miss some frustratingly easy chances in front of goal (e.g. that terrible miss from Messi's cross in this game), but give him credit for hard work. Without his work ethic, Barca's midfield would have been completely dominated by Lyon's, and the spirit of him and Yaya seemed to inspire the rest of the team.
• Xavi's passing was as good as ever, although it's clear that he needs either Iniesta or Deco to partner him in order to be fully effective. By the way, congratulations to him for surpassing the man he models himself on - Pep Guardiola, for those who don't know - to become 9th on Barca's all-time appearances list, with Tuesday's game being his 385th for the club.

forwards

• Is it just me or has Messi looked increasingly frustrated in the last couple of games? Don't get me wrong, he's still one of our most threatening players, and it's because the opposition devote 2 or 3 players to keep track of him that the other guys get any space to run into, but being ganged up on by so many opposition defenders all the time has to take a toll mentally. He does seem to be trying to connect with the other forwards, but an understanding takes time to form, and he's been the only constant of a forward line that has had to change all the time because of injuries and form concerns. Utterly cold-blooded penalty, as always.
  
• As Sid Lowe said in the Guardian Football Weekly podcast, Bojan is still obviously a boy, and he looks frail out there being pushed around and physically overwhelmed by big defenders. Given the boy credit for trying, though, and for still managing to make an impact on the game with his penetrating runs and two great assists.
• Ronaldinho only played 20 minutes or so and looked...alright, I suppose. It was hard to tell given the state of the game at the time. Made a couple of great passes and tried to go past people, which is what we all want to see.
  

presswatch

"Now, he should not believe everything that is said in the press because it is great when they praise you, but the day that they criticise you they will not worry about how old you are." - Samuel Eto'o on his chosen successor, one Bojan Krkic.

Too true, Sammy. This and other sensible insights from Eto'o in an interview with the official website, where he also states how pleased he is about the way the team played against Lyon.

Aren't the Catalan papers supposed to be on Barca's side? The way I see it, Marca have been friendlier and less hysterical in their reporting lately than they have.

Usually, Sport are the ones in my bad books, but I see El Mundo Deportivo has now taken up the 'heroic' task of attacking Frank Rijkaard despite all evidence to the contrary. If that game was boring then I don't know what they were watching.

And the rising tide of opinion against Messi really proves that us fans are the most fickle creatures known to man. Like Eto'o said, criticism is a ruthless and blind thing when it turns against you. Football players aren't seen as human beings once they reach a certain level of stardom.

On a more positive note, Ronaldinho has been praised for taking to being a substitute without complaint. It's nice to see some of the papers ease up on him a bit (I wish Sport would follow suit), but the very fact that him not being disgruntled is news seems strange to me - for any other player, save perhaps Eto'o and Henry, it wouldn't be, and surely it's part of the professional conduct of any player to accept the coach's decision, if not with grace, then at least quietly?

player news ahead of the Barcelona derby

Edmilson has returned to training but is some ways from being fit, not that he's likely to play for us again, and Deco and Eto'o are both on track to appear against Deportivo if all goes well. (What I really want is to see both of them fit and firing in time for El Clasico.)

Our injury problems have hit a low point: Oleguer, Sylvinho, Thuram, Henry and Giovani are also unavailable, leading to poor Frank Rijkaard resorting to two youth team players in the form of Alberto Botia and Victor Sanchez to fill up the bench. Interestingly, this means that 10 out of the list of 18 are products of the Barca academy.

On the Espanyol side, our old friend De la Pena will not be fit enough to play, but the excellent Albert Riera has been included. Young Argentine (and personal favourite of mine) Pablo Zabaleta is once again fit enough to be named in the squad.

It's not just a derby - it's a match between two of the best teams in the league, third versus fourth. May the best team win.

Visca el Barca!

Barca 3 - 0 Recreativo (return of the match report)

(graphic swiped from Sport)

Any other team might be pleased to win 3-0 (especially with most players coming off two international appearances) and gain some distance on our rivals at the top of the table, but as always, Barca are our own greatest enemy. It feels like forever since I've done one of my rambling, player-by-player match reports, so here goes.

How much can one take out of a game against a side suffering second-seasonitis, who had only 26% of the possession and no shots on goal? Well, for one, it provides a good study of the difficulties Barca have had breaking down opponents who defend in numbers both home and away, and secondly our reliance on scoring the first goal.

One caveat, though: Barca's Jekyll and Hyde syndrome means that home and away performances should probably be judged by different standards. We almost always score at home (in fact, today's game was the 50th league home game in a row that Barca have scored in), contrasted with our many difficulties in that department away, and we have a 100% home record so far this season, but haven't won away since we beat Stuttgart.

defence

Difficult to find much to say about Victor Valdes, since he didn't have a lot to do, so we'll move right on.

Puyol and Milito are a great central partnership, as everybody had hoped they would be, so it was a shame when Puyol had to come off with an injury in the second half. The latest seems to be that while - thankfully - nothing is broken, Puyol is in a lot of pain (which makes sense, as he'd never have asked to come off without a serious problem), and the doctors have yet to make a decision on whether he will travel to Lyon.

