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.

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.

Pep Plays with Fire

Futbol is not a science. Experts normally like to talk about futbol as though it is predictable, deducible and exact like any other science; but unlike math, chemistry or physics futbol is not a science but more of an art. Today commentators at Spanish’s radio station Cadena Ser we talking about how Espanyol’s coach Pochettino was throwing away the King’s cup by aligning 11 players that are normally not on the main team; unlike Barcelona who played with at least one player from each line in their main team (Puyol, Alves, Xavi, and Messi). But Pochettino knows what is futbol about and said “whoever thinks we are going to Nou Camp to lose is very wrong”. And so it was. Espanyol played very good even though their 11 men did not play together very often. But when you play with passion it doesn’t matter. An innocent mistake from young goalie Cristian made life easy for Bojan at minute 34 and the game was 1-0; but don’t fool yourself it could have been 1-1 or 1-2 or 0-1 or even 2-2 at that moment.

Individual talent is all…or is it? Today Barcelona did not play like a team. Instead they relied on individual actions of Messi or Alves in order to create danger. When everything seemed figured out with Barça winning 3-0 after goals from Bojan again (what a goal) and Pique (what a pass from Alves) Espanyol showed how ambition is going to be always above talent. Two very beautiful goals and Barcelona’s so called “cagómetro” (crap-o-meter) was activated. This “crap-o-meter” is a common joke that is run against Barcelona as they are known in Spain for always fearing everything even when the times are good. 3-2 was the score since minute 68 and the rest of the game not safe enough for a person suffering any heart condition. Does the crap-o-meter exist? Ask Guardiola and why he put in the pitch two key players such as Eto’o and Iniesta.

Homework not done. These knock-out tournaments are known for bring emotion to the game. They don’t reward consistency but courage. That is why it is always risky to let everything to decide at the second game when you are playing it at home. Guardiola and his men did not do their homework last week in Montjuic and today they suffer like never before this season to win. If this was a test they scored today a C at best. Barcelona was the winner today but Espanyol showed that he has the guts to stay in first division and played face to face against the best team the league. Let’s hope against Mallorca next week in the semi finals they do their homework at home instead of playing with fire…once again.

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

Bringing Back the Prestige

A Prestige-less Prestigious Cup. The King’s cup is a tournament that in the last decade, thanks to poor management, has lost its prestige. Back in the day winning this cup was a success for any club. Winning this cup was a success at the end of the season and something to be proud about. Real Madrid, Atletico, Barcelona, would offer amazing games that still today are remembered as classics. For instance, every Barcelona fan remembers the amazing encounters with Atletico de Madrid. For a Barcelona fan it used to be a proud to say “we have won this cup most time that anybody”. Nevertheless, poor management and more games to the seasons have made this wonderful price not so wonderful for big teams that used to bring emotion and passion to win this cup. Even though it sounds good that in this cup average teams and even second division team have a good shot at the same time they don’t have that big of a price either. Things like having the eliminatory games at 10pm during a working day it’s not very clever. The fact that the champion does not go to face another champions in the so-called “champions league” doesn’t help at all. Think about it from a Real Madrid or Valencia point of view; why would they risk their “A” team in a competition that doesn’t offer that big of a price? Some changes have to be made in order to bring this cup back.

Barcelona VS Espanyol round 2. Just like back in the days, Barcelona defeated Atletico de Madrid and even though the final result makes it look as though it was easy it wasn’t. After 8 years they have to face one of their main rivals in this cup, Espanyol. The emotion is there, these 2 teams know each other very well and there is a saying in futbol that in a classic game anything can happen. Fortunately Espanyol learned their lesson and this time they are selling tickets only to Barcelona fan who are recognized members of the club. This way, they can avoid having those despicable fans known as Boixos Nois” who ruin every game they go with their nonsensical violence. Having these scumbags removed for the stadium will allow Espanyol and Barça to show an excellence display of futbol, rivalry and passion.

Stop the Ruthless Aggression. Futbol is a physical game; a game where sometimes a “technical” foul is needed to stop a team from scoring. However, it’s getting ridiculous how Messi is taking all these attacks throughout every game. In the Barcelona VS Madrid game right of the bat Sergio Ramos fouled very hard the Barcelona player. In less than 3 minutes he received 2 very hard fouls and none where penalized with something more than stopping the game for a couple of seconds. Johan Cruyff was right when he said that Messi was the cause of all these “attacks”. It is true that he exposes himself too much during the games to the point that he makes his defenders lose control; however, referees are there to maintain the order. If a players is so ruthlessly fouled in the first couple of minutes he needs to show the yellow card so the other team knows that their plan of using fouls to stop a player will not be tolerated. Yesterday, Atletico’s defender Perea fouled Messi really badly just as soon as he entered the pitch. He saw the yellow but deserved a red. Pandiani was no angel as well last weekend. Lets see how it goes against Deportivo.

Pep Tunes the Band

One of the key of the success that up until now Barcelona has had is that they all seem to be “dancing” at the same pace; and that pace is dictated by the leader of the band, Guardiola. From Laporta to the 3rd goalie, everybody at Barcelona seems to be going in the same direction. The message is clear: with hard work, talent, respect and humility the results will come.

