RFEF dragging their feet again regarding the Copa Final venue.

The current predicament plaguing the Spanish league is not about which clubs are able to pay their players’ salaries or the possibility of another strike from the league players. No, the current quandary that has once again put the RFEF in the spotlight again is the uncertainty of where the Copa del Rey final will be played. Madrid’s rejection of hosting the final has put the RFEF in a negative light regarding how inept they are which is a clear contrast of their neighboring countries’ leagues.

The Santiago Bernabéu was the preferred venue for the Copa del Rey final by both FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Unfortunately, Real Madrid opted to refuse to host the final because they have bathrooms to renovate, a Bruce Springsteen concert to plan for and that they might be celebrating Champions League title should they win it on May 20. Some thought their refusal was a sign of fear that they didn’t want Barça celebrating a title in their own stadium. Now, if that was the sole reason for Madrid not wanting to host the final, then shame on them for thinking it was a foregone conclusion that Athletic had no chance of winning the cup against Barça.

However, the problem here falls squarely on the RFEF and their lack of planning ahead. Unlike most countries, Spain does not have a “national stadium” to host a cup final. England has Wembley stadium in London to host the FA Cup and also used the Millennium Stadium, in Wales as the temporary home of the FA Cup final. France has the Stade de France in Paris that hosts the Coupe de France. Germany has the Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium) in Berlin as the venue for the German cup/DFB-Pokal final. Italy has the Stadio Olimpico, home to both Lazio and Roma, in Rome as the venue for the Coppa Italia final. Even Spain’s Iberian neighbor, Portugal, has a national stadium, Estádio Nacional/Estádio do Jamor located in Jamor that hosts the Portuguese Cup/ Taça de Portugal final.

All those venues have been hosting their respective domestic cup finals for a long time. Yet, Spain opts to wait till the Semi-finalists, or the finalists in this case, have been decided before deciding on a venue for the final. Supposedly, Madrid’s indirect refusal is the first time that a club has rejected hosting a Copa final. So what can the RFEF do? Put their foot down and remind Madrid who’s the boss? Highly doubt it especially with their laid back approach in punishing Mourinho for attempting to poke Tito Vilanova’s eye or their failure to discipline Pepe after what appeared to be an intentional stamp on Messi’s hand.

The RFEF have three options. The first option is to build a national stadium so they can have their own version of Wembley for Cup finals and for big international matches. We know that won’t happen and they sometimes use the Bernabéu for the big international matches. The second option is to go ahead and pick a stadium to be their national stadium which would probably be the Bernabéu since it hosted the 1962 Euro Cup Final and the 1982 World Cup Final. We know the Camp Nou would never get it and can’t imagine the reaction of the Madridistas if the national stadium was located in Catalan country. The problem is would Real Madrid throw a fit if the final would feature Barcelona in it? RFEF doesn’t need more headaches so it won’t happen. Estadio de La Cartuja in Sevilla probably could be a worthy candidate as a Cup Final venue since it’s not being used but its capacity of slightly over 57,000 would not make it a suitable venue. La Cartuja would allow over 28,000 fans from each of the finalist to witness the final which is not bad based on the average attendance of the Spanish league, which was over 29,000. However, if the finalists are from the big clubs, such as this year’s finalists, then that venue would be deemed too small.

Before I address the third option, it should be noted that FC Barcelona never rejected hosting the Copa final back in 2004. Guti tweeted that Barça pulled the same stunt back then but El País and Marca have come out and said it never happened.  The story that Barça didn’t want Real Madrid playing in their stadium is false. All the semi-finalists back then decided that Espanyol’s old stadium, Montjuic, should be the venue for the final.

So that leaves us with the third option, and that is picking the venue a year in advance. You don’t see the NFL waiting till the last minute to decide where the next Super Bowl will be. You already know where the next UEFA Champions League final will be this year and next year. Munich will be hosting it this year and Wembley will be hosting it again next year. Sadly, we all know the RFEF is going to do nothing. They are going to just sit back and pretend that this never happened and go on with to portray the “mañana attitude” that continues to plague Spanish football. One has to cringe when we see how the Premier League gets things done in terms of disciplinary action; TV revenue; scheduling; and marketability while RFEF is content just not care. Villar was just re-elected as FA president but don’t expect any changes anytime soon.

One Title Lost But Two More Left.

Barça’s loss over the weekend to Osasuna probably all but ended their hopes of winning their fourth consecutive league title. We can blame it on many things and complain as much as we want but, barring some unexpected collapse from Real Madrid, it’s time for the club and fans to focus on the two other cups and expect a cup double. However, there still some blame to pass around about how the league seemed lost in February and that’s aimed at Guardiola and all the way up to club President Sandro Rosell.