Puyol's replacement, Marquez, hasn't quite regained the impervious form of 05-06, but neither has he been as bad as he was last season. Some decent play, and he's certainly a solid enough backup.

Milito had yet another good game in the blaugrana shirt. I have to say, he did cost a fair bit, but I think the purchase has been a wise one. Good central defenders are not that easy to come by these days. Great header for the goal, which is something I've seen from him several times in the Zaragoza and Argentina shirt. Hopefully he'll bring that form to Barca, too, since we're pretty dire at scoring from corners. This is our 93rd corner of the season, and the first time it has resulted in a goal. Not good stats.


The ESPN commentator for the Barca-Rangers game bitterly criticised Abidal and claimed - laughably - that he'd been very disappointing since joining. I don't know what he's been watching, but the general consensus amongst the fans and the press has certainly been that he's been a good signing who has performed the way we would want: good play going forward, solid defending. And so it was for this game. I didn't like him losing his temper and barging into a Recre player (in response to Recre refusing to put the ball out of play after Iniesta had gone down), especially while the team were 2-0 up, though. Not a wise move - what if he got sent off?

Is it just me, or has Zambrotta looked a bit off-colour in the last couple of games? I know he's coming off an injury, but he just hasn't looked quite right this season, especially going forward, and the neat inter-play that had developed between him and Messi by the end of last season has been missing. Still more reliable than Oleguer (who came on and did a decent job), but I'm starting to worry.

midfield

Another thing I'm starting to worry about: what are we going to do when Yaya Toure, who has provided a crucial link between defence and attack for us, goes off to the African Cup of Nations? Hope that Marquez is fit and well, I suppose, since Gudjohnsen's recent stint in midfield has gone downhill after starting well.

In this game, Guddy was playing a bit further forward - in the attacking midfield role he sometimes filled for Chelsea. He worked very hard, and deserves credit for that, but all the same old problems of last season still remain, namely: his ability to take chances is not great, and he's slow on the ball.

Xavi certainly struggled to partner him effectively, especially compared to his almost telepathic understanding with the injured Deco. As Marca pointed out, our third captain may not be a flashy player, but his contributions have always been vital to our performances, mostly via his passing. Had a hand in 2 of the 3 goals.

Iniesta started the game playing on the wing, but ended it playing in his natural midfield position, so I'll put him here. He was Barca's most effective player in the first 20 minutes in which the team laboured to create chances and continued trying to speed up the play and make the breakthrough in the rest of the game. Once he went back to midfield to partner Xavi, the forwards got much better service. By the way, he really is an excellent dribbler - one of the best at Barca, and that's saying a lot.

forwards

I have a confession to make: I don't know what Premier League fans are talking about when they say that Henry is a lazy player. He's worked pretty hard in every Barca game I've seen this season (and I've seen almost every game, even the friendlies), not only in attack but tracking back, tackling and harrying. An unselfish assist for Bojan's goal, and it's good to see how pleased he was about it, too - he couldn't have looked happier if he'd scored it. Speaking of which, there were a couple of opportunities in which he could probably have taken a shot instead of passing it, and if he weren't Thierry bloody Henry I'd say he's losing his shooting confidence. Almost every single refereeing decision went against him as well, which couldn't have been very fun. Just because he's a big, tall forward (by La Liga standards) doesn't mean he was fouling every time, dammit.

Before I talk about Messi, a couple of wise words from Guillem Balague on the recent heavy criticism of him in the press:

...to have a go at Messi doesn't make sense because he has only had two bad games. Messi has had a year with hardly any rest and has been playing at a very, very high level.

Yeah, what he said. I was worried that Messi would be tired, having played the full 90 minutes in Argentina's 2 qualifiers, one of them at altitude and with Argentina down to 10 men for most of the game. He did look a bit tired at the beginning, but gradually came into it a bit more and became Barca's most threatening player, which meant that Recre devoted 2 players to marking him, with mixed success: he did create some good chances, but either the player on the receiving end wasted them (Zambrotta, Gudjohnsen, Henry), or he wasted them himself. Messi's passing continues to improve, and while one of his free kicks was rubbish, the other was quite good. (I'll be honest, whenever we get a free kick, I really start missing Ronaldinho and Deco.) The major problem now where Messi is concerned seems to be that his link-up play with Henry and Bojan isn't as good as it could be. Understandably, not much can match the interplay born of familiarity of the Ronaldinho-Eto'o-Messi front line, but there certainly could be some improvement to the current state of things.

Bojan continues to amaze. Here's a scary reminder: the kid's 17. What a cool finish, and his appearance certainly disrupted the Recre defense, with his speed on the ball if nothing else. He kind of reminds me of Messi a couple of seasons ago - a bit too individualistic, and he hasn't quite figured out when to pass and when to shoot, but that will come with experience. I'm certain he wouldn't shrink from a big occasion, either, to judge from his coolness in front of goal.

other observations

Good substitution by Rijkaard, taking off Gudjohnsen for Bojan. Not quite sure why he took Zambrotta off, but maybe we'll find that out in the next couple of days.

