Toure dismisses Manchester City rumours

Asked about the rumours earlier this year linking him with a move to Manchester City (read more here), Barcelona defensive midfielder and Ivorian international Yaya Touré (26) has said in an interview with English newspaper The Times that a move to England is not an option at this moment:

"I heard some things like that being said about City's interest in me. All I would say about it is that I have always said I like English football. You never know what might happen in a few years' time but for now I'm part of a great team.

As far as my brother joining City, for a while it was a difficult decision for him. After Adebayor made his choice to go to City, that maybe helped make up my brother's mind. They are both Africans, and knowing that he would have Manu there was encouraging. I think City are building a team that should be capable of winning the league. But then you look at Chelsea and Man United and you know that my brother's got a lot of work."

read the full interview here


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Vidic dismisses new Barcelona rumours

Asked about the new rumours linking him with a move to Barcelona (read more here), Manchester United central defender and Serbian international Nemanja Vidic (27) is quoted by British newspaper The Times as dismissing all the exit rumours:

"The first thing to say is that I have personally never said anything about Barcelona or Real Madrid or AC Milan or any club. It's other people speaking about it. I never speak about my future.

On Saturday, I showed at Wigan on the pitch by how I played how happy I am at this club. Anyone who is a fan of United or the players would only have to see how I played to know how committed I am to United. It's also not true that my wife is not happy in England. I don’t know how that rumour came out.

I spoke with my agent. I know about all the rumours about me, but I don't want it to have an impact on the club. It's not a good time for my club to be hearing those rumours. I'm here and I'm committed. I'll show that with how I play in matches. But I will never speak about my future and I will never talk about moving to other clubs."

Read more:
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Vidic agent denies Barcelona statements

Vidic agent denies Barcelona statements

Asked about the new rumours linking Manchester United central defender and Serbian international Nemanja Vidic (27) with a move to Barcelona (read more here), the player's adviser Paolo Fabbri is quoted by British tabloid The Daily Express as denying that he has said Vidic would like to join Barcelona stating that he has been misquoted:

"This is not true. I never said these things. Nemanja is happy in Manchester. If Barcelona do make an offer for him then it is up to United to make a decision. I am planning to come to England shortly, along with Vidic's agent Silvano Martina, but this is only for a routine chat with United officials."

British newspaper The Times meanwhile claims that Manchester United is preparing to offer Vidic a new contract. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has recommended that the club offer him a pay rise and an extension to his contract, which expires in 2012.

Read more:
Vidic welcomes Barcelona interest
Barcelona considering bids for Evans and Kompany
Barcelona will try again for Vidic

Wenger: "When I see Barcelona, to me it is art"

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger gave an interview to British newspaper The Times. An excerpt:


He starts slowly, picking his way through questions on politics, the arts, globalisation and culture. He is reasoned, well-read and imbued with deep moral seriousness. Then the conversation turns to football and it is as if a switch has flicked in his soul; as if a lightning bolt has surged through his body.

The question raised is: "Is football art?" Wenger's eyes flash as he warms to the theme. "I believe that anything in life, if it is really well done, becomes art," he says. "If you read a great writer, he touches deep inside and helps you to discover something about life. Life is important on a daily basis because you transform it — you try to transform it — into something that is close to art. And football is like that. When I see Barcelona, to me it is art."

But is there sometimes a conflict between aesthetics and success? Are there times when Arsenal have created great art on the pitch but at the expense of results? "I agree with you," Wenger says, "but at the end of the day, I ask you: who is the most successful team in the world? Brazil. What do they play? Good football. Who won everything last year? Barcelona. What do they play? Lovely football. I am not against being pragmatic because to be pragmatic is to make a good pass, not a bad pass. It is as simple as that."

read the full interview report here


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The top ten football managers of all time

author: Matt Dickinson
source: The Times
date: 9 August 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





1. Rinus Michels
The Dutchman, who died in 2005, was named coach of the century by Fifa in 1999. Think Ajax of the late Sixties, think Holland of the 1974 World Cup, think Total Football. Barcelona won the Champions League in May with tactics he introduced to the Nou Camp 30 years ago. Now that’s influence.

2. Sir Alex Ferguson
After knocking over the Old Firm in Scotland, he has built a modern-day monster out of Manchester United. The trophies matter but so does the attacking intent of his sides.

3. Ernst Happel
A man of few words but many trophies, the Austrian won league championships in four different countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria).

4. Sir Matt Busby
He faced the most difficult of all rebuilding jobs when he lost a brilliant team in the wreckage of Munich.

5. Brian Clough
No doubt he would put himself top of the pile and his feats were truly extraordinary. He turned Derby County into league champions and Nottingham Forest into the best team in Europe.

6. Bill Shankly
The builder of another of football’s great institutions, Shankly would surely have shared in Liverpool’s later success in Europe had he not retired prematurely.

