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Barcelona - Sevilla La Liga Battle

2:42 PM Reporter: Ramzi 9 Responses

Watch out the wounded Lion!

Its punishment day, doomsday, and the day the wounded beast will make a huge chaos. It’s the day where Messi tears in Sevilla will tear whatever cross his way. It’s the day where Puyol will make them pay all. Find yourself a shelter. Call your dear ones and say:”I love you” as you may not have another chance. Spend all the money you have eating all the unhealthy food you hesitated to eat before, as it won’t make a difference. Do you have any odd fantasies? Like driving your car backward across the city, or slapping a wrestler living in your building and run, or telling your boss at work that he is a …. Well, I guess you can do it now. As there is no day after tomorrow.

Well, not really. I can understand that the players will be extremely motivated in this game. But I want it to be for the right reasons. It’s not a game for revenge; it’s a game to comeback. We don’t need to win this game to prove a point as we don’t need to prove anything. We don’t need to win this game to win a mental championship against the team that knocked us out of the cup. We need to win this game to stay ahead of the team that’s following us in the Liga. This may prove being a very important week. Real Madrid will play Athletic, one of few teams who can upset Real Madrid this season. And we must be prepared to get advantage of Real Madrid defeat. Or at least we need to make sure that we stay ahead if they won.


It will be wrong to step into the field with a revenge sour taste in our mouths. This is a game against a strong team; we need to be extremely focused. If we became as obsessed in scoring early as we did in Seville we will face the same faith. If we played in tranquility we will control, and we may score early as well. We need to play exactly for the three points in this game, not for three goals or more. The way approach the game differs between the two cases, and we need to be smart, not overemotional. The respond to losing the cup is winning the league, not defeating Sevilla. It’s the matter of employing an upset to serve a long term objective, not a silly target.

What makes this game more difficult is the fact that Sevilla will not be stressed about this game. They will be focused, confident, and extremely motivated. They know we need a win, and they will try to use that against us. And we already know that they have the team that can upset.

But we are talking about Barcelona here, the best team in the world. I do not expect anything but a win. I am not that demanding to ask for a high scoring game where we win by five or six. It may happen, and I will be glad about it. But the most important thing is to get the three points.
How will we play tonight?

I don’t think we will change our system or our approach. But we need to customize it a bit. First let’s start with the lineup. My favorite lineup is the following:

Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Ibra, Henry.

There is a reason why I didn’t pick Pedro over Henry. The previous game against Sevilla sparked my deepest concerns. Ibra and Henry are not synchronizing as I expected when we brought Ibra to the club. If we want to hope that we win the Champions’ league this season, the understanding on the field between the two guys must improve. Anyone who followed my Articles or my comments on various Barcelona communities knows already that I am a Pedro fan. But there are times where we will need Henry in the house, especially in the advanced stages of the Champions League. The two players need to know when they are both needed in the box, when Henry need to open to the flank, when Ibra has to pull his marker to the left opening a whole for Henry to penetrate into the box, Henry need to read Ibra movement outside the box and get advantage of it, and so on. Against teams like Chelsea and Liverpool to name some this understanding is crucial. We need to force them to achieve it sooner rather later. I hope we start that now.

In a previous discussion I mentioned how I feel we can beat the system Sevilla use during their defensive status (4-2-3-1). If you missed it, it’s as simple as this:

“Against a 4-2-3-1 system (when Sevilla lose the ball) we had to switch to something closer to 4-1-3-2 that turn practically to 3-1-4-2 when Alves moves forward. The four players behind Henry and Ibra (Iniesta-Xavi-Messi-Alves) will stretch the field. Ibra and Henry can then dance between the center backs and the holding mids (Duscher and Romaric) keeping them busy (Exactly as Negredo did for Puyol and Pique which left Abidal and Alves Isolated on the flanks to face Navas and Adriano pace). With Henry and Ibra doing the job well, out of sudden the game dynamics will change. Iniesta on the left will have only one player (Right fullback) to beat, which will force Navas to move deeper for the cover. Alves will force adriano to move back as well for the same reason (helping his fullback) and Messi will be able to penetrate into the box receiving the ball behind the defense, as the only player who can track him in this case will be renato, who is busy with Xavi. Our defense will have it easier, so Pique could leave Negredo for Abidal and Puyol and assist Busquets as a deep holding midfielder. You dominate the game, and the goals eventually come.”

We need to try that because we will face lot of similar situations this season. Besides, Abidal need to use his physical dominance when he stops Navas. Here, I am not talking about fouling the guy, nor trying anything opposes the fair play. But it’s also naïve in a way to get involved in a race competition with the guy throughout the game. Position yourself well and you will always run between the guy and the ball. Light legal body contact causes enough friction to slowdown Navas pace, and forces him to make more effort in a physical battle that will exhaust him physically and mentally. Navas is talented, skillful, and fast. But he is also fragile. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t start this game as he may not be capable of playing two demanding games in a row.
On the other flank, Alves needs to do what he masters most: Moving the flank battle to the opposition half. This is the first time Adriano forces Alves to defend. Usually when we played against Sevilla last season, Alves stubbornness in attacking forced Adriano to withdraw and help his fullback rather than trying to be efficient offense wise. If our two fullbacks do their job well, the game will be in safe hands.

