Barça, Just OK is Not OK!

FC Barcelona are in first place in both the Spanish League and in their Champions League group. Even though they look good in the standings, their performance hasn’t been good at all. Barça still have issues to resolve and hopefully they can get it together after the international break or else we risk witnessing another disappointing season.

Even though the results do not show it, Barça keep regressing under Ernesto Valverde. The defense keeps leaking goals and the offense looks predictable, which is extremely reliant on Messi. The Blaugrana resemble a car in dire need of a tune-up as they struggle to fire on all cylinders. New signing Griezmann is struggling to click with the team, especially with Messi.

The bigger concern is whether Valverde can actually get the team to play better. Not one player has improved under his helm, so how can we expect him to improve the team. The blame doesn’t fall entirely on him seeing as the players also bear a brunt of the blame. Perhaps Pique needs to cutback on his non-football activities and focus on playing football and rest. Also, it would be nice to figure out why so many Barça players are coming down with muscle injuries.

It’s still early into the season, but Barça being just OK is not OK. Things have to change or else they will be heading towards another disappointing finish. The Blaugrana have been fortunate that Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid have also stumbled early on into the season but eventually one of them will get hot and if Barça don’t get their act together, they may have more concerns than just coming up short in Europe.

Barça’s worst enemy continues to be themselves.

The winter break is over and Barça will be back in action as they resume their pursuit in conquering all three competitions. Their path consists of the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla in Spain, while battling Lyon and the other remaining clubs in the Champions League. However, the Blaugrana need to come to grips with their worst enemy; themselves.

The club’s start to the 2018-2019 season has been exceptional thus far.  Barça sit atop of the league table and won their Champions League group stage. However, a few bumps in the road due to on the field and off the field issues have to be resolved as they prepare for their second half of the season.



During the first half of the season, the big issue was Ousmane Dembélé. Fortunately, it seems the matter has been resolved. Yet, I feel it won’t be last time before we read another negative story about the young Frenchman. It’s not unheard of to see someone who is 21 and immature. Messi needed Pep Guardiola to tell him to change his diet habits at 21 and make him shine on the pitch. The club knew they were signing a young player who was not a model citizen at Rennes and Dortmund. Obviously, the lack of professional people managing and advising Dembélé is not helping and he would probably benefit from having an experienced agent to advise him properly. Hopefully Éric Abidal, currently the club’s football first team technical secretary, can be that father figure and take him under his wings to teach him to become more professional athlete and steer him from squandering his opportunity.



Another issue of concern is the manager himself, Ernesto Valverde. Last season, Valverde could hang his hat upon the fact that his team almost went unbeaten in the league and defended well which saw them capture the domestic double. Last season, the Blaugrana conceded only 29 goals. This season however, they have already lost twice and have conceded 19 goals after 17 games. Fortunately, the Blaugrana have kept a clean sheet the last four games and here’s hoping the trend of not leaking goals continues.

Nonetheless, under Valverde, the team is unbalanced with the midfield failing to support the backline. Some of his decisions when it comes to the starting eleven is also baffling, such as immediately starting players who have just returned from an injury. He also benches players after a good run of games and starts players out of the blue. Last season, there were complaints that he kept playing the starters for too long and didn’t rotate enough down the stretch after amassing a big lead in the league standings. This season, Valverde was rotating often which saw the team drop points during the first half of the season.

It is clear that Valverde has not settled on 4-3-3 and often reverts to 4-4-2 which at times has been dull to watch. This is Barça, not Athletic, and with the talent at his disposal, we should not be watching dull football. However, the main concern is that Valverde still seems to make the team become more conservative when they have the lead or he fails to adjust when the team is struggling to gain control on the pitch, with the loss to Real Betis as the perfect example with the bitter taste of being eliminated by Roma in the Champions League still lingering. That Roma elimination is a dark cloud that continues to hover over Valverde to this day.



Another major issue is what to do with Coutinho. Valverde does not consider him as a starter, due in large to Dembélé’s performances lately. With Valverde unable to play 4-3-3 or any other variation, the big signing Coutinho, and other signing Arthur, seem destined to ride the bench for now. However, the bench was not what many had in mind when the club spent €160 million for Coutinho. Nonetheless, Coutinho has failed to shine up front, in the midfield, and in Messi’s absence, so it’s not entirely Valverde’s fault. With any luck, Valverde can find a way to get more out of Coutinho or the board will live with the fact that they spent €160 million for a substitute.



Finally, Valverde needs to give more minutes to La Masia players. Carles Aleñá is a recent La Masia who has made the jump to the first team and here’s to hoping he gets to feature in all three competitions. No one is demanding that Barça B players be inserted into the starting lineups and play a full 90 minutes but with Copa del Rey on the horizon, we should see more of the youth in these games. None of the key starters should feature in the Copa del Rey in order to be rested for the league and Champions League which should be the main priorities this season. Chasing a treble, as much we love to win it, can be costly if it means coming up short in Europe because of fatigue from playing in Copa del Rey, again.

The board also has to do better in terms of protecting its players and investing in the squad. It was no secret that the stories of Dembélé being late to training were being leaked to the media and its unfathomable how this was supposed to improve the situation. Additionally, the club needs to improve on re-enforcing the squad.



Ajax Amsterdam’s Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt are players the club should be signing as heir apparent to Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets, who will be 32 and 31 by the time next season starts. Yet, it seems Barça will ultimately sign Adrien Rabiot and Jean-Clair Todibo instead. It is true that signing two of these four players could impact the youth players who want to make the jump to the first team. However, since these signings are going to be made anyways, then wouldn’t it be for the best to sign the finest talent available and not make another André Gomes/ Marlon type signing? The board needs to stop with the poor signings and not waste Messi’s final years with these types of teammates. Elections are a couple of years away but it would be nice for the new board to inherit a strong, if not the greatest, team like this current one did.

The league resumes today with a tricky away fixture to Getafe. Will Barça stop being their own worst enemy? Only time will tell. Hopefully we are not wasting Messi’s talent and time at the club.

Crunch Time for Barça.

Barça’s chances at the treble are very legit now. A victory today against Atlético Madrid means they win the league title with two more to go.

What a week it was for Barça. Although they suffered a 3-2 loss in Germany to Bayern Munich, their 3-0 first leg result last week pretty much ensured that they would heading to the Champions League Final in Berlin in June. The chase for the treble is officially on and Barça can win the first title today in Madrid with a victory over Atlético Madrid.

