football test

As if the game against Villarreal was not enough to inspire the Journalists of Marca and co so they announce that Barca is in Crises. “So far Barcelona failed to win any game this year!” is a statement you can find here and there as a shocking fact. Is it only me or is it normal to live in confusion at the beginning of a new year? First time I read that statement I was like:”Oh Bloody hell!!! Failed to win any game this year?!” then I started to wave my fists in the air threatening Pep that I will…Then… and not only that but even…And I really mean it!

Then I realized that I still have half of the Cake I bought for X-mass in my fridge, and recognized that this year has just started? Oh, my bad... Barcelona played only two games so far. Not only that, but “They didn’t lose any game in the league this year” and you can go as far as saying that:” Barcelona won the entire Champions’ league games they played this year, and all the finals”. Don’t we all like bold statements and Catchy titles?

Dude, have a seat and let’s have a chat…




The Villarreal game is not the subject of this post. After the X-mass break and against a great team who knew exactly how to complicate things for us the draw was just what we need. In a long competition like the league, the only thing that’s worse than losing a game that you dominate, is winning a game you fail to control. Why? Simple. There is no way you play all the league games without dropping any point. If you play great and lose, you can only whine. If you perform poorly in a game and win, then you will most probably celebrate with relief. So, if you are going to drop points anyway, let it be in a game where you play awful. That leaves a scar, and forces you to reconsider. That will only makes you better. Barcelona ended their game against Villarreal gaining a point, and a lesson.

Against Sevilla, the selection was shocking. Pep started the dummies. The Amateurs of the squad like Alves who even though plays most of Barcelona games, but still he is an amateur. Chegrnskiy, Milito, and Maxwell who were league champions somewhere, and somehow, but still lack quality. Marquez, who even though he captains a World Cup Qualifier like Mexico, he is still an Amateur. Forth in the world, Iniesta? Best in the world, Messi? The goal scoring Machine, Pedro? The talented Bojan? Are you kidding me? The only big name was Thiago!

There is really no problem with the starting lineup from the absolute quality perspective. That’s a quality lineup that can beat half the Liga teams at any day. So we can’t take this loss to hit on the squad lack of depth, nor the unavailability of secondary options as I read while browsing some of the Barcelona fans forums today. It’s easy after every loss to start selling and buying in a quest to change half the squad, but that’s not the answer. Even though Barcelona Squad needs couple of selective signings, but the quality available is enough to feel settled at the moment.

The most reasonable argument that I read on many blogs was the fact that most of the selected players lack games fitness and form. Which lead us to the serious discussion: Did Pep commit a naïve mistake selecting all the out of form players in such a difficult game?

To answer this question, we need to put the game in its correct position. Before seeing it as a game against Sevilla, we need to keep in mind that it’s a Cup game. Since the intensity of football games increased (basically after UEFA changed the Champions League platform increasing the number of games of that competition), Squad depth became essential for any major club competing in both domestic and continental competitions. Squad depth is not only a matter of members, but also a matter of form. It’s not enough to have three players for every position if two of them spend the whole season warming the bench. They need playing time. That’s where rotation became a natural component in team management. Yet, the intensity and strength of the league usually makes it hard for the coaches to make the rotation ticks perfectly, so they started to label one of the competitions available as a “Junk title”. That’s where they use all the players who are not getting enough time in the main competitions, keeping them ready to serve when needed. Simply put, that’s the CDR for Barcelona, and that’s what it represents. Especially after the injury wind blew selective key players out of service and out of form during the beginning of the season. Pep was more active forcing his key players’ way to form by selecting them game in game out over stretching his Squad depth by getting more players involved in his rotation.

Some may point out that it wasn’t the case last season. But I can’t say that last season team management was perfect regarding resources management. Lack of rotation was so close to blowing all our chances in all the competitions we battled for. So if we learned the lesson, we must not complain. Yet, I can’t say that last season was not the same regarding the CDR (Which is a part of the new illusion that we lost the spark of last season). Let’s not forget that last season, we barely succeeded to qualify against Bendrom (if I remember the club name well). The performance was worse than the performance against Sevilla this year. I can understand the nostalgia toward last season, but we let’s not mix sentiments and common sense.

In the other hand, after we failed to win any title in two years, any title would have been a bless last season. We needed to break the bad cycle any way possible. None of the titles was a guaranteed hunt so we couldn’t afford gambling any. That’s not the case now and this season we have a margin to be a bit playful in the least important competition.

Then, it’s also important to have a look toward the players we didn’t select for this game. The main problems we suffered in this game were the lack of reference in offense where we –again- used Bojan as a striker, and the lack of command in the holding midfielder position. Henry is a need for the following game in the Liga and I smell a punishment in benching Ibra, while TOWANATA* is –hate it or… dislike it- our only holding midfielder at the moment who may need to play all the games from now on, till Yaya returns. Valdes do not play CDR games. Puyol and Pique are smoked fitness wise and this is their only chance to have a break. I may have preferred to have Puyol as a starter in this game but beside that, I can’t really over criticize Pep decision.

Fitness and mental wise, this is one of the most crucial periods for the squad. At the beginning of the season, everyone is fresh. In the final phase, everyone is motivated as the titles became close enough to smell and seize. Now it’s the static period where it’s important to keep everyone alert, or else a deep nap will snap the team till they wake up on the beach in the summer season. Shaking things a bit keep the love alive.

Tactical wise, I think we could have done better if Marquez was instructed to act as a third Center back while the team set offense. That will give Maxwell and Alves more freedom to master what they can do best. Maxwell is even a better player than Alves crossing the ball into the box, and his long shots are notably accurate as well. Even though we didn’t really have a good striker in the box to receive the crosses, Maxwell and Alves could have created a playmaking chain with Xavi in between. That will help Thiago, Pedro, Bojan, and Messi to operate in the final third more fluently. That would have been interesting to watch. I was also hoping to see Messi playing as a striker with Bojan and Pedro on the flanks. Messi could have exposed Sevilla defense fragility better. It was even better to have Pedro in the center instead of Bojan who is better operating on the flank than in the center. At least till he find himself a mustache.

I read the statement that: “Pep admits doing a mistake”, but that’s another Bold out of contest slogan as the “Didn’t win this year” statement I mentioned before. He said what he has to say: When we lose, I am the one responsible. What he did was what is called “Broken arrow” in the military terminology. He tried to be extremely competent seeking to reach all his objectives at once through doing more risks than usual. If the result was different, he would have been labeled a genius. He knows it, and that’s why as a coach he has to do what he feels right, and carry the responsibility of the outcome.

If it happened and we won many titles this season, the players who scores in the finals will be praised and hailed as heros. But Pep will realize that those who played the league game before the Champions league final for example contributed equally in the Champions League victory. Those Who were available whenever needed to cover any gap and to rest any key player to keep him fresh enough till the end are the unsung heros. Thats when He will remember the game against Sevilla, with lot of relief.

* TOWANATA is the abriviation of Busquets nickname: The One We Are Not Allowed To Admire.Though I have a strong belief in the quality of this player, not lot of Barcelona fans share this opinion, yet.

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