In the midfield, the trio is improving with every game they play. It’s still not perfect as sometimes they doesn’t time their movements accurately. We are creating a windmill process where the three players switch positions continuously so they avoid tight marking. Busquets is the holding midfielder once, then he moves forward with Xavi covering behind acting like a holding midfielder before Iniesta take the turn, and so on. That’s a big thing if we can master. And I will be monitoring this one with lot of hopes, as I’d been doing since the beginning of the season.

Messi is passing throw a very important year. This is the time when he has to become the true leader of the team. There are high demands that he need to mature faster than he dribble, and that’s fast. The more he improves his decision making the better player he will become. This comes with experience, and experience needs time. Something we don’t really have. He needs to know when he dribbles and when he passes. How to be more playful with the game tempo. In brief, when to do what. When Ibra moves more in the midfield, the likes of Messi needs to move more into the box. Three players supported by Ibra must be more than enough to do the playmaking on the ball. He need to move in front of the ball. One of the problems against Sevilla in the last game was that we had lot of players behind the ball. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Alves and even Ibra were most often in the guild up zone. It doesn’t work. Trust your teammates and position yourself upfront or open to the flank. Let them carry their responsibilities, and they will put more effort in that.

If Messi need to run into the box more often then what will we say about Ibra? He must insure more presence in the box no doubt. He likes to touch the ball as often as possible which always drag him toward the ball. But that’s not helping. Not only the offense threat decline but also the playmaking become more complicated. When Ibra move forward he stretch the playmaking/offense area vertically. He also decrease the quality cover of the defense toward their midfield. When Ibra move toward the midfield more often the area where the ball is moving get too crowded. And the defense line of the opponent get less threat to mark, so they focus on creating a cover. That’s why, even the objective Ibra seeks from moving to the midfield (Enhancing the playmaking) end up with an opposite outcome. Ibra contribution on the edge of the box only proves quality when Messi and Henry operate behind him through penetrating into the box. Strangely, till now Pedro was the player who took advantage of Ibra movement. Even more than Henry who is supposed to be the other experienced forward that we have.

This game will prove being a milestone in the season. Soon we get Keita and Yaya back. And maybe soon Milito come back to his form and Chegrnskiy start contributing more positively. Things sound promising for the near future. But we need to make sure we don’t make it hard for ourselves. A win today, put us one step closer to the Liga title especially that we are in the middle of the competition already.

I can hear the hymn in the stadium, I can hear the roaring of our wounded lions in the dressing room, and I can feel you Chanting: Visca el Barca!

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Post-Laporta: Marquez, Ibrahimovic, or Chegrnskiy? Part two

8:34 AM Reporter: Ramzi 4 Responses



Topic: Barcelona Elections 2010
Title: Marquez, Ibrahimovic, or Chegrnskiy? Part Two
By: Ramzi

As we mentioned in the first part, this election will be the outcome of little details. It’s a matter of how every candidate will play his cards. When we talk about elections’ cards, we mean creating cards and planning the right strategy to use them. Anything can help or damage, depending on who use/misuse/abuse it.

In that matter, was it important for Laporta campaign to make a big signing last summer to generate more votes in the following elections? Was it important to send a message to the voters that “We can also sign big players”? How far will Ibrahimovic signing serve the current board candidate?

One of the noisiest debates last summer was the tale of Eto’o, One of the best performers in the past decade for Barcelona. Should he go, or should he stay?
In general, Eto’o fans had a solid case to defend. Why fixing it if it aint broken? He proved his worth season after another game in game out. He knows the system and he ticks within. A guaranteed option that we must not consider a liability till he become one. Why taking the risk of importing a new striker who may do miracles or may flop while you can simply keep the one you have at home?

The other campaign was arguing that after all the years where Barcelona counted on Eto’o upfront; there is a need for something different. Something refreshing. Someone with new ideas, style and options. Eto’o delivered everything he has. We are grateful, but he will not offer anything better.



Eto’o out, Ibrahimovic in, and the season Kicks off. The rules are simple: If Ibra failed this season, the board can run but can’t hide. The opposing candidates –even those who wouldn’t have sign Eto’o in the first place- will start lecturing how naïve the current board is, Leading to cast doubts on the board members quality to make the right decisions. The big signing will backfire against the board candidate.

If Ibra does well, the current board campaign will start gloating about it. Another hard decision taken that lead to excellence, added to a series of decisions taken in the past few years –some against Rosell will- and proved vital for this team to succeed.

