Down, But Not Out.

Yesterday’s Barça victory over Rayo helped ease the pain or disappointment of last weekend’s loss away to Getafe. Barça were three points behind Real Madrid and had not suffered a loss until the Getafe game. Suddenly, they were six points behind the enemy, and El Clasico was only a few weeks away. Of course, there were some fans that were angry and thought the season was over and many fans who didn’t give up on their team. I was more on the fence but didn’t give up hope yet.

Yes, we were all outraged. Getafe? They lost away to Getafe. Are you kidding me? Getafe’s manager, Luis Garcia managed to do something that Mourinho could not do in three tries; Win a game in Madrid. Barcelona were denied a legit goal that would have ended the game in a draw but unfortunately, they are lost and are six points behind Real Madrid. Sadly, the writing was on the wall. Barça have been poor away from the Camp Nou all season and have either won games 1-0 or played to a couple of 2-2 draws. That’s quite a contrast to last season when they won their first six away matches.

Barça’s victory yesterday though helped them narrow the gap back to three points, albeit the game was brought forward because of their participation in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup that will be held in Japan next month. The big game against Real Madrid is now vital. A win means the teams are temporarily tied atop of the standings till Madrid play their extra game. Thus, now it is not the time to throw in the towel. Guardiola knows things need to change away but he also needs to make sure the team is prepared for a brutal second half of the season.

Under Pep, Barça has dropped more points in the second half of the season. They once had a 12 point lead against Real Madrid shrink down to four under Pep’s first season and always seemed to be let Madrid catch up to them with the exception of last season. The pressure is now on them to make sure their second half of the season resembles the first half of last season. It won’t be easy with the December visit to Japan.

Nevertheless, we should not give up on the team or on the players even though some of them have been disappointing. David Villa needs to get more consistent and Pep needs to stop using defensive midfielders as center backs.  Maybe the club needs to buy a player or two in the winter transfer market like they did last year when they bought Afellay. I still believe that they need to get a tall striker as an aerial threat and also a dependable center back since Guardiola clearly does not trust Fontàs. The tall striker would come in handy both offensively and defensively during corner kicks. Ibrahimovic might have been inconsistent in front of the goal but to his credit, he played a big role by nullifying a lot of the opponents’ corner kicks too.  

After all, Getafe’s manager, Luis Garcia, said “Barça suffer at set pieces as they are not tall, except for Piqué and Busquets” two days before the game so maybe he is on to something. Going back to those epic Supercopa matches, it was obvious that Real Madrid were a constant threat on most of their corner kicks. I don’t think the club will look for bit tall players this winter but this might be an issue they will have to address in the future if their lack of height will expose them to other problems.

Now, I have always been a firm believer that it’s not how you start but how you finish. I also believe that the league title is always determined in the final five matches of the season. We are only in November and as my friend told me the other day; the league is never won in December or January. I agree with that statement, but it doesn’t help when you have a mountain to climb either by getting poor results away. Barça have started poorly but they have to dust themselves off and get back to work. Levante at home will not be an easy task but the match at Madrid will be vital and some might consider a must win game. Important thing for them is to take it one game at a time and we will see how things go. Hopefully, things turn out for the better for our beloved Barça after their unfortunate wakeup call against Getafe.

Visca Barça!

Guardiola’s gambling habits regarding his lineups.

We have seen Pep Guardiola achieve great success in these past three seasons thanks to his vision, his assistants and a great squad of players. Yet, Pep has also achieved his success with some unorthodox team selections that showed us that he not a man afraid to gamble. What makes this is so strange that Pep is the type who likes to play it safe especially with his new plan on taking three goal keepers on every away match.

Guardiola can be called many things. A visionary, a motivator, a demanding but fair coach, but what about being called a gambler? Take for example Barça’s recent 2-3 victory against Milan in Italy. Barça had previously faced Milan in the first group stage match and the game ended in a 2-2 draw with Milan scoring both goals in the opening and dying seconds of the match. Pep fielded Mascherano and Busquets as his starting center backs since Pique was out with an injury and Puyol was still not match fit. No need to remind everybody what happened in the opening seconds of the game.

