Round 5 of the Spanish League: a belated round-up

I know, I know, this is years late, but since there's a nice international break, at least round 6 hasn't started yet. There's a rough assessment of each team's results so far and their chances attached to each match discussion. So without further ado, my view of the action, beginning with Barca as usual.

Athletic Bilbao 1 - 3 FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdés; Zambrotta, Marquez, Puyol, Gio; Edmilson (Giuly 31'), Xavi, Deco (Iniesta 61'); Messi, Gudjohnsen (Saviola 71'), Ronaldinho

Atletic Bilbao (4-4-2): Lafuente; Casas (red card 20'), Ustaritz, Sarriegi, Garmendia (Gabilondo 73'); Iraola, Orbaiz, Javi Martinez, Exteberria (Urzaiz 62'); Llorente (Exposito 22'), Yeste

Goals:
1-0 Yeste 11'
1-1 Ustaritz, o.g. 45'
1-2 Gudjonsen 61'
1-3 Saviola 77'

Red Card: Casas 20'

Significance

Going into this match, both clubs will have been very motivated to get a win. Barca were criticized and doubted after their quite pedestrian display in Bremen - in fact, they still are, but I'll go into that later. The pressure from the press combined with the loss of Samuel Eto'o for five months due to injury meant that the team had to be seen to respond well, or risk being labelled a club in crisis. Winning away in the San Mames, which is never an easy stadium for away teams to play in, would steady the boat before the international break.

Athletic had their own, more severe problems, having not yet won a game since the beginning of the season, prompting the club President to step down. People - including yours truly - were beginning to label them as relegation fodder, which is plainly unacceptable to a club of Athletic's proud history and tradition as one of three Spanish clubs never to be relegated. A win against Barca would have kick-started their season.

The Match

Barca formation at the start (4-3-3):

--------------------Valdes
Zambrotta--Marquez---Puyol--Gio
------------------Edmilson
----------Xavi--------------Deco
Messi------------------------Ronaldinho
-----------------Gudjohnsen

After the substitutions (4-3-3):

---------------------Valdes
Zambrotta--Marquez----Puyol--Gio
---------Xavi---------------Iniesta
------------------Ronaldinho
Giuly---------------------------Messi
--------------------Saviola

I still suck at diagrams, but you get the idea.

Athletic started brightly, launching several dangerous attacks via Yeste and young Llorente, including a couple of shots that Valdes - sigh - fumbled at. Both of Athletic's forwards were excellent, and I felt for poor Llorente when he had to be substituted 22 minutes in. I'd seen the youngster play in the 2005 World Youth Championships where he was very impressive, scoring 5 goals before Spain was knocked out by Argentina in the quarterfinals. Here's hoping he eventually propers at this club which desperately needs a goalscorer right now.

On the Barca side of things, they had their now traditional poor start, playing badly for the first 15 minutes or so. This has widely been chalked up to the large-scale rotations made by Rijkaard (about 6 players for each match), and much as I support the rotation policy, I can't see any other explanation for it. Look at the list of players who came in for this match, having not started in Bremen - Zambrotta, Marquez, Gio, Edmilson, Xavi, Messi, Gudjohnsen. That's almost an entirely different starting XI. All the defensive players, minus Puyol, were different, which meant it took time for them to gel, and it showed with some bad mistakes at the beginning. Zambrotta of all people was too slow in getting back to defend in the move that lead to Yeste's goal, leaving Marquez with no cover.

However, that said, it was an excellent goal, born of great passing and team work. For me, a team goal like that is to be savoured far more than a long-range volley, because of the intricate effort that's gone into it from different members of team. Athletic had their collective tails up after it, launching waves of attacks at the Barca goal, while Barca continued to play their patient passing game instead of piling forward for the equalizer. The approach paid off, largely thanks to Leo Messi's lethal efficiency on quick counters.

Even before his breakaway run at the Bernabeu gifted Eto'o with the opener in last year's game with Real, the Argentinean U20 team was built around Messi's ability to hit teams on the break by making quick runs through the midfield. Barca are usually more the victim of counters due to their tendency to commit so many men forward in attack, but in this case it worked wonders for them. Messi ran through the midfield, rode two attempts by Athletic defenders to foul him, and passed to Gudjohnsen, who was clean through on goal.

Here lies the controversial moment of this match. Defender Casas made a decision to bring the Icelandic international down from behind in the most professional of fouls, and the referee pulled out a red card. This is the decision that has caused Athletic fans to claim that the match was robbed from them. The question, I suppose, is whether or not you think Casas was the last defender, and whether any professional foul from behind should be a straight red. A yellow card would probably have sufficed, although in that case Barca may have some cause to feel aggrieved since Gudjohnsen was through on goal. I would still have preferred a yellow, if only to shut the mouths of those who claim incessantly that Barca are favoured by the referees.

In any case, Casas' sending off meant that Llorente had to be sacrificed to bring on another defender, Athletic dropping into a 4-4-1, trying to hold onto their fragile lead through massed defending. Can't blame them at all for that choice, and if it had worked it would have been a heroic performance, but Barca are not easy to play against if you're 1 man down, since the extra space allows them to play their game.

Needless to say, the rest of the game was mostly Barca-dominated, although it took them quite a while to turn that domination into a goal. Giuly came on at the half-hour mark to boost the attack, Rijkaard throwing everything forward to get the goals as he often does when behind. This meant a shift in formation (as I attempted to illustrate above) with Ronaldinho in the lone playmaker position just behind the three forwards, and Messi moving to the left wing. There was a risk in playing with no defensive midfielders, but it was worth going for when holding a man advantage.

Just as the first half was about to end with Athletic still a goal ahead, a Ronaldinho corner was controlled by Gudjohnsen, who crossed for Puyol. A combination of the captain and his marker Ustaritz bundled the ball into the net. It actually looked quite a nice strike by Puyol the first time I saw it, but ever the honest man he had to go and tell everyone that it was an own goal. It doesn't matter though, he had atoned for his own goal in the last match by forcing another.

