Eusebio, another disliked Barça figure gone.

FC Barcelona fired Eusebio today follow a long disappointing season. He is the second disliked figure, after Zubizarreta, to be let go by Barça and this leaves just president Bartomeu as the last disliked man standing.

After 150 matches, the era of Eusebio is over. For many Barça fans, including myself, this day could not come any sooner. With Barça B hovering over the relegation zone, his sacking was a must. After 24 matches this season, the team had just 7 victories and failed to win back to back games since their fourth match, which was a three game winning streak in September. Thus, the B team had won only 4 matches since September and now find themselves two points from the relegation zone.

Eusebio never won the fans over with his lineups, formations and tactics. For over three seasons, he got to work with a superb group of young players but never inspired them or us. One of the biggest criticism of his era was that he never truly developed players for the first the team like Pep and Luis Enrique did during their time as Barça B manager. Actually, you could make the argument that Barça B players regressed under him. Donguo has been there for a few seasons and has yet to show us any legitimate progress.

The fact that he won 74 matches out of 150 and guided the team to third place last season is irrelevant. His handling of the team is what mattered and he came up short there. The fact that he benches the likes of rising stars such as Sergi Samper and Adama is inexcusable and with the current Barça regime unpopular as they are now, it was time for Bartomeu to ax Eusebio. His replacement will be Jordi Vinyals, who helped guide Barça U-19 team to winning the UEFA Youth League last season. With elections coming up, it’s doubtful that this is a long term job for him but hopefully he can help steer the ship around, or avoid relegation at least for the next guy to take over next season.

Barça Needs Elections to Clean House.

2015 is upon us and we are already facing an enormous crisis with our beloved Barça. Barça’s weekend loss to Real Sociedad was followed with the dismissal of Andoni Zubizarreta as the club’s Sporting Director. Pressure is building against manager Luis Enrique and club president Josep Bartomeu, especially with talk of fallout between the manager and Messi. Without a doubt, this is the beginning of the end for this Barça board. 

When the CAS dismissed Barça’s appeal of the FIFA transfer ban, we knew heads were going to roll. Zubi was the likely scapegoat for the club thanks to his personality and his track record in the transfer market.  After Barça’s loss to Real Sociedad, he basically signed his death warrant with his comments to the media. When asked about the transfer ban, Zubi replied, "I assume my responsibility as the person in charge of the football department, but the sporting vice president at the time, Josep Maria Bartomeu, is the one who knew the situation better than anyone." The next day, the club announced that Zubi was sacked.

Zubi decided not to go down without dragging people with him. However, Zubi was correct in his statement. Even though he was the sporting director, president Bartomeu was in fact the one responsible for the Athletic Area of the Club. Yet, Zubi seems to be the one who is paying the price of this error. Nevertheless, that is enough. This board has to got to go. It’s time to call for elections, not in the summer, but now. Of course, that cannot happen so we should expect elections in the summer. My disdain for this board is no secret and there is no reason to discuss in depth the mistakes of this board during both, the presidency of Sandro Rosell and Josep Bartomeu. Graham Hunter, who wrote a marvelous book about Guardiola’s Barça, summarized the failure of this club.

In summary, recent years have seen Barcelona divorce themselves from their spiritual leader, Cruyff; cause Pep Guardiola to feel alienated then leave his post as manager; lose their elected president Rosell over the way Neymar was recruited to the club; misjudge the consecutive coaching appointments of Gerardo Martino and Luis Enrique; disgracefully mishandle Eric Abidal's contractual situation; sack Antoni Rossich, their director general; receive from FIFA a ban from the transfer market and lose at the Court for Arbitration for Sport a hopeless appeal, which was formulated simply to suspend the ban so that the club could restock the squad last summer; haemorrhage football credibility and competitiveness; alienate their best ever goalkeeper; sack their director of football and, finally, mishandle Messi so comprehensively that there is a real danger he opts to leave.

What Mr. Hunter forgot to mention was Barça selling out the club to Qatar via Qatar Foundation/ Qatar Airways, the board losing their lawsuit against the previous president Laporta and his board, lack finding a sponsor for the basketball team shirt, and there’s also the upcoming MCM breach of contract case where MCM are seeking €100 million in damages. So quite frankly, the fans are tired of this club constantly finding itself in a new scandal. Now, we have a fallout between Messi and Luis Enrique where there is talk the manager’s days are numbered.

