Football Mood

FC Barcelona or Real Madrid, who will win the Liga 2012?

2012-01-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Three celebrates, three think its too early

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid find no third in the Liga to bug their plans of winning the title. But by having each other, they can hardly wish for additional challenges. In fact, the big margin of quality separating the big two from the rest is one of the main reasons why the rivalry between the two clubs reached a do-or-die level. This is a league where a draw for any of the two teams can cause the collapse of the season. The chance of reversing the damage and balancing the books of points is very slim compared to other leagues in other countries.

However, there is one main difference this season that makes this league way more interesting. If you go back to last time Real Madrid won the title, you will notice that the strong fight they put till the end (in two seasons) came hand in hand with a catastrophic collapse for FC Barcelona on and off the field. Then you move forward to the seasons FC Barcelona won and you notice that even though Real Madrid had superb seasons, FC Barcelona were on a very high level and almost unbeatable. In my opinion, this is the first season where the two teams are playing on the same level – each utilizing own strength and suffering own weaknesses. While Barcelona is still the best team collectively and (for most positions) even if you compare individuals one-by-one in the starting eleven, Real Madrid squad provide more depth and diversity. The fact that both teams have their backs to the wall (No more: we are building a team for future) put more pressure and make the mental strength, squad moral, and club’s environment deciding factors, more than ever.

The stock market of hopes:

At the moment, most Liga followers consider it done and dusted for Real Madrid. Five points difference is a big margin in the liga, and Real Madrid are winning all the time – beside when they meet Barcelona. Barcelona fans – or the majority of those I discussed the issue with- already surrendered that this is not Barcelona’s year. So I’ll not argue if Real Madrid can win the title because that’s the common belief. The question is: Can Barcelona still win the title? Do they have a realistic chance?

After the disappointment against Getafe, lot of people considered Real Madrid as the favorites to win the Liga. Then the clasico came, Barcelona won it, and they became the team to beat. Then another disappointment against Espanyol and that’s doom’s day. Barcelona lost the Liga. I didn’t agree before the clasico, and I don’t agree now. Some people complained that I’m just being in denial. Other’s praised my optimism. Its neither this nor that, it’s just about the way each football follower observes the situation.

The secret:

Some people count on statistics; others simply check the points’ difference, or simply count on the “feeling”. Most may mix all together. Today, I’ll walk you through one of the most confidential and restricted departments in FootballMood’s base, it is called: “The” (just that as we can’t leak its name). Sign the papers you receive at the entrance (which confirms that you do this at your own risk), and walk just between the two yellow lines, any slip and you are gone! Make your way through the tunnel and narrow paths where it only gets dimmer and colder, and here you are facing “The” giant lead gate. Opened. Get in and check the table in the middle.

The operation room in "The" area

Alright for an untrained eye we made an easier map to observe, have a look and before jumping to conclusions, give some time for the following argument.

This is my way to follow the league. And the posted schedule lists all the Liga matches for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid (with Cdr and CL confirmed matches). Looking at the whole picture makes a big difference. It gives you a perspective for the way the Liga may go based on previous matches and the coming ones. We already conceded that Real Madrid chances to win the league are as good as them getting another penalty for Ronaldo to score. No question. But why am I still as confident that Barcelona can still win the title?

If we make a flash-forward to the clasico day at Camp Nou, with Real Madrid being five points ahead of Barcelona. If Barcelona wins that match, the points difference will go down to two points. Now for each his own to figure the possibilities there. I think for Barcelona to win this Liga, they have to defeat Real Madrid at home, and I don’t see this as a mission impossible. But then there are still two points difference…

Putting the tricky game against Sevilla, Real Madrid will play after the clasico (and clasico defeat may also leave an impact), the main bet for Barcelona will be on Real Madrid’s visit to Bilbao to face Athletic. I’m not sure if this is the last season for Athletic at their cathedral before moving to the new stadium (or maybe next year will be the last), but in any way there is no better opportunity to make the historical stadium more historical than damaging Real Madrid’s title hope. Knowing just a little about the rivalry between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid will make you certain that this game will be far from being certain for the visitors. A draw there may hand the title to Barcelona.

Can Betis cause damage for Barcelona’s title hopes? Of course they can. They did it before, and they will remember that forever. So as many Barcelona players who lost a title when Betis defeated them, they will remember that as well. We are definitely not talking about any certainties there - Only possibilities. Now be realistic and make your own probabilities.

Looking at it this way, if you are a fan of FC Barcelona, then Real Madrid’s wins each and every week will not cause you a moral damage, as you still have something ahead to look forward to. Same goes for Real Madrid fans when things are going the other way. The league is a competition full of complexities.

For Barcelona, it is vital that the difference separating them from the top does not get wider than five points till the coming clasico. The most difficult part is passing February without increasing that difference. If you look at the matches starting with Villarreal till Atletico, it will be a huge challenge for Barcelona to keep the five points difference as it is. Villarreal is a team that can take points at home. Real Sociedad match is sandwiched between two CDR games against Valencia. Osasuna game is at Pamplona, one tough place to be. Then Valencia visits the Camp Nou after playing Barcelona twice in the same month (repetition rarely serves Barcelona), before traveling to play against Atletico in Madrid, a team that developed after changing the coach. While lot of Barcelona fans may still feel down at the end of February if the difference stays where it is, I will be looking at the schedule posted above and singing relief for the accomplished mission. Especially if you take the injuries crisis in consideration.

Any additional points added to the difference between the two teams, Barcelona will need to cancel during the second slice of the games – the queue of games preceding the clasico. Looking at that slice of fixtures, Real Madrid may have more matched to worry about than Barcelona. This is a relatively balanced slice, yet Barcelona can bet on collecting couple of points more than Real Madrid there, narrowing or closing the difference.

That’s why I don’t think anything is decided yet and the title can still go both ways. Lots of factors can imbalance the teams, causing a U-turn in the sense of the Liga. Injuries records in the coming weeks, moral variation, Champions league and CDR results, and much more, all will happen one way or another.

While losing against Getafe was a surprise, winning against Real Madrid was another. Barcelona lost more points than I expected through my First-19-matches planner, but not a lot more. Taking the squad available in consideration (and my opinion is known about squad, transfers, etc...), I expected the team to lose/draw more matches this season than before. Barcelona earned more points in some matches than I expected (Athletic, Real Madrid...) and in return lost points where I didn't expect - all balancing all in a way or another. And that's why my view for Barcelona's chances to win the league are still exactly where they were at the beginning of the season.

Now that you have this roadmap on your table, add it to your own charts and enjoy watching the league from a different perspective. It worth following till the final day, I can assure you that.

El Clasico: A Game of Chance

2012-01-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

"Good Luck?"

A lot of people are probably annoyed by the past recent clasicos. If you take away the recent flood of clasicos that (un)fortunately plagued us we would still probably be annoyed by the el clasico that just happened. But why? I thought these matches we're suppose to be fun and exhilarating. C'mon think about it, the 2 BEST teams in the world face-off in an all-or-nothing match, just to see who's better, but will probably have another "grand" face-off rematch in the next 7 days (to see who yet again is better...). Exhilarating. Why are we so drawn to these epic yet annoying clasicos? This annoyance has long puzzled students of the human psyche.

I believe part of the apex that's deep rooted in the negative feelings for clasicos is the factor of luck. You hear it all the time, Barca just got lucky, Real Madrid would have scored 3 if it wasn't for the ref (...4 if Mesut's shot wasn't interfered by the wind and the Earth's rotation). We sometimes forget that clasicos are still smaller pictures of a bigger sport, and it's really not a game of chance.

But a huge part of el clasico is luck. It was demonstrated at Camp Nou just a couple of days ago. It pains me to admit this but Real Madrid played the better side during the second-half. We can say that Real Madrid was lucky to have a sleep-walking Barcelona play the second half, or we could say that Barcelona was lucky that Real Madrid was extremely unlucky with the number of chances they missed. Or we can take the Mourinho route and wait in a parking garage to blame the ref (but the ref was pretty awful on both sides, so that factor can cancel itself out). The point is, luck surpasses the style of play and doesn't represent attacking teams.

However, if you consider Barcelona an attacking team, in the return leg at Camp Nou luck actually did define Barcelona. Messi's assist that led to Pedro's goal was one in a million. And Dani Alves' goal...well lets just say the upper 90 was the last place I'd see that ball hit. The other side of that coin was: 1)Pique almost letting Higuain score the first 10 seconds, 2)Pinto giving the ball away to the wrong team, and 3) Barca in general giving away the ball. But this is me being cynical, if I categorize Barcelona like this, then us fans might as well be gamblers at a roulette table. In all reality, Messi's goal wasn't "one in a million" because it was made by Messi and Alves' goal was so Brazilian it could only have been made by him (sorry Mesut).

