Did Ferguson give too much respect to Barcelona?

After all the disappointment from a match which was billed as the final before the final, the soccer world has slowly started accepting the tactics used by Manchester United. Many sections of English press came up with praise to Ferguson's master tactic at Nou Camp; many sections are still openly criticizing him for a chance let gone. Barcelona's attack line up is being constantly ridiculed by the English press citing the fact that they could not conjure up a goal, even though they had more than 65% of possession. From a European Championship's perspective, Ferguson might have pulled out a master stroke. His entire pre match talks of how important the away goal was; served as a camouflage in itself. For Barcelona also the fact that they have not scored in the last two matches is a worrying factor.

But was Ferguson tactic right? It all depends on which ship you are in. But I have to agree with one fact - Ferguson might have let gone the best chance to destroy Barcelona. If you have watched the earlier exchange in the game, Barcelona team looked a bit nervy, shaky. That nervousness resulted in the free kick which ultimately earned the penalty kick. But Ferguson with his tactics allowed Barcelona time to settle down. Especially when you consider the Barcelona players - Deco never played for ages, Messi not fully match fit, Abidal was discarded for earlier matches; he should have been a little more adventurous. I thought the weak link in Barcelona defense, Marquez was never put under enough pressure by the Manchester side. If he has taken the risk to attack a bit more, they might have scored an away goal which would have made the second leg pretty easy.

Don't get me wrong here, ManU still start as absolute favourite in the second leg. But the problem for ManU will be that they need to win this, whereas Barcelona can go through with goal scoring draw. Ferguson has already vowed to attack Barca at Old Trafford. But whether he will surely do it is yet to be seen; especially considering the fact that a Barcelona goal could be disastrous. If Manchester United is going to play their natural game then Barcelona will definitely find spaces to exploit. How intimidating will be Old Trafford atmosphere, will be another factor which will decide the match. The last time Manchester United came up with a Goal less draw against Real Madrid, the return leg they lose 3-0.

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Frank Rijkaard - Rafael Benitez of Spain?

There are too many similarities with the men in charge of Liverpool and Barcelona. Both have been able to taste the success of Champions League, were very successful in Spain and both are also placed in the elite group of Managers. But is that all which unites them? Not at all! Both of them head a bunch of highly talented players available in Europe. Both of them have a highly functional brain, which works overtime to find the most stupid solutions for the most simplest of problems. They both have an addiction to the concept called "Rotation Policy", which both claims are due to their "Problem of Plenty".

Benitez was able to convince me much early that he is a "Masterpiece in Operation". But with the last Saturday’s stunning blunders Rijkaard gave me the pleasure to announce that he is not afraid of any Benitez. Actually he showed us that he can get better of Benitez. Benitez has got lost in the EPL title race much faster than the Concord, at least at this moment he can only try to get back to Champions League contention. But Rijkaard's case is much different. After Christmas even the most optimistic Barcelona supporter had serious doubt about our title contention. Then with huge piece of luck at Sevilla and Zaragoza, combined with Madrid's problem while traveling, we were able to crawl back to contention. The only thing he needed to do was to continue with his best side and make sure that the title can be settled at the worst at Barnebeu. But then Rijkaard is following a quest to stupidity, you can't stop him. He decided to use Eto in the right, Ronaldinho (he is coming back to form) in the centre. He decided to rest Yaya as the season will be very busy. These all were done to surprise Athletico Madrid at their home, the result - Barcelona surprised themselves. Edmilson made a mockery of himself in Yaya's shoes, Ronaldinho apart from that great goal looked totally confused - he was desperately trying to feed Eto, but according to formation it was Eto who was supposed to feed him and Iniesta and Xavi had no idea to whom they should pass. In all these turmoil happening ahead of them the defense lost it completely and conceded four stupid goals to say. The most ironic fact is that Athletico, who started the game totally confused, looked the brighter of the two sides.

What makes Rijkaard a much more stupid is the fact that he decided to experiment at the most critical juncture of the season. We need to win at Valencia and have to be on our toes to prevent Madrid from repeating last season success. It would have been great for the team to go to Valencia with a good result in their bag, but instead their defense now has conceded four in a tough away match. The core to Rijkaard's problem for me lies in an apparent disrespect for his opponents. He would have never tried these things against Madrid, Chelsea etc. Athletico has always a difficult ground for Barcelona to travel and I thought with his strategy - Rijkaard was trying to say that "Without Torres, Athletico is a piece of Cake". Funny that Aguera just showed him the size of the piece he was trying to mouth. Hope sense prevails him and he takes some sensible actions.

Always remember “Arrogance diminishes wisdom”.