 Messi did not show up to yesterday’s training session that was open to the public, which upset Lucho. Allegedly, Messi had gastroenteritis and could not make it but then turned heads when he followed Chelsea on Instagram. Perhaps it is a message to the board that he is fed up with the dictatorial style of Lucho, which quite frankly has not resulted in much success or a boost of confidence amongst the players and the fans. Sport conducted a poll that shows the fans are in favor of the player over the manager.

I did caution that people should not expect Barça under Lucho to be like Pep. Both may have played together but both come from different schools of thought. Pep is a Cruyff pupil while Lucho was managed by the likes of Bobby Robson, Louis van Gaal, Rexach and Antic to name a few. So it is not surprising he acts like van Gaal and Mourinho. Unfortunately, Lucho has adopted Mourinho’s toxic attitude and we saw how bad things ended up at Madrid for Mou. We are witnessing the same Mou Casillas battle at Barça with Lucho and Messi. Quite frankly, you would be insane to say Messi has to go. It would be the equivalent of Bulls fans wanting to side with the ownership over Michael Jordan during his prime, especially when voiced his opinionon what his team should do and how he would walk if his coach and Scottie Pippen were not kept. Great players need to be listened to, especially if you are building a team around them, which Barça has done a poor job thus far.

Of course, president Bartomeu is not an idiot. He will not go down in history as the man who sold Messi to Chelsea or any other team. We will see what he has to say tomorrow when he addresses the media. What is obvious is that it is time for a change. Rosell and Bartomeu inherited a great team from Laporta, while he inherited a disaster from Gaspart and Reyna. Barça were once considered one of, if not, the best team in the world. However, this team has regressed under this leadership with Barça being competitors instead of contenders, and Barça B under Eusebio are hovering right about the relegation zone. Financial stability does not mean much when you’re not winning titles and of course it is a profit when bonuses are not being paid to players for not winning titles. Everything reeks, even though they are still competing for all three titles, there is no sense of optimism anymore and they could be out of all three competitions in a couple of months. Thus, it’s time for the board to resign and call for early elections this summer while a Managing Commission takes over for the rest of the season so we can have a clean house of board, football manager, and B team manager. That’s the best way to give the fans some hope and ease the tension for now.

Barça in store for an interesting 2015.

FC Barcelona suffered another black eye under this current regime when the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Barça’s appeal of the FIFA transfer ban. Barça now need to figure out how to move on from this and not dwell on it.

FC Barcelona were once on top of the world. However, thanks to the current regime that only knows how to keep tripping over their own feet, FC Barcelona are regressing from contenders to competitors. I already stated this board should have resigned after losing their case against former Barça president Joan Laporta. The list of their shortcomings since the election of Sandro Rosell and his resignation to be replaced by current president Josep Maria Bartomeu could fill a history book.

I previously addressed how Barça got into this mess of being banned from signing new players.  Both Barça and the RFEF were found to have “violated several provisions concerning the international transfer and first registration of non-Spanish minors with the club, as well as other relevant regulations with regard to the registration and participation of certain players in national competitions. The investigations concerned several minor players who were registered and participated in competitions with the club over various periods between 2009 and 2013.”

After the Court of Arbitration dismissed Barça’s appeal, Barça’s president, in typical fashion, expressed anger at this decision and claimed injustice. Quite frankly, the board have themselves to blame. They resembled potheads complaining that Marijuana should be legal and thus should not be punished for getting caught with it. The rules were broken and Barça has to pay. Other clubs are under investigation over this violation too but they probably learned not what to do thanks to the inept board. Mind you, I still find it ironic that FIFA is worried about youth players as much as they cared for those kids who lost their dads in Qatar stadium accident deaths.

Barça’s initial response to the transfer ban was to display a banner with the message “La Masia No Se Toca” which meant, La Masia is not to be touched. Well guess what, La Masia is the club’s only recourse now. They cannot sign players for one calendar year, so Barça B will be the source of players to be called on to reinforce the team.  There are diamonds in the rough such as Adama, Sergi Samper, and Grimaldo who could be called up now and next season for sure.

However, something this damaging should cause some heads to roll. As much as many of the Blaugrana faithful want the board to step down and call for early elections; it will not happen. Thus, the board will probably look at the sporting director, Zubizarreta, to be the scapegoat/fall guy for this mess and fire him. What is interesting is that current Barça president Bartomeu was first vice-president, responsible for the Athletic Area of the Club. Thus, this happened under his watch but of course he will not take the fall for this.

So this leaves us with an inept board running Barça backwards and dependent on their Barça B team, run by disliked Eusebio, which is hovering above the relegation zone, to provide players for the first team next season that will be coached by Luis Enrique; if he is still coaching them next season. So, Happy New Year and brace yourselves, Barça are in store for an interesting 2015. 