Barca's second started with Messi squaring for the ever magnificent Xavi who set up Gudjohnsen with a defence-splitting pass for a clean finish by the number 7 who beat the offside trap and blasted past the keeper. A nice goal, but not nearly as great as the third, in which both second-half substitutes were involved. It was exactly the type of goal I adore, scored by passing the ball on the ground with precision and speed into the area. Given the physical qualities of the Barca attack at that point (Saviola-Messi-Giuly-Iniesta-Xavi are all below 1.75m, making for a truly height-challenged attacking force) it was the only realistic option. A move started by Ronaldinho came to fruition after again a great pass by Xavi to Iniesta, who made one of his clever defender-drawing runs into the box before squaring for Saviola to finish.

All in all, I was happy with Barcelona's performance. Due to the circumstances of the match it's hard to assess the team's level, but from what I saw, the team seems to be regaining some semblance of form again. There was some of the fluid, passing game of last season's game-winning run, which was highly encouraging. All that is of course without taking into account the first 15 minutes, where as I said before we were dreadful. However, just for now the signs are good for the nightmare weeks ahead.

The Players

Valdes was unsteady in the first half, largely untroubled in the second. Far too many worrisome fumbles for my liking. Zambrotta was arguably responsible for the first goal, but he also made some great tackles and good attacking runs, and settled down as the game went on. Still needs to work on his crossing, though. Marquez had a great game, dealing well with the difficult situations he was sometimes presented with when other defenders ventured too far forward. He also had a spectacular first-time shot which hit the post. Would have been a great goal. Puyol was immense, as usual, and full credit to him for the crucial first goal. What a guy. Gio made some good attacking runs and defended fairly well. Sylvinho is better going forward, I think, but Gio may actually work with Ronaldinho better. They seem to be on the same wavelength more when combining.

Edmilson made a couple of mistakes but still looked better than Motta, at least in the 30 minutes he got to play. Seems like he actually picked up a knock in that half-hour which he is struggling to shake off. Why both our holding midfielders are so injury-prone is a mystery for the ages. Xavi had his typical game - if you don't look for him, he can often seem invisible for large stretches, and then he pops up with a killer pass. The work he does in midfield isn't always flashy, but it is crucial to Barca's success. Iniesta will have someway to go yet in displacing him from the starting line-up. Speaking of which, 'Young White' (Chinese Barca fans' nickname for Iniesta) had a great game as a substitute, which unfortunately for him isn't going to convince Rijkaard to change his status from a supersub into a starter, especially given his unimpressive performance starting in Bremen. His assist for Saviola was wonderful, though, very similar to the one for Messi in the first round game against Celta Vigo. More of those, please.

Deco lost the ball a lot, but that's what happens when you try to get past opponents and create plays. He was very lively, but possibly looked a bit tired having played every game so far. He also seems to be suffering the same problem as Frank Lampard, his fellow expert in scoring deflected goals from range. They just aren't going in like they used to. To be fair, Deco had a couple of close ones this time, so maybe his luck is returning. (By the way, does Mourinho teach all his midfield maestros to do that or something? No one else seems to have picked up on the weird Lampard-Deco parallel.)

Messi had a great game, possibly his best as a starter so far this season. Sure, he didn't score, but he also kept possession better and in general gave the Athletic defence the runaround. Directly responsible for getting Casas sent off and heavily involved in attacking play. A cynical foul which earned him a yellow card was very surprising, in the sense that I think he's never been (officially) booked at Barca before. His performance after Giuly came on was a great demonstration of what an attacking player in a free position can do, alternating between the playmaker spot and the left wing with Ronaldinho. If Basile wants to play Messi in a similar free role against Spain, he would do well to look at this match. I'm really hoping that he can get back to his spectacular best before the Chelsea match. He was so brilliant in that game last season - controversial incidents aside - that anything else would seem a let-down.

Giuly came on and looked dangerous, making some good runs and getting in a couple of threatening shots. Hopefully his performance against Bremen was just a fluke and he will continue to provide good competition for Messi. Gudjohnsen more than paid his dues with a goal and an assist, staking his claim as Eto'o's successor. I'm still not convinced by his first touch, but the way he can hold up the ball and play well with his back to goal is very impressive. His goal was well-taken, and the cross for Puyol was well-struck too, so all credit to him.

Saviola came on with 15 minutes to go and duly got himself a goal too, which has got to be good for his chances of succeeding Eto'o as well. I think the main thing that counts against El Conejo (the Rabbit) is his height and physical strength or lack of. Otherwise, his technique is excellent, he makes good runs and even tracks back. He also seems to be in a good patch finishing-wise, which is great because he can have slumps. I was so pleased for him, getting a goal for Barca again 800+ days after the last one, before his dire loan spell at Monaco and slightly better time at Sevilla. Saviola's highest tally at Barca in his previous 3 season spell is 17 goals. Let's hope he can beat that this time round. Forca Saviola, indeed.

And lastly we come on to the hot potato subject of Ronaldinho. I don't know what game some people seems to have seen, but I thought Ronaldinho was actually pretty good. He could work a bit harder, I suppose, but he tried to get past opponents, sent in dangerous passes and even had a couple of pretty good shots at goal. His dead-balls also seem to be improving. There were a couple that were just wide, as opposed to in the Bremen game when his free-kicks were dreadful. I think a return to form is just on the horizon for him. Barca fans must hope that it's sooner rather than later.

Sevilla 1 - 0 Getafe

Don't know much about this game, unfortunately, since Sevilla still don't have a broadcasting deal. But a good result for both sides. Sevilla will be glad to get back to winning ways after the debacle in Madrid, while for Getafe a one-goal loss away to a team like Sevilla isn't overly concerning, especially since the result still leaves them in 9th place. For a club of their size, staying in mid-table is a great achievement, and I don't think they'll have too much trouble doing that this season. Sevilla stay up there with the leaders in 3rd place, and a win against Barca in the Camp Nou in round 6 will see them overtake the defending champions.

