Txiki not yet convinced of Chygrynskiy transfer

Txiki
And what if we sign Chygrynskiy and he doesn't measure up?

...
Then there would be two of you!

(click the cartoon to enlarge)

sources:
elmundodeportivo.es

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Why is Txiki not signing anyone?

* Everything has an explanation *

Txiki:
When I was a student, I also postponed everything until September!

(click the cartoon to enlarge)

sources:
elmundodeportivo.es

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Picture of the day: Txiki

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain during yesterday's socio's assembly.

Txiki plans to fulfil the wishes of Guardiola

Txiki:
My plan is to do exactly what the coach asked.

Pep has said that he wants cracks or nothing...

Well, I will sign nothing!

(click the cartoon to enlarge)

sources:
elmundodeportivo.es

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Coaches Want More Players

Catalan sports newspaper Sport reports that the FC Barcelona technical staff is disappointed with the lack of reinforcements brought in over the summer. Noting that the team has not even been able to replace departed players Alexander Hleb and Martin Caceres, the coaches are concerned that Barca may not have an appropriate number of quality players given the large number of games the team will likely play this year.

As has been widely discussed, Barca will be contesting six titles in the coming season and will likely lose key players during the African Cup of Nations in January. In this context, the team has failed to land most of its top targets over the summer, including Chygrynskiy, Mascherano, Mata, Luis Filipe, Villa, and Ribery. Only Ibrahimovic and Maxwell have successfully been brought to the Camp Nou.

Technical Secretary Txiki Begiristain points out that the players Barca has targeted are very expensive and that the alternatives on the transfer market are not necessarily better than players already in the system. According to Sport, the technical staff has recently met to discuss the roster situation and are determined to finalize any further moves before September 1.

Related Stories:
The Scapegoat in Failure, The Forgotten Man in Success - Txiki Begiristain

The Scapegoat in Failure, The Forgotten Man in Success - Txiki Begiristain

The man under fire, the guy with a bull’s-eye mark on the back of his head, let me present, Txiki Begiristain.

Some called him a flop, some called him blind but that does not change the fact that he played his part in our treble winning season.

5 players came in, some excelled, some struggled and some flopped, let’s review what these players did last season.

DANI ALVES:-

If you could grade his performances last season, then he definitely gets an A+. The marauding fullback, the best right back in the world. Just one question - who brought him here? That’s right, Txiki. But does he get some credit for signing the best player in his position? No, it's simply forgotten. We all remember when Madrid, Chelsea, Milan and Man U(teams with open cheque books , barring Milan ;D) wanted him, but he went and got a personal agreement with Dani so that he doesn’t choose anyone but barca. Some would say a bit overpriced due to Txiki's bad negotiation, but let me ask one last question - would any of the clubs mentioned above signed him for less than 35m+ euro? I don’t think so.

GERARD PIQUE:

Another master stroke. Sir Alex is still weeping over the loss of one the best defensive prospects in the world. When Ferdinand spent half of last season injured there was no one to replace a defender of his calibre. There was no Pique, because he flew back to Barcelona. Sure some would say we paid a lot for our own youth product, but after seeing Pique last season, does 6 million Euros seem expensive? No.

SEYDOU KEITA:

Here's a guy who struggled to make an impact in the first stages of the season due to lack of playing time but his confidence grew with time. He scored important goals and gave Xavi & Andres to roam free because they knew that someone's got their back. He might not be a Yaya but he's good enough to fill the void if Yaya is injured. He's another good signing for a good price, and credit goes to Txiki, again.

MARTIN CACERES:

A young defender who was once dubbed as the new Sergio Ramos had a catastrophic first season with Barcelona. He never really got going because of little playing time and some disastrous mistakes, but don't all young players do that? Rafa Marquez makes the same mistakes and he's a veteran, so should we sell him? Of course not because he's the best defender in Mexican history, and like him Caceres needs to learn. He's only 22. How many people had faith in Henry after his debut season, not many, but he learned, improved and he was 29, and besides, if you're a sporting director who gets excellent scouting reports about a young player wouldn’t you have signed him for 15 mil? Of course.

ALEX HLEB:

Now here's a player who has the word flop engraved on his forehead. After amazing seasons with Arsenal, everyone thought that he would hit the ground running at barca. But the truth was cruel for Alex as he was greeted to La Liga with a tackle that ruined his career with us. The only thing I can thank him for is his pass to Henry in El Clasico and that it wasn’t someone else who got that tackle. But would you rather buy a 15 million euro flop or buy a 30 million pound Berbatov, a 40 million pound Shevchenko or a 30 million euro Quaresma? The answer is obvious...

In short, there is no sporting director without mistakes. At least Txiki's mistakes were the least costly ones. So there you have it, a guy who didn’t spend the summer chasing a Ronaldo and wasting a Robinho. A guy who did not spend 150 mill on two players. The guy who brings what the coach wants. Txiki.