Since luck saved our team, we should be happy for Barcelona. Unfortunately, there's another side of el clasico that we're not accounting for. Unlike Messi's intentional assist through 2 Real Madrid players (which was his skill) and contributed to the overall performance to Barcelona, the win gained at Camp Nou wasn't representative of how Barcelona played. It comes back to when they stopped playing the second half. It's when the annoyance kicked in, and Real Madrid started playing the better side. If only winning was defined by performance, then all would be good for Madridistas, and disappointment would reign over cules.

But emotions that clasicos manifests aren't pure luck. That's why cules are more or less content by the outcome. The fans were unlucky to have Barcelona be complacent during the second half at Camp Nou, but in clasicos (and football in general), luck doesn't dominate the match. Talent and skill are rewarded over the former and you see this by the general trend in clasicos (yayyy...).

I guess we're annoyed by luck because of the negative connotations it carries: like the ref who might have favored a certain side, or the football fan born to worship a losing team, or the guy that almost got the girl. In the end, we can't afford to give up the role of luck that plays in clasicos. It adds to the drama and it's part of what makes them exciting. It's fundamentally essential for the beautiful game. And lets be honest, if luck was eliminated from clasicos, we all know who would win every single time.

...Barcelona, of course =)

Pique Journals - Part 15

2012-01-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

Have you sent Leo your DVD yet or no?

Hello friends! It's been so long since my last column that many of you no doubt thought I've retired from this writing business. Well, no such luck. I wanted to write earlier, but we spent the last few days reeling from the shocking draw against Espanyol ("Wait, how did we manage that?!"). And then flew to party at the Leo Messi Annual Award Ceremony (also known as the Balon d'Or to the uninitiated). And then spent the remaining days after that sinking into a stupor as Pep waxed on eloquently about Betis. More on that later, but first of all, a very belated Happy New Year!

So, moving on to the Case of Pep and his curious fascination with Betis, it all started with the impending Osasuna Cup game. Actually it started off on the flight back from "Let's All Gather Every Year and Give Leo a Giant Golden Ball" event. "Well done boys" said Pep, "But remember you got all these by not playing like you played against Espanyol (clearly the draw still rankled). And as for the upcoming Osasuna game, just remember Betis". He was looking very ominous indeed. Not wanting to ask the mister about what happened against Betis, we deemed it prudent to google it on Xavi's mobile instead. Turns out we might have complicated the 2nd leg of a Copa game a bit by conceding a few goals and almost surrendering 1st leg lead before we got things in order, haha, we remember nothing from that game!

This was apparently just what the mister feared. So we saw the game twice over the next two days, and heard about complacency and Betis every waking minute, and dreamed of Betis in our sleep. Barely did we manage to scrape through the Osasuna game and qualify for the next round in CdR, when guess who our next Liga game was against! Yes, Betis!! Really, what are the odds?! So some more talk of Betis this Betis that, and by the time we were done with the game yesterday, I was ready to pound anyone who mentioned Betis to me again! Except the mister of course, that wouldn't be prudent.

But all's well that ends well, and now that we've somehow managed to win over B****, Pep looks all relaxed for the Clasico coming up. I don't blame him though, Clasicos are coming up all the time, they creep out of the woodwork when you least expect them, it's like the Plague only much worse. Every Clasico I end up arguing with Ramos. This time maybe Alexis should just have a conversation with him instead on how they're going to earn 3 points from the game. Hahaha. Anyway. Nice talking to you all! Till next time then!

Barca won? Well surprise, surprise...

2011-12-19T10:18:00.000-08:00

Another win!? Look Cesc lost his pants in all the excitement!!

In real life, surprises are a nice source of amusement in certain occasions. But in professed works of imagination, these surprises may come to offend us, by suggesting doubts about the accuracy of the representation. These surprises can diminish what we think of as a perfect representation. Now change this perspective to football. Barcelona has a style of play alien to most teams. Some call it fantasy football. A way of football that can only be played in their routine daydreams. In essence, an ideal representation of football.

The past 3 games FC Barcelona have played left me secretly ashamed of being so surprised by Barcelona's genius. I've always thought their possessive/attacking, 4-3-3, ways were a solid and golden tactic to winning matches. If Barca is so flawless, why am I still scratching my head with the recently past games? These surprises exposes doubt, and doubts leads me to believe a flaw in what I thought was their perfect style. Right?

Take the most recent El Clasico. You've read the previews. You've read reviews. Both sides were talking openly about tactics, baiting and bluffing. They made the Clasico seem more like a chess game than an actual match. The bottom line came down to "Real Madrid was probably going to win". People didn't doubt Barca's philosophy, they just believed more in Real Madrid's galore scoring side. I didn't doubt Barca. I knew if they minimized error (eg. giving possession away), covered CR7, Benzema (the list goes on and on...), they were in grasp of a tie, or a 1-2 win..AT BEST. But a 1-3 victory?! I'm still celebrating even now.

I was surprised. So where was the flaw? (And please don't say Victor Valdes). Besides minor ones (eg. giving possession away), Barca played the better side against RM. My amazement came from the way Barca handled their situation. Here's an example, Puyol covered the hole Alves made by moving further up the pitch, and Busquet's mutual understanding with filling in Puyol's hole. I haven't really seen movements this fluid, even from Barca; until now. The match showed that rigid 4-3-3 may not always work anymore. My "perfect representation" failed.

Fast forward to the 4-0 win in the Club World Cup. It wasn't as nerve-racking as El Clasico, but Barca's style was once again a bit different. Xavi played deeper in his half, Cesc placed as a false-9, ect. Things changed but results didn't. There were no flaws. Santos received a trashing, Neymar was on the brink of tears, and we still got witness fantasy football.

I found no flaws because the system that people daydream of was never "perfect" to begin with. Surprise is good (unless you put it in the context of Victor Valdes). Surprises mean changes in an imperfect system. With these changes, Barcelona can display a contemporary way of playing The Beautiful Game that's not strictly defined in tactics, lines, or triangles; but through an obnoxious amount of kinesthetic awareness and ...possibly... MAYBE some good old-fashion teamwork. Pep should keep tinkering with the Barca system. And however way the system decides to evolve, hopefully it'll keep leaving us well--surprised.

With that in mind, have a nice break and ¡Visca Barca!

What happened to FC Barcelona?

2011-11-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

FC Barcelona, from a team winning six titles in one season to a team six points behind the Liga leaders this season, a free fall in the eyes of many observers. Some hot-blooded are calling dooms day, questioning the form of the players, their fitness, their commitment, or their spaghetti-making skills.

But what is really REALLY happening at FC Barcelona?

Nothing. Case closed. Thank you for reading this "insightful" post. But if you insist, allow me to elaborate.

Saying that nothing changed overnight, turning the best club in the world to an old half-dead horse, does not mean there are no "issues" to fix. It means that there are no NEW issues emerging or at least nothing of a great significance.

Word on the street is all about the flaws of Barcelona's system, and the need to apply changes and turn things around. Now those who were generous enough to read many of my previous posts in the past three years can tell, I am not the Shaolin temple of that system. No doubt, I am a dedicated apologist for the key concepts of Pep's method of play, but even during the most glorious, Lets-all-hail-greatness, periods I was the boring dude nitpicking flaws and demanding changes to perfect what is genetically great. Yet, strange enough, what the team need to do first is to go back to the basics of the current system BEFORE talking about any changes. Getting carried away by the praise targeting some of the main features of that system, led to forgetting what system is all about. In fact, every season this team is moving one step further from the system we witnessed during Pep's first year as a first team manager.

Season one:

The first team Pep stitched played -mainly- two offense structures: The first with an offense line of Messi-Eto'o-Henry supported by Yaya, Xavi, Iniesta. The second structure consisted of Messi-Eto'o-Iniesta supported by Yaya-Xavi-Keita in the midfield.

In the first structure, Barcelona controlled Possession thru midfield, but at the same time they had players in the offense line who love to play as close to the opponent box as possible. Henry and Eto'o contributed in the buildup through midfield just when they felt it was needed, BUT were never settled to that. One of the great changes Pep made was giving Henry the permission to act as a second striker when possible, beside his nominal function to run on the left flank to create width. Henry became much more lethal this way compared to Rijkaard's days where the french role was to hug the lines and play as a wing (Remember this point as we will come back to this later).

Henry and Eto'o always tried to demand the ball between defenders or behind them rather than shying away from the defenders to create redundant outlets in the midfield. Their physical characteristics offered them the requirements needed to hold on the ball while having a defender breathing at their necks, offering the chance for more dynamic outlets to move around the mesmerized defenders. By doing so, Henry and Eto'o served like board pins, clinching defenders to hold position, being more worried about how to contain the forwards than how to cover behind their defending midfielders.