Mallorca 1 - 2 Villarreal

The Yellow Submarines continued their return to winning ways, and not a moment too soon for a team with European aspirations. The old strike partnership of Jose Mari and Diego Forlan, rather than shoehorning Nihat in there instead, is paying off with both goals coming from a Jose Mari pass finished by Forlan. Granted, the first came from a comical error by the Mallorca defence, which Forlan seized on to blast the ball into the net, but that's what a number 9 type striker is supposed to be like. (Forlan, ironically enough, is number 5 for his side. WTF?) The second was a nice header off yet another Jose Mari cross, without the comedy defending this time.

Mallorca's goal was quite a good one, Villarreal's inability to clear corners notwithstanding. The 'clearance' went straight to Jankovic outside the box, and he made no mistake with a first-time shot into the back of the net. Still, the Submarines have the victory to build on, which moves them up to 10th on the table. Mallorca are only 2 points off them at 13th place, but they'll want to actually win again soon.

Zaragoza 2 - 2 Levante

Zaragoza are still flattering to deceive. Having bought in almost as many good players over the off-season as Atletico Madrid, expectations were high for this season. This was supposed to be the year in which they journeyed out of mid-table mediocrity, but if they keep doing what they did against Levante it ain't gonna happen. They'll have expected to win this game against the newly promoted team from Valencia, not to be two goals behind at half-time. The first was a shot from distance off a botched clearance, but the second was pure lax defending. Granted, they had some bad luck in front of goal, but playing at home this shouldn't be happening at all.

Zaragoza's first goal came courtesy of an Aimar assist, which makes me happy. The second was even higher in Argentine-content, D'Alessandro's shot only needing the slightest of pokes from Diego Milito on the goal-line after taking a deflection off a defender and then the post for the easiest goal he'll ever score. It's a good sign that they can pull back like that, but really, it cannot be seen as a good result. Levante on the other hand now lie in 12th place, which isn't a bad place to be after the way they started the season. They have some hope of staying up this season.

Depor 2 - 0 Real Sociedad

Two late goals saved Deportivo from yet another draw with below-par opposition. Young Antonio Barragan (on loan from Liverpool) opened the scoring with a shot that came off the crossbar. The second came from a quick counter, Riki breaking into the box from the right to score from what looked an impossibly tight angle. The win leaves Depor sitting pretty in 6th equal place, while poor Sociedad look like relegation fodder with only 1 point so far out of a possible 15.

Recreativo 2 - 0 Betis

New boys Recreativo are surprising many people so far this season with credible performances against supposedly stronger oppositon. This win over Betis is a case in point. They're a strange club, Betis. Just a few weeks ago they looked pretty good with great new signings in Rafael Sobis and David Odonkor, but results haven't really been that good. Maybe they'll come good with time. In any case, it was a harsh loss for them going down to two late goals, but both were the result of bad defending and they can only blame themselves.

Recreativo are up where they'd probably never expected to be - 6th place, just behind the 5 big guns. If they can keep this going then there should be no worries at all about relegation. Betis on the other hand really shouldn't be the sort of club who have to worry about going down, having defeated Chelsea in the Champions League just last season, but they were nearly relegated and are just 1 point clear of the relegation places right now. Not a good place to be.

Real Madrid 1 - 1 Atlético

Ahh, the Madrid derby. Atletico dominated the first half-hour, and their opening goal was excellent. A Torres pass headed down brilliantly by Maxi and finished well by Mista. Only some really poor finishing prevented them from being further ahead. Real levelled the score with their first shot against the run of play, but give credit where it's due - it was an excellent goal by Raul off a great pass by Guti. He got between the two defenders perfectly and fired home. I found the whole pointing at the name on the back of his shirt celebration slightly unsavoury, but I'm not the greatest striker out of Spain in the last 20 years.

The big talking point in this match was a clear exaggeration of contact by Fernando Torres when Sergio Ramos put an arm across his chest. He went down clutching his face in a re-enactment of the World Cup incident between Thierry Henry and Carles Puyol, except Henry didn't get Puyol sent off. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Real supporter, but it's pretty clear from the footage what happened. You couldn't really say it was a dive, but there was definitely acting involved. That coupled with Torres' inability to score against the club he hates yet again perfectly sums up my frustration with him.

Anyway, that aside Atletico can only blame themselves for not taking all 3 points, with almost everyone taking their turn to miss a clear chance to put them ahead. Real can't be pleased with the result, but they should be at least satisfied that they salvaged a draw after being down to 10 men for so long, and after being somewhat outplayed. They sit in 4th place having drawn two games, which isn't a bad place to be considering the leaders play the 3rd placed side in the next round. Atletico will be cursing this draw for a while to come, since it could have seen them overtake Real in the table. Still, 5th place is a very good start to the season considering the teams they've had to play. Maybe this will finally be their year after so many years of underachievement. We'll see.

Racing 1 - 1 Celta

Celta were unlucky to be denied an opener by the post and would live to regret it. Racing's shiny new giant striker Zigic opened the scoring from a corner. It was a header from the Serbian Peter Crouch, of course. Celta then proceeded to waste more chances but eventually pulled one back through a pass by Gustavo Lopez finished by Iriney. They had the post to thank for that goal, and for its eventual penalty 'save' after Lopez had bought Zigic down.

Both teams needed to win this game, and will be unhappy with a draw, Celta more so I'd imagine given their loftier aspirations. Racing need points more badly though, since they have only 2 and sit deep in the relegation places, only cushioned by the awfulness of Sociedad. From what I've seen this season, Racing aren't that terrible and really should be winning at least some games against weak opponents. Celta aren't weak, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the table. They're 14th, which is a long way down from the UEFA Cup place finish of last season.

