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 ahead of the Atletico game

Stuttgart 0-2 Barca

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

injury crisis time

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

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

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

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

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

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

Short term - Gudjohnsen (knee trouble)

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

Barca v Atletico

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

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

The Barca website builds the game up thus:

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

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

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


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

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

Barcelona news and a rant about el presidente Laporta

The so-called 'FIFA virus' strikes again. Personally, I've got nothing against international football - in fact, I love it - but I just wish the federations and FIFA would schedule things a bit better. It's unfortunate that this international break comes two weeks into the La Liga (and Serie A) season. 14 Barca players have been called up this time:

friendies
Ronaldinho (Brazil, vs Mexico and USA)
Giovani dso Santos (Mexico, vs Panama and Brazil)
Gabi Milito and Leo Messi (Argentina, vs Australia)

competitive matches
Xavi and Iniesta (Spain, Euro 08 qualifiers vs Iceland and Latvia)
Lilian Thuram, Eric Abidal and Thierry Henry (France, Euro 08 qualifiers vs Italy and Scotland)
Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy, Euro 08 qualifiers vs France and Ukraine)
Eidur Gudjohnsen (Iceland, Euro 08 qualifiers vs Spain and Northern Ireland)
Deco (Portugal, Euro 08 qualifiers vs Poland and Serbia)
Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast, African Nations Cup qualifier, Gabon)

Samuel Eto'o had his operation, and it was apparently a success. He's now back home recovering, where his Cameroon team-mates visited to wish him well, which is nice of them. Official word is that he'll return to training in 8 weeks, but as Barca fans know well, muscle injuries can be tricky, so who knows. Here's hoping for a quick and full recovery. I miss seeing him on the pitch already.

Congratulations are due to vice-captain Xavi Hernandez, who played his 250th match for Barca against Athletic Bilbao. Xavi is one of my favourite players, a great professional who joined Barca at the age of 11 and has been loyal through the good times and the bad ever since. The fact that he's appeared 250 times for Barca even though he's only 27 years old illustrates his importance to the team through the years. Long may it continue.

On a different note, the Catalan Dragons (a French rugby league team, for those who don't know, featuring New Zealand legend Stacey Jones, who was born in Auckland, not too far from where I live) paraded on the pitch before the Athletic match, in honour of their achievement as the first non-English team to appear in the Challenge Cup final.

Also parading were Barca's Cadet (under-16) B team, who had won this summer's Nike Premier Cup. Congratulations to them.

Santi Ezquerro explains why his transfer to Athletic Bilbao fell through. Personally, I don't mind having him around for another six months at all, especially with Eto'o out injured. I do sympathise with his frustration at the opportunities missed in this transfer window, though.

Edmilson has returned to his native Brazil for one month as part of his recovery program from his bizarre and unfortunate series of knee injuries.

And finally, great news for all Barca fans: Carles Puyol is training again! Mind you, it's only running by himself, but it's good to see him back on the training ground, and the team has missed his leadership. I hope to see him fit and back in the team soon.

to Joan Laporta, with affection

El presidente:

Shut up. Just stop talking, you're an embarrassment.

Sincerely,

Linda

Gonzalo calls Calderon President Tourettes, but Laporta suits the label pretty well himself. For example, he has reacted with a complete lack of maturity to the troubled transfers of Motta and Saviola. Whether or not Motta's complaints are justified, he was a canterano, and despite being much maligned for his performances by the fans, was quite popular within the squad. Therefore Laporta's response was inappropriate. As for Saviola, say what you will about his about-face (having promised not to sign for Real in early 2007), he's behaved impeccably since signing for our friends in the capital. I may not like seeing him in the white shirt, but I can't fault what he's said. Laporta's tirade in that case was classless and unworthy of his position.

Then there's the thorny issue of Catalunya v USA, which I'm not going to go into (because it's frankly none of my business), but I will say this: Laporta doesn't have a leg to stand on with regards to this issue. For those of us who remember the Alejandro Echevarria scandal, everything he says reeks of hypocrisy.

I'm fully in support of FC Barcelona retaining a Catalan identity, blended with a cosmopolitan outlook (the latter - a celebration of and the welcoming of diversity - a part of our tradition that is often conveniently overlooked by both critics and fans of our club's sense of self), but Laporta needs to remember that he's president of Barca, not president of the free world (TM Sid Lowe).

