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

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

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

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

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

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

Rijkaard and the ref

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

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

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

individual players

defence

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

midfield

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

forwards

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

presswatch

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

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

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

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

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

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

player news ahead of the Barcelona derby

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

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

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

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

Visca el Barca!

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

(graphic swiped from Sport)

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

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

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

defence

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

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

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

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


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

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

midfield

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

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

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

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

forwards

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

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

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

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

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

other observations

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

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

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

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

Barca news ahead of the Villarreal game

Club football is back with a bang with some interesting games in Spain this weekend and the return of the Champions League midweek, amidst the sound of club coaches grumbling about their charges returning injured (poor Arjen Robben) or tired.

Internationals

Gabi Milito and Leo Messi scored the goals for Argentina as they beat Venezuela away to top the qualifying table with 6 points. Hasta El Gol Siempre has a match report, and I definitely recommend checking out Messi's goal.

Congratulations to Thierry Henry who broke Michel Platini's record to become the leading scorer in France's history. He scored both goals as France made hard work out of beating Lithuania by dominating but not breaking the deadlock until late on. The second in particular was very nice. Eric Abidal and Lilian Thuram also played.

Spain played a (brilliantly timed) friendly against Finland which was described by the press as a training match. (It was a 0-0 draw, naturally.) Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi all played 45 minutes.

Deco played 90 minutes yet again for Portugal as they beat Kazakhstan 2-1 in a victory which was reportedly more laboured than the 2-0 win over Azerbaijan. (If Portugal somehow contrive to miss out from a group featuring such luminaries, then there should be an inquest. Happily, they appear to now be on course.)

Eidur Gudjohnsen played for Iceland as they went down 3-0 (!) to Liechtenstein. Oh dear.

Ronaldinho played and scored in Brazil's 5-0 victory over Ecuador in the Maracana stadium. This was a much needed result for them after the way they played against Columbia, and apparently Ronnie is starting to look a bit better.

Giovani Dos Santos played the first 45 minutes for Mexico as they went down 2-3 to Guatemala. To be fair to him, Mexico only began to collapse in the second half, although I've heard conflicting things about his performance.

Villarreal v Barca

The big story of this game is the reunion of old Arsenal and France pals Robert Pires and Thierry Henry. So we've got Pires being encouraging and positive about Henry, as he's been since the beginning, while warning team mates to watch out for that Messi guy too. The official site has an article detailing the past history between the two, and UEFA.com's preview also focuses on them.

Problem: Ronaldinho didn't even make the Friday training sesson, so he's obviously in no condition to play 90 minutes on Saturday. Worryingly, his natural substitute Giovani doesn't get back until Friday either, although he did make training. If Yaya Toure were fit, the easy solution would be to play Iniesta in Ronnie's left-wing position, but he's not, so that won't work either. Ronnie has been left out of the squad, which is probably a wise decision, given that it will keep him fresh for the Rangers game, but I'm not sure what the alternatives are going to be in this game.

Villarreal were the last side to defeat Barca, the 2-0 result in El Madrigal perfectly summing up the malaise of last season. Ironically, that game sent Villarreal on their amazing winning run which lasted for 8 matches - straight to the end of the season. To be fair, Frank Rijkaard's Barca has often found Villarreal away a difficult game to deal with. I have painfully vivid memories of the 3-0 thrashing in the 04-05 season orchestrated by one Juan Roman Riquelme.

Other news

Barcelona have drawn CD Alcoyano of the Spanish third division in the Copa del Rey. The official website also has this great story about a Barca B game against Alcoyano: In the 2005/06 season, Alcoyano and Barça B took part in a bizarre match that saw Barça B travel to Alcoy on no less than three occasions to complete the 90 minutes. First the Barça B party had to return from Alcoy after the match was suspended due to heavy snowfall. At the second attempt the match was once again suspended in the 50th minute after a technical fault left the El Collao stadium without electricity. It was a case of third time lucky for Alcoyano, who finally won the match 2-0.

Samuel Eto'o is now a Spanish citizen, which means that the only non-EU player on the roster is Yaya Toure.

There's an interesting interview with Thierry Henry from the New York Times, where he talks about his charity work, the differences between Spain and England, and his love for Basketball amongst other things.

Update on Giovani's contract situation: the boy himself says that negotiations will probably be completed in November or December, if things go according to plan.

Txiki gave a recent interview in which he said that the club were looking to give Messi and probably Iniesta a better contract. Messi's dad and agent Jorge has come out and said that they're not actually too bothered about a new, better contract, which is about the first time I've heard that from an agent.