Espanyol 0 - 0 Osasuna

Bore draw for Espanyol, who've been continuing their glorious tradition of inconsistency. If I sound happy about it, I'm not. Espanyol have one of my favourite young Argentinean players - former U20 World Cup-winning captain Pablo Zabaleta, and I don't want him mired in a club forever in relegation trouble, or God forbid, actually relegated. They're in 15th place, which is fairly dire, but will probably stay up if the current trends continue simply because there are 3 clubs worse than they are (Sociedad, for example). Osasuna looked like they were recovering from the poor run of results at the beginning of the season, but I guess they shouldn't be too concerned about this result since they're usually very strong at home. An away draw is somewhat acceptable, even against teams like Espanyol. They're 11th, which reflects their poor start to the season, and getting back to the giddy heights of 4th that they achieved last season will be very difficult.

Valencia 4 - 0 Nastic

Poor Nastic were thrashed by Valencia despite putting up a good fight in the first half. Fernando Morientes is an amazing finisher, and I say this about the man whose striking partner is the best Spanish goalscorer right now. I don't know what they did to him at Liverpool, but Spain evidently suits him a lot more. His goal off Villa's cross in the first half was a perfect predator's finish. There was a whiff of offside about the ball to Villa, but Nastic were never going to get the call playing in the Mestella. Oh yeah, their coach got sent off for yelling at the assistant ref soon after. Oops. Inevitably Villa opened his account in the second half by putting the ball in the net off a clever low free-kick by Gavilan. It looked a fine goal since virtually both teams were massed inside the box, and the ball somehow found its way in between everyone. Valencia's third was again from Villa, but most of the hard work was done by Gavilan who rounded the keeper and sent a pass towards goal, Villa finishin at point-blank range. The fourth goal was scored by Angulo off a rebound of a shot by Edu.

The scoreline is very harsh on Nastic, who while inferior to Valencia in skill and organisation were not horrible enough for such a drubbing. But the reality is they let in 4 goals against a strong Valencia side who are very good at taking all their chances. The victory means that Valencia are now second in the table just behind Barca on a goal difference of 1. They look like serious challengers this time around. Nastic look the shakiest of the newcomers right now, although being 16th isn't disastrous just yet. Like I said about Espanyol, there are worse sides at the moment.


A proper preview of Spain-Argentina to come, when I have all the up-to-date information on who'll be playing and what formation.

Euro 2008 Watch and Barca round-up

Sweden 2-0 Spain

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

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

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

Italy 2-0 Ukraine

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

England 0-0 Macedonia

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

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

Barca News

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

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

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

Well said, young man.

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

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

The Basile Interview: my take on his comments

Thanks to the guys at Soccer Mad In America (great blog, by the way, very informative and entertaining) us non-Spanish speakers can get a better idea of what Argentina coach Alfio Basile is planning for his new team. For an hour Basile spoke about the players and his approach. My thoughts on the whole thing, laid out in simple good/bad form:

The Good: He sees the light about Messi! Thank God. If he continued playing Messi as a striker I would have had to spend a lot more time writing blog posts about why it was madness. If I'm reading his words correctly, he's likely to give the Barca youngster more of a free role directing the attack, which would be just about perfect.

The Bad: He says that he'll probably play 4-4-2. A lot of teams play very exciting football using that formation, but somehow it just doesn't seem very Argentinean to me, perhaps because it might mean no single playmaker.

The Good: He wants a traditional central striker there to put away the chances.

The Bad: He hasn't got one in the squad against Spain.

The Good: Generally lucid comments on the status of players such as Aguero and Maxi leads me to think that he's been paying close attention to their club performances.

The Bad: While his comments about Mascherano were correct, it left the poor guy in a difficult position, PR-wise.

The Good: He'll only use one holding midfielder.

The Bad: He doesn't like wing-backs. Bye bye Juan Pablo Sorin and Javier Zanetti.

The Good: He wants to get a group of players together to train often in preparation for Copa America.

The Bad: These would be players based in Argentina. Nothing wrong with that, but most of my favourite Argentinean players are based in Europe and it would be sad if the team was deprived of their talents because of a location problem, especially for young players who moved abroad recently or who are just about to move - Aguero, Biglia, Zabaleta, Paletta and probably Gago.


So to sum up, I'm excited by Basile's ideas but apprehensive about how he's going to go about them. Am currently trying to figure out how what he described above would fit with a 4-4-2 and the players he's called up. This combined with what I've since read about Spain's change of formation (to a counter-attacking 4-4-2, sadly) means that I'll have to rewrite my preview post. We'll see what happens as the match inches closer.

picking over the wreck that was Bremen-Barca

I know this is incredibly late, but I only got to see the match yesterday. It is an interesting time for Barca, which is why I bothered with the long analysis at all, given that the match is now more than a week old.

Without futher ado:

Werder Bremen (4-1-3-2): Wiese; Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Schulz; Baumann; Frings, Borowski, Diego; Hunt (Owomoyela 91'), Klose

FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdés; Oleguer, Thuram, Puyol, Sylvinho (Zambrotta 82') ; Motta, Iniesta, Deco; Giuly (Messi 65'), Eto'o (Gudjohnson 65'), Ronaldinho

Goals:
1-0 Puyol o.g. (56')
1-1 Messi (89')

The Match

Barca were disastrous for the first 15 minutes. Just incredibly poor, no coherence, inability to string two passes together, Motta, Iniesta and Giuly invisible against Bremen's physical approach.

