- We won without Yaya, Iniesta, Henry, Messi, and Abidal for most of the game. Sporting is not the best team in the league, but it's in the same category with half the liga teams and copa del rey opponents.
- We won with two youth players on the wings.
- Maxwell did some funny stuff, but he showed he is starting to gel well.
- Pique, Puyol and Alves were up to their standards.
- Busquets had lot of ups and downs. Contributed perfectly in offensive built-up (though he lost possession in dangerous places), defensively he still lacks positioning discipline.
- Keita showed again he is a reliable option in the midfield. Covering behind his team-mates when they go forward, being an outlet for Xavi and making himself available all the time to exchange passes positively. Earned back possession, scored, almost assisted another. Man of the match for me. Not a flashy player, but he know his job and do it perfectly.
- Xavi: brilliance.
- Pedro was good as well. His transition were interesting so as his contribution in possession. Again, no need for Mata.
- Bojan's moral was high tonight. One of the reasons could be that the transfer period ended without buying a new winger. He feels he is valued and is carrying his responsibilities. For the first time, he showed a "tough guy" mentality, not a childish fragility. Impressive. He is the winger that we signed for free.
- Ibra scored, kind of. He was much better than in his previous game. In general, he had a very good game. This goal is a very important one. More to come.
International break now. I hate it. Especially that Messi will have a butchers’ game against Brazil.
3 points in the pocket. Won in style.
Ramzi Tanani
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
My Five Cents (Sporting)
Monday, 31 August 2009
Barça – Sporting Gijón: The joy starts now!
The knights of El Molinón stadium, the oldest professional football field in Spain will introduce the new season for the most recent champions at the Camp nou. A new adventure begins now. Get ready, and enjoy the journey.
Yet, If we look back in time, it seems like August 2008 was centuries ago, as the team achievements broke the limitations of time. In one year, this team achieved what all liga clubs failed to come close to since ever. We kick off with a different mindset, and different expectations.
One year ago, we approached the league after a summer that was full of storms.
We changed the coach, the players, and almost blew the board of directors. Now we enter the new season as the crowned Champions of Spain and Europe, while our main rivals changed the coach, players, and board of directors.
One year ago, we had to swallow the pride after watching the players standing in two lines congratulating the rivals for winning a title, We enter this season with the sweet sweet memories of a 2-6 win against Madrid, a 2-0 against Man Utd, two super cups, and lot of YouTube moments.
We started the last season badly. One of the worst starts in the club history. How are we going to start this one?
The opponent: Sporting Gijon.
One of the most interesting teams last season, Conceding 79 goals they won the worst defence award in the liga, followed by Numancia (69 goals). In 38 games, they lost 23, again, only matched by the relegated Numancia. But while Numancia sank to the second division without a trace, Gijon finished the season parking in the 14th slot. How come? Listen to this one Benitez: While Numancia won 10 games and drew 5; Gijon the anti-draw team drew only once in 38 games and won 14 games. Gijon survived because they did what Liverpool failed to do to win their league, they took risks. They played to win, not to avoid losing.
Yet, Manolo Preciado had to live with lot of critics from the Gijon supporters for suffering heavy defeats in the previous season by running unnecessary risks. The managerial situation in the club is not stable as well.
Regarding Squad reinforcements, They added Grégory and our own Botía to strengthen their defence, but still there is a need for a right back to compete with Sastre. Their left back Canella was one of the notable performers in the league last season, and there were lot of talks that he may move to a bigger club.
In the midfield Rivera is a player they have lot of hopes he will orchestrate the midfield for next season, but it seems that he wasn’t that convincing so far during preseason games. They added De las Cuevas as well from Atletico, who may prove a great support to help the team fighting for survival.
Bilic the Croatian striker, known for his incredible work rate, scored 12 goals for the team last season, but his future with the club is uncertain. Gijon also has the likes of Míchel, Barral and Maldonado to complete a decent squad for the following season.
But they will not start their season this week, this week they will pack the three points and hand it to Barcelona. Is it Overconfidence? Yes. But we, Barcelona, know that we can’t afford losing this one, nor we can accept a draw.
The Dear ones: Barcelona
It’s still unclear who will start this game for Barcelona. Lot of variables will effect pep decisions. The trip to Monaco was not a joy. Who is completely fit for the game? Yaya and Henry suffered some bad knocks in that game, are they completely recovered? What about Iniesta? Xavi fitness level is also a question.
My predicted start up:
Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell, Yaya, Keita, Xavi, Henry, Ibra, Pedro.
Gijon will have one striker and two roaming midfielders. It’s a waste of resources to have Abidal in the selection to act as a third centre back for this game. If we want a secure start, Keita can act as a holding Midfielder beside Yaya at the beginning while Maxwell and Alves contribute offensively. Then based on the opponent performance we switch the gear up. Keita presence in the midfield with Yaya helps Xavi to save some calories as they cover lot of space and position themselves perfectly creating outlets and breaking down opponents Offense. Keita also proved being a needed cover on the left for Maxwell by synchronizing with him so they both contribute offensively without risking the defensive tasks. Only if Yaya or Keita are not available, Busquets will start.
Regarding Iniesta, if he is completely fit for the game, I would have picked him to play on the right wing where we will miss Messi. But Pedro moral is something we need to get advantage of. It may prove being an opportunity for this young boy to achieve his complete transition to the first team as a reliable option to count on. Besides, it will be better to keep Iniesta on the bench as a game changer. His fitness level may not serve him to play ninety minutes anyway, so it’s better to wait till the second half, and analyse if Henry, Keita, or Xavi need rest or if we need more support on the right flank in case the result was not satisfying.
Ibra will be the player to watch. Will he score his first goal? Will he gel fast or not? Some of a zillion questions that he will not answer-all at once-in this game. Though, we can expect slight improvement. He will need the time to adapt. I think it will also be good that he switch positions with Henry more often during the game. He likes spaces and on the left he can find it. We bought him as a striker, no doubt. But during the adaptation period it’s important to generate the most effective performance possible to gain the feeling of the game, and to release some pressure. Pulling his marker out of the box while Henry slotting in, will increase our threat. I have a feeling that he will score in this game. Not a prediction, just a Pep kind of feeling…
It’s my first preview since a while and I am little rusty. Let’s hope Barca4Life sort out his Real-Life commitments soon. Or else you will need to live with the drop of Previews quality for a while.
I leave you with the highlights of the last game we played against Gijon last season.
Enjoy the game!
Ramzi Tanani
Why will Real Madrid fail this season?
Perez admittedly achieved it! He succeeded to put Real Madrid back under the spotlights and upgraded their squad quality notably. Since then, there were Zillions of articles praising the team and planting promises for the following season. There are enough reasons to consider Real Madrid as a front runner for all the titles of 2010. Let’s not add another article talking about that. Instead, how far is it possible that Real Madrid only yield a huge disappointment?
I can claim that there are as many reasons for the disappointment to happen as there are for success to be achieved. Knowing that Barcelona is the eternal Rival and the team to beat, there is no way to avoid comparisons.
Defence hidden stitches:
1) Leadership:
Real Madrid defence for this season will have to answer the same question they faced when Hierro left (or was kicked out of) the team. Back then, they bought each and every centre back they read in a newspaper that he is “The big thing”. Walter Samuel, who was labelled as the best Centre back in the world during his days in Roma. Jonathan Woodgate, the Next big thing for England football. They tried to hand the leadership to Iván Helguera, But all in vain. The defence line lacked leadership, which is not acceptable in a big team that competes on the highest level.
Canavaro defence qualities declined notably with time. But he was still capable of pulling all the strings together, instructing, organising, screaming and leading. Now that he left, the question is: Who will lead the defence this season?
Albiol is a defender with great potentials. But his last season performance raised lot of eyebrows regarding how far he can improve to meet the expectations. Pepe is a quality, well…most of the times, but he doesn’t sound to have the “it” to be a leader. He definitely does not have his head between his shoulders all the time, and with a knife in his hand ready to stab anyone in a moment of madness, he is not a good candidate. Beside, will Ramos accept Pepe leadership? What about the other way? In fact the chemistry between Ramos and Pepe will be something to monitor next season while the authority process is taking place.
2) Depth and Characteristics:
This point may prove a deciding factor next season. The main line of defence may include Ramos-Pepe-Albiol- Arbeloa. Some may argue that Marcelo will be the left back, but with time the coach will recognize that this will put lot of pressure on the holding midfielder (Diarra) if Xabi and Ramos contributed offensively. Marcelo can’t act as a third Centre back, which will leave Pepe and Albiol territory exposed. But in any way, who else Real Madrid have in defence? Untested Garay, Injury prone Metzelder, Soon-to-go Torres, and Drenthe the mad boy. I can’t see this as a quality defence for a team aiming to win everything this season. If any two defenders of the primary line up are not available, then troubles troubles.
Midfield and Up:
In midfield the team has lot of quality. The question is about the perfect mix. Not on papers, but on the field.