Camacho finds the key of Barcelona’s success. Former Spanish coach said before the game with Barcelona that the key to the success of Guardiola’s team is that they are superstars that play and work like working-class men. Over the past months the media has gone crazy trying to find the best description to the game of Barça; from “Dream Team V2” to “Extraterrestrial Team” all adjectives and names have been given but it was Camacho who hit the nail on the head and unfortunately for him he suffered the working-class mentality of Barcelona this past weekend. Barcelona came back from a 2-1 and in only 20 minutes scored twice to win 2-3 (and it could have been 2-4 or even 2-5). Daniel Alves, Xavi, Eto’o and Messi showed how this team works as hard as anybody to get what they want. Alves, in my opinion, is at the moment the best player in Barça; he plays extremely well defence and attacks just as good. Messi showed that he can decide a game at any time; and Xavi even risk his foot (he was faulted horribly at the moment he shot) to score a goal. And I could go on with the whole team.

Barça plays with fire. Early Warning. Just as Camacho foresaw what was going to happen Guardiola also said that Osasuna at their home stadium were very hard to beat; “if we relax we’re going to pay for it” were the words of Pep during the week and for more than a minute we all thought that we were going to lose the game. Barcelona finished a very good first half of the game but them somehow they decided to show up 20 minutes after in the second half. By the time they “woke up” the game was already 2-1. After the great comeback Guardiola said “ this goes to show that this team, at the moment, is the champion of nothing. We played with fire today and this cannot be tolerated” the real challenge for Guardiola started yesterday. The team showed signs of relaxation which terrified Guardiola. Perhaps it was the stadium; after all, El reino is never an easy place to visit, or perhaps it was the horrible weather conditions; or maybe even the tough game that Osasuna was playing (of which I will talk in my next column). But at the moment we don’t know. Next week Deportivo La Coruna is coming to Nou Camp so the time is perfect to test this team.

Now to finish the past in the King’s Cup. This Wednesday Barcelona will receive Atletico at Nou Camp to finish up the pass to quarter of final of the king’s cup. Even though they have a very comfortable advantage (1-3) they need to dominate Aguirre’s men. These two teams have seen amazing comebacks playing each others during the 90’s at this very tournament so Barcelona needs to play with the same intensity if they don’t want to play with fire again. Guardiola will probably alter the main team a bit and probably Messi and other regular players won’t be playing. However, if whoever plays keep doing it as they have been this band will play in quarters of final at the tune of Pep.

2009 Rumour-mania

Even though no European league is anywhere near from over this is the time of the year when the first speculations about possible transfer begin. Fifty percent of the rumours end up being just creations of the media so the can sell more newspapers in between games (remember there is no champions league for at least one more month) 40% happen to be very unlikely and only 10% of all rumours, maybe even less, end up happening.

Cristiano once again. Once again Cristiano Ronaldo makes the tabloids and once again it has to do with a new and “secret” plan that Real Madrid has to buy him. This time it involves an old yet familiar face for “los blancos”; Mr. Florentino Perez former president of club. Mr Perez is very well remembered or hated (depend on which club you follow) for his antics of buying the best players of the worlds or the galactic players as he used to called them. According to the “secret” plan Perez is going to bring Cristiano as his new Figo so he can get back to the power of the “white house”. A couple of weeks back some Spanish tabloid tried to input Messi into a similar rumour but unlike Figo, Messi will never play for Real Madrid. Cristiano is the perfect campaign flag for any candidate in Madrid and the best part is that at the end once Perez is chosen president he doesn’t even have to bring him; ask Calderon and what happened with the “If I win I’ll bring kaka”.

There are always the dreamers. Every player has a dream team; the one they imagine themselves playing when they are in junior high school and when money and contracts means nothing. So far we’ve heard Karim Benzema, the biggest French promise, saying “Playing for Real Madrid is my dream”. Real’s fan cannot ask for more because it just happen that Benzema is one of the dreams of the coaches at Barcelona and what better way to get some self-esteem as a club that having your rival’s hope cheering for you. But, at the end of the day this dreams that players have can mean so little and end up being just words without any meaning. We all remember hearing back in 2003 a young Robinho posing with a Barcelona jersey saying that it was his dream to play there; and then be also had Van Nistelroy, Robben, Sjneider also saying that Barcelona was a dream for them. Look where they all are. Also, every big team in Europe must be very happy to hear non other than Ribery saying yesterday that he was open to changing team in the near future.

FIFA World Player of 2008. Yes, this Monday we will finally know who it is. All logic indicates that Cristiano will be getting yet another trophy to his collection but in the last days, and thanks to the last 3 months of competition, the name of Messi is sounding strong especially after his last game against Atletico in the King’s Cup. I personally would be very surprise is Ronaldo doesn’t win it because his last season was just a dream; but just a Alexander Hleb said a week ago whoever thinks that right now Messi is not the best player in the world is simply blind. Either way both players, at their best, are a simply delight to any soccer fan and either one getting the title will be fair; if it comes to titles won then Ronaldo without any doubt will get the trophy, but if it comes to performance he lost a lot of points the last 4 months of the year.