So, finally the Cesc saga is over. Barcelona got back their player, Arsenal got some good money, and Cesc is happy, but does it all make sense? and will Cesc have his place in the already strong Barca side?
Well, let's do some math. The number of 1st team players registered for some of the highest rated clubs in the world are as follows:
Real Madrid: 25
Manchester United: 33
AC Milan: 26
Chelsea: 28
Inter Milan:35
Arsenal: 30
Barcelona: 21
Barcelona, including Fabregas, have one of the smallest squads compared to clubs at a similar level! Not that that guarantees that he is going to play, but with that you can combine the fact that Barcelona are going to play a large number of games this season, including 38 games in the league, 2 in the Spanish Supercup, 1 European Supercup, 1-2 in the club world cup, between 6-13 games in the Champions League, and between 2-9 games in the Spanish cup that adds up to a potential 65 games! Now that's a number!
Squad rotation will be necessary, and all players will definitely get a chance. Looking at the current squad, I do not see any weak players. Most players can play in at least 2-3 positions, and each position can, consequently, be covered by at least 3 different players. The versatility of the Barca players, is one of their main strengths!
Let's see how this would work:
Goal Keeper: Valdes/Pinto
LB: Abidal/Maxwell/Adriano/Puyol/Fontas
CB1: Puyol/Pique/Abidal/Mascherano/Busquets/Fontas
CB2: Puyol/Pique/Abidal/Mascherano/Busquets/Fontas
RB: Dani Alves/Puyol/Adriano
MD-Defensive: Busquets/Mascherano/Keita/Thiago/Fabregas
MD-Offensive1: Xavi/Iniesta/Fabregas/Keita/Thiago/Affelay (Adriano, Maxwell and Dani Alves have also played here)
MD-Offensive2: Xavi/Iniesta/Fabregas/Keita/Thiago/Affelay
FWD1: Messi/Villa/Sanchez/Pedro/Iniesta/Affelay/Fabregas
FWD2: Messi/Villa/Sanchez/Pedro/Iniesta/Affelay/Fabregas
FWD3: Messi/Villa/Sanchez/Pedro/Iniesta/Affelay/Fabregas
So, there you go, will we see Fabregas in action? Hell yeah...
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Liverpool Magicians
Some games pass unnoticed, and some games are meant to be remembered. It is an entirely different class of games though that would take me out of my extremely busy schedule to write a few words about, and such was Liverpool's astonishing 4-1 win over the champions of the world.
The 4-0 midweek thrashing of Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) only meant one thing for the Liverpool players: they are not slowing down against Manchester United, and indeed they did not. So, while I was enjoying a really good sleep on Saturday morning, Liverpool were insulting the players of Manchester United with their speed, tricks and commitment to the game. The incredible speed of Fernando Torres, and the accuracy of passing from the likes of Kuyt and Gerard ultimately gave no chance for Man U to even think about coming back into the game.
It all started in Old Trafford, exactly three days after both Liverpool and Manchester United moved through to the 1/4 finals of the UCL, and it promised to be an interesting match. No one though, except perhaps Rafa Benitez, would have imagined Liverpool winning by that margin. Until that time, the united defense had only conceded one goal in their last 10 matches. To concede 4 in one game, it required something really special. But special it is this Liverpool team!
In the 22nd minute, Man U were awarded a penalty. C. Ronaldo scored with a powerful shot to the right of Reina, and things looked as if they are going in Man U's favor. It all changed a few minutes later though. Torres raced forward to a long ball and managed to beat Vidic to easily score past Van Der Sar. A defensive mistake from Evra was penalized by a kick from the spot, which Gerrard masterfully placed in the net, but the defining moment of the game was yet to come.
The ManU fans were waiting for the comeback, knowing their team will never just let things go that easy, but it was Vidic again who made things worse. Normally a rock in his side's defense, he harshly fouled Gerrard at the edge of the area. He got his marching orders and Liverpool got a free kick. But it is really the perfection of Liverpool's game that gave no chance to Man U. Aurelio struck the unstoppable free kick to effectively end the United's slowly fading hopes of the unlikely comeback. From then on, it was a matter of time. With 13 minutes to go, and 21 players on the pitch, there was only one way another goal would be scored, and so it was. Substitute Dossena, just like against Real, scored the fourth and final goal of the night, to write his name in the books of history, and wrap up a deserved win in the most unlikely place, at exactly the right time.
The 4-0 midweek thrashing of Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) only meant one thing for the Liverpool players: they are not slowing down against Manchester United, and indeed they did not. So, while I was enjoying a really good sleep on Saturday morning, Liverpool were insulting the players of Manchester United with their speed, tricks and commitment to the game. The incredible speed of Fernando Torres, and the accuracy of passing from the likes of Kuyt and Gerard ultimately gave no chance for Man U to even think about coming back into the game.
