Messi Is Mortal After All.

It was disappointing to see Messi come up just short in his quest for the World Cup trophy. He helped carry his team all the way to the Final but in the end; his pursuit of matching Maradona’s World Cup feats was sadly similar to Maradona’s 1990 World Cup and not 1986. Messi will now have a few weeks to recuperate and get ready for the upcoming season and hope he has the support from the fans and the board as Barça begins a new chapter in their history.

Not often many athletes can reach the status of immortality. Michael Jordan did it when he helped lead the Bulls to the NBA title to be considered one of the legends along with Magic and Bird. Messi had been one of the many Argentinians to be considered as the “Next Maradona” but was the only one to actually be a genuine contender for that title through his performances. The only thing missing of course was a World Cup title on his resume. Sunday could have been his coronation into immortality status along with Pele and Maradona.

However, it was not to be. Nevertheless, being associated with the likes of Johan Cruyff, Di Stefano, Eusebio, Puskas, Van Basten, and Raul is not bad company either. For years, we heard that Messi could not be compared with the likes of Pele and Maradona until he won the big one. Unfortunately, Messi’s performance was not good enough, along with his supporting cast for that matter, to beat Germany in the final.

Yet, it is ludicrous to believe that Messi cannot be considered one of the greatest of all-time because he did not win the World Cup. People make it seem that it was Pele and Maradona and 10 other men that won those titles. Pele had Garrincha and other superb players by his side.  Maradona had Jorge Valdano, Burruchaga and Ruggeri in 1986 and then Canniggia in 1990 on the national team among others. They are all-time greats but to say that those two players won it on their own is farfetched to say the least. It was a team effort and that’s why people need to cut Messi some slack. Messi did not have the talent, healthy or injured, that those two players had. Messi only had Mascherano that was dependable throughout the World Cup. Messi bossed the attack and Mascherano bossed the back.

This whole World Cup, everyone expected Messi to mimic Maradona and lead Argentina to glory. He sure did play that role early on in the group stages but his role changed in the knockout stages. He went from being Messi/Maradona and then played the roles of other World Cup winners. When Di Maria suffered an injury against Belgium, Messi became Zidane and Pirlo on the pitch and bossed the midfield and pulled the strings for Argentina while being hounded by two to three players at a time. It’s no surprise that he looked slow and sluggish against Germany. He looked human when he missed that golden scoring chance early in the second half. He has been carrying the team, and the expectations of his country and the world, on his shoulders with Mascherano but in the end, it seemed to be too heavy for his back and legs to pull off one last golden moment.

Messi will now have some time off to regroup before he rejoins Barça for another season and chapter in the history books. He’s been through a lot with the injuries, the loss of teammates, managers and the death of a manager he knew for many years. It is with the upmost importance that the club be on his side and support the man and also protect him. Messi has never been the same since his injury against PSG back in 2012-2013 season and the club needs to ensure he is getting the right treatment and reunite him with Juanjo Brau to be his personal trainer again. The club also needs to protect him when the Madrid media attack him and by all means, not allow a repeat of club directors to insult him either. This is not just a team but a family where they should have everybody’s back.

Hopefully we are not seeing the beginning the end of Messi, but rather, just watching a minor blip in his career. He has given so much for the club and for football and we should have his back. Of course, Messi also needs to realize that he is not 22 anymore and cannot play every day. We saw how Raul played himself to the ground and Messi is close to doing the same to himself. He is only 27 but the mileage on those legs is probably those who of one who is 32. However, that’s going to be easier said than done what with Copa America taking place next summer, followed by Copa América Centenario in the summer of 2016 and perhaps Confederations Cup in 2017 (if Argentina win the Copa America) and then the World Cup again in 2018.

Messi will not retire from playing for Argentina now but he has to start avoiding playing in meaningless matches such as international friendlies for Argentina across the globe, early rounds of the Copa del Rey, Champions League group stage where qualification and first place has been reached. He also should not play a full 90 minutes in games where the outcome has been decided by a four goal margin after 60 minutes. We are witnessing one of the greatest of all times who may play himself into early retirement if he keeps playing at this pace.

We do not know what the future will hold for Messi. However, it is time to stand by Messi in these difficult moments. If anybody has given us Barça fans so much glory and happiness in our long history, that no one else, not our beloved Kubala, Cruyff, and Pep could during their playing days. We will always be grateful and remember him for his legacy, for the trophies, and for being an overall good human being. If his best playing days are behind him, then so be it. In the end, we will still enjoy the magic for years to come even if he is not at his best and hope for more success.

Fix Camp Nou or Build a new one?