Ironic that it was one year ago to this day when Atlético Madrid came to the Camp Nou and played Barça to 1-1 draw in the final match of the season for the league crown. Today, Barça can exact revenge by winning the league title on Atlético Madrid’s turf. With only two matches left on the schedule, and a four point lead over Real Madrid, it would be best for Barça to get the job done today and rest their players for next week’s final league match against Deportivo at the Camp Nou.

Barça have gotten this far thanks to the excellent form of the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez. They have all contributed in the big games and we expect them to continue to do so in these next three big games. The first final is today and the next two are on May 30th against Athletic Club for the Copa del Rey trophy at the Camp Nou and then for the Champions League trophy in Berlin on June 8 against Juventus.

This is the third time Barça and Athletic meet in a final in recent history while this is the first time Barça and Juventus meet on the European stage since 2002-2003 season. However, as Pique reminded everyone on Friday when he said, "The way people are talking it's as if we'd already won the treble, and that's not the case. The finals are against two historic clubs and we still haven't won anything yet. "We're close but and we have to keep our feet on the ground." He is right. Barca need to take it one match at a time and focus solely on today and not look ahead.

Redemption for Barça.

FC Barcelona got to exact revenge on Real Madrid for their loss earlier in the season and in the process, increased their lead atop of the standings to four points. The victory was a boost to the confidence of the Blaugrana and redemption for some.

When Barça lost in the Spanish capital to Real Madrid during week 9, Barça had a one point lead atop of the standings. They would soon lose the top spot to Madrid and struggle the rest of the 2014. They started 2015 off horribly when they lost away to Real Sociedad. Things changed from then on but there was still some doubt about Barça heading into this weekend’s Clásico.

This match was redemption for Luis Enrique and for some of his players. For the manager, many, including myself, criticized his unpredictable approach to coaching this team following that loss. He opted to keep his starting eleven a secret till right before kickoff and his tactics were all wrong after Real Madrid simply had their way against Barça. Fortunately, he got it right this time, now that he has settled on a starting eleven, following the urging from some of the players to stick with a consistent lineup after the fallout from that Real Sociedad loss. Since then, the team has played better than before and even a recent loss to Malaga at the Camp Nou did not create a sense of panic among the fans. Bad days happen and the Malaga loss was seen as a minor hiccup. Real Madrid sputtering at the same time probably helped keep the mood calm in Barcelona.

Credit is due to Luis Enrique and his assistant, Juan Carlos Unzué, for improving this team from last season’s team in terms of fitness and how to attack/defend set pieces. There’s no doubt that the level of intensity that Lucho brought to this team’ training sessions has been significant compared to the light training sessions under Martino last season. The opening goal from Mathieu was a set piece designed by Unzué who could not hide his happiness during the goal celebrations. It was reminiscent of the Guardiola times where the late Tito Vilanova designed set pieces and Puyol scored one of his trademark header goals against Real Madrid after Xavi recommended a minor change to Tito in the plans. The communication between manager and players have improved and the payoff has been on full display ever since.

Another player who gained some redemption from El Clásico was Jeremy Mathieu. In the first Clásico, Luis Enrique started the Frenchman as a left back in place of Jordi Alba. His performance was poor that day and he raised some eyebrows when he stated that he was surprised that the manager picked him as a left back on game day. That suggested that Luis Enrique did not train the team to play with Mathieu as the left back nor give him ample time to mentally prepare for the role. Fortunately, Mathieu got to start the second Clásico, this time as a center back, and not only did he play well on defense; he even got to score! I can’t think of a better way for someone to redeem themselves in such situation.

This match was also redemption of some sorts for Pique, Rakitic, Claudio Bravo and Luis Suarez. Pique has taken abuse over the past few years for his inconsistent form but he was bossing the back four during Barça’s win against their arch rivals. Although he did not score, Rakitic put in a superb performance to make up for that poor appearance as a substitute in the first Clásico where his awful corner kick, also his first touch in the game, resulted in a counter attack goal for Los Blancos. For Claudio Bravo, this was his first taste of victory against Real Madrid during his time in the Spanish league and made some key saves too.

Finally, the other star seeking redemption was Luis Suarez. His signing created some controversy and discontent amongst fans following his World Cup biting incident. His first competitive Barça appearance was in the first Clásico where he assisted on a Neymar goal early into the match before he was subbed off later because he lacked match fitness. It took him some time but the Uruguayan has found his scoring boots and has played a key role in the Barça transformation. After a difficult summer, scoring a game winner in a game of this magnitude goes a long way over winning over the hearts of the doubtful Blaugrana faithful.

Ultimately, we cannot conclude this without mentioning Messi. He was somewhat silent in the first half as he played wide. Yet, it was his free kick that Mathieu nodded in for the opening goal. In the second half, he playing in the center of the pitch which helped the midfield out and after Luis Suarez’s goal, he along with Neymar and Luis terrorized Madrid’s tired team with dangerous counter attacks. He has been amazing in 2015 and we hope he can keep it up down the stretch.

The fact they squandered so many golden chances in the final 20 minutes of the match will give Luis Enrique something to discuss at the next team meeting. They cannot afford to squander these types of chances, especially one such as the Neymar missed opportunity that saw Madrid score moments later. There is room for improvement and a result like this will keep the players’ egos grounded which might not be the case if the score ended 4-1. Ten games left in the league but at least Barça control their own destiny even with Madrid, Valencia and Atlético in pursuit.

Luis Enrique’s First Big Test Arrives.

Well, Luis Enrique’s era as Barça manager has gotten off to a perfect start by sitting atop of the league standings. Barça are the only team to win their first two matches of the season but with the international break coming to an end, Luis Enrique will now encounter his first big test as Barça manager.

So far, things are going alright for Luis Enrique. His faith in the Barça B players and bench players has come in handy as he deals with numerous starters suffering injuries. Munir has stepped in adequately into the starting lineup and Sandro came off the bench to score the only goal in their victory over Villarreal. We will see how long he will continue to rely on these young players when the likes of Neymar and Suarez are fit for action in the near future.  The international break provided Luis Enrique with a superb opportunity for the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Pique, Ter Stegen and Vermaelen to recover from injuries or knocks by staying home and not be subjected to international duty full of additional wear and tear.

Luis Enrique will need all his players healthy due to the upcoming brutal schedule. Barça are set to play six matches in the next three weeks. This means that there will be limited rest for the players as they recuperate on a few days rest between matches. One can only hope that Luis Enrique will juggle lineups to keep everyone fresh as they embark on the 2014-2015 UEFA Champions League campaign while trying to remain league leaders.