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

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

Internationals round-up

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

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

Actually, let me just detour for a moment:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Villarreal matters

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

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

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

Other club news

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

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

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

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

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


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

Barca news round-up

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

La Liga: deadline day deals

A few surprising deals did go through, but I'm sure some clubs lamented the (to them, untimely) end of the transfer window, most notably Deportivo who were looking to get 3 more players and as far as I know didn't succeed.

Frankly, based on their opening day performance, I can't blame Miguel Angel Lotina, but surely somebody at that club realized the malaise there during the long months of the transfer window? They are apparently broke, but so are the promoted clubs and the likes of Racing.

Speaking of other non-transfers, Barcelona did manage to offload Thiago Motta, which brings their summer departures up to six (Saviola, Gio, Giuly, Maxi Lopez, Belletti, Motta), although only Gio was a regular starter, with Giuly having lost his place to Messi, Belletti to Zambrotta, and Motta to injury. However, they didn't manage to offload Ezquerro, who has now been reincorporated into the squad, or Gudjohnsen, which looks like a stroke of good fortune now that Eto'o is injured again.

Anyway, here's the list, with some comments:

Almeria: Michel (Xerez)

Atletico: Motta (Barcelona) - more on this one in a later post

Betis: Lima (Atletico Mineiro), Jose Mari (Villarreal)

Very surprised by Jose Mari leaving the Submarines, but at least it means that he can return to his native Seville, and as I've written about before, they do have a lot of strikers. (More on Villarreal later also, oh yes.)

Getafe: De la Red (Real Madrid), Esteban Granero (Real Madrid Castilla, loan)

Interesting moves, both for what it says about Bernd Schuster and what it says about the relationship between Getafe and Real. Firstly, the sale of De la Red (albeit with a buyback clause) and Javi Garcia means that Schuster has decided against heavily utilising cantera players this season. It's a bit of a surprise considering the pre-season. At least Balboa is still there and Miguel Torres is well established.

Second, Getafe have tried to loan players from Real before without huge success, so perhaps this heralds an improved relationship between the two clubs? If so, lord knows it's about time, since Getafe president Angel Torres is a card-carrying Madridista anyway.

Levante: Miguel Angel (Betis)

Murcia: Movilla (Zaragoza)

Osasuna: Javi Garcia (Real Madrid Castilla)

Racing: Szetela (Columbus Crew), Tichte (Anderlecht)

It's good to see that Racing have moved to add some more attacking fire power to their existing defensive solidarity. Szetela is apparently a promising US U20 midfielder, and Tichte is a forward, which when added to their signing of the Polish forward Smolarek a few days before goes some way towards plugging the sizeable gap left by the departure of Nikola Zigic, amongst others.

Recreativo: Javi Guerrero (Celta), Zahinos (Atletico), Gerard Lopez (Monaco), Martin (Trabzonspor)

Sevilla: Kone (PSV)

That's Ivory Coast forward Arouna Kone, who I was impressed by at the World Cup in 2006. Unusually, they spent quite a bit on him, around 12 million euros in fact.

Zaragoza: Luccin (Atletico)

Atletico fans seem pleased to finally offload the frustrating Luccin to Zaragoza, where he joins fellow former Atletico player, Gabi.

La liga news round-up: day 1

It was a weekend that defied predictions as the 3 promoted sides all won at the expense of some of the bigger teams, Real looked better than expected, Sevilla won but it didn't matter, Barca bored and Valencia and Atletico bottled it once again.

Barca 0-0 Racing

As a certain Spanish newspaper put it, 'fantastically boring'. Fair play to Marca, it made me chuckle.

As Sid Lowe said on Football Weekly, it was all rather depressingly familiar to Barca fans: a total lack of width, urgency, agression and worryingly, not much inspiration in attack.

But Zambrotta's right, you know:

“During the pre-season we have been a 'fantastic' team and won everything. Now just because of one match there’s all this fuss."

I also second Xavi's frustration at all this 'fantastic four' rubbish. Certain sections of the press need to remember that football is a team sport.

What has sparked some worry amongst the fans and the press is that while Messi was arguably the best of the trident, he was the one who was subbed off for Henry to come on, instead of Ronaldinho or Eto'o, who would be more likely to have a tantrum about it. Rijkaard insists the substitution was done that way for tactical reasons, but he's definitely under scrutiny for his (apparent lack of) willingness to test the discipline of Ronnie and Sammy by benching them. Messi himself didn't look too happy to be bought off, but in the post-match interview he repeated his usual line of being at the disposal of the coach. To be honest, he's probably the least problematic of the 4 in terms of discipline, but that doesn't mean he should be the victim of the others' egos.

