Transfer Season Opens In Style

Another season got over and the transfer window has been thrown open. This is the time when half-truths and total lies rule the world of football. I will try to brief all the latest transfer rumours about Barca here. But I can't guarantee anyone about the amount in truth in these rumours. If it was all true, there would have been no fun in it. The first news which has caught my attention is that Barca is keen on extending Valdes' service till 2014. Now that does not surprise anyone, does it? He had a great series of showing and was expecte dto be rewarded for that. Meanwhile sylvinho has been released by the club. He has not yet found a club to get in, but it is more or less clear that Barca is not keen on extending his contract. Today Sport.es has reported that the club has decided against loaning out Bojan next season. There were earlier reports of Bojan being loaned out for a year, so that he can get more playing time. But it seems Barca will be able to give him decent amount of playing time next season.

Samuel Eto has been linked left, right and centre with a host of clubs. Eto has re-iterated his intentions to remain in Barca. But the club looks like have decided to cash on him, if they can find a replacement. Manchester City is supposed to be ready to splash cash get him, there was another rumour suggesting a possible exchange between Ibrahmovic and Eto. Let's wait and watch what comes out of this saga. Meanwhile Real Madrid transfer saga is going in full flow. It looks like they have almost grabbed Kaka and is looking to sign Ronaldo, Ribery, Silva and Villa. Silva and Ribery has been our target and the interest shown by a host of clubs will inflate their respective prices. Another strange rumour is the possibility of John Arne Riise joining Barca. Fc Barcelona has been looking someone to strengthen the left back side. Riise's name has suddenly got into the scheme of things.

Where Should We Re-Inforce?

FC Barcelona will be having a along and much tougher next season. We will be fighting for six trophies altogether as I explained in my previous post. Guardiola has already asked for a larger squad that means we will be going to the market looking to buy good re-inforcement. Guardiola has also said that he don't want injuries to hamper his team selection like the way it did in Rome. More over Gudjohnsen and Hleb will be moving out this summer and you need decent cover-up for them also. Now to make things more complicated for him, there is a bunch of youngsters who are knocking on the doors. Bojan case could be tricky but I expect him to stay as there are more matches next season for him. Then there are the likes of Pedro, Jeffren, Muniesa, Sanchez etc who all has to be given decent time with first team. Otherwise we might see many moving out in coming summers. Now this could be a real nightmare for Guardiola.But every pundit agree on one fact that FC Barceloan has to buy big this season. Injuries to some stars put us in some serious pressure recently and we don't want a repeat of the same.

When we say about a re-inforcement we most probably has to look in a position by position basis. So I will start from the back. Victor Valdes has been fighting for a contract on par with the big guns in the side for sometime. FC Barcelona recently has sounded positive in handing him a contract which is agreeable to both the parties. And his recent performance in League and Europe do merit a new contract. But FC Barcelona should definitely try to sign a better goal keeper if available like the likes of Cech, Buffon etc. If they are not available, Valdes will remain our first choice but we have to bring a decent back up for him, as a second choice. Jorquerra should be allowed to leave and should be replaced by a young goal keeper. Oier Olazabal did impress me but may need more time to be competitive in the premier league. Now comes the centre back position; if people thinks we need reinforcement there, they should be crazy. Puyol, Marquez, Milito, Caceres, Pique and most probably Henrique to choose from; I don't think we need anymore there. Next is the full-backs; we definitely need re-inforcement there. Someone like Lahm would be ideal as he can play as both full-backs and we already have Puyol who can play in both position. There are reports of Barca going for Lahm, let's hope all of these work-out.