So far, nothing new, and nothing really big. In fact most readers doubt already that Ibra will have any impact in the following elections. But that’s where the hidden stitch hides.

If Ibra fails, Rosell and Co may or may not use that for their favor. But if Ibra does a brilliant work then –opposing the spontaneous logic- Rosell can take ibra success as a solid demonstration to prove that change is a need. He can even use Ibra nose as a logo for his campaign. Ibra may become Rosell prototype. The board candidates promoted the idea that the current model is clicking perfectly, so there is no need to change. But so was Eto’o. Changing an established option was risky when we offloaded Eto’o for Ibra. But it proved being the right thing to do (Again, assuming that Ibra did well). And if Pep “Feelings” played a role in this matter, then it will be easy to tempt the voters “feelings” to clone Pep. Will Sandro use this card? I don’t know. It’s his elections’ team who has to pick the winning cards for him. If they pick this one, it will turn to be a master strike, as it will undress the board candidates from their most tempting argument.

Ironically Ibra will become Sandro, and Laporta will discover too late that while bringing the Swede home he didn’t notice who was riding his shoulders.



Yet, we didn’t change Eto’o for just any striker available. We picked the most reliable option available. How far Sandro is an Ibrahimovic in that matter?

I used to be a committed fan for Sandro when he was still serving in the board. The guy is intelligent, he speaks many languages and he has a huge database of contacts. Then the clash of egos between him and Laporta came up to surface and from there on, I got less and less excited about the guy reasoning.

It’s true that he was involved in the radical U-turn the club made from declination to progress. But almost everything he opposed afterward proved being right and everything he did was passive. He wanted to sack Rijkaard after few months from hiring him. He wanted Scolari instead. He wanted Adriano instead of Eto’o. One of our worst problem before Laporta was changing coaches. It was as easy as changing socks. A sack per socks. Judging Sandro based on his reaction the moment this club got in a mess raise lot of concerns in that matter. We saw how stability brings success regardless if the option in hand is the best available in a specific moment or not. And this club history (and even the history of the rivals) shows how changing coaches not only cause more chaos than it fix, but also cause radical damage not only in the first team but down all the way through the youth teams as well.

Rosell had a good chance to win me over last summer (it’s not that he is not sleeping at night because I question his qualities). There was a big mess causing the Vote of no confidence campaign. I don’t want to go as far as accusing Sandro of being responsible about it. I will not say he was the inspiration leading to it. And I will not even accuse him that he supported it behind the scene. That campaign was against the club benefit in every way. If he would have announced that he has nothing to do with it and that he doesn’t support it. If he would have clarified that even though he doesn’t agree with the current board regarding the way they are running the club, he feels it’s the right thing for this board to finish their reign. If he argued that a failure in a year or even two is not a reason to turn the table. If he had done all that, we wouldn’t be talking about elections now. Sandro would have been the unique candidate. Not only he would have been crowned as a new president, but he would have protected his presidential period if things went wrong one year or two. No one will have the face to plan a no confidence campaign against him in that case. But he was in a hurry. The taste of revenge was still on his lips when he took positions last summer. And he ended up being the one who is only seeking to kick Laporta out from the backdoor and take power instead, regardless of the club interests. Because it didn’t work, we won everything possible the following year that turned to be the best in the club history. Instead of raising his chin high now saying that his position last summer when he put the club benefit over his personal interest played a major role in this success, he has to deal with the current board success as an election challenge. He failed again to prove being strategic, which is a must for the position he is seeking in this election.

So far, it’s impossible to know if Sandro will be a good president for Barca or not. That’s if we put all the hype aside. On the good side, he will be the most motivated man to beat Laporta success. That’s an important factor that will drive him to do his best. But can he take the right decisions to do so? I don’t know. I believe on the business side and mainly marketing side he will most probably do a better job. I even think the current board were not effective enough in that manner. It’s true that the club image enhanced big time, so as the fans database. But compared to the success the football team achieved during Laporta era I can safely say things could have been done better. Yet, on the sport level, if we take his history in consideration, whenever he had a different opinion to that’s of Laporta and his gang, he was on the wrong side.

His election program is yet to be known. So far he is –intelligently- getting advantage of the mess in the opposing campaign. Winning election points for free. Aside of that, he just countered some of the successful decisions made by the current board in an attempt to contain it so it doesn’t generate points for his opponents. For example, Txiki, supported by Laporta, made an adventurous decision hiring Pep. It proved being a genius decision (at least weighing it by its output). Sandro –who I can safely say wouldn’t have hired Pep in the first place- responded that he wants to give Pep the ultimate power if he got elected. I have my saying regarding the sports director position, but I wonder on what bases did Sandro leaned taking this decision – beside his old complains about Txiki. When Sandro was the Vice president of Barcelona he got involved in signing players based on board decisions, not coach decisions. Some of his supporters even claim that he single handed brought Ronaldinho. And it’s not that Pep already proved an exceptional quality picking the right players for the team. The only player he demanded last season was Hleb and we know how it went. This season it was Chegrnskiy who is yet to prove his worth.

