Barça is not having a sweet moment right now. The team dynamic is gone, the futbol quality is not present and on top of that they have not won in the last 5 games. Right now the question is: what has happened to this team that in less than 35 days ago was the envy of Europe? To make things worse, Real Madrid went from being 12 points away to being only 4 is less than a month!
The two Ps of Barça. I have come to an explanation for Barcelona’s successful game in the past months which consists on the application of these 2 Ps known as Pressure & Presence. Pressure refers to the defensive scheme that Guardiola had in which as soon as the rival team got the ball at least 2 Barça players would surround him thus making pressure on the pitch and make him lose the ball. This principle has been lost in the past month. For example, against Atletico Maxi Rodriguez would have the ball for 10 seconds and nobody would cover him. The end result was a dream coming back and a heartbreaking lost or Barça. The Second P refers to “presence” and it is about the presence of the so called “cracks” like Messi, Eto’o, Xavi, Puyol etc. these men have been away in the last couple of games and Barcelona suffer as a team. Messi seems to be getting back but sometimes even Messi is not enough.
The Path to Mestalla. Barça qualified for a place in the final of the King’s Cup for the first time in 11 years. However, to say that it was easy is to fool yourself. Atletico didn’t bring the best and neither did Espanyol; but tonight at the ONO Stadium Mallorca almost brought back the memories from Getafe 2 years go when they eliminate Barça while coming back from a 5-1. Pep Guardiola abandoned his principles yet again and the game displayed by Barca can be considered quite embarrassing. If the team is in Mestalla for the next final on May 13 is thanks to two men: Messi and Pinto. The Argentinean did what he does best; he came in the second half and scored the gol that tied the game 1-1 and sentenced the match. But the real hero was second goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto. The ex player from Celta stopped a penalty shot that would have been the 2-0 for Mallorca. Barca can be happy for being in the final but the way they are playing is way below expectations.
Morbid Weekend. This coming weekend the two final teams in the King’s Cup will meet in Nou Camp in the round 26 of La Liga. This will be a preview of what’s to come in May 13 at Mestalla. To make things more interesting Barcelona must get a victory to finally re-engaged in the positive dynamic they were in. The team cannot afford to give Real Madrid more chances to win La Liga. The memories of la liga 2006-07 are still fresh in the minds of the fans. However, it is not time to doubt but time to support the team. The qualifying for the final of the King’s Cup may be the beginning of the end of negative results.
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Showing posts with label Arango. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arango. Show all posts
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Craziness Begins
Round 24 of La Liga was played this weekend and it seems as though we have entered bizarro world. The environment right now reminds me of the days after Barça defeated Madrid at Nou Camp 2-0 where somebody that didn’t have idea about the classification would have thought that Madrid had already won the title. Right now that is the atmosphere in Spain; but the only difference is that right now Madrid has arguments valid for being that way because they have been adding 3 points every weekend whereas Barça have given away a couple of them. This is the situation: 3 weeks ago Barça was 12 points away from Madrid; today they are only 7.
The Crap-o-meter is activated: this imaginary device symbolizes what Barcelona fans are about. If after losing against Numancia on the first round somebody would have said to us that today, February 22nd, we would be with an advantage of seven points we would have been more than happy. However, now everybody doubts of this team, of the coach and everything. This team has shown that in attitude alone it can win matches that are key for winning any championship. So what would put an end to all these fears and worries? Winning in France against Lyon and in Madrid against Atletico next weekend; right now starts the key part of the season. It is believed that La Liga is won in the last 10 rounds and that is, to certain extends, true. But Pep doesn’t want to wait until the last 10 rounds. The idea is to enter them with the at least 10 points of difference.
