Barca news round-up: transfers and all that

Negotiations with Manchester United over (Barca youth academy grad) Gerard Pique are said to be almost complete. The player has passed a medical in Barcelona and if all goes well the signing should be announced soon. [I am very pleased by this signing. Decent price, good player coming home, everybody's happy. Think of it this way: we're paying ManU for the experience he's gotten during these years away; experience he probably wouldn't have had if he had stayed.]

Seydou Keita of Sevilla has also passed his medical and completed personal negotiations with the club. Because Barca are going to pay his 14 million euro buy-out clause, Sevilla should not be a problem, since they gave him permission to go and have the medical. [Sevilla drive a hard bargain, as always. Great player, pleased to have him, especially given our needs in midfield.]

Thierry Henry reveals that he has spoken to Pep Guardiola and been told that he is wanted for next season. [Needless to say, I am very pleased by this.]

There are murmurs in the press that the board are unhappy with Messi's decision to go to the Olympics, which has been considered a 'lack of commitment'. [I'm sorry, but the board can go screw themselves. To accuse Messi of a lack of commitment to the cause would be laughable at best. Besides, he's under 23 years old, so they have no legal leg to stand on. So what are they going to do, sell him?

There's a good editorial in El Mundo Deportivo (and I don't use those words too often) on the subject.

Additionally, I would argue that showing a lack of commitment to one's national team would actually be a bad sign, of a player lacking in motivation and desire for glory - see Ronaldinho and Copa America.

Having said that, I do hope he gets in some pre-season time with Barca, since he'll have to get used to playing with quite a few newcomers.]

Edmilson gives a farewell press conference, bowing out gracefully in his usual frank style with a few thought-provoking comments and even a few tears. He's off to Villarreal. I wish him luck with his future endeavours. The official site has a look back at Edmilson's four seasons at the club.

Ronaldinho, on the other hand, has gone on vacation. So we might not even get a farewell press conference from him, let alone a farewell game, which would be a massive pity given his place in the history of the club.


[Next up, end of season awards, and a requiem for R-E-M.]

should they stay or should they go?

All signs point to major changes in the Barcelona squad next season. My (massively long, as it turns out) two cents on who should be staying and who needs to be ushered out the door below.

Keep in mind, though, that I haven't taken any economic considerations (e.g. selling X will get us some cash to spend on Y) into account.

Defence

Victor Valdes - had some blunders, but overall a decent season. The problems in defence cannot be entirely attributed to him. Keep.

Albert Jorquera - unfortunate to have missed so much of the season through an ACL injury. To be honest, though, he only ever plays cup matches and has never given Valdes a run for his money. Has signed a recent extension though, so barring any surprises he'll be staying.

Jose Manuel Pinto - Haven't played too many games, but has looked decent when he has been given opportunities, and his impressive record in the Primera before he came to Barca has convinced me that he deserves a chance. But with Jorquera having signed an extension not too long ago, I'm fairly sure he will get sent back to Celta.

Gabi Milito - his ACL injury was a massive blow. Started the season brightly and quickly cemented a leadership role in the team. His form dipped towards the end of the season, but in my opinion he was a solid purchase. Keep. (Get well soon, Gabi!)

Rafael Marquez - Rafa is that endangered species, the cultured centerback who can put in the tackles and pick out a pass. When he's on, he's brilliant. But he's been injured far too much in the last two seasons, and - more importantly - his commitment to the cause has been lacking. (Staying in Madrid to party after the Clasico defeat? Last nail in the coffin.) Sell, much as it pains me, and much as we'll struggle to replace him.

Carles Puyol - Poor old Captain Caveman. As Rijkaard once said, he's often the only man shouting in the desert in this Barca side in recent years. His commitment is unquestionable, and this team cannot do without him. Keep - or there will be rioting in the streets.

Gianluca Zambrotta - has never really hit the heights that he once reached for Juventus and Italy. It's a shame, really, because he is clearly a classy defender who can also go forward intelligently. I would love for him to stay, but all signs point toward him leaving to go back to Italy.