-@IBES16

The Malaise of Having Zubizarreta as Barça’s Sporting Director.

It’s no secret that the current FC Barcelona board is not highly popular among the FC Barcelona fans at this moment. Out of all the directors and members of this administration, Zubizarreta stands out as one of the most disliked figureheads at this club. Zubizaretta’s tenure as Sporting Director at this club will go down as one who has been ridiculed on social media for his inept handling of his position. The thought he will remain with this club till 2016 is stomach-turning for some and one can only hope he does resign soon.

Zubizarreta, or Zubi, is a legendary Barça goalkeeper who was in goal when Barça captured their first ever Champions League title in 1992. Sadly, he was also in goal for the 1994 Champions League Final when Barça were embarrassed 4-0 by Milan. That was his final match for the Blaugrana, in which he committed a comical error that killed any chance of Barça making a comeback. Since that gaffe, Zubi has been more known for his mistakes for Spain, World Cup 1998, and for his mistakes as Barça’s Sporting Director.

Zubizarreta inherited the position of Sporting Director from the outgoing Txiki Begiristain following the 2010 Barça elections. Simply put, Zubi inherited a diamond mine with Pep in charge and the team were on top of the world as one, if not, one of the best teams in the world. Prior to becoming Barça’s Sporting Director, Zubi had the similar position with Athletic Bilbao. Of course, the requirement of Basque only players handcuffed Zubi in his ability to wheel and deal. Sadly, his ability to wheel and deal with Barça leaves much to desire whereas Txiki has enjoyed some success in a similar position with Manchester City since joining them in 2012. Meanwhile, Zubi’s diamond mine has become full of coal.

Zubi’s disheveled appearance (put a tie on!) makes one wonder if he is a director at the club or a Western Humanities professor on a sabbatical. His failure to dress for the part does not come close to his failure in performing his duties.  In the past, whenever there was a Barça transfer rumor, the running gag has been that Zubi is taking a nap and missed out on finalizing the deal. The man falls asleep once on a plane and it comes back to haunt him. Of course, images of him falling asleep at the Amsterdam airport while the plane was delayed just gave us more fodder to enjoy. His way of handling the media leave much to desire. Just recently, he was asked about the upcoming clash against PSG, and he replied he has not watched much of the French league this season. One of those “insert foot in mouth” moments from a man who has experience hoofing the ball down the pitch.

Nevertheless, the overall performance of Zubi as Sporting Director has been a big failure. Under his watch, FC Barcelona have seen the likes of Sergi and Oscar Garcia leave the club as coaches in the youth setup and coach elsewhere while Eusebio is still underwhelming at Barça B. Some would say most players under Eusebio have regressed and not improved, with unfavorable lineups and tactics. Speaking of the youth, the FIFA transfer ban occurred because Barça did not follow the rules in signing these some young players. Again, this was under Zubi’s watch.

Nonetheless, Zubi offered to be the fall guy and resign following the transfer ban. The club disagreed, which would prove to be a grand mistake by the club. Zubi had shown he is not up for the job thanks to his numerous mistakes when it comes to signing and watching over players. Under his watch, the young starlet, Thiago, did not play enough minutes to trigger the big buy-out clause and Bayern swooped in for his signature at a fraction of his buy-out clause. Meanwhile, the club failed to sign the likes of Ozil, Isco, Kroos, and most recently young player Asensio while opting instead to sign Cesc and Alex Song.

Barça’s fall from the best club in the world in 2011 to their current status of good enough to be in the top eight of Europe is not surprising. Mistakes have been made since Guardiola left the club and allowed it to be run by the board and Zubi. A perfect example of gross negligence by the club was the recent comments by Bojan Krkic Sr., who had worked for the club as a scout, in which he indicated that the club could have signed Thibaut Courtois and Raphael Varane in the past. However, the club opted to allow those players to be signed by Chelsea and Real Madrid instead. There is nothing like watching good talent slip through Zubi’s fingers to the opposition.

This past summer was going to be one of the biggest summers in club history. Barça knew they were facing a transfer ban and had to splash the cash to strengthen the team. One would think that they would do their best to have a strong team for now and for the future in case the transfer ban was upheld. Although Barça signed Claudio Bravo, ter Stegen, Rakitic and Luis Suarez, it was a surprise that the club ended up signing Mathieu, Vermaelen and Douglas as defensive reinforcements. For the past few seasons, Zubi neglected to sign proper defenders so it was not that big of a surprise to see these players signed after all.