Incidentally, Cesc Fabregas implied in an interview this week that Henry intimidated too many of the young players at Arsenal while he was there. At least that won't be a problem at Barca, where most of the squad are established internationals in their 20s with their own egos and some are stars in their own right.

racing

They're better than I thought they'd be. Garay is as dependable as ever, and with a manager who knows how to marshal limited resources, maybe they won't be in trouble after all.

club news

Poor old Eidur Gudjohnsen. I know I placed him pretty low in the striker hierarchy for the season, but at least I didn't say this:

"Eidur knows the situation," said Beguiristáin. "We now have six players in front of him."

Ouch, Txiki (technical director 'Txiki' Beguiristain), harsh. Especially since 2 of those 6 are at least 10 years his junior.

Next up is the Gamper trophy, which we have to cheer ourselves up for despite the events of the opening round. To be honest, a first round draw away from home is far from a disastrous result, but as I said above, it's just the same old problems which is a bit frustrating for fans. I would certainly rather have the 3 points, but at least this damp squib of a result has damped down the absurd hype.

Real 2-1 Atletico

If it's unfair to judge Atletico on this performance alone, it's probably also unfair to say that Real are world-beaters based on one victory. However, they did look at least dynamic and up for it, and this is a great result for them after the pre-season madness. Good stuff.

As for Atletico, I think they've still got issues in defence, but having said that, they haven't conceded that many in previous seasons either, it's just the timing of the ones they do concede that hurts them.

Valencia 0-3 Villarreal

Being an admirer of the Yellow Submarines, I was very pleased with this result and with their slick performance, but where does one even start with Valencia? Angulo instead of Morientes to partner Villa? And what was with that defence? I didn't think they'd miss Ayala, having signed well to replace him (plus, Albiol's pretty good), but lord, they didn't look organised.

Sometimes, it's difficult for fans to accept the decline of a great player as age takes its toll, and Ruben Baraja is a prime example. I keep thinking that he's still brilliant like he was 3 or 4 seasons ago, and the reality of how far he's fallen was a shock. Sad, but at least Valencia have just signed Manuel Fernandez from Benfica to plug that midfield hole.

Sevilla 4-1 Getafe

A good win, but the gloss has completely been taken off it by the plight of young leftback Antonio Puerta, who remains in very serious condition after collapsing first on the pitch, and then again in the dressing room, where he had to be resuscitated by club doctors. Kind of puts all the fuss about referees and whiny players and unjust results in perspective when a 22-year-old is fighting for his life in hospital, doesn't it? At least the behaviour of Sevilla's cross-town rivals Betis in this matter has been commendable, which is a nice break at least from the childish acrimony that often characterises the rivalry.

All the best wishes to Puerta and his family.

Elsewhere, Zaragoza cost my fantasy team a few points as they were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by new boys Murcia, for whom Pablo Garcia did a good job and record signing Baiano opened his account (although I did get some points because of this game courtesy of Ricardo Oliveira). Depor also cost me a few points in being thrashed 3-0 by Almeria. So much for the fortress Riazor.

(I should explain that I have a 'no Barca or Real players' policy for my fantasy team, which is probably going to cost me points, but has made things more interesting by forcing me to look harder at some of the other sides in the league.)


(Coming up, a post on the new Barca signings.)

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 06-07 wrap-up: player by player (3)

Last post in this series, dedicated to Barca's many forwards, the technical staff and club management.

Forwards

Name: Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen
Age: 28
Evaluation: It's hard to say that Gudjohnsen has had a successful season, but at the same time it's hard for me to blame him for his inability to completely step into the quite large shoes of Samuel Eto'o. After all, the technical staff were misguided in signing someone who seems fundamentally incompatible with Barca's style - especially when deployed at center forward, the position he was bought to fill. Gudjohnsen's a good player, who can provide a telling pass, hold up the ball with his back to goal and - extremely rare for a Barca player - head the ball, but Henrik Larsson he ain't.

For Barca supporters, watching his displays when replacing Samuel Eto'o were a study in frustration as he worked extremely hard but missed important chances due to either a lack of pace, difficulty integrating into the Barca system or a plain lack of predator's instinct. Gudjohnsen can't be faulted for his exemplary attitude, but I still have my doubts about him as a center striker in the Barca system.
Probability of transfer: low if you listen to his father and agent, but the club have yet to speak publicly about their plans for him and I wouldn't be surprised if he did leave. It would be a shame, but better that than sitting on the bench except when a Copa del Rey tie comes up.

