In Pep We Trust

There has been a lot of tension and speculation regarding the future of Pep Guardiola in Barcelona. Pep chooses to sign yearly contracts so every winter there is the same drama and the same question on everyone’s mind: will Pep continue in charge of Barcelona next year? If history tells us something is that the answer is always yes. However, this is the year we have waited the longest to get an answer from the coach. Why?

Nobody knows Barcelona better than Pep. We are talking about a man that has always been involved with this club in some form. If there is something Pep has seen from his lifetime in Barcelona is that there is a tendency for entitlement after success. The last clear example of this was Ronaldinho’s Barcelona. This team was called to mark an era and yet after 3 years the project failed. Even though Pep was not directly involved in this project whatsoever, I bet he took some notes regarding the true challenge: staying at the top.

But what does this has to do with his contract extension? I believe that Guardiola uses this mechanism for various reasons. One of them is to let his team know that the moment they engage in that vicious circle of relaxation he’ll walk away. A yearly contract gives him that exit possibility and that leverage on a possible entitlement the team might experience.

Remember that the foundations of this Barcelona are mostly the same players that were humiliated by Real Madrid in Rijkaard’s last year. They understand that the secret of their success lies in their coach’s vision. Only the players have the ability to convince Guardiola to stay. As long as they continue to run after every ball like there is no tomorrow Pep will stay.

Just like American dollars have the phrase “In God we trust” printed, F.C Barcelona should have “In Pep we trust” printed in every scarf, shirt and everything related to the club. Guardiola knows what he’s doing and I have a hard time thinking he will leave the club in a difficult position.

What’s clear now is that the era of signing big name coaches is over at Camp Nou. The next man to sit on that bench has to be knowledgeable in terms of the club, its philosophies, playing style, and the system for promoting youngsters to the first team . Stepping away from all of these would be a terrible mistake. There is a pool of candidates that meet the requirements but that’s for another day (hopefully another year) to discuss.

The new season started already

David Villa: Pre-Season officially begun last week with Pep Guardiola having a press conference on Monday followed by the first training session of the season; however, a lot of work has been done already in order to prepare for next season. Just a week after they became La Liga champions F.C Barcelona signed Spanish striker David Villa for €40 million; a sum that doesn’t seem to be a lot after seeing “El Guaje’s” performance at the World Cup. Had the deal been made after the tournament his price on the market would have been almost twice. Both, the player and the club, wanted to close the deal quickly after the season was over. This is the signing that F.C Barcelona needed to do; with Zlatan Ibrahimovic not adapting well the team needs a striker that not only can score but also can play with style of Barcelona. Villa is a striker capable of playing as a center forward or as a left wing as he did in the World Cup. Though a year late, David Villa comes as a consolidated star whose only success has been with the national team.

Pep Guardiola: a man of his word, the successful coach signed a contract extension for one year as he had promised at the beginning of the year. Despite the fact that the new president Sandro Rosell had offered him a 6 years contract Guardiola opted to go for one more year only. The reading of this move is clear, the coach wants to see how the new administration works, how involved they are, and also how much freedom he will have with his team. For two years Guardiola has been able to have his way with everything that regarded his team. If Guardiola feel respected, appreciated, and in control of the team he will stay for another year. Sandro Rosell has already made a decision against the coach’s will with the transfer of Dimitro Chygrinsky. The new president claims economical reasons for the move and Guardiola accepted the move but the idea of the coach was to keep the player. The relationship between president and coach is in the beginning stage but tiny mistakes like this can make Pep’s future away from Camp Nou.