Mathieu is a good signing for depth reasons but Vermaelen and Douglas are a different story. During the summer, the club was trying to offload Dani Alves but his suitors balked at his wage demands. Signing Douglas did not make sense seeing as he was not highly rated in Brazil and Montoya seemed to be the right back of the future. Fast forward to today, and it is rumored Dani Alves will not be given a new deal and thus will leave the club at the end of the season while Montoya will be heading off to another team in the winter transfer window because of lack minutes that no one knows for sure why. The idea that Douglas, who has failed to impress in his few outings, is the only bona fide right back for next season is another example of Zubi not doing his job.

The fiasco that is the Vermaelen transfer should be enough to give Zubi his marching orders. I was never a fan of the Vermaelen signing due to his history of injuries. We only got to see Vermaelen in one friendly with Barça B against Indonesia’s U19 team back in September. He was indisposed the rest of the time as he trained individually because of physical discomfort before succumbing to surgery this month that will rule him out for four to six months. What makes this infuriating is the alleged knowledge by Zubi that Vermaelen was not fit to be signed. There were reports during Vermaelen’s medical examination that club doctors informed the club that Vermaelen needed to be operated on. However, Zubi decided to ignore medical advice and finalize the transfer anyways for a player who will not be counted on this season.

All I want for Christmas is for the current FC Barcelona board to resign and bring forward early elections. Zubi being fired now would be a Christmas stocking stuffer for me. However, this board and Zubi will remain with the club for 2016, which is like finding coal inside your Christmas stockings. It is the equivalent of getting socks as a Christmas gift and unfortunately, that is what we are left with thanks to this inept board.

Barça Needs To Clean House.

Barça’s disappointing culmination on what seemed to be a promising season is coming to a bitter end. The hopes of capturing the league crown remain miraculous at best since it is no longer in their hands. With the FIFA transfer ban on hiatus now, the club can make new signings. If the club’s proclamation that new players will be bought is true, then it’s time they clean house; from top to bottom.

This season has been a roller coaster for Barça fans with lots of highs and lows. It was also nostalgic to the 2003-2004 and the 2006-2007 seasons to which I alluded to earlier in the season. 2003-2004 saw two new managers, Frank Rijkaard and Carlos Queiroz, take charge at Barça and Madrid, while 2006-2007 was a nightmare of a season for the Blaugrana where they saw their lead atop of the standings disappear down the stretch and finish runners-up.

I gave Tata Martino the benefit of the doubt earlier in the season but that sailed away following his questionable decisions that saw this team squander their five point lead atop of the standings and kiss good bye to any chance of silverware the past few weeks. Clearly, this hiring has back fired and is yet another black eye for Sandro Rosell who made the decision to hire Tata in the first place. To be fair to Tata, he did request new players which were never provided, much like what Carlos Queiroz endured back in 2003-2004. They both squandered big leads atop of the standings down the stretch, lost in the Copa del Rey Final and exited the Champions League prematurely. Now, Tata falls on the sword that was set in place by this board. In order to go forward, we still need someone new to manage these players and someone who has ties to the club.

Speaking of players, I have been always of the opinion that this team needed to be gutted for a long time. This team could easily see over ten players leave in the summer. Puyol already indicated his career as a Barça player was over and Valdés had his bags packed since last season before he suffered his injury. Injured players such as Jonathan Dos Santos, Afellay, and Cuenca are also surplus to requirements. It’s also time for the club to look into cashing in on Tello, Alex Song, Mascherano and Alexis. Tello hardly plays and if Deulofeu returns from his loan spell at Everton; then he should be getting those minutes instead. As for Alex Song, it was doomed from the start and if Napoli want him, and Mascherano, then cash in on them. Mascherano has played his heart out for the club but is not a defender and will hardly feature as Busquets’s substitute. There’s already talk of Alexis joining Juventus and after three years, it’s time to cut our losses and realize he has the energy of Eto’o but is not a factor against defensive minded teams. There are some fans who are also considering selling Cesc and I can’t blame them after he managed to pull off his disappearing act in the second half of a season for three straight years now. As for Dani Alves, he no longer is the player he once was and his mouth seems to be turning off the fans more than his endless crosses to no one and that could be his final season as a Barça player.

