International Call Ups

Sport.es reports that Guardiola gave the players a piece of his mind after their dissappointing performance at Numancia.Guardiola is reported to have understood from early on that the players were not performing according to the plan. he was mostly worried about Messi who drifted to the centre to anchor the attck. Now this surprises me as Messi was forced to shift his position after he was losing all the one on one with Numancia defenders from the right. Guardiola was also critical particularly about Iniesta, who according to him completely lost his positioning sense and Alves who didn't come forward enough. Its good to hear that Guardiola is taking these seriously and trying to solve the problem as early as possible. But he needs to add a bit more versatility as I mentioned in my last post The way Forward.

But sadly for Guardiola he only have a limited number of his players to work with now - Valdes, Pinto, Alves, Víctor Sanchez, Sylvinho and Eto'o. Messi has already joined the Argentinian squad; Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Bojan were called up for Spain; Henry and Abidal for Spain; Hleb, Gudjonsen, Caceres, Keita, Toure all are been called up for their respective teams. The pleasant fact is that mostly Bojan would make his debut for Spain this time around. Seeing the way Ronaldinho performed in the last match for Milan; let's hope all these players get enough motivation to play well for their country and club.

The Way Forward

London based media centers were too happy to pounce on to FC Barcelona's defeat to lowly Numancia. Now that reaction from a media dedicated to a different league does reiterates the fact that a FC Barcelona revival is one thing these guys really fear. All these media houses were more than happy to see FC Barcelona failing to carry forward their pre-season form. For all the flair of the best team in England, Manchester United did fear a completely out of sort FC Barcelona last year. To the build up of that game the analysts actually predicted a drubbing of FC Barcelona by Ronaldo and Company (These are the same guys who equated Rooney to Pele, now which does not surprise isn't it?). So it is better to discard the match report and analysis these guys are bringing.

But there are some worrying signs for FC Barcelona. Firstly it comes from the Manager itself. Guardiola attributed the failure to a system Numancia played - "they put ten man on the ball and it is hard to break". I do agree that this was the truth and Numancia's game plan. But doesn’t he know about this? For the last two season every team whether big or small are doing this to us with very great success. In Camp Nou we were able to use the width of the pitch and the home crowd’s passion to overcome this, but away from home we simply failed to do anything about it. This has been happening for the last two seasons and is looking like to continue for some time also.

FC Barcelona under Rijkaard always played the fast, silky kind of football. This became the trademark of our style and no one wants the team to discard this style. Barcelona as a club always believed in playing football in a particular way and that connot be and need not be changed. But Guradiola cannot for once put everything behind this style. The problem with FC Barcelona attack is that they are very predictable. None of the players will try something new. So it becomes easy to defend. Look at what Numancia did; the moment Barcelona goes forward they crowd themselves in and around the box. There is a 90% guarantee that FC Barcelona midfielders or defenders will not try the long range shots even though they have guys like Marquez, Xavi and Toure who can do that well. This were Guardiola needs to immediately look into - he needs to make sure that there is a plan B which can be used when nothing else is working. Some long range shots would at least draw some defenders out of the box and that could open up the space.

The second matter Guardiola needs to look into it is the lack of tempo on attack. FC Barcelona during the early part of Rijkaard era played the most exciting style of football. One aspect of that was the speed with which it was played. They regularly caught the defense off-guarded through their skill and most importantly speed. The Ronaldinho goals in Bernabeu were prime examples of these. He needs to look into thios in training session. In the Numancia match also the moment Bojan and Hleb came we looked more potent in attack; because they were able to instill huge pace into proceeding. In this aspect he has to make a decision whether a not so full fit and agile Henry needs to start or not? These two aspects need to be addressed in the training grounds. There is no need to panic about this defeat; but there surely a need to introspect the team. I haven't touched upon the defensive issues here as it does not look like is going to have an easy solution. A replacement for Abidal needs to be looked in. But for the time being FC Barcelona needs to concentrate more on the offensive versatility. Our strength always has been the amount of clear cut chances we created and they look like drying up. Pep, its time to act now.

Numancia vs Barcelona Match Photos

Away Troubles Continues; Numancia-1, Barcelona-0

FC Barcelona was condemned to their second consecutive away defeat by newly promoted Numancia. Numancia created history last night by defeating Barcelona for the first time in the history. An early Mario goal was enough to spoil Guardiola's debut as manager in the La Liga. FC Barcelona is showing every signs of continuing their awful away record of last season in to this one. Last season they managed to win just five games away from home. I have written a post regarding FC Barcelona's problems titled, Watch Out Pep, many of the matters written there is proven right again. There were statement issued by coach and players about the intentions to win well and win back fans confidence. But nothing happened last night. FC Barcelona started the match with the line-up I predicted in my preview to this match. Alves and Abidal joined Puyol and Marquez in defense. Toure was at last picked to anchor the defensive role in midfield. Iniesta and Xavi formed the attacking pair behind Henry, Eto and Messi.