Name: Samuel Eto'o Fils
Age: 26
Evaluation: Unfortunately, Eto'o's season was defined by the knee injury that ruled him out of action for 5 months. This was his 7th season in La Liga, and the first major injury of his career. You could say he's been extremely lucky up to this point, but he's still quite young and that disastrous night in Bremen practically sealed Barca's fate this season. Aside from the direct impact him missing 5 months worth of games had, the furore over it had a ripple effect that eventually led to the dressing room unrest that was the final nail in the coffin.

That's not even mentioning the fact that he's never looked the same since coming back from that injury. Apparently medical experts estimate that it may take up to a year for him to recover his form fully, or he may never be the same player again. Happens to a lot of people. Hopefully it won't happen to Eto'o, who always gives 100% in every game and managed to score some important goals either side of the season.
Probability of transfer: practically none, despite what every big club in need of a striker and rumour-mongering tabloid likes to think. He wants to stay, the president is mates with him and wants him to stay, and that's that.

Name: Javier Pedro Saviola
Age: 25
Evaluation: It's hard to believe El Conejo is still so young, partially because he's already had so many low points and revivals in his career. Opting to stay at Barca this season was a curious decision, especially given Barca's offer to him of letting him leave on a free transfer, and it divided the supporters into those who sympathized with his lack of playing time given his obvious talents and those who dismissed him as merely there to earn his huge wages for another season.

By the middle of the season, however, most supporters had joined a growing chorus of voices calling for him to start games ahead of Gudjohnsen. He was obviously more compatible with Barca's system, despite the complete lack of aerial presence that would result from fielding him alongside the rest of Barca's height-challenged attackers.

When he did play, he mostly did very well and scored some great goals, although there were occasions in which he found it difficult to lead the line against teams with large defenders. On the field, I'd say he's done right by Barca this season, and while I'm sad to see him depart, it is for the best. Like Gudjohnsen, he doesn't quite fit our requirements for a center forward.
Probability of transfer: already gone. Saviola's contract expired on the 30th of June. I'm surprised he doesn't have a club already.

Name: Santiago Ezquerro Marín
Age: 30
Evaluation: Poor old Santi. He used to know what playing regular football was like, but that was before he moved to Barca - or more precisely, the Barca bench. Most of his starts are in the Copa del Rey and Rijkaard doesn't really field him unless he's truly out of options. It's hard to say what kind of season he's had (other than a very restful one) given the above. He's not a bad player, but I wouldn't field him before Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o either.
Probability of transfer: now that Henry has been added to be above list, and with the two young maestros Gio Dos Santos and Bojan Krkic joining the first team next season, there is a possibility that Ezquerro will be sold. On the one hand, he's handy to have around, on the other, let's face it, being at Barca is destroying his career. If he does go, I hope it's a return to Athletic Bilbao, because they could use some help over there, and he'd be just the man to add some offensive spark.

Name: Ludovic Giuly
Age: 30
Evaluation: Ludo found it difficult to get a game whenever Messi was fit, but stepped up when the Argentinean was injured and did fairly well in those 3 months. His goalscoring return wasn't very good this season, but he was fairly consistent when he did play, bringing his usual skills - pace, a great work rate, decent crosses and actual width - to the team in most games.
Probability of transfer: high. Giuly wants to play a few more full seasons before the end of his career, and who can blame him, having borne being stuck behind a kid 10 years younger for 2 seasons without much complaint.

Name: Lionel Andrés Messi
Age: 20
Evaluation: Yet another player whose season could have been defined by injury, as he had several shorter lay-offs earlier in the season before the big one, in which he broke his metatarsal and had to take 3 months out. Only it wasn't. Instead, it was defined by an improvement upon his performances of last season, more goals, some wondrous, some controversial, and by him becoming at several times during the latter half of the season the only one of the attacking trio who was afforded any respect by the fans.