 Thus, that’s eleven players who might not be a part of this team next season. However, before we discuss which players come in to reshape this team, we need to discuss the resignation of this board first. Current Barça president Bartomeu and his board need to resign after sitting on their thumbs and not reinforcing this squad when it was obvious last season. Zubizarreta has done an abysmal job when it comes to signing players and by all means should not be entrusted in future transfers. No, if a revolution is needed, then it needs to start from the top with the board stepping down and allowing someone competent to come in and hire a new manager and have a competent sporting director who knows how to scout and sign players to strengthen this team again. Unless that happens, this team will not progress and just continue to frustrate the Blaugrana faithful and squander the talents of Iniesta and Messi.

Barça’s pursuit for the successor of Valdés.

With each passing month, it becomes more evident that the likelihood of Victor Valdes remaining with Barça becomes more bleak. It took the club a long time to settle on a true starting keeper after they discarded Zubizarreta following the 1994-1995 European Cup Final. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the club’s fortune improved when they decided on Valdés being the man in goal for the long-term. The club will now have to seek a suitable replacement for Valdés and the list of candidates is impressive but dubious.

It is ironic that the man tasked with the responsibility of finding the next Barça keeper is one of the club’s own legendary keepers, Zubizarreta. Fortunately, the search for a keeper will not be that difficult. The choices available range from old and seasoned to up and coming young talents, however, what will be difficult is making sure the right one is chosen. We went through the likes of Victor Baia, Ruud Hesp, Bonano, Enke, Rustu and even Pepe Reina, who is also a potential candidate as well, before the club settled on Valdés.

The current list of candidates consists of Borussia Monchengladbach’s youngster, Ter Stegen, Manchester United’s David De Gea, former Blaugrana keeper Pepe Reina who is currently on loan with Napoli, and Atletico Madrid’s Courtois who is on loan from Chelsea. Prying some of these keepers will be very difficult and will not be cheap.

I have a tough time believe De Gea is going to be sold by Manchester United unless he has some poor performances the rest of the season. If that is the case, why should Barça then sign him then? As for Pepe Reina, it seems that many Cules are not in favor of seeing the former keeper back with the team. Sure, he is familiar with the players because of the Spanish national team connection. However, my issue is that Barça need a younger keeper who can provide a decade of service if possible and Reina has only a few years left in him.

This basically leaves us with two choices. Ter Stegen and Courtois. Ter Stegen is a young keeper whom the club supposedly has already made an agreement to obtain his services for next season. He seems to be destined to be one of the keepers for the German World Cup roster. However, one has to wonder if he is the right choice for the club. It’s not easy being Barça’s keeper; just ask Valdés and what he had to endure over the years. Does playing for BMG prepare him for the late night kickoffs at the Camp Nou and those intense matches in Europe and against Real Madrid? Maybe the gamble in signing him would pay off but can Barça afford to chance it? He would be worth signing to be an understudy although Barça B Masip also seems suited for that role if Pinto is not brought back to be Barça’s backup keeper.

That leaves us with the ever so impressive Courtois. He was signed by Chelsea when he was a teenager and was sent on loan to Atletico Madrid. The young keeper has been sensational ever since he joined Atletico Madrid. He has helped his side add another Europa League title and played a vital part in ending their long winless streak against their derby rivals, Real Madrid. That victory came in last season’s Copa del Rey Final which was played in Real Madrid’s own turf. Courtois played phenomenally well, and had some luck to assist him too, as Atletico Madrid triumphed and added another Copa del Rey to their trophy case.

Furthermore, the young phenom has performed well in the Champions League. Courtois has also helped guide Belgium back to the World Cup for the first time since 2002. There’s no doubt that his experience at the World Cup will only make him stronger. His resume makes him the perfect candidate for Barça to sign as their long-term keeper. The only stumbling block will be his price tag. He is still is a Chelsea player and with Mourinho there, it is highly unlikely that he will sell the young Belgian keeper to the club without asking for a king’s ransom, if he decides to sell at all.

Zubizarreta has a tall order ahead of him. Replacing Valdés is not an easy task and this upcoming summer will be a difficult one for him and Rosell if he chooses to get involved. The right man has to be chosen because the club has a team built to win for now and a wrong choice will be a setback for their title ambitions. Clock is ticking and hopefully Barça makes the right choice in the end.

Barça paying for transfer neglect.

An apparent need for Barça to strengthen its back line was discussed plenty this past summer. Yet, here we are, another season without any viable re-enforcements to protect Valdés’s first line of defense. Consequently, we have seen our beloved Barça continue their habit of conceding soft goals much to the dismay of many players and fans alike. Doubts about this club’s problems disappearing anytime soon have crept up again which begs the question why was this problem not addressed again.

