Asked about his situation, Bayer Leverkusen central defender and Barcelona loan out Henrique (21) has said in an interview with Catalan sports paper Sport that he's satisfied about his first months in Germany:
"I'm very happy here. In those few weeks I've adapted very good, I've learned new things and I can confirm that I'm making a lot of progress. The whole process of adapting to European football is being very important for me because it allows me to grow as a player and as a person. It's an experience that for sure will have a very positive effect on my later career.
I'm very motivated and the coach believes in me, which makes me want to give something back by working hard and being dedicated. Normally I play as central defender but last week several players weren't available so I played for this one time as right back defender, a position I've already played before when I was still with Brazilian second division club Coritiba.
The defense is playing very compact, on one line and always taking care a lot of the positioning. That's something new to me and I'm still adapting to what the coach asks from me. This also means I can rarely advance to the midfield to help distributing the game, which has always been one of my strong points.
German football is physically very demanding. There's a lot of contact during the games and you have to be strong and in shape, that's why we work very hard between the matches. We're doing a lot of work-out to gain more muscles and I'm sure this will help me in becoming a more complete player. This evolution will be really positive for me.
I'm following every day what happens in Barcelona, mainly through the club's official televsion channel Barça TV. I always put it on so I can see how the team is doing. I have regularly contact with Barcelona officials. Especially during my first week here, they called me several times to ask me how I was doing."
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Henrique is making progress in Leverkusen
Crosas not thinking about return
Asked about a possible return to Barcelona, Celtic Glasgow midfielder and former Barcelona player Marc Crosas (20) said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that he doesn't think about that possibility now:
"At this moment I'm not thinking about one day returning to Barcelona. Now I just want to grab the chance they have given me in Scotland since at Barcelona I never got the opportunity to show if I could have the level that is required."
Barcelona can buy Crosas back in the summer of 2010 for two million euro (read more here).
Read more about the performances of Crosas at Celtic here
Barça B: Romeu will switch between B and Juvenil
Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Juvenil A central defender and defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu (16) will switch this season between Juvenil A and Barcelona Atlètic.
Vilanova talks (2): "There was no winger available"
Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova talked in an interview with Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo about the team and the season so far.
The technical staff takes the responsability for not having signed a winger?
You have wing players but they are not on the market because Barcelona cannot transfer them. They are playing at top clubs who don't want to sell. Not every player can play at Barcelona, only four or five players can and those are already with the best clubs in the world. A new player should be really good. If that kind of transfer is not possible, we have the players from the B team who always have given a lot to the club. We're the only club who produces wingers.
The 4-3-3 system is too rigid for the players?
You can use the 4-3-3 in several ways, you can even make it look like a 4-4-2. When your centre forward drops back to midfield it's actually a 4-4-2, like we have tried once during the pre-season. What is very specific for us that we always have possession and we are always playing without any space. That's something that only happens to us, not even the other top clubs have to deal with that.
You can re-educate Messi so that he doesn't cut inside too much?
Leo is an incredible quality player. Close to the box, he's the most decisive player in the world. He has only done few training sessions with the group and you really need to have to be able to coordinate a series of movements depending on the zone where the ball is. But these are simple things and he already did that in pre-season, so there aren't problems.
Whose fault is it that Alves is not always covered when he goes forward?
The attack is not the problem. The problem arises when the centre backs and the attacking wingers are opening the pitch and the central defenders are doing the same trying to create something. When you then lose a ball, you have fifty metres in your back and the team has to reorganize quickly. Alves went forward 20 times and the Numancia left midfielder only was able to take advantage of that two times with one of his crosses leading to the goal. So you can't really say that there's a problem at the right wing because that player could make two runs. We all now that Alves always has the intention to go forward. If that wouldn't be the case, he wouldn't be the Alves we know.
You can read the first part of this interview here. Later you'll have the other parts of this interview with Vilanova talking, amongst other things, about the position of Thierry Henry and the choice between Touré and Keita.
