Needing a quick center back is a band aid of a symptom, a symptom of a lack of options. Pep can no longer start a game with 8 midfielders and no striker. At this point, selling Eto'o, even in his form today, is appearing to be the biggest mistake. Villa is not the answer, someone needs to be brought in who scores and has scoring instinct, outside of Messi. Today was frustrating, watching a bunch of munchkins working around the perimeter of the box, looking for an opportunity to cross a ball into another midget will never lead to goal against world class talent. Madrid has so many strike force options, Barca has maybe 3 at best. There are no outside shooting threats which is a hindrance since they have managed to slow the pace down over the last 4 years. With a slower pace, there is less opportunity to create holes in the opposing defense, since they allow them to reset position. Today sucked! My gut told me at halftime that this wasn't going to work out and it didn't. People talk about plan B, there are no options within plan A. Today had nothing to do with luck, if Madrid faced the same defense, they would have scored 5!!!!!
did we not win without Eto'o last year? how long will this Eto'o worship continue? yes he was good for us, great even, but so have many many players if anything we needed Ronaldinho's touch of magic
well I dont know about that, and on top of that where does one find a player like Eto'o? the worst thing Barca could do is hit the panic button and spend like crazy
I come by once in a blue moon, and I still can't Rep ya! How long does one have to wait? Well said, bravo!!
I don't ever recall Barcelona as a trending topic on yahoo.com. Perhaps on the UK version, but never on the U.S./main site.
See that's where Abidal would have helped because he's not a center back. He would play left back and might have covered Drogba on the 1st goal where Adriano was half-assing it back on defense. On the 2nd goal Abidal would have been covering Ramires and might have been able to track him whereas Puyol was just too slow to catch up. It's not crazy to think one of your best defenders would have made a difference.
Thanks, Josie. I hope games like these only come by once in a blue moon. But you know I write primarily to feed the goons in the Rivalry Thread.
Like they did against Valencia, Levante, and Villarreal? Oh wait. I have said this before but I will tell it again. It has nothing to do with our plan A not working. Against Chelsea in Pep's first season, we were out of ideas and we went through the only shot in target in that game. against Inter in Barcelona, we again created little to score in the 2nd leg but this time we created many chances and we missed about 8 sitters( including the PK and hitting the bars) and even against Madrid we missed 2 sitters and scored a goal. So this plan A not working is not a problem anymore. The problem is our players missing easy chances and it has to Di with injuries and low confidence to some, fattigue to some and less experience to some. But one thing is sure we need a CB and a LB. Mascherano rushes to the tackle like a DM and if he is beaten we are in a trouble. Even though he have played great in many games, these last 3 important games he was not that good. We definetly need a LB because Puyol lacks the speed to play there and Adriano is just average. We should buy a LB similar to Abidal, one who is tall and defend set pieces and has a speed.