This weekend will see the Blaugrana host Athletic on the 13^th which will be no walk in the park between two teams playing in this season’s Champions League. Following this clash of Champions League teams, Barça will kick off their Champions League campaign when they host Cyprus side APOEL on the 17^th. Barça will then switch their attention to back to back away fixtures to Levante on the 21st and then Malaga on the 24^th.  The month then concludes with the Blaugrana hosting Granada on the 27th before traveling to France to face Paris Saint-Germain on the 30^th.

As clearly shown, that’s a lot of games and traveling and not enough time for rest and recovery for the players. Luis Enrique’s first test will be how he handles this month. Will he be able to have his players perform well in both competitions and can he keep his players well rested? Will he rotate players and perhaps drop Messi from the odd game and continue to rely on Barça B players? This test will show us if Luis Enrique can handle the demands of this job and for the sake of the Blaugrana faithful, we hope he can.

Should Barça Seek Reinforcements This Transfer Window?

 Barça’s recent struggles against defensive minded teams have reignited concerns about this team’s ability to compete for titles down the stretch. The areas of concern range from not having adequate depth in case of injuries along with the lack of having a Plan B for teams that park the bus. With Champions League clashes against Manchester City on the horizon, perhaps Barça need to look into getting some players through transfers or on loan during this winter transfer period.

Barça‘s scoreless draw against Atlético Madrid and their recent 1-1 draw to Levante saw them drop points against teams willing to sit back and relinquish possession. Sadly, all that possession didn’t result in numerous scoring chances. This has been a common trend that the Blaugrana have encountered over the years without much success.

These matches are even more difficult when key players are missing. Barça were without Dani Alves, Iniesta and Neymar against Levante while Messi and Neymar came off the bench in the second half against Atlético. It is tough to fathom how this team can cope with more injuries and then expect the likes of Tello and Sergi Roberto to be considered adequate replacements. They are not and that’s clearly a drop in quality.

These matches also displayed the team’s lack of a Plan B when they face teams content to sit back and absorb the pressure. Barça control possession without creating many scoring chances and the opponents try to catch Barça off guard and score on a counter attack. The fact that Barça have also conceded six goals from corner kicks also indicates that they have another area of weakness that needs to be resolved.

So perhaps the club needs to address both issues and look into making some moves during this winter transfer period. I grew up watching the club with forwards who were aerial threats such as Julio Salinas and Patrick Kluivert so perhaps they should make a move for someone like Miroslav Klose or Christian Benteke who could make Tata Martino’s tinkering with the long balls more effective. Their presence would attract the attention of defenders who could clear up space for other players much like Fernando Llorente did for Spain against Portugal in their World Cup clash. 

Furthermore, the club needs to add a center back to ensure they have adequate defending down the stretch. Mascherano is no center back and with Puyol still not fully fit, or dependable for that matter, the team is left with only Pique and Bartra as their only valid options. If one of them goes down with an injury, then the team is in a world of hurt. The team might also want to look into signing an actual winger to provide crosses seeing as Tello, Pedro and Alexis are not wingers either. Then again, Afellay is back from injury and he would fit in quite nicely under Tata’s style.

I did not expect the club to make a push for Mata but that would have been interesting to see him come in and share time with one of the midfielders over Sergi Roberto. Winter transfer period is not historically a time Barça signs players but perhaps they can catch lightning in a bottle again like they did when they added Edgar Davids during the 2003-2004 season. Ultimately, Barça cannot keep relying on the same old strategy without changing some ingredients along with bringing in some new faces or else they are going to make their second half of the season more interesting than it should be.

Barça Continues to Neglect their Vulnerability.

For the past two seasons, there was an obvious need for Barça to sign another centre-back during the summer. Yet, the club continues to make a mess of things in their approach to address this glaring issue. Last summer, the club opted to sign defensive midfielder, Alex Song, hoping that he can also play the role of a centre-back, which did not come to fruition. This summer, they pursued players that were far too expensive with clubs not interested in selling. The league kicks off in a few days and Barça seems intent on letting history repeat itself by not doing the right thing.

George Santayana once said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Sandro Rosell and the men he has entrusted in running this club seem ignorant to such saying. Once again, FC Barcelona prepares for another season and once again, the pressing need to sign a center back seems to be failing miserably. The pursuit of Thiago Silva seemed desperate while the pursuit of David Luiz seems misguided. One player used it to get a new deal with his club while Jose Mourinho is in no hurry to assist Barça in strengthening their team without paying a heavy price. 

 Let’s not forget what many deem as Barça dropping the ball in their handling of Eric Abidal. Perhaps offering the veteran defender a year extension would not have been a bad idea. Yet, Barça opted not to retain his services and made it known before the end of last season. Well, here we are and they have yet been able to sign a center back with the league kicking off this weekend.

Much has been made of Barça’s style of play but history has shown that the club’s success did not come from its offense only. One only has to look back to their previous three successful Champions League titles and notice one common trait; their defending. This club continues to have problems scoring in the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals but at least their defending did not let them down. Back in 2005-2006, they won away 1-0 in Milan and drew the second game 0-0 to clinch a ticket to the Finals. A few years later, they played to a scoreless draw against Chelsea in the Camp Nou before drawing 1-1 away in the second leg. 2010-2011 Semi-Finals saw them grab a 2-0 away victory in Madrid before playing to a 1-1 draw at home.  Thus, Barça made it to the Champions League Final not by scoring plenty of goals, but by keeping clean sheets. 

 Their last two eliminations by Chelsea and Bayern Munich saw them concede 3 goals, and 7 goals, respectively, while they only conceded 2 goals in their previous three Semi-Finals. Even their elimination by Manchester United in 2007-2008 was by an aggregate score of 1-0. New manager Gerardo Martino needs to repair Barça’s defensive flaws by relying on his current players coupled with youth players. His mission would have been easier had the club signed a new center back.

However, all we keep hearing is the club continuing to pursue players who come with a big price tag. One hopes Rosell and Zubizarreta do not become desperate and actually pay Chelsea’s asking price. They dropped the ball and need to exercise some proper judgment and not lose track of their obligations of being fiscally responsible. As George Santayana also once said, “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.”

Martino’s Challenging Tasks Ahead.

Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino will be the man on the touchline for Barça’s upcoming season. He comes from Argentina with an impressive resume but without any European coaching experience. That is one of the many challenging tasks that Tata will face when the season kicks off this month.

Another season brings us another new face on Barça’s touchline yelling instructions to the Blaugrana players. Pep, Tito and now Tata will get to experience the hot seat of Barça manager. His experience overseas is not at all shabby. However, there was some concern about whether Tata is the man qualified to direct the side.