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Rijkaard's Future and The Mourinho Option

After his failure to win a substantial trophy last season, Rijkaard is under immense pressure to avoid the same this season. His best chance lies in landing the Copa Del Rey cup. Many sections in Media and fans are asking for his removal, but does removing Rijkaard will solve Barcelona’s entire problem? Rijkaard for me have been very soft on some of the superstars in the team, but then it does not surprise you - as they have done so much for him. Or in other words, they all together have climbed many heights. A person who has been linked too much for the Barcelona job in the wake of Rijkaard leaving is - José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho. Everybody expected Mourinho to fill the job for his previous experience with Barcelona. But anyway John Laporta for the time being, rightly has put an end to all those rumours by giving the boards backing for Frank Rijkaard. But by the end of season, especially if they can't create a spectacular turn around in the League, we might hear those calls for Rijkaard's head again.

But if in any case Rijkaard leaves, Is Mourinho the man we want to see at the helm of Barcelona? I would prefer anybody except him. Firstly it is because of the fact that he is a very defensively minded coach. Will he fit into the current playing style of Barcelona? Especially when we consider the young players available in Barcelona - the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Bojan, Giovanni etc, they will never fit into his style of play where even the centre striker is expected to defend in the box. So obviously when he arrives he has to bring a group of players who fits into his style, which also automatically forces many of the above mentioned players leaving Barcelona.

Secondly, his relationship with Barcelona is not any cordial level. Barcelona players and fans I believe hate him to the core. So it will be difficult for him to work along with them, especially if he suffers some early setbacks. Barcelona players can be expected to be professional - but I don't think Messi will ever forget the way he called him names after the leg at Stamford Bridge. This wonderful persona was solely responsible for making the Barcelona- Chelsea matches in recent times so violent, in and off the pitch. He calls himself a "Special One ", but for me if there is a special one in today's coaching fraternity it is undoubtedly - Guis Hiddink, he can do wonders with whatever you give to him. If we decide to call him the "Special One" for his achievements, then the current English National Coach - Fabio Cappello is a "Very Very Very Special One".

Thirdly and most importantly, I don't think that he will fit into the Barcelona club values. F C Barcelona indeed is something "More Than A Club". The commitment for the club not only is in the soccer front but also is in the social front. The recent agreement with ACNUR and UNICEF are testimony on this front. Barcelona on all fron believes in the fact of giving respect to their opponents and competitors. I am not saying that no untoward incidents have happened which involve Barcelona players and fans, but they are so few in between. If Mourinho arrives, he will change all these. This "Special One" is indeed known more for his verbal taunts and will take out all the respect the world has for Barcelona players and the club. He has done that with Chelsea and almost made Chelsea the most hated club in the world (consider only non Chelsea fans). There may be people who argue that people are jealous of Chelsea's success, but then why people around the world are not that jealous or critical of the Barcelona (previous two seasons), Milan, Brazil teams. They all have tasted success at a rate very similar actually more than Chelsea has. Wise men says "Its difficult to be grateful in defeat rather than victory", but Mourinho can't do both. Rijkaard to a great extent has upheld his personality and the Clubs pride with the way he dealt with his opponents and has been very graceful in both victories and defeats.

Mourinho on doubt is a good tactician, but there is no guarantee that he will bring success. When ManU and Arsenal slowly started to find parity with Chelsea he had no idea to deal with it and it resulted in his exit from Stamford Bridge. Mourinho according to me, if he arrives in Barcelona will do more bad than good to the Club. The above mentioned views are my personal ones and everybody else is welcomed to either agree or disagree with these. We can have a great debate on these. But sitting at a distance of almost 6000 miles from Barcelona (in India), bombarded with all the English premier League details left and right if I am addicted to F C Barcelona - there should have been something more to the Club than its players and achievements. And I truly don't want to see F C Barcelona lose its soul and become "a typical another" club in Europe.

"Will always remain a Cule, despite of whatever happens".

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Bojan and Giovani - Firmly Striding Forward

In the begining of this season it was clear that the two wonderfully talented kids - Bojan and Giovani ,from Barcelona youth Academy will get their first taste of first team football. But a series of injuries and loss of form of the senior players have made sure that both of them remain an integral part of Barcelona team this season. In the start of season , there was too much of pressure on Rijkaard to include them in the side inorder to avoid other clubs robbing them. In contrast to some of their seniors who went in search for better shores, these two had made it clear in advance that their future lies with Barcelona. Giovnani was expected to make a sizeable number of appearances and Bojan was expected to make his debut this season. But as destined they both have made a sizeable number of appearances and also have made it into starting eleven on many number of occasion. This also has a downside with fans and media criticising them (like Giovani was criticised some game before) for the lack of impact in some games. The media and fans will do a world of good to the club if they take the time to remember that they just made their debuts this season. Messi, when he debuted some season ago was similiar to them, but ofcourse had more talent.