His attitude placed a major part in that, but the fact that starting with that hat-trick in El Clasico, he scored 14 goals in the last 15 games of the season (only one of which he wasn't involved in - the 4-0 drubbing by Getafe, of course), accounting for roughly 40% of the goals Barca scored in that period might have helped too. And the fact that he was Barca's best player for many of the aftementioned games. So the story of his season is instead: got injured, came back stronger and a better player. As you might have guessed by now, he's my third candidate for Barca player of the season.
Probability of transfer: zero. Maybe if someone shells out for his buy-out clause - and I only say that because said clause is an astonishing 150 million euros. Barca aren't actually asking anyone to pay that much money for a football player, because that would be ridiculous. What they are saying is that he's not going anywhere. The future of the club, along with Iniesta, Dos Santos, and Bojan.

Name: Ronaldo 'Ronaldinho' de Assis Moreira
Age: 27
Evaluation: Ronnie's been criticized a lot this season by the fans, me amongst them. His lack of discipline is pretty appalling. Having said that, I'd like to buck the trend and point out that he's had a good season by some standards. Maybe not his best season since coming to Spain - that's probably the first season (03-04), despite him being injured for a bit and Barca not winning anything.

He has scored a hell of a lot of goals for someone who isn't a natural striker, though, accounting for 32% of Barca's total with his 21 strikes. So many of those were match-winners, too. There's quite a few lovely goals amongst those, notably the wonderfully struck freekick against Zaragoza and that overhead kick against Villarreal. Then there are the assists, of which there have been many, some of them sublime and inspired.

The biggest criticism I have of Ronnie's behaviour on the pitch is that he seemed tired, sometimes disinterested and unfit this season. He's not the young, hungry genius full of pace, strength and stamina that we remember anymore. I don't know if that's fixable. I hope so.
Probability of transfer: low. A lot of the transfer speculation revolved around Ronnie's brother and agent's attempt to get him a better, longer contract at Barca, and having realized that's not a wise thing to do when he's just had a below-par season, they've stopped - for now. I still don't think Milan would shell out the amounts Barca would ask for Ronnie, and plus, as Laporta told Galliani, if he sold Ronaldinho he'd probably have to leave the city.

Technical and support staff

Frank Rijkaard, coach: he's had a rough season, plagued by all the possible problems that could beset a coach at a big club - infighting, ennui amongst the players, lack of power, major injuries, stupid scheduling (all the extra tournaments that Champions League winners have to play, plus all the commerical crap) and a poor pre-season forced upon him by the club. To compound it all, his experiment with 3-4-3 turned out to be a bit of a disaster despite starting well.

I have enormous sympathy for the difficulties he has faced and will continue to face and an almost irrational faith in his ability to turn things around. We'll see.

Txiki Beguiristáin, Director of Football: he got Gudjohnsen's signing wrong, for starters. Then he handled the Saviola affair terribly. I'm not convinced by Beguiristain's eye for players, since our last batch of really good signings were when Rossell was still around - he may be annoying with that agenda against Eto'o and Rijkaard, but he was damn good at getting the right players. We'll have to hope he's improved since the latest batch of signings were probably all mooted by him.

Joan Laporta, president: if I were scoring everybody out of 10, he'd get a 0. I suppose that goes for anybody else who was involved in the planning of this season, although Laporta bears the brunt of my anger because he also opens his mouth before the press and inserts his foot in it on a regular basis. The most important blunder though was made in the boardroom. I veru much appreciate the way Soriano and Laporta have stabilized our finances, but that's not the be all and end all of a football club. Just ask Real Madrid.

All the gratuitous tours and random trips half way around the world to play exhibition games may have paid well both directly and long term, but in a season which was preceded by a World Cup and in which we had to play tons of games thanks to UEFA saddling extra obligations on the winners of the Champions League it proved disastrous.

Barca may be more than a club, but it's certain not a travelling circus, and he'd do well to remember that.


Interesting sidenote: the Barca offical site has taken down the squad page in preparation for the new season. Are there going to be more leaving announcements soon?

(shorter) La Liga news round-up

More news and less commentary today. No silly transfer rumours, as always.

Samuel Eto'o speaks out about racism in football. You know, one of the reasons I was surprised that Henry came to Barca in the end was the well-known racist behaviour in some Spanish grounds, given Henry's own high profile anti-racism work. (Also, Goal.com, your headline writers suck.)

Eto'o has also once again maintained that both him and Ronaldinho are staying with the club. The same article also has his opinion of the new dressing room code (he approves of having one), the mentality Barca will need to have next season, and a reference to his 'grandfather', Spanish NT coach Luis Aragones, who coached him at Real Mallorca. (Rather ironic given Aragones' infamous remark about Henry.)