Two summers ago, Barça were going to sign a center back and it didn’t happen. This past summer, Barça huffed and puffed and were going to sign a center back and it didn’t happen. We have a new manager and we’re seeing the same mistakes happening plaguing Barça’s defending. Cheap soft goals conceded at the end of a half or close to the final whistle have raised doubts if this club can eradicate last season’s performances against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The Champions League kicks off this week and with it, comes the difficult calendar that sees Barça playing featuring in plenty of midweek games which cuts down on the valuable rest between matches. Rotations of the players is vital to preserve the players but our back four are down to just five players now that Jordi Alba is out of action for three weeks. Thus, we’re stuck with Dani Alves, Montoya, Pique, Mascherano, Bartra and Adriano with the return of captain Puyol supposedly near the corner. Will this be adequate for the club to compete in all competitions or will they sign some new players to strengthen the back four? If so, the question would be who?

Sandro Rosell and Zubizarreta better start looking into this issue. Many would mention names of players but perhaps the club needs to re-examine their scouts. Why is it that the likes of Porto and Dortmund can sign players that many clubs become obsessed in signing while Barça buy the likes for Alex Song? I don’t expect Puyol’s return to cure the problems and that is why Barça needs to address this issue now in time for January or for next season.

Barça cannot allow this pattern to continue. Failing to address this issue yet again is a recipe for disaster and Barça have already been warned. Failure to do so is unfair to the fans and the players when the talents of Messi, Iniesta, Neymar and others are wasted because this team cannot protect a lead. Zubizarreta and the club are on notice; fix this issue.

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.”

Valdés’s Decision to Leave should be Respected and a Cause for Concern.

Victor Valdés’s announcement last week that he was not going to extend his stay with his club when his deal runs out next season caught many by surprise. The reaction to the news was mixed with some indicating that Valdés is free to go explore other leagues. Others however were upset that he made this announcement that could be deemed as ingratitude or even treacherous and a distraction that the team does not need.

After many years of great service for the club, Valdés has decided to venture elsewhere at the conclusion of the 2013-2014 season. I am not surprised by his decision. If Pep wanted to play elsewhere, then why can’t Valdés. There is no rule that says every player must retire with the club. Even the great Kubala ended up playing for Espanyol with Di Stefano after a decade’s worth of service. Ultimately, Valdés is entitled to expand his horizon and experience a different league.

However, there are concerns that cannot be ignored. The timing of his announcement was a bit puzzling to say the least. He could have said this near the end of the season and avoid creating a distraction for the manager and players for the reason of this season. Instead, everyone will have to answer questions about this topic which is what the club did not need as they continue their quest for a treble. I wasn’t too thrilled in the manner the announcement was made either when this decision was announced by his agent on the radio instead of having Valdés personally address which he has yet to do.

Nevertheless, the bigger concern for the club is finding someone to replace Valdés. Sure, many will point that Valdés has had his share of blunders over the years and that the style of play is a big reason in how he won all those Zamora trophies. Now it is true that Barça’s style doesn’t allow Valdés to face many shots in a game.  However, he is a vital piece of the team in terms of understanding the style of Barça and when he is on top of his game, this team becomes near unbeatable.

However, we now have to see if he will stay till the end of next season,  and who will come in to replace him and also Pinto but that’s a discussion best saved for another day. Barça went through an ordeal to find Zubizaretta’s replacement. It took close to a decade before the club finally settled on a goalkeeper when Frank Rijkaard picked Valdés to be the starter over Rustu. I certainly hope we don't go through the trial and errors of Baia, Hesp, Enke, Dutruel, Bonano, Reina, and Rustu again. If Valdés decides to stay, then great news but if he plans to seek an adventure to another league, then the club have their work cut out for them.

<

The goalkeeper position is one of the toughest one at FC Barcelona. We have seen good keepers like Baia struggle with the pressure of playing at this club and Pepe Reina had his problems before going on to play for Villarreal and Liverpool. It’s not just about saves, but it’s also being able to play the ball with your feet and keeping the ball movement fluid. It’s not an easy task and hopefully the club can find someone who is comfortable playing for a club as big as Barça and can get used to the style and players of this club. The good news is that they have plenty of time to scout for the right choice. The problem is will the club be able to find a goalkeeper, or two if Pinto is not coming back, and spare us from the suffering of going through keepers on a yearly basis like we witnessed  before? Thus, Zubizarreta will have his hands full in finding the man who will replace his successor as the next long term Barça goalkeeper.