Because Barca played well when Ronaldino was injured near the beginning of the season, a lot of people are inclined to blame him for all Barca's problems. They do have a point, especially since Barca put in a few good performances when he was missing last season as well. However, not having Ronnie in this game didn't seem to make the team any less lethargic, although I suppose the fact that this game came straight after an international break may have had something to do with that. So, inconclusive on that front.

However, I think we've all seen what the two major injured players bring to the team by the effect their absence has had. I've said it enough times, but I don't mind repeating it: Samuel Eto'o drives the entire team forward with both his play and his mentality, and the same goes for Deco. Without both of them, we lack aggression, determination, and a bit of a cutting edge.

I see Sport are in full 'we hate everything about our team, except that one 17 year old, who should play all the time, and maybe sometimes that little Argentine we just trashed for having one bad game' mode. Great. (It's absurd to say Bojan was Barca's best player, guys, since he only played about 30 minutes, and while he had an impact, I'm not sure it was enough to override the 90 minute performances of players like Iniesta and Messi.)

Barca round-up: internationals, Villarreal, and other news

I've got exams coming up yet again, so expect less posting for the next 3 weeks or so. Pity, it's such an exciting time.

Internationals round-up

Att Luis Aragones: if you're going to fly Puyol out to Denmark and then say he's not fit when he patently is, then just leave him in Spain next time and save him the travelling. No need to take him along if he's not fit as you claim, after all.

Good to see the Barca duo of Iniesta and Xavi both playing well and contributing in Spain's 1-3 victory over the Danes.

Actually, let me just detour for a moment:

I don't like Luis Aragones. I think his decisions are often boneheaded and that he needs to never open his mouth in public. However, I personally feel that the way the media have talk about the absences from the squad have been very disrespectful to the excellent players who were selected and deserved their shot. Case in point, Raul Tamudo, who had a great season last time around and has started brightly after coming back from injury this time. Just because he doesn't play for one of the big two doesn't mean he's not good enough for Spain. Espanyol have been playing well anyway, and credit to Aragones for reflecting that in calling up 3 of their players. While I'm at it, credit also for finally playing Cesc, Xavi and Iniesta together.

(Or you could go and read Sid Lowe's new column, which makes the same points I did, except in a better, actually amusing way.)

Thierry Henry got his 41st goal for France in their 0-6 win over the Faeroe Islands, thus equalling the record set by the great Michel Platini and becoming his country's leading goalscorer. Abidal and Thuram also played the entire game, Abidal - rather unusually - as a centerback.

Congratulations to Deco, who got his 50th cap for Portugal and had a hand in the first goal to set them on their way to a vital victory over, er, Azerbaijan. Seriously, though, Portugal needed those points.

Eidur Gudjohnsen scored a brace but couldn't prevent Iceland from going down to a 2-4 defeat against Latvia. Good to see him fit and firing again. In fact, congratulations are due because his goals have made him Iceland's leading scorer with 19.

Bojan scored his first goal for the U21s as they beat Poland 2-0 in a European Championship qualifier.

Leo Messi and Gabi Milito helped Argentina to a 2-0 home victory against Chile in their opening World Cup qualifier. (For more on the Argentines, my ramblings on them are now located at the Argentina World Cup Blog.)

Brazil - featuring our very own Ronaldinho for the first time in a while - were by all reports unimpressive as they drew 0-0 against Columbia away. Admittedly, not an easy fixture, so it's not a bad result at all, but the performance certainly raised a few eyebrows.

Mexico also drew their friendly against Nigeria 2-2, with Giovani Dos Santos winning the penalty which Cacho converted into their second.

Villarreal matters

Our first game back is a difficult one, against high-flying Villarreal, who only slipped up last week because they were visiting Osasuna, where Barca couldn't score. We have had problems with this game before, especially in El Madrigal, with last season's defeat there a particularly traumatic result given the situation at the time. The fixture list after that is a pretty gruelling one, especially since the game after this one is in Glasgow against Rangers, but we'll get to that later.

Robert Pires, for one, cannot wait for face his old friend Thierry Henry for the first time in a decade. A wonderful player who is in great form, and a bit of a Madridista himself, so he'll be extra motivated.

Speaking of Thierry, there's a new great, lengthy interview with him - especially recommended for Arsenal fans, actually, even if you were stung by his departure. As for this Barca supporter, I found it quite endearing, even if I'm never going to agree with him about his version of events in that Paris final.

Other club news

Fortunately for Frank Rijkaard, Bojan only had one game to play, and he's back in Barcelona, giving the coach a whopping 4 players to work with. A bit threadbare, I think you'll agree. Those four: Valdes, Ezquerro, Sylvinho, and the returning Bojan. Oh yeah, there's also A team part-timer Marc Crosas, who was actually injured for a couple of days, which temporarily left Barca in the ridiculous position of having no fit holding midfielders at all, despite having four of them on the books. In any case, he's now fit, but we currently have no rightbacks, since Oleguer's not been feeling well lately either. He's still working on a specific recovery program, alongside backup keeper Jorquera, who I assume picked up a knock in training. No wonder Rijkaard let B team coach Guardiola take combined training for a couple of days.

