FC Barcelona is set to miss out on the service of Victor Valdes for a period of three to six weeks after picking up a calf injury in last night friendly. Valdes, who is easily Barca's best player on the pitch since the start of the season tore his calf muscle after starting the second half against South Africa. The game ended with a surprising defeat for the defending world champions. With Valdes missing our porous defense could be tested really badly in the coming weeks.
"Football is strange; Football fans are stranger,but strangest are the Journalist who writes abut football". The fore-mentioned statement could act as a bible when dealing with Catalan media especially the likes of Mundo Deportivo and Sport. Otherwise how can you explain this. A few months back when Jonathan Dos Santos decided to stay in the club and fight for his chances, they went after him. Now it's the turn of Victor Valdes, who has made it clear that he will not be extending his contract beyond 2014. They call him disloyal, ungrateful, foolish, stubborn etc for giving the management enough time to prepare to find a replacement. What did these two players did to deserve this? Valdes didn't speak behind our back nor did he tried the blackmailing tactics widely used to get a better deal. He may not get a better deal than what he had at Barca anywhere else. But he still wanted to move away from the club, the reasons all personal to him and he don't owe anyone any explanation.
Perspective, it's not a bad thing to have especially when the times are difficult. That also raises the big question - "Are these times tough?". My answer will be a resounding no, but we football fans have a tendency to forget the past and panic without any reason. So when I say tough times, it only refers to the losing of Super Copa and some reaction of Cules to our defense and Keeper after that. Oxford dictionary defines the term Perspective as "true understanding of the relative importance of things; a sense of proportion". Yup, A Sense of Proportion, that's what we are missing now. I am really fed up with people calling for Valdes, Adriano and some even Mascherano all to be sold. Come on guys, a week before we were praising them for their brilliant performance against the same side at the Camp Nou - FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid First leg Highlights. Ok, may be not Valdes.
My last post on Valdes and Spanish National Team ended with a hope that Valdes somehow manages to get into the World Cup squad. How things have changed drastically. When I wrote my previous post I was conviced that Del Bosque was never going to pick Valdes for Spain. Such has been Valdes' performance since my post, Vicente del Bosque can no longer overlook Valdes for the World Cup squad. Last week's El Clasico saw Valdes comfortably seeing off any danger from one of the most attacking teams in La Liga. Prior to that we saw some exceptionally solid acts against the likes of Arsenal and a host of Spanish side. Valdes has been always considered as an error-prone keeper, hence it is quite surprising that I can't remember the last mistake he did. Yes, he has been playing in an error-free way for some time, completely unlike the Valdes we know. Hence it is no surprise that he is leading the Zamoras list by a comfortable margin.
Victor Valdes is undoubtedy the most successful goal keeper in FC Barcelona's history. He has won 3 La Liga titles, 2 Champions League titles and had succeeded in kissing the Copa Del Rey trophy and the World Club Championship. He is undoubtedly the No.1 choice for Barca. FC Barcelona management last season tried to find a replacement for Valdes, but in the end decided that he is the best option available for Barca. He has been a part of Spanish Under - 19, Under - 20, Under - 21 squad but is still waiting for his first Spanish National Team call ups. It is quite strange to see such a successful Goal Keeper failing to make into the squad of Spain's Nationa side. Such is the abundance of Goal Keeping talents in the Spanish National side. Spainish Captain Iker Casillas remains undoubtedly the first choice and remains miles ahead of competition. Pepe Reina, a Barca Youth team product remains the second choice and rarely gets a chance due to the dominance of San Iker. Diego Lopez has been the third choice for so long and he is supported by his consistent performnace.
Barcelona custodian, Victor Valdes has signed a new contract whihc will see him playing for the club till 2014. The contract negotiation with Barca's No.1 goal keeper and the club has been stalled in many occasion. Victor Valdes has been looking to improve his contract taking him par with the best paid players in the club. It is not yet known what will his salary but his buy-out clause has been set to 150 million Euros. There was huge drama with Valdes contract negotiations throughout last season. Valdes was looking for a better pay from the begining but in the middle of season it was rumoured that Barca were willing to part with their custodian as Valdes held firm on his demands. But the unavailability of any of the top Goal Keepers made Barca's job a tough one and they did come to a conclusion that Valdes was the best of the rest.
Victor Valdes attempt to get himself a new much improved contract is not new. Actually few weeks back he has kind of issued an ultimatum and that resulted in Barca looking for a decent option. But recently there were reports emerging that FC Barcelona were ready to offer him what he demands. Aparently the Catalan establishment has come to a decision that "Valdes is the best of the available lot". Many of Barca fans could be annoyed with such a finding, For the fans Valdes has been the weak-link in a near-perfect side. But I always believed that he is the best we can have. My previous post emphasise on that - Being Valdes. Nobody can dis-respect his contribution to the team - especially two one on one saves he pulled up against Henry in Champions League final and another splendid save against Real Madrid earlier this season. But between these remarkable feats he has performed unbelievable blunders and that worries the fans. With Valdes we all feel that we can be never sure about a low scoring victory.
Two months ago I used to dream of a day when Victor Valdes would really keep a clean sheet. Now Valdes have kept a clean sheets for three successive matches that too against the likes of Sevilla, Valencia and Real Madrid. This would have given Victor Valdes some breathing space and a temporary stoppage from being ridiculed as the biggest blunder of FC Barcelona. Victor Valdes have played an essential part in the 2-0 victory against Real Madrid. In many fans' opinion including mine, he was deservingly the "Man of The Match" in the "El Classico". Now that's another surprise isn't it? Who would have thought that in an "El Classico" edition the Goal Keepers would come out on top? 