7. Bob Paisley
Still the only coach to have three European Cup medals the son of a miner would have been too modest to boast about his great signings.

8. Arrigo Sacchi
A one-time shoe salesman, he built one of the greatest club sides at AC Milan and did so with innovative tactics.

9. Helenio Herrera
With an ego the size of the San Siro, the French-Argentine cast a big shadow over European football in the 1960s. A great motivator and disciplinarian who imposed rigid catenaccio on his teams, he enjoyed his greatest success at Inter Milan, where he twice won the European Cup.

10. Arsène Wenger
Ranked above managers who have won more and with good reason. Wenger resolutely defends the game’s most precious values, building sides of dazzling beauty.

read the full and original article here


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Talks with West Ham on transfer Gudjohnsen

British newspaper The Times claims that Barcelona has held yesterday talks with West Ham on the transfer of Barcelona attacker and Icelandic international Eidur Gudjohnsen (30), whose contract expires next year.

At this point, the problem seems to be that Barcelona would not be willing to pay a part of the player's year salary of close to 5,5 million euro, something that is asked by the English club.

Read more:
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Official players' pictures (part 2)
Gudjohnsen open to return to England

Barcelona will try again for Robinho

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona still hasn't given up on Manchester City left winger and Brazilian international Robinho (25) after a loan deal was rejected by his club last week (read more here).

This week new contacts could be made. It is expected that Pepe Costa, a member of Barcelona's coaching staff who has been scouting in Brazil, might play a role in the upcoming events.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta reportedly asked player's agent Pini Zahavi about the chances to sign Robinho when the president attended the wedding of a daughter of the representative last week.

British newspaper The Times meanwhile claims that Robinho has asked advisers to secure him a move to Barcelona after he developed an ongoing uneasiness with Manchester City manager Mark Hughes.

Sport reports that Robinho would be delighted about the chance to return to the Spanish league. His father Gilvan da Souza and his agent travelled to South Africa, where the Brazilian is playing the Confederations Cup, and the three are expected to fly to Manchester after the tournament.

Robinho reportedly plans to meet with Manchester City officials in an attempt to put pressure on his club and convince them to find a deal with Barcelona. Manchester City is said to be willing to talk about a permanent move but would ask the same 38 million euro° fee the English club paid last summer for the Brazilian.

Read more:
Barcelona close to signing Robinho on loan
The report of Txiki (3) : 60 million for Eto'o
Robinho now main option for left wing

Liverpool rejects first bid for Mascherano

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona has made Liverpool a few days ago a 20 million euro° bid for Liverpool defensive midfielder and Argentine international Javier Mascherano (25) through the player's agent Walter Tamer but that the English club has rejected the offer.

Tamer would then have raised the bid to 20 million euro plus the loan or the transfer of a Barcelona player who can leave the club but Liverpool doesn't seem willing to consider the offer unless more important players are offered.

Asked about the rumours linking Mascherano with a move to Barcelona, Federico Vitali, another agent of the player, said in an interview with Catalan radio station Ona FM that there aren't direct negotiations between the two clubs at this moment: "Barcelona is of course interested in Javier Mascherano but until Barcelona start talking with Liverpool, no progress will be made. It's clear that Mascherano wants to play at Barcelona, every Argentinian player would want that."

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Liverpool asks 40 million euro° plus the loan of Barcelona forward Bojan (18). British tabloid The Daily Mail claims that Liverpool wants to let the player go for a fee of at least 41,5 million euro°, while Barcelona would be ready to offer 24 million euro° plus Bojan. Sport claims that a loan of Bojan is not an option. British newspaper The Times claims that Mascherano is valued at 36 million euro°.

British tabloid The Daily Mirror on the other hand claims that Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez has made it clear that Mascherano will not be allowed to leave at any price and that the coach will now call a summet with the player's agent to insist that the Argentinian midfielder must honour the three years left on his contract.

Spanish radio station Cadena Ser meanwhile claims that Real Madrid made an 30 to 35 million euro° bid for Mascherano. Catalan radio station RAC 1 claims, based upon sources from the entourage of the player, that Madrid didn't yet make a formal offer. The Times claims that Madrid is prepared to pay 45 million euro° for Mascherano and Liverpool right back Arbeloa and that Benítez is close to conceding defeat in his attempts to keep he Argentinian.

Read more:
Meeting on Mascherano in Barcelona
The report of Txiki (2) : Mascherano priority

Inter asks Cristiano Ronaldo fee for Ibrahimovic

British newspaper The Times claims that Inter Milan is asking a transfer fee of close to 95 million euro° for Inter Milan forward and Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic (28) (read more here).

Representatives of the player would have met Real Madrid officials earlier this month and have also held talks with Barcelona, after Inter indicated they would be willing to sell Ibrahimovic.

