Recreativo vs FC Barcelona Preview

As a contrast to his recent ways Pep Guardiola has decided to announce his squad for the match against Recreativo De Huelva in Nuevo Colombino stadium. After the uninspiring win against Benidorm Pep has announced the strongest side available for the visit to Recreativo. Recreativo lies in the relegation zone as of now and could be hard done by this visit of Barca. But the teams which made us struggle this season are Numancia, Benidorm, FC Basel etc. A combination of team selection and complacency are to be blamed for the recent uninspiring results against FC Basel and Benidorm. I now believe that we need three out of our fantastic four (Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and Eto) to make the greatest of impressions against opponents. The squad announced for tonight’s match is Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Sylvinho, Cáceres, Puyol, Márquez, Piqué, Sergio B., Touré Yaya, Keita, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Hleb, Messi, Eto’o, Bojan and Henry.

Pep Guardiola is not expected to experiment with his side for today’s match. This has been already a tricky week for the big clubs in the La Liga. Real Madrid lose to Valladoid and Valencia’s catapulation at the hands of Gijon means that we have a clear cut chance to increase the lead on the top of table. Villareal is yet to play but a clear cut lead from Valencia and Madrid would ease out all the tension when we get ready to face them pretty soon. Puyol, Marquez, Pique and Alves is expected to form the defense ahead of Valdes. Xavi, Toure and Gudjonsen should form the midfield troika. Messi, Eto and Henry would be the attacking force ahead of the pitch. Puyol playing the left-back role should be a blessing in disguise for Guardiola in the future. When Milito returns he could form the centre defense partnership of Marquez and Milito in the middle. Last season Marquez and Milito showed good understanding of each other; but Milito when partnered with Puyol was a disaster. Whatever those are things for the future; I expect FC Barcelona to produce another sincillating performance and prerdict a score line of 2-6.

Written by Bibin on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Barcelona Match Preview.

Arshavin and Xavi are the talk of the Moment

Andrei Arshavin rumour does not look like going to die out soon. Actually Sport.es is keeping it on the frontpage with their daily articles of a possible Arshavin move. Guardiola has been very careful in answering questions about the russian; when asked about his interest he answered with a broad minded phrase saying that “Arshavin is a good player”. I have already written about teh Arshavin factor in Barcaelona - Have a look here - Arshavin and FC Barcelona. Will a move be materialising? onli time can tell. Actually with Robben and Van Nistelrooy both injured I believe Real Madrid might go hard for the player. But then with Henry and Hleb in the kitty we may not miss Arshavin that much.

From yesterday there is another transfer rumour that is being linked to FC barcelona. Only this time it is a Barca player who is involved in these rumours - Xavi Hernandes. Manchester United Supremo, Sir Alex Ferguson is reportedly looking to avail Xavi’s service to strengthen his midfield. He is looking him as a possible replacement to the always injured Owen Heagraves. Alex Ferguson is looking to benefit on the apparent non-agreement between the player and FC Barcelona over a new deal. FC Barcelona has tabled a deal of about 7 million Euros plus addons for Xavi contract extension; but it looks like Xavi is not ready to settle for anything less than 9 million Euros. Xavi, the most valued player of Euro Championship is rightly deserving a salary in consistent with the best in the football. With ManU jumping into the fray; there are three clubs who openly looking to sign the player - Liverpool and Inter Milan. But everyone of the FC Barcelona fans knows that Xavi will not be leaving; this all rumours will help him in getting the package he has asked for from the club. In Barcelona it is pretty simple; if there is a President existing who will let go off any one of Messi, Xavi or Iniesta he might have to look for a better job from the next day.

Written by Bibin on November 14th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Transfer rumours.

Here Comes Arshavin Again

Andrei Arshavin, the russian play maker has been again linked with a possible move to FC Barcelona when the winter transfer window opens. This does not come as a surprise as I mentioned in my earlier post Arshavin Desperate to be at Barca that Sport.es is trying to get their favourite Russian in the club. Arshavin some days earlier gave an interview in which he made it clear that he doesn’t want to be a Zenit player in the new year. During the summer many clubs were interested in the Russian star but a move was made impossible by the price tag Zenit atatched to their star player. But now since Zenit sees a possibility of Arshavin moving out for free in the summer, they have agreed to negotiate with club who are interested. It is yet to see where he moves to; but he has clearly stated that given an option he will chose FC Barcelona. Arshavin has been a Barca fan from the times of Romario and want to spend some time in the club.