So it was rather surprising that when both teams met again this past Wednesday, Guardiola had Pique and Puyol at his disposal as starting center backs but opted to start Puyol as the right back in place of the suspended Dani Alves while Pique sat on the bench. No explanation was given by Guardiola as to why Pique was not in the starting lineup, let alone why he didn’t feature in the second half to help his side protect a one goal lead. Then again, it is not that surprising.

Fortunately, the team won 2-3 but Mascherano and Busquets played a part in Milan’s second goal with their poor efforts in the air. Mascherano’s header clearance fell short of eliminating a Milan threat and Busquets effort to head the ball came up short and failed to make up for Mascherano’s mistake. Of course, this is not to take credit away from Boateng who scored a splendid goal, but Boateng would have never seen the ball had either player dealt with the ball better in the first place.

Ultimately the gamble paid off but why did Pep have to gamble in the first place? He had both Puyol and Pique available to play as center backs. We all know Puyol played as a right back early in his career but the veteran leader has racked a lot of mileage on those legs and is asking a lot from the veteran. Why wasn’t Barça B’s Martín Montoya called up to play in Dani Alves’s place? Since last season, the 20 year old has shined for club and country. So why not give him the chance at a big stage? Even as a substitute?

Like I said before, Guardiola’s decisions are not that surprising. Over the years, Guardiola has gotten away with odd decisions with lineups. In his first season, we saw midfielder Victor Sanchez put in performances as a full back for a handful of league matches and Touré Yaya started as a center back over Caceres in the Rome Champions League Final. The following season saw Dani Alves and Maxwell start as midfielders before we saw Pep turn completely mad scientist and experiment with Busquets as a center back before starting both Busquets and Mascherano as center backs with the odd occasion of playing Barça B midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos as a right back in some Copa Del Rey matches. Thus, another title you can bestow on Guardiola is unpredictable.

Fortunately, his gambles have mostly paid off. That is what makes it so odd to see Pep gamble on Wednesday when he is also the type who likes to play it safe. Best example of this was his recent decision to travel with three goal keepers for every away match. The idea sprang because of Valdés’s injury prior to the first Copa Del Rey match of the season. Pinto was going to start the game against L'Hospitalet with Valdes as his back up. However, an elbow injury forced Valdes to miss the game. Fortunately, Guardiola knew he could call up Barça B’s Oier to make the short journey and join the team seeing as their opponents were only 7 km away.

However, Guardiola realized he was fortunate that Valdés’s injury occurred in the same region and not somewhere distant such as Sevilla, Madrid or Milan. According to reports coming out of Barcelona sports dailies, Guardiola will now travel with three keepers for every away match. Thus, if any of his first team keepers, Valdes, or Pinto, pick up an injury during training or while warming up prior to kickoff; Guardiola would have his Barça B keeper fill in as a substitute on the bench. If neither of the veteran keepers are hurt, then the “In case of emergency, break glass” Barça B keeper will not dress for the game and sit in the stands.

Therefore, it does come off odd for Guardiola to play it safe when it comes to traveling with an extra goal keeper but would still gamble on who will play in the back four. Of course Guardiola is the Puto Crack as the coach of the club. But I think many would agree with me that his gambling with who plays in the back four is a bit too much for our heart rates and blood pressure. Hopefully the days of Mascherano and Busquets lining up as center backs will be a thing of history but you never know with Guardiola; He could play someone else there instead. 

Has Hiddink's Magic Worn Out?

On November 15, 2011, Dutchman Guus Hiddink's fate as the Turkish national team manager was sealed after his side drew 0-0 with Croatia and thus ending their pursuit of qualifying for Euro 2012 thanks to a 3-0 home loss in the first leg. Hiddink was gone a few days later and is now free to coach elsewhere. However, not much have gone his way since Euro 2008. In a span of four year, Hiddink has gone from miracle worker to a slight disappointment. Has Hiddink's magic worn out or does it only work outside of Europe?