I'm getting a little antsy about Giovani's contract situation. The rules state that players can't sign a professional contract until they're 18 years old, and until then they can be bought for very little (I believe the extra sum is 20 million euros in this case), hence the quick action being taken to offer Giovani a contract as soon as he turned 18 and joined the first team. The boy himself says that negotiations are on-going, which is good to hear, but my worries won't be appeased until he puts pen to paper. (And no, AS, this does not mean he's going to Real Madrid. The boy himself says it would be wrong for him as a Barca-developed player, and I believe him.)

Speaking of young talent, October 16 was the day Leo Messi made his offical debut for Barcelona 3 years ago, in the last 10 minutes of the Barcelona derby at Espanyol, and since then, Barca fans have been lucky enough to witness the development of a very special player. In that time, he has played 78 games for Barca (including quite a few substitute appearances), scoring 34 goals and giving the fans plenty to shout about. Still only 20 years of age, so hopefully we will get to enjoy his skills for years to come. Congratulations to him.

There were 7 Barca players on the FIFA World Player of the Year list. This award, I should point out, is largely being given for performance during last season, which makes it hard to crow about the number of nominees when I can remember how some of them played back then.

Apparently Samuel Eto'o has been coming down to the changing room before games to see the players, according to Victor Valdes. By the way, it's nice to see him actually attend games, which is something that I feel injured players who are in the city and mobile enough to get around should try to do. But that's just a personal preference.


Lastly, Gonzalo, I think it's gotten to the point where Laporta has usurped Calderon's lovingly granted title of President Tourettes. Lord.

Barca news round-up: what a difference a day makes

Barcelona 3-0 Lyon

Positives

• 3 points against arguably our most difficult rival in the group
• Messi continues to improve all aspects of his game
• Henry really needed that goal
• Great to see Giovani and Bojan get their Champions League debut
• That defence: Zambrotta-Marquez-Milito-Abidal. Excellent, and they should start every game until Puyol is fully fit. Lyon only had one shot on goal.
  
• Deco has really responded to the pressure (credit to Rijkaard for motivating him once again), Xavi is as tidy as ever, and Iniesta is just brilliant. It's a hard choice for the coach to make, having to pick two out of three.
  
• Toure has made a great start to his Barca career, really earning the admiration of the fans with his work rate and skill. Same with Abidal.
  

Negatives

• Far too wasteful in attack. So many great chances went begging before Messi's goal.
• Ronaldinho still doesn't look quite right. I believe his substitution was the correct decision.
• Henry also looks a bit off the pace, although that should change as he gets used to the way Barca play.
  

news

The bidding to renovate the Camp Nou has been won by prestigious architects Norman Foster. The plans include the addition of another 10000 seats, taking the stadium capacity to a ridiculous 110000 and is expected to cost 250 million euros.

Congratulations to Xavi, who equalled the club record for most number of appearances in international competition with his 85th match for the club in UEFA and FIFA club competitions. Remember, he's only 27. The Catalan had this to say about the honour:

"It is a beautiful number to help celebrate an important win," smiled the 27-year-old Spanish international midfielder. "I still feel young. I feel important within this squad and the fans continue to show me great affection.

I damn well hope the club continues to make the third captain of the squad feel important. He's a hugely underrated player and always wonderful to watch.

Congratulations are also due to Bojan Krkic, who became the youngest player ever to play in the Champions League not only for Barca, but in the history of the competition at the age of 17 years and 22 days. The previous Barca record holder was the man who he replaced, Leo Messi, who was an ancient 17 years, 5 months and 13 days when he started the game against Shaktar Donetsk 3 years ago.

Lastly, it gives me great pleasure to announce that club captain Carles Puyol is finally back in full training with the rest of the squad, who gave him a warm welcome back. We've missed his leadership and his spirit.

However, Puyol hasn't been included in the squad to face Sevilla.

Shorter Barca news and comments

I don't think I need to write a match report - it was the same old problems, after all. That's the depressing part, although I'd argue that it's far from crisis time just yet. The team are in an awkward position right now with a string of tough matches coming up that they have to get results in, but if they can't rise to the challenge then they don't deserve to compete for any silverware anyway.

Frank Rijkaard's critics had predicted that he wouldn't dare use the two new wonderkids Bojan and Giovani in a proper game, and he surprised them yet again. However, he was somewhat forced into the decision by the injuries to Messi and Eto'o, and the state of affairs that led to Giuly leaving. No doubt Ronaldinho's poor showing - which led to his substitution on 65 minutes - also influenced the decision. But congratulations to Giovani - and to Gaby Milito - who started their first match for Barca, and to Bojan, who made his official debut for the club. The 17-year-old striker broke Messi's record for the youngest player to start a league match for Barca, and it's too bad that the occasion did not come with a win.

By the way, the Catalan press would do well to lay off Rijkaard - any problems that Barca have are deep-rooted and mostly not of his making. I can't even say how frustrated I am with certain players right now. More on which later, I'm sure. In the mean time, I mostly agree with Deco, although it's hard not to be sceptical about some of his claims.