While Barcelona was scared off by the price tag, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has reportedly not dropped his interest. Inter are unlikely to get the asking price for the striker who, as the best-paid player in the world until Kaká moved to Real Madrid, also has heavy wage demands, but Madrid could offer a player-plus-cash deal involving Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuaín.

Read more:
Meeting with Inter on Ibrahimovic: A reconstruction
Inter Milan opens door for transfer Ibrahimovic
Deal with Inter on Ibrahimovic

Manchester United confident of signing Eto'o

British newspaper The Guardian and The Times report that Manchester United is interested in Barcelona forward and Cameroon striker Eto'o (28).

The latter claims that the English champions are lining up a move for Eto'o. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is eager to find a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo as soon as possible and would have made a firm inquiry about Eto'o.

Manchester United would be confident of getting the striker and looks like beating their city-rivals Manchester City. While City reportedly offered 30 million euro° for Eto'o and was prepared to make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League, United would hope to secure a deal for less.

Italian sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Barcelona has offered Eto'o, whose current contract expires in 2010, a three-year renewal worth 7,5 million euro a year, while Eto'o's agent Mesalles is asking ten million euro. Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola would have set 20 July as deadline: when the pre-season starts, the coach want to know who will be his centre forward next season.

Asked about the renewal negotiations, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE that he hopes to renew the contract of Eto'o: "A lot of clubs want to sign him. We'll do what we can to renew him, to extend his contract because in my opinion he's the best goalscorer in the world and a very professional player. Things depend on two parties but I believe we can reach an agreement, although not any price."

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that like last summer Barcelona has put Eto'o on the market and has discretely offered the player to several clubs. British tabloid The Daily Mirror claims that Barcelona has offered Eto'o to Liverpool in exchange for Liverpool defensive midfielder and Argetnine international Javier Mascherano (25) (read more here).

Read more:
Agent Eto'o repeats wish to continue
Mascherano ideal candidate to strengthen midfield
Eto'o close to joining Manchester City

Messi vs Ronaldo: The Statistics

author: Nick Szczepanik
source: The Times
date: 22 May 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Champions League finals can often be settled by relative unknowns - put your hands up if you had heard of Juliano Belletti before his late goal beat Arsenal - but many neutrals are hoping that next Wednesday's match between Barcelona and Manchester United comes down to a battle of skills between the two teams' great entertainers, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Which one is more likely to make the difference? Well, according to statistics it looks as though Messi may just have the edge.



According to the table above (click to enlarge), in a similar number of appearances and minutes on the field, Messi is ahead of Ronaldo not only in goals scored (31 to 22) but also in goals created (16 to 8) and even chances carved out (97 to 74).

The Argentina midfield player has not had as many shots on goal, but seems to be more clinical in his finishing, converting 29% of shots compared to to Ronaldo’s 14%. 26 of Messi's goals have been scored from inside the penalty area, compared to 14 for the Portugal winger. So although both have identical shooting accuracy, it is hardly surprising that Messi scores more if he is shooting from closer range.

Of course, if you are looking for the long-range spectacular, Ronaldo is your man, as anyone who saw the explosive shot from 30 yards away to FC Porto will remember. And ask goalkeepers such as David James of England about Ronaldo's potency from direct free-kicks. Furthermore, he is more of a danger when the ball is in the air, with three headed goals to Messi's one.

But one especially revealing fact is that Messi does not appear to need the adulation of a home crowd or the familiarity of his home ground. He has scored 61% of his goals away from the Nou Camp compared to Ronaldo’s 23% away from Old Trafford - and that could make all the difference at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday.

read the full and original article here


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The malfunctioning goalkeepers

author: Gabriele Marcotti
source: The Times Online
date: 20 April 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





One of the established truisms in football is that excellent goalkeeping is essential in knockout competitions. Over the course of a league season, goalkeeping performances can level themselves out, but in a cup format, a blunder or unbelievable save can mean the difference between advancement and elimination. Or so we thought . . .

In fact, the last eight of the Champions League this season would seem to suggest that the above is just a myth. There have been few outstanding performances by goalkeepers in the knockout phase (which may explain the unusually high number of goals scored).

First, one basic caveat: there is no objective, let alone statistical, method of measuring how good a goalkeeper is.

Edwin van der Sar, of Manchester United, was, of course, a great goalkeeper, but, at 38, is well past his best. José Manuel Reina, of Liverpool, and Petr Cech, of Chelsea, are both outstanding goalkeepers, but both made fairly crass blunders when their sides met at Stamford Bridge last week. And, in Cech’s case, it is probably fair to say this is his worst season since joining Chelsea in 2004.