In such selection, Barcelona had a midfield combination (and Messi, Alves, ..) capable of swallowing the opponent midfield in a black hole of possession and ball circulation, while the forwards were torturing the opponent defense line and pushing them to the edge. Such mechanism automatically creates more spaces between the opponent lines, something Messi and Co are capable to expose best. To visualize things a bit, get the ball to Messi between the lines and the defender will have to chose either to release Eto'o and intercept Messi (who will ultimately pass the ball to Eto'o through Xavi/Iniesta), or to stand by Eto'o and watch Messi slicing through the box like a shark.

When the offense of Messi, Eto'o, Iniesta was backed by Yaya, Xavi, Keita, Keita was the most advanced midfielder of the three adding more directness in offense to compensate Henry's absence while Iniesta's dual functionality as a LW/CM made the team perform as if they have 12 players in the selection. The importance of a level of directness in the selection was demonstrated during November-December period of Pep's first season (and I always refer back to that period for its significance). Iniesta was injured during that period and by having Keita in the midfield and Henry upfront, the team witnessed one of its most lethal periods scoring like freaks against the best teams in the Liga back then (and the competition was tighter there, for the record).

Season Two:

Eto'o was exchanged for Ibra, not only to add aerial threat but also for being more technical, and more capable of holding on the ball, beside his play-making qualities (Beside many other Eto'o/Pep/Ibra stuff, not so relevant to this post topic). Another very significant factor at the beginning of season two was the -predictable- collapse of Henry's form after winning the champions league. And so the club started the new season counting on an offense line of Pedro-Ibra-Messi.

Out of sudden, two players who were fond of playing close to the opponents' box were subbed by two players -added to Messi- all more ball-o-holic and like to play wherever the ball rambles. The whole offense line sank in the midfield, contributing in crawling the buildup carnival all the way to the offense third. The opponent players who check Barcelona forwards first became the midfielders while the actual defenders became more focused on creating depth and diagonal cover and to close popping up holes appearing here and there.

At the beginning of the season, Messi (by being Messi), and Ibra (by being Ibra) led the scoring sheet decent enough to keep things going, regardless of the systematic failure. It was about individuals quality in a period still early to expect more chemistry from/with a new striker. Then it all turned chaos when Messi decided to play as a false nine and Ibra decided not to play anymore. There was enough room for mistakes in the Liga and so it was won, but not the Champions league.

Season Three:

When Barcelona signed Villa, I was very excited about the offense line of Villa-Ibra-Messi, and I wrote about that. Keep in mind we didn't know what was happening behind the curtains back then (I can't say I am certain I know now) .

Villa was never a choice for me as a center forward for Barcelona, and I still cant understand how some considered him so. He was an obvious choice for that Missing Henry role. Open to the flank, cut to the center, and score. With both Ibra and Messi being very interested in contributing in the buildup, Villa was the X-factor supposed to add more directness and scoring threat. But the offense line ended up being Pedro-Villa-Messi

We don't need to repeat ourselves, talking about the offense line sinking in the midfield. It needed a supernatural Messi to have an extraordinary season and carry the team on his back to win titles. What we need to note though, is that season three completed the transition of the initial system from being an attacking based system structured on possession to become a possession based system with attacking vibes.

Such transition meant that the possession quality became -by far- a higher priority than offense drive. Losing possession became more drastic from the system's perspective than missing a scoring opportunity. This situation put more pressure on the forwards to become less daring to take gambles. Eto'o and Henry used to lose the ball too often to even work in the system that Barcelona applies at the moment. But I bet they would've kept on doing few things their way. Only a player with enough courage (and ego) would dare to take responsibilities and try stuff from the high-risk-high-return shelf. Villa relegated from being the offense leader he was at Valencia to serve as a co-pilot to Messi, and as Pedro he felt more settled to play it safe and only go for the guaranteed decisions. Offense players are not supposed to avoid doing the wrong things, they are supposed to try doing the right things, regardless of all the risk involved.

Season four

In the summer post Protection, perfection, or excellence we analyzed the possibilities available to strengthen Barcelona's squad during the summer. Pep decided to go for the excellence option (or maybe the players available in the market made the decision for him), and Alexis was the fortunate player to join the group.

It is still too early to figure how far this alternative will work. Theoretically, I believe. Yet, if we learned anything in the past two years its that unpredictable football is way more unpredictable when it come to Barcelona. And there are specific requirements needed for this new adventure to sail in the right direction.

First thing first, "the system" need to be generous enough to accept more diversity. The players available since three years are the best possible to serve the religious practices demanded by the exciting holly system. No new monks can do this better. So if all what's needed is more of the same, buying any player is useless. Unless if "the system" agrees to stop chewing players and spitting them in the same one-flavor bowl, we can safely say this team has reached its ultimate potentials with no more room for any progress. Checked.

To demonstrate that, Alexis Sanchez is a player with sharp directness. Watch him at Udinese, and watch him when he plays for Chile. He receives the ball and first thing he does is to turn toward the opponent's keeper, giving him a dirty look and murmuring: "Here I come Bastad! You better run and hide before its too late!"

Well, most of the time, he doesn't really arrive to the destined station. But if every time a forward want to run over defenders he end up scoring, this sport will turn to a scoring Karaoke! What we know is that despite all the misses, messes, and possession loss, he generated enough threat to become one of the best performers in South America and Serie A, and he proved good enough for Rosell to sell the club's printers, collecting enough money to buy this energizer Bunny.

Again, it is still far too early to know how this will work out. But there are some signs what left me wondering. Sanchez hesitation on the ball is something new for anyone who followed him enough. His unadventurous passes, bowing to his team's midfielders to take his leash. Lack of the daring spark he is characterized of, and -here you go- being too worried of losing possession in one-on-one that he end up hesitating AND losing possession.

It is really normal for any new player to feel as an underdog and try to play it safe at the beginning till he finds his steps in the selection. I am by no mean picking on him. But he HAS to take responsibilities even if there is a chance Messi will yell at him for not passing the ball. One of the main reasons why Messi is that brilliant is the fact that he take risks and can afford making mistakes and losing possession. Alexis is NOT Messi yet, but he should take a page from that book. Pep has a HUGE role here, and it is a role that exceeds providing enough guidance to Alexis but also to the rest of the selection. Take responsibilities. This is not going to work if the club end up being FC Messi.

Talking about Pep, I believe Villa's role should be modified as well. Currently he is playing the same role Henry played in Rijkaard's last season as a coach. I started to believe that the main tactical structure Pep wanted to apply this season was a 3-4-3, basically to find enough playing time for the Zillion and one midfielder he has in his squad. To do so, it was Villa's role to play as a wing for the head of midfield rhombus (Cesc/Thiago) to attack the center. This was not supposed to work, and it isn't - for many reasons. If the rhombus is a logistic need for squad rotation, play 4-4-2. Regardless of the fact that Pep should use the best selection to get results, not to satisfy players. This is coming from someone who demanded buying the players the club needs and not the players the players of the club need. But lets not go there...

If Pep is willing to play three defenders, then a 3-5-2 is the way to go as it utilize the main qualities of each and every player while covering their weaknesses.

Players picked here were based on the available squad when this image was made

There is nothing catastrophic to talk about in this team. Each and every team in the world has its strengths and flaws. This is still the same team after Getafe's match and before it. On one side, this is a praise, but on the other side it is not the best position to be the same while everyone around you improves, or at least become more experienced in how to deal with you. Great performances will keep on coming and titles are certainties regardless of the frequency of winning them. The main challenge is that there is less room for mistakes, and Barcelona's football method is so sensitive to flaws that it requires perfect performance game in game out to expect consistent results. Is that fair? You already know my response... C'est la vie!

Football mood on Twitter: @FootballMood

Day in Pictures: Getafe vs FC Barcelona

2011-11-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

: If you don't do as I say, I'm done talking to you. Understand?!

: Quick, let's throw the ball into the goal when no one's looking!

: Me? Diving?! Now don't be ridiculous, ref!

: See? It's the peppermint green. I'm sure I'm playing for Barca, not ARG. Or am I? Is that Xavi or an optical illusion? Ack, is DiMichellis playing?! Maybe I should take Pep's advice and rest for the next game.

: Okay Keite, here's the plan. You fly over that sea of burger boy blue and deposit the ball in the goal. Got it?

: This is yellow too, but don't kick it. It's the goalkeeper.

: Why do Barca bother with corner kicks actually? It's like catching practice for me.

: No referee who looks like a giant, walking version of Leo's ridiculously bright red & yellow shoe can give me a yellow card!

: It's okay, Geri. Randomly running in all directions while defending set pieces works sometimes.

: Ref, everytime I kick a ball towards the goal, there's a goalkeeper standing right in the way! Do something!