A 10 point gap is a lot to overcome although Real Madrid did squander a big lead back during Laporta’s first year as club president that saw Valencia win the league title. However, many, including myself cannot see Mourinho squandering that lead unless he rests his starters for the Champions League and as a result, somehow drop points. I suggested in my last blog that Pep had to rest his players by rotating them with the backups and Barça B players after Barça fell 7 points behind Real Madrid. Well, neither I nor others expected him to rest Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc from the starting lineup. Nevertheless, he did and on that cold freezing night, Barça tried hard but not overcome consecutive two goal leads.

Now many were upset by that decision but I thought it was a safe bet with Iniesta back from injury and Xavi and Cesc exhausted from playing in so many games. FourFourTwo’s Tim Stannard said it best in his column today,

"Wouldn’t Guardiola have received even more criticism had Iniesta and Xavi played for example and knackered themselves again, missing the Champions League games which Barcelona could then have lost?"

So the bottom line now is for the club to go ahead and capture the cup double by winning the Copa Del Rey and the club’s fifth Champions League title.

With Madridistas already celebrating the league title, the cup double would put a damper on their celebrations. What Mourinho will be accomplishing is a personal impressive statistic but Valdano, Capello and Schuster also won the league title managing Real Madrid. The thing is; they at least managed to defeat Barça on their way on claiming the league crown. Madrid will be coming to the Camp Nou in May, which coincidentally would be around the same time as the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals. The best way to really dampen the mood over in the Spanish capital would be if both teams end up meeting in the Champions League Quarter-Finals with Barça yet again getting the best of Madrid.

That early elimination would leave Madrid with just league football to look forward to for the rest of the season while Barça continue their quest to win titles. Of course it still is disappointing to see the league be determined so early but it was inevitable. Many fans thought the club should have made more signings during the summer and the winter break. I am not a fan of buying players during the winter break but I think picking up some players on loan would have been a great idea during the winter transfer window. However, I blame Pep on relying too much on having a small squad. That works in seasons where the schedule is more relaxed than and not as condensed as seasons such as this year that because an upcoming international summer tournament.

In hindsight, perhaps signing the likes of Kanouté, Botía, and José Ángel along with Alexis and Cesc would have benefitted the club in the long run. But alas, Pep trusted his players a bit too much and didn’t expect tons of hamstring injuries. It’s February and we can already see players are suffering from playing in too many games. Being champions took a toll on their bodies with trips to Monaco, Japan along with friendlies in numerous countries over the summer. Hopefully Pep learned from this season and will plan better for next season in having a slightly deeper squad. Additionally, maybe it’s best if club president Sandro Rosell doesn’t plan any upcoming summer tours that will see the team fly halfway across the globe.

This upcoming summer will see half the squad participating in Euro 2012. Thus, any ideas from Rosell about traveling to North America or Asia as part of their summer preseason/tour should be scrapped. These players have been through a lot these first four seasons under Pep and deserve some rest this summer. How about participating in European summer tournaments such as the Amsterdam Tournament, Emirates Cup, or the Wembley cup while also participating in domestic tournaments such as Trofeo Naranja or the one cup Pep has yet to win, Copa Catalunya. As much as I would love to see Barça come back to America this summer, I believe it’s time for Rosell and the club to ignore the dollar signs and let the players rest and adjust to one time zone for at least one summer.

I might as well vent some more since I’m mentioning Rosell since part of the reason why the club has fallen back 10 points behind Real Madrid also falls on his shoulders. We can’t ignore the obvious in that Madrid’s tactics of intimidating the referees has worked to their advantage. I mentioned it before that we need instant replay since referees are missing the obvious calls while Madrid seem to be getting the benefit of the calls. 11 consecutive penalties awarded without any given against them? I am not saying they don’t deserve getting penalties. I am more upset at how the referees seem to swallow the whistle if there is call against Madrid. Madrid’s away form hasn’t been that impressive either as evidenced by their recent struggles against Mallorca and Getafe where they benefitted from some bad decisions.

Of course this is mere speculation but it’s not that difficult to see that Madrid gained a lot from going after the referees via the club, manager, media and the fans. Meanwhile, Mr. Rosell opted to play the nice guy. Maybe it was worth going forward and filing complaints with the league against Mourinho after eye gouging Tito Vilanova and against Pepe after what did to Messi. Instead, Rosell put his faith in the league and in return, the league walked over him like Pepe did when he stepped on Messi’s hand. Perhaps then the league would have finally grown a pair and came down on both clubs and made it easier on their referees to make calls without fear of repercussions or backlash from either club. Nice guys don’t fare well when they are in a dirty fight and Rosell is being nice to a club that is trying its best to destroy our club by any shady means necessary. Madrid’s Allegations of doping, allegations of gaining favors from referees, allegations of favoritism, along with dirty cheap shots on Barça players from the Merengues makes this a dirty fight that requires a club president to fight back and not rely on the better judgment of league and its officials.