Now we come to the engine of Barca - the midfield. We have the best trio in there with Iniesta, Xavi and Toure. the likes of Busquest and Keita can cover for them. But we saw this season what happens when we miss either of Iniesta and Xavi from the middle. So we need a real creative head as a cover for any injuries to the wonderful duo. Valencia's Silva will be the most ideal choice as he can play in the front left also. That means he will be the perfect choice for two positions. The name of Fabregas is also heard for that positionl; eventhough he would be great, he will be more costlier than Silva. Upfront also we need some re-inforcement. First we have to tie Eto to a new contract. Then we should buy a decent striker who will have no problem in starting from the bench. Someone like Martins of Newcastle could be a good choice as he is surely talented and will add a bit for threat in air also. We also need to have a cover for the aging Henry and who else sould be perfect than another French Man - Frank Ribery. The most ideal choice for that left position would be Kaka and Ribery but we will have to fight really hard with Real Madrid for one of them. Barca has never shown any intereste in Kaka, so we can discard him from the list. But there is a host of clubs which are after Ribery. So we have to wait and watch, how these story develops.

What's Next For Guardiola?

It will be difficult for Guardiola to look back into history and draw his plans for the future; because he stands alone in this wonderful juncture of footballing history. No coach has achieved the coveted treble in his opening season and Guardiola understands the significance of the same more than anyone. After the match in Rome, he said "I have achieved everything and I will be leaving tomorrow". That was just meant as a joke, but it also revealed that Guardiola understand the magnitude of his achievement. Guardiola has more trophies to look forward for next season but he needs to keep himself and his players firmly rooted to ground. There is a high chance that the players could be a bit complacent on the wake of the biggest achievement in La Liga history. FC Barcelona would be competing for six trophies next season. The two super cups, the World Club Championship, the La Liga, the Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. That means that is going to be another lengthy and tougher season and any complacency from his or his players part will be scrutinised heavily by media.

Guardiola has to be the most well-equipped manager to handle complacency. He has brought in discipline and accountability to this Barca side and has never deviated from for whole of the season. The fining players for being late by a minute after the League triumph serves the best example for that. But the extend of challenge that lie ahead for him is enormous. We have a high chance of ending trophyless next season, but then again we have a chance to end next season with half a dozen trophies. The first two trophies are the Supercopa de España and the UEFA Super Cup both will be held in August. Since Barca were the winners of both La Liga and Copa Del Rey, Atletic Bilbao will be our opponent in Spanish Super Cup. FC Barcelona will be playing Shaktar Donetsk in teh UEFA Super Cup which will be held on the 28th of August at Louis 2 Stadium in Monaco. Victories in these trophies will not be highlighted by the media but failure will surely be. Then the League will start and then Champions League and Copa Del Rey.

Guardiola has rightly emphasized on the need to have a larger squad next season. We will be playing constantly next season and we should definitely have re-inforcements ready for critical position. I will highlight those in my next post. Guardiola's advantage of coaching Barca B should also come into picture as we should be able to see new talents emerge from the youth structure. Guardiola and Txiki Begiristain quest in Transfer Market would be made difficult by the presence of Real Madrid and Manchester City, both of them reportedly have a 250 million tranfer kitty available. Add the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and the newly rich Portsmouth, Barca will have some tough time ahead in the market. FC Barcelona will definitely have the advantage in signing players because of his history and recent success, but the presence of so much rival clubs will simply hike the price.

Another matter which will require immediate attaenction from Guardiola will be about negotiating the contracts about key players. The most important will be Eto, Valdes and Toure. In Eto's case both parties involved has expressed their interest in penning a long lasting deal. Valdes also for me will be given a deal which is wort his stature as his recent exploits have been good fro Barca. There is no doubt that Toure is the best defensive midfielder in the world right now and Guardiola has to be a fool to let him go. He also needs to find proper clubs for Hleb and Gudjohnsen and seriously has to come out in open with what he plans to do with Bojan. Bojan is a huge talent and he has to decide whether he will be able to give him enough playing time or has to find a club to loan him out. Tha fans and players can take some rest after a gruelling and delightful season but sadly not GUardiola.