We need to wait for a month or two till Sandro start revealing his plans. And I hope that he surprise us with something special. Regardless of the fact that Election promises and plans have nothing to do with what will actually happen after winning the elections, but at least it will give us a base to stand on when we monitor his performance as a president latter on. For having the best chance to win it, I hope he works well on his campaign as we need our elections to be based on programs, not on speeches. For being such a powerful guy and such an intelligent person, I hope he learned the lessons of the past while planning the future. I wish if he get elected that he succeed in outshining Laporta Success by achieving much more for this club. Isn’t that what we are all looking for?

For daily updates about Barcelona elections 2010, you will miss a lot if you dont follow this blog.

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Copa del rey game: Sevilla - Barcelona

4:35 PM Reporter: Ramzi 22 Responses


A Nap, not a Coma

“There is only an unessential cup to lose in this game, but there are lots of things to gain.”

That was one of the last remarks I made in the game Preview. Basically it’s a Copa del Rey game. A competition that doesn’t weigh a lot neither domestically nor on the continental level for a team that will accept nothing but contributing in the Champions’ league each and every year. That’s why, losing this game is not an issue. We will at least gain more playing time for our squad players who had no chance to play on weekly bases. We will give more game experience for JDS or Thiago. More –needed- confidence for Chegrnskiy. And you can keep pointing out the gains and counting the chicken as long as you like.

But we decided to look for one and only one gain over all the rest, surviving in the CDR (Copa Del Rey). So we started ten key players and a clown.

Here let me start by saying I am not emotional a bet toward this loss. That’s why I came straight to the blog writing this post. Or else I would have ruined some pillows and cut some flowers before starting the typing adventure.

The moment I saw the starting lineup, I had that bad feeling that was mix of hunch and disappointment. The hunch was based on the idea that if things turned ugly, it will damage more than it would if we start some youth. And the disappointment because I wanted to see more creativity in managing this game than rolling your lucky dices. I have no problem in losing a game. And obviously I will not have problems to sleep after being knocked out of the CDR. But I admit being concerned regarding the quality of football I’ve seen. Yes there were some glances of beauty, but the systematic approach was not valid. As I always say, every new game is a new lesson to learn.

Our players were so much in a hurry to move the ball to Sevilla box and score. On a wet field like this, you need more effort to keep possession and command midfield. And you suffer more to keep the balance in moving forward and then smoothly switch to defensive transition when you lose the ball. We started like kamikaze. Running forward as if a train is roaring behind us. We lost possession fast and were not able to catch the pace of Sevilla flanks where our two fullbacks were smoked and outrun.

When they set offense, Sevilla had a supportive forward behind Negredo and two players on the flanks stretching the field wide. When they lost possession they switched to 4-2-3-1. The two holding midfielders (Duscher And Romaric) were covering the midfield trio (Navas, Renato, Adriano). This dynamic trio was applying pressure on Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, and Messi.

When we set offense, we were full of Anxiety. Messi and Alves failed to link as they used to. Ibra and Henry were lost in the fog. No wonder we were completely containable.

When we lost the ball, We had no customized plan to delay Sevilla offense. Negredo was so good keeping both Puyol and Pique busy in the center, isolating our fullbacks to deal with Navas and Adriano. That’s where a Holding midfielder who acts like a third Center back with Puyol and Pique during offense and transition would have been a bless. We would have covered Both Abidal and Alves this way, and closed any path for Renato. Yaya could have helped here . Even though it effects our playmaking a bit, but it creates more deep-defensive cover. Keita could have been the perfect solution in the midfield as well with either Busquets or Yaya. But we cant complain that we missed them when we play against Sevilla semi squad.

Yet the main Issue was picking this game to play more direct. During the first half I thought for a moment that I was watching a game in the English premier league. We didn’t calm the ball for a moment in the midfield and exchanged short passes to maintain possession and open spaces in the final third to drive our offense through. Long sloppy passes was the slogan.

Between the two halves I wrote the following in the comment session of the game preview:

1) Our players are so in a hurry to score. In this wet pitch the tempo we played can’t help us to control the playmaking. Next half we need to be more patient. Move the ball to the offense third and it’s there we can accelerate things.

2) In defense set up, Sevilla is playing 4-2-3-1.The 3 midfielders are putting pressure on our midfielders with Duscher and Konko (I meant to say Romaric) creating cover. In such situations there is a need that Henry and ibra dance between the defenders and the two holding mids. Messi need to play in space. Alves and Iniesta have to open the flanks with Busquets and Xavi covering and maintaining ball circulation. They play a lone striker when they defend, so the three defenders must be able to cover behind and assist the holding midfielder.