His first challenge will be to earn the players’ respect. It seems like he is slowly winning them over but preseason is preseason for a reason; it is not the real deal yet. Will he win them over when the going gets tough? Will he treat all the players equally or will he have his favorites? Respect is a two way street and it has to be earned. However, Tata needs to win these guys over quickly and ensure a good start to the season.

Another challenge for Tata will be strengthening Barça’s defense.  Barça’s Achilles heel these past two seasons has been their careless defending. The sloppy defending and lack of depth has hindered the team for far too long. He has to make sure Puyol is well rested. He has to make sure that Pique plays like a Barça leader, not as a Barça fan. Tata has to sort it out once and for all or else Barça will only continue to make it more difficult for themselves by conceding silly goals. He also has to make sure the club buys him a center back or two. As of this moment, that appears less likely to occur.

Furthermore, Tata will get the chance to rectify a problem that has plagued Barça for the past few seasons. Both Pep and Tito always seemed to watch their players struggle down the stretch with fatigue and injuries that caused them to come up short. Tata will have to ensure that players will be rotated in order to preserve them for that final push as they chase a potential treble. That means making sure Messi does not play every single match and giving Xavi and other key starters a game off here and there.

Additionally, Tata has to ensure the youth players are not ignored. Last season, we saw the likes of Bartra, Thiago, Montoya and Tello get ignored in big games. They were either glued to the bench or up in the stands watching their fellow teammates. Tata has to give valuable minutes to the youth players or else those with Barça B will start contemplating going elsewhere when they see they are shunned from the first team.  We cannot afford losing the likes of Thiago when they see minutes are hard to come by and have big clubs after their services.

Finally, the last challenge will be for him to win. As, Al Davis, the former owners of the NFL Oakland Raiders team, once said, “Just win, baby!” Whatever problems the club is facing, having Barça get off to a good start will beneficial to Tata. . I am always a firm believer that it is not how you start, but it’s how you finish. Last season was the perfect example of Barça starting great only to fizzle down the stretch.  Thus, Tata is tasked with this great responsibility of beginning a new chapter in the history of FC Barcelona. Hopefully his accomplishment will be worthy to fill the upcoming blank pages in Barça’s history books.

 

Barça Needs To Re-examine Its Youth Policy.

Barça keeps praising the fact that their recent success is because of its reliance on its youth setup. Puyol, Xavi, Valdés, Iniesta and Messi all came through La Masia and helped the club become what it is today. However, young players who have been promoted to the first team from the youth setup recently have been ignored and neglected and this is a worrying trend that might become a problem in the near future.

This season was the commencement of a new era following the departure of Pep Guardiola. Tito Vilanova has stepped in and done well after the disappointing result in the Supercopa. The league is basically theirs to lose while they continue their quest for the treble. With such a commanding lead atop of the standings, one would expect Tito and his assistant, and current interim manager, Jordi Roura to rotate the players into the starting lineups.

Although rotations have been occurring with everyone, not named Messi ,being rested occasionally, a certain group of players have been slighted. Barça B defenders Montoya and Bartra seem to have been left out of the mix. They had featured occasionally a few months ago but neither has seen minutes in 2013.

These players are considered first team players and not Barça B players. Thus, they cannot feature for the B team anymore. However, if they are not even dressing for games, their talents are going to waste. This a pressing concern because the club has made it a habit to hold on to Barça B players by promoting them to the first team. However, that tactic appears to be stunting player development rather than aiding it.

Jonathan Dos Santos is a perfect example of promoting a Barça B player to the first team when the possibility of him playing is impossible. He is a midfielder who has the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Cesc, Song and Thiago ahead of him so minutes were going to be hard to come by. He could have went on loan to another team but refused to do so. That was a mistake on his part as he is basically forced himself out of action. Cuenca played it smart after he accepted to go Ajax Amsterdam on loan than stick around and fight for scraps of minutes. Jonathan Dos Santos should have done the same.

Nevertheless, Montoya and Bartra do not face the same the logjam in their respective positions. Montoya is a brilliant fullback who has to contend with Jordi Alba, Adriano and Dani Alves for minutes. There was no excuse not to see him start a few games here and there recently in order to give those three full backs a breather. Bartra is an up and coming center back who will obviously take a back seat to Puyol, Pique and Mascherano in his respective position. However, the minutes have been hard to come by for him when the club’s league position allows for it. Yesterday was the perfect example where Bartra could have started against a Granada side that had only scored 22 goals in 23 matches. Instead, Bartra found himself sitting in the stands.

These two defenders should be playing more often to gain experience so they can be ready to leap into action in case a player suffers an emergency. Instead, they are being left out of the lineup and are collecting rust. These were players who were promoted and cannot find minutes. The big cause for concern is that the club will be repeating the same mistake next season if the stories are true that Sergi Roberto and Thiago’s brother, Rafinha, will be promoted next season.

Barça needs to stop putting in the players’ contracts these conditions that promise B players to be promoted to the first team. Their promotion is met with plenty of sitting around and lack of playing time. This also affects Barça B when they keep losing their best players to the first team and suffer without those players who would be gaining plenty of minutes over sitting in the stands.

If Barça is that concerned about losing their young players, then they need to re-examine their policy. Promotion without gaining experience is not a step forward. Perhaps the club has to accept that the only way to keep players happy and gain experience through minutes is by loaning them out.  If staying with Barça B is not an option, then loaning them out to other clubs should be looked into. I don’t want to see Bartra, Montoya, Tello, Sergi Roberto and Rafinha sitting on the bench or in the stands next season. Experience is the best form of education and these players will never excel if they continue to be given few minutes here and there.

 

Time for Barça to slay Madrid.

Barça have had their chances to put a big dagger into the hearts of their arch rivals, Real Madrid, under Mourinho while they were going through internal turmoil. Barça failed to do so on every occasion and allowed Madrid to stay alive and gain momentum. Tomorrow will see Barça face Madrid with an eight point lead over them and a win would only sink the Blancos even further away from the league summit. However, with Barça possibly playing without Puyol and Pique in the heart of the defense, will Barça give Madrid another stay of execution or finally slay them?

El Clásico has been called one of the biggest games in the world. It sure has become more prestigious, and at times infamous, ever since Jose Mourinho joined Real Madrid. Last season saw both teams face each other in the Supercopa, League and the Copa Del Rey before we hit the spring season. Barça got the better of their arch rivals in the Supercopa, the first league encounter and the Copa del Rey. It was the latter that I believe ultimately cost Barça the league title.