Sylvinho - couldn't get into the team at the start of the season when Abidal was on form, but when he did play he did a decent job. A positive influence on the younger players off the pitch as well, so I'm pleased to hear that he is negotiating a contract extension.

Lilian Thuram - still undeniably classy, but his legs have clearly gone. I would like him to stay if only because of the positive influence he has within the dressing room, much like Henrik Larsson did, but it doesn't seem possible. Will most likely be allowed to walk away.

Eric Abidal - started the season so well and ended it so badly. I'm not quite sure what happened, to be honest. He's clearly a great athlete and a wonderful player when on form, but his head went walkabout during the second half of the season. Keep - let's just hope he can get himself back on track.

Oleguer Presas - has had a horrible season, much of it disrupted by various injuries. Most fans seem to be in favour of booting him out the door, but I think he's a handy guy to have around, even if he gives me hives when he plays at right-back. Remember, he played quite a lot at center-back a couple of seasons back and that worked out okay. No idea what's going to happen to him. It's not like we'd get decent money if we sold him, and I doubt he's on much in terms of wages, so we might as well keep him around. (I confess, part of me is saying this because I want to see the book group him and Guardiola would inevitably end up forming.)

Midfield

Xavi Hernandez - this season was vice-captain Xavi's tenth at Barca. He is now the player who has appeared the most times for Barca in European competition, and inching up the all-time appearances list as well, having overtaken Pep Guardiola. One more personal record - he has scored 9 goals this season, many of them crucial. Aside from that, his passing was as dependable as ever, although he did not always manage to escape the malaise when the team were slumping. Keep, of course.

Eidur Gudjohnsen - hasn't played as much as he would have liked, and when he has played his performances have been uneven. Has shown his potential as a midfielder in some games, but in others he still looks to be on a different wave length to his team mates. Surely unhappy with being on the bench so often, a good offer would probably persuade him to leave. I'll miss him, but - sell.

Andres Iniesta - one of the most underrated players in all of Europe. I said in my review of last season that he'd come of age then. Well, if last season was his coming of age, then this season has seen him add to his already extensive set of skills and step up as one of the quiet leaders of the team while others floundered. (A minor complaint, but I do wish he'd cut out the blatant diving. It's unbecoming of a player as good as he is.) He's only 24, but has already racked up an astonishing 200 appearances for the club. Keep - he's going to be a club legend.

Edmilson - Poor old Edmilson. I can clearly remember him being a decent holding midfielder who specialised in man-marking creative players out of the game, not too long ago. A series of injuries have meant that he only played a few games this season, and that when he has played he has generally been awful. That combined with a certain ill-timed outburst this season means that he is sure to be off-loaded. Sell.

Deco - ah, Deco. He has always inspired adoration and frustration from me in equal measure. Injury problems have dogged him this season, but when he has been fully fit he has generally played well, and Barca have no other players who can do what he can. But at the same time his off-field problems have been well-documented. The booking that he picked up in the game against Valencia (most likely deliberate), forcing him to miss the Clasico was probably the last nail in his coffin. I would like for him to stay, if only because I can't see how we're going to replace him, but he's clearly going to leave. It's a shame that it has to be on such a bad note, after all he's done for Barca during the good times.

Toure Yaya - a brilliant first season where he won over the fans with his tremendous power, skill, work rate, and above all his commitment to the cause. Not going anywhere unless the Powers That Be have a sudden attack of insanity.

Forward

Santiago Ezquerro - also known as '...who?' Poor Santi. His move to Barca pretty much halted his career in its tracks, although he did get some nice silverware, a decent salary and a lot of free time in return. It's probably best for all parties involved that Santi finds a club where he's not stuck behind a 17-year-old in the pecking order. Sell.