Of these two, Bojan Krikic looked to me more comfortable with rigour of La Liga football. This may be of the fact that he is an out and out striker, and (apart from Eto we don't have one also) he gets to play in his favourite position more often. Giovani had made much bigger impact when he was brought as a substitute but in matches where he started have to admit he was a dissappointment. Don't have to look too far the last match against Osasuna will act as a testimony for what i have written here. But I believe this may be because of the lack of centre forward in the Barcelona player setup. He is asked to do so much more than he might be capable of. Bojan already has four goals from 18 apperances which is very good as debutant, but also reiterates the fact that he is a out and out Centre Forward. Along with messi, these two will for the future of the Barcelona attack line up. But overall we can confidently say that these two kids have taken their baby strides in the big leagues of football very firmly.

Rijkaard's trouble in the match against Sevilla doesn't looks like ending - now Deco and Sylvinho has been declared unfit for the tie. The three reserve players - Espasandín , Víctor Vázquez and Víctor Sánchez have been named in the squad. Out of which Víctor Espasandín has a high chance of making his debut as he is considered as a solid Left back. As i said in my last post it maight be time for Messi to justify world's belief that he is the New Maradona. This match will depend upon him a lot. Thinking about Ronaldinho, some strange idea came to my mind - we can place him in the Midfield may be in the position Gudjonsen is playing. That will cut down the expectation on him of scoring Goals and will surely help him in assisting more. Every time I see him on pitch he looks like trying too much for scoring Goals, because of which he is not assisting his fellow players or creating chances.

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Best 'La Liga' Blog Nomination

Its with great hapiness I am writing that this blog has been nominated for the 'Best La Liga Blog' award at SoccerLens Readers Choice Award. It also give me great pride to be placed in the league of best in the blogging world such as Fcbnews.com, Forca Barca etc. This nomination would provide me enthusiasm to continue my work with more passion. If you like this blog and think high about this Please take the time to vote for me Vote For Me. Let the best blog win.

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A Pichichi without Barcelona Presence

To get a testimony of how bad this season performance is, don't have to look beyond the present Pichichis table. I can't remember the last time when we had a total absense from the Pichichis table top ten. The only guy who is near the top is Lionel Messi. This just shows how much we have missed Eto this season. He used to be in the top five evry season. Victor Valdez leads the Zamoras table just ahead of Cassilas. That also shows that our defense and Goal Keepers are not doing much wrong season. What is hurting us the most is inability to create Goal. Above all the shots on target and off target statistics looks like coming down this season by huge. Barcelona never used to convert everything they create. The maximum they used to convert was 30% of all shots on target. With those shots on Target coming down, logically goals have dried up. Anyway Messi and Eto still can make it to top ten.



Pichichi League Cup Europe Total(Penalties)
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) 14 2 7 23 (4)
Kanouté (Sevilla) 8 4 5 17 (2)
Milito (Zaragoza) 14 2 0 16 (5)
Van Nistelrooy (R Madrid) 12 0 4 16 (2)
Agüero (Atlético) 9 1 6 16 (0)
Nihat (Villarreal) 11 0 3 14 (0)
Diego Forlán (Atlético) 7 1 6 14 (1)
Güiza (Mallorca) 11 2 0 13 (1)
Oliveira (Zaragoza) 10 2 1 13 (0)
Raúl (Real Madrid) 9 0 3 12 (1)
Messi (Barcelona) 8 0 4 12 (4)

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Accepting the Inevitable

With the last night draw against Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona quest for another Spanish League title has taken a serious setback. If anything hurts more is the fact that Real Madrid won against Villareal yesterday. Barcelona failed to hold on to the lead and perished for their goal scoring nuances. mathematically barcelona is still in the hunt even with the huge nine point gap between the leaders. And there have been a huge sense of optimism among Barcelona fans (saw it in the many barcelona blogs i visit) about getting the job done this season. Barcelona have no one else to blame for the mess they are in now. They started the season without much purpose and are catching up with Madrid for their lack of effort and enthusiasm. Actually from last January Barcelona are desperately trying to catch up with Real Madrid, a team many pundits wrote off some season ago.

Barcelona will be trying their best to keep the league alive till 7th of May, when they play Real Madrid at Bernebeu. For that they need the help of their fellow clubs in the league to cut down Madrid's lead to three points by that time. If that happen and Barcelona wins every other game left in this season, they have a real chance as everything will depend on the El Classico at Bernebeu. One thing that works against the above mentioned possibility is Barcelona's form this season. For a brief period in the start of the year they looked really compact and confident. But with Eto's departure for African Nations cup everything started to fall over again. Many fans have complained about the African Nations cup and how its going to hurt us. But those sentiments is never justified as it is impossible to explain a star studded team like Barcelona failing to put up a decent show in the absence of two of their stars.