That was the first time that Barça had a chance to wreak havoc on Real Madrid. It’s no secret that under Mourinho, Los Blancos have had internal problems in the dressing room. Back in January, Mourinho and Sergio Ramos erupted in a huge row following Barça’s 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey in Madrid and things looked like they were about to unravel for them. The second leg saw Barça race to a two goal lead before the half for a 4-1 aggregate at the Camp Nou and you could feel that things were about to get more unraveling for Los Blancos if Barça piled it on and ran up the score.

This was their chance to drive a giant wedge between Mourinho and some of his players. Barça’s chance to slay the dragon though failed thanks to their lethargic second half that saw Real Madrid fight back and score two goals and claim a draw. The result meant that Barça eliminated Real Madrid but some, including myself, thought Barça would pay dearly for this result. They had them down and did not go for the kill and gave Madrid a boost of confidence.

Like the old sports saying goes, “Winning is the best deodorant.” Well, Madrid’s come back to draw 2-2 was the deodorant that masked their problems and allowed them to forget about their squabbles and focus on the league and Champions League. Barça could have made their lives more difficult by continuing the ongoing internal strife along with the negative press from the Spanish capital. Instead, Pepe stepping on Messi’s hands or Ramos’s leaked comments were a thing of the past because of their strong half performance and they recouped and moved on.

Barça’s second chance to slay the beast came a few months in April when Barça hosted Madrid in the Camp Nou. Madrid had seen their big lead of 10 points reduced to 4 before their clash at the Camp Nou. A Barça win would have seen them shrink Madrid’s lead to just one point with just a handful of games remaining.  Once again, there were stories of problems going on in Madrid after they dropped six points and Barça were presented with a golden opportunity to chop off the head of the monster and exert more pressure on their arch rivals by making them sweat it out the rest of the season. Instead, Guardiola’s lineup decisions back fired and Madrid and Mourinho finally overcame their lack of success in the Camp Nou with an important victory and raced away with the league.

Barça’s latest opportunity came in the most recent Supercopa. Unlike other editions, this year’s edition was scheduled after the league kicked off. Sandwiched between two league encounters were the two Supercopas ties. Madrid kicked off their season with a fortunate 1-1 draw at home to Valencia and then traveled to Barcelona where they lost 3-2 in the first leg of the Supercopa and then suffered their first league defeat when they lost away to Getafe 2-1.

This presented Barça with a great setting. Inflict more pain and trouble for Mourinho and Madrid in front of the Los Blancos fans. Instead, Madrid raced to a quick two goal lead thanks for some poor defending and withstood a Messi goal to defeat a shorthanded Barça side to capture the Supercopa. Once again, Madrid found the correct deodorant stick and briefly covered up the stench of their poor season start.

Tomorrow, Barça hosts Madrid while enjoying an eight point lead over their arch rivals. With Barça missing the services of Puyol and perhaps Pique, some are hoping for a draw to keep the gap at eight points. The idea of seeing defensive midfielders as centre-backs are not that reassuring.  However this is a must win game for Barça. Also, this is Barça; anything but a win in any game is unacceptable, especially in El Clásico.

Barça are presented once again with a great opportunity to add more misery to Madrid as they once again deal with internal issues between Mourinho and some of the players. A victory stretches Barça’s commanding lead to 11 points and one can only imagine the sort of backlash the Madrid press would unleash on Mourinho and his players.

A loss tomorrow means that another team from Madrid, Atlético, would become league leaders if they defeat Malaga in a game scheduled after the Clásico. So Barça have been presented with another golden opportunity to cause some serious damage to Real Madrid. Will they do it or will they give Real Madrid another reprieve and allow them to regain some confidence along with some mojo which could inspire them the rest of the season again? Opportunity is knocking again and it’s about time Barça answer.

 

Time to play Bartra.

Is there a Center-Back in the house? Barça’s great start to the season has suffered the disappointing news of losing both starting Centre Backs Puyol and Pique to injuries. Even though there was a need to sign another centre-back this summer, the club opted to sign another Defensive Midfielder who could play the role of a centre-back. Well, there is a young talented player on the bench waiting for his moment. The moment is now and it’s about time that the club played Marc Bartra.

First it was Puyol and then it was Pique. Barça fans have been accustomed to seeing their best players suffer an injury here and there over the years. However, we were not ready to see both our centre-backs out with injuries so soon. We went from a club that had two starting centre-backs and one young centre-back to basically one young centre-back in need of minutes with defensive midfielders sharing the load in the back. Marc Bartra has been patiently waiting for his chance to prove himself and the time has come.

I have never been a fan of Pep’s decision to rely on the likes of Yaya, Mascherano and Busquets playing in the centre-back position. Those were great ideas for a quick fix but not for the long term. As much as I enjoy watching Mascherano play, I think his time as centre-back should come to an end. The warning signs were there last season in the big matches where he was shown to be a liability such as his poor header clearance in the San Siro that lead to Prince’s goal against Milan; Ronaldo sprinting past him to scoring the game winning goal in the Camp Nou, not picking up Drogba during the counter attack that lead to Chelsea’s only goal of the game, his poor tackle on Lampard that resulted in a counter attack goal for Ramires; and more recently his poor clearance attempt in the second leg of the Supercopa. Just watching him partner Song against Spartak Moscow on Wednesday showed us that the club should have bought defenders to re-enforce the back four.

Mascherano has been a great player and person for Barça but he is not a centre-back. I don’t care that he helped the club win the Champions League when he started against Manchester United. A few good games do not wipe out a recent string of bad displays in big games. If his name was Oleguer or Rafa Marquez, fans would be all over him. The club should have bought a centre-back and I don’t believe the talk that the club never wanted to buy one because they have Mascherano so that’s why they bought Song. They wanted to get Thiago Silva or Javi Martinez but were scared off by the price tag. Unfortunately, they could have signed Botia, who is a former youth player currently on loan with Sevilla, Chico, former Barça B player who played for Pep and played a key part in helping the B team gain promotion and is currently playing for Swansea City, and Jan Vertonghen, former Ajax player who just went to Spurs for €12.5 million, for maybe half of the cost of one of those big named stars.

What’s been done has been done. Perhaps the club will sign someone when the winter transfer window opens or wait till next season when they go after the likes of Dortmund’s Hummels.  I hope the club does eventually sign a centre-back. I am tired of watching Barça repeat history by suffering from some dreadful defending too. We saw it during the final days of the “Dream Team” when Koeman was past it and it hurt this team. Rijkaard's last 2 years saw a lot of poor defenders around Puyol and now we are subjected to watching history repeat itself as we watch this team concede silly goals from poor defending. Pique still has his head in the clouds from time to time and Mascherano can't clear with his head and will get burned by a speedy forward.