For example, for the holding midfielders, on paper it’s obviously Xabi-Lass. But I can argue that the two players do not really complete each others. Lass is young enough to improve, but his natural attributes are closer to Xabi than to a pure defensive oriented midfielder. I still believe Mascherano was a better signing for Real than Xabi. The team weakness last season was building up offense, no doubt. But through buying Xabi they ignored the fact that the new signings Granero and Kaka are more than enough to solve that problem.
The problem last season was not only the holding midfielders lack of quality to launch the transition from defence to offense, but the missing link in the midfield to take the responsibility in the last third and orchestrate attack. With Mascherano dropping deep behind Lass, and Granero continuous transitions back and forth, that will release Kaka to operate in the last third so the ball flow from defence to offense could be established without exposing the defence line. Granero will be able to operate on the flank where the fullback can not contribute offensively, creating more balance.
With Lass and Xabi, it will not be the case. As none of them is a Vacuum cleaner as a holding midfielder. Lass is a player who is easy to tease out of position, while Xabi lack Grenaro dynamics to make a fast transition back and forth. Mahamadou Diarra in my opinion is a better partner for Xabi than Lass, if he will come out of his injury with more pace than he had before getting injured.
The wingers are another matter to point out. Real Madrid with all the signings made will lack creating threat from the flanks. Against parked buses you can’t afford missing this option. Kaka on the flank will turn to an easy to contain player, he need more tactical freedom than being flanked. Ronaldo prefers playing in the centre, and he operates better there. Granero is a decent player on the flank, but again he is more productive in the centre.
Higuin and Benzema can open to channels on the flanks, but all that by being in front of the ball, not behind it while building up offense. So they will not contribute in the ball circulation and transition from the defensive third to the offense. If the team played a 4-4-2, they will not be an option. Selling Robbin was a stupid move, and the question is, who will be the new Gravesen (winger) after selling the Claude Makélélé? Julien Faubert?
Marcelo and Drenthe may be considered as promising options. Regardless of how valid or reliable this argument is, it will raise a crucial issue when it comes to starting line up. You need the four positions in front of the two holding midfielders for your key-high-profile-players. Adding two more options there will increase dissatisfaction, unless if Ronaldo takes it cool to be benched while Drenthe runs here and there and every where (except where has to be) on the field.
Up front, Benzema, Higuaín, Nistelrooy, and Raúl are the options. Again, selling Álvaro Negredo was a mistake. He is a strong young bull that you need to run over the opponent defence and create holes for his teammates to penetrate through. While Benzema and Higuain are naturally second strikers more than being target men. Nistelrooy is too old for this role. He is (or at least was, before his injury) the best finisher inside the box. But he is not the tank that Negredo is. Raul has always been a more dangerous forward with a striker in front rather than being the last man standing. He is a smart fox who can read both his teammates and the opponent movements and knows exactly when to run into that right spot in the box at the right moment. Camping in the box is not an option for him.
Another question is about how far Nistelrooy and Raul will turn to be automatic selections. Raul seems to be a none questionable starter. Last season, Real Madrid offense improved only when Nistelrooy got injured leaving a space for Higuain. Raul and Nistelrooy together means a very, very, …very slow offense.
Player’s compatibility and teamwork efficiency:
When you classify Real Madrid squad members, you get the impression that putting them all together on the field is like putting Bailey dancers and Break-dancer on the same stage. Some master slow tempo and Patience offense build up, others are more explosive. Some are more static, positioning sense; others prefer versatility and switching positions. It may sound a weak argument, but even though it will be barely notices while launching counter attacks, it’s the time that will tell us who will dictate the offense tempo in a static situation. That’s a very crucial challenge that will decide how far the players will click together creating a harmonized group dynamic.
Barcelona had to deal with this challenge when they signed Henry and Abidal. Both are more direct players who struggled at the beginnings to understand Barcelona possession game where Patience is a virtue. Henry publicly declared his frustration back then. He ran in a space but instead of getting the ball the midfield kept on playing horizontally, he played the pass in a space while the teammate requested it in another (deeper and more secure) spot.
But because at Barcelona there is an established identity, it was clear who were the players that need to customize their game more, to fit the group. At Real Madrid, it’s not the case. First, there are too many new players with various football profiles, and there is no definite identity. Obviously it’s the coach’s role to dictate one, if he can. But can he? The board and the director of football are not really helping. Selling two players the coach declared that he is counting on for the next season is not a promising start; it won’t strengthen his authority as the main reference. Nor announcing again and again that Wenger was actually the main candidate, but there was no choice to sign him, so “we had to hire that other guy”. If the Board and the director of football do not show unquestionable, unlimited, long term support to the coach, we will see lot of “Heads shaking” on the field as a sign of dissatisfaction, such as “He is too slow”…”Is he blind or what! I ran into a space!”…”Where the hell is he going? We are still in our own half and he is already in the opponents’ box!”
Even in the first Galacticos’ Era there was a point of reference in Zidane. This season things will be trickier as who is the point of reference? Who will lead the offense build-up and to match which player’s taste?
For Arrigo Sacchi: “Today’s football is about managing the Characteristics of Individuals, and that’s why you see the proliferation of specialists. The individual has trumped the collective. But it’s a sign of weakness. It’s reactive, not pro-active.” Then he explains the Real Madrid galacticos policy (the old version), saying:”There was no project. It was about exploiting qualities. So, for example, we knew that Zidane, Raul and Figo didn’t track back, so we had to put a guy in front of the back four who would defend. But that’s reactionary football. It doesn’t multiply the players’ qualities exponentially. Which actually is the point of tactics: To achieve this multiplying effect on the players’ abilities. Football is becoming all about specialists. Is football a collective and harmonious game? Or is it a question of putting X amount of talented players in and balancing them out with Y amount of specialists?”
Now of course, one can admit that Sacchi is an extremist when it comes to being system-oriented. Besides, the new Madrid squad is a bit younger than the previous one which will provide a better work rate for the group dynamics. Yet there is a very valid sense in his argument about team building.
If you compare Real Madrid to Barcelona for example, its not which team embrace more quality individuals. Defensively, its not if Pepe better or Pique, Puyol or Albiol, Ramos or Alves, Abidal or Arbeloa, Maxwell or Marcelo, etc… But it’s the defensive quality of the team as a whole. The group contribution in defence is the main issue. Henry defensive contribution is as important as that’s of Pique. Messi contributes defensively as much as Alves does. Will that be the case at Real Madrid? And how far defensive contribution of the forward line will decrease their offense output? Will Kaka (the Madrid Version) do continuous pressure on the opponent and still after twenty games from now deliver the same quality offense as he used to offer at Milan where he had less (if any) defensive duties?
In fact, the best alternative for Madrid is to copy Barcelona game plan, trying to earn back possession early in the opponent half to avoid exhausting transition back and forth. If the offense line failed to apply high press, the opponent will have enough time to set up offense. That will force Real Madrid defense to bounce back too early to their own third to avoid being striked by counters. Defensively it will be very demanding Physically (transitions) and Tactically (repositioning). It will also stretch the team structure vertically creating highways between the lines. Offensively it will make offense build up too slow to damage, as the fullbacks and holding mids will think twice before contributing in offense, and the playmakers and forward line will not be close enough to the holding mids to create the link.
Have you seen how the titanic cracked into two halves? If Real Madrid failed to apply high pressure in the opponent half, thats most likely happening to the tactical structure. It will look more like a baseball approach, a group of players to defend, and another to attack. Barcelona style is the answer, but that’s easy to say. This football dynamic is a result of years of football evolution. If Madrid reached that level in a short period then no one must hesitate to give them full credit. Beside, this style requires a strong leadership for the back line, and we discussed this point already.
Offense wise, Robben was labelled once as a better player compared to Messi, now the same papers give “Valid” reasons to sell him. So it’s an endless discussion to judge who is better Xavi or Kaka, Messi or Ronaldo, but again, will the duet “Ronaldo-Kaka” deliver a better Understanding and higher performance than the “Xavi-Messi”? Comparing Messi performance with Argentina to his performance for Barcelona gives you an idea how the chemistry between Messi and Xavi delivers a better output than the summation of pure individual qualities of the two players (if Mathematical expressions is a valid terminology in football). Add Iniesta to the Mix, Yaya, Henry, Keita etc…
Ibravimovic situation is a very bold example. He is a quality player no doubt. But he is still not clicking completely with the rest so he usually dances on a different tempo than the one his teammates play. Yet again, the established identity at Barcelona draws clear guidelines. He already knows exactly what to improve and how, so it’s a matter of time. At Madrid, it’s still an ongoing uncertain process.