Another factor which will work against barcelona is the fact that they still remain in three competitions - Champions League, Copa Del Rey and La Liga. The hectic schedule will take a heavy toll on the Barcelona players - already rusty and out of form. The third factor is Madrid's form this season. they may not have looked convincing, they may not have thrashed their opponents, Cassilas may have been making an average of 8-10 exotic saves per match but they look like more organised and more importantly they doesn't seem to be in a mood to drop any points. They are already out of Copa Del Rey and that means they only have two tournaments to concentrate.

The fourth factor is the fact that Barcelona has to play Sevilla, Zaragoza, Athletico Madrid and Real Madrid away from home and Getafe and Espanyol (two clubs which have a history of hurting Barcelona) in home in coming weeks. Whereas Real Madrid will be playing the Getafe, Sevilla, Valencia,Deprtivo (Clubs which can help Barcelona) at home and zaragoza away from home. Zaragoza have in the past hurt Real Madrid, but the match is in 36th week and it might be too late by then. So basically Barcelona may be chasing a losing race over here. Barcelona's greatest oppurtunity lies this season in Copa Del Rey. La Liga might be over for them, if they stop concentrating more on La Liga, they could win the Copa Del Rey and put up an impressive show in Champions League (who knows we can win that too).

But all this is for Rijkaard to think upon. He is the Boss and he have to take an immediate decision. But as fan i would love to see them fight for all the trophies, but then somewhere in my brain some voices echoes the above mentioned ideas. May be my brain is dump, many say so and i hope that is true in this instance.

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Iniesta Gets the Contract

Andres Iniesta extended his contract with barcelona till 2014. the contract was due to expire in 2010. He still had two years in his existing contract but the Club might be forced to offer him a much better deal after all the transfer rumours. Last transfer window there was too much speculation surrounding him with Madrid's wish to sign him. But there was no concern shown about the speculation by barcelona. Maybe they know the kid too well. Anyway its not known how much he is going to take home weekly, but his Buy-out clause is being increased to 150 million euros. So that's a statement made by barcelona about how much they rate him. There were complains that he was one of the worst paid stars among the barcelona players (Iniesta never made any complaints), hope now he get paid as good as others also.

Iniesta is a fabulous product which barcelona youth academy should be proud of. And the extended contract should be a Medal of Honour for the hardwork put by the Academy to churn out talents like Messi, Xavi, iniesta etc. He himself d confessed that his first year in the academy was very hard. But then leaving home in Fuentealbilla at an age of 12 is not that easy. He may be the most hardworking player in this Barcelona side. With his skill, flair and hardwork there is no doubt he will become a Barcelona giant pretty soon. It's sad that he hasn't found a regular place in the National side starting eleven, but he is one of Spain's key player. Let's hope he can take Spain to glory in the Euro.

For Rijkaard this contract extension should be sweet music to ears. Iniesta is the most key player in his scheme of things. In Iniesta Rijkaard has a trump card which can be placed anywhere in the field, ofcourse expect Goal Keeper. Hope this contract extention inspires him to do more and more great things at the club.

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Everything Happens for Good

From the most beautiful offence in Europe, Barcelona in the recent past has slowly transformed into a highly effective defense. How much of this was contributed by the lack of form and understanding of their recent players is the only matter of question. Certain injuries also have added to the recent state of affairs - mostly of the talented Lionel Messi.

It came as a surprise to a lot of people across the world that Barcelona with their ultra talented line up won nothing the last season. They played bad at crucial games and juncture and looked like a completely spent force. So naturally everyone expected things to turn around this season. From the administration front all efforts were taken to plug any weakness in the side. Yaya, Abidal were brought inorder to plug the defensive holes. Henry was brought so that the Champions League title come visiting back again.

Heaven O' heaven, you can plan as much as you want, but somebody else will be controlling things around. The season started with all kind of things. Barcelona suddenly forgot to win at away grounds. Home teams which were afraid of Barcelona's offensive even in away matches now looked to hunt them down. They may not have hunted them, but surely maqny have hurt them. Above all Barcelona saw their arch rival crowned as winter champions with a seven points lead, in which the old fort of Nou Camp fell to the Mardid attack.

Maybe the loss against Madrid came at the right time. Barcelona looks more determined now. They look like they have decided to drop the non performers from the side. I haven't seen this Barcelona side use their grit to overcome an opponent. Earlier they depend only on their flair. But the Sevilla tie in Copa Del rey was an exception. They planned, executed and fought the opponent with perfection. They might have become a little less attractive, but they are still as effective as earlier.

All the hardcore Barcelona fans will be wishing the team come back to the earlier style. But I believe the pattern for sometime will remain the same. They might add some flair with Messi coming back. But still they will be looking to grind the results. As I believe "Everything Happens for Good".