More signings to come: with Thierry Henry, Toure Yaya and Chygrinsky gone the team needs to reinforce some positions. The general belief is that the team needs to go for a winger but with Zlatan Ibrahimovic staying in the club David Villa will be in charge of the left wing formerly occupied by Henry. Sevilla’s player Adriano Correiro has been signed and will most likely play as a left back sending Abidal to the center of the defensive line. Due to his versatility Adriano can also play as a right back or a winger in both sides. The efforts are clearly set upon Cesc Fabregas; bringing back the Catalan would give the team a lot of tactical options and Guardiola could rotate players easily as he did in his first season. If Arsenal refuses to sell Cesc, F.C. Barcelona will look for other options; the most attractive option on the market is the young German Ozil. Regardless of the result of the Fabregas operation a defensive midfielder will come to the team to cover for Toure’s departure. The main concern of the fans is seeing how short the squad is and how this is a similar situation to last year. The main hope comes from the junior division which, as proven, can bring a lot to the table. Keep an eye on Jonathan Dos Santos; Andreu Fontas and Thiago Alcantara.

Final Grades

With the football season officially over for Barça after the 1-1 tie against Deportivo it is time now to think about the players and all the effort that they made. This season was just a dream and something that perhaps none of us will ever live again. Pique was right when he said that perhaps in 15 years we will seat down and truly realize the value of this epic season. In the mean let’s look player to player and see how they did. They will be evaluate on a 10 point scale in which 10 will be the best and 0 the worst


- Victor Valdes: one of the most criticized player of this year; had a very good season. As always he had a number of consecutive games in which everything he did was a mistake but when it came down to the decisive moment such as both games against Real Madrid, Against Chelsea, and in the Champions’ League’s final he was spot on. Grade: 9.0


- Jorquera: unfortunately for the Catalan, he spent a lot of time injured and Pinto’s excellent shape and experience prevent him from playing. He will probably be transferred next season. Grade: N/A


- Jose Manuel Pinto: earned the spot of being the second goalkeeper of the team and shine in the key moments of the King’s Cup in which he was the main goalie. He doesn’t have the consistency of Victor but brings a lot of experience. Grade: 7.1


- Abidal: Eric Abidal came from Lyon with the reputation of being almost unstoppable; however, there was a sector of the French media that warned about his attention’s gap at some points of the season; every year one can see how he can be hit-or-miss. In speed he’s very fast but players such as Robben showed how easy can he be to beat at times. He might stay next year but he needs some serious competition for that left back position. Grade: 7.4


- Dani Alves: the best adquicition for this season. The Brazilian justified every single penny invested on him of the 30+ million euros payed to sevilla for the transfer. Defensively unbeatable; offensively, Messi’s best partner in the field. Alves is a machine that never showed up any sign of tiredness. He’s only bad aspect is that sometimes his temper cannot be controlled but after such a magnificent season everything can be forgettable from this player. Grade: 9.5


- Rafael Marquez: The Mexican player was thought to be in decay but Guardiola did his best to bring the best out of Marquez and the end result was a boss in defence. Rafa was not only a wall in the defence line but also the best player to start any play. His ability to start Barça’s game resulted in many of the goals that this team did this year. Welcome Back Rafa. Grade: 9.3


- Martin Caceres: one of the few disappointments of the season. The Uruguayan was never confident on the pitch. He played greatly last year in Huelva but failed to adapt to Barça’s rhythm. The fact that Barça paid 16 million Euros for his service makes you think that they had high expectation which were not met at all. Martin will probably be transferred on a loan next year. Grade: 3.0


- Gaby Milito: Milito was doing an outstading season last year until he got injured playing the Champions’ League semi-final against Manchester United. He was expected to return sometime in march this year but ended up not playing one single minute. Whether he stays next year or not depends on 2 things: 1- he’s ability to stay healthy, and 2- how fast can he get back on track. Grade: N/A


- Gerard Pique: the homecoming season for the young Catalan defender couldn’t have gone any better. After being let go by Alex Ferguson many thought he wasn’t ready to play in Nou Camp but despite the fact that the beginning of the season was not very good for Gerard he soon proved that he was by far the top rising defender in Europe. His ability to read the rival’s game is outstanding and his touch of the ball and accuracy in the pass make him the ideal Barça defender. Grade: 9.2


- Carles Puyol: what can you say about the captain? He’s the most consistent defender in Barcelona. Rarely did he have any bad game and his defensive skills allowed Guardiola to place him in any position of the defenders’ line. Another great season for the captain. Grade 9.0