Ex-Barça: Celades without a club
Because Spanish second division club Zaragoza decided not to renew his contract and the defensive midfielder didn't find another club this summer, former Barcelona player Albert Celades (32) is at this moment still available on a free transfer.
Celades came through the Barcelona youth ranks and joined the first team in 1995. In the summer of 1999 the Catalan player joined Celta Vigo on a free transfer.
With Barcelona, Celades won two Spanish leagues in 1998 and 1999, two Spanish cups in 1997 and 1998, one Spanish super cup in 1996, one European cup winner's cup in 1997 and one European super cup in 1997.
Read more:
Ex-Barça: Patrick Kluivert to AZ Alkmaar
Ex-Barça: Abelardo to Sporting Gijon B
Ex-Barça: Sergio Garcia to Betis
Deco and Giovani are seen as bargains
British tabloid The Sun has put together a list of the best Premier League bargains this summer.
With Mikael Silvestre (from Manchester United to Arsenal for 850 000 euro) as number one bargain, former Barcelona players Deco and Giovani are on the list at places 3 and 7, with the following comments:
3. Deco (10 million euro)
Deco was hardly cheap but when you compare his fee to the number of expensive flops at Chelsea and beyond, he may emerge as a sharp piece of business. The Portugal midfielder has already proved himself as a matchwinner at Wigan last month and he has a track record of success.
7. Giovani (6+5 million euro)
It was not long ago that Chelsea were weighing up an eight-figure move for the Mexican, so Spurs now look like an early riser at the Christmas sales. Dos Santos is still a raw talent but if boss Juande Ramos can bring the best out of him, Barcelona may rue letting him go.
Read more:
OFFICIAL: Deco to Chelsea
OFFICIAL: Giovani to Tottenham
Koeman prefers golfing over coaching Barcelona
Asked about the chance he would be coaching Barcelona one day, former Barcelona player and assistant coach Ronald Koeman (45) said in an interview with Dutch television network EO that it would depend upon the conditions:
pep's opinion:
if koeman would have rejected the offer of valencia at the end of last year and would have stayed with psv eindhoven (probably winning another dutch league title), he would now be the manager of barcelona
Saturday, 6 September 2008
Vilanova talks (1): "I'm convinced we'll win the Liga"
Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova talked in an interview with Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo about the team and the season so far.
What is your function?
Together with the other members of the staff, I organize the training session, I prepare the matches by watching videos of the opponents and I advise Guardiola.
Why are you convinced that Barcelona will win the Liga?
Because I see the players train every day with a lot of motivation. You don't have to talk to them about their attitude, maybe even the opposite. Gudjohnsen for example didn't have to come to the training on Monday but he had a very good voluntarily session.
Which quality of Guardiola will make the group overcome the last two defeats?
One defeat as I'm concerned, because I see the Wisla game as a 4-1 win. Pep loves football, he knows this club better than anybody and he knows what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. He knows how to motivate the players at the right moment.
Being a man of the club gives him more credit?
No, at the contrary, it never has. Someone coming from outside would have been given more credit. And certainly with the current sitution, there's no margin for errors.
The 1-0 against Numancia was an unexpected blow?
We knew that they would give us the whole pitch and they had the luck that they could score soon. It wasn't easy, but to say it simple, it's a reality that we had five or six clear chances that could easily have lead to three or four goals.
Have you seen that the group took a lack of confidence in away games with them from last season?
I would like to link the game in Poland to the 4-0 of the first game, which makes it a different game. In both games we created ten clear chances. With Eto'o, Messi, Bojan and Henry, you normally score three or four goals then. Against Numancia the problem was that we wanted too much instead of waiting and being more calm.
The player who is the least patient waiting for the ball is Messi?
Today there are no natural wingers anymore because we play a different system than all other teams in the world. The other clubs don't need wingers, so they just don't exist. We put players on the wing because they can play there but at the same time they are more used to play in the centre. Leo did quite good what we asked from him during the pre-season.
In the coming days, you'll have the other parts of this interview with Vilanova talking, amongst other things, about the 4-3-3 system and the position of Thierry Henry.