Helton, the Porto goalkeeper, has a knack for making the odd spectacular blunder and, even when on form, seems average at best. Manuel Almunia, of Arsenal, is uncapped by Spain and, at 31, is in only his second season as a regular starter at the club, which probably suggests that he is not the second coming of Lev Yashin (Lukasz Fabianski, who came on when Almunia was injured in the first leg against Villarreal, has started a total of four Premier League games and the jury is still out, as evidenced by events on Saturday). Diego López, another uncapped Spaniard, became Villareal's regular goalkeeper only midway through last season, and had never before been a consistent top-flight starter, which, given that he’s 27, suggests that he is not exactly a prodigy.

Michael Rensing, Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper for much of the season, is also in his first year as a regular. But after conceding five goals against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga he was dropped to the bench for the match against Barcelona, giving way to Hans-Jorg Butt, the veteran who had not been a full-time starter since early 2007. Butt does have international caps — three — but his last appearance for Germany was nearly six years ago, emphasising how he has declined.

Then there is Victor Valdés, a man destined to divide opinion. To some he is one of the best in the world, to others he belongs in Sunday League football. He has been Barcelona’s first-choice keeper for the past six years and, at 27, is entering the prime of his career. Yet, curiously, he has never been capped by Spain (largely because of the presence of Iker Casillas and Reina). It is safe to say that few would place him among a hypothetical global top ten of goalkeepers.

It is entirely possible that we are misreading these eight goalkeepers. After all, ’keepers are generally judged on highlights — decisive saves and big blunders — and, where there are none, reputation seems overwhelmingly important. You can stick Piers Morgan in the Manchester United goal and, if he doesn’t face a single shot, you’ll probably still believe that he is a rubbish goalkeeper. Put Casillas or Gianluigi Buffon in and you’ll go on thinking he’s one of the world’s best.

That said, it is safe to say that outstanding goalkeeping hasn’t played a big part thus far in the knockout phase of the 2008-09 Champions League. Which is not to say it won’t do so from here on in.

read the full and original article here


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Let's have a fair fight rather than cynism

author: Patrick Barclay
source: The Times
date: 5 May 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Those fortunate enough to have been in front of our televisions during Barcelona’s 6-2 triumph at the Bernabéu on Saturday evening might have been mistaken, through our purrings with pleasure and whoops of excitement, for antagonists towards Real Madrid.

It would also be an error to deem anti-Chelsea anyone fervently hoping that Pep Guardiola’s scintillating team prevail at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Football like Barcelona have been playing this season — and Real were playing when Zinédine Zidane occupied the place in our hearts now devoted to Lionel Messi — edifies and elevates us to the level of the cricket crowd who, during a fiercely contested Ashes series, will rise to salute a visiting player’s fine innings.

If you think this an exaggeration, cast your mind back six years to Old Trafford on the night that the Brazilian Ronaldo was cheered off after scoring the hat-trick that knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League.

So no genuine enthusiast should be ashamed of wanting to see Messi, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and the rest collect the trophy in Rome on May 27. Although Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea are riveting sides, Guardiola’s Barcelona, even more than Arsène Wenger’s team or Sir Alex Ferguson’s, represent the ideal of pure football as judged not only by artistic impression — which is in the eye of the beholder — but the number of fouls conceded.

That is why Barcelona had every right to be outraged by the weakness of Wolfgang Stark, the German referee, in dealing with Chelsea at the Nou Camp, where Guus Hiddink’s men committed three times as many fouls as Guardiola’s but picked up the same number of yellow cards (two) and lost an important player, Carles Puyol, for the second leg. Fouls are awarded for a purpose: to punish an intention to cheat. They were never meant to be used tactically, as in the modern game.

To be fair to Hiddink, he did not squeal when one of his South Koreans was cynically chopped down in the 2002 World Cup semi-final by Michael Ballack, the German accepting suspension from the final as the price of preventing a possible equaliser, so he could consistently argue that Barcelona were making too much of their treatment at the hands of Ballack and company last week. But the interests of football demand more skill-friendly refereeing.

Unfortunately for Barcelona, who habitually record low foul counts because they like to get on with the game, refereeing in Europe has become more English than the English in the sense of allowing physical intervention. Uefa should do something about it because football is not wrestling and our game should cherish the precious quality that sets it apart: the opportunity for deftness to overcome power that makes it suitable for people of all sizes without weight classification.

That applies to everyone from Messi, Xavi and Iniesta to the boy (or girl) in the playground. Or should. But Barcelona got a rough deal at the Bridge four years ago — John Terry scored the aggregate winner after Ricardo Carvalho had fouled the goalkeeper, Víctor Valdés, and Pierluigi Collina, Uefa’s favourite referee, ignored protests — and I fear they may be up against more than a very good team this week.

It was always going to be tougher than at the Bernabéu, where the Spanish league’s inferiority to the English was starkly exposed, and even Latin-style officiating might not be enough to see them through. But let’s have a fair fight rather than an exercise in cynicism, because, to the football- lover, kicking, tugging and diving prove nothing.

read the full and original article here

Guardiola, the apprentice among sages

author: Ian Hawkey
source: The Times
date: 19 April 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Pep Guardiola speaks excellent English. The Barcelona coach does so with impressive fluency for a man talking in his fourth language and, evidently, can do so with the spontaneity of a native.