- Silvinho: his role on the team is not that of the regular player of frequent substitute but more of the mentor and voice of experience in the team. Guardiola did not trust him very much but when he was called for action he responded such as in the final of the Champions’ League. Many consider him out but do not be surprise if his professionalism, experience, and dedication earn him another year in Nou Camp. Grade: 6.0


- Alexander Hleb: along with Caceres Hleb was the biggest disappointment of the season. It was known that he wasn’t very effective at scoring goals but he was very good in Arsenal when it came down to a one on one situation and dribbling. He never adapted and never understood how to work with Alves on the right wing. Next season, if he stays, he won’t have the adaptation excuse. One his defence, it can be said that he never played in the wings at Arsenal and maybe that’s where Guardiola has it wrong. Perhaps a move to the center field would benefit his game as it happened with Gudjohnssen. Grade: 3.5


- Iniesta: no compliment and positive adjective can describe Andres’ majestic football. He has the vision that makes Xavi the architect of the midfield combined with the one-on-one abilities and dribbling as Messi. Having Andres in your team means to have goal, accuracy, speed, surprise, emotion. Either on the left wing or in the middle Iniesta always delivers. He’s goal against Chelsea will be remember for many years to come. Next year’s golden ball award and FIFA world player has to give Andres some justice and if he doesn’t win it he has to be in the top three. Best of all, he’s made in Barça. Grade: 10


- Keita: “Keita has stolen my heart” with that expression Guardiola referred about the African player. Keita is the official player number 12 of the team; one of the most overlooked roles in a team is that of the player that assumes that he’s not a started but the first man to enter the pitch when the substitutions come. This role was previously held be Iniesta and now Keita has assumed it the perfection. He’s passes are a piece of art and the control he provides to the midfield is something that comes across very useful for the team. His surprise entrance in the area is a resource very useful as well as his long distance shot. Grade: 8.4


- Toure Yaya: when the season started Yaya was not having the role he thought he deserved. Pep gave him a chance and soon there was no turning back. Toure has become the perfect ally for Xavi and Iniesta in a role of body guard. He plays his role of defensive midfield to perfection and has even tone down his attitude a bit when it comes down to protesting a call by referees. In the end due to the absence in defence he had to play as a center back and with the more games he played he became more solid. Just as Keita, his long distance shot is a missile hard to stop and for a player that is almost 2 meters tall his dribbling is another piece of beauty; if you don’t believe this check his goal in the King’s Cup final. Grade: 9.2


- Xavi: the best player of the Eurocup, The best player of the Champions’ League Final and probably the best player of FC Barcelona. When he has the ball it’s like watching a Swiss clock work. His passes make him look as though he has a GPS on his legs; the teams that beat Barça this year did it by shooting down Xavi’s game. His consistency is something not very typical in this game. Grade: 10


- Sergio Busquets: the revelation of the season. Guardiola coach him in the junior division of Barça last year and did not hesitate to call him to the first team at the beginning of the year. He debuted as a started in Nou Camp and soon proved himself to be ready for the main team. He combines the passing skill traditional of any young player made in Barça with some defensive midfielder skills proper of Guardiola himself. He moves in the field like a kid that has been playing for many years in Nou Camp. His only weakness is experience but only time gives you that. in the final of the Champions’ League he went from less to more and soon made a big impact on the game. Grade: 8.9


- Bojan: for an 18 year old player the expectations at Nou Camp are extremely high. He did not have as much action as last year but perhaps that’s a good thing. Guardiola took off the pressure he had last year in order for him to grow up as a player with more confidence. In the King’s Cup he showed his potential scoring a lot of goals. Next season he either assumes a more mature role in the team or Guardiola would have to give him on a loan so he starts to play more. Just for the record, last time fans claimed that a player from the junior team deserved a more decisive role in the main team was with an unknown called Iniesta. Coaches took their time and we all know what happened. Grade: 7.5