3) Next half it seems Sevilla will use Capel. Probably to put more pressure on Alves to prevent him from going forward. Pedro will be useful in this case.

4) Again, we need to move the ball to the offense third, then accelerate things crossing the ball to henry and Ibra in the box or -most importantly- shooting from outside the box.

We improved a bit regarding the game tempo and passing in the second half. But not enough to meet expectations. Regarding the second point, If you watch the attempt we made minute 59 you will know exactly what I mean, that was the lone demonstration before the games passed its first hour of age. We scored almost the only shooting attempt we made. And Pedro came in too late to sweat.
Till the sixtieth minute Iniesta and Messi were stepping on each other in the center of the field. Instead of helping in stretching the field. And with Henry crossing the ball to Sevilla Center backs from the left, the flanks were not ticking properly. Ibra was trying too much to be efficient. Pinto was the only player who was taking risks and moving forward. And I thought I will not mention him in this review.
Still, I feel if we would have made the changes 20 minutes earlier we could have changed the game. Woulda…coulda…shoulda…It didn’t happen anyway.

This is a game report that is written at the heat of the moment directly after the game ended. I may have some other issues to address after I watch the game again tomorrow. For now I will dive in bed having only the bright sides in my mind. First, the six titles repetition is something we buried today. Yea, that’s good news for me as now we can have our feet on the ground and have realistic approach to the season. And secondly, we can hope that today we exhausted Sevilla more than they did to us, so the following game at the Camp Nou will be more attainable.

And if you found lot of wrong spelling mistakes, it has nothing to do with the defeat, I wasn’t biting my typing fingers all night. Cheer up. Chins up. Now we are all focused on the serious titles, The big fish!



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Sevilla Vs Barcelona in Copa del Rey

2:49 PM Reporter: Ramzi 12 Responses


Planning to win, aiming to lose

Game: Sevilla - Barcelona
Competition: Copa Del Rey
By: Ramzi

You know how annoying it is to write an email, long email, putting your emotional and mental fuel in it. And then when you press “send” you get that ugly page that shows you are disconnected. You try to press the back bottom to save what you can, but in vain. You have to start again. You never had this experience? I will envy you till doomsday.


It happened to me when I wrote that long preview on the Offside about CDR first leg game against Sevilla. I finished and booked a vacation as the away game sounded less vital for me to be concerned about. It only needs a short preview telling how great the opportunity is, to use some of our youth there. The result is already decided at Barcelona. Or so I thought.


It happened to Pep when he felt that the selection he started can seal the deal while serving a more important objective: Preparing the rest of the squad players, who are not playing often, to serve the team when needed. It didn’t work as he was hoping.


So Pep had to start writing his long tactical thesis from the beginning. You will need to live another game of anxiety, and I have to write about Sevilla Once again this month*. You can bet it won’t be the last either.




Talking about Copa Del Rey, it’s important to rank the competition importance first so we know how we are going to approach it. Obviously it’s at the bottom of the club priorities. It’s even possible that Pep prefers to get three points against sevilla in the following league game over qualifying to the following stage of CDR. If CDR does not worth three Liga points, then you can imagine.


But let’s not get carried away, we are not in UK. I wish if Pep can label one of the competitions as a “Junk title” that has to serve the team than to put more responsibilities. It would have been great if he could do like Wenger at Arsenal, using the youth in a competition to get more playing time and more experience regardless of the result. But this is Spain we are talking about. Arsen results at Arsenal will not keep him two years in this demanding environment. That’s where winning one title –even if it’s just the little Copa- makes the difference if things turn ugly.


In the other hand, qualifying to the following stage wins you two extra games. These two games could be considered as an extra load of pressure on the squad. But you can always decide to avoid that by selecting the less contributed players so they gain more playing time. And they need it as much as we need them in a good form to stretch the squad depth.


Pep will not make sacrifices in this competition, but if he can keep going forward with some reasonable risks, he will not hesitate. It’s that fine balance between giving up and doing the best possible considering the priorities. Pep will have that in mind when he decides who will play and for what.


That’s why I can’t see a fragile starting lineup in this game, and I will be surprised if Pep starts all the big guns all together. His lineup will be seen when they step to the field, all what we can do is to share our wishful thoughts.


My wishful selection:


Pinto, Alves, Pique, Milito, Abidal, Chegrnskiy, Iniesta(or)Xavi, JDS, Pedro, Ibra, Bojan.


Valdes, Puyol, Busquets, Iniesta(or)Xavi, Messi, and Henry get their deserved break on the bench.

Update: Another alternative if Abidal still not fit or to give a chance for Alves to rest:

Pinto, Puyol, Pique, Milito, Maxwell, Chegrnskiy, Iniesta(or)Xavi, JDS, Pedro, Ibra, Bojan.