Giovani Dos Santos - a tricky one, this. He's clearly extremely talented, and capable of being a team player. On the other hand, he's a habitual diver (and terrible at it, too, which makes it even more embarrassing), can be frustratingly individualistic, and is reportedly well on the way to diva-dom even before he's gotten good enough or famous enough to earn the attitude. His flirtations with other clubs is also unbecoming for a young player, especially one who comes from the cantera. I'd like to give him another season to impress, but if he's set on the cash being offered elsewhere, then that's just too bad.

Bojan Krkic - phenomenal. Least we all forget, he's just 17 years old. Ten goals and countless fearless performances have made him an idol of the fans, and rightly so. I am wary of too much pressure being put on his shoulders too soon, though. It is entirely unreasonable to expect someone so young and inexperienced to carry the front-line, and we all need to remember that before we criticize him. The only problem I can see is that he's a bit too lightweight right now so defenders can just bully him off the ball. Hopefully there's still a growth spurt in him somewhere - the bulking up can be done easily enough. Do I even need to say it? - Keep.

Leo Messi - worryingly, another injury-ravaged season for poor Leo. He was absolutely amazing from about September to December, when he got injured. We only got to see his brilliance in patches after that. Looked increasingly depressed as the end of the season approached even as he battled on determinedly while many around him faltered or simply gave up - and who can blame him, especially since he's so close to Ronaldinho, Deco and Frank Rijkaard, all of whom are leaving? Keep - unless the board likes the idea of being chased out of the city by an angry mob.

Samuel Eto'o - yet another unfortunately injury-ravaged season for Sammy. That, added to the after-effects of the African Cup of Nations, meant that he really lost form towards the end of the season, but even so his strike rate - 16 goals in 16 league games - is pretty amazing. The way he missed the Clasico, though, really made me angry (even though he's one of my favourite players) and lowered his standing amongst the fans considerably. On the other hand, he's still only 27, and I have faith that he can recover his form. Remember, he scored 71 goals in 100 appearances with us. While his sale would raise some money, how much would it take to buy a striker who could boast the same efficiency? Keep - at least for one more season.

Thierry Henry - while Henry has gotten a lot of abuse for his perceived inadequacies this season, I have actually grown from a sort of half-mocking fondness to quite liking him. His professionalism and refusal to get involved in dressing room infighting in particular has been commendable. (Also, this is not often said, but he sure works far harder in defence than Ronaldinho did.) Sure, some of his comments have been perceived as whining, but think about it - he's new to the league, he's unexpectedly (due to the injury to Eto'o) had to play far more games than his dodgy back is supposed to be able to handle, and he's had to adapt to Barca's way of playing. 19 goals in 39 appearances isn't actually that bad a return, in the end, and he showed some signs of finally starting to adapt towards the end of the season. I think he deserves another chance.

Ronaldinho - I've changed my mind about Ronnie so many times this season. Every time I think 'that's it, that's enough' he comes back and produces something on the pitch to make me think otherwise. I'm sure a lot of Barca fans feel the same way, if the home crowd at the Camp Nou are any indication. But finally, I think that really is enough. No one can deny what he's done for the club, and no one can deny that he's still potentially one of the greatest players ever, but I think the time for an intervention at Barca has passed. If he is to rescue his career, it will have to be somewhere else. It's sad that yet another Brazilian superstar has to exit by the back door (Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo...), but I simply can't see any other way. I'll write a longer tribute to his time at the club when the transfer goes through, but it certainly feels like I've already been saying goodbye to Ronnie for months, if not years.



By the way, most of the spine of the 04-06 side are up for contract renewals next season. Just something to think about.

And it might be a good idea to upgrade Messi's contract, too. He's not going around asking for a contract that matches his present status because he is Cule through and through and because he's not a jerk, but given that his present contract was signed before he became a regular starter, it probably needs an update.

Speaking of which, the board better have a professional contract drafted and ready to be signed by Bojan as soon as he turns 18. No one is snatching him away.