- Samuel Eto’o: a year ago this very day Eto’o was on his way out; not because he wasn’t a good striker but his attitude was a big problem. Guardiola wanted to start fresh but due to his high price no team could afford to buy him. He did a wonderful pre season and behave well and the result was 30 goals in La Liga plus the decisive first goal in the Champions’ League Final. Samuel is a much more mature player; his temper has been controlled by Pep and he’s a leader in the locker room. Anxiety prevent him from scoring 40 goals this season but what matters is that the important and crucial ones went in. Grade: 10


- Gudjonhssen: the iceman did not have a very important role on the field as his game is not that of quick pass that characterize the team. He brings more of a physical presence in the middle. His goal against Betis gave Guardiola the first victory at home. This would more likely be the last season of Eidur at Nou Camp. Grade: 6.7


- Thierry Henry: if someone had the disappointment of the year award last season it was Henry. Many thought that he was on his way out but Guardiola made it his challenge to bring back Henry to the level he showed in Arsenal. Henry was much more comfortable this season; he scored 19 goals in La Liga including 2 at the Bernabeu in the 2-6 victory. His dribbling and shot on goal are just pure class. If he earned the disappointment of the year award last season, this season he earned the “Welcome Back to World Class Level” award. Grade: 9.7


- Messi: the next year Golden Ball award and FIFA world player have its name. Leo was without a shadow of a doubt the best player of the year. Every time he had the ball something good happened. He scored a total of 41 goals in all competition which includes the 9 goals he score in the Champions’ League – one in the final – he also scored many victory goals. His dribbling can only be stopped with a yellow card foul. And the best part of his season was that for the first time he did not suffer a single injury. Grade: 10.


- Guardiola: Inexperience, Youth, Controversial Decision. All of these were arguments against the man behind the success. A year ago there was a debate between bringing Mourinho or Guardiola. Laporta gambled and brought the Catalan to be the coach and results soon started to speak for themselves. His working philosophy has become the envy of Europe; he doesn’t give private interviews, he doesn’t allow the media in the training sessions but he makes up for that by giving a lot of press conference and having a very polite relation with media members. Nonetheless when he was angry with the media he let them know so, very respectfully, but with character; for example in the middle of the season the media was talking about who should be the next striker because according to them Eto’o was on his way out; soon enough Guardiola stated “my players deserve respect and support not only from the fans but also from the Catalan press…that’s were you guys fill this with crap; I’m not asking respect for me but for this players that are doing a good job and making this a dream season”. One of the most important aspects is that Pep never gave up his philosophy and from day one he was very clear “we are going to attack”. He prevented his players from assisting to publicity acts two days before any game and also created a working philosophy in the team that went from proper diets to eating together as a team. In his first year he did what no coach in Spain has done; he won the Triple Crown and he did so by trusting in home-made players such as Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, Messi, Valdes, and Pique. Grade: 10

Barça Reaches Olympus

FC Barcelona has done the impossible; what no team in Spain, and only four teams in history, has ever done winning the “triple crown” or the treble which consists on La Liga, Kings Cup, and Champions’ League in the same season. Barça did such thing by beating the very bests and never renounce to their style and principles. Throughout the season the feeling that this team could do such a thing was always there and the players knew it but a clever Guardiola was there to remind us that the team had to go one game at the time and that expecting a triple crown was too much since it hadn’t been done in 109 years of the club’s existence.


La Liga: my personal favourite; La Liga rewards consistency throughout the year. Every team that wins this title deserves to be the champions as it has to be proven for 38 games. Ironically, it wasn’t until the third game when Barça could taste victory for the first time. With a coach debuting at such a young age all the looks were in Guardiola’s inexperience. Nonetheless once he did some adjustments this machine started to operate and game after game people would talk about the supremacy of the Catalans. Doubters always mentioned how they had to see Barça against the top teams to see if they were really that great. Fortunately enough this season’s schedule could not be any better to prove that this team was ready to beat anybody. Barça had to play against the first 4 teams one after the others; and soon doubters were silenced. Barça won the 4 games and ended up the first round with 12 points of difference. From that moment on the league was decided. Real tried to reach the first place and they were as close as 4 points but soon enough Barça showed their champion skin and won 2-6 at the Bernabeu to sentence the league title. Looking back it is easy to say that there was no rival this year for the champions.