: So Pep, what did you think of the team's performance today?

: Writing us off? Ha!!

Messi, Messi, FCB, and more Messi

2011-11-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

For the fans who just want the facts served straight up to them, Barcelona is now 3 points behind Real Madrid. But saying we're 3 entire points behind our club rival doesn't do FCB justice. The most recent game against Athletic was a fairly even match, and it wasn't because FCB played bad but because Athletic had somehow found an obscure amount of endurance. With the addition of rain, that rivals a tropical monsoon, it made out to be a pretty frantic match. It was uncanny, as if the entire pitch was just one big Slip 'n Slide and the ball just floated on water rather than roll on the grass. Everybody was screaming at someone. But with that amount of rain they might as well have been screaming at no one.

So if I were to sum up that game in 3 words, they would be "Thank. You. Messi." Messi was amazing--which by now is becoming an average for him--but Barca was set to lose the game until he scored in the drawing goal in the twilight of the match. But boy did that goal feel like a winner. I've never appreciated Messi this much since the last time he was amazing at Barca (meaning their previous game before this). He really is half man, half amazing. The way Barca dominated the previous 2 games, along with Messi's consecutive hattricks makes this Athletic game seem like a dip in performance. The bottom line is it's extremely easy to get spoiled by goals to the point where not scoring more than 4 pts above the opposing team, overshadows a great game.

Last match, like Messi, was an anomaly. If we remove the unfortunate weather conditions and Pique's own goal, Barca would've performed amazing. ( And if we further remove Real Madrid's ability to pull out goals galore ever single game, then it's a proven fact Barca is the best.) But the truth is, we can't remove those set backs no matter how insignificant they seem to be. The only thing that'll provide comfort is, well--Messi. He's saved the team once and he'll probably do it again.

As for the team's overall performance this season, they really don't have much correlation. Much of that is due to the fact that this season's line-up isn't as predictable as last season's. Which isn't bad at all since Pep showed Barca can win and dominate without Xavi, it shows that Barca does rest its players (except of course for Messi), and it shows that Barca has even more options to do the 1 thing they do best.

And all this optimism is needed and said for the El Clasico next month. Hopefully Barcelona will find a nice dominating tempo leading up to that match. But if they don't, at least they'll still have Messi.

Until then, Visca Barca.

A Conversation with Pep Guardiola

2011-10-24T09:39:00.001-07:00

Pep's reaction when he heard we were going to interview him.

Yes, you read the title right. Much like Fernando Trueba's conversation with Pep about the future, we decided to have a conversation with Pep as well after the opening of the new La Masia. We hope you enjoy the fruits of more than a year of investigative journalism as we come up with ground-breaking questions (if we may say so ourselves). Read on!

Us: Thank you Mr. Guardiola, for your time!
G: You're welcome! Is the interview over?
Us: No no, we are just thanking you in advance. Tell us, Mr. G, did you foresee the result of the Sevilla game?
G: No. I foresaw most of it, like being 0-0 till ET. But then, in my visions, Leo converted the penalty. Oh well.
Us: Oh! That's still rather remarkable! Were you upset?
G: No, these things happen. For example, in the game against AC Milan, I thought I'd skip mentally planning the first and last minute to save a wee bit of time, and see what happened!

Us: That's rough! Sometimes it's like the universe is conspiring against this team!
G: No, that would be Jose Mourinho's team.
Us: Yes, of course. Do you ever use your vision to see what Mr. Mourinho's next complaint is going to be?
G: No.

Us: Okay, right. Moving on to the meat of this interview. Is it true that La Masia is a mutant school for kids with genetically mutated X chromosome that results in advanced tiki taka skills (also known as the Barca gene) which they're taught to control and apply on the football field?
G. Hogwash.
Us: Sir, we are not going to be distracted by mentions of Hogwarts and Harry Potter when we are talking about X Men.
G: Not Hogwarts. Hogwash.
Us: Oh. Do you deny that you use the Cerebro to locate kids suitable for La Masia from all over the world? And then bring them together to protect them from humans who attempt to teach them anti-football?
G: Yes, I deny it. And you're beginning to sound like Xavi.
Us: Talking of Xavi, when did you discover he could see off the back of his head?
G: Xavi can see off the back of his head?
Us: Yes, that's what our research tells us. We'd be happy to share the videos if you like.
G: No thank you. Listen, are you okay? Did you hit your head somewhere on the way to this interview? I can call the doctor if you want.
Us: Would that be the same secret doctor who resides in La Masia underground labs and who diagnosed Iniesta with shape-shifting properties?
G: Eh?
Us: Come on, Mr. G, next you'll be denying that Leo Messi has been able to talk to footballs since birth! We've always wanted to know, what is Cesc's special ability?
G: Erm...the ability to carry off really bad hair?
Us: Haha, no really. One final question, Mr. Guardiola, Is "Oooh Moc Moc" the password to the Masia underground labs?
G: SECURITY!
Us: Don't worry, Professor X, we won't tell the humans.
G: I'd advise you to write a novel, but it doesn't matter. The world is probably ending tomorrow anyway.

(One security guard comes strolling in)

So that was that. We weren't able to gather more details as we were getting uncomfortably close to the truth (we suppose), but maybe some other time. You're all welcome.

Disclaimer: As is obvious, in the same true enterprising manner displayed by English

tabloids
newspapers, we just...er...made it all up. Since fake interviews, news and rumors aren't really that different from real ones in terms of credibility these days, please feel free to spread the word around about Barca players housing mutant DNAs.

An Exclusive Interview With PR Director of FC Viktoria Plzen

2011-10-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

We are very grateful to Pavel Pillar, the PR Director at FC Viktoria Plzen, for kindly offering us the time needed for this interview, despite being contacted very late. Read on for his insight on the club, the city, qualifying for Champions League and his thoughts on the upcoming game on FC Barcelona.

Q: Some football fans may not have a clear idea about FC Viktoria, How would you introduce the club for them?

A: It´s a small family club, which celebrate this year 100 anniversary – the completely history you can find in attached document. In the long history the biggest moment came last year, when for the first time won the Czech league. And today´s match in Barcelona – that´s a dream of all generations of Pilsen fans.

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about the city?

Plzeň is the fourth biggest city in Czech republic (after prag, Ostrava and Brno). It´s known like a city of bier – in this city is made very popular bier “Pilsner Urquell”. It´s also the city of sport – most popular are football, ice-hockey and Handball. Last year Plzen was chosen from the European Union like a “European city of culture in the year 2015”.

Q: Winning the league title last season then qualifying to play in the Champions’ League group stage this season were the best achievements in the club’s modern history, what are the main factors leading to that exceptional success?

A: The most important thing is, that team stayed together for the last three seasons. The´re a lot of players, who used to play in Sparta or Slavia Prag – they have enough experiences with the big games. The coach Pavel Vrba os an excellent specialist – he is the trainer of the Czech republic for year 2010. Very important was sommer 2010 when came to the club new owner – mr. Paclík and solved most of the financial questions. Very important is support from city Plzeň – right now we´re rebuilding our stadium in Pilsen – that´s why we have to play Champions league games in Prague.

Q: Yet things are not going well so far this season, the club is in fourth place…

A: For the team it´s a new experiences to play in so many competisions – Czech league, Czech cup and champions league – and we want to be successful in all of them. But now it´s getting better – we are on the fourth place in Czech league and we hope, till end of autumn gonna be even better.

Q: How can you describe the team’s football style? Where do you believe your main strengths are and what are the weaknesses that troubled the team most this season?

A: We´re trying to play offensive football with a lot of chances. Very important person is the captain Pavel Horvath – he is very experienced and his left foot is one of the best in the whole Czech league. Most of the rest players are very fast, technical and they profit from Pavel´s skills.

Q: How did you feel when you knew you will play AC Milan, FC Barcelona and BATE in the champions’ league group stage? Was it a good news or you would’ve preferred easier draw?

A: We were enthusiastic. It´s a very hard group and we all know, that AC Milan and Barcelona are one of the best clubs all over the word – but it´s perfect experience for the fans and players. And we still can fight with Borisov for the third place in the group.

Q: How can you describe the clubs performance in this competition so far after a qualification round and two games played in the group stage?

A: Qualification round was a big surprise for the whole Czech public – first of all games in Trodnheim and Copenhagen were really big moments for our team. We were little disappointed after the game against Borisov – but first point in the first champions league game was after all a good result. AC Milan was a better team in the game, but we showed a good performance – and that´s what we want to do today against Barcelona.

Q: And now it’s the game against FC Barcelona…

A: We´re meeting the best team in the world. We want to enjoy this game and show performance, that we could be proud of.

Q: How did the team prepare for this match? Any unfortunate injuries or missing players in the squad travelling to Barcelona?