To build or renovate? That is the question that Barça president Sandro Rosell brought up last month in the General Assembly was the suggestion of building a new stadium. This sparked a great debate about what should Barça do regarding their home. Should they renovate the Camp Nou or time to build a new stadium?

Last month, the club presented a proposition to the members about the status of the Camp Nou.  Javier Faus, the vice-president of the Economic and Strategic Area of the Club proposed two options regarding the home of Barça; Renovate the Camp Nou or build a new one. The first option would cost close to 300 million euros, and the second option wouldn’t surpass 600 million euros. He also assured that if a new stadium was built, it would not be built outside of the Barcelona city limits. Ultimately, 89% of the socios approved on having a referendum about this topic.

This topic struck a nerve with many passionate Blaugrana fans. Many, including myself, were not in favor of seeing Barça play at a new stadium, but to stay at the Camp Nou and just go ahead and renovate the stadium where it is needed. Others though believe it’s time for a new stadium.

The argument for the new stadium wasn’t just an argument about a new playing surface but it was also more of a sign that the club needs to step forward and become more modern like other teams. A new stadium would mean more VIP seats – reminds me of the Sky Box seats arguments US franchises used to build new arenas/stadiums – and could also generate more income by selling the naming rights of the stadium.  Bottom line, the new stadium would mean a step in a direction of the club becoming more of a professional organization and not just a club.

However, there are many, including myself, who believe that Barça’s only home should be the Camp Nou.  The Poll on the Miami Penya website saw 5 out of 20 in favor of building a new stadium. Most of the responses I got from fellow fans were that the club should stay in the Camp Nou. Why? The stadium is magical with such a vast history. This is stadium that has seen the likes of Kubala, Luis Suarez, Cruyff, Krankl, Simonsen, Maradona, Lineker, Stoichkhov, Laudrup, Romario, Koeman, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Guardiola, Ronaldinho, Eto’o, and the current crop of amazing talent such as Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi call home. We have also witnessed great games at this pitch with the likes of a few 5-0 wins against Real Madrid, the magical comeback of Barça against Atletico Madrid in 1996-1997 Copa Del Rey encounter, numerous Champions League victories, and many great celebrations.

I think part of the reason why some of the fans said don’t build a new one is because they have yet to experience a match at the magical stadium, including myself.  For those who have been to the Camp Nou on numerous occasions, perhaps the magic aura of the Camp Nou has rubbed off and it is just another stadium to them. So is that selfishness on our part not to have a new stadium built? Probably yes. However, I also have a tough time believing a new stadium is really needed. The current Camp Nou holds 99,000 seats and supposedly the new stadium will have 10,000 additional seats and of course, the ever so important VIP seats. However, the club only averages close to 75,000 fans in attendance so what guarantee is there that the new stadium will have more fans? Will there be more amenities?

If the club is averaging close to 75,000 fans to see one of a kind amazing talent such as Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and company, then I shudder to think what will happen in the new stadium when most of these players will be done with football and working on their golf games or working on their coaching badges.

The Camp Nou is not only the home of the football team, but it also contains the club’s offices, the Botiga – Official Barça shop, and the FC Barcelona Museu, the club’s museum. In the end, money talks, especially under this president who wants to make the club more fiscally responsible. However, I don’t know if spending 600 million euros for a new stadium is the right approach. The New York Yankees decided to leave their own Camp Nou and built a new Yankees stadium and some would say that the move has not been as successful with overpriced seats, empty seats, and a lackluster fan atmosphere that no longer intimidates opposing teams.

In my opinion, you can’t replace a landmark. VIP boxes area a great idea and great source of income but with the current state of the Spanish economy is going, what guarantee is there that those seats will be sold off to corporations since they are the ones who usually buy those types of seats and US teams suffered during the poor economy because companies couldn’t afford those tickets. Also, if the club is not selling out every match now with this great team, then what guarantee that a new stadium with 10,000 additional seats will have a higher attendance? By the time this stadium is built, the great era of this team might be over so fans won’t be paying to watch the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, and perhaps even Messi. If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. However, if minor repairs are needed, then renovate.

In the end, the fans will have the final say on what should happen. Part of me wants to have the club remain at the holy grounds of the Camp Nou and part of me thinks that the club should always be proactive and reactive to change such as modern facilities and modern approaches in how a club should be run. So if you’re still waffling on when to go to the Camp Nou, you might want to do it sooner than later because it seems that the Camp Nou days are coming to an end.

 

Time for Iniesta to be recognized as one of the world’s best.