King’s Cup: Barça, the all time winner of this cup, had the assignment of reclaiming this forgotten title which they hadn’t raised since 1998 oddly enough at the same stadium where they raised it this year. What’s a shame is that this prestigious cup has lost its magic due to poor management. Here is where the Spanish football federation has to look and learn from their English homologues if they don’t want this tournament to perish. There is no real price for whoever wins the title apart from greeting the king and becoming champions. The winner should be allowed entrance in the champions’ league pre-qualifying games. One way to do this could be to have a two game series with whomever finishes 4th in La Liga. Otherwise it will happen what’s happening now which is teams playing their second teams to win this cup. Barcelona did this and it worked; however, the likes of Leo Messi were present in a lot of games. What makes this title so meaningful this year is the rivals they faced to conquered it. Atletico, Espanyol, Athletic are all teams that a 1) are strong in the Kings’ Cup and 2) have some historic rivalry with Barça. Athletic and Barça is a dream final in this cup and Barcelona dominated it to show that they were the absolutely best.


Champions’ League: looking back in September when Barça was facing Wisla for a place in the tournament it was impossible to imagine that they would dominate this cup so clearly. At no point where they in danger of being out –expect at Stanford Bridge – every team that visited Nou Camp was terrified with the possible outcome; Lyon left with a 5-2; Bayern Munich with a 4-0 and Chelsea had no remedy but to play defence the whole game to dream about eliminating the Catalans. At Stanford Bridge they had the game in their hands but Drogba was not good enough to beat Victor and there’s the turning point in which Barça capitalized to score in the very last minute. It may have been luck or divine intervention but in this cup you cannot be champion without luck. In the final, Barcelona’s domination was insulting. Nobody had treated the former champions like that in Europe. Pep Guardiola showed that experience means nothing when you really know the game. He accomplished in his first years what no man had done which is to win it all. Is this the best Barça ever? History will judge. It’s too early and they need more years of winning titles. But as far as the best team of the moment goes it would be foolish to even argue.

Game, Set, & Match: Barça!

Unforgettable: what happened this past Saturday in the Santiago Bernabeu will not be forgotten ever by football fans around the world. Saying that Barça had been superior to Madrid in terms of their game was a statement that needed to be confirmed and Guardiola and his players were responsible to show the world that without any shadow of doubt they were the best team. In the 50s there was the Barça of the 5 cups -the best Barça to date in the writer’s opinion- then the Barça of Cruyff (player) is remembered for the 0-5 in the Bernabeu; then there was the Dream Team of Cruyff, now the coach, who’s remembered for many things such as the first champions league title and the 5-0 against Madrid at home; lastly we had the Barça of Frank Rijkaard which was a team called to make history but died sooner than they expected; they will always be remembered as the team that brought the second champions league title and the one that beat Madrid 0-3 at the Bernabeu the day that the Madrid’s fan cheered for Ronaldinho. Now Guardiola’s team has entered history; they will always be remembered for the 2-6 victory at the Bernabeu. The display of football as an art is appreciated even by the most ultra fans of Real Madrid.

Only 2 New Faces: Comparing this game to what happened a year ago when the Catalans lost 4-1 to Madrid one may think that Guardiola did an intensive renovation of the team bringing new faces and getting rid of many but the truth is that Pep used only two new players yesterday: Alves and Pique. Henry, Eto’o, Messi, Xavi, Abidal, Toure, Iniesta, Puyol, & Valdes were playing for this team last year. This goes to show that what Barcelona needed was not a new philosophy of playing or new players but a strict working ethic. Pep is a coach who was being blamed of lack of experience; however, he acts as a veteran coach guarding every single small detail. Against Madrid, he cracked down were the weak points were and placed Messi in that spot- in between the defensive mid-fielder and the center back- and to do this he had to “sacrificed” Eto’o in the right wing. The strategy worked to perfection and shows that Guardiola spent hours figuring out how to beat Madrid. His next job is not to see how Chelsea plays because he has done that already; instead, he has to fix the problems that his defence is having with corners and free kicks.