Eto'o training on his own
Because he missed two training sessions earlier this week due to a charity/personal trip to Africa, Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o had to train on his own yesterday afternoon and this morning. 
Youth: Juvenil A and Juvenil B squad lists
Barcelona has officially announced the squad lists of the Juvenil A and Juvenil B youth teams.
Juvenil A and Juvenil B are the two highest youth teams. Juvenil A players are in theory born in 1990 although players can be promoted to a higher category. Juvenil B players are normally born in 1991.
Juvenil A (1990)
Diego José Gómez Heredia 12-02-90
Marc Martínez Aranda 04-04-90
David Álvarez Vázquez 'Polaco' 19-02-90
Marc Bartra 15-01-91
José Julio Jurado 23-01-90
Martín Montoya 14-04-91
Álex Bolaños 06-01-90
Marc Muniesa 27-03-92
Pere Segarra 15-01-90
José Carlos Terrón 12-04-91
Cristian Valle 10-02-90
Franco Fasciana 09-05-90
Ilie Sánchez Farres 21-11-90
Sergio Maestre García 18-11-90
Jonathan Dos Santos 26-04-90
Oriol Romeu 24-09-91
Adrià Carmona 08-02-92
Anselmo Eyegue Nfono 05-09-90
José Luís Gómez Hurtado 17-08-90
Rubén Rochina 23-03-91
Gerard Zambudio 13-09-90
Juvenil B (1991)
Carlos Castarnado 26-12-92
Sergi Pagés 09-03-92
Alejandro Sánchez Benítez 'Alex' 03-02-91
Adrià Blanchart 19-03-92
Albert Dalmau 16-03-92
Sergi Gómez 28-07-92
Carles Planas 04-03-91
Ivan Balliu 01-01-92
Javier Espinosa González 'Javi' 19-09-92
Luis Gustavo Ledes Evangelista Dos Santos 28-09-92
José Palau 24-02-92
Dennis Krol 27-03-91
Martí Riverola 26-01-91
Sergi Roberto 07-02-92
Jonathan Rodríguez 'Jhony' 09-07-91
Oriol Rossell 07-07-92
Luis López "Ckiki" 18-10-91
Brian Canalejo 29-05-92
Armand Ella Ken 23-02-93
Gael Junior Etock 05-07-93
Mauro Emanuel Icardi 19-02-93
Manuel Reina Carpintero 'Manu' 07-05-92
Barça B - Match report: Santa Eulalia
The surprise in the Barcelona line-up was the replacement of last season's first choice goalkeeper Oier by Rubén Miño who has been promoted from the Juvenil A team this summer.
Miño, Córcoles, Romeu, Joni, Espasandín, Abraham (59 Thiago), Xavi Torres (59 Longás), Busquets, Nolito, Maric, Jeffren (75 Rayo)
See the further match stats here
Barcelona clearly dominated the first half with an advanced back-line and a midfield that controlled the game but the ball possession didn't lead to an advantage on the score board. Santa Eulàlia was well-organized behind the ball and Barcelona could only create a few opportunities.
While Jeffren didn't seem to be around, Nolito was very active and had a first chance at the beginning of the match. After 15 minutes, an impressive 30 metres shot by Xavi Torres was deflected in corner. Two minutes before half-time, Maric scored but the goal was cancelled because of an unclear off-side.
Santa Eulàlia started stronger in the second half and at the sideline coach Luis Enrique showed his disappointment about the attitude of his team. The Barcelona midfield lost control and had difficulties to take out the counter attacks of Santa Eulàlia. Miño had to make three good saves in the second half, one of them after a mistake by Joni.
With Longás and Thiago entering the game after fifteen minutes in the second half, Barcelona seemed to regain the control of the match. A shot by Nolito was held. Ten minutes before the end of the match a great run on the right wing followed bu a good cross lead to the opening goal by Tino. Barcelona tried to score the equalizer but a powerful shot of Thiago went wide and five minutes in extra-time a good chance by Nolito was saved.