I hope this doesn’t come across as a rant, because it’s not meant to, just some of my thoughts after last night’s game. Firstly, I was puzzled be the team selection, this isn’t me being clever after the event; a lot of posters on here were expressing concern when the line-up was confirmed. Why did we select a side without any full backs. We had only lost the first leg 1-0 and we had 90 minutes to score a goal and take the tie into extra time if needed. We have struggled to defend with a back four, so sending out a team with only 2 recognised defenders seemed odd. The selection of Cuenca again seemed odd, stating the obvious but we are talking about the second leg of Champions League semi-final. Pedro may have had a poor season but the buy is a big game player, he’s played in world cup finals, champions league finals, surely he had to start. This was compounded when Cuenca was substituted to be replaced by Tello. To me this was entirely down to Pep’s stubbornness, he’d had a bit of run in with the media about picking Tello for the El Classico and to me he seemed to be saying “I pick the team and I’ll select who I want”. Which is fine, I have no problem with that, but you have to pick your moment, and last night was not that moment, imho. We needed a goal and the best option for that was Pedro. Ultimately I think we have paid the price for not having enough depth in our squad, Cuenca, Tello, Thiago have all done OK, but none of them have been outstanding. Where we have really suffered is in attack. With Villa out for the season we just have had no one to step into his shoes. Fabregas scored at the start of the season but his goals completely dried up and Sanchez has only scored a couple in his last dozen or so games. Our 3 best attacking/creative players, Messi, Iniesta and Xavi have, at the back end of the season, just looked shot to me, mentally and physically exhausted. Puyol will always be a Barca legend but his legs are going, Pique has been injured/out of form for most of the season (I blame Shakira) and our best defender has been Mascherano. I also believe that teams have sussed out that if you let Alves have possession as 8 times out of 10 he will waste it. We have really missed Abidal. Last night was the first time I can recall, probably since Rijkard’s last season in charge, where the belief that they could win the game seemed to drain out of the players. In the last 15 mins when we should have been upping the pace and running Chelsea ragged we became slower and slower and completely ran out of ideas. I don’t think Valdes has covered himself in glory in the last 3 games either. I think we need to strengthen the squad for next season, we need more depth and more quality. We shouldn’t get precious about spending money, Barca are a club that have always gone out and brought or tried to buy the best players in the world. I really wish we had signed Aguero in the summer, but we didn’t so that’s history. I think we need a striker, and wide midfielder a full back and a centre half. The names I am thinking of are Cavani, Hazard, Lavezzi and Jordi Alba. We also need an imposing, quick centre half, but I can’t think of any we could realistically buy (I think Thiago Silva would be too expensive and Milan won’t sell). I know the club have financial difficulties and I know that most of those names are not realistic because of the cost involved, but I certainly think someone like Jordi Alba is a real possibility and possibly Cavani. I was pretty down last night after the game, but I’m ok now, I think after the 3 seasons we’ve had we shouldn’t complain, we have been lucky to watch one of the best club teams of all time, which in history will rank alongside the Real Madrid team of Di Stefano, the Ajax team of Cruyff and the AC Milan team with the 3 Dutchmen, and we have been fortunate to watch one of the best players ever to play the game and he is still only 24. And we still have the chance to win the Copa Del Rey which will be a small consolation at least and I think the players deserve that. Pep obviously knows there is a rebuilding job to be done, I can’t see him walking away given those circumstances. Sorry for boring you all with my musings. I promise I won’t do it again.
^^ We played with 3 defenders and I was actually very happy to see that lineup. About Cuenca, I think Pep did a right thing there too. Alves is an excellent RB but against parked buses his crossing are sh*t and yesterday was no exception. Cuenca has a very good cross on him and he assisted for the first goal, but his substitution for Tello was bad. Tello looks like a one trick pony and his finishing is not very good either, Pedro should have come in for Cuenca. I was confident that we would go through when I saw that Lineup but the first goal we conceded right before half time and Messi's PK f***ed us. I disagree with people who think that we have come to an end of the cycle. We are still the best team in the world and majority of our players are too young to start sulking from now on. This season we have introduced Thiago in the team and for me he is the one replacing Xavi eventually not Fabregas. Thiago will be even better next season and he will have many assists. Fabregas for me will be the Iniesta successor if no one from the youth steps up. Basically we are set up for another 7-8 years and I will never accept that the end cycle is here before I see it. Next year, we will definetly win the Liga and we will be hot favorites to win the CL. Who is going to stop us in the CL next season? Sure anyone who wants to do it wl be playing like Chelsea but if we have players injury free and our attackers are not fattigued we will kill them. I was more worried after that Inter defeat than I am now to be honest. About Sanchez, I like this kid a lot and I reckon he will be a great player for us next season. He missed some goal scoring chances this season but his off the ball movement is brilliant. If Pedro, Villa and Sanchez are our strikers with Messi next season than I see it to be very balanced. All of these players are very good at making runs and 2 of them being injured for most part of this season screwed us. Fabregas will also come good next season, and on him we have a potential player who could play in Messi's position if we need to give Messi rest or god forbidden injured( specially if Sanchez, Pedro and Villa are all available). Xavi looked like undropable to me previous season but his age or injuries looks to be catching up to him. He was playing very safe passes this season, specially the important games and for me he should be given even less importance to our team next season than he was given this season if he continue his this season's run. I really have great expectations from Thiago next season though. In defence, Montoya will be promoted next season and he looked a great player to have this season. Barta and Muniesa might get more games next season. Fontas might get some too. I don't know what Pep will go for here though. Shall we give our youth players chance in defence or buy a CB ala Thiago Silva, I will give chance to our youth players and buy a LB instead. I think Pep's biggest mistake this season was to not give Fontas playing time in early part if the season when we were leading a game by 2 or 3 goals. I have great hope on Barta and I wish he will fulfill his potential. I will definetly hope Pep gives him more playing time next season to prove his worth. With all of this plus Iniesta(28), Mascherano(28), Busquets(24), Messi(25), Pique(25) , I refuse to believe that we have come to an end. We will come back stronger next season as Messi will get full rest this summer. Next season is the beginning of another extra ordinary period in Barca's history, so look forward to it.