Not surprisingly it was Real Madrid who seems to have shown the initial interest to sign him in January. Real Madrid is missing their mercurial star Robben and Van Nistel Rooy through injury and would like to have Arshavin as a back up for them. It is not yet clear whether Totenham or Arsenal will re-kindle their interest in him this winter. Arsenal for me would merit heavily from his purchase but the fact that he cannot be used in Champions League would make Wenger think twice. Now with Sport.es reporting a possible chance of Barca approaching Zeni for Arshavin; this could be a tough fight for the ultimate winner. Arshavin could be played on the left side of thepitch where we are certain to miss Iniesta for some time. Henry and Hleb has not made that position their own. But will Guardiola unsettle the squad in between a very good campaign is yet to see. If Arshavin moves in to Barca, there could be a high chance of Henry leaving to Manchester City.

Written by Bibin on November 12th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on FC Barcelona and Transfer rumours.

FC Barcelona vs Benidorm Preview

Pep Guardiola has yet again delayed the naming of the squad against Benidorm till the time of the match. This looks like his way of keeping his players focussed. Whatever we might say it have worked in this season. FC Barcelona goes into this match in a kind of tricky position. They have won the away leg with a goal margin and are the hot favourite to proceed to next step. Already the Copa Del Rey had one big casuality in the form of Real Madrid; Madrid was outsed by an injury time goal by Real Union. As I mentioned in my previous post Copa Del Rey Awakes, for the smaller teams all match is like the final match. Today’s match is Benidorm ultimate match and they can be expected to throw everything at Barca.

Pep Guardiola may not be fielding a under-strength side in tonight’s match. With Madrid already out and Villareal likely to follow suit; he might be tempted not to give players from B team a start. Benidorm did really well in their home leg; but they may soon find out it is completely different playing FC Barcelona at Nou Camp. We can expect Messi, Xavi and Eto starting in the substitute bench today. So most probably Bojan, Hleb and Henry would be starting the match. Gudjonsen should be teaming with Victor Sanchez and Toure/ Busquests in the midfield. Caceres, Sylvinho, Pique and Alves should form the defense ahead of Pinto. Jorquerra is ruled out of some stomach bug. I expect a tough match but FC barcelona should be winning comfortably by atleast a couple of goals.

Written by Bibin on November 12th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Barcelona Match Preview.

FC Barcelona vs Valladoid Player Rating on 08/11/08

Valdes - 8 - Great performance. He did well to keep his clean sheet . Produced some telling saves to make sure that the pressure never acme at FC Barcelon.

Alves - 7 - Another great performance going forward. Was caught at many times coming backward but was pretty competitive. You cannot complain about his defensive vulneress as he is more like an attacking right winger.

Marquez - 8.5 - What a match!!! There was a period of time in the first half prior to the second goal when Valladoid was applying immense pressure. Marquez stood tall and atleast cut down four attacking oppurtunity.

Pique - 6 - Was at fault at many times. On occasion he lost ball was lucky to see Marquez covering him on every occasion.

Puyol - 7.5 - Great game. Was great on the left flank. Did drop into middle to help the centre defenders.

Xavi - 6.5 - Did started the game well but went quiet after that. Had a decent game but more was expected of him naturally.

Toure - 7 - Did well throughout the match. May not be as good as previous matches and lost some balls cheaply but was assuring in the midfield.

Gudjonsen - 7.5 - Did complement others well. Great finish to get into scoresheet.

Messi - 9.5 - What a match!! He controleld the match and showed his true capabilities. Was a mess to deal with for the defense. Played his part in every goal.

Eto - 9.5 - Great striker to have in the team. Give the ball to him in the box he will get the goal. Leading Pichichi by some distance now.

Henry - 7 - Didn’t do much of mistake and complemented well. But he kepth the scoreline to six with missing a host of chances.

Substitutes : Hleb(7), caceres (6) and Keita (6)

Written by Bibin on November 9th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Match Player Ratings.

FC Barcelona Destroys Real valladoid; FC Barcelona-6, Valladoid-0

FC Barcelona put their rampaging train back on track after a small technical snag against Basel with an explosive performance against Real Valladoid. Real Valladoid could not find a single answer to the attacking powers of Barca and saw the host putting six goals past them. Eto scored four times in the first half, Gudjonsen and Henry compleetd the scoring list. The surprising fact about this season is whenever we think FC barcelona has reached their highest level of play they simply raise the bars. The performance is yet to improve as Xavi didn’t have a great game yesterday and Iniesta was out injured. Guardiola looks like have decided Puyol as Left back in the absence of Abidal, and he will not regret that decision. Alves, Marquez, Pique and Puyol formed the defense ahead of Valdes. Toure was slotted in as the defensive midfielder. Gudjonsen and Xavi paired to be the creative heads in the midfield. Henry, Eto and Messi formed the attacking trio.