If we think that what we need to be concerned about is scoring goals, we are doing a huge mistake. What we need to insure is good defense in the first place. That’s why Pep may decide to use Busquets as a box2Box with a holding midfielder behind. Sevilla suffers from injury crises and their defense is shaky at the moment. Dominate the midfield leaning on strong defense and you will contain their threat. If we do so, I can guarantee a goal in the first half, and that’s all what we need.


If they score first, their fans will leave the stands and step into the field to park in front of their goalkeeper. I can hear you:”We are in trouble”. True.


If we score first, the pressure will be on them. Immense pressure that their fragile selection may not handle for long.1-0 up for Barcelona means we only need one more to knock them out. I can feel Sevilla players having the double thinking trying to focus on containing the players we have on the field and getting conserned about what may happen when the likes of Messi and Henry step in for the last sixty minutes to decide the game. Under this kind of pressure, we may not even need to use them as the result could be sealed with the players on the field.


Sevilla needs a goal as much as we need to score two. Barcelona must not let it happen. If we keep some winning cards on the bench and start a solid compact structure, we will control the game destiny from start to end. The most dangerous situation is starting all the key players and conceding an early goal. There won’t be a room for notable improvement from there on.


With that selection in mind, lot of players will have a point to prove. Milito will announce his comeback after a decent performance in the first game. Chegrnskiy will also have a point to prove after the fans’ shameful whistling at the Camp Nou. JDS will gain more playing minutes for his thousand miles journey to the first team paradise. Bojan will have to prove that last game was a comeback, not an exception. And Ibra has to show signs that he learned a lot from all what he passed through in the past two weeks.

There is a chance that we see pique as a holding mid with Chegrnskiy behind. Yet, when Pep insisted to pay 25 Million to get the guy after failing to get Mascherano, I thought we were buying a holding midfielder that will give us the chance to use Yaya and Busquets in their natural positions as Box-to-Box midfielders when needed. It didn’t happen so far, but I hope its only a matter of time.

I will not talk about Sevilla, as we all know that ambitious team. They proved in the first leg that even when they are suffering massive injury crises and without their key forwards they still can beat any team. Thats a sign of a big team, and Sevilla is one of them.

There is only an unessential cup to lose in this game, but there are lots of things to gain. Hopefully it will be a game that’s full of goals, and injuries free.


*I won't often post my previews that early (more than 24 hours before the game). But I have a busy schedule during the day tomorrow, so this one had to be published too early for the game.



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Post-Laporta: Marquez, Ibrahimovic, or Chegrnskiy?

3:40 AM Reporter: Ramzi 6 Responses




Topic: Barcelona Elections 2010
Title: Marquez, Ibrahimovic, or Chegrnskiy? Part one
By: Ramzi

The following few months will announce a farewell. Laporta will no more be the president of this club. You can complain about his political obsession during his presidential period (or periods). You may not miss the concerning stress you felt every time you knew that he will have a speech or an interview, as he is not exactly the one who only say it right. But without any doubts, he stamped his name for being the most successful president in the history of this club. Some may envy him for being “Just an extremely lucky dude” who's presidential period concurred with one of the most successful cycles in this club history. Needless to say that I don’t agree on that, But to keep it short as it’s not our topic today, Laporta as a man destined to success is no different from any other successful leader. If you really believe that men* create history, then think again. That’s just one face of the truth coin. In fact, events create men who make history. It requires specific yeast of men who have the right sensors to seize the moment and make that first step forward. From there on, he just have to keep pulling the strings wisely and take the right decisions (tough ones most of the time) to extend his successful era as far as he can.



Elections are always tricky. Creating the right election campaign is one of the most complicated strategies to set. Any wrong step is irreversible. Moreover, trying to set an election campaign for a successful club is more delicate than planning a strategy to become the president of a club in Crises. To become a president of a club in crises it’s enough to claim you will do the opposite of whatever the present board did. That will guarantee you the emotionally terrified votes that represent the annoyed majority at any club facing crises. But what will your elections kit be when you seek to take over after Laporta Reign? That’s why this election will be a very interesting process to follow. The candidates could be classified in three main categories:

Marquez

The contract extension of Marquez raised lot of eyebrows. There is no doubt that Marquez is a quality defender. His attributes fit Barcelona football style like a glove. He is the defender who set offense throw initiating the first pass forward. He signed during the period of total reengineering and contributed successfully in rebalancing the mess Barcelona Backline suffered for years. He was there during all the glory moments during Laporta era, and he understands the club philosophy well. But still, how smart was it to continue with the same player who is not getting younger while there are a host of center defenders who can carry the flag –better? - for the present and the future of the team? Is there a sense of security in keeping the ones who proved being reliable rather than gambling with someone new? Is it just an extension motivated by the sense of gratitude toward a player who served the team during the ups and downs?