Both Ronaldinho and Deco said after the match that Barca's troubles stemmed from lacking a man in midfield, and I think that's evident from the match itself. As Ronaldinho dropped back into a midfield position the team improved greatly, got lots more possession and started getting shots on goal. Before that we were just getting out-hustled and out-manned in the middle of the park, which is just not something that happens to Barcelona. That said, Motta, Iniesta and Giuly were still not getting involved enough. I expect that kind of thing out of Giuly because he just has a game like that once in a while, but not people like Iniesta and Motta who have aspirations of becoming starters ahead of very good players in Edmilson and Xavi. To be fair, Iniesta improved as the game went on, but that's not going to change his supersub status. Motta is a whole other kettle of fish I will discuss later.

Nice to see the edge come into Barca's game after the own goal, although I wish it could have been there from the very beginning. After that it became more of an even game, with Barca picking up greater steam after each of the substitutions. Messi immediately made the right wing threatening again and in fact lifted the whole offence to a better level. Zambrotta's entrance meant that Barca's ability to recover lost possession got much better immediately, which was invaluable leading up to the goal. In the end, Deco and Messi combined to rescue a point for Barcelona with a typically Barca move.

I disagree strongly with those who say that Barca were outclassed all over the park. If they were, why was Bremen's only goal scored by Puyol? Hunt had a great game in every other aspect, but his finishing was pretty bad. So many chances wasted with speculative efforts from range. Klose on the other hand couldn't be blamed for not scoring since he wasn't even fully fit and was a bit unlucky as well. I agree that Barca's midfield were beaten by Bremen's, and all credit to them, especially Frings and Diego, but the two teams were in no way a class apart from each other. That said, Barca will need to get into form quickly if they even want to get out of the group.

Barca

Forwards

I'm going to miss Eto'o a lot, no matter how well his replacements do. Did you see that run he made on about the 22nd minute mark? Intercepted the ball from a Bremen corner, ran the whole length of the pitch lightning quick and was only stopped by Frings' interception just outside the box. This is why I love him as a player. The forward line as a whole were ineffective before the double substitution, but Eto'o worked as hard as ever before he had to go off. Get well soon, Sammy.

Gudjohnsen looked a little shaky, but comparisons with Eto'o are never flattering and he did the best he could, making some good passes and holding off defenders well. His ability to penetrate a good defence by himself is something I'm not yet convinced by, but we'll see.

Ronaldinho was ordinary. I think that's the best way to describe his performance. He improved after Messi and Gudjohnsen came on, but if Sylvinho wasn't the nice guy we all know he is, he could have smacked Ronnie for wasting the nth great pass/cross from him. I won't slam him, because he always starts slowly and maybe things will improve soon, but it is worrying.

Like I mentioned above, Giuly had one of those games. Undoubtedly a great player, he's nevertheless prone to unstable form - one moment he's scoring the goal that sends Barca to the Champions League final, the next he's unable to get a touch of the ball all game. Not his fault, especially against such a big, physical team, and not exactly worrying given how good his replacement is.

Stand up Leo Messi, or as some Barca fans cheekily call him, the 'Messi-ah'. Visitors to this blog will have seen my rambling rebukes of what some in the media have called his loss of form. Like Rijkaard said, though, one flat match does not a loss of form make. Cutting through all the arguments about his deficiencies in front of goal, his age and physical strength, I believe that what counts is the fact that Messi always delivers when Barca needs him to. Case in point: scoring the vital game-tying goal.

Midfielders

I thought Deco was the best of the midfielders, which - it has to be said - is not a great achievement in this match. He did the best he could while being constantly harried by 3, 4 Bremen players and coped better than Iniesta with the physical aspects of the game. Tracked back to help defend well, as always, and was rewarded for his labours by making the Barca goal with a great pass. For those who wonder why Deco is never rotated (including yours truly), I guess we have the answer. Truly a born winner, and Barca are lucky to have him.

If my assessment of Iniesta above in the match report sounded harsh, rest assured he's actually one of my favourite Barca players. Great runs through the middle of the pitch, good passing vision, spirited hard work and a nice shooting touch combines to make him a potentially fearsome player. He is, however, young and still growing. The defensive aspect of his game needs work, since the great effort he puts in doesn't always pay off. He also needs lessons from Deco on how to cope with being kicked around - not by diving, god forbid; that's the one thing I dislike about Deco, and hopefully he won't pass it on to the young guys. Right now Iniesta does great work regularly as an impact sub, but I do have to question Rijkaard's decision to start him against a team like Bremen. Maybe Xavi was tired out from the difficult game against Valencia or nursing a knock. Otherwise I can't see his reasoning.

On to the complicated problem of Thiago Motta. For those of you who don't frequent Barca fan forums, Motta is a regular hate-figure for Barca supporters along with Oleguer, who I'll discuss below. I'm usually reluctant to join in with what I see as unfair blame being heaped on the poor guy, but in this case...well. He's actually not a bad passer of the ball, but defensively rather worrying. In that aspect I would rate him ahead of Iniesta and Xavi but still not good enough for a defensive midfielder. It is said that Rijkaard rates Motta because he sees the young Brazilian as a player in his own image, but I really don't see it - yet. He is far from effective as a midfield destroyer in current form. I'm not saying he doesn't put in the effort. The problem is that his tackling is often so untidy and badly timed that it leads to either comedy defending or him being booked. That said, I'd like to see a midfield of Deco-Motta-Edmilson against Chelsea again, if possible, since to me Motta does provide a combination of defensive muscle and forward movement that meshes well with Deco and Edmilson's game against a side like Chelsea.

Defenders

Sylvinho played a blinder offensively, I thought, and the lack of product was more due to the forwards (particularly Ronaldinho) not being able to do anything with his wonderful crosses and throughballs than anything else. He faded towards the end of the game and the decision to bring on Zambrotta was the correct one, but that doesn't affect the overall strength of his performance. Not too many problems in defence, which was a pleasant surprise.