I still consider him to be the second best manager Holland ever had after the great Rinus Michels. His first tournament,Euro 96, ended in bitter disappointment after falling to the French national team in a shoot out and somewhat controversial fashion which was also blown out of proportion after Edgar Davids was dismissed from the team. His successfully managed Holland to the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup where they would suffer yet another elimination from a penalty shoot out against Brazil . He would step down afterwards and Holland would go on to lose in yet another semi-finals in Euro 2000 against Italy where wasted chances from the penalty spot would haunt this team for four more years before they put those demons to rest when they defeated Sweden in Euro 2004.

Meanwhile, Hiddink continued to work his magic. His next job was coaching South Korea. He helped South Korea capture their first ever win at a World Cup after failing to do so in their last five straight World Cup appearances. He also guided South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup with the aid of lady luck.  Much of his experience in South Korea was detailed in the book "Going Dutch" which provided insight in how changed the way football was run in that country. South Korea ended their magical ride with a fourth place finish under Hiddink and they did manage to qualify for the knockout rounds this past World Cup.

Hiddink returned to Holland to coach PSV Eindhoven. He had great success with PSV back in the late 80's including the Champions League trophy in 1988. He second stint was just as successful although he encounter his "Semi-Finals" jinx when Milan eliminated PSV in the Champions League in the final seconds. Hiddink was on a roll where everything he touched resulted in success.

He then managed to do what was deemed impossible after he managed Australia to the 2006 World Cup for the first time since Stephen King published his first novel under his own name. He then got them to advance to the first knock out stage before falling to eventual champions Italy. He continued to surprise everybody when he took the role of Russian national team manager. He helped Russia end their international tournament drought since Euro 96 when Russia qualified for Euro 2008.

Their twelve year wait to return to the big stage started off with a crushing loss to eventual champions Spain but they finished second in the group stage. This set the stage for Hiddink's biggest challenge; facing his home country Holland in the Quarter-Finals. Once again, Hiddink managed to surprise the world when the Russian defeated Holland in extra time. Unfortunately, Hiddink's team would fall in another semi-final when Spain routed his side 3-0.

With the Russians coming so close to making it to the Euro 2008 Cup final, many considered Russia qualifying for the 2010 World Cup was a mere formality. However, 2009 would be a tough year for Hiddink. Hiddink was appointed as Chelsea's manager in February and managed to win the FA Cup but fell to my beloved Barcelona in the memorable and, to some, still controversial fashion in yet another semi-finals. He was sharing duties with Russian team and was grouped with Euro 2008 finalists, Germany. Hiddink's side finished second to Germany and thus had to play in a playoff to qualify for World Cup 2010.

Russia's opponents were Slovenia and again, many expected Russia to advance. Unfortunately, Russia's 2-1 first leg result would not be enough as they lost away 1-0 to Slovenia in November of 2009 and thus were eliminated by away goals rule. Hiddink left the Russian manager seat and took the challenging position of being the Turkish national team manager back on June 2010. Once again, he would get grouped with Germany and once again, his side would finish second.

Thus, Hiddink was back in another set of playoff qualifiers set in November. This time, Turkey's chances of advancing were not so concrete when they were drawn to face Croatia. Sadly, the first leg ended with Turkey suffering a 3-0 defeat at home and thus, their chances in overturning this result in Croatia were slim. Turkey played to a scoreless draw in the second leg and thus Hiddink had to suffer the bitter taste of elimination via November playoffs. Hiddink was out as coach of the Turkish national team.

So Hiddink is available for hire. The problem is, is he bankable anymore? He went from being known as the manager who you never bet on when he's in the semi-finals to a manager who has come up short in qualifying for a major international tournament twice. I still think he has some magic left in him and don't believe he was cursed when he became Chelsea's manager. I think he paid the price for Russian players' lack of focus but the Turkey failure is on him.