Next Objective = Rome: with La Liga almost won and the objective in the king’s cup already achieved- being in the final- the next objective is to eliminate Chelsea at Stanford Bridge in two days. This team deserves to be in the final of the champions’ league but deserving it is not enough and just like they did against Real they have to prove it against Chelsea. Whether the final is won or not is not something they have to think about; the objective has to be a place in the final as it shows that you were a direct championship contender. The biggest concern that Guardiola has is that Marquez is out for the rest of the season and Puyol is serving a suspension so he will only have Pique. Some suggest that Toure will be used as center back and other suggest that Caceres will have the opportunity of a lifetime to shine. Whatever happen I’m confident that this team has the tools to make it to Rome… a 1-1 will do.

Rumour-mania 2009 II

Last month we started to get the first round of rumours which included the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema. Now it is a little bit deeper and new names have shown up. Some rumours start to have some logic background while others are just pure speculations. So let’s look at the new media stories

Eto’o…only he knows. Samuel Eto’o will have to decide this coming summer whether he wants to stay in Nou Camp or not. His contract will expire in 2010 and Barcelona cannot afford to have the best striker in the world leave and not make a reasonable 30 million or more profit. There are those who think that Eto’o will likely score more than 30 goals this year just to leave to another team. Others think that he wants to stay in Barça. But only he knows; Barcelona has already tried to establish some contacts with his manager to set a contract extension deal but Samuel has strongly denied such possibility now due to the fact that he wants to be focused on the team only. This can only mean that he will negotiate a new contract but under his terms. His business card: 118 goals in 5 seasons so far. This season alone he’s scored 21 goals in 21 games.

Cristiano Again. Real Madrid is at the moment like that annoying kid who won’t stop crying until he gets what he wants. Every day there is a new “secret”, yet known, plan to finally bring the so called first, second and third best player of the world Cristiano Ronaldo. The last plan seems to be the one that finally will work. According to Spanish sports newspaper AS Real Madrid got a loan of 50 million euros approved by Santander Bank that will help them pay the high cost of Ronaldo which is expected to be around the 100 millions. Meanwhile, recently signed player Huntelaar is barely playing and hasn’t even scored. Not a good situation for a 20 million euro player. To add just a little more to the rumour party that is currently Real Madrid they just announce that if Florentino Perez is running for presidency again he will more likely bring Ancellotti as his coach for the team. This is not the best scenario for a team that needs to win La Liga and the UEFA Champions League…or are they passively surrendering?

The New Addition to Team Rumour. Recently a new name has been the talk of the month. This time is not Ronaldo or Benzema. Instead this is a new face which can engage Barça and Madrid in a never-ending battle once again. The man is a fantastic player worth 28 million euros and a place in any team in world. I’m talking of course about Frank Ribery. The Frenchman is said to be a bit unhappy at Munich and willing to change air in the near future. Barcelona and Madrid have expressed their desire to add this fantastic player to their line-up. For Barcelona, it would mean to add the final piece of the puzzle to their already fantastic attacking line. Ribery is a wing by nature that does wonders in both of them; at Nou Camp his place will be at the left wing. Madrid on the other hand wants to make an impact and forget about the present season. Recently on loan player Foubert seems to be more of the same low quality players that they have bought so it’s time to open the wallets again and bring some names and pretty game along.

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.

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.

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.

Theodore Messi

Heavenly Sent. By definition, the name Theodore comes from the Greek Theodoros meaning “gift from god”; that is what Messi represents to Barcelona. A gift from God that on the pitch seams almighty and capable to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. He doesn’t need to play 90 minutes to show his class and magic. Today, he started on the bench in “El Sardinero” home stadium of Racing de Santader and Barça had a hard, very hard, time to get into the game. But in minute 59, when Barcelona was losing 1-0, everything changed and like a gift sent from god himself Messi changed the game scoring 2 goals and making us all forget the he’s only human and just 21 years old.