Winning Beautifully Is not Impossible

FC Barcelona's triumph in Rome did shatter some firm belief held by English media and English clubs. The biggest has to be the "English Clubs" claim to be the most potent attacking force in the world. That belief was shattered rather brilliantly by one of the most attacking team in the history of the game. FC Barcelona vs Manchester United was supposed to be a mis-match, according to some English media. They said the same last season also. FC Barcelona was having all kind of defensive worries and their attack was considered impotent to break a defense which kept clean sheets for eternity. This precise thinking for me led to Manchester United's downfall as I pointed out in my previous post Why Manchester United were Stunned by FC Barcelona in the Final?. But this victory also destroys the usual claim by English clubs, fans and media to ridicule Barca's style of playing. According to English media, FC Barcelona play a brand of football which looks good for viewing but is deemed to be incappable in winning titles. And even if they do, then could only do in a league where even the bottom placed team come out to attack the champions. But then you will be compelled to ask, how else should the beautiful game be played? I recently came adcross an article by Richard Williams of Guardian - Barcelona's triumph holds hope for Arsène Wenger's brand of football. That article precisely points out the state of English football. English Premier League is indeed the most toughest league in world right now; but I haven't heard someone calling it as the most brilliant or exciting league in the world. How can someone call this league an exciting one when Ballack who was supposed to be the most exciting Genrman midfielder plays like a defensive midfielder in Chelsea and still gets payed more than 100,000 pounds per week. My room-mate(who is a Chelsea fan) still don't understand why they extended his deal.

But if you have thought the brilliant display by Barca in Rome could make the Big four of English League to be more attacking, then you are wrong. The early indication is that pundits are calling for a Chelsea like approach against Barca as they have finally agreed that Barca are the masters in their own style of playing. They also seemed to be agreeing and appreciating the fact that they are the only team capable of playing an attacking brand of football and still winning. Only Chelsea fans and pundits seems to differ. I have agreed earlier that FC Barcelona was indeed lucky to get past Chelsea. But then to an extend you can say that Chelsea digged their own grave by the wasy they played football. Atleast after Barca were reduced to ten men they could have sealed the match, but they will hardly leave their box and in a cruel turn of fate they were eliminated by an Iniesta screamer. But I have read some Chelsea fans comments that FC Barcelona's triumph over Manchester United is equal to Chelsea winning the Champions League. I have only one answer to that - dream on. Shaktar Donetsk has beaten us at our home does that make the reigning UEFA cup winner good for the title of UEFA Champions League winner?

But in between all these triump, everyone forgot a bigger fact. A fact which became existent in England. The fact that a good youth system can bring success for the club. English clubs have long abandoned the youth academies which once made them proud. The new owners does not find any merit in investing in young talents. The Manchester side which achieved the treble prior to this Barcelona side had a bunch of recruits honned and nurtured by the club. The success of that Manchester United side has to be associated to that philosophy as it becomes difficult for rival clubs to grab these talents. Just look at the continuing Ronaldo saga. The FC Barcelona side which triumphed at Rome had six home-grown players which started the match and seven altogether who played in the match. Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Puyol, Pique and Valdes are one of the best in their respective departments at this moment. THe second line of supply is already there with Bojan, Pedro, Jeffren, Muniesa, Sanches, etc. Some may part ways but still will dream about a day of returning back. The big four in English football and Italian football would do a world of good for them and the nation by getting their focus back to Youth structure.

European Champions Arrive at Home

Why Manchester United were Stunned by FC Barcelona in the Finals?

This one was billed as the "Mother of All Final". It indeed had to be. The final of this year's UEFA Champions League featured The Champions of Spain and England. Manchester United were the defending Champions and having won the Premier League for the third consecutive time was the prime candidate to retain their title, at least according to English Media. FC Barcelona, even though they had the most strongest attack on the earth, the English media and pundits gave them no chance owing to their defensive fragility. To add it all their attack struggled against Chelsea and was written off as "Not Good Against English Clubs". The English media had all predicted the outcome of this final before hand and was only waiting to see how well Manchester United is going to kill Barca. But the match turned out to be the biggest surprise for the English media. To their astonishment, FC Barcelona won and to add to their injuries FC Barcelona never had to play well to win this final. They weren't anywhere near their potential, still they kept a very talented Manchester United team under check.