As for the great Lilian Thuram - what can I say? Yet another commanding performance from the ageless Frenchman. Let almost nothing past him, great tackling and marking, domination in the air - the best of the Barca defenders, to me, even with the errors he did make. I've just been amazed by his defensive style. He's played 3 games for Barca this season and you can count the number of times he's been called for a foul on the fingers of one hand. Motta should take lessons in how to time your tackles from this guy. Definitely the new Larsson, since he also began with lowered expectations from the fans because of his age and has gone on to win their affection with his attitude and general excellence.

Poor Puyol. The great folks at a pretty move call him the Armoured Saint, which I love because it's a great reflection of just how committed, genuine and hardworking he is, and how much the fans adore him for it. He looked so crushed with the own goal. As much as Bremen deserved a goal, Puyol certainly didn't deserve that. What a comedown after scoring his first goal in European competition against Levski Sofia. Other than that, he was fairly solid in central defence. Late on a couple of Bremen moves, but made up for it by working his ass off, as usual. No Barca supporter would have blamed him even if his own goal had cost the team all the points, which to me says it all, really.

I don't like to criticize Oleguer because he gets so much stick from the fans as it is, but if you look at Bremen's attacks, the most threatening ones came through the right, and he failed to close that wing down. That said, he grew into the game as it went on and made some great interceptions in the last 10 minutes or so. My guess is that having not played a full game since the beginning of the season, he needed sometime to get back to match sharpness, and throwing him in at the deep end wasn't a good way to do that. To me, he's a center-back, not a right-back. Barca have 2 actual right-backs in Belletti and Zambrotta, and while Belletti is defensively questionable that shouldn't mean poor Oleguer gets to play out of position and get blamed for everything that goes wrong.

Lastly, pride of place goes to Valdes, who did very well coping with being put under constant pressure, especially in the first half, a position he's not exactly used to. Some great saves, and generally an assured performance. I remember watching El Clasico from November of last year and swearing at the TV as he flapped at Madrid's ineffective crosses and mishit shots. Thankfully, he's improved since then. Perhaps Valdes should be given the benefit of the doubt now, especially after doing so well in the Champions League final.

Rijkaard

I do not understand why this man is constantly belittled by the fans. I do not understand why even now some fans want him replaced with a 'big name'. Maybe he doesn't shout enough? To me, Barca's recent successes could not have come without him. He's admirably forthright, level-headed and very, very good at man-management. Sure, some of his starting choices might seem a little inexplicable, even to a fan of the man like me, but his substitutions are usually pretty much spot-on. Those who were bitching about the starting line-up after the game might want to recall that the team had just played a gruelling match against Valencia a couple of days ago in which half the team got the stuffing kicked out of them. Hence the rotations. Anyway, enough of that, another rant for another day.

Team

Not impressive, frankly. I know that Barca's style can be hampered by teams who snap at their heels all over the pitch, but that should not be an excuse for a team with title aspirations. Almost every team will try to stop Barca playing their game that way, and we should be dealing with that. That said, it is a good sign that the team is able to continue playing in the same style even when a goal down and come back strongly. Everyone is working hard and doing their best. Considering that it took Barca until mid-October of last year to really start playing well, I'm not panicking just yet.

However, the loss of Eto'o is massive. My initial reaction was one of complete despair. I felt like we could kiss all the titles goodbye. But if the team can click with either one of his replacements - both quality players in their own right - then all hope is not lost. Let's just see what happens over the next month.

Bremen

Klose is a great forward who I quite like, but there's just one thing I can't stand about him. It's the way he always looks like he's going to injure the goalkeeper crashing into him going up for 50/50 balls in the box. Remember that knee in the ribs of Argentinean goalkeeper Abbondanzieri which meant he had to go off with an injury in the World Cup quarterfinals? I do, because I'm convinced that started the chain of events which led to Argentina losing the game. My heart stopped everytime him and Valdes crashed into each other. Thank God nothing bad happened. Anyhow, that's enough bias from me.

That Naldo, though, what a great defender. So fast and good with his positioning as well - I haven't see a defender keep up with Eto'o so well for a while, and he completely shut Ronaldinho down when the Brazilian went up against him.

Frings and Diego both had great games, and I've already talked about Hunt. Borowski was less involved, but the point about Bremen's performance isn't who did what - they performed well as a team. Everything clicked together, everyone gave their all. If they can continue playing like this, they'll trouble Chelsea when they come to visit, which makes it even more important for Barca to win their other games against Levski and Bremen and try for a result against Chelsea.

A note about commentary

The ESPN commentators were better than some of the guys they had for the World Cup, but God - did a player have to kill someone to get booked in the eyes of these guys? Or do they just watch a lot of Premiership games? I mean, yes, the ref did stop play a bit too much, but those Bremen midfielders play rough, and guys like Motta aren't exactly gentle defenders either.

Also, I get so fed up with commentators who keep saying that Barca need to basically abandon their style of play because otherwise they're never going to score. There was a hilarious moment in the ESPN broadcast of the Champions League final of last season when one of the commentators was busy insisting that Barca needed to stop playing their passing game and try hoofing long balls into the box to break Arsenal down when Eto'o completed a lightning fast passing move by scoring the levelling goal. At the beginning of the Premiership season I felt bad for Arsenal for precisely this reason - everyone was saying the same thing about them, except they did actually have a scoring problem. For both teams, though, that style is part of their identity. To insist that a team like Barca need to use long-ball tactics to score goals is to miss the point.


Finally, great stadium atmosphere at Bremen, I have to say. Now if only we can pack the Camp Nou and give the German team a similar reception when they visit. Actually, before that, we have to 'welcome' Chelsea, but I'm sure that won't be a problem for the faithful at all. Reproduce the atmosphere of last season's semi-final home leg against AC Milan and Camp Nou will really live up to its reputation.

Up next, my take on round 5 of La Liga.