It was Real Valldoid who had the first atatck of the match.In the 2nd minute Valladoid free kick from the right corner of box was collected well by Valdes in the second attempt. That woke up Barca and they replied immediately with Gudjonsen heading high from a great cross from Xavi in the 8th minute. In the 12th minute Eto entered into the scoring chart; Daniel Alves played a sensational ball in behind the defense, Eto rounded off the defenders and scored through the legs of Goal Keeper Sergio. In the 22nd minute Marquez guarded ball well to Valdes hands after a great pass put Valladoid in an atatcking position. In the 23rd minute Valdes had to make an great intervention to stop Valladoid from having the shot after a Pique mistake. FC Barcelona looked like a bit rattled by the much more crowded valladoid midfield and was giving away ball cheaply. In the 26th minute Messi sets up on an excellent run on the counter; Messi then provided a great pass to Eto whose shot was well stopped by an advancing Goal Keeper Sergio. In the 30th minute Etos scored again to calm Barca nerves after an excelelnt all round play. Messi provided a great pass to Eto in the edge of box; who lobs the ball over the defense to Henry; the resulting shot from Henry was saved bu Sergio but the rebound fell perfectly for Eto to finish. In the 36th minute Henry should have made it 3-0 but his first touch on an excellent pass from Messi was pathetic which gave time to Segio to block the ball. In the 40th minute Henry wasted another great chance from another excellent pass from Eto. But for all the disappointment Eto made it 3-0 in the next minute after rounding off Goal keeper from an excellent pass from Messi.In the 44th minute Eto made it four for the night with the easiest of finish.It was once again excellent play from Messi who run past defenders; Messi shot hit the defender and fell perfectly for Eto.

In the second half everyone expected FC Barcelona to slowed down the tempo. To an extent they did but they didn’t abandon the idea of attacking play. In the 70th minute Marquez was taken off and Ceceres replaced him. In 72nd minute Gudjonsen brought the match back to life with an excellent finish after the defense gave the ball stupidly to Henry who placed it to Gudjonsen. In the next minute Gudjonsen was taken off and was replaced by Keita. In the 76th minute Eto was taken off and in came Hleb. The Belarusian started getting involved in every move from the right. Hleb was instrumental in the sixth goal after playing a neat one-two with Messi he squared the ball to Henry for easiest of tappings.

This was an excellent performance and it came on a day when the midfield general Xavi was having an off-day. That shows the variety of atatcking options. The only thing Guardiola have to be careful is that to make sure that they don’t get carried away with these results. They should be still win some games very tough and ugly.

Written by Bibin on November 9th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Barcelona Match Report.

Injury Problems Ahead

The clubs’s medical team has assessed Eric Abidal’s injury. The club doctor have decided to continue with the same treatment and ruled out surgery at this point of time. The recovery is expected to take three weeks in normal scenarion; and if he does not recover well after this three weeks, they might consider the possibility of a surgery. If that happens the Abidal could be out of the game for a pretty long time. What disappoints me the most is the time of the injury. If this injury has occured a month ago none of us would have complained; but in the recent matches he was getting better and fulfilling his promises and now this happens. Guardiola would have to rely on Sylvinho in the left side of the pitch or he could still use Puyol again there. But I would prefer Guardiola using Sylvinho as there is a possibility that Abidal could take more time to recover or could take more time to find his form back.

Add to this Iniesta injury; Guardiola could be in for the toughest of tests. Iniesta had solved FC Barcelona’s incompetency in far left position of the pitch and now that is going to haunt Guardiola again. Henry looked like finally getting into his grove; but that could be another faulty sign like last season. Hleb could be used there but he has not made a compelling case to guarantee that position. Keita has started training but is not fully fit and cannot be expected to take part in this week’s match. The absence of Keita and Iniesta means the midfield would be stretched ofr creative ideas this week. Gudjonsen could come back but is sure not to start. Now that leaves Victor Sanchez a sure certainity. In the defense the team is missing two members - Abidal and Milito. It is still not clear when Milito would come back. Pique is carrying a knock but should be able to feature in next week’s match.

Written by Bibin on November 7th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on FC Barcelona.

Fabregas looks FRUSTRATED

I’m no expert in the science of body language but you wouldn’t need to be an expert looking at Cesc Fabregas last night. He looked totally frustrated and forlorn.

I’ve never seen Cesc look so down. His shoulders were slumped and he didn’t really seem up for it. I know that players have bad days and bad games but his performances haven’t been up to the standard of last season. And last night was his worst.

