Fabregas.....

Do we need Fabregas ?

Lets face it, we have the most creative club midfield in the world. Xavi, Iniesta, Toure, Sergio etc. Is there room for snr Fabregas if he were to arrive ? The answer is most likely to be yes. By having an additional creative and world class midfielder it would alleviate the pressure on the normal two of Iniesta and Xavi, enabling them to rest and recover at regular intervals. Alternatively Iniesta could move out wide left and allow Fabregas a more central berth - all the more likely if Henry leaves anytime soon. There is always the third option of playing all three and dropping the normal defensive midfielder in Sergio/Toure.

The above suggests that we obtain Fabregas. Personally I don't think we should break the bank to get him. We've (currently) offered Arsenal £40ish million for her services. Whilst most would agree that Arsenal should hold out for more does that mean we should spend it ? It is not as if we are in desperate need of a creative midfielder..... I fear that we get stuck in the 'ebay mentality'. That is being swept up in the bidding process, eventually paying far more than you ever intended, or should.

Fabregas would definitely be welcomed, no one could argue that, but there are other areas in need of improvement or strengthening. The unfortunate thing is that now we have have achieved our current level it will be very difficult to improve the team and also very expensive - so maybe the premium is expected.

Presidents

In Spanish football it is the club’s president that wields the power, although they are generally elected by the socios (membership) and supported by a governing board. I don’t think it can be denied that from an achievement perspective Joan Laporta has been the most successful in FC Barcelona’s history, possibly in footballing history. No other can claim to have won all six available cups in one season, with the addition titles in other presiding seasons – especially in such style.

I like Laporta. He took over a club riddled with debt that threatened to drift through the decades. He and his board refinanced the club with a robust finance plan. They overhauled the merchandising element, capitalising on the many non-European markets and offering the fans plenty of opportunity to part with their cash (as I well know). On the sporting side they signed Ronaldinho as a ‘marquee’ signing, brought in Frank Rikjaard and the project took off.

I don’t believe the club would be where it is now without the involvement of Laporta and his board. He has supported the manager and staff whenever required. The reputation of FC Barcelona in both sporting terms and the way it conducts business is at a high. I expect the attempts to unsettle players (Fabregas etc) are press generated rather than by the club. The same cannot be said of ‘The Other Team’.

I am not privy to club politics, other than those promoted through the press, but I would not like to see Laporta leave under a political cloud. David Villa has been signed and the British press are also suggesting the signings of Torres and Fabregas. At the same time the prime presidential candidate, Sandro Rosell, has made comments about the affordability of such signings. I do not want Laporta’s ambition to leave FC Barcelona with a legacy turn into the ‘Other Team’ circus of last season where the team were undoubtedly improved but at extreme cost and debt.

FC Barcelona is in a healthy state. That should not be put at risk, even to sign quality good players.

Never drunk nor biased...

Never blog when drunk nor biased.....my law. Broke both...... Campiones !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


......and to think Beaker is 40 !!!!!!!!!!

Sergio Busquets

I am sure that every club has one. He's the one player in the squad that you, as a fan, would love to get hold of and shout "Sort yourself out !!"......amongst other things.

There is nothing more annoying to me than a player with all the talent in the world that falls down whenever the wind changes direction, and unfortunately Busquets falls into that category. I believe that Sergio is a decent midfielder and has the talent to become a great one. Already at the age of 22 he's won many trophies (including at Barca's junior level) and has been capped by Spain.

However, I don't think he will ever attain his potential until he cuts out the play acting. (Whilst he is not alone in the theatrics he is the one that is the most embarrassing and noticeable.) Due to the way he plays he can get caught in possession (which is dangerous in his defensive midfield position), but his normal reaction in this scenario is to go down like he's been 'capped by a mobster. Why ? He's a big lad with a turn of pace, why not hunt the ball back down rather than trying to con the ref. Better still, don't get caught and move the ball quicker (a la Xavi).

I may be biased but I think Barca, as a club, are pretty honest which may go some way to explaining why we are respected. It is the European, and especially Iberian, way to try and 'get one over the officials'. They consider it an acceptable part of the game and even admire it. Could that be why Maradona has a smile whenever asked about the 'Hand Of God'?

It's not Corinthian and I don't like it which is why I hate to see (even) opposition players being affected by such acts. In the Champions League Semi 2nd Leg I think Motta would have walked sooner or later regardless of Busquets acting but it cast a shadow over the reputation of the club and I despise that more than anything.......

Why Tinker?

Far from me to question the methods and wisdom of Mr.Guardiola but why the recent tinkering?

I can understand the desire or need to change the team around at the beginning of a season, to help find the right formula, but why do it in two of the most important games at the rear end of the season? It maybe an attempt to unnerve or outfox the opposition, but at what cost?

Against Real Madrid Dani Alves played on the right of a front three. I can understand that with Puyol at right back the defending duties are covered and with Alves further forward his pace could be used as a more attacking option......but he was too eager and caught offside too many times. Another time (early season?) and I am sure the tactic would work, but used as a one off it threatened to unbalance the team putting some players in unfamiliar positions.