A: The team is complete and all the players can´t wait the beginning of the game.

Q: The match starts 0-0 with one point for each team, Will FC Viktoria defend the point in this game or try to get the three points and improve their position in the group?

A: We want to be active and do our best to make the game for Barcelona as complicated as possible. There are going to be fve thousand fans from Pilsen – we don´t want do defense for ninety minutes and disappoint them.

Q: Václav Pilař was full of praise for Messi in his most recent interview; will stopping Messi be the main mission for FC Viktoria? Is he the player who decides this match?

A: Messi is the special one, but the whole team is amazing – every single player. It would be crazy to concentrate only for one player – excellent are all of them,

Q: Who are the players FC Viktoria will count on most to hold the team together against Barcelona? What are your main concerns?

A: We´ll try to be successful as a team, but in the last weeks Petr Jiráček, Václav Pilař and Daniel Kolář play a wonderfull game – all of them are in the Czech national team.

Q: Your last thoughts at the end of the interview and before the big match.

A: We believe, that´s gonna be a wonderfull match and our fans can be proud of us.

Thank you very match for the time you offered and the insightful thoughts you shared with us. We hope to watch a great game, and best luck for the two clubs this season.

(Interview conducted by Ramzi) You can follow us on twitter @footballmood

Want to know more about the history of FC Viktoria Plzen? Read on!

THE HISTORY MILESTONES OF FC VIKTORIA PLZEŇ

The Football Association of the Czech Republic originated in 1901, which was formed to keep an eye on the order and organization of football. After the birth of this association on the 28^th February 1901 the Football Association for the Royal City of Pilsen was established. Disagreements among clubs caused a quick end of this Pilsner association. Not until 23^rd March 1909 did the Football Association of the West of the Czech Republic succeed. In those days of Pilsner football there appeared names of football clubs, such as SK Plzeň, FC Union, SK Slavia, SK Olympia, SK Český Lev and AC Sparta. A big rivalry was noticed among these clubs not only on the football pitch but also in terms of the life of clubs.

The roots of FC Viktoria Plzeň can be traced in Dobytčí trh, a place where nowadays an ice-hockey stadium is situated, where boys living near Doudlevecké Street would come to play football. When the soldiers finally left their barracks near this street, these buildings were soon occupied by young fans of a new kind of sport. They then learnt basic techniques with a special ball and played until the dark chased them home. They established their own club (kroužek) called Blesk.

At this time there were no rival teams for Blesk to play against, but the boys had to play some real matches. That is why all of them moved into FC Union and after some time into a newly born club SK Smíchov Plzeň. However, they found out that the idea to establish their own club and to defend its colours was the best. The members of Blesk found a manager, a clerk of the national railway called Jaroslav Ausobský who applied for the licence to give rise to a new football club in Pilsen. The foundation meeting of Viktoria Plzeň took place in 1911. Right before it Viktoria played its first match against Olympia Plzeň on 27^th August 1911. Viktoria in the red-blue team kit lost 3:7.

In 1917 Viktoria became a winner of the District Cup for the first time and they were placed in the 2^nd class of the championship. After the 1^st World War the club fixed its position among the best clubs. Although Viktoria worked in purely amateurish conditions in 1922-23 they won 6 matches out of 9 in Spain, which was the first destination of the tournament abroad. In June 1929 there was an extraordinary meeting of the members of the club, whose task was to decide the question about entering the professional football league. Viktoria applied to enter the 2^nd professional league, in which there were 8 teams in 1929-30: SK Náchod, Meteor VIII, SK Libeň, SK Rakovník, SK Čechie VIII, Nuselský SK, Slavoj Žižkov a SK Viktoria Plzeň.

In the first year of the 2^nd league Viktoria ended up in 7^th place, but immediately the next year this club lifted to 2^nd place, so it meant historical progress into the 1^st league. In the highest league the football players played really well and in 1935 they fought their way to the Middle-European Cup. In those days this was the highest competition the clubs could reach, because of their 4^th place in the home league. Due to two matches with a famous club named Juventus Turin, Viktoria became noted in European football.

After the successful years in the 1^st league some failures came and in 1938, Viktoria fell to a division from where after a year they came back among the Czech top teams. All the football competitions were affected by the war and that is why there were no Slovakian teams anymore. In 1942 Viktoria slumped in this division again, but after only one year they returned to the highest level where they maintained their position until 1952. In this year they ended up at 11^th place in the Championship of the Czech Republic (1^st league), however, it paid off the absurd reform of the football competitions, which were henceforth organized according to industrial fields. As a result of this reform, Viktoria, coupled with 7 other clubs were set aside from the 1^st league. They played one out of two groups of the National League (2^nd league), they finished in 6^th place, however, because of another reorganization they dropped down to the Western League, which they won in a sovereign way.

In those days the name of the club was at first Sokol Škoda Plzeň and then changed to Spartak Plzeň. An effort to come back amongst the top teams of the Czechoslovak Republic took 9 years to succeed. Finally in 1961 Spartak succeeded. They celebrated the 50^th anniversary of their origin in a worthy way; nevertheless they kept their position only for two years. In 1963 they dropped down this league again and came back up only for one year in 1967. It was a time of ups and downs within the club. In 1972 Sparta changed its name to Škoda Plzeň and settled down in the highest league for the next 8 years.

Before that in 1971 they won the Czech Cup and as a finalist of the Czechoslovakian Cup they entered the Cup Winner´s Cup and played two incredible matches with the famous club Bayern Munich. After 1980 there was again a long period of oscillating between the 1^st and the 2^nd leagues, but in the beginning of 1990´s after the dividing up of Czechoslovakia, the situation was getting better and better.

In 1992 the club returned to their historical name FC Viktoria Plzeň and the year after they became a part of the 1^st league, where they stayed until 1999. After one year Viktoria came back again but only for one year. This club was a good importer of football players of high quality especially for the teams from Prague. This is why the position of Viktoria in 1^st and 2^nd league changed a lot.

Viktoria transformed into a joint-stock company in those days, in which 99% belonged to an Italian company called Fotbal EAST Ltd. This situation did not change until 1995 when Plzeňská sportovní a.s. became a new owner of the club and gained 100% of them, so the club returned back to Pilsen in terms of property. Subsequently, the club was stabilized in sense of economics and sport and Viktoria has been playing 1^st league since 2005.

THE BIGGEST SUCCESSES OF VIKTORIA PLZEŇ

The first biggest success of Viktoria was in 1922, when they won the Championship of West Bohemia. Viktoria coupled with 8 other teams acted in a sovereign way, no match was lost and there was only one draw. Viktoria was winning this championship for the next 6 years and in 1926 they won the title of the Junior Championship of West Bohemia. During this year Viktoria organized a big trip to Spain where 6 matches out of 9 were won, 1 draw and only 2 matches were lost.

In May 1926 Viktoria went to Jugoslavia where 8 matches were played with different results. The club became more and more famous within European football; they also celebrated the 15^th anniversary of its origin.

There were also 3 trips to France in 1933, which were very successful. The team played 12 matches and they won 9 of them.

Under the 1^st Republic Viktoria were written into the football history of 1935, when they started in the Middle-European Cup because of the 4^th place in the home league. Unfortunately their competitor in the 1^st round was Juventus Turin, in which they had several world champion players from 1934. The game finished 3:3, which was played in Luční Street in front of an audience of 18 000 spectators. These are the names of the Viktoria players: Dědič - Wana, Mudra, Bešťák, Biro, Vlček, Horák, Čulík, Červený, Hess and Bína. However in Turin they were beaten 1:5 and were knocked out. Nevertheless, the whole of European football now knew the name of FC Viktoria Plzeň. In 1935 Viktoria also played several successful matches in the north of Africa.

The year 1939 was mostly taking up travelling the north of Europe. It was one of the most successful years, which were taken by the Czechoslovakian teams. 14 matches out of 17 were won, 1 draw and only in 2 of them Viktoria was beaten. The competitors were, for example, the national team of Latvia or Lithuania.

Viktoria played the final of the Czech Cup twice in the fall of the 2nd World War. In 1943 they were beaten by Sparta Praha 1:3 and 1:7, and in 1944, when Viktoria beat České Budějovice, Zlín and Slavia Praha were beaten twice by Sparta Praha in the final again (4:2 and 4:3). In 1948 Viktoria ended up in 2nd place after Slavia Praha in the 1st League, but it was not an official and complete league year. Since 1949 our football leagues changed their organization according to the Russian model of their system of Spring and Autumn, that is why in autumn 1948 only half of the year was played. This year was successful for Viktoria. They only lost to ATK Praha, which caused Viktoria to finish 2^nd place after Slavia Praha.