Let me also make clear that in general, I approve of Laporta's policies, which have helped Barcelona out of a financial and sporting quagmire and onto brilliant successes. While I disapprove of the recent galactico-style commercialisation represented by the tours and globe-trotting friendlies, he's also got a lot right. Barca did need a reminder of its roots after the popular discontent engendered by former coach Louis van Gaal's dedication to signing the entire Dutch national team. In the end, the shirt sponsorship decision was the correct one, and the financial security Barca now enjoys - which enables the club to throw cash around and sign good players - would have been unimaginable just 4 years ago. The club is run in a rational, stable manner, which is reassuring after the turmoil of the Gaspart era. Most importantly, Laporta did well to show faith in Frank Rijkaard and in Rijkaard's men.

But serious, he needs to stop talking.

(I do, however, welcome his recent comments about the team, calling for prudence and cool heads instead of the insane hype of last season.)


By the way, and on an entirely different note, there will be some non-football-related comments on this blog over the next month, as New Zealand goes into World Cup fever mode - but for the one with the oval ball. Congratulations to Los Pumas for their fabulous upset victory over the French, and go the All Blacks!

Farewell to Thiago Motta

It always pains me to be writing about the departure of a canterano, a player who came up through the youth system of the club. Thiago (pictured above with fellow canterano Messi and good friend Ronaldinho) appeared more than 100 times for Barca B before he was promoted to the first team in 2001.

The fact that during 6 seasons in the first team he only managed 138 appearances tells its own story about his misfortunes. It wasn't that he lacked talent. Far from it. In fact, Rijkaard has repeatedly said that he sees himself in the characteristics of the young Brazilian, which is high praise indeed. If you're reading my blog, you probably don't need reminding of Rijkaard's excellence as a player.

In retrospect, the comparison takes on a sort of tragicomic quality. Poor old Thiago was the Barca player most often slated for a bad performance by the fans, along with Oleguer (although they appreciated his fighting spirit). That was when he managed to get on the pitch, and stay there. The last qualification is necessary because he has an impressive habit of picking up red cards, often through little fault of his own, although he does have a formidable temper. The two occasions I remember best were both plain old bad luck - one featured a swan dive and a great acting performance from Diego Milito, and the other resulted from two bookings, both of which originated from fouls committed by other players:

(From another article by Sid Lowe): He got the first yellow for a foul on Valeron, which was actually committed by Cocu. And Motta, the No. 23, got his second and a red for another foul on Valeron, committed by Oleguer, who ever-so-confusingly wears 32.

Make no mistake, he is a very talented player. Ironically enough, he was probably closest to the ideal holding midfielder who could both pass and tackle that Barca have been looking for until Yaya Toure came along. Thiago has turned in some great performances for the team in the past, including significant contributions towards Barca's Champions League win in 05-06. However, I believe the club eventually lost confidence in him due to his far too frequent injury spells. In the Rijkaard era, no matter how much Frank liked him, he was simply unavailable for selection far too many times.

Thiago Motta will be missed at Barca, especially by the Central and South American faction of the Barca dressing room, to whom he was a great friend. I will borrow the words of his most earnest champion while he was at the club - Frank Rijkaard himself - to wish him luck for the future:

Motta "can be a success in any team", the coach said. "He is a player with a lot of talent and great possibilities. I hope that this change will do him good."

La Liga news round-up: RIP Antonio Puerta

"Today has been one of the saddest days in the history of Sevilla FC," Del Nido told the club's official website. "The diamond left-footed player Antonio Puerta has left us, a player that changed our lives now leaves us."

The man who scored this goal in extra time against Schalke to take Sevilla into their first ever European final and the last penalty in the shoot-out which won them their second UEFA Cup in 2 seasons has left us. 22-year-old Antonio Puerta was one of the rising stars of Spanish football, and had passed a club medical just 20 days ago, before he collapsed on the pitch just 30 minutes into the first game of the season.

I'm just shocked. Tim at La Liga Loca has a far more eloquent tribute to the young man. Rest in peace, Antonio. I hope you'll be watching the brilliant team that you were a part of from the big football pitch up in the sky.

