Friends and everything...
Not today!
Pep And Lillo
El perio’dico served me a lot this week. They had this post with Lillo sharing his friendship diary with Pep. He tells how after Barcelona game against OVIEDO (1996) where Barcelona won 4-2, Pep walked to Oviedo dressing room looking for that young coach to say:
“I want to talk to you. I liked (your ideas) last season with Salamanca and now, too. Let's see if we can keep in touch, okay?”
It was a shock for the coach that one of the greatest football midfielders simply knocked his door and offered his friendship. And that was just the beginning. Seven years later, 2003, there was an election in Barcelona. Lluis Bassat was a candidate (And he was my favorite). Pep was the candidate to become the Sports director of the club if Bassat wins the election. Juanma Lillo was Pep choice to coach Barcelona. Laporta won, that plan vanished.
Three years later, Lillo packs his bags heading to Mexico to coach Dorados. Pep who had the chance to play in England declared that he doesn’t want to retire before he plays for Lillo. And it happened. After a brief adventure serving Dorados, Lillo resigned and Pep retired.
Pep praised Lillo’s coaching qualities more than once. He said that he learned a lot from the 44 years old coach. Lillo in return said that Pep had to serve football as a player for few years, but in fact he has always been a coach. “He was a playing coach” as he put it. He praised Pep work with Barcelona B, before the whole world acknowledged his quality after winning half dozen of titles in one year while coaching the first team. He had no doubt Pep will succeed since day one.
What a big difference between now and the previous meeting at the Camp Nou. There, Almeria coach was Hugo Sanchez who is probably one of the most hated coaches in the globe for those who know about him. Now we will play against a Lillo.
Lillo made a good impact on Almeria’s performance since been hired as a coach after the X-mass break. Moving the club from struggling in the relegation zone to touch the European spots. Structuring a 4-5-1 formation that counts on ball possession he plays a system that has the same genes like the Catalan, though might not have the same soul. Offense wise, their most disturbing player is Uche. He is not the most lethal player but he runs for his living and know how to demand the ball in spaces (Knock knock knock Marquez!). He is also good putting pressure on defenders to disturb build up. Something we dont like a bit. Yet, I am not sure if he will start or bad Lillo will save him for the last 30 minutes of the game to torture some tired legs. Crusat is a very sold midfielder and Piatti (the Messi like) is probably the most gifted player in the squad, but not an accomplished product yet. Defense wise, Chico may try once again to mark Xavi out of the game. Though, if there is anyone who can complicate the game for Barcelona, it’s Diego Alves (It seems the Alves family live for football). In his good Alves days, Ibra will look toward the sky more often, while his best scoring chances get terminated by the Brazilian. Barcelona
Now that’s why I like Pep sometimes. Ramzi says try Messi in the midfield, and Pep tries. I liked what he did against Malaga. We can all agree that –currently- his best position is where he usually plays. I call it False wing (as for false nine). But few years from now he will be more where we saw him against Malaga. One of the most important things Messi add when he plays beside Xavi is that he drives the team forward. The Iniesta-Xavi partnership is sometimes too perfect in the midfield to fed offense, which hook the team in a fruitless possession cycle. In general, the game against Malaga was an interesting one. In a good way. Nut we may go back to that in another post.
Will we see the same selection against Almeria? Hard to tell. There is no doubt that it is our best eleven at the moment taking in consideration form and injuries. But we seriously need the rest of the players to step in, especially Yaya and Henry. A very crucial fixtures are on the road for the last 11 meters and we need all our troops. Starting from the Malaga selection:
Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell, Busquets, Xavi, Messi, Iniesta, Pedro, Ibra
This selection is the most likely only with Marquez or Milito playing instead of the suspended Pique. In the possession battle this selection can do the job perfectly. Since the beginning of the season Pep showed an increasing interest in increasing the possession dominance, especially when we play away from home. If so, this is the blessed selection. Being-almost the same selection we used in the first leg makes it interesting how will it perform in the second attempt.
Moreover, we were making lot of rotations and tactical customizations recently. I like it. But now that we are approaching two important games against Valencia and Stuttgart, may be its better to create some more stability so the chemistry improves on the field. Starting the same selection will create a better momentum for the following games.
Yet, Yaya didn’t play any friendly this week so he is fresher than any other player in this selection, which may give him a better chance to start. If it happened, he needs to show more determination and fighting instinct than he did in Germany. Most importantly, more effort and involvement in the game flow. But where will he play? Either instead of Busquets or Pedro, unless if Ibra is not fully fit.