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Sweet HeadAches

With the 4-0 away victory against Murcia, the spirits should be high in the Barcelona Camp ahead of the second leg match against Sevilla. In the form of the away Goal, Barcelona has a definite advantage in this tie. But as we have seen in the past barca also has a disastrous tendency of folding down at the crucial juncture. How much inspiration can be taken from the Murcia match will be another question, especially considering that we managed to lose to Madrid after an excellent away win against Valencia.

With that sense i will prefer the team start the preparation a little cautious. In the match against Madrid we could not carry the excellent form of the previous match because there were too many changes in the side. In this match also there will be some changes, especially centre forward position. I will come to that a little later. I expect Thuram to be replaced by Milito, apart from that and the Centre Forward position, there should not be anymore changes. Gudjonsen and Xavi looked good in the midfield role and should continue there. Marquez is the only choice available for Defensive Midfielder role. Don't even think of putting Iniesta there, especially in a match against Sevilla. Zamrotta should be the out and out choice for Right Back.

But the most significant of changes will be in the forward lineup. Many says in the forward position Rijkaard is facing a problem of plenty. Is he? I don't think so, that is the reason why I have titled the article as "Sweet Headaches". For the last two to three matches, Henry is our best player along with Marquez. Saturday he was marvelous. Many attribute his sudden change in the form to the prolonged rest he got during the injury. I do believe that rest might have done him a world of good, like in the case of Eto also. But I don't think that is the only factor contributing here. From the last two matches he is playing in a position which he was so used to at Arsenal. In Arsenal he may not have been playing so much to the left, but a little close to the centre. In the initial time in Barcelona, he donned the role of a Centre Forward and literally failed. But when he moved back to his natural position, because of Ronaldinho injury - he started giving the glimpses of old Thierry Henry. So Rijkaard should prefer him to stay at the front left. Now the question is that who will play the Sole Centre forward role. If you look at the option

1) Gudjonsen - He looks settled in the Midfield.

2) Ezquerra - He also prefers either of the flanks.

The only option left here is the two kids - Giovanni and Bojan. Out of these two, Bojan looks like a more natural Centre Forward than Giovanni. Now if you add the two injured players - Messi and Ronnie, none of them can don the role of a natural Centre Forward.

I believe that Rijkaard will move Henry to the centre of the plot. I totally disagree with that, he should move Bojan to the centre and have Iniesta at the right. Many may not agree with the my views, many believe that since Barcelona forward players interchange their position very effectively in the course of a match - they can start at any place. I don't agree with that. They all prefer to start at their favorite places. Maybe and I hope and pray, Henry proves me wrong if he is moved to that position. But I believe like a Centre back, the Centre forward is also a specialist position. Nobody can even think of pulling a defender back to open up space like Eto did in last match. Saviola would have fit to that position - but he is not here.

Now coming to the Sevilla side, watch for that Brazilian duo - Fabiano and Alves. they have hurt Barcelona in the past and could hurt us tomorrow. With the 2-0 loss at Bilbao, their spirits maybe a little low. So take the attack to them early. And like the last match Barcelona should defend up front, the forward line should keep on putting pressure on their defenders.

On the organization front Barcelona is contributing more to the society by means of tying up with United Nations Refugee agency (ACNUR). The formal agreement will be signed on January 22 in Geneva. This is in addition to the agreement with UNICEF. "The two bodies will unite their efforts to help work together with their respective programs and to build common initiatives that try and bring a new quality of life to child refugees. A delegation from the club's Fundaciò, headed by President Joan Laporta, will travel to Geneva to finalise the agreement in the ACNUR headquarters. The former Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Gutérres, will receive the delegation as his role as head of the agency." - FCBarcelona site. For the Barcelona fans these are moments of pride and honour. When almost all the clubs are running after money and more advertisement, Barcelona still care to look into the more complex social and economic issues related to the society. The founders of the club will be proud to see that the younger generation still believes in the purpose of this great club. And these measures are truly the one which makes Barcelona - More Than a Club.

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Giovanni to ManU? Are You Kidding?

Even if Barcelona is not involved that much in the mid season Transfer market, many of the barcelona players are getting involved. Marc Crosas has just signed a loan deal with Olympique Lyon for the rest of the season. Its rumoured that there is a clause for making this arrangement permanent and that disturbs me. Marc Crosas looked like a solid midfield player and did impress a little. How much playing time he will get in Lyon is also doubtful, I expect them to extend the Loan next year. But it will be disastrous if he signs permanently for Lyon or other club, it sets up a wrong precedence and a wrong notion that the talented players coming out of Barcelona Youth Academy needs to look somewhere for a permanent position.

The most wierd rumours coming out the transfer market is involving Giovani Dos Santos, he is being linked left, right, centre. the latest clubs which are linked to his transfer is Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Totenham. I don't think he will be leaving Barcelona or that Barcelona will let go of him. Another strong rumour that making the round is Gudjonsen's departure to Everton. This maybe a possibility as we did with Saviola. Gudjonsen is playing well now and should be rewarded with a place in sqaud. But Barcelona may do a Saviola with him also. Another one is Zambotta's departure to Juventus. Even if he makes such a move, it will be based on personal matters.