Understandably, Sevilla's second round Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens has been postponed and is tentatively set to be played next Monday instead. The La Liga game against Osasuna which was to be played on that date will now be rescheduled. The European Super Cup clash against AC Milan will still go ahead on Friday, but will now be arranged as a tribute to Puerta.

Not that it matters next to the death of a young man, but because of the suspension of the Champions League game, UEFA are currently looking for a solution to the problem this has caused for the draw for the group stages, to be held this week. The rules regarding teams from the same country not meeting in the group stages will complicate the draw, given that we do not yet know whether Sevilla or AEK will progress. One solution which has been investigated is holding the draw twice, once assuming that Sevilla qualify and once in case AEK do in their stead.

Real Madrid have decided to suspend their traditional season opener friendly, the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy which was to be played against Sporting Lisbon out of respect for the memory of Puerta. President Calderon and captain Raul both expressed their condolences on the club website.

The fans of Seville's city rivals Real Betis have behaved very well in this horrible situation. Many joined the Sevilla fans keeping a vigil outside the hospital, and many showed up to pay their respects once the coffin reached the Sanchez Pizjuán stadium. Even mad owner Manuel Ruiz de Lopera behaved well, issuing a graceful statement of sympathy.

Barcelona

The club has expressed its condolences for the tragic death of Puerta via a message on the club website, given by captain Carles Puyol.

The scheduled festivities preceding the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Inter have been cancelled out of respect for the memory of Puerta, and the club will donate 10 percent of all proceeds from the game to the research of cardiovascular diseases.

There will be a minute's silence, in memory of both Puerta and former vice-president Nicolau Casaus, who died earlier this year. The acts of tribute set to be carried out in honour of Casaus before the game will still go ahead.

Club president Joan Laporta, technical director Txiki Begiristain and Puyol will attend the funeral of the Sevilla player on behalf of the club.

In other, less depressing news, defender Jesus Olmo has been allowed to join Racing de Ferrol in the second division for one season, although the club have retained a buy-back option on the player, who has played several times for the first team.

Olmo will join former third-choice goalkeeper Ruben Martinez, who is there on loan.

Happy birthday to Thiago Motta, who turns 25, and Bojan Krkic, who turns 17.

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.

Barca news round-up

It's not been a vintage season, but there is one thing Barca have achieved that we didn't in the glorious 05-06 season, and that's maintain an unbeaten record at home in the league. It's the four months we went without winning away that let us down.

Club president Joan Laporta sent out a forceful statement that things will change at the club next season in a press conference, although he insisted that Rijkaard, Ronaldinho and Eto'o would be staying put.

In the same press conference, the club's stated transfer targets are said to be "A left back, a centre back, one or two midfielders and one or two forwards". Sounds good to me, although I'd prioritize the midfielders, which we desperately need.

Also mentioned: Barca C is going to be folded, given Barca B's relegation.

Speaking of Barca B, guess who's been tasked with guiding them back up to the third division? One of my favourite players of all time and former Barca idol Pep Guardiola has signed a two-year contract to coach the team, bringing him back to the youth set up which made him as a player. I definitely approve, and hope that he proves to be a success.

From Guardiola to one of his successors, both on the pitch and as a leader of the squad. Xavi Hernandez spoke frankly about the season in a recent press conference, in which he laid the blame squarely on the players for not being up to the job, backed Frank Rijkaard to continue, and insisted that the squad was a great one which was very capable of winning more titles. Also, this:

Xavi is already looking to the future and is determined to win more silverware next season: “You always get another chance in football. We can’t allow ourselves another year like this one”.

Given that Xavi is the squad member who has been in the first team the longest and therefore experienced most of Barca's last long dry spell, his words carry some weight. He knows what it was like in the bad old days. Let's not do that again.

Technical secretary Txiki Begiristain also spoke about the changes in store for next season, strongly hinting that discipline would be tightened up in all respects, including speaking to the media and training. Three guesses which two players those concerns were directed at, and the first two don't count.