Worst Game of the Year. Despite the fact that Barça won one has to admit that it was a horrible display from the Catalans today. Poor passing, lack of control, no shots on goals in the first half etc. all of this things can be a sign or either relaxation or lack of energy of the team. Also Racing did a good job putting pressure on every line of Barcelona; normally the first line plays almost in the midfield which allows the total control of the game and makes the mesmerizing futbol possible. Today though, Marquez and Pique were almost planning on their own area. Eto’o didn’t appear during the whole game; Busquets played really bad especially passing the ball; Alves barely appear today and made a HORRIBLE foul that should have seen red card. Overall, there is ton of work to do with this team because the league isn’t near yet.

TOP 10 Barça. This is a top ten of the best 10 players at the moment for Barcelona. Starting today, every Sunday I will publish the top 10 players
1- Messi: plays like nobody else in the world. Even when he’s not playing well his presence alone is an advantage for Barça.
2- Xavi: Doesn’t need to have the ball all game but when he does have it he’ll send it where it needs to go
3- Alves: In the season, along with Messi, is my candidate for MVP of the year. However, today he showed very little and as a supporter of fair play I cannot tolerate the criminal foul he made.
4- Iniesta: today he showed very little as the whole team but when he had the ball always ended in a free kick
5- Eto’o: nothing from the Cameroonian today. But remember, he’s still the best striker in Spain
6- Henry: created a bit of danger and from his boots came goal number 1
7- Toure: Yaya is a player that doesn’t show his class or at least is hard to spot but when he’s not in the pitch is very missed
8- Valdes: good display from victor today. He couldn’t do much in the penalty kick but then again he never stops them
9- Abidal: lack of concentration has always been his biggest weakness.
10- Busquets: this kid still is the revelation of the year. Plays like a pro and has the age of a junior team member. Today though, he was horrible in the passes.

Half Time Show

We Reach the Equator.So the first half of La Liga is officially over and the roles of this league seem to be defined very well. Barcelona is as this very moment the team to beat. Statistically in the last 10 years the champions reach the title with an average of 70 points approximately. So this means that all Barcelona has to do is win their game at home and they’ll win the title. However, doing so is not easy task. Futbol is known as the beautiful game but I also consider it the cruellest at time. If Barça relaxes and think that they have done it all they will fail. Each half of La liga can be so opposite from the other that it is unbelievable. Remember last year Espanyol and how Ernesto Valverde had done such a good job on the first half of the season but soon enough they started to get in a negative dynamic to the point that even today that team doesn’t seem to react.

The Keys to Succeed. Guardiola is a man that likes to play the cards close to the chest. Understanding how Barcelona’s performance has been so great cannot be done 100% accurately because there are so many things that Guardiola does that are completely unknown to the public. From what is known one can gather that it is important to do proper pre-season. I remember back in august they were training really hard and as a result of that we see after 19 games a team that seems to have unlimited stamina. Thanks to that preparation which includes specific work outs, custom made diets for each player, tactical work and so on we see guys like Alves and Puyol playing almost every game and being at a top condition. Pep also introduced a new internal code of behaviour to the team that has been applied many times; prove of that is the fine that he set on the team for showing up 3 minutes late to train. Pep is a “futbol-addict’ and he has introduced a good method of managing a team that is giving, up until now, more than excellent results. When one analyses the situation of Real Madrid we can see how there was no connexion between the team, the coach and management. Thanks to that miscommunication they are 12 points behind.

Next Stop: Montjuic. Barcelona will be playing this Wednesday their town rivals. With Pochettino as their new coach there is a little bit of emotion because the white and blue team will want to make a good impression on the coach. On the other hand, there are a lot of chances that the players don’t get the coach’s message so they end up losing. Guardiola has a big advantage that is all players seem to adapt and play well with each other even if they don’t do so frequently. Except Alves,most players don’t play regularly with each other but this is barely noticeable when you see them playing. I expect Iniesta in the main team along with Alves; the rest of the team is an enigma. 5 games separate Barcelona from conquering a cup which they haven’t won in more than 10 years. The final stop is at Mestalla where the final will be played but before that the next stop is Montjuic