If you think that this team wins on its offense alone, then look back at their triumphant Champions League titles and see how many blowouts they had in the semi-final stage, 0-1, 0-0 against Milan; 0-0, 1-1 against Chelsea; 0-2; 1-1 against Real Madrid. They relied on keeping clean sheets when they won those titles and not by winning 4-3 or 3-2 every game.

Barça’s legacy has always been on relying on their academy products. We have already seen that Montoya is ready to compete for the right-back position and in my opinion is the heir apparent to Dani Alves. Puyol was thrown in as a right back when he was young and he turned out alright. Chapi Ferrer, Pep, and Sergi were all thrown in as youngsters too and the “Dream Team” benefitted from it. Puyol was 21. Chapi was 20. Sergi was 22. Montoya is 21. I'm not saying bench Alves but I prefer to see Montoya start ahead of Adriano in that position and rotate with Dani Alves to give the Brazilian fullback some rest.

We have had a history of giving young players a chance. Xavi and Iniesta turned out alright. Messi turned out alright. Valdés turned out alright even with his odd brain farts. Busquets was how old again when he got to play ahead of Yaya? So it’s time to give minutes to Bartra. We've seen him play in Champions League games and Copa del Rey games before. He is a promising 6'0 centre-back who was also the captain of Spain’s national team at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. More importantly, he showed us that he's no Fontas with his decisions and his thinking. He deserves to be playing and he deserves playing minutes now that the club is without any centre-backs. Unfortunately, we will never know unless we see him out there on the pitch getting the minutes in matches. Today, Barça host Granada and this is the perfect moment to get him out there and gain some experience and shake off some rust. The moment is now and it’s about time that the club played Marc Bartra and not another defensive midfielder in the heart of the defense.

 

Book Review - Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World.

February saw the release of the much anticipated book about FC Barcelona’s current team, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World, by Graham Hunter. The book delves into how the current team managed by Guardiola took on the world and became one of the best teams in world and perhaps one of the best ever. The book is a must have for Barça fans who will not be disappointed by Mr. Hunter’s well researched and insightful book.
Barça fans have been blessed to witness the great achievements made by the current Barcelona team ever since Guardiola took over the helm of the first team. However, the same fans have lamented the fact that we have not seen many books in English that talked about FC Barcelona this past decade. In fact, there haven’t been that many books about FC Barcelona in English at all. For many of us Barça fans, Jimmy Burns’s Book, Barça: A People's Passion, was the only book that talked about the history of the club up to the year 2000.
Much has changed in these past 12 years but not much had been written about it. Many fans longed for a follow up to Mr. Burns’s book and it’s safe to say that Mr. Hunter has done just that. Even though many of us consider sequels to be inferior to the original, it is safe to say that this book is a great book .The book gives us the good, the bad and the ugly that has transpired at the club during the reign of former presidents Gaspart and Laporta and current president Rosell.

To many Cules, Graham Hunter is a recognizable name thanks to his work on Revista De La Liga program for Sky Sports, his columns for ESPN Soccernet and UEFA along with his duties serving as online match text commentary for UEFA on their website. Now, some would accuse Mr. Hunter of being a closet Cule but the Scotsman is an Aberdeen fan who happens to live in Barcelona and admires the club. Fortunately for us Barça fans, as a result of his hard work, this great reporter has given us a great book.

Like I stated before, this book looks back at how the club had fallen during the Gaspart times, then risen under Laporta before suffering a slight dip before Guardiola came in and ushered a new era. Mr. Hunter gives us the lowdown on Guardiola’s career as a player at and away from Barcelona and what he has accomplished as a manager. He also gives us an insight on most of the starting players’ past, such as Xavi, Iniesta and Messi and what it cost them to climb through the ranks before finally becoming valued starters. Mr. Hunter also provides us with a great understanding on how the club has used La Masia to its advantage. On top of it, Mr. Hunter reveals unknown gems such as what Pique had to go through to recover the nets after the World Cup Final in South Africa, which world class starters almost were loaned out to other clubs early into their Barça careers, the bad deeds of former players that caused their exit and just how close the club was to signing Mourinho as Rijkaard’s replacement and why they opted not to, which could explain Mourinho’s with Barcelona right now.

Is this book better than Jimmy Burns’s book? That’s not a fair question to ask. They are both must-have great books with each serving a purpose for us die hard Cules. One covers the history of the club and the other picks up right where the last book left off and given us an amazing breakdown of what the club, Guardiola and the players have went through over the years. The book is over 400 pages and you can’t put it down once you start reading. There are people who have already read the book twice and I plan on doing that again in the future. Even more impressive is the design of the paperback which makes it easy to read without destroying or bending the cover or the book itself.

The book is available in both paperback and eBook formats and can be bought on Amazon and from the publishers. I was fortunate enough to buy one last month from the publishers, BackPage Press, which was signed by Mr. Hunter himself. I recently contacted the publishers and they informed me that they were running low on signed copies. So if you are interested in getting a signed copy, I was just informed that they no longer have any signed books for sale. However, if you are interested in purchasing a copy, then please contact the publishers at backpage@backpagepress.co.uk as soon as possible.

Overall, this is a must have book for all Cules who will not be disappointed. Finally, a book for us Cules to enjoy and relive the joy of the success that Guardiola and the players have given us over the years. Also, if I may be so bold to suggest that if Mr. Hunter is ever in Miami, he would be a fine candidate to be made an honorary member of the Miami Penya. Buy this book because you won’t regret it.

Time for Rosell to Act.

Enough is Enough! Enough of turning the other cheek! Enough of playing the nice guy! Enough of the diplomatic approach! It's time for Rosell to raise his voice and make the Cule's voices heard as the RFEF continues to make life difficult for Barça. 

Just when we thought the Spanish league and its cronies could not get any lower, they decided to go ahead and apply the rules as they saw fit. The Spanish league's Refereeing Technical Committee were outraged by Pique's comments following Barça’s 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon. Pique was not too pleased with referee Carlos Velasco Carballo's decision to send him off so early into the second half. Pique voiced his displeasure to the media by saying "At half-time I told the referee it was a penalty on Keita and he kept that [in his head], I have a feeling of premeditation". It would later be reported that Carballo did threaten Pique with “You, shut up, you'll get a red card", when Pique approached the referee as they walked off the pitch and into the tunnels after the halftime whistle blew.