Pressure:
Last summer, while it sounded all jubilant for Real Madrid after winning the title, I predicted that all the sins of Calderon will be pointed out again (after years of ignorance and denial) the moment the team underperforms. The same goes for Perez now, he is the brilliant guy. He created the perfect team. Even overpaying Ronaldo was not his fault, its Calderon’s. By the way, does anyone really buy that “30 millions Penalty” story? Not me. There is a reason to sell Robben, said Marca. No complains about the depts. But it will only take some negative results, and Calderon will again have a chance to defend himself when Marca and co become more welling to publish his point of view.
I do not predict a clash of ego between the players, as commonly believed. Not on the short term. And not if the coach applied the elementary principles of team building, which is something I know he will. Countries where the community diversities suffer continuous struggles always search for an enemy outside the boarders to unite against. For Madrid Barcelona is the enemy. All the players will be completely focused on outclassing Barcelona. Being the new kids in the building will make all the new players less self-focused and more determinant to behave so they prove their worth for the club. Egos clash may start later on, after they win something, not before. But if the team suffers, there has to be a scapegoat. And that’s where everyone will start to push everyone to the spotlight.
How will Real Madrid succeed this season?
As I mentioned from the beginning, I will not praise their good side, as there are lot of madridistas out there to do that job. The article may turn to sound unfair as it only raises the negatives, but I can claim trying to create some balance with what’s already written. They have enough game changers to win any game, enough said. But there is one external factor that may help them to succeed and it’s important to point out: Barcelona.
The period from the beginning of the season till January is very crucial this season. If Barcelona made a strong steady start, they may cause a permanent damage for Real Madrid moral that will not be easy to overcome, though one must acknowledge their fighting spirit. If Barcelona start was slow and inconsistent, that will offer the rivals lot of hope, but most importantly the time to gel.
I believe Barcelona is the team that holds all the strings of the coming season. It’s up to their performance to decide the destiny of Perez new adventure.
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Barcelona (Total) Football Club
Barcelona (Total) Football Club
Ramzi Tanani
Barcelona is not just a football club, but the club of total football. Without ignoring the historical contribution of nations from the Danube landscapes and the Hungarian heathers, to the Coffee houses of Vienna till the birth of the methodology in Netherland and Ukraine, at the moment there is one and only one team where you can expect a living lecture about total football week in week out, written in the blau and grana colours, and seeking passion and perfection . That’s why I demand changing the club name from Barcelona FC, to Barcelona TFC.
Playing with this football style is easy to say. It is one of the most difficult football styles to structure tactically, as it almost releases all static positioning for the sake of increasing the performance dynamics. That more or less was labelled as organising disorder.
In this article, I will focus more on offense dynamics of the team for next season. It will be an endless analysis if we dare to try covering all the aspects and elements. So this will be more as a sample to inspire and tempt every reader’s creativity to do more predictions and draw their own concepts.
Preface:
When a team plans a strategy, they split it on stages. I usually classify team strategy on four categories:
1) Defence status.
2) Transition phase from defence to offense.
3) Offense status.
4) Transition phase from offense to defence.
The transition stages are the most underrated but the most important stages. That’s where most of the time the brilliant ideas in theory collapse during execution. While its important to plan the offense flow and decide who does what, and while its also vital to specify the positioning and roles of your players to close spaces and mark key players while performing the defensive status. The transition from one stage to another is the deciding factor whether the plan is only theoretical or applicable. Because the transition stage is usually a variable mix of both defensive and offensive stages, with the doses changing in a well synchronized way while moving from one status to another. It also calculates accurately the time and effort needed to finalise the transition. The less it takes to make the transition, the more efficient and applicable the overall plan turns to be. That’s why, while planning offense, defence has to be in mind in an attempt to make the transition planning easier. And while deciding the best defence to apply, offense has to be in mind to make sure the team can bounce back to cause damage the moment you earn back the ball.
I will narrow my argument here and squeeze it to fit the offense status of the team strategy. Hopefully in another articles we tackle defence and transition stages. How do we react when we lose the ball while being in action offense wise? This is a very important question that needs to be considered. But first we start while having the ball, and making attempts to score while the opponents are completely focused on preventing us from netting goals, more than being ambitious to score against us. This may prove to be the story of the following season as well. What should we expect while stepping onto the field?
Defence general review
There are two methods of defending: Marking territories (Zone defence), and Man Marking.
In Zone defence, every player is responsible of a specific slice on the field, and he marks the player that patrol within his territory, it’s like a net, you pass through, you get trapped and get inactivated by an opponent.
Man marking means hiring a player to ride on a specific player’s shoulders, being sticky, an irritating joy spoiler.
There is no “right way” or “wrong way” in principle. Though personally I don’t like Man marking because you hand the control of one of your player’s movement to the opponent team (as the marker moves depending on the marked player movement) There is some scratching of ego in that situation, beside a loss in command. But in general, the two methods are interrelated. So there is no “either this or that” obligation.
In zonal defence you may end up applying an embedded man marking. Freezing any moment during the game, offers you an image of the defending team marking (or at least monitoring) the opponent key players almost one-on-one. At another moment, the defensive team structure will be identical, yet the one-on-one chart differs based on the opponent players repositioning. The main weakness of this system is that even though you can complicate the opponent’s offense flow, you will not be able to mark their key players out of the game, at least mentally. While marking tightly may irritate the opponent player, and damage his playing appetite, zone defence offers that player a chance to drop deep (away from the Zone) for a moment, exchange some clean passes, breathe, gain confidence before diving back into the operation area and trying to crack the restricted zone.
In man marking, it is never the kind of “Full court press” as we see it in basketball –If I understand the basketball terminology well. You will never have ten players marking ten opponent players one-on-one all over the field. The man marking is applied to mark out the key player(s) of the opponent. The rest of the defensive team players must arrange their lines in a way or another, basically forming a zone defence shield. The main weakness of this method is that it may work against a team that depends on one key player who can make the difference. Against a multi talented team (like Barcelona), you just can’t apply it. It will end up being like holding water in your palms, while it slips between your fingers. Dedicating many players of your team to mark tightly the opponent players create a positioning mess. Your own half will look like this for the opponent’s offense to drive safely into your net.
Barcelona needs to be ready for any defensive strategy. Last season we witnessed a notable upgrading that made the group dynamic less predictable and more flexible to overcome the challenges of breaking down defensive locks. The main change we witnessed was at the forwards department. Henry’s role became more as a second striker cutting in from the left rather than being a winger hugging the line as in his first year with the club. Messi’s role was modified, where he is no more a right wing, but closer to a “10” while Alves was actually our right midfielder. Eto’o’s movement dropping deep out-of-box and opening on the flanks created spaces to take advantage of. But there were still some issues that we need to resolve, mainly in the midfield.
Mark your marker out of the game.
The opponents will most probably create a mix of Zone defence and Man marking. Some of our players will be marked tightly while the opponent team structures a zone defence using the rest of their players, though risking their offense efficiency. Against a man-marking situation, the worst thing your players can do is to hold on positions. If the opponent marks Xavi tightly for instance and Xavi keeps on roaming near the box arc (The “D”), then he is obviously serving the opponent a favour. His marker will become a man-marker while dealing with him but at the same time a Zone-player planted on the edge of his own area and closing more space, as long as Xavi is roaming there. Against Bus-Parked defences that is exactly the spot where you need to pull players “out of” rather than “get them into”. Or else, you are offering the opponent the advantages of applying the Man marking where they freeze your key player, and at the same time help them to overcome the Man marking defect by not pulling the marker out of zone to create positioning chaos, but keeping him involved in his team strategy to shut down spaces in front of their keeper.
First, try to get rid of him, dribble him, earn him a yellow card creating a suspension threat, take him on the weak side, tease him and have fun torturing his lack of quality to prove he can stop you. But if all that didn’t work, and if he was admittedly a quality dude, who knows how to get glued, then glue him back! Take him from the neck and pull him out of position, even if that means paying Valdes a visit, with that guy walking beside you with a dumb smile.
If Xavi pulls his marker deep towards Yaya’s territory, Messi and Iniesta will have more space and one man less to worry about while orchestrating offense. If Yaya is free and jobless, then he has to move forward to the edge of the box, switching positions with Xavi. The one thing Yaya has an edge over Xavi is that he is uncontainable. His physical dominance coupled with his technique make him a hard player to mark. On the edge of the box, and being aware of his dribbling skills, dangerous runs to the box and long shots, the opponents will go crazy to contain him; he will attract them in numbers like a magnet, which will give more freedom for his teammates to cause damage.
The principle must be taken so seriously that even if the opponent marks Yaya as a DM, Yaya must pull his marker somewhere out of service, Pique must step in to do the holding midfielder role while the other two central backs (Puyol and Abidal) sandwich the opponent’s lone striker. We can not afford losing the holding midfielder involvement in the possession game we play. His role is underrated but crucial. He links defence with offense, and he creates an escape station for offense to rest the ball and reposition, if the opponent’s pressure on the players upfront created the threat of losing the ball. Besides, moving Yaya forward whenever possible is always welcomed. In principle, the holding midfielders’ role is usually to create a cement wall in front of the defence line. Or as Rinus Michels used to call it: “a Vacuum cleaner”. Yet, in a team like Barcelona that try to break down locked defence on a weekly basis, and sometimes twice a week. You may try the hammers of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi first to create holes. But you must not exclude the Bulldozer option.