Early preview for Spain vs Argentina

I know it's in a week's time, but what an exciting (friendly) game this could be from two attack-minded teams with plenty of flair between them. Being the staunch Albiceleste fan I am, I want Argentina to win, but La Furia Roja are growing on me as well. They can hardly fail to, with the type of players they have. Anyway, preview time.

Argentina

Two highly important players have had to pull out for Argentina with injuries. Hernan Crespo, the only center forward named in the 22-man squad, picked up a muscle strain playing for Inter and will be out for a month. Gabriel Heinze got injured playing for Manchester United and will be out for two to three weeks. (Side note: this also means that there are no Serie A players in the squad, strangely enough given Inter's tendency to collect Argentineans. Or maybe not, since half of their collection - Cambiasso, Cruz, Samuel, plus the aftementioned Crespo - is injured.)

Basile has not named any replacements, unfortunately. To my mind he should have at least called up a proper center forward - either Diego Milito or Cesar Delgado would do - since one of the problems Argentina had against Brazil was that they lacked a proper finisher. How that's going to change with the same forwards this time is beyong me, but we'll see what happens.

My preferred starting 11, with the personnel changes (assuming he plays 4-3-1-2 again):

---------------Abbondanzieri
Zabaleta----Ayala------Milito----Arruabarrena
--M Rodriguez---Somoza---Bilos
-------------------Aimar
-------------Messi-----Saviola/Aguero

I considered previous track record with the team, but mostly it's based on club form and how well these guys have linked up in the past. Abbondanzieri is the undisputed number one, not only because he had a great World Cup but also because he's been doing very well for new club Getafe this season.

At the back, young Zabaleta has been giving his all for Espanyol as usual, even when played in strange positions. I think he's played at left-back, right-back, holding midfield and right side of midfield for them - and that's just this season. Random aside: I do wish he would find a better club. Nothing against Espanyol, but they're so inconsistent despite all the talent in the team and have therefore looked like they're in relegation danger since the beginning of last season. If they do well this season then it's all fine, but if they do get relegated, then I really hope he gets out of there. Anyway, Argentina have had problems filling the right-back position, and he's played well when called up before, so he should start.

Ayala should of course start and be captain, no question about it. Gabriel Milito did well in the single match he played in the World Cup and should fill Heinze's boots effectively once again, partnering one of the best central defenders in the world. He's excellent for Zaragoza and to my mind cannot be blamed for the club's inconsistency as a whole. Again, they have some brilliant players - Aimar, D'Alessandro, Diego Milito, Ewerthon, young Gerard Pique - but somehow fail at getting results in week in week out. Coloccini of the crazy hair should not play unless there's an absolute need, since he utterly fails at being consistent.

Arrubarrena has been a great leader at Villarreal for a long time, giving 100% in every match, and I expect to see the same from him for Argentina after his surprise call-up. I'm not sure how solid he is in defense, but he goes forward quite well - typical Argentinean wing-back, in other words.

In midfield, Maxi Rodriguez's World Cup heroics, not to mention his recent great form for Atletico should see him start. I've put him on the right since Daniel Bilos played on the left against Brazil and did very well, hence his inclusion instead of Luis Gonzales. Somoza starts at holding midfield instead of Mascherano because what I've heard about his form for West Ham hasn't impressed me, plus he's not even properly match sharp yet. It pains me to write this, since I really like Masche and he's been always been great for Argentina, but he was very poor against Brazil and we can't afford that again. Somoza in contrast has been doing very well at new club Villarreal, earning good reviews, and played well against Brazil when he came on.

Insua I haven't seen too much of, nor was I convinced by his performance against Brazil, so - unfairly or not - he hasn't been considered. Aimar has really found a new lease of life at Zaragoza, playing in a more South American style alongside Andres D'Alessandro. His recent form for the club has been very impressive, although there has been the usual murmurs that he should pass more and dribble less, etc. But to me, that's not Aimar's style. After Riquelme's retirement, Aimar is now Argentina's best player, as well as the most creative. Like Riquelme his style is distinctive, and like Riquelme he can run a game if he feels like it. I'm hoping he has a good day, continuing with the great understanding he showed with Messi at the World Cup.

Speaking of which, my favourite Barca youngster should be very pleased to be playing alongside his childhood idol in Aimar. I was concerned with his form after the game against Racing, but it would be crazy not to start him after what he's done in recent games against Werder Bremen and Atletic Bilbao. So the question becomes who is going to partner him? Tevez should not be in contention to me, because he hasn't really gotten into his stride for West Ham and the stress surrounding all that means he probably won't play all that well (like against Brazil).

Saviola on the other hand has been on great form for Barca, where he has suddenly gotten a new lease of life due to the injury to Sammy Eto'o. He would probably just edge Aguero in my book because he has shown 1) that he can score goals right now and 2) he can play well with Messi. Those two train together everyday and therefore probably have a better understanding. Aguero has been on great form too, but - like Messi on a bad day - I'm still not convinced by his finishing. While the two claim that they would play well together because of their friendship and understanding, I'm not convinced since they've hardly trained together. Besides, they both seem more like second strikers to me, and we had that problem against Brazil already.

The major problems I can see with the line-up above, besides the striker issue I've already highlighted, would be 1) a lack of height, 2) a lack of width, and 3) midfield strength. Height problems are pretty normal for an Argentinean side because we've always had great but short players. But this proud tradition could find its most absurd expression in this formation, since the front attacking triangle could have an average height of about 1.67 meters (Aimar-Saviola-Messi). Aguero and Tevez aren't much taller. Thankfully the Spanish team aren't exactly giants themselves, nor are they always solid at the back or good at defending dead balls, so it's not exactly a disaster. Imagine if Argentina were playing the giants of Germany, though.