The first half began well with both the team running into each other at regular occasion. Abidal, who had a particularly bad night was the first one to create one chance; yup he created it for Numancia. He made a mess of clearing a ball in the 6th minute which fell straight to Numancia forward who shot high. FC Barcelona saw their first attack in the 7th minute after good work from Henry but his shot from a very tight angle was comfortably blocked by the goal keeper. In the 10th minute Iniesta cleverly clips the ball to Messi who breaks the offside trap and places the ball to Xavi who did well to lob it back to Eto; but Eto's shot was agaonisingly wide. FC Barcelona payed for the lost chance in the 13th minute when Numancia scored to go one ahead. The move started in the midfield when Alves carelessly gave away the ball. The ball reached Bellvis on the left whose cross picked up unmarked Mario (doesn't surprise isn't it?); Valdez had no chance against Mario. Abidal could be held responsible for leaving Mario free when he rushed into the middle, but Yaya or Xavi never tried to switch into the vacuum left by Abidal on the left. All this pre-season we were conceding goals in the same fashion. Guardiola needs to immediately look into this. Barcelona players switches position effectively in attack but does not know what to do in defense. FC Barcelona responded immediately to the goal with a great pass from Messi to henry who shot straight at Goalie. He should have passed it to Eto who was in a better position. In the 16th minute Eto's shot from outside the box clipped the crossbar after a lovely lay-off by Iniesta. After this through out the first half Barcelona found it difficult to break a crowded, determined Numancia defense. In 22nd minute Alves got into act and provided a great pass from right, but no one could get on to the pass. Then late in the first half Xavi had a half chance but he shot wide.

The second half started similiar with Barcelona finding it difficult to find a way pass the Numancia defense. In the 49th minute Messi's shot was defelected wide by defense after a great play by this little genius. In the 54th minute Henry's unassuming cross from far left was almost turned into the goal by the Numancia defense. Guardiola brought in Hleb for Toure, Bojan for Henry and Keita in for Iniesta and the tempo of the game began to change. In the 69th minute the Numanicia goal keeper brought in a good save to deny Eto. In the 72nd minute Bojan was denied by the goalie after a great work in the box. But the best chance fell to Bojan in the 76th minute when he headed awfully wide with the Goal Keeper half beaten from an excellent chip from Messi. In the 78th minute Messi shot from outside the box was straight at goalie and Keita shot wide from long range in the 86th minute. Why Barcelona waited till the last period to try some long range shot is baffling? Especially when it was clear that it would be difficult to break a crowded Numancia defense, Xavi and Toure should have tried this much early. This would have drawn the defense out of the box leaving spaces. Another easy chance was wasted in the 87th minute when Eto headed wide from a great Keita pass. Then in the last minute of normal time Barcelona won a free kick outside the box who shot hit the post. That may summarize the entire night, with Barcelona failing to find the net and any luck.

Barcelona fans might be upset, but still justify the defeat in the name of "No Luck". But everyone should remember that we are doing this for quite some tim and it needs some serious look-in. Barcelona's style is the short passes clubbed with Individual flair. But they have to have a plan-B; it is easy to try some long range shots from Xavi and Toure especially the defense is stuck in the box. This will draw the defense out and leave spaces. Whatever we have to give credit where it is due. Numancia defense was exceptional; they didn't do anything spectacular but knew what they were doing. They effectively shut off Messi that forced him to move into the middle from right. Abidal had a terrible night, Messi was average with losing almost all of the one on one battles; Alves looked pathetic with his crosses; Iniesta was literally invisible and Eto wasn't sharp. that sums up all the match perfectly.

Numancia vs Barcelona Preview

Barcelona opens their La Liga campaign of the 2008-09 tomorrow against newly promoted Numancia at Los Pajaritos. Barcelona would be hoping to wipe out the memories of the Wisla Krakow defeat with their first win away from home in this season's competitive fixture.Moreover Guardiola may want his team to send out a message of intent to the League rival as early as possible. Any stumble at the start may put serious pressure on Guardiola. Numancia is not expected to pose a serious challenge to this strong side; but Guardiola should have already understood that Barcelona's away record and defensive record are not the one which is going to see him through this match. Barcelona should easily outscore their opponents.

Guardiola has announced his squad for the match. Messi comes back to the squad which is as follows : Valdes, Pinto, Caceres, Alves, Abidal, Puyol, Pique, Marquez, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Keita, Toure Yaya, Iniesta, Messi, Hleb, Henry, Eto'o and Bojan. Valdes is expected to guard the net; but who all will form the Defense is still a question. Most probably we would see a combination of Abidal, Puyol, Marquez and Alves combination. Midfield should be formed by Iniesta and Xavi along with Toure/Keita. Guardiola should resist his temptation to prefer Keita over Toure. The forward line up is guaranteed to be made up of Messi, Eto and Henry. Overall this side should finish off Numancia challenge as early as possible. Then in football you can't predict anything, right?