Injuries and Ref doesn’t help. Yesterday we lost Abidal for at least 2 months due to an injury. During the week we also lost Iniesta but in his case is nothing that bad and he will be out for only 15 days. In fact, I’m almost sure that he will be ready before and will play against Atletico the next weekend. Right now all we can do is pray that Injuries finally respect us a little bit. Until now there hasn’t been many but one can only hope that we don’t see them again. Since 2005 we have seen Edmilson, Messi, Xavi, Motta, Larsson, Eto’o, and Iniesta missing big chunks of the seasons. Let’s hope Abidal is the last one to suffer one of these big curses. Add to that the fact that we have incompetent referees nowadays that try to be the highlight of the game. One referee was even suspended for 3 rounds after he clearly benefited Madrid against Osasuna. Yesterday, the referee did something that you never do as a ref; he listened to the petitions of one team and shows a straight red card that was worth of only a yellow. He conditioned the game and in the end he made everything easy for Espanyol to win at Nou Camp after 27 years.
Eto’o has matured. We all remember that shameful episode at Villafranca in 2007 when he publicly criticized Rijkaard and Ronaldinho after a misunderstanding. That time everybody questioned his professionalism after he drop such a bomb to the media who just couldn’t be happier after getting that many controversies in such a short period of time. We all doubted that he would change or he would stay. However, Eto’o has finally grown up as a person and thinks before he talks. This year he’s been very prudent with the media and what he says. In the last couple of weeks there was a lot of talk about his future and many in the media believed that he would be leaving the team after this season. To add more wood to the fire he said in an interview that he knew his future already but would not say anything to anybody. The media, hungry for controversy, dedicated the whole week to comment on this and making up all these theories about where he was leaving etc. But yesterday Samu was very mature and revealed his plans so the speculations would stop. He also asked the media to please comment on things about the game and leave the rest (rumours) to the end of the season. A tip of my hat to you Samu
The Crap-o-meter is activated: this imaginary device symbolizes what Barcelona fans are about. If after losing against Numancia on the first round somebody would have said to us that today, February 22nd, we would be with an advantage of seven points we would have been more than happy. However, now everybody doubts of this team, of the coach and everything. This team has shown that in attitude alone it can win matches that are key for winning any championship. So what would put an end to all these fears and worries? Winning in France against Lyon and in Madrid against Atletico next weekend; right now starts the key part of the season. It is believed that La Liga is won in the last 10 rounds and that is, to certain extends, true. But Pep doesn’t want to wait until the last 10 rounds. The idea is to enter them with the at least 10 points of difference.
Injuries and Ref doesn’t help. Yesterday we lost Abidal for at least 2 months due to an injury. During the week we also lost Iniesta but in his case is nothing that bad and he will be out for only 15 days. In fact, I’m almost sure that he will be ready before and will play against Atletico the next weekend. Right now all we can do is pray that Injuries finally respect us a little bit. Until now there hasn’t been many but one can only hope that we don’t see them again. Since 2005 we have seen Edmilson, Messi, Xavi, Motta, Larsson, Eto’o, and Iniesta missing big chunks of the seasons. Let’s hope Abidal is the last one to suffer one of these big curses. Add to that the fact that we have incompetent referees nowadays that try to be the highlight of the game. One referee was even suspended for 3 rounds after he clearly benefited Madrid against Osasuna. Yesterday, the referee did something that you never do as a ref; he listened to the petitions of one team and shows a straight red card that was worth of only a yellow. He conditioned the game and in the end he made everything easy for Espanyol to win at Nou Camp after 27 years.
Eto’o has matured. We all remember that shameful episode at Villafranca in 2007 when he publicly criticized Rijkaard and Ronaldinho after a misunderstanding. That time everybody questioned his professionalism after he drop such a bomb to the media who just couldn’t be happier after getting that many controversies in such a short period of time. We all doubted that he would change or he would stay. However, Eto’o has finally grown up as a person and thinks before he talks. This year he’s been very prudent with the media and what he says. In the last couple of weeks there was a lot of talk about his future and many in the media believed that he would be leaving the team after this season. To add more wood to the fire he said in an interview that he knew his future already but would not say anything to anybody. The media, hungry for controversy, dedicated the whole week to comment on this and making up all these theories about where he was leaving etc. But yesterday Samu was very mature and revealed his plans so the speculations would stop. He also asked the media to please comment on things about the game and leave the rest (rumours) to the end of the season. A tip of my hat to you Samu
Sunday, February 8, 2009
One More Step
It wasn’t until Barcelona played against Sporting at “El Molinon” stadium when we saw what Pep’s team could do. Before that game Barcelona was being hammered by the media after losing their first game against Numancia and then tying 1-1 against Racing at their debut at home. Four months later Barça received the first victim of their assault to La lIga.
