Messi

Showing posts with label Messi. Show all posts

April 17, 2007

Lionel Messi - Impossible is Nothing

February 8, 2007

Messi more match-ready than Eto'o

In an interview (spanish) to El Mundo Deportivo, FC Barcelona’s coach Frank Rijkaard talks about Leo Messi’s recovery and the possibility of the Argentinian playing for the first time after his injury in next Sunday’s game against Racing Santander.
Everybody knows what Leo is capable of when he’s on the ball. Watching him, one may think he’s already in top form, but if you pay attention you notice that he needs two minutes to recover after every run he makes; and that’s just in training! So I want to give a warning: Leo is ready to participate and to make the difference with his playing, but we will not take any risks with him. I’m happy about Eto’o because he is back in the team and progressively picking up pace, but from a physical point of view I think right now Leo is a bit more match-ready than him. Eto’o’s injury is different from Leo’s; you have to be more careful with a knee injury because that is a key part of an athlete’s body

If they keep on working the same way and they do not suffer any relapses, they both will probably play next Sunday; I don’t know if the entire game or just some minutes

November 17, 2006

Time For Damage Control

Barcelona Injuries to Eto'o, Messi and Saviola have left Barcelona's season in the balance. It will take something special from the rest to limit the damage before they can recover, or reinforce.

Rewind to August, and the talk of Barcelona was whether Saviola would be surplus to the club's needs - a luxury. The Catalans were desperate to offload the Argentine, to the point that they even offered him a letter of freedom.
Barely three months later, injuries to Messi and Eto'o have left their attack crippled. Just as it started to look like Saviola would turn saviour, even he was sidelined.
There have been injuries previously too - Larsson, Motta, Edmilson two years ago, Xavi, and Messi last year - but it was spread over the pitch, allowing them to recover. Its three forwards this time, and with a wafer-thin forward line remaining, it looks very slippery.
Nobody was willing to consider reinforcements when Eto'o was injured - maybe rightly so, maybe not. They were still just as dismissive when Messi was ruled out. But within hours of that, Saviola's muscle problems came to the fore, and the tone started to change.
From a 'we don't know', it turned into a 'maybe', and now, Luque, Larsson and Palacio are firmly placed on the Catalans' radar.
Yet there is little they can do until January, as an emergency signing requires a five-month injury layoff. Barcelona's only chance was when Eto'o was injured, but they had no way of knowing that it could go so wrong.
That said, they were guilty of underestimating the Cameroon international's importance. You have to ask yourself if Chelsea would have signed a Drogba replacement, or if Real would have covered a hypothetical Ruud absence. The answer, unfortunately, puts Barca on the wrong side of the fence.
The Catalans now have four players - Ronaldinho, Gudjohnsen, Giuly, Ezquerro - for three positions, and must make do with that at least until January.
They still lead La Liga, but it's so close at the top that a couple of bad weeks could see them drop outside the top four. The problem, however, lies elsewhere. They must win both their remaining Champions League games to qualify for the knock-out stages, and it is not clear that they have an edge over a very dangerous Werder Bremen with the attack that remains.
It is surprising that even now - at a time when the club need to put their hands up and say: 'yes, we need to reinforce,' with no strings attached - sporting director Txiki Begiristain indignantly argues that Iniesta and Deco can also play in more advanced positions, conveniently forgetting that it is bite up front that is the real problem.
One understands that success has made them confident, and that has its positives, but there is a fine line between that and arrogance. Txiki continues to insist that Giovanni Dos Santos - arguably a natural replacement for Messi - should not be called up from the junior team, as it is more important he remains available for Barca B.
One more injury or suspension could leave them with absolutely no options on the bench, making two games a week almost impossible to cope with. Even if they are lucky hereon, the impact on the players still available will be felt come April, when thin squads start to burn out.
Ronaldinho and Giuly look set to play two games a week for the next two months, and one has to wonder whether Barca can even afford to compete in four remaining competitions - including the Intercontinental Cup.
There is only one way forward - damage control, followed by Larsson's arrival on January 1.
Barcelona have to put everything into the two Champions League games, even if that means dropping points in La Liga. The away clash against Levski Sofia isn't going to be a cake-walk, and Werder Bremen at Camp Nou on the final matchday will be even tougher. Not qualifying is not an option!