Barcelona Champions League Opponents

Barcelona could not have asked for more. They along with Chelsea got the easiest groups. I would say Barcelona's group looks like the easiest of all. Barcelona is in Group C along with the likes of F C Basel, Sporting Lisbon and F C Shakhtar Donetsk. The draw looks like a cake walk for Barcelona but then we should never forget what Wisla did to us. In contrast to Barcelona, the other Spanish sides were not so lucky. Real Madrid is placed in a group which could become very tricky along with Zenit, Juventus and BATE. If Zenit and Arshavin can recreate some of the magic which made them UEFA cup champions, then that group surely is destined to see some surprise. Villareal who finished 2nd last season ahead of Barcelona also got into a messy group along with Defending champions Manchester United, Celtic and the Danish side Aalborg BK. Celtic has shown it many a time recently that they are very capable of competing against the best in Europe. Athletico Madrid is paired with Liverpool, PSV and Marseille. This is also a potential trouble some group especially considering the way Liverpool qualified. Let’s take a look at Barcelona's opponents in group stage.

F C Basel is the defending Swiss Super League champions; Their Home jersey is almost same as the present Barcelona Home jersey. F C Basel was knocked out of the Uefa Cup tie last season by Sporting Lisbon. They usually play a 4-5-1 formation and are renowned for playing a attacking style of football. That should make it easy for Barcelona. Their major players are Marco Streller, Franco Costanzo (gk), Carlos Alberto Alves Garcia commonly known as Carlitos and Ivan Ergic. Sporting Lisbon along with Benifica and Porto formed the big three of Portugal. But in contrast to Benifica and Porto, they were never that successful in Europe. They finished second to F C Porto in Portuguese League. Like Barcelona Sporting's youth academy has churned out some serious talents like Figo, Ronaldo, nani, Quaresma etc. Their squad includes the likes of Moutinho, Postiga, Vladimir Stojkovic, Fabio Rochemback, Anderson Polga etc. FC Shakhtar Donetsk is the defending Ukranian league champions. Their major players include Brandao, Darijo Srna, Vyacheslav Shevchuk and Luiz Adriano.

At least on paper we have almost got a place booked for knock-out stage. But complacency and lack of attention could be Barcelona's greatest enemy. As Laporta said "On paper it looks like a manageable group, but we have enough experience to know we need to be attentive and not over-confident. We have to respect all our rivals and work hard."

First Defeat; Wisla Krakow -1, Barcelona F C - 0

Wisla Krakow became the first Polish side to defeat Barcelona, all thanks to a goal from Brazilian Cleber. Cleber's 52nd minute goal thus condemned Barcelona to their first defeat of the season and first in the Guardiola regime. This leg was like a dead rubber and the lack of intensity could be attributed to that. I have written a post about the problems Guardiola needs to tackle in this season, and I am proven right by this result. This match should not be considered alone; instead it should be analysed along with a last gasp victory against Boca. These two matches were the tougheset we have encountered this season. One was against a good opponent at home without Messi, other one was an away match again without Messi. Barcelona fans will start pointing out the unavailability of Messi as the decisive factor and most probably will curse Blatter and FIFA for this. But I have a question - If Messi gets injured in mid-season, what will happen? This result proves that we need a reinforcement who can give a different option Up front. May be Arshavin is still that option. Whatever let's comeback to the game. Guardiola is stubborn in proving my expected squad wrong. He used Iniesta in the far right upfront along with Eto and Henry. Toure, Keita and Xavi formed the midfield. On what basis did Guardiola assumed that Keita will do a job like Deco and Iniesta in that position? This also prove one more thing - that only one of Toure or Keita is needed in the starting eleven, especially when playing a 4-3-3 formation. The defense was made up of Pique, Abidal, Puyol and Alves. As usual Valdez did all kind of non-sence under the bar.

There were some early attack from Barcelona in the first half. All were organised by the most unlikeliest of source - Thierry Henry. Ya, you heard it right. He had one of the better games and could be highlighted as the best player in Barcelona attack. The first attack Eto wasted with a weak header, the second was intercepted by the defense ahead of Iniesta. Then in the 20th minute Valdez showed his true colour, he held on to a back pass from Pique for long and when pressurised cleared it straight to the path of Lobodzinski whose shot went agaonisingly wide of the post. Then in the 36th minute Barcelona's inherent problem with aerial ball came into forefront. Marek Zienczuk's cross from the left was headed by an unmarked Pawel Brozek, but Valdez did well to hold on to a difficult shot. Just three minutes to the half time Barcelona's best moment of the match came from an Iniesta run who placed the ball for Henry, but Henry placed it wide.

After the half Barcelona conceded their first goal of this year's champions league competition. Cleber was left unmarked in the 52nd minute corner and valdez could not stop his header. Valdez should have done better than that. Barcelona reacted immediately with Eto forcing a save from the keeper after wonderful work by Iniesta. In the 62nd minute Pique's header was directed on to the crossbar from a Xavi corner. In the 69th minute Barcelona was almost caught off gaurd by a rampant Lobodzinski from the right but his shot went wide. Then in the 81st minute Tore wasted another chance and just before the end Bojan who came as a substitute wasted the most important chance after some initial good work.

Alarms bell should already run across Barcelona line-up because of this defeat. But many questions have to be raised about the line-up selected. If Guardiola was interested in having both Keita and Toure in the line-up, wouldn't it be sensible to use a 4-4-2 formation. Then he is the boss.