Barcelona will be looking to find a replacement for Jorquera. The latest player lonked with this option is Porto keeper Nuno.

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The Great Barca Defensive Midfielder Challenge

God only know if there is any curse involved with Barcelona's defensive Midfield position. Last season everyone with a little bit of footballing sense was complaining about the lack of a quality defensive midfielder. So Barcelona went and acquired Yaya Toure and it looked like he was doing well in that position. Now the inevitable comes, Yaya has to leave for African Nations cup and its understandable as Nation comes before club. We were never that worried as we had edmillson coming back into the side. To go by his performance in last match he looked very good.

But when it comes to Barcelona's DM position, it looks like nothing can be taken for granted. Now its confirmed that Edmillson has indeed torn adductor muscle in his left thigh. How long he will be out is the only fact to be decided and the club doctors are taking their time on it. There is only one somewhat genuine option left for Rijkaard for that position - Rafael Marquez. We will see Iniesta donning that role in some matches, but cannot visualize him doing the same in crucial matches. The only positive that will come with this incident is that Puyol may get back his usual position.

Now coming to the Real Murcia match Xavi, Milito and Marquez may not be in the starting lineup as all of them are carrying knocks. I expect Rijkaard to rest Marquez as he has to don the role of DM in coming matches. With Barcelona’s lineup strength and quality Murcia match should be a cakewalk. Iniesta should perform the DM role in this match. Giovanni is expected to be in starting line up, but i will love seeing Bojan in the lineup too. This will be the perfect opponents for these two to display their skills. It does not look like Barcelona's dream of cutting down the Madrid lead will come true this weekend, as Madrid will be against struggling Levante. But that's no excuse for Barcelona not to put pressure on Madrid. You sometimes don't know from where the opening comes.

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The Title Slipping Away

There were too many records that were at stake when Barcelona took on the challenge from Madrid in Clasico at Nou Camp. Madrid never won a match in Nou Camp for some years. Barcelona last home loss came thirty one matches before, Madrid never lost a match when that referee officiated. Some records stayed and some shattered – but it’s disappointing that all those shattered records belong to Barcelona. The match was lost before the first whistle. Rijkaard was at his worst with the preparation for the match. One thing this Barcelona side and management lack is respect for the opponents. If we see the away record of Madrid then it’s pretty obvious that they have the best away record this season. Indeed this match was best away side taking on the best home side. But Barcelona showed utter disrespect for their opponents and perished. The biggest culprit for this failure is Frank Rijkaard. He better admit it.

Am I being too harsh on Frank, I didn’t asked him to be sacked. I am simply telling him to own the mistakes he made. His game plan wrecked the team. For some time I have been critical about his choice of Puyol as a Right-Back. I was unfortunately proven right this day. When you are a goal down and you want to introduce more attacking options, what did Frank do – he brought Zambrotta instead of Puyol. Puyol is a great Centre Back (maybe the best in Europe) but Barcelona’s attacking style requires their full backs to give that wing runs and Puyol can’t do it (it’s not his mistake). I can understand the helplessness of a regular coach when his regular RB is injured, but cannot understand Rijkaard’s tactic when he has an accomplished RB in the form of Marquez with him. I will not criticize him for the choice of Ronaldinho, I though he was playing well in home matches. But to pick Deco with no match practice in place of a inform Gudjonsen was disaster. Eidur was linking well with Iniesta and Xavi in the early matches and he should have been rewarded him with a starting place.

Sometimes you can’t change destiny – that’s the only explanation I have for the way Abidal, Milito and Toure played. Maybe they were overwhelmed by the occasion, but remember these guys are the best players we have and once in a while they are supposed to have a bad day. Now comes the main man- the man on which the entire pre match talk revolved - Ronaldo de Assís Moreira. What a pathetic match he had. He looked totally out of place. I am a big Ronaldinho fan and it’s devastating to see him dive all over the place to get free kicks. Throughout the match he never noticed the wonderful runs made by Abidal to his left, there was a particular incident when Iniesta after making a great run was looking Ronnie make a forward run. But Ronnie never made one he stood behind Iniesta guarding the empty space ahead of him. Ronnie has lost his ball control; he hardly can go past one defender. In between he showed some brilliance but those were too few in between. He is holding the ball for more time; in the first half Eto’o looked completely stranded. There are rumors that he doesn’t train intensively, if that is the case then ship him out of the team. I remember Geoffrey Boycott saying that if you are having tough time batting, the best thing to do is get off the strike. Ronaldinho should understand that the best option he has now is to pass to another player as quickly as possible. The best Barca players on the pitch were Iniesta, Bojan and Giovanni. Its time for Rijkaard to take some tough decision. Every player in the team needs to earn their places.