The following day, the Refereeing Technical Committee head honcho, Victoriano Arminio, condemned Pique for his comments that questioned Carballo's integrity and planned on making a formal complaint against the defender. Arminio seemed outraged and told Radio Nacional, "Pique's comments are unfortunate and very serious”. "They make your blood boil, sportsmen must respect each other. His comments affect the state of refereeing and we will obviously report him."

Say what? This makes his blood boil? Of course, when the spokesperson of the Refereeing Technical Committee, José Ángel Jiménez Muñoz was asked about Mourinho's actions by waiting for the referee next to his car at the Camp Nou parking lot, he shrugged it off and said whatever Mourinho did or said to the referee was not published by the media the same way Pique's were. By the way, it was revealed that Mr. Muñoz is member of Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista, which is General Franco's fascist anti-Catalan party so make what you want of that. So, yes, it does not come down to the action but whether or not it was published. Oddly enough, those comments were published in the papers for all to read but as we have seen this season, there appears to be double standards when it comes to Barça and when it comes to Real Madrid.

Back in January, Mourinho waited in the Camp Nou parking garage and had words with referee Teixeira Vitienes following their elimination from the Copa del Rey. Mourinho shouted at Vitienes, “¡Artista, cómo te gusta joder a los profesionales!” which loosely translated means “You screw over those who are working" before adding, “You don’t respect serious professionals, now you'll smoke a cigar and go off laughing, it’s a disgrace.” Prior to that outburst from Mourinho, Casillas approached Teixeira and said: “¡Vete de fiesta con ellos a celebrarlo, tanta polla y tanta mierda!” which loosely translated means “Teixeira, now you can go out and party with Barça!” along with some fine expletives at the end that I won't bother translating.

Funny how the media had those comments yet were ignored by the committee. Ironically, those two were not disciplined for their disrespectful actions because it was not in the referee's final report. That was always the standard when it came to action on and off the pitch. Grounds for punishment had to come from anything reported in the referee's final report. Pique's comments weren't in any final report but Mr. Arminio decided to take action now? Just this past weekend, Mourinho called the 4th referee the most arrogant referee he had ever met. So what exactly does it take for the league to come down on Real Madrid when their manager and players step out of line with comments?

One Madridista argued that there is a difference between insulting a referee and questioning his integrity. Really? So I guess those comments by Mourinho and Casillas were not calling into question the referee's integrity; just merely insulting him. If you buy that argument, then I have a broom for you to go sweep the desert with (old Lebanese proverb). So what are the standards exactly and that is what the FC Barcelona Board of Directors spokesman Toni Freixa said today a few hours ago as the club responded to Mr. Arminio's comments. 

We have already witnessed the double standards of the league when it comes to awarding Real Madrid penalties and not awarding Barça penalties along what is considered a penalty offense and a red card offense. Look, I am a firm believer that big clubs do get calls go in their favor more times than the smaller clubs and that Barcelona's away form has been poor. With that said, it's been rather fishy how Madrid keep getting the break in their away games in the New Year against Mallorca, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano that has Pep even fighting hard to bite his tongue.However, Mr. Arminio's actions of seeking to lodge a formal complaint against Pique was the last straw and this is where Mr. Rosell needs to step forward and voice our displeasure and expose the hypocrisy that has bothered all Cules. The decision of the board to not attend tomorrow's RFEF meeting is the wrong approach.

I can understand Pep's decision not to criticize the referees and Rosell’s decision to sit back and follow suit was admirable. However, I believe he dropped the ball when the club failed to go after Mourinho for assaulting assistant coach, Tito Vilanova, in the second leg of the Super Copa. He left that decision to the powers that be and their final decision was a one match ban for the next Super Copa game. If that decision was not a slap in the face, then their lack action on disciplining Pepe after he deliberately stepped on Messi's hand was a sucker punch. Yet again, the club opted to play the nice guy role and opted not to file a complaint against Pepe and left that decision to the powers that be. Low and behold, Pepe was not punished and was playing in the second leg where he almost pulled off another despicable act of stepping on Dani Alves's hand.

So enough is enough! Enough of turning the other cheek! Enough of playing the nice guy! Enough of the diplomatic approach! It's time for Rosell to raise his voice and make the Cule's voices heard. It's time he went after the RFEF the same he way he went after Laporta. For too long he has held off going after Real Madrid after all their dirty tactics since the arrival of Mourinho that has seen our club's name and image dragged through the mud. Rosell needs to stand up and act now. Guardiola is upset, the players are upset and the Cules are fed up and upset. It’s time to stop being reactive and become proactive. There has been some speculation that Rosell is being quiet to avoid the recent bad press coming out of Brazil about his alleged dealings with Ricardo Teixeira, the current president of Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) who is under investigation for fraud and corruption. If so, then remaining silent only hurts him and the club when he should come out and quash those rumors.

Additionally, he was recently accused by, Albert Perrin, a former Vice-President of the club during the Laporta era, that Rosell and the current board were disrespecting the RFEF by not appearing at meeting. Mr. Perrin said,

"In our time we also had a good relationship with the Federation, because Laporta was always at the meetings. These are things that make you well liked. Back then, it was always Madrid who weren't there. Now, it is Barça who are not there. The Barça president is doing very little. For the re-election of Villar [RFEF president], he was not there."

If that is true, then it was a mistake by the club that can be rectified by the board members and the president appearing at future meetings. In conclusion, now is not the time for Rosell to have others come out and speak on his behalf when it's his duty to speak out on our behalf. It's time he acted as a president with a less of a businesslike approach and be more of a politician.

I can understand Pep's decision not to criticize the referees and Rosell’s decision to sit back and follow suit was admirable. However, I believe he dropped the ball when the club failed to go after Mourinho for assaulting assistant coach, Tito Vilanova, in the second leg of the Super Copa. He left that decision to the powers that be and their final decision was a one match ban for the next Super Copa game. If that decision was not a slap in the face, then their lack action on disciplining Pepe after he deliberately stepped on Messi's hand was a sucker punch. Yet again, the club opted to play the nice guy role and opted not to file a complaint against Pepe and left that decision to the powers that be. Low and behold, Pepe was not punished and was playing in the second leg where he almost pulled off another despicable act of stepping on Dani Alves's hand.