ilovefootball, We haven't come to the end of a cycle, but we have paid the price for not having a strong enough squad. LPB 's is much stronger and they have been able to cope much better than us with injuries during the course of the season. I mean Chelsea were able to bring on a 50 million quid sub while we brought on Tello. We need more depth and quality to our squad. Given the young players a chance is fine, but there is a time and place for that, imho, that is in El Classico and the semi final of the CL. Don't forget the teams we are competing against will strengthen in the summer, we can't afford to stand still and hope that some of the youngsters may make the grade.
Villa, Etoo and Henry offers alot more than Sanchez, Tello or Cuenca. Also, Barca 1 dimensional style proof to be disadventage against park the bus and wasting time strategy. The team rarely take adventage from corner and free kicks too. Its not the end of cycle. What happen in 2009-2010 season WAS the same like what happen now, Inter beat them with park the bus strategy but they came back strong the next season and win again. So why this time would be the end? its far from it.
Leon, I know where you are coming from but even if we don't sign any player next season we won't be standing still as Thiago, Fabregas and Sanchez spent a whole season with the team and this will make them better individually and easy to fit the team. LPB always get the credit for having greater depth but I don't believe it a bit. They have a world class forward as a substitute but look at their defence and midfield. If we didn't have injury crisis this season our first team would have looked like this: Vv Alves-Puyol-Piqué-Abidal Busquets Xavi-Iniesta Pedro-Messi-Villa Bench: Fabregas, Sanchez, Mascherano, Thiago, Keita, Fontas, Adriano. Now compare this to LPB, they have inferior first team than us and their bench looks like this: Higuain, Kaka, Sahin(barely plays), Granero, Callejon, Diarra, Albiol, Varane. I really don't think their bench is stronger than ours. It was long term injuries to Villa and Abidal and constant injuries to Xavi, Iniesta, Sanchez and Pedro that affected us. No matter how many world class players we buy next season we will never be certain of avoiding injuries and if we get as many injuries next season as we had this season, we won't cope much better. If we don't buy any player next season our team will look like this VV Alves-Piqué-Puyol-Adriano Busquets Xavi-Iniesta Sanchez-Messi-Villa Bench: Fabregas, Thiago, Keita, Pedro, Pinto, Mascherano, Cuenca, Montoya, Bartra. Only position we lack good cover is LB and I am for to buy a world class LB but other than that we look only suspect able in CBs but Mascherano can play there and I wi give chance to our youth rather than spending 30 million for a player to be needed for 1-2 games a season. In Pep's tenure, he has given chance to many attacking players from the youth but now I think it's time to give the defenders some chance.
I think upfront LPB are stronger than us, they can replace Benzema with Higuan, also I think defensively they are stronger than us. Midfield I completelty agree with you, that is our strength. I think we definately need another top quality striker and a very good centre half. We will also be losing players in the summer, I think Keita will be moving on and obviously one or two others. I think Jordi Alba would be a good signing for us as well.