Once they have secured qualification, they can throw everything into the League, and hope that the Intercontinental Cup doesn't take a lot out of them. They must use their reserve team shrewdly in that competition, rather than allow their marketable stars to burn out for the sake of some extra publicity.
The only silver lining is that there are a few relatively easy League fixtures coming up, with the Real Madrid, Valencia, Deportivo, Zaragoza and Sevilla games all behind them, but they will only make the most of that if they set themselves up for it.
As for new arrivals, Palacio or Luque are both good players, but if they take two months to settle in, the very purpose is defeated. The Argentine can wait for the summer. Larsson, and only Larsson, can solve their problems.
But even before that, it is going to take something special, along with a lot of luck, for four players to fill three spots, and carry the team through to January without slip-ups. It could be Rijkaard's biggest test since the torrid four months at the start of his tenure three years ago!

November 13, 2006

Barcelona's Youth Prodigy

Jeffren Suárez

Jeffren was born in Venezuela, emigrated to Tenerife, Canary Islands when he was only 2 years old. Now he is living at Barca´s youth academy in La Masia, Barcelona.

Jeffren Surarez is a talented young winger, who dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, Leo Messi, who is just half a year older than Jeffren but already a super star on the world stage. There are a lot of similarities between Leo Messi and Jeffren Suárez. Both, players are very versatile, extremely fast and have a great technique.

Jeffren Suárez played this year in the Youth A team and gained his first senior football experience in playing for Barca C. For the next season, the pacey winger Jeffren has been promoted to Quique Costas' Barca B Team.

Jeffren´s outstanding qualities are his speed and technique. He makes powerful runs on the wings, using both feet and has a very strong and precise shot. Since joining Barca´s youth side from Tenerife, talented Jeffren has changed his style from being a goalgetter to providing and feeding others with chances to score. In Tenerife he scored about 20 goals each season while at Barca he scored 5 goals in 2 years.He changed from an individualist to a real team player, his game is more complete and can play in several different positions.

More Headaches for Frank Rijkaard

Javier Saviola has been ruled out for between four and six weeks after straining his thigh. The injury, together with Leo Messi's, leaves Barça with attacking problems.

After losing Eto'o and then Messi, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard must now contend with the absence of another forward in Saviola. The Argentinian striker has suffered "a small tear in his left thigh muscle," said a club medical bulletin. "The injury is in a risky area and it will take four to six weeks to recover from."

The former River goalscorer netted Barça's third of the night against Zaragoza, but incurred the injury in virtually the last action of the match. In the absence of Saviola, Rijkaard now has four forwards, Ronaldinho, Ludovic Giuly, Santi Ezquerro and Eidur Gudjohnsen, to choose from for the last few weeks of 2006.

Messi set for Tuesday surgery

The club's medical team have also said that Messi, who will be out for around threemonths, will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair his broken metatarsal bone in his left foot. Antoni Dalmau will be the doctor performing the surgery, which will take place at 9am in the Hospital Asepeyo in Sant Cugat.

Doctor Dalmau and Doctor Ricard Pruna, will then hold a press conference at 1pm in the Camp Nou.

These all players will be available for selection from January 2007, If they recover within the schedule. Barcelona has tough times ahead with Chamion League Qualification and World Club Championship lying ahead in the schedule.. The Three key members in the squad has to start firing in all cylinders - Ronnie, Deco, Xavi

A Night Of Mixed Feelings

FC Barcelona beat Zaragoza 3-1 tonight at the Nou Camp and are back at the top of the Spanish League table, as prior leaders Sevilla dropped two points after drawing at Racing Santander. In a close and entertaining match, Gabriel Milito opened the score for Zaragoza and Ronaldinho (2) and Saviola made the goals that sealed Barcelona's comeback.

However, there was also bad news tonight as Lionel Messi got injured and had to leave the pitch in the 23rd minute, being substituted by Ludovic Giuly. Medical tests performed on the Argentinian player after the match have confirmed that Messi suffered a fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone of his left foot, will need to undergo surgery and may be out for three months.

Barcelona are now the alone Liga leaders with 23 points. Sevilla, Real Madrid and Zaragoza come behind them.

The Plus point as far as Barca are concerned form the match are:

1) They are back to where they belong Top of the League...
2) Ronnie is showing every sign of recovering back to his usual form....
3) Barca came back well from a goal down...........
4) ronnie might have scored the Goal of La Liga....

I am adding the Links to 2nd and 3rd Goal here... Its posted by Richie... So sincerely using this oppurtuinity to thank him...