Eidur Gudjohnsen's father and agent says that his son is determined to stay at Barca and fight for his place, contrary to reports of a move to Newcastle. He also attempts to sow the seeds of dressing room unrest by suggesting that Gudjohnsen would suit Henry as a strike partner more than Eto'o would. Thanks, man.

On to Real Madrid, and president Ramon Calderon has spoken out about his transfer targets for this off-season. He indicated that Real were interested in unsettled Roma centerback Christian Chivu and also a left winger, who he says is either going to be Lyon's Florent Malouda or Chelsea's Arjen Robben. Take that with a grain of salt (Malouda wants to go to Chelsea, and I was under the impression that Robben just signed a contract extension), but what's certain is that Christoph Metzelder has already been signed, and he wants Cassano and Emerson out. Not many people are going to argue with that part.

Update: I was mistaken about Robben - he hasn't extended his contract yet, although there have been negotiations. So if Malouda goes to Chelsea, which looks increasingly likely, the Robben deal looks possible.

As for Chivu, sporting director Mijatovic maintains that there has been no offer, although the two clubs have talked about the deal. (By the way, although I haven't written about it here, I'm already as thoroughly sick of the whole Chivu to Barca saga as Chris from the Roma Offside. Someone please just sign the man, ridiculous salary demands and all.)

Speaking of Mijatovic and transfers, AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani claims to have told him to drop 'the Kaka business'. (Ignore the headline and read his actual words - Galliani's actually being pretty mild.) Accordingly, he cites Milan's own behaviour towards Barca in the Eto'o and Ronaldinho sagas as an example of following the proper procedures. I hate to say this, man, but that's really not the best example.

Even while the transfer machine finally cranks into gear in Madrid, they're still not assured of their new coach, widely reported to be Getafe's Bernard Schuster. Getafe president Angel Torres has decided that he wants considerable compensation for losing his under-contract coach - which is fair enough, I think - but Real have not indicated any willingness to step in and pay the fee to free Schuster.

While Real seek to get their team-building underway, their city rivals Atletico have finally concluded one of the longest running sagas in La Liga by selling captain Fernando Torres to Liverpool. (How many years have they been linked to him now?) They get themselves a nice bit of cash - about 26.5 million pounds (!) - and they've already replaced him with a proven striker in Diego Forlan. Not bad.

Additionally, the Luis Garcia deal I mentioned a few days ago is completely done for about 4 million pounds - very good price, really. He says he's pleased to be back and wants to win the title for Atletico. Well, good for him. I've always liked Garcia, and it's nice to see him back in La Liga. Atletico have also signed a Brazilian midfielder named Cleber Santana, but unfortunately I know nothing about the player and can't comment. Overall, they've done very good business so far. I'm impressed.

Two related pieces of Valencia news. The first is that title-winning Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand will finally be joining the club. The bad news for Hildebrand is that I really don't see him displacing current no.1 Santi Canizares, since the guy who wanted to sign him has now been ousted, and the coach doesn't like him all that much. Cesar at the Valencia Offside has more on this and other transfers.

Speaking of the guy who was ousted for being a bit of a wanker, former sporting director Carboni has 'spoken out' about his sacking, criticising his victorious foe, coach Quique Sanchez Flores, and departing defender Roberto Ayala. I find it incredible that Carboni apparently talked to Bernard Schuster about taking over for Flores when the club were dithering over who they were going to side with in the feud. Flores really doesn't deserve to be sacked. He deserves a sporting director who will sign players according to what the coach thinks the team needs. As for Ayala, a man I have never seen give less than 100% in a game, I find Carboni's argument unconvincing and spiteful.

Goalkeeper German Lux of River Plate has finally moved to Real Mallorca. I wrote about this deal at the last transfer window. Not sure why it hasn't happened until now. Lux is a classy keeper and will give Moya competition for the no.1 spot.

Espanyol have decided that they'd rather not sell club talisman Raul Tamudo (good friend of Barca captain Carles Puyol, oddly enough) to Villarreal, who are looking for a replacement for Diego Forlan. If Villarreal want Tamudo, they'll have to pay his buyout clause.

Speaking of Villarreal, they've done yet another clever bit of transfer business by signing midfielder Rio Mavuba from Bordeaux for 8 million euros. Mavuba's quite highly rated and has been linked to many of Europe's elite in the past, including Juventus and Manchester United.