Viktoria Plzeň was also successful in the field of junior teams. In 1951, under the name Škoda Plzeň, they became the winner of the Championship of the Czech Republic. The players (Hodina, Štogr, Beránek, Šerý, Salcman, Ženíšek, Lukeš, Skřivan, Zoubek, Tauš a Sloup) won all the matches led by the coaches Václav Svoboda, Václav Dědič and Emil Hrudlička.

In 1961, named Spartak Plzeň the club began to play in the 1^st League. After the autumn they finished in 3^rd place. In 1962 they played a friendly match with the famous Brazilian team Flamengo Rio de Janeiro and won 2:1 in Štruncovy Sady (the football stadium in Pilsen). It was an incredible match, František Hlavatý, a goal keeper, contributed with his great saves and when Stanislav Štrunc added two goals, it was a big surprise because Brazil became a winner of the World Championship for the second time!

In 1961-62 Spartak was introduced to the 1st League and finished in 9th place, and they qualified to play in the Rappan´s Cup because of it. AC Padov, Swiss FC Chaux-de-Fonds anf Hungarian Banyasz Dorógy were also in the same group. The results of the matches were as follows; Padova 0:5, 1:1, Chaux - de - Fonds 1:1, 1:3, Banyasz Dorógy 7:1, 2:4. The team from Pilsen did not move ahead from the basic group, although they played in the international club league which was considered as a big success.

The decline to the 2^nd League in 1971 was a big disappointment for the players and the team; however, Škoda Plzeň was really successful in the cup. They won the Czech Cup and despite they lost twice to Spartak Trnava (1:2 and 1:5) in the final of the Czechoslovakian Cup. They also played in the Cup Winner’s Cup because the Slovakian team could not start in this cup competition, nevertheless they were not lucky because in the 1^st round Bayern Munich with famous players like Beckenbauerem, Gerdem Müllerem, Breitnerem came to Pilsen. The Czech team consisting of Šestava J. Čaloun - Špinka, Plass, Michálek, Pleško - Süss, Sudík - Kamír, Bachner (Hoffmann), Bican and Ziegler played bravely and lost only 0:1. In Munich though they lost 1:6 and were knocked out.

In the years between 1972-80 Škoda Plzeň continued to play in the 1^st League and in 1977 two very important historical events happened, in May the offender Stanislav Štrunc scored which won them the match with Inter Bratislava (2:1). It was his 100^th goal and he entered the prestigious League of Top Scores. The club players, J. Čaloun, Sudík, Brusnický, Michálek, Kopřiva, Rejda, Sloup, Jelínek, Berger, Uličný, Süss, Forman, Dvořák, Štrunc, Minařík, Vojta, Hřebík, Morávek, Fojtík, Bican, Karafiát and the coach Tomáš Pospíšil finished in 6^th place of the Czechoslovakian Championship which was a great achievement! They were better than most teams for example Ostrava, Slovan Bratislava, Bohemians, Teplice, Sparta, Trnava, VSS Košice and other famous clubs.

In 1993-94 in the separate Czech 1st League under the renewed name of Viktoria Plzeň, the club was led by the coach Zdeněk Michálek and finished 5th position in this new league. This great place was gained because of the efforts of M. Čaloun, Bečka, Diepold, Drahorád, Heřman, Janota, Kopřiva, Mika, Purkart, Skála, Slabý, Susko, Šámal, Šamberger, Šmejkal, Švejdík, Tesař, Vágner and Vlček.

In the new century a young football team celebrated success as well. In June 2001 the under 15 team won the Czech Championship, they beat Zlín (2:1) in the final match. The team (led by the coaches Josef Žaloudek and Miloš Kopecký) were Jiří Misař, David Král, Ondřej Šiml, Jakub Sádlík, Jan Procházka, Tomáš Borek, Lukáš Tomášek, Michal Chocholatý, Pavel Vacek, Michal Smejkal, Ivan Ševčík, Stanislav Protivínský, Martin Dolejší, Lukáš Ulč, Zdeněk Kolář, Martin Fillo, Karel Řezáč and Zbyněk Toman.

In June 2008 the under 19 team became the winner of the Czech Championship, it was the second title in the history of the club. Houdek, Frei, Blažek, Chvojan, Bauer, Nový, Mandous, Matas, Puchmertl, Vitouš, Darida, Mudra, Staněk, Dvořák, Vaněček, Hulina, Štverák, Herák, Mašek, Mičkal, Bezděk and the coaches Karel Krejčí, Jiří Kohout, Jiří Žilák and Jiří Krbeček gained the gold medals.

THE STADIUM

The first football pitch of Viktoria was a ground in Bory. The Municipal Authority of Pilsen gave it to the new club under the football ground called SK Český Lev. However, they trained in the rooms of today’s ice-hockey stadium “na Dobytčáku”, because going to Bory was quite far away.

In 1920 Viktoria´s big dream became true; they gained a real football gound. It was bought from SK Plzeň for 20 000 Czech Crowns and it was situated in the Královské Square (nowadays náměstí Míru). SK club moved to Bory, Máchova Street. The members of Viktoria paid the money needed for buying it. The biggest credit of it made vice chairman Vališ, who gave his own savings of 14 000 Czech Crowns. The ceremonial opening was held on 26^th September, when the team also played a match with Hagibor Praha. The match finished a 3:3 draw especially thanks to two offenders – Štapl who scored twice and “Mindě” Kučera once.

In 1929 the club was not lucky and the football pitch which was expensive and hard to build was lost. They had to move away because of a big town development. Thus the club, with great chances to become one of the top teams in the whole country, economically strong, technically well-equipped and with the players of high quality, stayed without a football pitch.

The discussions about the ground with the city council immediately began and were successful. Viktoria obtained for rent a place in Roudná in Luční Street. They also bought the seating area for 13 000 Czech Crowns. Each member of the club had to pay 100 Czech Crowns for the building of the new football pitch and had to work for 50 hours there. The new stadium is still standing there till this day and is still in quite good conditions. The stadium named Viktorka was ceremonially opened on the 11^th May 1930. The Budapest club Hungaria was invited and came well trained and ready to jump into the game – and won 4:1. The ball which was used to play this match was thrown off the plain into the middle of the football pitch. The football ground was roofed in 1933 and there were also a room made for trophies.

The stadium in Luční Street sustained damage during the 2^nd World War in 1945. During the air-raid of the Americans to Pilsen on 17^th April the stadium was damaged, only ruins remained there after that. On 24^th May 10 000 people gathered at the ruined stadium because of the match against a team from the American army. Viktoria won 11:1 and in June the stadium was ready again for the big football matches. Despite being damaged by fire the stadium was rebuilt thanks to the great help of other clubs.

In 1953 some works in Štruncovy Sady started and it was opened for public in 1955 on the occasion of Spartakiada. Later on there was finished the Brána borců and the main seating area, which was in those days one of the best ones in the whole of Czechoslovakia. B. Kavan and J. Brabec from the Pilsner Stavoprojekt were the designers of the project for the stadium, whose capacity was 35 000 people out of which 7 600 seats were for sitting.

Between 2002-03 a wide reconstruction was undertaken in the City stadium in Štruncovy Sady in order to comply with the standards of the Football Association for the Czech Republic and therefore the stadium capacity was lowered to 7,425 seats.

In 2008 an artificial lawn of the third generation was opened in Luční Street, where except for it there are three more lawn football pitches. The statics of the origin wooden stands were seriously affected because of the big floods of 2002 – it was drowned under 2 meters of water and so had to be taken away in parts 2003. Only bricked changing rooms remained.

Nowadays in Štruncovy Sady there is apart from the heated football pitch (since 2003) a smaller one with an artificial lawn (20 x 40 meters).

Now our new stadium is under reconstruction – the new stadium it is going to be ready in summer 2012 with capacity of 12 500 fans. Dreams are coming truth.

THE MOST FAMOUS NAMES

Vladimír Bína

Vladimír belonged to the generation of football players who brought fame to Viktoria especially between the wars. He was born in 1909 and started to play football in the north of the Czech Republic. He came to Pilsen in the autumn of 1932 as a 23-years-old man, and stayed there until 1947 for 15 years.

He became a part of the team with Jabornický and Žaloudek as goal keepers and the other players were Protiva, Šimek, Přibáň, Fábera, Bešťák, Mizera, Kuželík, Názler, Bína, Čulík, Hess, Rajniš and Vlček. Vladimír Bína played a great game in the position of an attacker. This player was self-sacrificing and liked to play with the joy of the game, coupled with the great art of football techniques and his sense of quick decisions made him one of the biggest players of Viktoria. He was the back bone of the team.

He played 261 matches in the colours of Viktoria in the 1^st League and scored 38 goals. This football player also played for the national Czechoslovakian team in 1933 against Austria (3:3) and was also a part of the team which played the Middle-European Cup against Juventus in 1933.