Luis Enrique said at the press conference after the match that he expexts much more of his players: "It's true that we had a lot of ball possession but there was no intensity, no attitude and no ambition and you cannot win a game like that. We were superior but we only had one real chance: the goal by Maric that was cancelled.
The opponents didn't do much in the first half and in the second they scored out of one of the three or four counter attacks they had. You can't say much about it, you have to congratulate them with the result.
Now we have to learn from our mistakes, I will try to convince the players that motivation is everything. Technically they're all very talented but this doesn't lead to anything if you don't show that on the day of the match."
Miño 6
Córcoles 5
Romeu 4
Joni 4
Espasandín 4
Abraham 4
Xavi Torres 5
Busquets 5
Nolito 6
Maric 4
Jeffren 5
Thiago 5
Longás 4
Rayo 5
Poll result: Who should be our left winger?
This is the final result of this blog's Who should be our left winger? poll:
38% ... Hleb
18% ... Iniesta
14% ... Pedro
12% ... Henry
10% ... Bojan
8% .... Somebody else / Don't know
Victor Sanchez available for B team
Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola has agreed with his Barcelona Atlètic colleague Luis Enrique that Barcelona Barcelona polyvalent defender and midfielder Víctor Sánchez (20) will be available for the B team this weekend.
Because of the Liga break and the fact that the player lacks match rhythm after some injury problems during the pre-season, Víctor Sánchez, who was promoted to the first team this summer (read more here), returns temporarily to Barcelona Atlètic and trained already with the team on Friday.
Barcelona Atlètic assistant coach Joan Barbarà told the club's official media that the staff was satisfied to be able to count on Víctor Sánchez: "We receive him with open arms. Every player who joins us from the first team can help us. Guardiola and Luis Enrique talked about the issue and because the first team doesn't play this weekend they decided what they think is best for everyone.
For us it's clear at which position he could play, but we don't want to reveal this now. We all know that Víctor can play and perform well at several positions. So wherever he will play, he will add something."
Read more:
Ex-Barça: Gerard without a club
Although it was rumoured earlier this summer that former Barcelona player Gerard López (29) had signed a two-year deal with Greek club PAOK Saloniki, the Catalan midfielder is still available on a free transfer after Recreativo Huelva decided not to use the option to extend his contract for another season.
The player is currently training with local Catalan club Granollers, the club of his hometown.
Gerard came through the Barcelona youth ranks but left the club for Valencia in 1997. Three years later, newly elected Barcelona president Joan Gaspart bought the player back for a transfer fee of over 20 million euro. The Catalan midfielder joined Monaco on a free transfer in the summer of 2005. With Barcelona, Gerard won one Spanish league in 2005.
Read more:
Ex-Barça: Giuly to Paris Saint-Germain
Ex-Barça: Antic to Serbia
Ex-Barça: Overmars to Go Ahead Eagles
Already pre-agreement with Keita in December
New Barcelona midfielder and Mali international Seydou Keita (28) has revealed in two interviews last month that Barcelona already contacted the then Sevilla player in December about a tranfer this summer.
Robinho can play role in next presidential elections
Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Manchester City left winger and Brazilian international Robinho (24) could become the secret weapon of former Barcelona sports vice president Sandro Rosell in the race to the Barcelona presidency in 2010.
Friday, 5 September 2008
Will there be a 'Barcelona USA' in 2011?
Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona is looking at the option of creating a sister team in the Major League Soccer (MLS), the professional league in the United States and Canada.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta and Barcelona official Joan Olivé travelled to Miami on Wednesday planning to meet with a North-American businessman who wants to apply for an MLS franchise that would carry the name of Barcelona.
Because of the financial implications this could have, Barcelona is willing to listen to the offer. Although the talks are still in an initial stage, the first contacts between the two parties would have lead to certain optimism about the final outcome and to this week's trip.
Laporta and Olivé are also expected to meet with MLS officials to discuss the possiblities and the economic consequences of such a franchise. American television network Univision claims that the new team could be named 'Barcelona USA'. Mexican club Chivas already made a similar move by creating Chivas USA back in 2004.