So what's next for Hiddink? Talk of him going into the sporting manager/ director roles seem rampant with Ajax and Chelsea already being rumored to be interested in obtaining his services. Personally, I think he still has some magic left in him. I think Hiddink can work his magic outside of Europe. I stated in the past that he should have been considered for the US national team position since he expressed how much he enjoyed playing and living in the US back in the late 70's. I wouldn't mind seeing him try to coach a team from Africa too, especially how some of those countries have done in the youth international competitions which is something that Hiddink likes to focus on when he coaches a national team.

No one knows what lies ahead but I sure wouldn't mind seeing Hiddink coach USA or Nigeria. I think the man still has some magic left in him. Everyone goes through a bad spell and Hiddink escaping Europe would probably be best for him. I still wouldn't mind him coaching Holland in the future if Bert van Marwijk changes his mind and steps down after Euro 2012. Hopefully Hiddink can overcome that semi-finals jinx if he does get that far. That alone should be a factor for him to pursue a career in coaching. Only time will tell.

Off Topic – Why the hate on NBA Players during the Lockout?

I know it’s not football related but hey, it’s my blog. This topic has been bothering me for quite a while; People hating on the players during the ongoing NBA Lockout. Sure, both the owners and players share a bit of the blame but blame the owners for the state of the Lockout and the state of the game in general.

NBA has suffered Lockouts before. Some were real brief but the last wiped out half a season. The players fought against the owners and Commissioner David Stern. The owners complained that the then Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was unfair to the owners and had to be changed. The players looked bad and greedy with some of the big stars like Patrick Ewing saying "SureNBA players make a lot of money, but we spend a lot too", and another, KennyAnderson, saying he would have to sell one of his 8 cars to make ends meet (he later said he was kidding). They got scared when their pay checks didn’t arrive and caved in. David Stern and the owners won. This Lockout was back in 1998 for the 1998-1999 season. High fives for them and even Sports Illustrated showed how this was awesome for the owners and the league.

Stern won, then, which was no surprise; he almost always does. That's why the owners had the good sense for the last six months to keep their mouths shut and let him work. While the players were talking too much—first putting their hightops in their mouths with ludicrous comments that showed how out of touch they are with the average fan and then hurting the union's cause by revealing how desperate they were to settle—the owners let Stern be their voice. It's true that they had a gag order with the threat of a six-figure fine hanging over their heads, but these are wealthy, powerful men. The fear of writing a check didn't keep them quiet. Confidence in Stern did.

So fast forward to today and what do we have? The owners are complaining the current CBA is not good for them and that they are losing tons of money. Say what? The owners forced the players to accept the deal. It was their deal. They played hard ball, via Stern, and won. So now, the league is saying that they are losing more than $300 million a year. So whose fault is that? The players? Last time I checked, it wasn’t the Players’ Union who gave Rashard Lewis a $118 million contract who doesn’t play any D and can only jack threes.

The owners forced the players to accept the last CBA. They were the ones who said the players will get 57% of the share. Now the owners want to take it down to 50% or even lower and people are upset at the players for not accepting? Look, I am a Portland Trailblazers fan and I want to see them win a title in my lifetime. But I also understand where the players are coming from. They were strong armed into accepting the last CBA deal and now they are getting strong armed into accepting another. Why should they trust the owners and their judgment? It’s like that old saying, “Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me.” They don’t want to get burned again.

What makes this lockout even better is Michael Jordan’s role.  When the last lockout took place, it was reported that Jordan told one owner, Abe Pollin of the Washington Wizards, "If you can't make a profit, you should sell your team." Ironically, he ended up playing for Pollin at the end of his career which many Jordan fans forget to recall or prefer to wipe out of their memories. Now, Jordan is on the other side of the debate as the owner of the Bobcats and you can’t help but see the irony. One day, you’re telling owners get out of the game if you can’t afford it and now you’re saying you can’t afford to stay in the game and want the players to accept less.

So the lockout is still ongoing but the players and owners don’t seem close to reaching an agreement. Good. It happened to the NHL and they missed a season and now the league is doing well but we’ll see how things go when their next CBA deal end. As for the NBA, they should not reach a new deal until both sides are happy. That way, we can blame both for the lockout. Right now, I can’t point the finger of blame on the players. The owners wanted the last CBA deal; got it and now they are crying that the deal is no good. Sorry, but that’s your fault.