There's been a flurry of teams all over Europe unveiling their shirts for next season. If you're impatient to see Barca's, the designs for the home and away shirts have been leaked already. Looks genuine enough to me. I definitely approve of the home shirt. Not too sure about that shade of blue on the away one yet, although I like the collar. Having blue on both the home and away shirts probably means another season of getting out the third kit a lot on away trips. As long as it isn't the same unpleasant shade of brown as the last time we had blue on both home and away jerseys, I'll be fine.

Yes, another Asian tour. I thought we'd been over this enough times this season with the players complaining about how much pre-season tours screw up their physical preparations for the season? Ah well, at least it's a short one. Before that, Barca have broken with tradition and chosen to conduct their pre-season training in Scotland instead of Denmark. They'll play Dundee United and Hearts while they're there.

Barca news round-up: good news and bad news

So, good news first. Ronaldinho's had his two-match ban reduced to one, which means he could appear in Barca's last game of the season against 'Nastic.

Moving on to some transfer news, which is either good or bad depending on your perspective, everyone and their dog wants to leave. Edmilson has reportedly issued a come-and-get-me to AC Milan, and Belletti has done the same to anyone who would listen, both citing a lack of playing time. (Have to say, I'm a bit puzzled in Edmilson's case, as he's either been injured or horribly off form this season, with the honourable exception of the last few matches.) Added to other pretty much certain departures like Ezquerro and Saviola, Barca probably need to get a move on in the transfer market in terms of purchases.

Eto'o and Ronaldinho have also been linked with moves incessantly this season, but it's hard for me to see either of them going. Perhaps my judgement of tabloid gossip is biased because of my desire to see the awesome frontline of Messi-Eto'o-Ronnie playing together for at least a couple more seasons, but I have yet to see a rumour with some proper evidence backing it.

There is some concrete evidence that the long-rumoured Eric Abidal move may finally be on, that is if Barca can agree on a price with Lyon. If we're going to buy an expensive full-back I'd much rather have Dani Alves, but apparently the price that Sevilla want for him is pretty astronomical.

Two pieces of bad news. The first concerns the timing of the game this weekend. In their infinite wisdom, the Spanish FA have decided to play almost all the games at the same time, to avoid accusations of match fixing and so on. While this is no doubt a good idea, the time they have chosen is Saturday night. The internationals only get back to their clubs on Thursday. You may begin to see where the problem is for the club with the most internationals on duty. Barca may be the most affected club, but Sevilla and Real also have a considerable portion of their first team away doing the same thing, and I doubt they're happy about it.

Now, so far all the news items I've mentioned will only have short to medium term impact. This next bit of bad news, however, is going to haunt Barca for years to come. You ready?

Barca B have been relegated to the Spanish fourth division. First of all, I have to say that I don't understand how this happened, given the fact that they have some very decent players.

Second, this is absolutely awful news for Barca's youth development program, which has been very successful over the years but is increasingly losing the talent they unearth to other teams more ready to offer these young players first team opportunities. (E.g. Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and so on.)

But it has happened, so the club has to deal with it. The plan right now seems to be sorting through the players and sending the bulk of the decent ones off on loan where they'd be playing at a slightly higher level than that of the Spanish fourth division, to be bought back if and when the rest of Barca B claw themselves back up. The two stars of the team Giovani Dos Santos (18) and Bojan Krkic (16) will probably be integrated into the first team squad next season despite their youth, as they are both very talented and the club doesn't want to lose them.

The likes of Xavi, Puyol and Luis Garcia (the Liverpool player, not the Espanyol forward) once made up an excellent Barca B team which won promotion to the Spanish second division back in the 90s. Ah, how the mighty have fallen.

Premiership: a defence of Benitez and Mourinho (!)

It's a bit odd watching the fireworks in the Premiership from the point of view of a neutral, but perhaps that gives me the benefit of some unbiased insight - which makes the whole thing seem at times utterly ridiculous.

Liverpool

Oh, man, Liverpool. I feel terrible for Luis Garcia - his season is pretty much over, which sucks on its own, but now a triumphant return to Barcelona in February isn't going to happen. It's easy to say that an enormous goal threat in European competition has been removed from the tie, but Luis was a part of the Barcelona youth program. When he was playing for Barca B, that team also contained current club captain Carles Puyol, current third captain Xavi, and Gabri Garcia (now of Ajax) amongst others. They won promotion to the Spanish second division in 1998, relying amongst other things on goals scored by Luis, made by Xavi. So there's an emotional connection there, and I'm sad he's going to miss the match.