How can I stop without praising the Madrid side, they were the deservedly winners. They came with a purpose (which Barcelona players lacked) and played as a unit. They all supported each other upfront and way back. They defended well, attacked in pairs and made Barcelona pay for their attitude. They have a comfortable seven point lead and I believe that’s only going to increase now. They may falter at some matches, but I don’t think this Barcelona side (with their current attitude) will be able to catch them (for that they have to start winning away from home.

NB: My suggestion to Rijkaard drop Ronaldinho from the regular squad, ask him to prove his worth in Copa Del Rey and earn his place back. Otherwise by the time Messi comes back we will be out of Champions League, Copa Del Rey and La Liga title race(or are we already out).

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Is Barca a failed Unit?

With the tame surrender at Coliseum Alfonso against Getafe, Barca has suddenly found themselves behind four point behind the Leaders. The results didn't came as a surprise to anyone but the tame surreneder did. Its been the pattern last season and looks like its continuing this season. Barcelona is a completely different side at home and away from home. At home they play like true champions and away from home they struggle like relegation threatened units.

It will be unfair to compare the success of top clubs in England in away match with the top clubs in Spain. Traditionally every home match in Spain is loaded heavily in favour of the Home team. Thats the reason why there is a high chance of the Top clubs losing points in away matches compared to their counter parts in England. But this is no excuse the way Barcelona is playing in away matches. Every away match the first 15 minutes they simply try to dominate, and once they find its difficult they simply give up. Last season everyone attributed this to the defensive fragility the team were having. But a team with Abidal, Puyol, Milito, Zamrotta and Toure shoiuld have countered that. But its not happening, the result remains the same.

In Spain, traditionally the titles are won away from home. Its your away form which will decide your future in the league. The way Villareal is playing this season, it might be difficult for Barcelona to qualify for next season's Champions league. Valencia and Sevilla will be very consistent. We might be looking forward to another Trophy less season. The media based on Barcelona has already started blaming Henry for the lack of Goals. This is very much unfair, he needs atleaset a season to settle and gel with the style of La Liga. And when did Barcelona heavily relied on one person to get all the Goals? There is no doubt about the fact that Ronnie looks like a spend force, especially in away matches. The best player of this season, Iniesta is not being played in a proper position. He plays in all kind of position. Its no surprise that, there is a high chance of a potential attack happening when the ball reaches Messi or Iniesta.

My personal opinin is that we have to change the free flowing 4-3-3 formation to a more compact 4-3-1-2 formation in away matches. With Messi playing behind the two strikers(maybe Henry and Gudjonsen). Its essential to have Messi playing in centre as a creative player atleast in away matches. Its essential to have Iniesta in the Midfield in every match. But all this changes will do nothing if the players attitude remains the same. They need to be more aggressive and have to give 150% every match. Its the lack of will to fight which loses us the match. The next match is a home match against Reacreativo, probably Barcelona will win it, will win it well. But its the away match against Espanyol, which should be used to judge the attitude of the current crop. I can seriously see Barca losing badly in Espanyol.

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A Nice Lionel Messi Compilation - Video

Found this amazing video compilation about Lionel Messi in net. Thought of sharing it. Its done by milankakabaros - visit him at www.milankakabaros.com

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A Decent Win

The victory against Bilbao was secured in the first half. Barcelona went in to the match with al lot of criticism for their lackluster performance last week. Early on the first half, barca players hunger to keep the critics away was evident. They played like a team possessed. Athletic Bilbao should had considered themselves lucky at half time for trailing by only 2 goals. The second half in itself was a sharp contrast. Ronaldinho and Messi were setting the tone for the first half, every time Messi gets the ball there was a big anticipation for something big. And he didn't disappoint. Ronaldinho stellar performance should have subsidized all the Transfer rumors for now(its going to return in January, take a break). From the last some Liga games , its look like his free kick technique is coming back. But for me the star of the show was Eric Abidal - My God what a player. Its not surprising all of the Barcelona's attacks came either through him or Zambrotta. He should have solved our Left back misery, hope so. But whatever he is showing he is worth to watch.

In contrast to the first half, second half saw the last year Barcelona coming back(unfortunately). They were losing ball very easily, there was no conviction in the passing and it took the supporters booing to remind players they are there to win games. In contrast to first half - where the defence looked like compact and sealed, second half defence sometimes had no idea of what they were doing. The problem with Barca last season and still continues- is that after taking the early lead or control they tend to sit back. Because of which they end up conceding late equalizers. How many time did that happen last season. Rijkaard has to pay attention here.