The second problem mostly stems from the specific opposition we're facing. This Argentina team is usually pretty good at using the wings, attacking with the full-backs linking up with the midfielders who feed the front three, but the single pivot style plus a front two does limit the width up front. This isn't normally a problem, but Spain do play my favourite formation, the 4-3-3, although they don't do it nearly as well as they could, to me. However, they do have excellent wingers and full-backs, not to mention great midfielders to link them, so our full-backs need to be careful, especially since the front two won't be able to help them push the opposition on the wings back in this kind of formation.

The last problem is linked to the second, namely that I can see this midfield being stifled out of the game. Maybe not by Spain, unless they play three central midfielders again (which would be stupid of them, judging by the last time they did such a thing), but Aimar is very liable to being shut down by a physical team, so Maxi and Bilos are going to have to cover for him, maybe even more than they did for Riquelme.

Spain

This will be less detailed as I don't know nearly as much about Spain as I do about Argentina. Still, they're fast climbing my favourites list, despite an admirably consistent tendency towards failure. On to squad news, and Reyes has pulled out with an injury, which is bad news since he's been in such good form lately for Real Madrid. Racist bastard coach Aragones could call up a replacement, but we're not sure who that will be just yet. Raul has been dropped for the first time in forever (literally), which is kind of awkward given the fact that he seems to be getting back to form. I'm not quite convinced that he is, so let's leave that and move on.

My preferred starting 11, out of the 17-man squad list (4-3-3):

-------------Casillas
Ramos---Pablo---Puyol---Lopez
---Fabregas--Alonso--Xavi
--Angulo---------------Vicente*
--------------Villa

*My preferred replacement for Reyes, since there's no one else in the present squad list who can play on the left wing

I love the fact that Spain use 4-3-3 but hate how flat and wingless their particular version can be. So my preferred Spain formation will probably never happen because it actually uses the wings, but nevermind. If Senna was fit he'd play instead of Cesc, because no matter how much I like the Arsenal boy Senna is still more reliable. Angulo and Vicente should be used because they're actual wingers, unlike some of the other players Aragones has used in their positions (Villa and Torres), who would provide some proper width, and they're on form. Villa is preferred to Torres because I think he's the best Spanish center-forward, period, and completely wasted on the wing.

On a final note, this will be a very interesting game in one sense because most of these players will be very familar with each other, since the majority play each other all the time in the Spanish league. So Sergio Ramos knows the joys of defending against Messi, Aimar and Aguero, for example, while the entire Argentine backline (all of them playing in La Liga) will know what a pain Villa can be to stop. It will also pit team mates against each other in Barcelona players Puyol and Xavi against Messi and Saviola, not to mention Atletico Madrid's Pablo, Antonio Lopez and Torres against Maxi and Aguero, and Valencia's Albelda, Angulo and Villa against Ayala. Should be fascinating to watch. Here's hoping for a good game.

Fernando Gago to Real Madrid: why it's a bad idea

Both Tim at La Liga Loca (which by the way is the best blog covering La Liga right now) and Eurosport have reported on Spanish newspaper Marca's article insisting on Real Madrid's interest in Fernando Gago, who has said he would love to play for a big club like Real. I've written about this disapprovingly before from the point of view of an Argentina fan who wants Gago to develop well. My opinion hasn't changed.

However, the Eurosport article says that Real see Gago as a replacement for Julio Baptista, which is absurd to the extreme. Let me put it this way: it's similar to how Real bought Beckham thinking he was a central midfielder. Gago is a central/defensive midfielder. Baptista is an offensive midfielder. There is clearly a big difference. Real need to do their research before buying players for what will surely be a big sum of money. I imagine Boca won't want to let him leave for anything less than what Independiente got for Aguero's move to Atletico Madrid.

At 20 years old, Gago is a great defensive midfielder and an important member of a great Boca side. However, I'm not even sure he's the best in his position in the same age group for Argentina. Lucas Biglia - formerly of Independiente, now of Anderlecht - battled with him for the same position at the '05 World Youth Championships and was slightly more impressive. Apparently he's still doing well in Belgium, but since no one in Argentina watches that league he doesn't have the cloud of hype around him that Gago does.

Another problem with the potential move is that it could push back Gago's call-up to the full National Team. He's never been called up unlike fellow '05 WYC champions Messi, Zabaleta, Aguero and Ustari, although this is more due to the amount of competition for his position than any lack of credentials on his part. However, from what I've heard recently coach Basile wants to put together a squad consisting solely of players based in Argentina to train together frequently. This squad, plus a couple of vital overseas players (probably mostly defenders), will then go to the Copa America in 2007. If Gago stays put for a while longer he would be one of the mainstays of that side. Moving would probably kill that chance.

All this, and I haven't even mentioned the pressure he'd be under to adapt immediately and start performing for such a great club - the same problem that plagued Riquelme and Saviola when they first moved to Barca. So to sum up: I don't think this is a good idea. However, it is very possible if Real are willing to spend a lot, and Real are always willing to spend.

Argentine Watch

Looks like there are going to be some changes to the line-up I posted earlier for the friendly against Spain. Gabriel Heinze has injured himself playing for Manchester United and he'll be out for about three weeks. Hernan Crespo got a muscular injury in Inter's draw with Cagliari. I'm not sure how long he'll be out for.

Both injuries are terrible news, especially since they're both so important to the team. They are two of the three big name recalls (Ayala being the other one) who for one for reason or another couldn't make it to the game against Brazil, who would have bought some much needed experience and steadying influence to a young side. Gabri Milito could cover for Heinze just fine, but Crespo doesn't really have a proper replacement right now. I would prefer Diego Milito be called up as replacement this time, since he seems to be over his injury and scoring goals again, but that seems unlikely since Basile called up Saviola to replace Cesar Delgado last time - two completely different players, to my mind, but hey, I'm not a famous and successful coach.

There's also a lot to discuss regarding the state of Tevez and Mascherano at West Ham, but that'll need a separate post. Also coming up, reports of Bremen-Barca and the 5th round La Liga games. I've been away for a bit, so expect a flood of posts soon.