Next up: my take on Argentina v Columbia, and (finally) my Barca 06-07 player assessments.

still blogging about TH14: links round-up

Thierry Henry was unveiled as a Barcelona player today amidst much fanfare. Exactly how much fanfare? Well, the man himself was shocked by the number of journalists there, eager to grill him. (By what I'm going to assume was a highly unfortunate coincidence, the press conference was held in the Paris suite, named after the place of Barca's Champions League victory over Arsenal, not to mention Henry's own infamous rant about the Barca players that evening.)

He was greeted by a very enthusiastic 30,000-strong crowd in the Camp Nou itself, who chanted his name as he went through the usual presentation routine. (Marca says 20,000, but all the other sources I've seen say 30,000, so I'm keeping that.)

So all in all, not too bad. Here's some of what he had to say.

On his aims:

"I want to win the Champions League with the club, and with my new teammates."

""The club have shown a lot of faith in me, and now I want to show them what I can do. That is what I will be trying to do. Hopefully, I will prove to be useful for the club."

"Barça is a club that, at the start of every sesaon, wants to try and win everything. It will be a team effort and I am here to listen and learn. There are people that have been at this club for a long time and I hope that they will show me the way."

On friends within the team and especially Samuel Eto'o:

"Nobody persuaded me to come here. However, I am friendly with quite a few of the players that are here. I know Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Lilian Thuram and Ludovic Giuly well and talk to them regularly about all kinds of things.

"Eto'o and I are close. When I was injured he came to see me in London and that gave me a lift and when he was out earlier this year I came over to visit him. I have known him since he was at Mallorca. As much as the media would like us not to be friends, I am sorry to say that we are."

Having begun by speaking of Barca as 'more than a club', as the motto goes, he concluded with a sentence in Catalan ("estic molt content de jugar pel Barça") courtesy of Cesc Fabregas. Very cleverly, he managed to speak the language of the club in both a literal and metaphorical sense, which is always something that will endear a player to the fans.

Update: the inimitable Sid Lowe on the presentation.

In related news, Leo Messi, for one, is pleased at the arrival of Henry, despite the increased competition:

'Titi' (Henry) has shown during all these years that he is a great player. Cesc (Fabregas) has always said that 'Titi' is fantastic in training and that he is even better away from the pitch, as a friend and a leader.'

And so are Ronaldinho, Xavi, and anyone else who the media could reach for comment while they're on holiday. (Reason that Messi quotes on the subject are so easy to come by: he's not on holiday.) I did see a very sweet quote from Puyol who lamented the fact that he was recovering from an operation and couldn't be there to welcome Henry himself, but I'll be damned if I could remember where it was from with the amount of Henry coverage I've had to read in the last few days.

While the likes of Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Messi are probably not too worried about their place in the team, one of the players set to be most heavily affected by the transfer is probably Eidur Gudjohnsen. He insists that he's going to stay and fight for his place, and I have no reason to doubt that so far. Good for him if that statement holds, but it's hard to see him getting much playing time.

Barcelona have denied that they're after Arsene Wenger to replace Frank Rijkaard. I have a great deal of respect for Wenger, but surely this is not the time for him to be going anywhere. I'd argue it's also not the time for Barca to be changing coaches either. So that works out fine.

Lastly, contrary to what you've been hearing in the press everywhere, Samuel Eto'o is not available for sale. Really. And until the club and the player change their tune publicly, I'm just going to laugh at all those tabloid reports insisting that 25 million euros will do and Arsenal are competing with Milan or whatever other rubbish they've dreamed up.


Phew. Now that's Barca news dealt with, at least before Yaya Toure is presented tomorrow. Next up: Argentina's starting line-up against the United States.

Barca v Getafe report (and that goal)

Why the lack of posts? Well, uni is rather trying to kill me even in the middle of holidays, and there hasn't been much to cheer about. Until this past week.

In football commentary there are two schools of thinking about goals scored. The first is something I rather dislike, and the awesome Michael Robinson puts it best:

[Alan] Hansen thinks every goal that's ever been scored is a defensive error, because when you don't understand football, you can stop a tape anywhere running up to a goal and find a rick. But everybody makes an error.

The other is best represented by those Spaniards or South Americans you hear on goal videos, shouting and screaming and going crazy with love for the game.

Sometimes, it's good to be critical. But occasionally if you are, you just sound like a spoilsport in the worst way, ruining the moment when everyone else is gawking like little kids and enjoying the hell out of it.


This goal (DailyMotion link) is one of those occasions. Watch, and gawk, and enjoy.