Barça fans have long stated that Iniesta has been one of their best players for the past few season and also argued that he should be up there with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo. With Iniesta winning Euro 2012 Player of the Tournament award, he has earned the right to be considered one of the current great players in the world.

Us Barça fans have been blessed for the past decade with some great players. When Frank Rijkaard was named manager of the club back in 2003-2004 season, many of the young youth players were given their chance to impress. One of them was our own Iniesta who had made his debut under Louis van Gaal the year before. Under Rijkaard, the young player with the number 24 on his back impressed Barça fans and allowed us to brag that although Arsenal had Cesc, Barça had Iniesta. Those claims would be backed up in the 2006 Champions League Final in Paris where his dazzling performance as a halftime substitute caught eyes. He was involved in the buildup on Eto’o’s goal for the equalizer with his pass to Henrik Larsson that resulted in the assist for the goal.

Unfortunately, Barça’s performance following that amazing night in Paris were ones to forget with the team struggling to win any domestic or European honors. However, during that time, we got to see the young Iniesta grow and dazzle us with his great vision and ball control while a young Messi was slowly starting to show us a glimpse of what he would become.  Iniesta performance for the national team took off in Euro 2008 after only appearing in one game in the group stage in the 2006 World Cup.

His performances for club and country took off following Euro 2008 where helped Spain end their long drought for international success by being named on the Team of the Tournament and one of his highlights being setting up Xavi for the opening goal in the Semi-Finals against Russia. With Guardiola as his club manager, Barça won a historic treble, with Iniesta’s goal in the Champions League Semi-Final still fondly remembered by many Cules and was an inspiration for many baby deliveries in Barcelona hospitals nine months later. However, the best accolade he would receive came after Barça defeated Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League Final in Rome with United’s Wayne Rooney proclaimed that “Iniesta is the best player in the world at the moment.”

Since that magical season, Iniesta has done it all for club and country with the midfielder’s pinnacle moment being his goal in the World Cup Final that finally gave the title they had long waited for.  For some, that moment would change players forever but Iniesta remained the same humble man who decided to celebrate that goal by taking off his jersey to reveal with a message written on his shirt to honor his fallen friend, Jarque.

There is no need to list his accomplishment over the years. You can see them on his Wikipedia page and his success on the pitch speaks for itself. He has been amazing and Guardiola saw that back when Iniesta was still a young lad. Graham Hunter’s book , Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World, mentioned the story of when Guardiola observed Iniesta’s talent for the first time during the 1999 Nike Cup.  Guardiola presented Iniesta his medal and the trophy and told him, “One day I’ll be up in those stands watching you do what I do for Barça.” The story then goes on that he Guardiola told Xavi, “Xavi, you are going to replace me, but watch out for this young guy, because he’ll retire all of us.”

Without a doubt, Iniesta has been one of the greatest players to play for the club and it won’t be long before the rest of the world confesses that Iniesta is has been one of the greatest playmakers to play the sport with the likes of the Zidane, Scholes, Xavi, Pirlo, Platini and Maradona. The 28 year old still has many years ahead to continue to shine and impress and earn the accolades to be named up there with the best.

 

Time for Fútbol to join the club and use replay.

As we enter a new year, an old dilemma still haunts our beloved game of football. Just these past few weeks, the calls of ref bias reared its ugly head again. The big surprise though, was that it was coming from Barça fans this time. The missed calls on the obvious handball in the Espanyol game coupled with the booking to Iniesta after he was fouled inside the box in the Betis game and the missed calls in the Madrid Mallorca game upset many fans who believe the gap between the archrivals should be down to two points. I don’t think there is a bias by the refs. It’s just incompetence. I also think that the idea of instant replay has to become a reality in the near future so we don't have to witness another poor decision like Iniesta's booking against Betis this past weekend.

This debate has been going on for a while with those for and against instant replay. There was even a very lively discussion about it on twitter between me, ESPN Soccernet’s Eduardo Alvarez and the infamous Barcastuff this past weekend. The discussion went back and forth between us regarding the issues that refs are not intentionally favoring any side; past or present in recent history. Eduardo made the point that referees need to be full-time professionals and not part-timers. He made the strong point that if they remain part-timers, then the pressure on the referees will keep growing, and they will remain unprepared and amateur as they are nowadays.

Barcastuff countered that the pressure though is coming from Real Madrid, its fans and the Madrid press. I have to say I agree with that statement. One of the best examples was during last year’s Champions League Semi-Finals. Madridistas were upset with Wolfgang Stark’s decision to send off Pepe. Afterwards, ITV’s Andy Townsend was threatened by angry Madrid fans who thought he was Stark. If this is what Townsend went through, imagine what the Spanish refs go through then. It is not that farfetched for referees to feel the wrath of fans. It wasn’t that long ago that Anders Frisk retired following Mourinho’s accusations that resulted in threats made at him and his family from Chelsea fans.