The players need to continuously activate the marking-destruction wheel. It only happens by switching positions again and again. Offense in Football is two simple facts: 1) Create spaces. 2) Attack spaces created or presently existing. Our players’ versatility is an asset to benefit from. Receiving the ball in a static situation leaves you with an opponent marker staring on your face. Movement will always give you few moments of freedom while your original marker is following your trace. It’s a well known golden principle: You are faster without the ball than you are when you have it. So it’s better to move then receive rather than receive then move.
Barcelona possession and offense style is briefly described as: “Pass…move…pass…Move”, while actually it’s more efficient to consider it as: “1) Move, 2) Receive, 3) Pass, 1) Move, 2) Receive, 3) Pass…” Turning the game from being offense Vs defence to a hopeless attempt to chase and catch. The opponent will be more focused on chasing you than chasing the ball dance from one player to another.
What will help the team more to become uncontainable is the ability to create a play-making-Chain instead of counting on a single playmaker to run the show. In offense status, Alves, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Ibrahimovic and Even Yaya (plus Maxwell when he plays) have the quality to act as playmakers when they have the ball in an offence status. Our playmaker is the player who has the ball, which guarantees the offense flow continuity regardless of the opponent marking-targets.
Tactical Versatility
Usually, it’s not recommended to change the team tactical structure as long as it is clicking. But Barcelona is an exception. Barcelona players’ positions and roles not only vary from one game to another, but also within the same game. So they are used to changing positions. Besides, being the team to beat makes your opponent analyse your game thoroughly in an attempt to stop you. The more surprises you have to pull out of your hat the less predictable you will be, and the less containable as well.
Tactical versatility will also help you to overcome the absence of any key player without compromising the quality of the selection. Instead of looking for a substitute to fill a key player’s absence by benchmarking the two players’ attributes, reshape the tactics to perfectly fit the new player’s attributes so that he can contribute with the rest of the selection in producing the same performance quality that matches the general standard.
Even playing one of these two unfamiliar tactics (Sample 1) - (Sample 2), for example, shows that we can walk through 80% of the season games without not only the African players who will serve their nations next January, but even if we also missed Messi, Iniesta, or Xavi (two of them is enough for the midfield) or even Ibra or Henry (Messi can play there). That’s without considering the young players who proved their worth during the preseason , beside any new player that may join, where even though we already spent more than publicly expected , we still need a midfielder. There are less “weird” tactical structures we can apply and it serves that mission as well.
Noting that I am not predicting what will happen, but more recognizing the potentials we have, to generate creative Ideas and tactics that other clubs may not have the luxury even to consider. Lot of things discussed last summer happened, including the three Central backs structure, moving Messi to act as a modern 10 after buying Alves, using iniesta on the left flank instead of buying expensive untested player, and the need to have a utility player like Keita in the midfield. Other points didn’t happen, like using two holding midfielders in some games where it is needed, and using Yaya in a more advanced position – though recently it seems Pep is started to notice this option may work. Beside, Pep exceeded my expectations when he modified Henry role from a pure wing hugging the line as last season to a second striker roaming on the left and cutting in all the time, creating a lethal offense troika, with Messi and Eto'o.
I leave you with this sample below. It only presents one slice of the options cake taking last season’s most selected players, with only Ibrahimovic present instead of departed Eto’o and only showing “some” of the picks and tricks linking the left flank with the centre. The same approach is expected to take place on the right involving Alves-Messi-Ibrahimovic instead of Henry-Iniesta-Ibrahimovic. While having Yaya or Keita beside Xavi in the centre with Iniesta on the left can deliver different dimensions as well.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
The Wembley Ramble, Back to the future.
This team WILL win more leagues, This teamWill win more Champions leagues, And its not an impossible fantasy to say that this team WILL win the treble again one day.
Its the "WILL'' of confidence. Having the youth academy of Barcelona, the WILL turns to inject unpredictable future with lot of certainty. Without delay, lets introduce our boys who turned to men:
Montoya: Very good when it come to driving the gear forward, with decent defensive qualities He may end up being our new sergio, but on the right. Yet I don’t expect him to have lot of impact before 2 years from now.
Dalmau: Decent fullback. I believe having montoya and Delmau means that we will need no more Alves transfers anymore to cover a righ back weakness. At least one of them will turn to be a starter as an Alves heir.
Rueda: Not the flashy kind of midfielders as it seems. But will be a good utility midfielder. Yet, he needs to be more focused on improving passing skills if he wants to graduate from Barcelona university.
Espasandin: First game performed better than the next. But he is 24 years old. So I assume that he is just a player to strengthen Barcelona athletic.
VicSan: I said it before that he is not a CB. A DM or even a FB, but he is definitely not a CB. His versatility is his main strength. Yet, he really needs to improve dramatically to survive. Having busquets and co makes me feel he will have it tough to survive in this team. Hope he hide some surprises, Good ones.
Assulin: He showed some signs of talent. In general he was fine. But let’s forget the "new Messi" expectations or else he will be evaluated harshly as the time goes by. He does the pressure in the midfield and on opponent defence. He seemed to be more a pace-y type of players than being a skilful. He is not an option for the flank this season as some Barcelona fans expected before, still too early Even though he will have some playing time. He plays in a position where we have lot of youth to compete with, but some flashes along the two games showed his real potentials, one of the guaranteed cards for the future. Patience, Patience.
Jeffren: This guy causes me lot of stress while watching him. He milks all the cows at the farm perfectly and then kicks all the milk to the soil. His damn last touch! He is talented, he is skilful and he has the Bull style that makes him my primary hope for the flank on the long term. But he needs to put more focus on his last pass. After the dribbling, running, whatever, he just takes the last touch for granted. If there is a reason why pedro was selected for the first team last summer over jeff, its that. If he can reserve more of his Focusing Karma till the last moment, he will be the big thing this season. He has the "it" to give the Busquets impact. A player to watch.
Pedro: He knows its make or break this season, and he seems to be up for it. There is more pressure on him than any other young player at the moment, beside Bojan. He plays on the flank, where we have other youth. He took the primary chance by being promoted last season. So time is not on his side. But what we have seen in the past two games generate optimism regarding the future of the lad. Not sure how long will it takes him till (if) he becomes a starter. But at least he will turn to be a quality player to create depth. He is polishing a killing instinct in front of the goal. Having him, Jeff, Bojan and Gai was the main reason why I wasn’t so excited about signing a pure wing this summer. It would have been disastrous in my opinion because we would have lost at least two of our young guns. Henry and Iniesta are in the first row, Then Bojan and pedro in the second row, then Jeffren, then Gai. We do NOT need a left wing.
Rochina: Huge. I wondered for a moment why did we sign Keirrison? (just for a moment, though). In the first game, His first few minutes were bad. Then he started to show why he is one of the promising lads we have. He has lot of potentials to play with his back to the goal. Exchange passes Masiah style. Good positioning. Have the confidence and courage (may be some ego and arrogance as well - Hopefully). Good on the flanks as well. I would have preferred him playing the "9" position in the second game while Bojan plays on the flank, because that’s how I see it happening few years from now. I believe Pep wanted to test him on the flank in the second game after using him at the centre in the first. He holds the ball too much sometimes. He wasn’t one of the most impressive boys over the two games, but I predict fast improvement. Keep an eye on this guy. You will not regret.
Fontas: To have massive number of talented midfielders at Barcelona youth academy is nothing new. But to have that number of talented defenders is pretty surprising for me to be honest. No wonder botia was loaned out and caceres is in a big trouble. This guy was the best surprise in this tournament. Coming from no where and planting the seed of hope in our heart. Not ready for big times yet, but now we know him by name.
Krkic: I still expect more. He scored two goals in two games. He showed more maturity and lead the young team upfront. I really hope he get more opportunities to play this season than last season. He needs it and he has what it takes to be there on the pitch. He has the clinical finish of a striker, but I prefer him on the flanks. With all the talent he has, it’s still a challenging situation for him to cement his role at Barcelona. That’s why the coming season will be “The one” for Bojan. He needs that mean mentality to be able to dominate his opponent. The talent is there, the skills as well. But there is an impression of fragility that you get while watching him which he needs to overcome in order to make it on the highest level. I wish he does. And it has to happen this season. Lot of pressure on him, something I don’t like because he is still a kid and we must not forget that. Yet, high expectations, recent signings, and the mine of massive talents we have at the moment dictate this situation. A great talent for the future, but future starts today.
Dos Santos: The bright future is calling this boy. I dare to say the future of Barcelona at the midfield. Dictates tempo, sew the passing canvass perfectly. Good pressure on the opponent midfield. Demanding the ball in the right space. I believe he will be a copa del rey starter this season. From there on, only his performance will decide to what extend he will be used in the liga games. Yet, not a player to promote to the first team at the moment. He needs to play week in week out, and that’s only available at Barcelona athletic.