So enough is enough! Enough of turning the other cheek! Enough of playing the nice guy! Enough of the diplomatic approach! It's time for Rosell to raise his voice and make the Cule's voices heard. It's time he went after the RFEF the same he way he went after Laporta. For too long he has held off going after Real Madrid after all their dirty tactics since the arrival of Mourinho that has seen our club's name and image dragged through the mud. Rosell needs to stand up and act now. Guardiola is upset, the players are upset and the Cules are fed up and upset. It’s time to stop being reactive and become proactive. There has been some speculation that Rosell is being quiet to avoid the recent bad press coming out of Brazil about his alleged dealings with Ricardo Teixeira, the current president of Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) who is under investigation for fraud and corruption. If so, then remaining silent only hurts him and the club when he should come out and quash those rumors.

Additionally, he was recently accused by, Albert Perrin, a former Vice-President of the club during the Laporta era, that Rosell and the current board were disrespecting the RFEF by not appearing at meeting. Mr. Perrin said,

"In our time we also had a good relationship with the Federation, because Laporta was always at the meetings. These are things that make you well liked. Back then, it was always Madrid who weren't there. Now, it is Barça who are not there. The Barça president is doing very little. For the re-election of Villar [RFEF president], he was not there."

If that is true, then it was a mistake by the club that can be rectified by the board members and the president appearing at future meetings. In conclusion, now is not the time for Rosell to have others come out and speak on his behalf when it's his duty to speak out on our behalf. It's time he acted as a president with a less of a businesslike approach and be more of a politician.

* Thanks to @Barcastuff with some of the links and translations.

 

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. 

8 teams left, 10 Barça players still in the World Cup.

With the World Cup Quarter-Finals just around the corner, we are now down to eight teams. From
those eight teams, FC Barcelona has 10 players left in this tournament. The tournament started with
14 Barça players, a big majority of them representing Spain, and although not all advanced to the
knockout stages, some left a positive and negative lasting impression. The 10 Barça players means
that FC Barcelona is the most represented club left in this tournament and some of those players
have even been selected as man of the match in this tournament.

For Spain, FC Barcelona has Victor Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Xavi, Iniesta and
the new addition to the club, David Villa representing “La Furia Roja.” The other two players are
Argentina’s Messi and Brazil’s Dani Alves. It is possible that all ten players will be participating in the Semi-Finals and it is also possible that all ten players can be returning home if they suffer a defeat in the Quarter-Finals. Fortunately, none of the teammates will be facing each other this round but there is a strong likelihood that Messi might face his fellow teammates in the Spanish squad in the Semi-Finals if both teams are victorious.

Additionally, four players thus far have been chosen as man of the match. Messi was chosen for his
performance in Argentina’s match against Greece. The other three were all for Spain with David Villa
being chosen in Spain’s match against Honduras, Iniesta against Chile and Xavi in Spain’s Round
of 16 against Portugal. The four players who are no longer in the competition are Rafa Marquez,
Touré Yaya, Abidal and Henry. Rafa Marquez was the only one eliminated from the knockout stages
while the other three were eliminated in the group stage. France’s Abidal and Henry had a
tournament to forget with France’s horrible performance and off the pitch controversies that made
them the least liked country in the competition. Abidal especially will want to forget the game against
fellow teammate Marquez after committing a foul inside the box that gave Mexico a penalty kick. Touré Yaya also could not participate in the knockout stages after the Ivory Coast finished third in their group. Rafa Marquez captained the team in their last two games of the group stage and the Round of 16 loss to Messi’ Argentina.

The World Cup also has had its fair share of Blaugrana players doing well in this competition with
Xavi completing the most passes in the tournament with 368 passes, with Sergio Busquets second
with 327, and Piqué fourth with 306 passes. New addition to FC Barcelona, David Villa is tied for
joint top scorer of the World Cup with 4 goals, together with Slovakia’s Vittek and Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain, Even though Messi has not scored any goals, he has the most shots and shots on target in the tournament with 23 shots, 13 of them on target. Yet, both Rafa Marquez and Touré Yaya did manage to score a goal in this tournament. Andres Iniesta also scored against Honduras in the
group stages and perhaps Messi will finally break that goalless streak against Germany in the
Quarter-Finals. Only 3 more wins ensures one of the remaining eight nations will be crowned as the
new World Cup champions, will one of the Barcelona players be hoisting that precious trophy?

6 Point Gap But At A Cost.

Greetings fellow Barça fans. Winning sure does cure everything.

Crisis? What crisis? A draw and a win and all of a sudden the press is off Barcelona’s back and
saying they are back. Well they were never gone. They just hit a slump like every other team. The
players are human and Guardiola is still a rookie coach, so this club was never going to keep
winning every game. La Liga is never that easy or else it would not be La Liga. Barcelona got over that Atletico Madrid loss with a tough performance in Mallorca. The Copa Del Rey

Semi-Finals had been a nightmare for this team the last two years but Barcelona made sure they
would not fail this time thanks to Pinto. It what could be the most important penalty save since
Urruti’s penalty saves in 1985. We will find out in May if this will be remembered as much as Urruti’s penalty save against Real Valladolid where Barcelona won the league or more as Urruti’s penalty save in the semi-finals shootout against IFK Göteborg in the European Semi-Finals in which the team would lose in the final against Steaua Bucuresti.

Sure the game ended in a draw, but that draw had the euphoria of a win and that carried on to this
past weekend’s game against Bilbao. Many called it a Copa Del Rey Final but I never believe a
league game is the same as a cup game; just ask Celtic fans. Nevertheless, Barcelona came out
with their guns blazing and defeated Bilbao by a score of 2-0 that was never ever that close. With
Real Madrid not winning finally, the gap increased back to six points for Barcelona and all is well.
Barcelona will be hosting Lyon this Wednesday and many believe that the away goal basically
sealed this tie. I usually never believe anything is done but part of me thinks Lyon will just repeat
another quick exit in the elimination stages. I sure would be feeling more confident if Puyol was
playing. Sadly, the captain will be out for three weeks and thus we are forced to watch the non-
dynamic duo of Rafael Márquez and Pique as the centerbacks.

Guardiola has brought a lot of changes to this club, with health and conditioning being a blessing for
a team that had been haunted with long term injuries. However, for many who thought this club had
too many defenders, we now find ourselves wondering if it’s possible to get Henrique back from
Germany now. We have been accustomed to seeing forwards and midfielders getting injured, but not
so many defenders during this season and hopefully this won't lead to more wear and tear on the
defenders. The good news is that Oleguer is not the one to fill in this time.

So Wednesday will have a banged up Lyon against a slightly banged up Barcelona team and here’s
hoping for a great night of European football.

Until next time, here’s hoping for less injuries.

Visca Barça!