The good news ahead of the daunting Champions League clash against Lyon to come is that Messi is back in training, although Thuram seems to have picked up a knock.

As for the match itself, and indeed the weekend in general, I direct you to Phil Ball, who as usual is wise and fair. His comments on the Spanish NT are great too, although my opinion of Aragones is, shall we say, somewhat lower than his.

Also good to see the English-speaking press (the always astute Kevin McCarra, in this case) taking more notice of the phenomenon that is Sevilla. I hope they have a wonderful Champions League campaign this season.

Barca news round-up

I could write about Argentina's win over Australia, but I'm still not sure what I think about that performance. Encouraging in some ways, but utterly infuriating in others, and there's no time left to get it right. But anyway, the daily grind of club football returns, and with it the Champions League, at long last.

Everyone got back from international duty with the arrival of the players who had participated in Brazil v Mexico, and no one seems to be injured, except:

Messi got a thigh strain against Australia. The club seems to be saying that it's not going to require a long lay-off, and he might play against Lyon, but I know better than to trust their minimal information medical bulletins. We know that injuries are part and parcel of the way Messi plays, but a long spell on the sidelines yet again is the last thing he needs. The moment he went down clutching his leg and then covering his face with his hands in Australia I thought of him making that exact motion when he got injured against Chelsea in 2006, and was reassured when he was able to continue. Unfortunately it seems that my first instinct was correct.

On the plus side, Gudjohnsen is fit again. That's not sarcasm, by the way. With Eto'o out we could use his help.

Excitingly, 17-year-old wonder kid striker Bojan Krkic is in the squad to face Osasuna. The absentees are the aftementioned Messi, long term injury victims Puyol (whose recovery is coming along nicely), Eto'o and Edmilson, and the suspended Rafael Marquez.

Osasuna have proven to be difficult opponents for Barca in the past, especially away, and a victory would confirm that the team are on the right course. It won't be easy, but I hope for a change from the 'can't be bothered to win' attitude that got us a draw last season.


In other news, the Wellington Phoenix got their first win of this season with a 1-2 away victory over big-spending Sydney FC. They desperately needed a win to reassure the fans that they weren't made of the same (unfortunate) breed as the now defunct New Zealand Knights, and they went to Australian and got one. Well done.

A rant about certain sections of the Catalan sports press

When I revamped the blog (what do you think, tidier to look at now?), I decided to link to Spanish sports dailies Marca and (Barcelona-based/biased) El Mundo Deportivo, along with the football section of El Pais, the big general daily, but not AS or Sport. A blind monkey can see that AS are in the Barca-baiting business, so there's no sense in a Barcelona-focused blog linking to that, ah, fine publication (I once saw it referred to as 'reputable Spanish daily AS' and nearly died laughing) which doesn't at all make up crazy rumours. But the case of Sport needs explaining. After all, they are fanatical in their support for Barca, and I should be fine with that, right?

Not if they're the kind of fanatical that makes me cringe in embarrassment. Additionally, they print rubbish about Barcelona itself on a daily basis.

Exhibition 1: thinking that they know better than the coaching staff how to bed in a young player. Because they were the ones who did so well bringing Messi into the first team, were they? Attacking the man who did, Frank Rijkaard for supposedly not being brave enough to give a 17 year old significant first team minutes (also known as rushing a player's development by putting undue pressure on them) makes them look really smart in comparison. Not.

Yes, Bojan is wonderful, but how long before the press start to measure him by the same strict standards they use for the big stars and slamming him for every misstep? Having seen how things went with Messi, I give it a month.

To the great football minds at Sport:

There are these other blokes who are already fighting for a starting spot up front. You might have heard of them. In fact, you were inventing that insanely idiotic 'fantastic four' nickname for them just a little while ago, and then whinging about everybody associated with the club advising the press not to use it.

You know, those rubbish unknowns Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Leo Messi, who have never done anything special for the club ever.

Oh yeah, there's also that guy we've just bought from Arsenal. I hear he's decent.

Exhibition 2: in a related vein, their coverage of Eto'o. Oh yeah, he's the hardest working of all the forwards, but that doesn't matter, he looks so grumpy all the time and we want to see the new guys instead. They've apparently never heard of someone having to play their way back into form after a major injury, and are instead content to behave like a kid in a candy shop, always looking for the shiniest novelty.

Exhibition 3: (which El Mundo Deportivo is also guilty of) upbraiding Rijkaard and putting pressure on him for not playing Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Henry and Messi together, because according to them that's what the fans want. I completely understand that attacking football is part of the club's DNA, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but I also know that in modern football, a team has to be balanced. Out of those four, only two of them defend, and only one (Eto'o) is the kind of guy who's willing to chase an opposition winger all the way to their touchline after losing the ball. (Messi would give chase until just before the penalty area and then stop, assuming that the defenders would take care of it.)

It's simply unrealistic in a competitive game to play all four, especially since two of them would be getting in each other's way all the time. Perhaps it's an option if we're behind in a game and need to score above all else, and screw defending. Rijkaard has after all done it before with Larsson in place of Henry, the problem here being that Henry drifts in from the side and has to play in the center to be effective, while Larsson could handle all three positions on the forward line. In any case, it worked well in games against the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal.