Just ask Martin Atkinson, the English fourth official during the first leg of Barcelona's Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich. "You're crazy!" erupted Guardiola, responding to a decision. He duly spent the remainder of Barcelona's 4-0 win in a seat in the stands, not much calmer until he apologised, gracefully, afterwards.

The gracious Guardiola, articulate and urbane, is the one this European season has grown accustomed to. On the touchline, he can be an excitable, animated patroller of his technical area, but as most things he has surveyed from there between September and mid-April have been pleasing and positive, the demonstrations of anger must be interpreted as the irritations of a perfectionist.

When he quarrels with referees, it tends to be in the role of protector. Howard Webb, Atkinson's senior colleague, had riled Guardiola in the match against Bayern because he punished Leo Messi for diving when the player had been fouled. "Do you want me to take the entertainer off, or are you going to protect him?" Guardiola asked referee Medina Cantalejo when Real Madrid came to Camp Nou and took it in turns to kick Messi.

It was the smooth, unruffled Guardiola who on Friday shared his thoughts on English football and the imminent reunion of Barça with Chelsea. The one thing he cannot help but feel conscious of, he suggested, will be how inexperienced he will seem next to the man on the other bench. Barça are not only the odd men out for their membership of a league that is not the Premier League; they are the odd men out of the remaining quartet for having a novice in charge.

Arsène Wenger, at 59, is 21 years older than Guardiola; Guus Hiddink had already won the European Cup as a coach three seasons before Guardiola made his first-team debut as a professional player. Little Josep Guardiola i Sala was a cheering 12-year-old probably smirking at the defeat of Real Madrid in front of a television on the night in 1983 when Alex Ferguson, then at Aberdeen, won his first European trophy.

The two factors are linked, he suggests. Why is the Premier League so powerfully represented in the world's leading club competition? "Because their teams are all well managed by head coaches who have fantastic experience in the game," says Guardiola, "and they are allowed to go about their work calmly and in a good professional environment."

Guardiola is a man so culé - so staunchly Barcelonista - that he used to work as a ball boy at Camp Nou, such a loyalist that pictures exist of him tugging at the sleeves of the players of the time as they left the pitch just to offer congratulations. By that stage Guardiola, a Catalan from Santpedor, to the north of Barcelona, had enrolled in the club's youth academy. He was a tall, slender teenager, willowy and set on making a role at the attacking end of midfield his own.

The then Barcelona head coach, Johan Cruyff, made the apparently counterintuitive suggestion that Guardiola reshape his game as a defensive midfielder. It worked. His precise distribution from a deep position would be a feature of Barça's football for the next 11 years, a period that brought the club's first European Cup in 1992, the same year a young Guardiola helped Spain to an Olympic gold medal in the Barcelona Games.

He captained the club from his early 20s, and is probably the footballer cited as an idol by most of the many local players in the current squad. Xavi, the midfield organiser of the present team, says he grew up aspiring to do what Guardiola could. Andres Iniesta says the same. Cesc Fabregas, now of Arsenal, came through the Barcelona ranks saying he admired Iniesta, who admired Guardiola and so on. The club's academy talks legitimately of the "Guardiola school", strategists who shape a playing style from midfield.

By the time Guardiola was seeing out his later career in Italy, with Brescia and briefly under Fabio Capello at Roma, and then in Qatar and Mexico, there was an assumption that this cerebral footballer would become a brilliant coaching strategist too, and that he should logically manage the club of his boyhood, teen and peak years.

There are plenty of instances in football where this sort of logic fails. Clever players make good coaches with an arbitrary irregularity; a good captain does not directly develop into a great manager. When Guardiola was appointed to succeed Frank Rijkaard last July, Barça were trusting heavily in instinct.

The new head coach had never taken charge of a senior club side in a competitive match before the opening of the new season. He had merely performed well with Barça B, the feeder side made up of youth footballers. In August, he lost his first Liga match. Since then he has barely looked back. Barcelona led the table, as they have since November. They have played beautifully, too, outscoring their peers in Spain and across domestic leagues in Europe.

"It is a privilege to be up against Chelsea" says Guardiola. How courteous. Then he explains: "I mean it's a privilege for us to be up against a team as strong as them in the semi-final. Chelsea are a side who, but for one slip, we would be calling the reigning European champions. It's one of the games you want to go out to enjoy." To enjoy the privilege, as he sees it, of being the outsider, the apprentice coach among sages, the foreign team among Premier Leaguers.

read the full and original article here


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A game plan for Chelsea to beat Barcelona

author: Gabriele Marcotti
source: The Times
date: 15 April 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Does last week's Chelsea-Liverpool game at Stamford Bridge show Chelsea can trouble Barcelona?
First of all, everyone is revelling in what they're calling a phenomenal game. Yes, it was an exciting match, but there were so many mistakes that it was actually a badly played game for long periods.