At this moment there are fourteen MLS teams divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences. MLS plans on expanding to 18 teams by 2011. However, only two of the four new teams (Seattle Sounders and Philadelphia) have been officially announced.
Di Maria and Arshavin will be monitored
Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona will be closely monitoring the situation of Benfica left winger and Argentinian international Angel Di María (20 - picture, on the right) and Zenit Saint-Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27).
Marquez never thought about leaving
Asked about the rumours at the beginning ofthe summer that he could have to leave (read more here), Barcelona central defender and Mexican international Rafael Márquez (29) has said in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE that his first choice has always been not to leave:
Puyol, Xavi and Valdes offered to renew until 2014
Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona central defender and captain Carles Puyol (30), Barcelona midfielder Xavi (28) and Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (26) will be offered a contract renewal until 2014.
Together with Messi, Iniesta and Bojan, who already renewed their contract, those three players should become the core of the future team.
The first talks with Xavi have already taken place (read more here) and the real negotiations will start later this month.
Read more:
Renewal talks coming up
Puyol and Valdes next on renewal list
First renewal talks with Xavi
Ex-Barça: Rivaldo to Bunyodkor
Former Barcelona player Rivaldo (36) has on Wednesday been presented as new player of Uzbek club Bunyodkor.
Bunyodkor (previously known as Kuruvchi) had officially announced a one-year contract deal with Rivaldo last week. The Brazilian attacker leaves Greek club AEK Athens after one season.
Rivaldo told at a press conference that Bunyodkor made him an offer he could difficulty refuse: "As you know, I had an ongoing contract with Greek club АЕК. But my contract approached the end and I was invited by clubs from Australia and Japan. At the same time I got the serious offer from Uzbekistan and I accepted it."
Bunyodkor general director Tavakkal Kadirovich Ismailov revealed that former Barcelona player Petit had been acting as intermeidary: "Negotiations lasted two months. We were helped by our close partner Emmanuel Petit. He negotiated with the agent of Rivaldo."
Arriving from Spanish club Deportivo la Coruña in the summer of 1997, Rivaldo played five seasons for Barcelona. In the year 2002 he left for AC Milan. With Barcelona, Rivaldo won two Spanish leagues in 1998 and 1999, one Spanish cup in 1998 and one European super cup in1997.
Read more:
Ex-Barça: Henk ten Cate to Panathinaikos
Ex-Barça: Geovanni to Hull City
Ex-Barça: Fernando Navarro to Sevilla
Youth: Daniel Sanchez (Sporting Cristal)
Peruvian newspaper Perú 21 claims that Barcelona is interested in Sporting Cristal midfielder and Peruvian international Daniel Sánchez (18), who could join the youth academy.
Sánchez, who has been called up for the first time for the senior Peruvian national team, would travel later this month to Barcelona for trials, that would have been arranged by Romanian Fifa agent Lucian Marenescu.
Asked about the rumours, Sánchez said to journalists that there's nothing certain yet: "I don't know anything about it, all I hear is through the press. I'm very calm because nobody, my club nor my agent, told me anything and I don't live from speculations.
If I would be able to leave for Europe, I would of course welcome that. So I hope the rumours will be confirmed one of these days. Even if it would just be to do a test with Barcelona, it would be fantastic. Who wouldn't want to play for that club, one that can compete for every trophy in Spain and Europe? If this could become more concrete, that would be incredible."
Read more:
Youth: Fasciana arrives this weekend
Last-minute Manchester City offer for Eto'o rejected
British tabloid The Sun claims that, before going after Real Madrid winger Robinho, Manchester City launched on Monday a 40 million euro° bid for Barcelona forward and Cameroonian international Samuel Eto'o (27).
Read more:
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Debate: The transfer summer of Real Madrid
IN
Van der Vaart (Hamburg)
De la Red (Getafe)
Javi García (Osasuna)
Garay (Santander)
OUT
Robinho (Manchester City)
Baptista (Roma)
Soldado (Getafe)
Balboa (Benfica)
How do you think Madrid starts the new season? They've made good transfers, the squad is stronger? Or the opposite?
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