Even by the most conservative estimates (and taking into account possible new promotions from the B team) we are going to need at least 6 or 7 new players. This is going to be an interesting transfer window, that's for sure.

Barca roundup: the 'I'm not dead!' edition

Exams are over (hooray!) and I'm back, although currently preoccupied with...well, life in general. To be honest, I've just been thinking a lot, and there's a couple of posts I want to make about coaching styles, quotas in European leagues, and all that. But it's Barca that's really been frustrating me. Anyway, news first.

international round-up

France, Italy, Spain and Portugal have all qualified for Euro 2008, meaning that there will potentially be 8 Barca players at the tournament.

Thierry Henry scored in France's game with Ukraine (2-2), which was a bit of a formality given Italy's earlier victory over Scotland.

All three Barca players played in Spain's excellent 3-0 win over Sweden, with Xavi and Iniesta in particular praised for their great performances. Iniesta scored Spain's second and Xavi was once again applauded off the pitch at the Bernabeu. (By the way, though I still dislike Aragones, congratulations to Spain for qualifying in such style in the end. What a group of young talent.)

Iniesta and Xavi also started in Spain's 1-0 win over Northern Ireland, in which the entire first-string defence (including Puyol) was rested, with captain Xavi scoring the deflected winner.

Zambrotta played in Italy's crucial 1-2 victory against Scotland but was kindly rested in the last game against the Faroe Islands.

Eidur Gudjohnsen played in Iceland's 3-0 defeat at the hands of the footballing giants of Liechtenstein.

Bojan Krkic scored once again and played well in the Spanish U21 side's 3-0 victory over Poland. Remember, the kid's still only 17. Astonishing talent.

Speaking of which, Leo Messi and Gabi Milito both played the full 90 mintues in Argentina's 3-0 victory over Bolivia and 1-2 defeat against Columbia. Messi played well in both games, scoring a great opener against Columbia while the team were down to 10 men. Milito struggled in the Columbia game once Tevez was sent off, but played fairly well against Bolivia.

Ronaldinho played the full 90 minutes in Brazil's 1-1 draw with Peru but only 60 minutes of their 2-1 victory over Uruguay, in which both he and Robinho were apparently booed by the Brazilian fans when substituted. Geez, Ronnie really can't get a break anywhere.

injury update

Good news: Deco's back and running, but he still needs time to heal and get fit. Even better news: Samuel Eto'o has started training with a ball again.

other (mostly cheerful) news

Congratulations to Andres Iniesta, who recently celebrated his 5 year anniversary in the first team squad by telling the press that he'd like to retire at Barca. I believe you, Andres.

Congratulations also to Victor Valdes for now holding the record for the longest time a Barca goalie has gone without conceding in Europe at 466 minutes and counting. Barca have yet to concede in the Champions League this season, and this added to the clean sheet kept (fortuitously, it must be said) against Liverpool last season in the return leg means that Valdes has broke the previous record which was 406 minutes and has stood for more than 30 years. (It's a bit of a reflection on how leaky defences, especially in Europe, are a Barca tradition to be honest.)

Frank Rijkaard made some interesting observations regarding Leo Messi recently, the most interesting of which is this: he believes that Messi will move to an attacking midfield position in the future. Rijkaard also talked about the progress Messi has made in the past few seasons, mainly in tactical discipline and awareness.

Lilian Thuram recently spoke to the 60 kids at La Masia on his experiences. He emphasised the importance of education, reminded the kids to always ask 'why', and urged them to focus on Iniesta as an example to be followed, both as as player and as a person.

less cheerful news aka perpetual state of 'crisis'

As much as I am angered by the attempts of the press - and I'm not even talking the Madrid press, just the Barca rags - to fan the flames of a supposed 'crisis' which leaves Barca a massive 4 points off the league leaders, at least some members are still trying to do their job. El Pais has a good summary of the latest goings on, which mostly concern the ever-honest Edmilson opening his big mouth once again and leading to the press going off on a merry round of speculation about who he meant by the 'black sheep' of the Barca family.