The first thing Chelsea have to do is cut out the kind of errors that we saw that night. They had a lot of issues: the defending for Dirk Kuyt's header and for free kicks and Petr Cech's form. If you give up four goals at home against a Liverpool side without Steven Gerrard, you have a problem.

Are there any areas in which Chelsea will have an advantage over Barcelona?
They will have a tremendous advantage at set-pieces. In Didier Drogba, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry and Alex, Chelsea have some outstanding headers of a ball. Apart from the central defenders Rafael Marquez and Gerard Piqué, and Yaya Toure, Barcelona have few aerial threats. So, Chelsea's fourth-best header of a ball is likely to be marked by a considerably lesser player in the air.

Will Chelsea struggle in terms of possession?
Barcelona are very good at regaining possession without committing fouls, while Chelsea do not have many runners who can attack a defence and draw the free kicks that I mentioned they need. The answer, though, might be Michael Essien.

I want to see him let loose on Barcelona. Give Essien the freedom to attack and he will give the team great energy. Between now and then Guus Hiddink may have to tinker a bit and find a way to get Essien in a position where he can hurt opponents. Hiddink was right to use him in front of the back four against Liverpool, but it's time to set him free.

So you don't expect Essien to man-mark Lionel Messi?
I don't buy into man-marking Messi, I don't know anyone who can do it. If you put Essien on him, you deprive the team of an outstanding player and you still have the problem of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o. I think you have to defend against Messi zonally.

How do you stop Barcelona's front three?
Messi, Eto'o and Henry base their play entirely on movement and are not a huge threat at set-pieces. So, to some degree, Chelsea can afford to be a little more physical and give a way a few more free kicks against them. That three tend to stay forward, relying on the ball coming through Xavi and Iniesta in midfield. Chelsea need to cut off that supply. They need to outmuscle both players.

The other way Barcelona attack is through Daniel Alves running from deep, creating a devastating partnership with Messi on the right wing. Alves is a lot more difficult to stop because he just gets the ball and runs at the defender. You can only foul him so many times before the yellow cards come out. If Chelsea are going to focus on marking one player, it's Alves.

Who could do that job?
Possibly Florent Malouda. He has had an indifferent time throughout much of his Chelsea career, but he is an extremely intelligent footballer and would be able to fill such a tactical role.

read the full and original article here


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Barcelona are overrated

author: Tony Cascarino
source: The Times
date: 17 April 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





I'm not sure why Barcelona are attracting so much admiration and awe, as if they were one of the greatest sides in history. They're not: they are overrated and Chelsea can beat them in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Because as good as Barcelona are going forward, their defence is suspect and that prevents them from being a truly great team.

When I've watched them this season, they've flattered to deceive. Yes, they are fantastic in attack. But you can get at that defence, and the reason they've looked so comfortable in advancing to the semi-finals is because they haven't played many decent opponents.

They beat Lyons 6-3 on aggregate but this is the weakest Lyons side for a number of years. They’re not a team to fear, and they did score twice in the Nou Camp. Then, in the quarter-finals, Barcelona beat Bayern Munich 4-0 and home and shared a 1-1 draw away. Instinctively you think that’s incredibly impressive but Bayern are not a good team. The sort of team who will give away chances that you know top forwards such as Barcelona’s will take.

But the Catalans will concede their fair share of opportunities as well, because of the open, attacking style they play and because their defence and goalkeeper aren’t top-drawer. It’s why I think that if Chelsea play well at the back they will knock Barcelona out. That might be a big “if” after the 4-4 draw with Liverpool.

But we know Chelsea have the potential to defend better. With a central defensive partnership of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho they will look more secure, and while Ashley Cole won’t be there because of suspension, Michael Essien’s got the agility and legs to subdue Messi, as he subdued Steven Gerrard at Anfield.

It will be a shock to Barcelona to face a really tough team after the easy ride they’ve had so far in Europe and in Spain, where Real Madrid have been ordinary and Valencia, Seville, Deportivo La Coruna and Villarreal are all not as good as they were.

Barcelona have been knocked out of Europe in recent years by Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. English clubs don’t let Barcelona have things all their own way. Liverpool nullified them in 2006-07 by hard work and ground out a result. Chelsea can do that. Stop the service to Henry and Eto’o and they won’t run back to chase the ball. Limit Messi and you limit Barcelona.