Sporting dictates the pace. It wasn’t because they dominated the game nor because they showed a menacing attitude; instead, Sporting showed very little in the first minutes of the game and Barça knew how they had to play. Barça won despite the fact that they didn’t bring the A-game throughout the game; instead, they understood what Sporting came to do and showed that they were not going to need to bring the A-game. When a team is as effective as Barcelona is at this moment even a somehow good performance can be devastating. It is a shame that small teams such as Sporting don’t go to Nou Camp wanting to play but instead trying not to lose by too many goals. If the end result is going to be a lost game anyways they should instead create more danger play face to face to Barcelona. Getafe did it and got a point. Hey that’s something.
Sporting dictates the pace. It wasn’t because they dominated the game nor because they showed a menacing attitude; instead, Sporting showed very little in the first minutes of the game and Barça knew how they had to play. Barça won despite the fact that they didn’t bring the A-game throughout the game; instead, they understood what Sporting came to do and showed that they were not going to need to bring the A-game. When a team is as effective as Barcelona is at this moment even a somehow good performance can be devastating. It is a shame that small teams such as Sporting don’t go to Nou Camp wanting to play but instead trying not to lose by too many goals. If the end result is going to be a lost game anyways they should instead create more danger play face to face to Barcelona. Getafe did it and got a point. Hey that’s something.
Eto’o…21 goals and counting. When the Cameroonian scores the team wins; as simple as that; today he scored at minute 21 after a textbook counter attack lead by Iniesta. Then in minute 40 he scored again. And in the second half he almost scored twice. It’s been 2 seasons since we got somebody in Barcelona scoring 20+ goals. Coincidentally, the last 2 seasons were damned by injuries that did not help at all. Barcelona is walking straight to the title and Messi, Eto’o and Henry are leading the way. In all competitions they’ve scored 102 goals of which more than 60 have been by these 3 players. If injuries give Barcelona a break these team is going to break many more records including the most goals in la Liga in one season which currently stand at 107 goals by Real Madrid.
Top 10 Barça:
1- Messi (last week 1): today he didn’t score but created a lot of dangerous situation and combined well with Alves in the third goal.
2- Alves (last week 3): Amazing performance by Alves tonight. A beautiful goal that not many players can do. He still is my MVP of the year.
3- Eto’o (last week 5): he’s in love with the goal. When he scores Barça is heading to a victory. Don’t be surprise if he reaches the 30+ goal mark
4- Xavi (last week 2): a couple of places behind with respect to last week ranking not because he played bad or something like that but because the top 3 are just too good.
5- Iniesta (last week 4): Iniesta is just the kind of players that do their job and more. He created game and on top of that he’s very good on every one on one play.
6- Henry (last week 6): Can’t complain about anything he’s doing this season. He scores goals, he make passes on goals and is the reference of the team in the left wing.
7- Busquets (last week 10): today he did everything good. He creates game with very precise passes and he also recovers many balls during the game. He was called by the national team. Watch him become a key element of Barça in the future
8- Valdes (last week 8): Victor can be easily a top 5 player but he just doesn’t have too much work to do when the whole team plays good defence. Couldn’t do much in the goal today.
9- Puyol (last week NR): the captain debuts in this top 10 after coming from a minor injury. Didn’t have too much work today.
2- Alves (last week 3): Amazing performance by Alves tonight. A beautiful goal that not many players can do. He still is my MVP of the year.
3- Eto’o (last week 5): he’s in love with the goal. When he scores Barça is heading to a victory. Don’t be surprise if he reaches the 30+ goal mark
4- Xavi (last week 2): a couple of places behind with respect to last week ranking not because he played bad or something like that but because the top 3 are just too good.
5- Iniesta (last week 4): Iniesta is just the kind of players that do their job and more. He created game and on top of that he’s very good on every one on one play.