Out of the players who have come out and defended Rijkaard recently - Puyol, Messi, Eto'o to name a couple - Puyol was most scathing in his assessment of the players' own responsibility, and Messi was the most forthright in telling the press to back off in their attempts to bait Rijkaard.

Now, I'm very fond of Frank Rijkaard. I think he's a class act who has the rare poise needed to deal with the hysteria that often surrounds Barca, and someone who really understands players. For example, Bojan Krkic spoke a little while ago about how Rijkaard always knows what to say and when and how to say it.

One of the qualities I most admire in Rijkaard is his unflinching acceptance of blame for every setback and defeat. However, admiring it doesn't mean I agree with it. As Puyol said, it's wrong to blame the manager entirely given the culpability of the players in the performance.

(On the subject of away form, I'd like to note that Barca didn't win away for about 4 months last season, or in other words for most of the time that Samuel Eto'o was out injured. And I'd also like to note that Barca were level on points with Real Madrid, the champions, at the end of the season.)

As a Barca fan, I'm used to the hysteria that surrounds every defeat and every setback. But you know what made me really angry? The Barcelona media's Mourinho stunt. I find it really hard to believe that a large majority of Barca fans would want Mourinho to replace Rijkaard. Leaving aside the animosity, we all know that the Camp Nou is capable of turning its collective nose up at trophies if they're not won in sufficient style. (As if Mourinho hasn't had enough of that demand with Roman at Chelsea.) Also: how personally insulting is it to Rijkaard to suggest such a thing, given the evens of the past 3 seasons?


More on the away form issue later.

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!

Barca 06-07 wrap-up: player by player (2)

Continuing on from my last post, in which I covered Barca's goalkeepers and defenders.

Midfielders

Name: Xavier 'Xavi' Hernández Creus
Age: 27
Evaluation: Xavi is one of the leaders of the team and the player who has been in the first team the longest in the current squad despite his relative youth.

Having lost most of the 05-06 season to injury, he was once again hampered by injury problems this season, although they were thankfully mostly minor compared to what he went through before. He's had better seasons, which is reflected in the period that saw him sometimes dropped in favour of Iniesta, but having said that, there's no faulting the effort he puts in and even when his form isn't the best, his essential quality of accurate, incisive passing remains. His form improved markedly towards the end of the season. Scored a couple of nice goals.
Probability of transfer: none. Xavi's been with us for his entire career, and long may it continue. (Although I recently heard a rumour that he supported Espanyol as a child, which is a bit disturbing.) He'll only leave if he doesn't get any games, which is a bit of a worry with Iniesta's rise, but that issue shouldn't need to be forced for a while yet.

Name: Anderson 'Deco' Luis de Souza
Age: 30
Evaluation: A lot of Barca supporters were disgruntled with Deco's antics. The most valuable attribute that he brings to the team is a winning mentality, and that seemed to go missing at times this season. Not to mention the alleged off-field adventures which have landed him in several notorious English tabloids. He's had a largely sub-par season, but improved towards the end. Impressive contribution to Barca's European campaign as usual. The thing about Deco is that even when he's not at his best, Barca benefit from having his particular brand of flair and bite in midfield.
Probability of transfer: low. There was a lot of speculation surrounding him and I was afraid the club were tempted to sell, which would be a serious misjudgement in my opinion. Thankfully they've come out and said outright that he's not for sale.

Name: Andrés Iniesta Luján
Age: 23
Evaluation: The only worthy candidate for Barca's player of the season along with Victor Valdes and one other player I haven't mentioned yet. I had a moment of disbelief when I worked out his age, because he's appeared for the first team 165 times already and captained Barca on a couple of occasions. Iniesta has always had a mature air about him, but I think it can be said that this is the season in which he came of age as a footballer. He's not particularly fast or strong as a player, but he can do everything that you could ask of a midfielder: marking, tackling, incisive, precise passing, blistering runs from midfield and goals from distance. This season, while all around him floundered, he did all of those things, consistently and well.
Probability of transfer: none. A La Masia product like Xavi, he's instrumental to the club's plans for the future.