This match was not only a clash between two giant clubs in Europe; it was also a match between a the most successful coach in club history against a rookie coach. At the end of the match you have to admit that FC Barcelona coach Guardiola came on top. I never considered Guardiola as a tactical genius; he is more a man manger kind of coach. But he completely had Ferguson under check. Numerous Postmortem has been conducted by English media about ManU's failure, but I doubt anything has been accurate. Most of them are finding it difficult to point fingers at Ferguson, a person they have always admired. Ronaldo may have directed the blame to Ferguson with his post-match comments about tactics. But his second half performance did not merit any merit either. More over he said he wasn't sure about his future in the post-match comments; that comment was a bigger shame. He should have taken heart-broken Manchester United fans into consideration before saying something which adds to their misery.

But their is no doubt in my mind about the fact that Ferguson has to take a majority of the blame. He never gave this Barca side the respect they deserved before the match and again failed to read the game at half-time. Many people has directed the entire blame to the starting eleven he chose. But for me that's a bit strange. You ask every pundit before the match they would have wanted a similar starting eleven. So for me his starting eleven choice was more or less accurate. More over 4-3-3 formation was a better choice than the 4-4-2 formation, as Barca had two old legs as full backs. For me Ferguson and his players took all the hype created by the English media about ManU's defense and Barca's defensive worries into the head. Manchester United came out with an absolute belief that this FC Barcelona side would never be able to score against them. The reaction of Manchester United defensive players after conceding the first goal is a testimony of this. They stood their looking totally confused as this was not part of their script. To decide that this talented FC Barcelona side will never be able to score against them was for me arrogance at its best. Manchester United always had a better chance of outscoring us because of our problems with the absentees we had in defense.

But what made Manchester United's pursuit a complete lost one was the inability of Ferguson to read the game at half time. There was no doubt that Manchester United was losing the midfield battle completely. Iniesta and Xavi were drawing circles around Anderson and Carrick. What Manchester United needed was a double substitution at half time. he should have taken off Anderson for Scholes and Park for Tevez. But he did half of each - Andesron for Tevez. This meant that they will go back to 4-4-2 formation. That tactic completely changed the match in Barca's favour. In the first half Rooney regularly troubled Puyol with his pace, eventhough his crossing was appalling. The logical thing to do was to move Tevez to centre and put Ronaldo against Sylvinho on the right in a 4-3-3 formation. But instead he chose the 4-42 formation that means the full back had more time to deal with the wingers. That is illustrated by the fact that Puyol had an error free game after the half time.

By not employing Scholes early in second half, Ferguson allowed Barca's midfield to completely dominate the possession. Scholes would have tried his best to make life difficult for atleast Busquets. But that was not to be. And also I have to question his decision to have Ferdinand in starting line-up ahead of Evans. Ferdinand and Vidic looked out of sync for majority of the match. Meanwhile Guardiola produce a tactical masterstroke by moving Messi to middle ahead of the midfield. That made sure that Messi, Iniesta and Xavi linked well at will. Apart from that he never had to work his brain. Everything went perfect according to his script - an early goal, Complete domination by Barca and a timely goal to settle the match. One of the best thing about this Champions League season is that it has catapulted Iniesta to greatness. He is a very media shy person and would never appear in limelight. But his performance in last few months have made people compare him with Messi and Ronaldo. Just listen to Rooney, a man who would have only one answer to the "Best Player on The Planet" debate a few days back - Rooney said and I qoute "I think Iniesta is the best player in the world right now. They pass the ball so well. If you don't take your chances against them, they will punish you." For all ManU fans who is reading this - don't take these comments personally, just take a moment and go through it, you will agree with my views.

Fans Celebrating FC Barcelona's Champions League Triumph