Saying all that, it’s important not to repeat the Dos Santos-senior mistake again with any of the new youth players. Patience is needed. I hope we will not see a day when Barcelona fans whistle against any of the new youth, Regardless of their performance. I hope we will not have a “Jeffren Vs Pedro”, “Gio Vs Thiago” environment where the fans feel the need to burry one just because they worship the other. It happened before with the “Gio Vs Bojan” case and it had an impact on the Mexican boy. We do not want to lose a new talented player. EPL teams are robbing enough. Playing all the youth we selected at Wembley causes lot of concerns for me already.
Moving to the veterans:
Muniesa: Alright, he was caught out of position in some cases. There was some lack of chemistry in the box with his compatriots, but its all understandable. I said it before and I say it now. Since Iniesta’s debut, No one impressed me since the first moment the way this guy did. And in this tournament he cemented his place for the trip to USA, and for some more action next season. A natural leader, Puyolish style. Solid, confident, and needless to say that he has the passing thing, Pique flavour. I will be extremely shocked if few years from now, this guy didn’t contribute with pique creating the best CB duet Barcelona ever had.
One last ramble:
Henrique: Well, he is also a young player. Lot of anxiety shadowed his performance in the first two games that I can’t really evaluate his potentials He needs more time to express himself. He has the calmness and the passing skills that caceres lack. Had some good moments but his overall performance was not something to praise. I will save some ink, so he better get advantage of that and inspire me, or else…
Caceres: Chocolate and Chicken, I like both. But not together in the same dish of course. The guy has massive potentials – the Chicken- but not exactly for Barcelona- The chocolate. For Barcelona the ability to defend spaces is vital. Positioning is crucial. And Passing excellence is a must. Unless if nothing revolutionary happens, I hate to say it but he may not have a future in this team. I always supported him because for his age he still has the time to progress and overcome his defects. Yet, when I scan the youth defenders we have, I believe it may not worth keeping him. He may need two seasons to become ready. Muniesa within two years may reach a level caceres will never dream about. Henrique may also exceed caceres potentials with time, and he is more versatile. Hope he proves me wrong but unless if he will be employed as a left backward, I can’t see him a Barcelona Player for long. Even as a left back, he still has a lot to learn, and we have quality youth to count on, as well.
Pinto: Solid back up for valdis, but even if it’s a friendly game, you are not allowed to show of. What a bad attitude and lack of focus in the first game. No surprise that Guardiola benched him in the second game, using the third and first keepers along the two halves.
Gudjohnsen: If we signed no midfielders, this guy must stay.
Yaya: He insists on proving my point. He seems to be tied to a tree by playing as a defensive midfielder, which forbids him from releasing all his supernatural potentials. He is a quality Defensive mid, but when Pep uses him as a Centre midfielder for a sequence of games, there will be no way back. That comprehends the Mascherano transfer if it happens. In between Mascherano and Xavi, this guy will upgrade this team to a new level. He can defend, he can pass, he can shoot, he can dribble, he can run into the box creating two towers with ibra for the Alvis-iniesta crossing machines, and he can score as well. A perfect Box-to-Box midfielder whom we can’t afford losing as a Defensive midfielder till we get a quality replacement there.
Beside, he Will boost the overall squad quality and depth by moving to his natural position.in the midfield with all the rotations of Iniesta/Xavi, Yaya/Keita, Mascherano/Busquets, and Upfront with Iniesta/(Henry or Bojan), Ibra/(Henry or Bojan), Messi/(Pedro or Jeff or iniesta/Ibra if needed) added to all the string of youth players. Not a very popular options basically because people usually fear change. But I will keep nagging on it till it happens. Sue me.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Defending Eto'o AND Barcelona. Part 2.
Part One: Here
The Eto’o Case, what’s beyond the smoke?
The fake emotional battle:
Many emotional statements were thrown on the table by the player’s agent, Barcelona board, and the club fans.
For the fans, it is an emotional situation. Some fans worship Eto’o as the one and only. Without him Barcelona relegates. He loves the club and the club betrayed him. He has the right to be angry. The board just lost it! They made a huge mistake and now they are squeezed in the corner, fair enough! And what’s more to say about Barcelona board of directors? Racists!
Some other fans prefer to have other players in place. There is no way to promote a new name without damaging Eto’o image, right? He lacks quality and class. Barcelona made him and now the evil man is refusing to move to another club so Barcelona earns money to buy someone else. He just wants to ruin Barcelona! Want to go for free next season, Mercenary!
That’s the fans island. For Eto’o there is nothing emotional about it, neither for the club. It is business, pure business. He is seeking his own interest as a player, as any player. Knocking his 29th year’s door, he is aware that his following contract is the most important one in his career, and rightfully he is working for what suits him most. The board of directors is seeking their own interest for being responsible of the club by doing what they believe it’s the best for the future of the team.
If he will leave, he will not leave because he is angry (emotions). It will only happen if he finds a better contract that suits him more, somewhere else. Last season the Coach and the board boldly informed him that he is not wanted; he didn’t get angry, nor he left. There were some interested clubs, his contract demands were too high to meet, so he stayed. This season, no one announced that he is unwanted. Instead all the options were (and are) opened. So if he didn’t get angry back then, he won’t now.
Barcelona for him is a team he likes. But the team he loves is Mallorca. The moment he finds a better team to join, his heart's mood will switch. The same as I will not believe if Henry claims that he loves Barcelona, and that’s why he plays there. I am not even sure if Messi's first love is Barcelona or Newell’s Old Boys. Though, no one can doubt his commitment toward Barcelona. There is nothing insulting in that. It doesn’t damage the player value and contribution toward the club.
Next summer there is an election at Barcelona. The current board's popularity between the fans will decide the destiny of the following election. Eto’o agent is simply pressing that bottom, using the fans against the board to put some pressure. Dirty, but Fair game.
The Barcelona Board in return, holds nothing personal against Eto’o. In fact, Eto’o was always labelled a Laporta man, while Ronaldinho was the Sandro Rosell signing. Till this moment, Laporta has only made positive statements about Eto’o, as a player and as a person. At the same time, if they renew Eto’o deal it will not be because they like him (emotions), But because he ended up being the best option to take. Being a team legend or a key player guarantees you no contract, nor does it assure your survival with the team. Ronaldinho? You stay as long as you are the best alternative for the club. And that’s the right question to ask, is Eto’o the best forward for Barcelona? It’s an emotionless case-study to analyse.
Eto’o and Barcelona paths, where they concurred and where they clashed:
When Laporta era settled in place, there was a need to sign a new striker. The former cards (Kluivert and Saviola), though being popular to an extent, failed to convince the new regime. The board signed that guy from Mallorca, and the adventure began.
After a short slow start, Eto’o started to prove his worth. He dissolved in the team dynamic and became a must for the team machine to keep on going. That hungry talented group succeeded to create a golden era in the clubs history.
After the Champions league victory in Paris, the club was heading toward the following season with lot of hopes.
Eto’o's contract was secure back then, with three years to expire. The season turned to become a flop, the title was lost in the last moment.
The board of directors decided to stick to the old guns that brought success for the team. Eto’o had no intention to leave as well. At least he didn’t mention it. The following season started, and it was worse than the former. The dressing room collapsed. The team performance turned to be the shadow of the glorious days. And the season ended in the worst catastrophic way possible.
Pep Guardiola became the new coach. And he was clear about Eto’o, Ronaldinho, and Deco situation. He wanted them out. Deco became a clear liability, and so was Ronaldinho. Regarding Eto’o, there were a mix of tactical needs and personality concerns toward the player. Yet, selling Eto’o and buying a new striker had to go in parallel. That was the basic difficulty. After a year where Eto’o showed his ugliest face both on the pitch and outside, no team was willing to take the risk of spending lot of money on him. Neither to buy him, nor to offer him the contract he demanded. Barcelona were not willing to decrease the player price enough to encourage the other teams to make offers, specially when the transfer targets to substitute him became more and more expensive.
With no team willing to bid for him fairly, and when the hopes to sign a different striker started to fade, there was no other option for the team and the player but to stick together. Yet, it was impossible to start a renewal negotiation last summer. The board can’t make an attempt to renew a player contract if he wasn’t originally needed by the Coach. The Coach still had doubts about the player. And the player was not settling enough yet to accept an extension, Regardless of all the parties intentions back then.
The season kicked off, Impressively, Generating magic and charm week in week out. If we want to suppose that Barcelona wanted to renew Eto’o contract, that was the worst time to make the attempt. The player, as the whole team, was extremely motivated, focussed and in the mood. The last thing recommended is to interrupt his workflow by contracts and conditions that may end either way. Eto’o himself repeated again and again that he does not want to talk about renewal till the season ends. So there was no way to talk about it till the summer.