Name: José Gomes Edmílson Morais
Age: 30
Evaluation: Edmilson has been plagued by injuries even since he joined Barca. In fact, in his 3 seasons at the club the 05-06 season is the only one in which he came close to having a full season on optimal form. This season he has had his playing time cut by both injuries and indifferent form. Mostly unimpressive when he did play.
Probability of transfer: high. Edmilson has expressed his desire to leave due to the lack of playing time. Unfortunately, he had to have a knee operation which will keep him out for six months, which may deter most suitors. There have also been some rumours that Barca will try to keep him for the whole of next season as a backup option once he gets fit.

Name: Thiago Motta
Age: 24
Evaluation: Motta is an odd case, as Frank Rijkaard is very fond of him despite his time in the Barca first team being mostly marked by endless injuries, unfortunately timed red cards and wildly inconsistent form. This season was no different, although the sending off incidents were few and the single notable instance wasn't his fault. He was often injured again, which is the probable cause of his form problems and led to the club not being able to rely on him even when he was fit. Motta actually had a couple of good games this season, which is the frustrating thing about him - there's potential, but no one knows if it will ever be realized.
Probability of transfer: already done. Or at least the club have told him he's surplus to requirements after Toure joined. It's a sad state of affairs when a La Masia graduate is forced to leave for a foreign signing, but it was inevitable.

Welcome Toure Yaya and associated news

No, that's not a typo. The younger Toure has announced that he would like to be known as Toure Yaya while at Barca, and that's what's going on his no.17 shirt as well. The 24 year old was presented today after finalizing his 9 million euro move from AS Monaco.

I've only ever watched him play at the World Cup, but have heard very good things about his ability, and it's good to see the management aren't blind to our needs in the defensive midfield position. Hopefully he'll prove to be a success for us.

The club have apparently told youth academy product Thiago Motta he is surplus to requirements with the capture of Toure. Motta was a very promising young player when he 'graduated' into the first team (he's actually been capped for Brazil a couple of times), but horrible luck with long-term injuries have derailed his development and his inconsistency when not injured has been frustrating the fans for the last few seasons. It's sad to see a youth system product pushed out in favour of a big-money signing, but in this case it was inevitable, despite Motta being a particular favourite of Rijkaard's.

The same announcement would seem to indicate that Rafael Marquez and Edmilson will both be staying at the club, the latter largely because he's going to be out injured for six months following a knee operation. Otherwise he would probably have been offloaded for criticising the board's call for greater discipline within the squad and general loss of form, not to mention frequent injuries. On the subject of Marquez, the club would seem to be holding out hope of his eventual return to form after a horrible season from the Mexican.

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

Barca transfer news

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

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

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

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

Title race updates

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

Real v Mallorca
'Nastic vs Barca
Sevilla v Villarreal

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

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

Related news items

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Barca news 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.

Barca transfer updates

This is why I dislike international breaks. Don't get me wrong, I love international football, especially big tournaments, but when the season's still going on it means that the hacks get really silly with their transfer rumour-mongering.

Some quick transfer news: Frank(ie) Rijkaard has once again stated that 1) he would like Ronaldinho to stay and 2) he will reject any offers from Milan to stay with Barca, as long as the club still want him. Needless to say, this makes me happy.

Same message from Roberto de Assis, it seems, who emphasised that he had not spoke to any other clubs about Ronaldinho. Poor guy can't even meet with the employers of other players he represents (Ricardo Oliveria, amongst others, mostly Brazilian) without a hundred Italian and Spanish hacks latching on to it.

Next up, Edmilson has spoken out on the (logical) rumours of his departure, given his recent loss of form, his position and advancing age.