Copa del Rey semi-final first leg: Barca 5-2 Getafe

-----------------Jorquera
Zambrotta--Marquez--Puyol--Gio
------------------Iniesta
---------Xavi--------------Deco
Messi-------------------------Eto'o
---------------Gudjohnsen

I've actually been sitting on a massive post about young Lionel Messi ever since El Clasico. Maybe I'll actually finish it soon. But anyway, he's getting lots of airtime and fair enough, after that goal and that performance. He's one of those players who can disappear for most of a game, but still end up dominating it because of his ability to pop up at critical moments and get in that pass, or score that goal. That's what Messi did in the first half of this game - he ran the Barca attack up front without ever actually imposing himself on the game.

(That's not a criticism, by the way, just an observation of his style.)

What can I say about that goal? There's no need to compare it to any other, really, because when something that good comes along, you owe it to yourself to just sit back and admire. The thing that impresses me most, even more than his absurdly good technique and insane pace, is the audacity of it. Messi has been kicked and hacked at so much since his professional career began, but he's still absolutely fearless on the pitch. You have to believe that you can do something like that first, before it becomes possible for you. (Check out the gobsmacked reactions of his team mates to the goal.) And Messi's got that.

Other than that, I also wanted to mention that he also did good work tracking back, as did all the others who inhabited the frontline, even if some of them aren't very good at defending (Sammy Eto'o, I'm looking at you).

general team play

I was actually pretty impressed by our performance overall, especially in the first half. That was pretty much how I want Barca to play, and it's reassuring to me that we did it without Ronaldinho. That said, I could have done without the defensive lapses, although by now I've long since resigned myself to Barca's inability to defend set pieces.

One thing that was especially good to see was everybody pressing the opponent early, in midfield or even in their own box. That's exactly how the 4-3-3 is supposed to work, and it's good to see it (finally) happening again. Maybe there is something to this new training regime (added irritated Frank Rijkaard optional).

Still, it ain't over until it's over, and I think we still have to go to Getafe with respect for the opponent. If we manage that, then it will be the first Copa del Rey final appearance by Barca for 9 years. For the team who have won the trophy the most times, that's quite a while.

Getafe

I like them. If you read about Getafe, it's easy to get the impression that they just stifle and defend and are awful to watch. But really, they do get the ball moving and play the passing game a bit. And they're not the type of defensive, dirty team that makes me cringe just watching it. Schuster does good work. I totally understand his lack of enchantment with Messi's goal, by the way. He is the opposing coach.

defence

I hate to say this, but Jorquera really does not inspire confidence in me. He's not bad as far as saves go, but he doesn't command the box as well as Valdes, and when we've got a defence as leaky as ours, having a keeper who doesn't come out to collect loose balls decisively is really bad. That said, Valdes is having such an impressive season that comparisons seem a bit unfair.

As for Marquez, well, what can I say? He's still not quite right in the head, and it shows. Puyol isn't completely on to it, either, but he's still doing the business for us, winning headers that look impossible, charging into every challenge and rushing up the field when the team needs a burst of energy. Irreplaceable, that man. Gio and Zambrotta are both on course to win the 'defender most likely to be caught offside' award jointly with Dani Alves, especially now that Roberto Carlos' age has caught up with him. While this makes sense for a team like Barca, it is a bit worrying for me how much time Zambrotta spends further upfield than Messi, which leaves Marquez as the sole defender on that side. Not good considering Marquez's form this season.

midfield

Great performance from all three pocket maestros. Deco was having a wobbly few...months, but thankfully seems to be getting back to his best. Great work rate, and some inspired touches as well, including a lovely pass for Messi's second goal. Iniesta was as brilliant as he has been all season, working tirelessly both in defence and in attack. Everything he does makes this team tick. If he keeps going like this, he's probably going to be my (and many others') Barca player of the season. It's also great to see Xavi in such blistering form. He had a very good game and scored a highlight-reel worthy goal, when not busy dictating the game from midfield and passing the opponent dizzy. More of the same from all three would be a great way to end the season.

forwards

Like I mentioned above, good work tracking back by all three. Nice to see Gudjohnsen get another goal, especially a crucial one, since he's probably not having the best time of it and could use the boost to his confidence. I still think he's not quite compatible with Barca's style, but no one can fault the effort. The same can be said of Eto'o, really. He was everywhere - never stopped running, looking for space, tracking back to defend and basically just working his socks off. And the goal was typical him - give him chances and I'm always confident of his ability to convert them. And damn, does that scare defenders or what? About as much as his sheer bat out of hell speed scares them, I'd say. Keep shining, you crazy diamond.

I've already written all that needs to be said about Messi. Long may he prosper.