It all started in Old Trafford, exactly three days after both Liverpool and Manchester United moved through to the 1/4 finals of the UCL, and it promised to be an interesting match. No one though, except perhaps Rafa Benitez, would have imagined Liverpool winning by that margin. Until that time, the united defense had only conceded one goal in their last 10 matches. To concede 4 in one game, it required something really special. But special it is this Liverpool team!
In the 22nd minute, Man U were awarded a penalty. C. Ronaldo scored with a powerful shot to the right of Reina, and things looked as if they are going in Man U's favor. It all changed a few minutes later though. Torres raced forward to a long ball and managed to beat Vidic to easily score past Van Der Sar. A defensive mistake from Evra was penalized by a kick from the spot, which Gerrard masterfully placed in the net, but the defining moment of the game was yet to come.
The ManU fans were waiting for the comeback, knowing their team will never just let things go that easy, but it was Vidic again who made things worse. Normally a rock in his side's defense, he harshly fouled Gerrard at the edge of the area. He got his marching orders and Liverpool got a free kick. But it is really the perfection of Liverpool's game that gave no chance to Man U. Aurelio struck the unstoppable free kick to effectively end the United's slowly fading hopes of the unlikely comeback. From then on, it was a matter of time. With 13 minutes to go, and 21 players on the pitch, there was only one way another goal would be scored, and so it was. Substitute Dossena, just like against Real, scored the fourth and final goal of the night, to write his name in the books of history, and wrap up a deserved win in the most unlikely place, at exactly the right time.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
On February 11th...
The European leagues are all taking a break from football this mid-week, which means that there will be no action at the club level. This, however, will only give a break to the coaches of the best teams in Europe, but not to the players themselves.
As the clubs take a break, it is now the turn for the national teams to face off in a number of extremely interesting, and a number of well... less interesting games. Out of the various fixtures scheduled in the FIFA agenda this wednesday, three of them caught my attention; Brazil vs. Italy, Spain vs. England, and France vs. Argentina. So what's going to happen?
Well, let's start with the world Champions facing the Seleção. Marcello Lippi is back to coaching Italy, which means that Italy have a real chance of actually winning against the Brazil national team, and while the Brazil team should never ever be underestimated, they are not really in their best form in the recent times, which gives Italy a golden chance to avenge for their loss in the world cup Final of 1994. Have they met since then?
Brazil's national team does include Kaka, Ronaldinho, Pato, and Luis Fabiano among others, and three of those play in Italy, which means they actually know the italian game, but will that be good enough?
The more interesting game looks to me to be Spain vs. England. These two countries have the best leagues in Europe, and pretty much have the best players as well. I see in this game a summary of the games between Barcelona and Man U, Liverpool and Real Madrid, and many more combinations of that sort. I do feel, however, that Spain has an advantage here. England does not have a fully functional squad. They have one of the best two central defenders in the world; Ferdinand and Terry, but they do miss their best strikers and some midfielders; namely Rooney and Gerard. On the other side, Spain has a fully functional side, with not only the players in Europe who just won the European Championship, but some new youngsters, who are proving to be good enough to challenge for a place in an already crowded national team.
Finally, it will be nice to see Messi play with the Argentina national team when entertaining France in Marseille. With Henri and Abidal on the other side, it is always a beautiful prospect to see Barca players play against each other, and while I do not doubt the quality of Abidal and his experience in his position, marking Messi is not going to be easy for him.
My personal predictions:
Italy vs Brazil: 1-1
Spain vs. England: 2-0
France vs. Argentina: 1-2
As the clubs take a break, it is now the turn for the national teams to face off in a number of extremely interesting, and a number of well... less interesting games. Out of the various fixtures scheduled in the FIFA agenda this wednesday, three of them caught my attention; Brazil vs. Italy, Spain vs. England, and France vs. Argentina. So what's going to happen?
Well, let's start with the world Champions facing the Seleção. Marcello Lippi is back to coaching Italy, which means that Italy have a real chance of actually winning against the Brazil national team, and while the Brazil team should never ever be underestimated, they are not really in their best form in the recent times, which gives Italy a golden chance to avenge for their loss in the world cup Final of 1994. Have they met since then?
Brazil's national team does include Kaka, Ronaldinho, Pato, and Luis Fabiano among others, and three of those play in Italy, which means they actually know the italian game, but will that be good enough?
The more interesting game looks to me to be Spain vs. England. These two countries have the best leagues in Europe, and pretty much have the best players as well. I see in this game a summary of the games between Barcelona and Man U, Liverpool and Real Madrid, and many more combinations of that sort. I do feel, however, that Spain has an advantage here. England does not have a fully functional squad. They have one of the best two central defenders in the world; Ferdinand and Terry, but they do miss their best strikers and some midfielders; namely Rooney and Gerard. On the other side, Spain has a fully functional side, with not only the players in Europe who just won the European Championship, but some new youngsters, who are proving to be good enough to challenge for a place in an already crowded national team.