The club resumes its quest to win their fifth Champions League title tomorrow.  Now, for those who are upset or doubt this team can win the Champions League because of their poor showing in the league. Let me give you this bit of sports trivia. When AC Milan became the last team to win back to back Champions Cup under Sacchi, they did so without ever winning the league title during those two seasons.  Even Real Madrid won their 8th Champions League title while finishing fifth in the league table. So it is possible for Barça to win another Champions League title and here’s hoping that Pep and the players bring back El Quinto so we can celebrate a special brand of Manita Champions League success along with another Copa Del Rey triumph in May.

Perhaps it’s time for Pep to rest starters from league action?

With Real Madrid enjoying a seven point lead atop of the standings, thanks to some fine no-calls from the referees, maybe it’s time for Pep to conserve some of the team’s energy when it comes to league matches. Although they are not out of the race for a fourth consecutive league crown, their chances are looking a bit tough. Additionally, they have two other titles to think off with the Champions League still theirs to lose. The club has seen numerous players pick up injuries and we are only in the month of February. Thus, perhaps Pep is better off saving his players for the Champions League and Copa Del Rey titles by resting his starters from some league matches.

Now, I’m not saying that the league is lost and that the quest for the fourth consecutive is over. It looks bleak but the league has already been decided in the final five matches. However, this season is condensed season because of the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012. That is why Barça has had to play a lot of midweek games this season. Just January alone saw them play two games a week and that will continue this month when they host Valencia in the second leg of the Copa Del Rey Semi’s and then travel to Germany next week for the first leg of the Round of 16 encounter against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

That makes it six consecutive weeks where they have played twice a week. In other words, 12 games in 6 weeks.  The schedule is going to be like that the rest of the season with midweek games late in March, all of April and that is just the league fixtures only. You also have some international fixtures coming up which will regrettably cause more fatigue. Bottom line is that these guys will be playing a lot of games without the usual six to seven days off between games like last season. Pep has seen many players go down with injuries and players fighting fatigue from playing too many games.

Unfortunately, the price of success has taken a toll on the players with an awful summer preseason along with trips to Monaco and Japan. The players average around 60 to 70 games a season and it was inevitable that fatigue and injuries would plague this team someday. That’s why I enjoyed watching Guardiola rest some of his starters in Saturday’s victory against Sociedad. Xavi got to enjoy a full week off while Pique and Abidal got to rest for a half. It’s time to utilize the other players who have not featured much along with players from the youth setup.

It’s time for Pep to give the Barça B players more minutes in the league. Montoya should be playing a few games in place of Dani Alves while Bartra and Muniesa should start in place of Puyol and Pique with Adriano filling in for Abidal here and there. Mascherano now can fill in for Busquets while he recovers from the injury that caused him to get 15 stitches. Thiago and Jonathan Dos Santos filled in for Xavi and Iniesta while Cuenca and Tello filled in for the injured Pedro and Alexis. That leaves us with Cesc and Messi. Cesc, Xavi and Iniesta, when he comes back from his injury, can all alternate with each other with some league starts.

Unfortunately, Pep seems reluctant to rest Messi and that could be a vital mistake. Whether he likes it or not, Messi needs to be rested and not start every match for a full 90 minutes. It is rather odd that Pep is reluctant to rest Messi. After all, he used him as a substitute 10 times in all competitions during his first season as the manager of Barça where they won the treble. Perhaps it is better to bring on Messi in the final 30 minutes of a game in the occasional league match than watch him play 90 minutes every game the rest of the way. Keep him fresh for the more important league matches only and for the Champions League. The issue is which games are considered non-important in the league.

Valencia dropped more points yesterday and are currently 11 points behind Barça for second place. Pep can afford to rest his players without worrying about falling into third or fourth place. If the team does well with all these rotations and somehow catch up to Real Madrid while resting their players for the Champions League, then the risk would have been worthwhile. If not, then Pep still has players well rested as they look to capture their fifth Champions League title and another Copa Del Rey crown should they succeed in advancing to the final on Wednesday. Either ways, our starters will get the rest that they so desperately deserve.  We may be halfway through the season but the second half of the season will be quite demanding so here’s hoping that Pep looks at the long term solution of resting and rotating his players, especially Messi.

The remaining schedule with pending Champions League dates should Barcelona advance all the way to the final.