Now back to Eduardo’s comment that referees should be full-time professionals. I agree and this is something that many others have said before and the NFL is currently thinking about making their referees become fulltime. I don’t think the referees are biased. They just are not that good. It seems like the game is advancing every year while they regress backwards. I don’t think referees becoming full-time professionals is enough though and that more needs to be implemented to aid the referees and provide just results.

More referees was one suggestion and perhaps it might work. However, we all agreed that instant replay/TV technology is something we all want to be implemented someday.  Of course, that topic has ruffled the feathers of the purists for a long time. I can understand their views against it. It’s not part of the game, it slows down games, and it takes away from the game. I agree with all except the latter. I am sorry but I didn’t buy Platini’s explanation that human error is part of the game. Sorry, but this sport is now a business where managers lose their jobs and players might end up losing out on success. I don’t believe Mexico’s and England’s national teams were too pleased with FIFA’s apology after their elimination from the World Cup.

The neutrals might say they prefer it that way but I would be hard pressed to believe any fan shares that view after seeing his team get the wrong end of a call. We are now in the year 2012 and NCAA Football and Basketball use instant replay. Heck, even Major League Baseball uses instant replay and that sport has been around just as long as fútbol and has its own share of purists. Yet, I never heard any of them complain about it when it has been used to get the call right. Now some argue how can we rely on instant replay when the NFL can’t seem to get calls right with the use of replay? Valid point but the NFL is a different sport where they can challenge for many things unlike football where we want it just for a few things such as off sides, hand balls, did the ball cross the goal line and foul or dive for a penalty. I prefer we compare it to NHL’s use of instant replay since the NHL and fútbol share many similarities.

NHL’s instant replay applies to only goals. There are basically eight things they can review and guess what, I can’t think of many instances where they got a goal wrong with the minor exception of the Dallas Stars Buffalo Sabres series clinching goal involving Brett Hull skate in the crease during overtime in the Finals controversy. Other than that, they have gotten it right and if I am wrong, please let me know. Now, for fútbol, it would be used for the following reasons. Did the ball cross the goal line? Was it a handball to score or deny a goal?; Was the player onside or not and was it a foul or a dive inside the box? You can also make the argument for off the ball decisions like Zidane’s head butt. I can’t believe that fans would rather see a game be decided by a blown call. Maradona’s Hand of God anyone? Instant replay is the way of the future and FIFA needs to get the ball rolling on it quickly. Every sport seems to have it now except our beloved sport. Of course, this would mean more cameras, more camera angles and even a video goal judge so the referee doesn’t have to go through the peep show booth that NFL referees go through. Let someone upstairs review it like they do in the NHL.

The problem though is that this issue has to be brought up by the players. Players whining to the media about bad calls is not enough. They have to demand it. Barcastuff made the argument that players union have other concerns such as protecting the players. I beg to differ and think the players and their unions have to make their voices heard along with the league presidents. It’s a win-win situation for everybody. Clubs and fans no longer have to witness their team suffer a bad call. Leagues and teams can make money from the TV time used during the instant replay. I don’t buy into the argument that it stalls games by affecting continuity and momentum since we go through that already from players wasting time for injuries or protesting a bad call.

Until then, we have to sit back and watch referees make horrible calls such as the missed handball in the Barcelona derby or the wrong call on the disallowed Mallorca goal for off sides or the missed Sergio Ramos handball near the end of the game.  We cannot continue to live at a time where teams could get relegated or lose its chance at winning a trophy from a bad referee’s decision. Eduardo made the point that he didn’t think the Spanish league has been decided by refereeing mistakes. I agree with him when he said that there will be tons of ref mistakes after 38 matches but ultimately, the best side always wins. He detests this sort of debate and made the obvious claim that both Real Madrid and Barcelona get way too many calls to complain about it. I concur and think that’s the case in all the leagues when it comes to big teams getting the benefit of the calls against the smaller teams.  In case you didn’t know, Eduardo is a Real Madrid fan who is very fair and level headed in my opinion.

I agreed with him about the best side always wins and that’s why I don’t blame the referees for Barça being in second place. Much of the blame lies with their away from albeit some of the referee calls have not helped either. With that said, we should not accept incompetence from non-fulltime referees that affect the outcomes of close games that could lead to teams being relegated or hindering teams from winning a title when there is video technology available. So I hope that the push for video technology grows stronger. Please make it happen FIFA!