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).

A Splendid Barca Show

Riding on the form of Messi and Eto'o, Barcelona eased away the challenge posed by Valencia at the Mestalla. With this victory Barcelona somehow ended their winless away streak. This is only the second away win of the season and with Madrid match round the corner, Rijkaard could not have asked for more. The only blemish in a surprisingly brilliant Barca was the injury to Messi, which will keep him out for close to five weeks.

Eto did waste a wonderful ball from Messi in the early stage of the match, but that could be count as the only blemish in his awesome performance. When Messi supplied the ball for the first goal, even the most optimistic supporter of Barca would not have imagined a chance of Goal. I only expected him to strike it with utmost power from that angle. Then he is Samuel Eto, he created the Goal from nowhere. What a marvelous piece of skill. The second Goal was a usual Barca move which saw Messi and Iniesta adding swiftness to the move and Eto finishing it in his classic style. If it was not for the legendary Canizares Barcelona would have destroyed Valencia by a huge margin.

Even the fiercest supporter of Barca will agree on one thing- the lack of quality displayed by this unbelievably talented Valencia side. Only for a ten minute duration at the start of second half, they were never in the match. Even if he take into consideration the number of injured players, Valencia indeed should have done better. Barcelona never is the same threat when traveling away, but Valencia players simply disappointed. And how can I forget to mention the unselfishness shown by a young Giovani Dos Santos. He could have gone at the goal by himself, nobody would have complained but he chose to be different.

I have to admit that I like the two tactics employed by Rijkaard. First is playing Gudjonsen in midfield. That gives that extra attacker and a sense of unpredictability about the team. The second is the way he is protecting Ronaldinho from away match. Anyone who has watched Ronnie this season will agree that Ronnie plays like a King in Camp Nou and like a pauper away from the same. Since he is not firing in away matches and with the amount of players available, its make sense to use him in home matches more than away matches. this will help him bring back the confidence and he should be back to his normal best soon than later.

Messi injury overshadow the El Classico this week, but we still can beat Madrid as we played majestically at home through out this season. I expect Ronnie to start this season and expect him to combine with Eto to produce a marvelous match.

Below is the three goals of the match

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.