Here we are, summer 2009. Eto’o has one more year in his contract. He didn’t buy out the contract, so the first (and worst) threat vanished. If he did so, then we can talk about catastrophic condition. Imagine the team with no striker and ten millions in hand earned through Eto’o contract cancellation. The other teams will abuse our desperate need for a striker like never before, and we have no choice but to buy. He didn’t do it for a reason. It opposes his own interest. And it was for the best of the club as well.
Eto’o has all his options open now. The best scenario for him is actually to stay with the club till next summer, then go for free. He will get a decent amount of money to sign (for another club) and will earn a decent contract. It’s also for the best of the other teams to wait one more year. The accounting is simple:
At the moment any team interested in Eto’o need to pay an average of 30 M to Barcelona, and at least 8.5 M annually for Eto’o as a salary for, say five years.
The whole Eto’o deal will cost the team 72.5 M for five years.
Eto’o will earn 42.5 M for the following five years. He will be 33 years by then.
If the deal didn’t take place now, next summer any team will be willing to offer Eto’o 10 M to sign plus 10 M annual salary contract for the following four years.
This deal will cost the buying team 50 M during the following four years, saving 22.5 M by waiting one season. A season where Eto’o will get an international call for one and a half month anyways.
Eto’o will earn 50 M in four years plus the money he will earn at Barcelona playing with them one more season. All in all he will earn in the following five years 15 M more if he stayed with Barcelona for one more season than if he leaves right now.
That’s why, he is not in a hurry. He will only leave this season if he got a very attractive offer, both financially and as a sport project. If I will be in his place I will think the same, you?
Eto'o betrays Barcelona if he decided to stay next season before going for free. Wrong.
Barcelona board, so stupid dealing with Eto’o case till it went that Far. Wrong.
First, as mentioned above, we reached this stage as a result of what happened during the previous two years. The board had to do more regarding some other issues surrounding the club in the past two years but they hesitated. The Eto’o mess is more a side effect of that. At the moment, the board will not sell Eto’o till they insure a secure transfer to fill his place. If we sell Eto’o fast, we will be in a weak negotiating position while shopping for a new striker, we can’t afford not buying. Inter and Valencia know that as well. That’s why they are demanding 35 M. No team will pay that amount of money for a player with an expiring contract. When we buy a new striker, Barcelona will drop a price gradually. The right price for Eto’o is the price that makes the transfer cost for the buyer sounds slightly higher than waiting till next season to get him.
But why are we going to offload a quality striker like Eto’o in the first place?
March 18, 2009, when Eto’o contract renewal was as certain as a done deal, while Henry future was in doubt, I wrote This Article Explaining why things may not be as certain as it may look. I recommend reading the reasons why I think Barcelona board hesitates to renew Eto’o's contract.
Any striker is a mixed dose of Finishing, decision making, strength, altitude, pace, positioning, Motivation (driven personality), techniques.
Eto’o is the dynamic type of forwards. He count mostly on his stamina, pace and physical strength. His finishing and positioning are good, but not first class. He scored lot of goals no doubt, but there is a reason why he did so, even though he is not the most lethal finisher. Lets compare him to the clinical type of Strikers (Klinsmann, Inzaghi, etc…) without considering the clinical as better, because definitely Eto’o is a better striker, at least compared to Inzaghi.
Yet, Inzaghi may vanish for the whole game. His contribution with his teammates building up offense may sound negligible, defensively he does not exist. Yet if he gets three scoring opportunities he will score two goals. Eto’o in the other hand is more a team contributor. His continuous runs and the way he links with his teammates generates him six scoring opportunities and he may score a hat rick. So in terms of finishing quality the clinical striker is better, but in terms of performance efficiency Eto’o is the leader.
Now that’s another prove that offloading Eto’o is stupid, right? Wrong. Because we need to install the most two crucial factors in this analysis, age and motivation. Finishing, positioning and decision making improves with age. In fact the clinical strikers hit their peak performance when they are between 30 and 33 years old. It’s not the same for dynamic strikers, when they approach their thirties, their offense dynamics start to fade gradually. Without his continuous runs, Eto’o loses a major slice of his quality. He can definitely keep being a quality striker for next season, but renewing his contract for four or five more years means that you will count on him till he run the down hill of his thirties.
Motivation wise, a very general question is appropriate in this analysis: How many strikers were able to keep their peak performance with their teams for ten years? For a player like Eto’o, Motivation and offense dynamics (runs and continuous pressure) are interrelated. When he is motivated he runs, when he feel fit he gets more motivated to push himself to the edge by applying mean, continuous pressure on the opponent. If his fitness level drops, his body will start giving warning calls and will have a huge mental impact on his motivation and over all quality as a striker. When he gets less motivated, his offense dynamics will automatically decline.
One of the reasons that motivated Eto’o to perform brilliantly last season was actually proving a point after last season chaos. Now the question is: What will motivate a 30 year old Eto’o with 2 CL or more in his first pocket, and 3 Ligas or more in his second pocket and some pichichi to push himself to offer more? Specially being settled by a lifetime contract with his team. Though he is a driven person by nature, but that’s not enough. This is why a new striker who needs to win the CL at least may prove a smart idea. If a new striker set an objective for himself to break Eto’o's scoring record with Barcelona, that will be more than enough to keep him motivated for at least four seasons.
Here we are definitely not recommending a pure clinical striker. That will not be a good option for Barcelona. But I used the Clinical striker argument to point out Eto’o's strength, and weaknesses.
Get me a new 22 years old Eto’o and forget about any other transfer target. The only concern will be then will be parked buses. But there is always a way to crush the bus without a tall striker. Eto’o's life cycle with Barcelona is heading to its end, better ends it at its peak than waiting till everything collapses then we try to fix. With another team he will have a new challenge to motivate him. He will do great to an extend that I hope we don’t meet him in CL.
Besides, Eto’o can’t finance any bit of his salary demand. He does not sell shirts. It may sound like a small detail, but it all counts when you make a decision.
There is a risk of course that a new striker may not raise to the expectations. That’s an ever existing risk. It was there when the team offloaded Kluivert and bought Eto’o. There were no guarantees. The risk of offloading Ronaldinho was huge as well. The guy kept being a scoring machine even during his worst season with Barcelona. He was a money generator as well. We took the risk, and no one can complain about the output now. You can’t demand perfectly secure decisions in management; risks are a part of the game. You take a risk, you may improve or fail. You don’t take risks, you will fail for sure.
Eto’o case is a crisis that may lead to catastrophic results. Wrong.
Having an Eto’o in his last year contract next season may bring on the table a better Eto’o like performance than a performance of an extended contract Eto’o. I believe a motivated Eto’o is always better than the settled one. Motivation is important for any player/person. But with Eto’o its something extra. When this guy is motivated, he is a monster!
Playing with an expiring contract will give him an added reason to prove himself. For the next employer, whom he will discuss with at the end of the season. But most importantly, he will be extra determined to prove that Barcelona was wrong (even stupid) not to renew his contract. Can you imagine what kind of Eto’o we will have then?
I am saying that just to point out that I am not over concerned by Eto’o's case. If he stays with expiring contract, he will perform next season. If he leaves, I don’t think the team will collapse because the board will have to buy another quality striker with pluses and minuses compared to Eto’o. If he extends his contract, it means both parties (club and Eto’o) turned the old page, there will be other challenges but we discuss it then, if it happens.
On the economic fold, I don’t think we will be losing a lot as well. With the current market inflation any player will cost 15 M more than his fair price. Next summer we will not have a similar craziness unless if Man City secure a spot for the CL. Even then I doubt they will automatically generate the image to sign big names. But it’s all unlikely.
So, if we failed to sell Eto’o for 25 M (Barcelona are demanding 35 M), we will simply lose him for free next summer and buy a new striker for almost a fair price. All in all, it will cost 10 M more than getting that new striker now and selling Eto’o straight forward. Now evaluating the two options of either buying a new striker next summer for 10 M more or making a panic desperate buy at the moment and offloading Eto’o makes the risk of both options too close to consider one of them as brilliance and the other as catastrophic. Really.
I believe the third option of extending Eto’o contract so he turns to become the long term option for Barcelona till he is over 32, with the type of strikers he is, is the more complicated option in its plus and minus than the first two alternatives.
That’s why, I understand continuous discussions about this matter, but I don’t see the catastrophic results both sides are panicking over, if he leaves, or stays.
Finally
As a person who doesn’t take any press speeches seriously, I think no one really knows how it went indoors. This man can only put himself in every party's shoes and try to predict. Laporta and co. joined Pep and co. to discuss this matter. Even if some of them are naïve (and I doubt that), it’s unlikely that they are all stupid. So, the output of their discussion was definitely based on reasonable bases. Agree on it or disagree, that’s a personal opinion; do not turn it to a permanent judgement.
Read More:
Friday, 17 July 2009
Defending Eto'o AND Barcelona. Part 1.