"Rijkaard trusts me, not only on the pitch, but also in the dressing room," said the Brazilian. "I do not know if they are truly looking for someone [a defensive midfielder], because everyday I hear that five or six are to leave, and could count thirty who will join.

"However, if I do not continue [here], I will leave calmly, because I have won many trophies and given everything."

Basically, he'll stay if he can be useful, which suits me just fine. I still say we need another defensive midfielder, though. Preferably someone world class, and proven in La Liga.

Lilian Thuram seems to have softened his rhetoric somewhat, and is maintaining the same line as Edmilson: if he's used regularly, he'll stay. I daresay that won't be a problem for as long as he's in better form than Marquez, but beyond that, I just don't know. It would be lovely if he could retire in Barca, though.

"I hope that I will play for Barcelona next season. I will move elsewhere if the club tell me there are no possibilities for me [to play regularly]. If they count on me, there are no reasons to leave the club...First of all I think of staying at Barcelona and playing more often."

Speaking of which, apparently Juve want Marquez. He's really out of form, people. Doesn't the Old Lady's representatives watch La Liga or the Champions League?

Other Barca rumours: Jorge Andrade, the Depor defender; David Albelda, defensive midfielder and captain of Valencia (again); Eric Abidal's agent is still flogging him to us (no reported interest on our part yet, which is just as well given his lost of form this season); Dani Alves has also been flogged to Barca, who are interested but baulked at the price tag; and Saviola has been linked repeatedly to Spurs.

Barca news and press round-up

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

internationals

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

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

injury news

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

transfer news

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

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

news story of the day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If it ain't broke...my take on Barca's transfer needs

There will always be transfer speculation surrounding a club such as Barcelona, and even more so now, with so many players out injured. This is my opinion on the team's short term and long term needs and how they may best be fulfilled.

short term

Most obviously, with the current injury list, we seem to need some striking cover. Reportedly the club are considering their options on this front. As the technical staff have pointed out, however, signing a player in January would leave the unlikely result of the squad being far too overloaded with strikers once the injured players return to fitness. So that leaves out the likes of Albert Luque, especially since he wants more playing time. As much as I love the idea of having another Catalan player in the squad, it doesn't seem practical. We already have a winger who doesn't get nearly enough playing time in Santi Ezquerro.

Moving on, I have to say, regardless of the credibility of the reports, I'm attracted by the idea of getting Henrik Larsson back on loan for 3 months. It appeals to the sentiments of Barca fans who love him, and works in a practical sense because he knows the club and the system. Besides, the Swedish season has just finished, and doesn't start back up in another 4 months. That said, as his current club have said, while a loan deal would appeal to them financially, at the age of 35 Larsson could probably use a long break between seasons, instead of spending it playing, especially since he essentially hasn't stopped playing since the beginning of the 05-06 season, going straight from Barca to the World Cup, and then from that straight back into club football in Sweden. In the end, though, much of it will depend on what Henke thinks about it. I wouldn't be surprised if he refused, even if the club decides to ask. After all, he'd left in the perfect way. No need to risk changing that.

Whatever happens, I hope the club proceed with caution, since our last couple of emergency signings in January haven't exactly worked out. While I'll always be grateful to Maxi Lopez for that Chelsea game, and Albertini for answering our distress call at no great gain to himself, their impact hasn't been that great. In our last majorly injury-ridden season, it was actually the players we already had who really dug deep and pulled through together. Maybe there's a lesson in there.

long term

I'm a firm believer in evolution rather than revolution when it comes to improving the squad. As far as I can see, there are two positions that might prove problematic in the next couple of seasons - left-back, holding midfield and the right wing.

Left-back first. This is an obvious one, given that both our left-backs are over 30 and have their share of critics. Sylvinho is a wonderful wing-back, but has his defensive problems and I don't know how many more years his legs can take of running up and down the left flank all game. Gio is better balanced, but still easily exposed by fast, nimble wingers, and at 31 the second oldest member of the squad. Again, the physical demands placed upon the full-backs in the 4-3-3 system could take its toll.