After the war he moved to Litvínov where he died at the age of 79.

Vladimír Perk

With 130 goals he is a member of the Club of League Greats. He was born in 1920 and came to Luční Street from SK Karlov, aged 19 in 1939. He immediately became a part of the big aces of Viktoria. Bína, Bešťák, Moravec, Vlček, Tajčner and Dědič accepted him and adored his ability of scoring. There was hardly any match without Perk scoring! Three or maybe four goals per match as in Zlín, this was not any surprise of Perk.

During the occupation he represented the Czech nation and in one match against Morava he scored four times. Immediately after the war he put on the Czechoslovakian sporting kit in Paris. He travelled around the whole of Europe with Viktoria and played 201 matches in the highest league with this team.

When he finished being an active football player in 1954 he started to be a football coach. He led teams such as Škoda “A” and “B”, Karlov, RH Plzeň and Bolevec.

He died in 1998 at the age of 87.

Stanislav Štrunc

Another member of the Club of League Greats with one hundered goals was born in 1942, and he tried to play football when he was 13 years old in Spartak Plzeň. At first he was placed between the posts; however thanks to his speed and impetuousness, he quite soon became an attacking winger. He also played for Spartak Skvrňany for a while, but because he scored a lot he soon came back to Spartak Plzeň where his great career started.

He scored in the highest league for the first time in Žilina in 1961. In 1965 he left for Dukla Praha where he shot 65 goals in the 1^st League. Stanislav Štrunc was a member of the national Czechoslovakian team three times, of the Olympic team six times and of the junior team six times as well. He played against Brazil and coupled with another football player from Pilsen named Miloš Herbst who was also in the Olympic Games in Mexico of 1968.

He came back to Pilsen in 1972 and scored again. Finally, against Inter Bratislava in 1977, it was his anniversary 100^th goal. He completed a total of 329 matches in the 1^st League. After that he finished in Viktoria but still played in some lower leagues – in Kaznějov as a playing coach and in Pilsen for the team called Potraviny, today’s Sparta Plzeň.

He passed away too soon in 2001 as a 59 years-old legend.

František Plass

One of the best football players in Czechoslovakia during the 1960´s and 1970´s was born in 1944 and he came to Spartak Plzeň from ČSAD at the age of 19. Later he was called Pilsner Beckenbauer thanks to his ability to completely control the ball, great football technique and sense for the combination and perfect thinking during the game.

He played 11 official international matches for Czechoslovakia, also a lot of matches for the Olympic and junior teams. As a universal football player he tried to function in several positions – namely, centre back, midfield and striker. The most useful job of this player was apparently in a position of a libero, so called “free player”.

He the backbone of the team and played 169 1^st-league-matches and scored 16 times. He was allured by Sparta, Slavia or Slovan Bratislava but never left Pilsen. His loyalty for this city was exemplary.

After a few years, he left in 1976 as a coach to Cheb coupled with Jiří Lopata and these two names led RH Cheb into the 1^st League for the first time in their history. Later he was a trainer for Dukla Praha, Ústí nad Labem, once he nearly moved up to the 1^st League with Škoda team and he was also at the origin of a miracle in Blšany.

Zdeněk Michálek

It has been 43 years since he appeared in Štruncovy Sady for the first time. He was born in 1947 and began to play football in Bory at the football pitch of SK Plzeň. He scored for Lokomotiva in the position of left winger since 1955. In 1966 he moved to Škoda Plzeň and straight away in 1967 he helped this team, under the coach Vlastimil Chobota to move up the 1^st League.

Later the coach Karel Kolský moved Michálek to full-back. This decision was based on his discipline during the game, ability and intelligence. Rudolf Vytlačil, a famous coach chose Michálek to become part of the national team of the Czech Lion, which was an unofficial representation of the Czech and Morava. He played in Chile, Peru, Columbia and Uruguay.

A serious injury finished his career as an active football player in 1976. He started to function in the position of a trainer’s assistant; he also was a secretary and later started to be a coach as well. He was a leader of a junior team, functioned also in Příbram, Rakovník, Rokycany or German Regen, with which he had a big success. The most important thing is, of course, that he always returned to Pilsen and helped Viktoria to move up to the 1^st League several times, which is very unique! Moreover, he contributed to the final position of 5^th place for this new up and coming team in this league.

He belongs to the biggest fixed stars in the history of Viktoria. He enlisted to the annals as its excellent and maximum trusted player (142 starts in the 1^st League and 18 goals) and a brilliant trainer of high quality as well.

Josef Čaloun

In 2009 he crowned his 30-years service working for Viktoria. He was a goalkeeper for 14 years and later became a coach for the next 16 years. It is not only Čaloun, who stayed in the memories of the football public. There were two of his relatives before him, who trained as well – namely, his cousin František with his son Michal. Čaloun was born on 18^th June 1946 and started to play football in Zliv in the south of Bohemia. He went through Dynamo České Budějovice, Dukla Tábor and Pardubice in order to get to Škoda Plzeň in the summer of 1970.

He experienced all ups and downs with this team. It happened twice that he dropped down to the 2^nd League; however, he was a member of the team which he continuously played in the highest League from 1972 to 1980 where his number of starts was 261 as a goalkeeper and he contributed also in the matches against Bayern Munich. In 1977 he won the trophy for the best goalkeeper of the league and despite Sparta allured him to play there, he continued in Pilsen.

He was also part of the national Olympic team for two years; he though did not go to the Olympics because of unknown reasons and in 1980 lost his chance to win the gold medal. Čaloun significantly helped in the match against Borussia Dortmund. He left Pilsen for Svéradice, which went up from the West League to the 3^rd League. As a goalkeepers´ coach he brought up a significant number of big names, such as Havel, Ticháček, son Michal, Hauzr and a lot of others including the present ones.

Jiří Rubáš

He belongs to the best coaches in the history of the club. He was born in 1922 and as a junior he was placed to a position of a forward in Rokycany. After the transfer to Bohemians he was retrained to the midfield or defender. For the Czechoslovakian national team he participated in 6 matches.

In 1954 he finished being an active player and immediately started to be a trainer in Bohemians. He left for Ostrava after 14 years from where he finally moved to Pilsen in 1970. He stayed here for 5 seasons. He took this new team to the 1^st League, with which he dropped down but after only one year they moved up again and Pilsen played in the 1^st League continuously until 1980. In 1975 he left for Ostrava and reached the trophy for the winner of the 1^st League with Baník Ostrava.

He came back to Pilsen, a 2^nd-league team in June 1986 and after two years he significantly helped the team to achieve the 1^st League again. His big training advantage was that he was able to create positive and friendly atmosphere in the team, nevertheless, in terms of the discipline he was strict, rigid and uncompromising. He assumed the presumption of success was discipline.

He died as an 83-years-old in 2005.

Jiří Sloup

He fits in a heavily branched clan of the Sloups. He was born on 30^th April 1953 and first kicked the ball in Sokol Letná where he went from juniors to adults. The year before he joined the army he attempted the division in ČSAD Plzeň. In 1974-76 he played for the military service in Dukla Tábor and in one year he scored 22 goals in the 3^rd League. He was later picked to play for Škoda Plzeň by the coach Tomáš Pospíchal. At first he was placed in the position of left winger, later a midfielder and finally a full-back.

He was a very high-powered player, excelled at shooting from the middle and long distance. He scored a lot of goals from 20 or 30 meters. In 1982 he transferred to follow the coach Pospíchal to Bohemians, with whom he gained the trophy of the winner of the Czechoslovakian Championship and also played in the European Cups against famous teams. He came back to Pilsen after three years and significantly helped Škoda. He had in total 231 starts in the 1^st League and in spite of being a defender he was still able to score 48 goals. He played 8 matches for the national “A” team and scored once.

He scored against the legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff at the stadium San Siro in Milan in 1982. The match finished 2:2 draw and Czechoslovakia gained a worthy point during the qualification for the Euro Championship. He left Škoda at the age of 36 and finished his active career after the year when he scored nine times.

Pavel Nedvěd

A holder of the Golden Ball Trophy for the Best European Footballer in 2003 made his first steps to big football from Pilsen. He was born in 1972 and first kicked the ball in his hometown of Skalná and then onto Cheb where he played went to Pilsen in 1986. His coach was a legendary man Josef Žaloudek who made the birth of fateful relationship between them and he was also the one who strongly influenced Nedvěd as a player.

He was able to use his left and a right foot as well, also good with his head. He was in a good physical condition and was literally obsessed with football. He started to play in the “A” team in 1990, in 1991 he transferred to Dukla Praha and after that Sparta and the Czech national team were waiting for him. He became world known for the first time in Euro 1996 in England from where he won a silver medal and soon he joined Lazio and then Juventus in 2001.