Defending Eto'o AND BarcelonaThe eyes seek the pride, of staring at him. The cheerful throats exploded, burning the lips rim. The trees, the breeze, the rocks, the blocks, the streets, the suites, women and men from infants to ancients, all were there to sing, the name of the king!
Then the dark wings of night, spread and squeezed the light. The king rested his eyes, waiting the sun to rise. Tomorrow? Will be the same. More praise, and blaze, and fame. What the poor soul forgot, when euphoria wine clot, the brilliance turns to blot.
The moon slowly dived, and a new day arrived. The same previous gathering, was taking place again. But he can sense a change. The joy turned to pain, the tone sounded strange. He steps out to balcony, the screams turns baloney. He is the jerk, he is the freak. A dagger that lurk, an evil geek. He is a dumb, he is a slump. He is naïve, he has to leave. A hopeless case, a crisis to face.
One heart beat, was long enough to delete, his entire feat. After being the Ace, now he is a disgrace.
Isn’t it strange?
How gods become devils at a blink of an eye. Then get dragged out, through the backdoor, no matter how they try.
That’s the story of Eto’o, Laporta, Txiki, or even Pep. It depends on the crowd you join and the hymns you chant.
There is a case to discuss, No doubt about it. Eto’o and Barcelona, his agent and the board, what’s next to predict or to expect. All that worth debating about. Yet, It’s the approach, not the perspective, that makes all this issue a case of disgrace.
Talking about the approach first, how would any Barcelona fan hate Eto’o? Insult him, underestimate his achievements with and for Barcelona. How is it possible to doubt the quality of a player who contributed in winning more Champions league titles for the club than the club had ever won? How is it possible to understand calling one of the team’s greats as mercenary? What is the message that we are sending for any player we are targeting to join this club? What is the image, the culture, and the ethical platform that we are promoting about this club that we truly believe it is more than a club?
Let me pass an early note now for what I will discuss later. I have supported and will support the idea of making the change, and having someone else to lead the front line. I have my reasons. But for the past two weeks I had to drag myself to read the wave of essays and opinions written about the guy, and this man started to wonder if I was dreaming about the night of May 27, 2009 or it’s something the entire world witnessed. I am not pointing toward the fans debates, but more the articles written by some journalists in Spain. The least to say is that it’s unacceptable.
We have a Belletti shoe at the club museum for the goal he scored at the last Champions league victory. The Brazilian was hailed when he represented Chelsea against Barcelona this season at the Camp Nou. That was a great sign of gratitude. Yet, no offense, Belletti, but its not even fair to compare Belletti's contribution in the club success, to that of Eto’o. So, Can we -at least- respect the guy? Can we, while saying whatever we feel it’s the right thing for Barcelona- at least-do some effort to pick the right words? This disgraceful free fall must stop.
Then, what about the board of directors’ quality? I can understand that sometimes the public get fooled once, but twice in less than a year is too much for my taste. One year ago we heard the same noisy voices that Laporta and co. lost it. They are flops. They have no quality. They must leave. A new board is more than needed. Luckily (it was pure luck, not common sense) that the destructive camp aiming to ruin Laporta era failed. That’s how we won the treble. Again, That’s how we won the treble. How is it possible to hide in a bush waiting for any tiny chance to punch the chin of the best board of directors we had in the club's modern history? Not only for the achievements and titles the team won, but most importantly for saving the club from being a Valencia mess. For the youth who do not know, Barcelona situation was worse than the current Valencia situation when Laporta and his board made their move. For those who were following that period, it’s always the right time to remember. Some of that first board's pioneers left the ship afterwards, true. But it’s not a reason to give them any credit. When things turned bad some ran for their lives, others faced the tsunamis and guided the club from one glory to another. The ones we have now are the ones to hail. Period.
I refuse to worship anyone just because he achieved greatness. Whether that person was Eto’o, Txiki, Laporta, Pep, you name it. But I demand that Barcelona community to be aware of the value of the people we are throwing on the table. Not only because this community has a responsibility toward the clubs present and future but also for its responsibility of recording the current era fairly in the history book of this club.
Mistakes happen. Eto’o may do it, the board of directors, the coach, or the fans. But it’s important to point out the mistakes – if they exist- without ruining everything we are proud of. This generation of Barcelona fans is luckier than they may think. Ten years ago, it was a very painful experience to be a Barcelona fan. Now it’s a carnival. Always appreciate the men who contributed in this, even while pointing out their mistakes, if they exist. So let’s pack the insults in a dark room, avoid the heat of the moment debates so we talk with some sense.
Read More:
What to do to stay
Barcelona wants to postpone return Eto'o
Eto'o decides to leave the club
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Transfers Battle, Chess or Mess?
The Tale of Two cities
May 27, 2009. Barcelona news invaded the universe with a stunning treble. Press all over the globe writing praise. Rivals before supporters bowing to the masters. Babies cried the blaugrana name the moment the sunlight tipped the first kiss on their cheeks introducing them to the world. Wives turning more enthusiastic to watch Barcelona shows week in week out, complained no more that their husbands pretend being sick every Saturday, just to make sure they stay home to watch some kicking. Lovers favorite gift is no more a rose or a song, but a DVD of Messi Highlights, Iniesta laser show passing the ball around, and a Documentary program on the Geographic channel about a man having a Bat-Radar to catch his teammates movement, and orchestrating the football symphony of the Catalan troops. Xavi, the great.
Talks may start about the recent economic crises, Mediterranean food, Microsoft attempt to bounce back after windows Vista flop, Global warming, China growth rate, or Britney Spears. But will all end up pointing out how amazing it is to watch Barcelona. Mixing facts with fantasies, where Barcelona –The city- became the third pole of the planet, and that’s where the compass of the heart and mind leads you to, wherever you are.
504.64 KM (313.58 Miles), Bearing NE, there is another City, with a flipped compass. Getting crazy for being outshine by the Rivals. No way they can accept to be in the shadow. And when you are desperate you hang by a hair. Florentino Perez is the name. Bouncing back is the aim.
The Mad-ride, new president
After leaving the club from the backdoor, Perez returned riding the horse of hopes and promises. He was aware that the first thing needed is to put Real Madrid back to place under spotlights. He was aware allowing Barcelona to win the champions’ league in Madrid next season will be unacceptable and unforgivable. If he want to keep his head, he need to act fast. But how can he overcome the gap separating his team quality than that’s of Barcelona? Sign the best players available.
Madrid splashed the cash buying Ronaldo and Kaka. There was no time to delay things so they were willing to handle the overprice just to make this possible. In the other hand, such signings shows the will of setting a promising football project . Something needed to convince the other string of signings to join the white shirts.
I won’t evaluate the impact of the two players on Real Madrid squad, with all the pros and cons included. But I can put myself in Barcelona administrative position, where everyone is wondering what is happening? Why we signed no players yet?
Real Madrid activities had two impacts on the transfer market: First, prices inflation. Any player will cost now at least 15% than his realistic price. Clubs all over the globe started to sense Barcelona reaction after Real Madrid signings. How desperate they became. How far they will take it soft getting abused. This way whenever Barcelona target a player, the player’s club can demand the price that suits “the situation” , and not the player quality. By the situation I mean, Real Madrid banged the transfer signings and made their supporters excited, Barcelona Management need such transfers to hit back. And the second impact is the money pumped into some other clubs budgets, making them more competitive in the transfer market than before. Barcelona had to deal with that. And it happened straight after. “Our transfer budget will be 30 Millions”, Laporta criticizing Madrid over spending. The inflation it cause. Pointing out that it’s not “Barcelona module”. Sala I Martin assuring we won’t pay 65 Million for one player.
That’s number one. We don’t care what happens at Madrid. We negotiate price based on player quality and Barcelona spending criteria, not Madrid financial generosity.
Then through not being in a hurry, watching the other clubs playing the transfer poker while Barcelona keeps the cards close to the chest, with money included. We are not in a hurry, and even if we understand that the transfer market movement dictate some more spending, but the value of that “More” is the point. With that, we set the standards. And we marked the boundaries and margins.
Now what is exactly the transfer strategy? Lot of things should be taken in consideration while predicting Barcelona Transfer strategy this season, Including:
1) Next summer elections: I believe this is one of the vital factors taken in consideration . This board can’t afford failing in this transfer market. Next year title (The Liga at least), is a make or break for the survival of Laportism, or else Rossel is waiting behind the curtains. No matter what will the transfer strategy be, it’s the output of the season that will convince the fans if it was the right approach or not. One of the main accusations launched against Laporta last summer during the Vote of confidence is his hesitation to take revolutionary decisions (like changing coaches) when needed. He takes his time till things get more complicated before he goes for a solution. If this team failed to succeed next season, there will be lot of talks about lazy-cheap transfer approach, and there will be lot of comparisons with rivals (most of it will be Bias). Like it or hate it, this is our team culture.