Maybe its just the fact he misses his mates Hleb, Senderos and Flamini. They were all very close off the field so perhaps Cesc needs to get over the fact they are not there anymore.

The teams plight certainly isn’t helping matters. Arsenal are lacking form and confidence and when that happens teams tend to look to their best player for inspiration. Fabregas is Arsenal’s best player but at the age of 21 that is too much pressure for him too handle. Hence the reason he isn’t captain.

There is no doubt that Fabregas is among the best midfielders in the world but even the best needs a solid partner to help. Last season he had Flamini as his side-kick and I’d argue that their partnership would have developed to be as good as the Vieira-Petit combination.

This season Denilson is his partner and I think that together they have struggled. Denilson is a good player but I don’t think that he is up to playing every week consistently yet. I think Denilson is a good stand by for Cesc at the moment and will be a great player in the future but Cesc needs more than he offers. Saying that I thought Denilson had a decent game last night.

I’m not saying that Cesc Fabregas wants to leave Arsenal, far from it, but I do feel he is becoming increasingly frustrated at the direction of the club at the moment. We had such a promising team last season and went desperately close to winning honours. He then wins the Euro’s with Spain only for Arsenal to be struggling this season. No wonder he is frustrated.

Keep it Goonerish……………..

Written by Wrighty7 on November 6th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Football-Player.

Basel Steals a Point; FC Barcelona-1, F C Basel -1

FC Barcelona’s winning streak was halted by the most unlikeliest of opponents - FC Basel. This was a match where FC Barcelona players showed signs of complacency, lacked attitude and looked more like last season. To worsen it all one of the star performers of this season, Andres Iniesta Picked up an injury and most probably would miss six weeks of action. To the build up to this match I have written that FC Barcelona would be happy to get a point out of it and secure the Knock-out stage spot. This draw has virtually ensured that and Barca became the first team to secure the spot in this year’s champions league. In a way, this draw or inept performance could be God sent. This gives Guardiola enough reason and oppurtunity to raise the bar again. Guardiola have to make sure that the team does not repeat this performance ever. As expected Guardiola rested many of his regular starters. Eto, Xavi, Messi, Toure and Alves all got the much needed rest. Puyol, Marquez, Pique and Sylvinho formed the defense ahead of Valdes. Iniesta, Victor Sanchez and Busquests formed the midfield. Hleb, Henry and Bojan formed the front three.

As expected FC barcelona retained the majority of possession in the first half. They did create some chance but not any lethal ones. It was clear they were misising the likes of Xavi and Eto in the first half. Victor Sanchez and Bojan did work hard but it was too big a task for them. We can’t really blame the team fully as half of them are playing for the first time together and it is difficult to gel together. In the second half Guardiola brought Messi, Eto and Xavi in. The Messi substitution did worked immediately when he scored to give Barca the lead. But slowly FC barcelona again dropped the tempo of the game and did pay for that in the 83rd minute when Derdiyok scored after a Marquez mistake. This match showed one fact that if Barca want to dominate any match that initiative has to be taken from the begining. Now how Guardiola cope up with the absence of Iniesta is yet to be seen.

Written by Bibin on November 5th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Barcelona Match Report.

Fc Barcelona vs Fc Basel Preview

FC Barcelona would be hoping to grab atleast one point in today’s match against FC Basel to assure themselves of a Champions League Knockout stage place. But FC Basel would be praying heavily to avoid another drubbing in the hands of FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona’s current form and Hot Goal scoring streak would only make FC Basel’s job kind of impossible. In their last four matches Barca have scored 15 goals and conceded a miserly one goal. So naturally we would expect a goal fest when they take on the minows from Switzerland. Guardiola is expected to rest the majority of the first team players. Guardiola has once again delayed the announcement of squad for this match. The Romanian referee Dan Alexandru Tudor will take charge of this Tuesday’s game between Barça and Basel. It will be Tudor’s first game featuring Barcelona.

Guardiola is expected to rest the old guys in the defense especially - Marquez and Puyol. The defense should most probably made of Alves, Pique, Caceres and Sylvinho. Iniesta should play the creative head in the midfield. Xavi can be expected to be rested. Ineista who missed the away leg of this encounter should be eager to get into the scoresheet. Gudjonsen/Victor Sanchez and Busquests could be expected to form the other midfield. The forward line up should nbe made up of Hleb, Henry and Bojan. Even with the absence of their main stars FC barcelona could be expected to finish of this game much earlier. This is an excellent oppurtunity for the fringe players to show their value.

Written by Bibin on November 4th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Barcelona Match Preview.