Then there is Henry. I am more wishful than anyone that he starts to show better form so he get selected more often. Through his current form our options in the offense declines dramatically both in the center and on the “Flank”. Yet, and talking here as a coach, I NEVER pick a player as a starter directly after he shows dissatisfaction of his role. That’s a rule I do not break, no matter what. There were few signs about it after the friendly game against Spain. Starting him sends wrong signs for him, and for the rest of the squad. I don’t know what kind of talking will take place in the dressing room, but for once I am hoping he doesn’t start even if he is in the right form for the game. Even if we can’t win without him, and we can.
Then there is Bojan, he deserve more playing time. But may be its still a bit early now. Better to get him into more games from the bench then start stretching his playing time little by little.
Will you pick Marquez or Milito beside Puyol? Milito is a player I blindly trust to lead the defense. But beside Puyol, Marquez is a better option.
It may prove being a very important week in the liga. While Real Madrid are warming up for their game against Sevilla, the Cules are rubbing their palms with excitement hoping to stretch the gap to five points by the end of the week. Barca need to be focused on doing their own job. This is not a guaranteed win against Almeria. Things may turn ugly. Too early to count your chicken.
It will be an interesting game between two coaches who know each other well football wise, and on personal level. The barcelona coach was coached once by the Almeria coach, and the Almeria coach not only was a candidate to coach Barcelona, but the rumor says that he is still a pending project for Pep who will take part in the following elections 2016 (Not as a president though).
adal Said,
Any review of the match coming soon?
Posted on March 7, 2010 at 3:58 AM
Ramzi Said,
Our Preseason preparation started this weekend. I had a lot to do with my team. Tomorrow I will have an article about this game and some more points.
Posted on March 7, 2010 at 1:27 PM
Feech Said,
Do you coach in Sweden? Which division? (If it's not a secret.)
Posted on March 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM
kamikaze kontiki Said,
Ramzi, I have a question for you.
As a coach how do you ask your wingbacks and centre-backs to react when one of the wingbacks is beaten.
Here is what I have been told by a guy I played with. If the wingback is beaten and the attacker has a clear passage forward the CB has to move to cover him. Because by moving from the centre outwards to the flank, the CB both covers the angle on the cross and can push the winger away from the penalty box. The WB coming from behind on the other hand; has no chance of either preventing a cross or stopping the winger from cutting in. So, his best option is to move towards the penalty area to cover the CB's position.
Now this seems obvious to me but I see not just Barça but a lot of English teams who are supposedly more defensively disciplined not practicing this. This commonly happens at Barça with Dani Alves but he has greater pace so sometimes he manages to get back and make a second challenge. The clearest examples were when we used Sylvinho (eg. at the Vicente Calderon last season) who, when he was beaten used to move towards the centre but then discover that Puyol hadn't moved out to the flank to attack the man on the ball.
Posted on March 9, 2010 at 1:38 AM
Ramzi Said,
Feech, I moved to Sweden last summer, Coached Sodertälje FF, Stockholm during off-season camp and players’ recruitment period, but then I had to move to Karlshamn (two weeks ago). I am coaching a new team here, but it will take till next week to finalize the contract conditions –if everything agreed- so I can announce it. It’s not a secret, but before things are signed everything is still open, including me ending up coaching another team, or them picking another coach. That’s why it’s not proper to mention the club’s name at the moment.
kamikaze kontiki, I will publish my reply as a post in few minutes :)
Posted on March 9, 2010 at 9:35 AM
Feech Said,
Thanks for your reply Ramzi, and good luck with your new team.
Posted on March 9, 2010 at 1:59 PM
Anonymous Said,
Whoa Ramzi I had no idea you were a professional coach nor did I suspect because I remember from your earlier articles you mentioned you worked with systems, so I assumed an analyst in the finance field. Is this pro coaching a recent career move? In which case good luck in your career! It would be interesting to see what an 'outsider'(another assumption) can bring to football.
Posted on March 10, 2010 at 1:04 AM
Ramzi Said,
Two parallel paths that’s not distinct from each others in practice. I am a business solutions consultant and system analyst before 5 pm, and a football coach after that.
Which makes me a bad blogger when it come to continuous updating:)
Posted on March 10, 2010 at 3:22 AM