2) The Marketing dimension: This is more a prediction, but I think only 30 % of any team fans (outside the Club origins) are definite fans. While there could be another 30% who are ready to have patience with the team for two or three seasons before changing clubs. The rest are more a Team-per-season fans, or just pick as the season is going. Something Perez know, and he took it in consideration when he did his transfers. You can’t afford losing 40% of your fan base to another clubs, just because they did some more attractive signings or because your team is underachieving. Marketing wise this could turn irreversible. Barcelona fan base is on the way up. But still there is a big slice of raw fans whom the team may lose if we don’t keep the same momentum. That’s why, regardless of the needs of the team (sports wise), we will sign at least one attractive name. Or else it will be a failure.
3) Learned the lesson: After Winning the CL against Arsenal, the team settled to success. Relaxed. Which backfired passively on the team performance for the following two years. New signings will not only create depth or improve the quality, it also regenerate the hunger. New players bring with them the desire of winning titles, which is infectious.
4) Our Squad quality and dressing room: In the other hand, While looking at our squad, we must not overlook the quality already exist. We have a great squad already. We do not need to add lot of big names. One expensive acquisition or two at most will be enough, then we move to get squad players. That’s the only way I see to keep the balance in the dressing room. The most complicated part is probable hijacking a heavy weight transfer.
But Who are the targets? Lot of names were mentioned during the transfer market, but the most notable targets are Vidic, Mascherano, Cesc, Ribery, Ibrahimovic, and Villa.
Vidic:
A great Player, but a bad transfer. He may create a perfect partnership with Pique, but for the cost vs. marketing Value, he is not an attractive option. Football wise he will strengthen the defense, but his overall contribution in improving the team performance will not match his cost. Besides, I prefer someone with more hunger to prove himself, someone who is willing to be benched as well.
Mascherano:
Football wise, The best transfer Barcelona can make to boost the midfield. Individually, he is by all means the best natural Defensive midfielder in the world. Physically strong, cover wide landscapes and has the leadership skills. He also play out of trouble, which is a need for a defensive midfielder, earning back the ball and passing it to the midfielders upfront. I can hear you: But where will that put Yaya?
That’s exactly where Mascherano presence contribute to enhance the system. While Yaya is serving his duty with his national team, Barcelona will have no worries. Mascherano and Busquets can do the job. When Yaya is back, the team will have numerous options and all needed based on games needs, but the most radical one goes as follows:
- Keeping Mascherano as a DM, and putting Yaya beside Xavi which is his natural position. He pass the ball perfectly, he has strong shots and when he run into the box you will have a Giant in the box for both Alves and Iniesta to cross the ball to, from the flanks. Specially if the team failed to sign a big striker. With Messi cutting into the center. This is an unbeatable receipt of football.
- Pep will be able to rotate without compromising the quality of DM position. Which is a very important position for Barcelona system. And the team will be secured against any injury crises at bad timing.
- Busquets will benefit from playing with this great Defensive midfielder. And he will still have his time share to start games. The Marketing Value of this transfer will not be as good as its football impact, so as long as it doesn’t exceed the 35 Millions, it is a good bargain.
Cesc:
I already detailed my argument about him in “Do we buy? Fabregas". I think if we will sign him, it will be next summer. As a voting booster for the elections. Marketing wise he may prove being a great earning. Football wise he can improve the overall squad quality, but the improvement will not match his transfer coast. So, even though it’s not the popular belief, As a cost-Benefit analysis it won’t be a bargain. And A Mascherano-Yaya-Xavi, will have more add-ons in the midfield than Yaya-Cesc-Xavi.
Ribery:
One of the mouthwatering targets. A very Versatile player. Team oriented, which is a need at Barcelona. His marketing value is huge, his football quality is undeniable. But I prefer Villa.
Villa:
My favorite striker for Barcelona is Ibrahimovic. But, if he is as expensive as rumored, then I will go for Villa. He is the perfect compromise to cover the unattainable plan to get both Ribery and Ibra. Villa can do everything Ribery can do on the left flank (offense wise), and he can play as a striker as well. If we signed him, he may start as a striker, but as the season goes, he will end up playing on the left while Henry plays as a striker. That’s of course, if Eto’o left.
His market Value is huge. His football quality is proven. He is one of the best finishers in the game and his skills are scary. Besides being well adapted to the Spanish league. Comparing him to Eto’o he is a better player, offense wise. But Eto’o is better for his defensive contribution. Villa physics will not give him the edge in that aspect even if he tries.
Ibrahimovic:
He was the club first option and its understandable. But it proved to be a very expensive deal to make so we are looking for alternatives. Yet, He is publicly hated. On the personal side, he has the ego of any striker, not to the extreme of Eto’o Ego for sure. When you play for Inter, being the unique hero, your ego show up with pride. When you play in another team where you are one of many quality players, your ego will not vanish, but it cool down. There are some Myths leading the judgments against him. Let’s take it one by one before looking to his impact for a team like Barcelona:
He doesn’t score enough goals:
Says who? Numbers? If we want to judge only based on numbers then we need to evaluate the numbers properly, or else we can find a striker playing for “nowhere republic” who scores more than any player we know. Lets compare him to eto’o:
This season Ibra scored 25 goals for a team that scores 70 goals in its league. That’s 35.7% of his team goals. Eto’o in return scored 30 Goals for Barcelona who scored 105 goals this season. That’s 28.6 % of his team goals. So as a main striker, Ibrahimovic contributes more in his team finishing than eto’o, even though there is no comparison between Eto’o suppliers (Xavi,Iniesta,Henry,Alves,Messi to name some) and Ibra suppliers (I can’t take any name seriously as a skillful supplier so you can name your own).
And it worth comparing how many goals the other goal scorers scored for the respective teams (Eto'o 30,Messi 23,Henry 19,Xavi 6, Alves 5, Iniesta 4) Vs (Ibrahimovic 25,Balotelli 8, Stankovic 5, Cambiasso 4, Sulley Muntar 4 Maicon 4) to sense where it’s easier to score. Because the more the rest of the squad scores, the more we can evaluate the amount of opportunities generated and we can benchmark the finishing skills of the striker to that's of his teammates who are facing the same opponent, rather than comparing it to a striker in another league. Adding to that, having more goalscoring options (Eto'o teammates 57 goals Vs Ibra Teammates 25 goals) force the opponent to spread the defense effort on many players, while if the striker is the only threat, he get all the defense crouded around him. All that make an impact on the striker scoring rate, beside the striker’s quality.
Going back to previous seasons will not change things much. If Ibra get the support Eto'o gets in Barcelona, he will change lot of peoples' opinions.
He has a poor record in the Champions’ league:
It’s true that in Champions league Ibra scored one goal this season in the CL, Eto’o scored four. But its true also that Barcelona scored 36 goals in the CL, while inter scored eight. Would that make a difference?
Last season Eto’o scored once in the CL, Ibra scored five. One year earlier (2006-2007) Ibra scored no goals in the CL, but how many goals eto’o scored back then? One. (2005-2006) Eto’o 6 goals/11 games, Ibra 3 goals/9 games. All in all, taking the teams they are playing for in consideration, we can’t say that Eto’o records were impressive while Ibra scoring is poor.
He vanishes in big games:
Ibrahimovic is not the first player who got this label. In fact almost every player with quality had this slogan hooked around his shoulders once. Its simple: When you are a player with quality, playing against weak teams, you can do everything on your own. You can generate your own scoring opportunities and score. When you play against strong opponent with quality players you need to count on the support of your teammates. Now who are exactly the skillful players in Inter to support Ibrahimovic? Who is his teammate upfront? Who are the players on the flanks to stretch the game and create spaces?
One man show does not work in big games, and that’s why quality players will only succeed in big games if supported by a team with an effective system. Why Messi is not as productive with his national team recently? Is he a big games Flop?
Regardless of Chemistry that make people love or hate, just like that. Ibrahimovic is a striker of his own level. Strong, with exceptional physical attributes, skillful and has the talent of linking with teammates. Having him between the skillful players of Barcelona will be a weapon of massive destruction. That’s exactly why Guardiola wanted him, he is not naive, he know exactly what he is bringing to the team. Its true we won without Ibra in the squad. But we won without any of the signings we will make this summer. Would that mean we stick to the squad we had?
And the same as Henry learned to run for the club as he never did for arsenal, Ibra who is younger and physically stronger can learn that as well. He wanted to move out of Inter not because he want more money (Inter would offer him anything to stay), he want titles. And that’s exactly what Barcelona need after winning a treble. Quality ambitious players with lot of hunger to win titles. And who will do anything to achieve something special.
What’s most likely happening is: Getting Villa and squad players.
The perfect transfer scenario for me is: Ibra and Mascherano. And squad signings.
The fantasy wish: Ibra (Striker), Villa (left) and Mascherano. And squad signings.
If neither Villa nor Ibra were available, Ribery plus Llorente can do the job as well.
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