Against Inter Milan, in the home leg, Maxwell was played on the left of a front three. Being the only outfield player NOT to have scored for Barca this season it hardly sends the opposition into a worrying state of mind. Would the same have been said if either Bojan or Henry started in that position. As it is, I believe Maxwell to have been one of the most consistent players this season, but it is unfair to expect him to carry that attacking threat in such a big game.

We beat Real Madrid but lost to Inter so it's 50-50 on the tinkering stakes.

Not being privy to the background to these decisions there maybe very fair reasoning for making them..........but as a fan they are bemusing when we are looking for consistency and success.

Oh well.

I made myself a promise that I would not post when either drunk or upset. 24 hours on after the final whistle and I am still struggling to meet keep my promise. Even though I am an avid Barca fan I try my best to remain unbiased, or at least, as unbiased as I can be....

I have nothing against Inter. In fact I find their performance admirable under the circumstances. But it was the semi final of the Champions League and no football was played by the away side. No attempt to attack or score an away goal. I can understand why. What really annoys me is Jose. He creates the whole 'Us against the world' thing but then so does Alex Ferguson. Whilst SAF can rile opponents Jose goes too far. He's personal, arrogant and out for himself. Why at the final whistle did he run across the pitch and not even hesitate to congratulate his players? Straight to the fans with the look of 'Look what I have given you!'.

I appreciate that he has achieved much already with every team he has coached but I think he has burnt a lot of bridges and I would never accept him as our coach. Pep, and Rijkaard before him, hold their heads held high and accept defeat as graciously as possible, going so far as to congratulate their opponents. That is the type of manager for FC Barcelona.

What will life be like if Mou takes the 'Other Team' on? I think we can expect a lot of negative energy being directed at the Blaugrana from the capital. Maybe it is to detract from the fact that he actually isn't God's gift to coaching and he needs the mind games to succeed......

Comeback on .....?

It's the Catalan way to be pessimistic. Maybe I am part Catalan.
It doesn't matter if I am watching Barca or England, if it is an important game we could be 3-0 up with 1 minute to go and I would expect us to throw it away......

How should I feel about the return leg against Inter ?

A lot of pundits fancy us to turn it around. I'm not so sure. Jose is too sharp to allow us an easy ride. I think he'll play it tight and look for the counter attack through Milito and Eto'o. Hopefully Wesley won't play, due to thigh strain, which would help severe the transition between midfield and attack.
It will be interesting to see if the Milito brothers face up to each other as I expect them to. With Puyol suspended and Pique a cert to start it only leaves Marquez and Chygrynskiy (or the outside bet of Toure) as central alternatives. Chygrynskiy deserves his own blog, and yes, I did have to look up the spelling!

I hope Toure starts ahead of Busquets, another blog in the making.

I would be very happy if we were go through but I will keep my pessimistic hat on to prevent too much disappointment.

Let's hope beauty defeats the beast......

St George's Day (Sant Jordi)

23rd April in England is St.George's Day.

England and Barcelona share in a patron Saint, although in Catalan he is known as Sant Jordi.


This explains why there is a St.George cross on the Barca crest.


Also included on the crest is the 'Senyera', the Catalan flag of red stripes over a yellow background. It's sad that I should know this but it is widely believed that the Senyera was created by Charles the Bald. As a means of rewarding the bravery of Wilfred The Hairy (who thinks of these names?) Charles awarded Wilfred with his own coat of arms. The coat of arms was 'designed' by Charles dragging Wilfred's blood stained fingers over a copper shield....thus the four red stripes on a yellow background. Honestly ! (It's not April 1st.....).




Wilfred was count of Barcelona between 878 and 897, just in case you didn't know.

Most influential signing of the last 10 years ?

I started out wanting to discuss the best Barca signings of the last ten years but quickly realised that although we have made some great signings, so many have contributed so much but in different ways that comparison is not possible.

Ronaldinho was arguably the most important player for getting Laporta’s project off the ground, the marquee signing. There is no doubt he contributed to the style, flair and excitement of our play. Dani Alves was a large investment for a defender but without him we tend to lack an attacking dimension.

Eto’o came and scored goals, lots of goals….. Pique has returned and played beyond his years. Belletti scored an important goal in the Champions League final and Rafa Marquez has been consistent.

However, I believe that one player has made a massive impact on our club after only playing for six months (on loan from Juve). After four trophy less years, in the 2003-04 season Barca had been knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Celtic and the King’s Cup by Zaragoza before Christmas. Frank Rijkaard turned to a Dutch compatriot during the winter transfer window in his first year of Barca management when the team were facing the prospect of not qualifying for European competition for the first time in our history. The signing of Edgar Davids in January 2004 turned our fortunes around and gave the midfield the battle that it was missing at the time. I was fortunate enough to watch him play against Mallorca, complete with Eto’o, in the Camp Nou (a match that ended 3-2 in our favour) and he ran the show. Ronaldinho may have been the gloss but Davids was the engine. Barca ended the season in second behind Valencia, after winning the Catalan Cup.