Finally, it will be nice to see Messi play with the Argentina national team when entertaining France in Marseille. With Henri and Abidal on the other side, it is always a beautiful prospect to see Barca players play against each other, and while I do not doubt the quality of Abidal and his experience in his position, marking Messi is not going to be easy for him.
My personal predictions:
Italy vs Brazil: 1-1
Spain vs. England: 2-0
France vs. Argentina: 1-2
Monday, December 15, 2008
El Clásico
Nothing makes me more excited than the thought of one more "Clasico". The old history of the two teams, the great rivalry, the amazing atmosphere at the Camp Nou, and the 98,000 faithful fans who have come to support their team can only mean one thing; you are about to witness something really special!
The games between FC Barcelona and FC Real Madrid have always attracted a lot of attention. Even if Barcelona are playing their best football ever and Real are playing their worst, this game is still unpredictable. Even if Barcelona has a full squad with no injuries or worries and Real is suffering from all kinds of problems in their squad, you do not expect to see a one sided game. It would just be disappointing...
Journalists all over the world never doubted Barca's ability to win this year, and the real question posed by many was how many goals are going to be scored past the Real defense this time? Will the current Barca be able to break the record of 5-0 set by the likes of Cruyff et al.? Will it be as memorable as the day the whole Santiago Bernabeu gave a standing ovation to an incredible Ronaldinho? Or will it be better than the time the legendary Diego Maradona was roaming around the Real defense wreaking havoc in their flanks? El Clasico was about to give you the answer.
No matter how much speculation happens though, some tactical surprise always occurs. Sometimes, this surprise comes in simply fielding a different team that makes whatsoever no sense! The reasoning being, if my team is losing the way things are going, you might as well shuffle your cards and try some new random combination. Confuse your enemy! This time, however, there was a change from a different type. Real decided to simply change their coach!
The Real head coach Bernd Schuster said right after he lost to Sevilla a week earlier "We cannot beat FC Barcelona!" What kind of a statement is that? Raising the white flag already? What the hell was he thinking? So, simply the Madrid based club decided: We need a new coach, and so it was. Juan De La Cruz Ramos, also known as Juande Ramos is an already celebrated coach winning the UEFA Cup with Sevilla FC in 2006 and successfully defending it in 2007. Currently jobless, being sacked from his post at Tottenham earlier this year, he already has what it takes to be a top level coach, and Real need exactly that! Now what? Are we still asking how many goals are El Barca going to score against El Real? hmm.. the inputs have now seriously changed!
Ramos claimed winning against Barcelona was not impossible. Indeed it was not, and he proved so! El Classico started, Barcelona's attack started doing what it knows to do best. Chances started pouring from the left, right, and even the center! Real Madrid decided they need to absorb this overexcited Barca team so they stayed back. Madrid was defending with 5 defenders and 4 midfielders, and behind them was arguably the best keeper in the world: Iker Casillas. No matter what Barca did, they just could not go through. What is going on people? Barca only needed 10 minutes to go ahead in no less than 70% of the previous matches this year, but somehow Madrid were still holding on! All of a sudden, one counter attack and Drenthe was simply all alone with the Barca keeper. Valdes, however, would not be beaten. Everyone knows that Casillas is a much better keeper than Valdes, but it was to be proven a trivial piece of information this night. Had Derenthe scored, it would have been effectively game over.
Barcelona, however, did keep their back safe. They threatened the Real goal while keeping an eye on those quick counter attacks. The second half came even stronger, with Barcelona now simply throwing all the tricks they know to penetrate the Real defense, but an inspired performance by Casillas would push the Barca players to their limits and inspire an even bigger determination to win. Barca have not won against Madrid in their last four encounters, and it was going steadily towards a painful fifth. Not even a penalty was good enough to help the team break this stubborn defense with Iker Casillas getting the better out of his own self to continue keeping his sheet clean. It was not to be his night though...
One corner kick is what it took to do the damage. With Puyol rising up to meet the ball coming from the corner, he placed it perfectly in front of the ever motivated Samuel Eto'o. Having missed the famous penalty earlier in the game, Eto'o made no mistake tipping the ball just past the goal line. At that moment, it was going crazy! I knew that the moment for which I have been watching this whole game has finally arrived! Nothing can describe the incredible feeling that you get when the Cameroonian Lion scores against Real Madrid. You could practically hear the roars of victory all over the stadium. They finally did it, they broke Real Madrid.
Poor Casillas, up till that point, he had a man of the match performance. His saves have probably frustrated all the Barca fans, but it only made this one goal more special. With the time now running against them, Real could only pressure for an equalizer, but with most of their men surging forward, plenty of space was left behind, a move that is more than punishable by the players of FC Barcelona.
Messi added the icing to a delicious cake, adding a second goal in the injury time, and sending the Camp Nou into ruptures.
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