Where are they now? 1996-1997 FC Barcelona Cup Winner's Cup Team.

Another republish work - Where Are They Now? 96-97 Cup Winner's Cup Team that I published back in August of 2010. I will be updating it for Total Barca soon. Enjoy.Where are they now 96 97 cup winner's cup team

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Where Are They Now? 1992 FC Barcelona European Cup Champions.

Here is another re-publishing item. I did this a few years ago and then Total Barca asked me to submit an updated version a few months ago. This is the original one that was posted on the FC Barcelona Miami Penya website. EnjoyWhere are they now 1992 european cup champions

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My 2008 Interview With Nick Simon, The English Voice of R@dio Barça.

Since I just started this blog, I might as well reproduce my first ever interview with anyone affiliated with FC Barcelona. Back in 2008 as the club was going through a tough spell in Rijkaard's final season, we were introduced to a live coverage of FC Barcelona matches in English and live!!!

Nick Simon is still on the air via R@dio Barça and Barça TV and I was fortunate to have him take time to answer my emails to conduct this interview. No, it was not face to face but a correspondence of emails and props to Nick Simon for reply back. I posted it on my old FC Barcelona fan site - Barcelona 24-7 - and might as well bring it back for those who are not familiar with Mr. Simon.

I'm tempted to try to arrange another interview with him in the near future now since it's been over 3 years now. Enjoy

Interview With Nick Simon, The English Voice of R@dio Barça.

In a season full of disappointments and heart breaks, there has been some bright spots for FC Barcelona and without a doubt, Nick Simons has been great fulfilling his duty by providing English commentary for R@dio Barça. This season was difficult for Barcelona fans, especially those outside of Spain, who were affected by the row between TV firms Sogecable and production firm Mediapro over rights to show top Spanish league.* Many fans, including myself missed many of the first games of the season for Barcelona because of this row. Thankfully, many of us did not miss a second of those games free because of Nick Simons and his commentary of R@dio Barça. Back in August 2007, FC Barcelona launched R@dio Barça to provide its fans live match commentaries via the Club’s website. This service kicked off with coverage of Joan Gamper's match against Inter Milan. Match commentaries were broadcast live on www.fcbarcelona.cat for all first team friendlies, Spanish League, Copa Del Rey and Champions League game. In order to gain as wide an audience as possible, broadcasts were in three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English. The official site mentioned that live game commentaries were to be presented by former Barça star Oscar Garcia in Catalan and former coach Toño de la Cruz in Spanish. However, the site neglected to mention who would be providing the English play by play of FC Barcelona games. The crew here at Barcelona 24-7 decided we would have the honor of introducing the English voice of R@dio Barça to the Barcelona fans who tune in for the games. Not much is mentioned about Nick Simons on the official site and we hope that changes soon. Besides R@dio Barça, Nick Simons can be also heard commentating on games shown on Barça TV games as well, which for those in the US like myself, is being currently shown on Fox Soccer Channel (FSC). Thus, I decided it would be great if we would be able to interview Mr. Simons so that all the fans can get to know more about him. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to get a quick interview, via e-mails, with Nick Simons. IBES: How long have you been a Barcelona Fan? NICK: I was lucky to move to Barcelona to live in 1991 when the Dream Team was kicking in. I still think maybe seeing Laudrup and Romario live was one of the best combinations ever. IBES: Who is your favorite Barcelona player of all time? NICK: Various. Laudrup, Luis Enrique and funnily enough maybe an number one, Pep Guardiola. IBES: Favorite Great Barcelona goal? Romario's vs. Atletico, Rivaldo’s bicycle? NICK: Nah, easy. Laudrup’s flick to Romario. http://youtube.com/watch?v=plKhZhZCQHg (youtube link provided by Nick himself) IBES: How did you win this job of the English announcer? NICK: I had worked on the Premier League, in Spanish, on Via Digital. They remember my work there. I don't mind working solo or with a colleague. IBES: Doesn't it get boring in the booth without a partner? NICK: Sometimes. IBES: I did realize that one of my questions seemed moot after listening to El Clásico. You had another person in the booth. What was his name? NICK: Last 4 games, except El Clásico, were Archibald (Editor Note - That's former Scottish player Steve Archibald who played for Barcelona in the mid 80‘s). For El Clasico, it was a journalist called Ernest Amat. IBES: Is it tough to work the game when the Spanish and Catalan announcers are near you commentating away in their languages? NICK: Wearing the headphones you are cut off from the other commentators. IBES: Any plans for perhaps a halftime show along with a pre-game and post game analysis? NICK: I think everything is step by step. Lets see! IBES: Which are the worst and best away stadium press rooms? NICK: No comment. IBES: Is it tough to control your feelings during good and bad moments for the club? NICK: Sometimes. IBES: Is it difficult doing these games late at night? (Barcelona had many 10 PM kickoffs this past season) NICK: Miss dinner sometimes, but that apart doing a 2200hrs kick off means you have the day to do other stuff. IBES: Ever had any accidents in the booth due to excitement, disappointment or food drinks spills? NICK: I tend to stand up as I have almost fallen off my seat in the past:-) IBES: Are you going to be back next season? NICK: Hope so. IBES: Finally, funniest thing you ever witnessed while announcing the game and tried hard not to be distracted? NICK: I don't know about the funniest, but there are Roy Orbison moments. IBES: Care to explain the Roy Orbison moments comment a bit? NICK: PRETTY WOMAN...... NICK: Sorry for not going into more detail, but workload, etc. IBES: Thanks for the replies and I fully understand. Thanks again for everything you have done and keep up the good work. Here is hoping that FC Barcelona does bring back Nick Simons back for next season and have a profile on him on the official site soon too. Nick and Ernest did commentate on the summer friendly games so here's hoping for another great season of Nick at R@dio Barça. If you want to thank Nick for the great job that he has done or send him e-mails during the game, he can be reached at the e-mail that he gives out during the games at nick@salbcn.com