By the way, it's such a crime to waste Eto'o on the wing. I know he said he's okay with playing anywhere (witness his - quite reasonable - performance as essentially a wingback during the latter stages of the Champions League semi with Milan at the Camp Nou), and it's a good use of his work rate, but it's just painful to watch. Both him and Henry absolutely have to play center forward. We've got plenty of wing-forwards who are good at their own job.

Exhibiton 4: having been at least partially responsible for the ridiculous and unrealistic hype over the team themselves, they rush to declare themselves deeply disappointed and let down as soon as the first game is played, conveniently ignoring their own role in making this bunch of players who in truth have yet to gel sound like the second coming of Christ. Dropping 2 points on the first day of the season is a major disaster. It's so horrible that the last time we did so we -

Oh. We won the league and the Champions League, after taking at a month or two to play ourselves into form, during which the hysteria of the press over the points being dropped and the supposed falling out certain big stars had with Frank Rijkaard reached intolerable levels.

...and I haven't even touched on the disgraceful racist cartoon about the Asian tour and their approach to transfer rumours.

In the end, they can write what they want, of course, and they need to sell papers somehow. But that doesn't mean I can't rant about how wrong I think they are.

Barca 07-08: Introducing the new faces

Yes, after much procrastinating, I've finally written the long-overdue post welcoming the new signings to the club, including 2 'graduates' from the B team.

"Pressure? Pressure is what you feel when you're about to die or when you might go to jail; when you have no money, no food. But feeling the pressure while playing soccer? I've been playing since I was 17. I've played many games, some bigger than others. That's the way it is."

Name: Thierry 'Titi' Henry (France)
Age: 30
Position: forward
Squad number: 14
Transfer: 24 million euros from Arsenal

What's there to say? It's not as if anybody will be unfamiliar with his characteristics and abilities. Fabulous forward with ego to match, but there are doubts over how much longer he can kept it up due to a series of injuries last season. Has not looked convincing on the wings, but is undoubtedly a classy center forward.

"You can play hard football without a lot of fouls. It seems to me that lately some games turn into a physical battle where technique comes second. As a defender I think that what is most important is to earn respect inside the first 18 metres and commit as few fouls as possible so that your team does not suffer."

Name: Eric Abidal (France)
Age: 28
Position: leftback
Squad number: 22
Transfer: 15 million euros from Lyon

The leftback position has been a bit of a problematic one in recent years for Barca, and Abidal has been signed to remedy that problem. He's strong, quick, and very experienced, able to get into good positions defensively while getting forward a bit in attack.

"I know what it means to play with an advanced defence, but I think if you are well-positioned then the risks are not so great. The key is to be focussed, well-placed and to have good communication among the back four, especially when the team has the ball."

Name: Gabriel 'Gabi' Milito (Argentina)
Age: 26
Position: central defence
Squad number: 12
Transfer: 17 million euros from Zaragoza (rising to 20.5 million depending on trophies)

'The Marshall' as he's known has experience and temperament that belies his relative youth. He was turned down by Real Madrid supposedly on account of a failed medical, but has performed well consistently for Zaragoza ever since signing for them, and indeed captained the side. A lot of Barca fans joke that the club went him for because he looks just like our captain Carles Puyol. There is a bit of a resemblance, even in playing style, but I think where Milito perhaps isn't as good in sheer physicality, he's got a better sense of positioning despite a relative lack of pace. Great header of the ball too, even though he's only 1.79ms tall.

"My target was to play among great players in a big European club and I’ve managed to achieve that today. But the job is not done yet, because I have set myself even bigger objectives. I know I will feel comfortable but I have come here to achieve even bigger things."

Name: Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Age: 24
Position: central midfield
Squad number: 24
Transfer: 9 million euros from Monaco

Toure was signed to fill the club's problematic defensive midfield position, but he's really more of a central midfielder who can tackle and head the ball. So far, he's taken to the holding position well, and shown that he's got skill as well as strength. Whether the position will suit him over the long run remains to be seen.

“I have always compared myself to Messi but he is a football superstar and I am just starting. Of course I’d like to be like him one day.”

Name: Giovani 'Gio' Dos Santos (Mexico)
Age: 18
Position: wing forward
Squad number: 17
Transfer: from Barca B

Actually, Barca fans like to compare Gio to Ronaldinho more. He even looks a bit like the Brazilian, and scarily enough plays a bit like him too. Of course, he's got some way to go, and his decision-making could be better, but he's got pace, strength, and sublime skill to spare, not to mention an audacity and confidence that Messi didn't have at his age.

"I have had two very good years and did not expect any of this," he said. "I am very conscious of that and it is for that reason that I am staying calm and am excited by the way things are going."