And Chelsea won’t be in awe of going to the Nou Camp. They won’t be intimidated - especially since the first leg is in Spain, giving a real advantage to the Londoners. If the tie is in the balance after the Nou Camp, there’s no doubt Chelsea can win. And if they do, if they knock out the favourites, maybe someone will say to me: “Wow, how good were Chelsea?” It might just be that the real question to ask will be “How disappointing were Barcelona?” They’re high on a pedestal they don’t deserve.

read the full and original article here


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The weak points of Barcelona

author: Ian Hawkey
source: The Times
date: 12 April 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Joan Laporta, the dapper president of Barcelona, called the first 45 minutes against Bayern Munich "the best first half in the history of Barça". Franz Beckenbauer, the honorary president of the defeated Germans, called it the "worst half in Bayern’s history".

According to Laporta’s history, Barcelona’s first half at Camp Nou against Olympique Lyonnais in the previous round of the Champions League would have to rank high in an all-time list, too. Against Lyons, Barca scored four times before the interval, their trio of strikers, Leo Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry, sharing the goals, just as they did against Bayern. But, oops, just before half-time Barça conceded a very careless goal, headed in from a corner by the diminutive Jean Makoun. And, oops, they let in another against the French side just after the break.

Guus Hiddink enjoys advertising his gimlet eye for spotting an opponent’s Achilles heel. He will need it to exploit those areas where Barcelona can be vulnerable. They do exist. One feature of the demolition of Bayern was that the eye was not drawn especially to the attacking energy of Dani Alves, who plays at right-back but interprets the position loosely. On one of the very rare occasions when Bayern shovelled something resembling a counter-attack beyond the halfway line, Franck Ribery engineered it by slithering cleverly past Alves. An in-form Florent Malouda might be encouraged by that, even it seems just a chink of light.

The footage of Barcelona that Chelsea would do best to study would be taken from the four consecutive matches the Catalans did not win, between the middle of February and the second week of March. Lyons drew 1-1 with Barcelona in the last-16 first-leg meeting in France, their goal coming from that master of the dead ball, Juninho.

Defending free kicks, either direct ones or crosses hoisted into a busy, crowded penalty area, used to be a significant flaw in the Barcelona teams built during Laporta’s successful reign as president. When Frank Rijkaard’s Barça were eliminated from the Champions League by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2004-05, one such goal, when Ricardo Carvalho seemed to impede goalkeeper Victor Valdes, was their undoing.

Under Pep Guardiola, who took over from Rijkaard last summer, and with the tall Gerard Pique adding some inches to the centre of their defence, they have tidied up their efficiency in this area, though they often concede an overall height advantage defending dead balls in the penalty area. Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta have magic in their soles but no special springs in their heels. Valdes is no giant, either, and is prone to errors in higher-profile contests.

When Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona 4-3 in the Spanish capital last month, they exploited the space behind the adventurous Alves. They tested the other flank, too, where the France international Eric Abidal is nominally Barcelona’s first-choice left-back. His cover is captain Carles Puyol, who is right-footed, fast, strong and more accustomed, since he assumed his senior status at the club, to playing at centre-half.

But Pique’s rising reputation has discouraged Guardiola from disturbing the partnership between the 22-year-old, sold by Manchester United last July, and the Mexican Rafa Marquez. His trust has every justification. In 20 matches as the middle pairing in his back four, Pique and Marquez have let in just two goals from set-pieces. Hiddink may still have something to surprise them with, though one imagines the card that is Branislav Ivanovic as spare, unpoliced target man is a joker that has now been used up.

Marquez is an important footballer for Barcelona, often responsible for the initial impulse to move their play forward from defence. Hassle Marquez and you can disrupt the finely tuned passing machine operated by Xavi and Iniesta. Atletico did that to good effect in Madrid and won.

At Camp Nou, Barcelona have lost only once in La Liga under Guardiola. That was against Espanyol, in the city derby, a defeat that had some familiar symptoms — a Valdes error; a cross headed in by a titch, Ivan de la Pena — and, alas for purists, some reward for the sort of strategy other big rivals have brought to Camp Nou over the past nine months.

Espanyol were pugnacious and sly in their 2-1 win, a match of 14 cards, including the red that deprived Barça of Seydou Keita from the first half. When Real Madrid came to the home of the league leaders back in December, they lost 2-0 after setting out to be hard and aggressive, apparently sharing around the XI the task of fouling Messi.

Guardiola thought he saw Bayern doing the same — around 85,000 shared his view — which explained his hot-headed reaction when Messi was booked by Howard Webb for simulation. The Barça coach thought the English referee had mistaken victim for villain. He may even have remembered how Jose Mourinho once tried to persuade the public that the diving Messi was a “good actor who should be in the theatre” after one of the feistier Barça-Chelsea confrontations of recent years.

Barcelona fans laughed about that and printed thousands of T-shirts saying “We don’t do theatre, we do great football”. Many will be soon be dug out of wardrobes, ironed and ready to wear again for another Chelsea visit.

read the full and original article here


Read more:
Why are Barcelona scoring so many goals?
Barcelona Is Winning With Style

Messi-Eto'o-Henry: Barcelona's Prolific Trident

author: Gabriele Marcotti
source: The Times
date: 13 April 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Something unusual happened at the Nou Camp when Recreativo Huelva visited on Saturday. For only the fourth time this season, Barcelona played there with Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry or Samuel Eto’o and none of them scored.