Posted by hamad_ali.

Txiki renews for one more year

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims, based upon club sources, that Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain has last week renewed his contract.

Begiristain, whoe previous contract expired at the end of June, would have signed last week a contract extension for one more year, until June 2010. This way, the next Barcelona board will have the free choice when deciding about the sports director after the presidential elecions that will be held in the spring of next year.

Read more:
Txiki has everything under control
Txiki met with agent Bruno Alves

Now it's your turn, Txiki!

* It's Txiki time *

(click the cartoon to enlarge)

source:
elmundodeportivo.es

see more cartoons here

Txiki (3): "Rijkaard deserved to finish the season"

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain gave an interview to Catalan newspaper El Periódico.


(read the previous parts of the interview here)


You don't fear that the squad is too short?
The only thing I wish is to have some luck. Over the last those seasons the injuries caused us a lot of problems.

That's why it's more than ever important to take care of Messi?
I think it's more important to take care of everything that surrounds him than of him. We have to arrange everything for him, within certain limits. We should keep an eye on the little problems he has, to see if he can play or not, so that in the months of March and April he and the others are in the best conditions to compete for the trophies. We will need Messi, so we have to be attentive about all the details like the training sessions, the food, the rest.

Laporta has admitted that he considered dismissing Rijkaard after the defeat against Madrid in the camp Nou.
I always thought that Frank deserved to finish the season. You have to give this chance to a coach who wins two leagues and one Champions League. I kept on protecting him and we reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the Spanish cup. And against Atlético Madrid we were close to the first spot in the league. Because of all this, I think he deserved to finish the season. The image of Barcelona he has spread to the world was unique. And that's worth something. If we then aren't able to give him something back, we wouldn't have a heart. Then people would mean nothing, we would be a club who needs to win every game with 3-0 and that's it.

Gratitude is also a reason to justify the end of Ronaldinho?
There has been a last chance, in December, when we made a special training schedule for Ronaldinho. We heard from the staff that he was training well. But we also heard other things. The exit of Ronaldinho was the best exit possible given the circumstances. Excellent. And I'm not talking about the transfer fee. No wounds, no swearing. He wanted to go to Milan although there were better offers, both for him and for us. We made a deal with Milan and that's it. It's clear to everyone what happened with Ronaldinho and that he needed to go. There wasn't a debate. The summer before on the contrary, there was a debate. Then he had just scored 21 goals. And after having talked with all parties, we decided to go on. But when you have someone who has given you so much, who has changed the history of the club and when on the other hand there are no doubts about him having to leave, you know you're right. There just wasn't a better way or moment for such an exit.

Without Ronaldinho, the team keeps performing. This is a lesson for the squad?
I don't know. It would be different if you sell Ronaldinho after having won the Liga and the Champions League and after that you again win the Liga with other players. Then you can say that nobody is essential. But we also have to take into acoount that we had another player coming who would take the main role: Messi.


This was the third and last part of this interview.

You can read the previous parts here:
Txiki (1): "Guardiola is keeping his promise"
Txiki (2): "Youth players adapt easier"

Txiki (4): "We were right giving Eto'o a new chance"

In his first interview to a paper in two years, Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain talked to Catalan sports paper Sport about the past months and the current situation of the club.


(you can read the earlier parts of this interview here)


A lot of the key figures of last seasons' team stayed at the club, like Eto'o... He's still there because nobody signed him.
Guardiola said that if he would stay, he would give everything to get him back at his best level and that Eto'o would be one of the guys. You shouldn't forget that phrase. It's true that until the 21st of July, there was one situation and after that we had another. Guardiola talked with Eto'o and both took the shared and right decision to continue together at Barcelona and it has been proven that somtimes in life giving someone a second chance can turn out very well. Samuel has today the same ambition as the first day.

Rafael Márquez is another player who seemed to be on his way out and who is now performing at a great level...
Here it also was Guardiola who talked with the player and who decided he should stay. I gave Guardiola all the information that I had and then he took the decision what to do. Márquez is without any doubt a very important player for our team. There are few players in the world who understand the game that well. He's an intelligent guy and tactically he's helping the coach a lot on the pitch. He reads the game very well.

Xavi and Iniesta have this season definetely become key players...
You won't find two players like them on the market. They're taking a lot of responsibility and that's good for the team. Iniesta is incredible in the one on one and, like Xavi, he's never hiding himself. They are two homegrown players who go out there and play as if the Camp Nou is their backyard.

We finish with Henry. His game doesn't convince and sometimes he shows to be very little integrated...
Thierry came here at a very difficult moment, because of his personal problems and the crisis of the team. He needs to take up a more important role within the team. And we're starting to see that because in every game he has a big chance or he scores. Guardiola is very satisfied with his work.

This team is hungry for trophies?
I like what I see. You just have to watch how they celebrate the goals. Last time, they celebrated the sixth goal as if it was the first one. That says something.