Name: Bojan Krkic (Spain)
Age: 17
Position: forward
Squad number: 27
Transfer: from Barca B

As Cesc Fabregas once said, if you're a teenager and you're playing for the Barca first team, you'd have to be the best in the world in that age group. So the fact that a 17 year old is going to be playing for Barca this season tells you something about him. Bojan has amazing goalscoring statistics in every single age group for Barca and at U17 level for Spain. He's simply got the instinct for goal that very good strikers have (personalised in archetypical goal-poacher, Pippo Inzaghi), not to mention skill and pace to burn. The only problem is that he could be a bit taller, but the kid's only 16, so there's hope for that yet.

(All currency in euros.)
In: Henry (24 million, Arsenal), Toure (9 million, Monaco), Abidal (15 million, Lyon), Milito (17 million, Zaragoza), Bojan (free, Barca B), Gio (free, Barca B) = 65 million
Out: Saviola (free, Real), van Bronckhorst (free, Feyenoord), Giuly (3.2 million, Roma), Lopez (2 million, Moscow), Belletti (5.5 million, Chelsea) = 10.7 million
Total outlay: 54.3 million euros

Barca news round-up: from the sublime to the slightly ridiculous

It has gotten to a certain point in both my study semester and the season that my workload means I'm no longer able to keep up with all that goes on in La Liga. So no more general news round-up posts until I get the time again. There will be a couple of posts about transfers in general before the season starts, but I'm reverting to mostly talking about Barca, Argentina and sometimes Villarreal. Well, and Real. It is an interesting season from their perspective. So, onto the Barca news.

The first item is unfortunately an unhappy one, as a good man central to the history and development of Barca for many, many years has died. Honorary Vice President Nicolau Casaus, who was vice president of the club in the time of Nunez's long reign at the club, led an extraordinary life, much of it dedicated to the club he loved. He worked tirelessly to expand the network of supporters clubs exponentially in his time, and was the man who bought one Diego Maradona to the Camp Nou. His life story is well worth reading if you're at all interested in Barca. His time at the club was before I became a supporter and I was amazed and very impressed at the kind of life he'd led.

A great man by all accounts, and (as the Spanish King wrote in his telegram) a great ambassandor for the club, since he was a 'gentleman' who aptyl demonstrated the ideal face of the relationship Barca would like to have with wider society.

a few words on the tour

The positives and negatives of touring have been discussed to death by now, and I won't rehash all the arguments here. My own position is that I broadly agree with Lilian Thuram: commerical tours - let's not mince words here, that's their major function - are a necessary evil. They also serve a more positive function, with the charity work done by the club while on tour (yes, all the song and dance is a bit much, but at least it's doing some good) and the Catalunya tourism board apparently making use of the occasions to promote the region.

(Sidenote: I understand when people say that our conceit and self-righteous posturing annoys them. That's fair enough. But is it actually better to do nothing at all or to at least try to do something good, even if it's done in an obnoxious way, and perhaps not always with the purest of intentions? Reasonable people can disagree on this one. Sure, sometimes it can go too far, especially when Laporta opens his mouth, and seem like a parody of itself, but I personally find it difficult to cope with the idea that it's somehow bad to aspire to something. Anyway, rant over.)

Now, let me detach that chip from my shoulder. Ahem. Back to the original point: I can tolerate the idea of a tour this time around, because only a few of our players had an international tournament during the summer, but what I hear about next season does not make me happy, given that Euro 08 will affect almost as many of our players as the World Cup did. We'll see what happens, but my patience with the board is quickly running out over this issue, and I'm not the only one.

By the way, the Chinese press reports that none of the boys were caught out clubbing in Hong Kong, even with the extra time granted to them by the rescheduling of the game. If true, good for them.

Further positives, this time relating to the mini-tour of Scotland: according to at least 2 articles I read, our PR staff are excellent, and our players (Zambrotta and Thuram in this case) were courteous interviewees. These may seem trivial to you, but as I've said before, these things are important to clubs like Barca and Real, and it's always reassuring when I read that the club is run in an organised and sane manner, which is the memory of the chaos of the Gaspart years haunting me as much as anything else.

On the football front, the most widely-reported aspect of the tour has to be the emergence of Gio Dos Santos, who is so far top scorer of the pre-season with 4 and has impressed everytime he came on. He's undoubtedly talented, and I for one have been convinced that he's ready for rationed appearances in La Liga and perhaps starting roles in Cup games. It's funny how having Gio and the even younger Krkic on the first team has changed the role of Messi, who was used to being the youngest. He's now a role model and something to aspire to at the age of 20, which is a bit bizarre. About as bizarre as every up and coming young Argentinian player being labelled the 'next Messi', in fact. By the way, I hear that Gio's younger brother Jonathan is a pretty promising midfielder himself.

Besides the fact that the new legislation UEFA have bought in will increasingly force clubs to use more home-grown players (not a regulation Barca will have trouble with, given the number of canteranos in our current squad), it's nice to see players come through the system and succeed at the club. Barca has long been a proven source of midfield talent of a particular type - in fact, we produce so many that we end up 'exporting' some of our best, and we've had a few excellent defenders come through, but only now has La Masia really started producing world-class forwards.