I'd prefer the coach promoting a young left-back from the youth system to gain some experience with the senior players with a view to taking over, if a suitable candidate exists. If not, it would be nice if we could sign someone young. The current technical staff seem to prefer players who are already used to a European league, especially those from the 'smaller' leagues like Holland, Portugal and France, which seems like a good approach to take. In any case, there's no hurry, so any decision should be taken with caution, which means hopefully no splashing out of large amounts of cash on a 'star' player (by which I am indeed alluding to the Abidal rumours).

Moving on to holding midfield. Barca have had problems in this position for years. Our holding midfielders - Edmilson, Gerard and Motta - seem to be desperately unlucky with injuries. We spent most of 04-05 with all 3 unavailable. Motta missed at least half of 05-06 with various niggling injuries, when not in danger of getting sent off. Edmilson has been somewhat lacking in form this season when not injured. Motta has had one good game. With 2 players covering one position, you don't except to have to draft in less defensive midfielders (Xavi, Iniesta) or a center-back (Marquez) to fill the position effectively.

Furthermore, Edmilson isn't getting any younger at 30. He's been plagued by injury for the last couple of seasons, an alarming trend that doesn't look like going away. Motta, 23, is one of the youngest players in the squad, so he has a lot of room to grow. It's interesting to note that he's been in the first team on and off from 2002, and yet he's still got the same problems with clumsy tackling and more importantly his unstable temperament. I think a lot of this is due to the many lengthy injury lay-offs that have stunted his development as a player - he's never played more than 20 games in a single season. 2005 was almost a complete write-off. Rijkaard really likes Motta because he thinks the Brazilian is a player in his own image, and I sure hope that is the case. When he has a good game, one can see what Rijkaard means. He's better going forward than Edmilson, holds possession well and takes a great freekick too. And of course even a team like Barca need a physical player.

Having said all that, even if Motta does develop into a player who can do the job, I think there's a case for reinforcements in this position. Not necessarily by buying from other clubs, since it's not quite an urgent problem. As always, my preference is for a youth team player to get a chance to come up and establish himself. If that's not possible, then perhaps signing a young player used to European football who won't cost insane amounts of money. Sadly, that last bit rules out players such as Argentinean Javier Mascherano, languishing at West Ham. Someone like, say, fellow Argentinean Lucas Biglia, now of Anderlecht - just as an example - would fit the description. He's just as good as the far more lauded Fernando Gago - who is now seemingly headed to Real Madrid - and would come far cheaper.

Lastly, there's the right wing. I know this sounds a little crazy, given that Barca have Leo Messi in that position, but given how injury-prone he's proven to be, and the fact that Ludovic Giuly, while excellent, is not getting any younger, we should be looking at future prospects - leisurely browsing, really, given the lack of urgency, but still browsing. Giuly is 30 right now, and given both the demands of the position and his physical condition can hardly play 75 minutes without running out of gas. He's still working his ass off and putting in vital performances for now, but what about 2 or 3 years down the line?

Encouragingly, there are quite a few impressive youngsters coming through from the youth teams who can play in the forward positions. 2005 U17 World Cup Silver Ball winner Giovani Dos Santos looks like a good prospect, if only Barca can hold on to him. Unfortunately one of the methods Barca are employing to ensure that Dos Santos doesn't leave involves not pushing to get him Spanish nationality, as an EU passport would make it much easier for other clubs to snatch him. I say unfortunately because this lack of an EU passport works both ways - he can't play for the first team, at least not this season, even if one of the non-EU slots on the team is freed up by his Mexican compatriot Marquez finally getting Spanish citizenship. Even so, this position looks alright for the future, unless - going by track record - Arsenal suddenly take an interest.

In conclusion, I don't think big spending is the answer to any problems the team may have right now. Barca already did that 2 season ago, when we bought in 7 players in the transfer window and made the current squad what it is. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. At least not yet.