It will be big injustice not to mention these two players in this article - Deco and Henry. Deco as usual is the marshal of Barca's Midfield. He was there all the time with all those tricks and turns. Hope he continues to find such form every night. When he moved to Barca, I thought he will not gel well with Barca system, I was proven wrong - He is looking good and he is due for his goal, mark my word he is going to get a lot.

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The New El Diego - Lionel Messi

With that absolutely amazing first Goal against Getafe, Messi himself has opened up the debate of whether he is the next Maradona. The enigma called El-Diego has bitten up all these years, with the result that every new kid on the block is being compared to him. This has to be attributed to our never ending eternal quest for finding the next Maradona. But seeing yesterday sterling performance of Messi, the belief that he might be the destined one become more stronger. Maradona's Goal of Century might have come in a very difficult world cup match, but Messi's replica of that is no less precious. Both of them has that unbelievable ability to glue the ball to their legs.
Messi performance of yesterday was one of his best till date. It came at a crucial time for the team, who was seriously handicaped with Ronie's injury. This season he has serously improved his finishing skills. Another plus from the game is the consistent and improving performance of Xavi. he was off colour for almost half of the season. But in the recent matches he is coming back to his old self. One worrying fact is the ability of Barca defence to concede Goal from very good positions. They are not doing the basic right and they have to correct it as early as possible.

Gol de Messi al Getafe 18/04/07
Uploaded by futbloguista

This season has been consistently like this - some sterling performance at Home and some stupid performance (infact lots of) away from home. So we cannot sit back in the second leg.

To honour Messi I have changed the Blog Song to "Vamos, Vamos Argentina"

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Rise Of Lionel Messi

An outstanding Lionel Messi saved the El-Classico for the catalans and most importantly made sure that the difference between Sevilla and the defending champions will be only 3 points. Don't be surprised if yesterday's El-Classico will be remembered as Lionel Messi's ElClassico. At last Messi started giving justification to El Diego's comments of making his successor. He has been showing flashes of his brilliance till yesterday, but yesterday he just released the first part of a hopefully long film called "Messi Unleashed". Yesterday's match was a battle between the collective determinations of the mardid players and individual brilliance of Barcelona players. As usual Barcelona defence played havoc and was responsible for their entire problems. But Barca players were not helped properly by a team management which was as confused as the players. First of all I never understood the formation played by Barca yesterday, but I am lucky that I am not the only one. It looked like the players also never had any idea and moreover they were not at all confident with the defence. Otherwise its not easy to explain the number of reckless challenges thrown by players.

The first Goal came from a defensive lapse from the most unlikely player, Thuram. But this has been the story of Barcelona this season. The faults are coming from the most unlikely players of all. Last season Edmillson looked like one of the best defensive midfielder, this season it gives me nightmares thinking about he playing in the side. So is the case with Marquez. Hopefully there are some goodnews coming and most probably we will sign Abidal and Frings this summer. These two guys surely should solve our aerial defence problem. But then when Thuram and Zam came everyone said this, you cannot guess anything in Barcelona.
The Goals scored by Barca were brilliant. Beautiful teamwork and individual skills. Iniesta looked like he was playing Polo when he was put in the Back. But the moment he came forward he was back to his best. Gudjonsen looks like he will give us a more physical option infront of the goal. The defence........mmmmmmmmmm... Did we have one? I don't know... deco didn't look at his best. Ronnie showed flashes of brilliance. But the real stars of night were Messi, Iker Cassilas and Victor Valdes. They were just simply awsome.

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All Back To Square One

After all those promises shown in the last two match Barcelona went back to square one with an pathetic performance against Sevilla. Sevilla as a team had the Barca side measure to perfection. Barcelona went with the 3-4-3 formation following the grand debut of this strategy against Zaragoza. Did it backfired? Don't think the strategy backfired. The selection process made that strategy less effective. Where is Thuram? That was the first question that came to mind. A 3 men defence need 3 extra ordinary defenders in the Back. Puyol, Zambrotta and Thuram should have been the best choice. Marquez was a joke, he was responsible for 1st Goal(Sevilla's) and should have contributed for more. This match should have been looked upon as a preparation for the bigger "Do or Die " Match against Liverpool. Instead it was made into a joke.




I don't understand the logic behind the selection of Marquez in these crucial games. If you look at all the Goals we have conceded this season this guy surely have a hand on aboout 65% of them. Why you want to select a person who is that unreliable? This match also put the question of the effectiveness of a 3-4-3 formation against Liverpool. My personal opinion is that its better to go with a 3-4-3 formation in Liverpool with Deco, Xavi and Iniesta in the middle. It gives more attacking option, maybe it will put more pressure on Defence. Then we have no choice left, we can only hope to win the match by 3-2 or a 4-3 margin. The players have to show more sense of urgency, they cannot rest after getting the initial goal. This is the problem with this side this entire season.

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Highlights Of Barce vs Zaragoza - Copa Del Rey QF 2nd Leg

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