16 team La Liga? Rosell’s got a point.

Let's get this straight. If anybody accuses me of agreeing with Rosell just because he is the club president, then they are completely off their rocker. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the guy but for once, I agree with President Rosell on this issue. Times have changed these past few decades that have resulted in more games on players. Reducing the leagues down to 16 is a step in the right direction.

Before I get into this topic, I just wanted to mention to the Miami Penya members and followers that we are working hard on bringing back the site online following the attack from some juvenile hackers.  Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.

Yesterday, FC Barcelona’s president Sandro Rosell spoke about the current state of our beloved La Liga at the International Football Arena conference that was being hosted in Zurich. Rosell did not sugar coat how bad the teams are financially in Spain and suggested that there should be a better TV deal in the near future. That was something that many agree as a step in the right direction but he surprised many when he suggested that the league should be reduced from 20 to 16 teams.

Rosell argued that less teams leads to an increase in competition which results in better players for fewer teams. However, some other media outlets also caught another version of his comments where it was reported that he said, “This will mean that all the clubs will be more competitive and we can reduce players' salaries.” The idea that with lesser teams, the talent would be more spread out seems believable but I don’t buy the reducing the players’ salaries and I checked on both Sport & Mundo Deportivo and even Marca and none of them had that comment so looks like the club’s legal department will have to get busy and draft some letters soon if some overzealous writer got too excited with his google translate when he fabricated those statements "allegedly".