In fact that’s the same question that must be asked when a candidate considers himself as “The candidate of continuity”. In that matter, he is trying to label himself as being “The Secure tested option”. Or even “The one you owe too much to NOT elect” so you have no choice but to be fair and elect him or else you show no gratitude. Regardless of the quality of the guy, I won’t elect him if I will have to vote. First, because continuity in management is the norm regardless of who takeover. You have to expect it from anyone who will be the next president of Barcelona to continue from where the previous one ended. Fix the defects and build on the success. I don’t even understand why being loyal to Laporta and not letting him down in the moment of crises makes you a good presidential candidate. If last summer vote of no confidence fulfilled its objectives, Ferran Soriano and may be Marc Ingla would have been the best continuity candidates in the Laportism Campaign for the following elections only for proving loyalty after Sandro Rosell resignation in 2005. Now they are considered as the Bad guys.

If there was any possibility for Laporta to stay for another period, I would have been –against my natural instinct that demand change- very tempted to keep him in place. Who blames me? I like the club we have at the moment. But now that Laporta is leaving, I want to see a New president taking place, not a Laporta boy. In fact I don’t want Laporta to be any close to the board of directors neither in person nor through his ghosts and angels.

Being a current board member must not be an advantage or a disadvantage. I was one of those who are demanding a new president who is loyal to the same model that proved success during Laporta Era. But not to the extent that I’ve noticed so far. There are no clear projects. No clear Ideas or tempting programs. I started to doubt if those who are representing the continuity are actually aware of what they are going to continue. If so far they failed to unite under one candidate then at least one of the two candidates is not right (regarding continuity). If both candidates are seeking Laporta blesses then the continuity is not related to the model that’s independent of any individual, but the continuity of a brotherhood. Brotherhoods dictate commitments that I don’t want the new board of directors to bow under. Laporta's great era must not crown him as a godfather for the following board of directors.

They started their campaigns by reconciling their defeat. If they will not unite under one candidate them none of them will have a solid ground to seek support. And after the whole mess between the board members, if they agreed on one candidate, I will keep wondering if they united under the successful model they want to keep in place, or they had to unite against Rosell just to keep him out of space. And what’s next? Another clash after winning the elections?

So far this category of candidates is doomed to failure unless if something exceptional happens. Something like being the less worse? This will not be promising, or pleasant.

How about Ibra and Chegrnskiy? We leave that for another day.

Next... Heading to Sevilla

* Based on Oxford Dictionary, "Man" stands for "a Person or a human being in general". So, women rights reserved :)



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La liga week review:Tenerife Vs Barcelona

12:43 AM Reporter: Ramzi 6 Responses





Lets Go back to the Basics, Can We?

Game: Tenerife - Barcelona
Competition: La Liga
By: Ramzi

Well, it’s a five Zero after all. I don’t mean the result, but more the performance that used to be a five stars performance, declined to five Zeros. There was no excuse for this one. I usually start by giving cridet for the opponent when we play bad. This time we forced Tenerife to play good. It’s not that they parked the bus and counter attacked efficiently. Its not that they were putting more pressure on us than we can handle. It’s a tactical bug and careless performance that invited Tenerife to score. They were generous enough not to do so. And Valdes had to deal with the rest.

First thing first, the selection: Pep started Alves, Marques, Puyol, Maxwell, Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Bojan, and Henry. He decided to keep Pedro out both for the emotional aspect that may complicate his game, and to save him for the cup battle. Fair enough.

I said it before and I say it now, Maxwell and Alves can play together in one condition: Having two players who can play as Holding midfielders, and better if one of them can even play as a Center back. Two of the following three: Yaya, Keita, and Busquets. Or in such a complicated situation like the one we have now with Keita and Yaya unavailable, we need to have a Marquez/Chegrnskiy/Pique holding midfielder with Busquets. That was not the case here, and probably because we believed that our midfielders and forwards can squeeze the opponent in its own half easing up the pressure from the defense department. When we failed to do so, our defensive bug exposed us to the extreme.






This game proved that having both Alves and Maxwell in the same selection will not guarantee more offense flair if they were not well covered defense wise. It was weird to watch the two guys in the first half both opening on the flanks almost approaching the half line, but that’s it. None of them dared to go more forward as they both felt insecure and uncovered. And with Messi playing as a ten in the center more than the flank, we became completely out of any ideas. It took us half an hour till Alves had his "What the Hell" reaction and started running forward without thinking about what Maxwell is doing at the mean time.

What added a mess to the mess is that defense duo, Beside sloppy clearance, and bad positioning and marking,even failed to set the offside trap right. Which made the team more and more exposed.