This was the first and last part of this interview.

Read the previous parts here:
Txiki (1): "Messi is the best player of the planet"
Txiki (2): "The players are very loyal to the coach"
Txiki (3): "Champions win couldn't save Rijkaard"

Who could go?

In an interview with Catalan television channel TV3 (read more here), Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain commented on the possible outward transfers in the summer (read more here). In general, he pointed out that the club will never retain players against their will: “The door is open for those who want to leave.”

Begiristain assured the club wants Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho (27) to continue, although he stated that the player should return to his best form. About Portuguese midfielder Deco (30), the sports director was clear: “It’s a very complete player, our most aggressive midfielder, someone who never hides himself on the field. If he keeps performing well and he feels comfortable here, it is clear he will stay.”

The players whose contract expires in June, French central defender Lilian Thuram (36), Brazilian left back Sylvinho Mendes (33), Brazilian defensive midfielder José Edmílson (31) and Spanish left winger Santiago Ezquerro (31) could all renew, but everything will depend on their performances on the pitch. The same goes for Icelandic attacker Eidur Gudjohnsen (29), “who is fighting very hard for his spot in the team”, and Catalan defender Oleguer Presas (28), “who I really wouldn’t want to see leaving”.

Rijkaard is planning for next season

In an interview with Catalan television channel TV3, Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain said the club fully supports the continuation of manager Frank Rijkaard (45): “We like the image of the club he is spreading to the outside world and we hope Frank will stay and at the moment nothing leads us to think he might leave.” Begiristain added the club is planning the future in close collaboration with Rijkaard.

Asked about the rumours linking former Chelsea manager José Mourinho (45) to Barcelona, the Barcelona sports director said that Mourinho isn’t the central figure in the whole manager debate: “We are working with the coaches that are here. And right now, we could talk about many others who also have the capacity to coach Barcelona. Every manager should in any case adapt to our way of playing.”

Valverde has supporters

Catalan sports weekly paper Gol claims that Espanyol manager Ernesto Valverde (44) is Johan Cruijff’s first choice to become the new Barcelona manager in case current coach Frank Rijkaard (45) would leave at the end of the season. Valverde, who played for Barcelona (under Cruijff) between 1988 and 1990, would also be supported by Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain. By choosing for a less outspoken personality like Valverde, both Cruijff and Txiki would want to prevent losing influence.

The main problem to bring in Valverde would be the contract that binds the manager to Espanyol Barcelona until June of 2009. Since Barcelona didn’t want to let go Argentinian forward Javier Saviola to Espanyol in the summer of 2006, Espanyol president Daniel Sánchez Llibre is still waiting to pay the city rival back.


(read more about Cruijff's opinion on Valverde here)

Transfer history: Aimar (Zaragoza)

Presumed Barcelona insider Diego Valor writes on his blog this week that Argentinian playmaker Pablo Aimar (28), then playing for Valencia, was close to joining Barcelona in the summer of 2003. Both sports director Txiki Begiristain and newly elect president Joan Laporta (following the advice of Barcelona legend Johan Cruijff) preferred Aimar over Ronaldinho to become the central figure of the new squad. In the end vice president Sandro Rosell won the discussion and Ronaldinho came to Barcelona.

In the summer of 2006, Pablo Aimar left Valencia for 12 million euro and signed with Zaragoza.

Transfer period analysis: Winter 2008 (2)

Out
Despite having played only 20 minutes in the first half of the season and despite the interest of Espanyol Barcelona and Real Valladolid and concrete offers from Athletic Bilbao and Deportivo La Coruña, Barcelona forward Santiago Ezquerro (31), whose contract expires in June, preferred to stay until the end of the season when he will be able to leave for free.

When Barcelona youth player Marc Crosas (20) was permanently promoted to the first team in December 2007, it was already made clear the player would be loaned out in January in order to give him more playing time. For a while it seemed he would go to Segunda División team Real Sociedad, but Crosas quite surprisingly ended up joining French champion Olympique Lyon.

Loaning out Crosas was the right choice cause his chances to play when staying in Barcelona would have been very limited. While it cannot be expected he'll be an absolute regular in Lyon, his stay there and the adapting to another country, another league and other team mates can only make him grow as a player and as a person.

Transfer period analysis: Winter 2008 (1)

In
The Barcelona board declared in December that they wouldn't sign anyone in the January transfer window. Because second goalkeeper Albert Jorquera got seriously injured playing for Catalunya in mid season, sports director Txiki Begiristain still had to enter the market. The sixth month solution was found in the Segunda División: Celta Vigo goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto (32) was signed on loan till the end of the season.

In my opinion Barcelona did a great job in solving this unexpected problem. They had to improvise but came up with what seems the perfect guy: Pinto has probably the class, he can play all competitions, he has experience in the Liga ànd the Champions League, he accepts his status as back up and he only costed 500 000 euro (with the possibility to get him for free in June).