6- Henry (last week 6): Can’t complain about anything he’s doing this season. He scores goals, he make passes on goals and is the reference of the team in the left wing.
7- Busquets (last week 10): today he did everything good. He creates game with very precise passes and he also recovers many balls during the game. He was called by the national team. Watch him become a key element of Barça in the future
8- Valdes (last week 8): Victor can be easily a top 5 player but he just doesn’t have too much work to do when the whole team plays good defence. Couldn’t do much in the goal today.
9- Puyol (last week NR): the captain debuts in this top 10 after coming from a minor injury. Didn’t have too much work today.
10- Bojan (last week NR): Bojan didn’t play tonight but he did play against Mallorca last Thursday. He’ll be a reference of this team in the future.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Effortless Victory
Was that a semi-final? That is the question many people who followed the Barcelona VS Mallorca game asked after seeing such a low standard encounter. Being a semi-final of what it used to be the second most prestigious tournament in Spain turned out to be a pseudo- friendly match between these two teams. Let’s be honest, the king’s cup is no longer a desired cup for big clubs such as Barcelona; and it’s even worst for teams in relegation zone in the league as they basically care more for staying in the first division which is perfectly understandable. The script was well written. Barça: Top team in his way to winning the league and with hopes for their 3rd European crown. Mallorca on the other hand is battling to stay in first division and winning this cup will do nothing for that cause. The final result? Teams playing their bench players, fans not showing up to the game.
Barça takes a nap and win. Slow game, poor spectacle with only 2 players giving us a reason to care; I’m talking about Bojan and Iniesta. But I cannot blame Barcelona for napping all the game. Mallorca showed no desired, no ambition to do an effort to at least try to win. Add to that the fact that the referee wanted to be the highlight of the game giving up to 4 yellow cards in the first half of which only 1 was a “maybe”. The good news is that Barça, even when napping, was able to pull a nice result. 2-0 with 2 gorgeous goals was the best reward to the die-heard fans that show up for that game. This lead is important because should the score at Ono Stadi, Mallorca will have to score 4 goals to pass. Barcelona as of now has a foot and half of the other in the final
Good news for Pep. Guardiola had more than one reason to worry at the end of last game in Santander when he learned that he had no defenders available for this weekend game against Sporting. Puyol was out due to an injury; Marquez saw red card as well as Pique; and on top of that, Alves saw the 5th yellow card which cause a suspension of one game. Things could be worse for Barça as one of the reasons for their success attacking is their solid defence. Nonetheless, Puyol seems to be recovered sooner than expected and he might be playing this weekend and the committee of sport decision revocked the 5th yellow of Alves after Barcelona presented reasons to backup that petition. This weekend the defence will be better than expected and sporting is not in very good conditions. A tough game it will be but it is hard to see sporting resisting Barça’s arsenal.
Barça takes a nap and win. Slow game, poor spectacle with only 2 players giving us a reason to care; I’m talking about Bojan and Iniesta. But I cannot blame Barcelona for napping all the game. Mallorca showed no desired, no ambition to do an effort to at least try to win. Add to that the fact that the referee wanted to be the highlight of the game giving up to 4 yellow cards in the first half of which only 1 was a “maybe”. The good news is that Barça, even when napping, was able to pull a nice result. 2-0 with 2 gorgeous goals was the best reward to the die-heard fans that show up for that game. This lead is important because should the score at Ono Stadi, Mallorca will have to score 4 goals to pass. Barcelona as of now has a foot and half of the other in the final
Good news for Pep. Guardiola had more than one reason to worry at the end of last game in Santander when he learned that he had no defenders available for this weekend game against Sporting. Puyol was out due to an injury; Marquez saw red card as well as Pique; and on top of that, Alves saw the 5th yellow card which cause a suspension of one game. Things could be worse for Barça as one of the reasons for their success attacking is their solid defence. Nonetheless, Puyol seems to be recovered sooner than expected and he might be playing this weekend and the committee of sport decision revocked the 5th yellow of Alves after Barcelona presented reasons to backup that petition. This weekend the defence will be better than expected and sporting is not in very good conditions. A tough game it will be but it is hard to see sporting resisting Barça’s arsenal.
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