For those criticising Benitez, remember he's not in an easy position. I have a lot of sympathy for him, despite the fact that you have to place some of the blame for a defeat like the latest on the coach. After all, Arsenal had 6 shots on goal and scored 6 goals. That's not acceptable from the defence. That said, and I know this is not a popular opinion right now, those who say that he should have concentrated on the Carling Cup as their last realistic chance of silverware are mistaken. Remember how everyone said that Manchester United had merely won a consolation for other failures in the League and the Champions League when they won it last season?

Benitez has to worry about a good finish in the Premiership, preferably automatic qualification to the Champions League for next season (which is not going to be easy, obviously) and start thinking about the tie against Barca. Being out of cup competition might actually help in that respect, since their fixture list is now a lot lighter than say, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd or Barca's.

(Speaking as a Barcelonista, I can't help but worry that these two defeats against Arsenal only makes Liverpool more dangerous in the Champions League: after all, if it's their last shot at silverware this season and they've got their backs against the wall, we all know how Benitez's team can rise to such occasions.)

He's spent a lot of money, some of it on players who haven't worked out, but doesn't that happen to everybody? The problem he has had with the Liverpool board seems to be that while he gets a reasonable sum to splash around, having a 40 million dollar transfer kitty can feel very different when you need 3 world-class players to complete your team or 8. Obviously the quality of players who do end up coming are going to suffer for that. Think about it - other than Xabi Alonso, how many other proper bidding wars have Liverpool won for a truly world-class player in the last 3 seasons when up against the other great clubs of Europe?

When not everybody in your squad is ready to give performances that don't shame the shirt they're wearing, (and taking injuries into account) some important players are going to end up playing too many games. It surprised me to read that some of the Liverpool team had played every game this season, given his famous preference for rotations, but it was inevitable. It's simply not physically possible, especially given the English season, for anyone to do that through the whole season. So Benitez is within his rights to rest key players.

Comparative statistic: no Barcelona player has played every game this season, nor in the previous one. Mind you, we did lose a cup game 4-2 (away to Zaragoza) when Rijkaard rested Puyol last season, which demonstrates the perils of rotating key players, but it's simply something that has to be done for practical and physical reasons.

It's hilarious to read about people criticising Benitez's attitude and aptitude towards the domestic cups. Have people already forgotten that he won the FA Cup last season? And then there are those who say that he had nothing to do with the miracle in Istanbul. Ever heard of the phrase 'game-changing substitutions'?

Chelsea

Regular readers (if there is any such thing) will know that I don't like Jose Mourinho very much. But I have to say, I feel bad for him right now. He's in a very difficult situation in regards to suspensions and injuries, and for me he's handled it as well as he possibly can. Every game he seems to have key players suspended (Makelele and Ashley Cole for the next game, for example) not to mention the impact losing John Terry has had.

At Barca, we know how you feel, Mou. People say that it's his fault the squad isn't deep enough, but a 20 man squad is hardly small. Barca have a 22 man squad, which I think is plenty - that's not a big difference. Mourinho's being hammered about the lack of quality back-up, but how many top class players are willing to sit on the bench waiting for a starter to get injured, regardless of the money? Is the irony not lost on those who persist on this point while going on about how criminal it is that the likes of Wright-Phillips are rotting on the Chelsea bench? So if he does dare to get some high quality substitutes, he's wasting talent?

Mourinho's aura as the perfect manager is shattered, there's no doubt about that. The number of duds in the current squad leads one to conclude that he's not the most astute shopper in the transfer market - either that, or he has no control over transfers, like a Spanish club coach. Neither are empowering images. But nevertheless, I don't think he's down and out just yet. Besides, he can hardly be blamed for the uselessness of the Chelsea youth system in producing players who are good enough to cover for the first team.

This is probably the only time you will ever see me defending Mourinho. If he ever turned up in La Liga I'd probably contemplate suicide. But really, people. Be reasonable. Piling on is unseemingly.