What added the mess to the mess is Busquets situation in an exposed area where his three attributes where there is still a room for improvement offered him no favour:

- Picking his battles instead of trying to do THE DEFERENCE in each and every play he contribute in.
- Deciding when he has to be a Busquets who bark after the ball all over the place and when its better to position himself where he can create a cover and limit the collective mess that’s similar to what we had in this game.
- He needs to stop seeking a foul when he doesn’t have a broken bone. His bad reputation in that matter is not helping him with the referees at the moment. Even when he is kicked he barely get the call. Unfair, but he has to deal with it.

What added a mess to the mess was Xavi performance in this game where he showed how dearly he needs a rest. For the first time since ever, he was more a liability in some periods of the game than an added value. Never thought I will live till it happens.

What added a mess to the mess was the offense unwillingness to put pressure on the opponent. I can understand that Pep demanded less effort and better result to save energy for the following game. But when things turned ugly, they had to get themselves back to business. Didn’t happen.

The result was a very poor first half, especially the first 25 minutes:


Minute 2:39 Marquez Pass to Messi, Intercepted causing a counter and –luckily- a shot over the bar.

Minute 3:59 Busquets pass to Xavi who decided to play easy to get waiting the ball that was intercepted and generated a dangerous counter. (Oh if anyone think its Busquets fault, jump to minute 20:28 watch it and be as critical).

Minute 6:48 another bad play by Marquez generating a counter with both Puyol and Alves unacceptably covering the offside. Another dangerous counter.

Minute 12:07 Tenerife exchanging passes on the left with Maxwell and Puyol defending. Tererife cross the ball to the box where both Alves and Marquez left the player between them unchecked. The player originally ran away from Xavi marking. Luckily, the guy decided to give us another chance.

Minute 20:28 Iniesta pass the ball to Xavi, intercepted generating a counter that forced Marquez to commit a foul on the edge of the box earning a yellow card. Tenerife Free kick lacked quality.

Minute 23:08 Xavi again fail to control an easy ball that passed under his foot to a Tenerife player who initiated another counter, then a cross that Puyol headed to a Tenerife player on the edge of the box who generously shoot it wide.

Minute 24:40 Tenerife Attack from the left cross to a guy left unchecked in the box by Puyol and Marquez. Again, the guy failed to get advantage of an easy opportunity.

Minute 25:35 Bad pass by Busquets intercepted and played to a Tenerife player who was in an offside Position.

After scoring a goal, Tenerife went in a comma for the rest of the first half. So we had it easier to finish the first 45 minutes without getting conceded.

In the second half, we were a bit better and they were a bit worse. Busquets kept doing the good offense job he was doing in the first half, but this time with Xavi covering behind him when he moves forward, which was not the case in the first half. Talking about Xavi, Pep did a very good tactical modification for the second half where Xavi became more a midfield assistant. Assisting Iniesta and covering Busquets. The two young players where the actual playmaker for the team in this game. If you watch all the goals scored, Busquets was in the making of almost each and every one of them. Iniesta took the responsibilities Xavi usually handle and the ship started to sail more smoothly. Alves became more daring offense wise getting advantage of Tenerife moral decline after getting conceded. Though we must not forget that even in the second half, the team was far from perfection both offense wise and defense wise where we still had the unpleasant moments like Puyol passing the ball to the opponent in front of his goal.

In this game Bojan showed again where he can perform best. Every time he had the chance to do the Henry job he did great. This game will be an important boost for his form if Pep selects him more often in the coming weeks. He is like a poisoned mushroom with beautiful looks, you will never predict that this innocence is that fatal, but it is.

In this game Maxwell showed why he is not getting lot of starting opportunities this season. I’ve been following this guy even since his days at Ajax. He is an extremely talented player with lot of potentials. I hope his unsatisfying performance is just a temporary lack of form. Not a career decline. It will be a shame.
In this game Valdes proved he is the chosen one for Barcelona.

In this game, we saw how important Keita is for this team. We missed him dearly in this game for being the best midfielder we have to assist the holding midfielder in the moments of trouble. The balance he creates could only be seen when he is not there, more than when he is.

In this game Messi showed why he is hands down the most talented player in the world at the moment. Putting Ronaldinho aside, as he intentionally damaged his own talent.

In this game Henry showed that even when he is not at his best –and he is not- he still can create an offense reference that’s needed to make his teammates life easier. We’ve seen the team performance when we played without both Henry and Ibra, and we’ve seen the team against Tenerife. Even when he doesn’t deliver a world class performance, it’s enough for Henry to be an offense landmark for his teammates to recognize the direction to the net. Do not underestimate that value.

In this game we learned some more lessons, hopefully. Barcelona adds three points to their Liga account, and march forward. Next, Sevilla battle. In the Sevilla game Review I mentioned that CDR is the Junk title for us this season. Yet, its easy to predict that Pep will still give it a try, especially now that Valencia may not be our opponent if we pass Sevilla.


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Hey Pep, Are you out of your mind?!

11:57 AM Reporter: Ramzi 4 Responses






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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