Speaking of youth, our new 3rd choice goalkeeper Oier Olazabal was handed his debut in Beijing. The 17-year-old Basque player, who will spend the season with the B team, was surprised to be told that he would be playing against Guoan, and giving instructions to veteran defender Lilian Thuram, who is twice his age, which apparently prompted some good-natured teasing of the venerable Frenchman by the other players.

squad news

First, a quick tour-related comment: I feel quite bad for Henry, who is still coming back from injury and hasn't really hit form. The press have already started criticising him for not being sharp enough - no amount of reputation is going to protect him here. But guess who's coming to his defence and talking up his contributions so far? That's right, his longtime friend Sammy Eto'o. Not quite what the more cynical amongst us expected when the transfer went through.

With the conclusion of the tour, Rijkaard finally has all his players in the same place, including the 3 Ms (Messi, Marquez and Milito) who were in the Copa America and therefore came back from holiday later, and Deco, who has returned from the extra holiday the club gave him to go to Brazil and see his newborn son.

This is the squad of 25 that Rijkaard has at his disposal right now:

Valdes, Jorquera, Belletti, Zambrotta, Oleguer, Milito, Marquez, Olmo, Thuram, Sylvinho, Abidal, Motta, Toure, Xavi, Deco, Iniesta, Crosas, Dos Santos, Messi, Gudjohnsen, Ezquerro, Maxi, Henry, Eto'o and Ronaldinho.

That list excludes long-term injury victims Edmilson and Puyol, not to mention Bojan Krkic, off on international duty for the Spanish U17s, and includes short-term injury victims Sylvinho and Gudjohnsen. It also includes two youth team players who will go back to Pep Guardiola's B side when the season starts in Marc Crosas (reportedly a target for Liverpool) and frequent backup defender Jesus Olmo. The club are trying to offload 4 of the players on the list (Gudjohnsen, Maxi, Ezquerro and Motta), 3 of which are forwards, which is perhaps understandable given that we currently have 9 of them. That's a ridiculous number, even for a team that plays 4-3-3, especially given the fact that Rijkaard doesn't like big squads.

For interests' sake, this was the line-up for the 11-a-side game in training:

Valdes; Zambrotta, Oleguer, Thuram, Abidal; Toure, Xavi, Iniesta; Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Henry

vs

Jorquera; Belletti, Marquez, Milito, Crosas; Motta, Deco, Ezquerro; Messi, Maxi, Gio.

The hilarious thing is that the second rag-tag side with no leftback and some players played completely out of position won the game 1-0, via a penalty converted by Messi from Oleguer - who else, bless him - tripping Gio.

transfers

Given Txiki's previous statements, this week is vital in terms of the 4 aftementioned players who the club are trying to usher out the door. The Spanish press reckons that deals for Motta (with AC Milan) and Gudjohnsen (with West Ham) aren't too far off, and Ezquerro has a couple of suitors himself, but although Maxi's agent assures us he is actually trying to find a team for his client, that is seen as the most difficult transfer.

This might be illustrative of the limbo the 3 forwards find themselves in.

Current list of forwards: Henry, Eto'o, Gudjohnsen, Maxi, Ronaldinho, Ezquerro, Messi, Dos Santos, Krkic

Current order of preference for center forward (1): Henry --> Eto'o --> Ronaldinho --> Gudjohnsen --> Messi --> Krkic --> Dos Santos --> Ezquerro --> Maxi

Current order of preference for wing forward (2): Ronaldinho --> Messi --> Eto'o --> Dos Santos --> Henry --> Ezquerro --> Krkic --> Gudjohnsen --> Maxi

The reason Henry is so high on that first list and so low on the second is that he's proven to be - how shall I put this - not very good when played as a wing forward. His performances as center forward have been much more convincing. On the other hand, Eto'o is pretty good on the wing, even if I personally prefer him in a more central position.

Gudjohnsen might not be too far down the pecking order when Rijkaard needs a big target man, but he's really not suited to the wing positions. Krkic is more of a center forward than Dos Santos, who is more suited to the wing. Ezquerro is also better played on the wing, although he can play in the center. Maxi just had an unimpressive season on loan and is unbelievably out of favour.

(I once saw someone on a Barca forum do a list like the above during our double-winning season in order to (jokingly) demonstrate how far down the pecking order Maxi was. It had Valdes and Jorquera (our two 'keepers, for those who don't know) ahead of him in the 'wing-forward' list. Says it all, really.)

Krkic is 16, and Dos Santos is 18. Understandably, nobody likes being stuck behind kids ten years younger. Just ask Ludovic Giuly, who spoke out about the 'unhealthy competition' at Barca from the safety of Rome. (I sympathized with your plight, Ludo, I really did, but did you expect any coach in the world to play you ahead of Messi when he was on the sort of form he had in the last couple of months of last season?)


Lastly, I'd like to draw your attention to this photo. That's Rijkaard's son Michele in the Abidal shirt. As El Mundo Deportivo wrote jokingly, we're not too sure what kind of line-up Frankie will put out, but we know who his son would have starting at left-back.

Posts forthcoming within the next week or so: a word about Barca's new boys, and more about how we're going to line up this season. My full squad preview for the season ahead is still in the works.

Edited: for starting line-up of the practise game and a photo.

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.