I believe that without Davids’ influence we would have failed to achieve anything that year and where would Laporta’s project be now ?

So close....

Well, revenge is sweet (so far) for the Special One. Whilst I still believe Inter are playing above themselves you can't deny they took a leaf out of Espanyol's book and stunted our attacking play by 'doing a Barca' and closing down from the front. Possession maybe been in our favour to the tune of 70% plus, but it's no good unless the ball hits the back of the net....

There are gripes in our favour, not all of which I agree with. The pitch wasn't watered, it was a hard journey, the second Inter goal should never have happened due to a prior foul on Messi (I'm not convinced this is the case and need another replay), the third Inter goal was offside (referee's assistant must have had volcanic ash in his eye) and Alves should have had a penalty....our shirts weren't not distinctive enough (It's 'salmon' Jinxy !!)

Most (if not all) Chelsea fans would claim it is about time Barca did not have the favour of the referee. What comes around goes around and all that. I accept that. But it is galling for football fans, regardless of the team supported, to have their dreams influenced in such a way. I have sympathy for Chelsea fans still crying over recent Barca clashes.....but the beautiful game won - get over it :-)

Eight days later and we'll discover if we are really that good and deserve to remain at the pinnacle of European and world football. Alternatively we could end up trophy less. Suppose we won enough last year.....

Champions League Semi 1st Leg (Inter Milan)

Revenge for Inter or the driving seat for Barca.

How many times do we see returning favourites haunt their previous employers? How often do we see it so soon? Ibra and Maxwell for Barca; Motta, Eto'o and, to a lesser extent, Jose for Inter.

The question is, will Inter get their revenge for the 0-0 draw and 2-0 defeat in the group stages?

The likelihood is that after the travel plans enforced on the Blaugrana they are bound to be jaded. I'm bored to death after an hour on a coach, never mind 15 hours and over 600 miles.... The Other Team, Depor, Espanyol now a jolly coach trip. Not ideal preparation and a hard two weeks. Is this an unfair advantage for those home teams in European competition during the recent Icelandic intervention? Has it removed the benefit of having the second leg at home, especially if air travel has returned to normal by then? Should UEFA enforce a similar type of travel for the 2nd leg to ensure fair play? Fat chance...

Personally, I think that Inter will be starting to believe that they can win the competition, especially after dispatching Chelsea without really looking like they were in trouble at any point. They maybe faltering in the league but then so are we.....and we have some tough games to come.

So, as a fan would I be happy with either the La Liga championship or the Champions League?
Both please.

Expection has become all consuming and greedy. Before the second year of Rijkaard's reign would we have been happy with one or the other? Damn right ! Now we have been spoilt with quality football that produces trophies it is hard to comprehend when we don't win the competitions entered, and yet it is totally unrealistic to expect to do so.

I will expect Inter to put up the shutters (or 'Man Wall' Lucio) and rely on the pace of Eto'o and Milito with the guile of Sneider. Why did The Other Team ever release Sneider? A quality player who is always dangerous from set plays.

I would be very happy with a draw, especially a score draw.

Why do I support FCB - the unanswerable question.

I don't know.

Whenever I meet someone and I get asked that question the answer is almost always ...."erm". There is no logical reason. Some could say I'm a glory hunter but the truth is I started to support the Blaugrana way before they were the world beating outfit they are today. In fact my first true memory of Barca was the Dream Team 4-0 mauling at the hands of Milan in 1994, so my introduction was hardly a high. I started to truly support Barca upon the introduction of La Liga by Sky Sports in the mid to late 1990's.
I suppose I could just as easily fallen for the other La Liga team, but it just didn't feel right. The other team didn't have the character. An early memory (and I would love for someone to tell me exactly when it was) was that of De La Pena driving the medical cart around the pitch, having been subbed with injury, with team mates on board celebrating either a league or cup victory. Maybe I owe my devotion to the 'Little Buddha' with the enthusiasm, entertainment and joy he brought that night.....

There is something about the club and it's humanitarian and sporting ethos that has got under my skin. I can't explain it.

The evidence against :

• I am not Catalan or Spanish.
• I don't live in Spain. I live in the UK, 200 miles from Manchester so I should really be a Man Utd fan !
• I can't speak or read Spanish. I have taken a course but have come to the conclusion that I'll never be able to ask for anything other than "two beers, please" (even if I am on my own).
• My personality is against the Catalan type.
• I'm not a worldly traveller which would enable simple associations and understanding of culture. (My first foreign excursion was in my early 20's)
  

I am fortunate.

I get to watch almost all of their matches in the comfort of my own home (more regularly than any English fan can claim to see their team). I have been able to watch my team play a number of times in the UK. I am even more fortunate to have seen them play in Camp Nou. Rather unfortunately the cost of watching a 'home' game rather racks up the pennies so with a wife and children what is a loving husband/father to do ? But then when a home game is in such a magnificent city it is truely worth it........

Do you have support for a club that has no logical grounding ? I would love to hear your reasons so that the next time I get asked "Why do you support Barcelona?" I can eradicate the word "erm" from my answer...............at least for a few "umms".