I'm not talking about Abidal as a leftback. I am talking about Pep's 3-defender tactic, it's simply not going to work out unless the team has full concentration and doesn't lose balls in midfield cheaply. Might have and would have is all academic. Mascherano has been your best defender all season and yet he made some bad errors that proved costly in the end, there's no proof that Abidal would have done any better on those goals. In the end, you lose as a team and you got to move on. You could say if you had Iniesta two years ago as well against Inter there would have been a difference, but what would be the point? That's why you play with squads and not XIs which is why it makes it so much harder to win a competition like the CL if you are missing key players.
It's not an argument, it's a point of view and a statement. And it clearly didn't end long ago if the person I replied that to quoted it on this very page.
Given where the Spanish economy stands today, I'm not sure that Barca will have a lot of money for bringing in new players next season. It would be good to look at their latest balance sheet and I'll try to do that and see what it looks like (the only way they can augment it is through player sales but I don't think that's going to happen). Looking at the roster, the age and health status of players a couple of things stand out. It's not clear that Xavi will be able to play 90 minutes in the near future. He was rested quite a lot this season both because of age and potential injury issues (Achilles if I remember right). Abidal is likely not to play again leaving a huge gap. Puyols has been a rock for so long that we take him for granted yet only Paolo Maldini played consistent first team football at a high into his mid to late 30s. I don't think Puyols can do this given the energy he expands and the style of Barca play. Replacements for these three players must be addressed sooner rather than later (and in the case of Abidal, immediately). Unlike Tello and Cuenca, the youth defenders have not been given as big an opportunity to play this season so their ability and quality on the first team must go down as an unknown. Thiago is a good player and played a lot this season. He's a different player than Xavi and things would need to change a little if he is the one who moves into that position. With respect to the defense, I suggested in an earlier post that Barca take a hard look at Jan Vertonghen of Ajax who is a starter with the Belgian NT as well as the Ajax captain. (I'm sure given the Cruyff ties between both teams that they are aware of him). He is great on the ball and a solid defender who is having an outstanding season. I suspect that he can be had for a reasonable transfer fee and will be leaving Ajax this summer for certain (much to my dismay). He can slot right into the first team and can play either central defense or left fullback (which he has done when Ajax has gone to a 3-4-3 set up). The world has not ended because of the last three matches and I think Barca can come back stronger than ever next season. They won't have the world club championship distraction (and I wish the Copa del Rey would do away with the home and away nonsense as it leads to too many matches). One other suggestion, give Leo Messi an occasional day off.
Football and the real world don't often collide. The world may be in recession but I don't think that applies to footballers, some of whom are earning over £250k a week. Certainly the economy is not going to be a consieration for Chelsea, PSG or Man City. And you can guarantee that Juventus, Real Madrid, Man Utd and Barca are going to find the money to make at least 1, and probably 2, major signings. After what Messi has achieved by the age of 24, never mind him having the ocassional day off, he can have months off as far as I'm concerned.
well this pretty much sums the entire 2 legs now im cheering for bayern , really hope they can do something 2night coz if lpb go to the final itll be an easy ride with almost half the team suspended/injured/etc *_*
It's a little different now compared to seven years ago when several Spanish banks bailed out Madrid. I don't think this would happen today. It's also not clear whether the current television money that flows disproportionately into Madrid and Barcelona will continue. I think La Liga will have to move to a more equitable sharing agreement as Italy recently did. This will have an impact on both clubs.
There should be a fairer equitable sharing of income in La Liga, but that would involve Real Madrid, and yes, Barca voting against their own self interest. Will they do that when they both have massive debts, don't hold your breath. Anyway, Torres has gone up in my estimation: Fernando Torres said: "This is football. The best doesn't always win. You can't play beautifully against Barça, they're the best team in the world."