One of those three has scored in 83 per cent of Barcelona’s home matches this season. Amazing as that may sound; their performance away from home has been even more impressive: they’ve scored in 91 per cent of the matches when at least one of them has played.

The three have notched a combined 85 goals in Barcelona’s 49 matches in all competitions. Henry has 22 goals in 32 appearances, Eto’o 31 in 39 and Messi 32 in 42. Those are the kind of numbers you ordinarily get on the PlayStation, not in real life.

Just compare them with the front threes of other top European sides. Real Madrid’s trio of Gonzalo Higuain (17), Raúl (20) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (8) has 45; Inter Milan’s – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (23), Adriano (7) and Mario Balotelli (6) – has 36; while Juventus’s – Alessandro Del Piero (17), Amauri (14) and Vincenzo Iaquinta (11) – has 42. Bayern’s three-some of Miroslav Klose (20), Luca Toni (15) and Franck Ribéry (11) are at 46. As for the English clubs, Liverpool – Steven Gerrard (21), Fernando Torres (14) and Dirk Kuyt (10) – has 45 and Chelsea’s – Nicolas Anelka (21), Frank Lampard (17) and Didier Drogba (10) – has 48.

The closest you get is, Manchester United, where Cristiano Ronaldo has 20, Wayne Rooney 17 and Dimitar Berbatov 13, for a total of 50. But that is way behind Barcelona.

Messi has pulverised his previous best tally for a season, which stood at 17. Eto’o needs two to match his personal best of 33 from the 2005-06 season. However, barring a miracle, Henry won’t set a new personal best – he’d need to score 39, like he did for Arsenal in 2003-04.

Credit has to go to the three individuals, particularly Eto’o and Henry, because while Messi was universally hailed as a superstar who would only get better, the other two were written off in many quarters last summer. When Arsenal sold Henry to Barcelona for £16 million in 2007, many believed that the Catalan club had been robbed blind. He was soon to turn 30, he was coming off a lacklustre season and his pace was supposedly on the wane.

Eto’o had been slowed by injuries the previous two seasons, like many African footballers he was plagued by the usual unfounded murmurings about his “real age” (he is 28), and it was suggested that he could be “surplus to requirements”. What is more, both were accused of being egomaniacs who could destabilise any dressing-room.

The trio are helped tremendously by Barcelona’s attacking ethos and supporting cast: with Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Daniel Alves providing service, you are bound to get plenty of chances. But all three forwards have shown themselves to be incredibly unselfish as well, disregarding their own numbers and working hard to create opportunities for each other.

It’s also curious to note that, while they are all prolific, none of them is a traditional centre forward. They’re not particularly threatening in the air, nor are they particularly powerful (Eto’o is probably the strongest of the three and he’s hardly a giant). In fact, what defines them most, apart from their technical ability, is their continuous and intelligent movement. They drop back, they go wide, they switch positions and they befuddle opponents with an almost telepathic knowledge of where the other two are.

Barcelona may go on to complete a La Liga and Champions League double. But even if they don’t, the achievements of these three men – who, between them, will likely go on to score more than 100 goals this year – deserve to take their place in history. And while with Messi we know that the best is yet to come, when it comes to Eto’o and Henry you can’t help but admire the guts and professionalism that, once again, has confounded the critics.

read the full and original article here


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Henry rejected Manchester City offer last year

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has revealed in an interview with British newspaper The Times that Barcelona forward and French international Thierry Henry (31) rejected last summer an offer by English Premier League club Manchester City:

"I knew Man City were interested in getting him but he rightly decided to stay at Barcelona. What will he do next season? I'm not sure. I'm not convinced he wants to come back to England but he's free to decide what he wants."

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Manchester City working on Henry transfer

British newspaper The Times claims that Manchester City is planning a move for Barcelona forward and French international Thierry Henry (30) at the end of this season (read more here).

The English Premier League club is determined to compete with the established top four teams and has identified Henry as one of their leading targets, together with Bayern Munich attacker Franck Ribéry, in the pursuit of Champions League football. Chelsea defender John Terry and Blackburn Rovers forward Roque Santa Cruz are also on the target list.

Manchester City would have been working behind the scenes since January on a deal to bring Henry back to the Premier League. The French striker, whose contract with Barcelona expires in 2011, will be offered a impressive year salary and would cost around 10,5 million euro°.

The failed bid to sign AC Milan player Kaká in January has done little to discourage City from trying to land an iconic signing who can boost their profile off the pitch. It is said to be Manchester City manager Mark Hughes who would be driving the deal. He is confident that he retains the support of the club’s board and owners, but he is eager to make a big impact in the transfer market this summer.

Read more:
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