Today’s footballers are subjected to more games than they were in the past. The last five years, Xavi has played over 50 games in all competitions. Let’s not forget the additional matches he has played for Spain and it’s not hard to feel concerned about the long term fitness of the likes of Iniesta and Messi. We need to cut down on matches for the sake of our players. That’s why I wasn’t that shocked when Rosell said we need to reduce the number of teams in Spain. I made the same suggestion back in 2003. (Just ignore my views about the Cups - way too naive back then)

“…we must have 16 teams participating in the leagues. I strongly disagree with Italy's move for 20 teams in Serie A. With 16, we would have 4 teams to face the risk of relegation and the remaining 12 teams battle it out for spots in UEFA Champion's League and UEFA Cup and also battle to avoid being relegated. What is the point of having a team positioned 13th in their league that knows there is no chance for qualifying into Europe or face the risk of relegation. With 16 teams, there would be excitement through the season and every game would then matter. The games would be divided into 16 games to be played in a format of 2 games a week and the other 16 games to be played once a week. Thus, we would have 6 weeks of two games a week and 4 months of single week games. Additionally, I would impose a 2 week winter break for players and coaches to be with their families to celebrate their respective religious holidays and the new year. Now with this format, players would not feel all that fatigued …. This would cut down on fatigue of those teams who are playing in their league cup games, league games and European competitions games as well.”

Usually, Guardiola rests his key starters for Copa Del Rey matches until the final stages. The fixture lists have grown over the years. Barça won their first Champions League title after playing 11 matches in 1992 but they had to play 15 matches last season to win it. Also back then, there were only 33 countries qualifying to win Euro 92. Now, we had 51 countries try to qualify for this summer’s Euro 2012.

With FIFA adding more international friendlies along with international qualifiers mean our players are basically playing nonstop and those club summer preseason tours are not helping. Guardiola’s two Champions League titles came in seasons without any international tournaments in the summer. Those successful teams had the luxury of playing most of the season only once a week. However, when there is a tournament in the summer, that luxury evaporates like an ice cube in the Sahara desert and we have to watch our Blaugrana players play an unforgiving relentless schedule consisting of two matches a week for over a month. Of course, Guardiola did provide us with that great zinger yesterday when he said that extra free time would be used up by FIFA.

How is that beneficial to the long term health of the league when its star players pay the price for playing in Europe and for their country? Reducing the league to 16 teams would allow teams to play once a week and not subject themselves to the tireless schedule we are witnessing this season. This also plays a part in the TV revenue sharing.  Fewer teams mean a bigger piece of the pie for the other clubs.

According to Sky’s Revista De La Liga program, Barça and Real Madrid each get €140 million annually from their TV deals. That’s €280 million out of €609 million that is shared with the other 18 teams and those shares are not equal. However, if the league is reduced to 16 teams, then the other teams would get a bigger share of the TV deal. However, I still don’t believe that more money would solve all the problems the other clubs are facing. If their poor management and spending got many of the clubs, such as Real Zaragoza, in the mess that they are in, then how would more money make a difference? If they have so much debt, it would mean the extra money, if not all of it, would have to go towards paying off that debt and not into strengthening their squads.

A Villarreal fan said it best in a post that I nicked from an online forum.

“None of this matters unless the terrible, corrupt, and inept people currently in power are stripped of their positions. I think almost everyone, regardless of what club they support, knows that the current system is not advisable for the long-term health of Spanish football. And yet, there are short-sighted, egotistical chairmen and presidents who would rather take a bribe to fatten their own wallets by a little bit, than support a plan that would keep the league competitive for years to come... which in the end, probably makes everyone more money.”

Nevertheless, we want a stronger league. We all hear that La Liga is a two team league, but quite frankly so have most leagues in Europe over the years. The TV revenue sharing is an issue that needs to be addressed  and I am sure that with the next TV deal, the amount will be more for everybody and perhaps enough for Barça to share more with the other clubs too. However, we also have to look at the long term fitness concerns of our players and thus a reduction in the number of teams in the league is a good step. It seems that players today who do well for their clubs end up representing their country and pay the price for it with wear and tear which ultimately leads to injuries or burning out.

Now I don’t agree about Rosell voicing his concerns about foreign owners, especially when the club got a huge windfall of cash from a foreign investor.  In the end, we need solutions for the welfare of the league and if there are better options, then they should be reviewed for the sake of everybody. Until then, the idea of reducing teams to 16 is a step in the right direction.