Nedvěd played in Euro 2000 and 2004 and also in the World Championship in 2006 for the national team. He is also the winner of the Cup Winner´s Cup, a finalist of the Champions League, a finalist of the UEFA Cup and also won the Czech Cup and the Czech 1^st League several times.

He played all the trainings and matches to capacity, and his attitude to the game was always at maximum level. He learnt these habits right in Pilsen.

Josef Žaloudek

He belonged to the best junior coaches in the whole country. He brought up a significant number of later big names and he was heavily involved in the professional development of Pavel Nedvěd. He was born on 3^rd January 1941 of the football family in Nýřany. His father was a goalkeeper and two older brothers Adolf and Oldřich were referees. He himself was trying to succeed as a player but soon he started his career as a coach. He gained his highest trainers´ education in 1978 and became a leader of the training academy for juniors in Škoda Plzeň.

Žaloudek brought up the under 15 team and won the trophy for the best team in the Czech Republic in 2001. Martin Fillo was one of the players who played for the west Bohemian team. Some of the players who were in his care later started their career as a coach as well, for example Vítězslav Lavička or Jaroslav Šilhavý. A wrongly underestimated football specialist trained as his last stop at 33rd sport basic school of Terezie Brzková in Skvrňany.

He passed away after a hard disease on 3^rd August 2003 at the age of 62. A lot of celebrities from the Czech football came to say goodbye to him including Pavel Nedvěd, common fans, coaches, officers and players. There is held a juniors´ memorial trophy every year in honour of Josef Žaloudek and the stadium in 33rd basic school carries his name.

Petr Čech

In the football history of the Czech Republic there was no better a goalkeeper than Čech. Since he was 16 he regularly participated in Euro and World Championship at junior categories. Čech is also a winner of Euro U-21 in Switzerland in 2001, participant of Euro 2004 in Portugal, World Championship in Germany in 2006 and Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria.

He was born in 1982 in Pilsen. His beginning with football is settled in Viktoria and he stayed there until 1999 when he transferred to Blšany. He appeared in Sparta Praha in 2001 when he already was Czech number one goalkeeper. He was offered to go to French Stade Rennes in 2002 and after two years the famous club Chelsea chose him where he immediately became number one and started to pick up the trophies of the winner of Premier League. He also stars in The Champions League.

This 197 cm tall goalkeeper has got great technique, excellent reflexes and hardly any Achilles´ heel. He appears as a completely calm and concentrated player even in some crucial moments. He is also great in directing the defence of the team.

Not only the Czech Republic, but also Viktoria Plzeň becomes widely known thanks to his achievements. He learnt the alphabet of goalkeepers in this club.

THE FUTURE OF FC VIKTORIA PLZEŇ

Almost one hundred years long, history ties Viktoria down to settle amongst the top teams of the Czech Republic and to represent the west-Bohemian region in the 1^st League in a dignified way, eventually to fight the way to play in some European club league. The high level of football is possible to keep on a long term basis only if there is a balance in terms of finance and economics of the club. This is the first priority to pay attention to.

On behalf of this balance it is necessary to develop the cooperation with the world known company Škoda Plzeň or if you like related company Škoda Power s.r.o. as well as with other companies namely, Japanese Daikin and Plzeňská teplárenská a.s.

Another aim is to concentrate on the development of the junior and women football, as well as the professional football. The club also needs to watch the young talents in the wide region and to give the chance to the best ones to develop their own skills in the youth teams of Viktoria.

In order to improve the quality of the base they need to be heavily involved in the discussions about the new stadium and to continue up dating the training premises in Luční Street in Roudná, which are intended especially for the young players.

Hamstring Injuries linked to DNA--in FCB--don't think so.

2011-10-18T05:23:00.000-07:00

Pep:"Hamstring?....gotcha."

So apparently the new disease going around in FC Barcelona are hamstring injuries. Medical doctors are still trying to confirm, but with the rate that our players are getting injured it's practically air-born. Watching Pique walk to the bench just a little under 5 minutes against Racing Santander pretty much makes it a known fact. A day after finding this out, Premier League managers probably took extra precaution because now footballers' DNA are being tested to see whose more prone to injury. Source says, "The study profiled more than 100 genetic mutations linked to an increased chance of injuries such as ruptured tendons" (source). Now you would guess that FCB will all test positive for being injury-prone, but other reasons point otherwise.

Gerard Pique as I dejectedly explained, subbed out last match because of a hamstring injury. Geeze, was Puyol too boring on the pitch? or is Cesc more interesting in the stands? Whatever motivated Pique to get injured, it wasn't in his DNA.

Cesc Fabregas was out for a thigh injury (at this point just bet hamstring) but that's after he found out that new-comers Alexis Sanchez and Ibrahim Afellay also got them. Pep assumed that players would know (or at least have an understanding) that injuries are to be avoided but now-a-days who knows what goes on in player's minds besides tiki-taka. So Cesc blew out a fuse and probably followed the old saying "When in Rome...". But the only problem is--well--he's not in Rome, he's in Barcelona. Cesc isn't prone to injury, he's just rusty in geography.

Andres Iniesta just got back into the squad following his (you guessed it) hamstring injury. Training out in the sun can cause these mutations in DNA but it's clearly obvious that Iniesta is immune to UV rays considering how ghostly pale he is. But paleness can also be a genetic mutation...so his pale mutation knocks-out injury prone mutations---no problems there.

Ibrahim Afellay...who? After signing Cesc, Afellay just faded into background as Villa occasionally does on the pitch. So his injury may just be a cry for help to remind Pep he's still signed up as a Barca player. As for Abidal and Sanchez, well, hamstring disease?? Whether it's in their DNA or if hamstring disease actually does exsist, place your bet in the most improbable thing. In FCB anything can happen.

On a side note, while Barca suffers, Real Madrid improves (go figure...). Higuain is now a hattrick extraordinaire and Cristiano Ronaldo is achieving the impossible and actually plays as a team player. I guess people do hate him because he's rich, good looking, and a great football player.

Now of to the CLs. Visca Barca

Day In Pictures: Pep's Notes Leaked

2011-10-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

: Pep's Note: Players affected by FIFA virus. Prone to lamppost imitations and dazed behavior. Revert to standard formation to avoid further confusion.

: Pep's Note: Potential hamstring injury alert. Currently averages one per game. Consider asking RFEF for 4 subs per game - 3 regular, 1 for hamstring injury. Assuming we have 4 players left on the bench that is.

: Pep's Note: Fascinating psychology. Never seen a goalkeeper so resigned to his fate as this one, squatting on his bottom as Messi passes him by.

: Pep's Notes: When all else fails, deploy the number 10 and number 8 together in 'wreak havoc' mode.

: Pep's Notes: Thiago at DM totally works. Except, susceptible to occasionally break out into dance moves.

: Pep's Notes: Xavi is capable of leaping up like a performing seal near the goal. Reconsider current CK strategy of pretending the CK never happened.

: Pep's Notes: Strict instructions to players that only two to hug Xavi at a time to encourage goal scoring.

: Pep's Notes: Inform rival team coach. If any opposition player wants Leo's shirt, Leo will be glad to exchange shirts AFTER the game.

: Pep's Notes: Shake referee's hand very politely. Refrain from saying "that was a penalty kick, you big numpty!". Reconsider PK sessions during training, we are never going to get one anyway.

: Pep's Notes: My brilliant team is brilliant.

: Pep's Notes: Buy Iniesta a cup cake.

Barca Imporvments 102

2011-09-14T05:06:00.000-07:00

It's only the start of the season and Pep already needs to give his boys a talk. After winning trophies during pre-season we'd think that our team would be in the best shape of their lives but that's not the case when your team is FCB. So once again here are some ways Barca can improve.

Getting injured from the opposing team is more acceptable just because you can blame the injury on the opposing team. When players injure themselves, do you blame our own players? "Man so-and-so is such an idiot tearing his muscle by running to fast"...no, that's a bit harsh. You kind of just take a deep breath, put your hands on your face, and watch close-ups of Pep Guardiola's response on the screen. Pep needs to promote players to stop injuring themselves. Players are no good sitting on the sidelines cheering their teammates on. Unless they're really THAT good on cheering. Pep should implement an additional 60 minutes of extra stretching time before the game, after, when they eat, before they sleep, and during their free and/or twitter time.

WINNING. Just because we're two goals up in the first half doesn't mean the game is won. Barcelona doesn't traditionally defend, that's because we're kind of short on actual defenders. But we can rely on tiki-taka which saved us more than a handful of times when the defense consists of Victor Valdes and....well, Victor Valdes. So with that in mind, giving away or letting the other team have possession isn't really a smart move, right? Right. That wasn't really a question because look what happened against Real Sociedad, within a span of 3 short minutes they managed to pull 2 goals on us. I don't know what Pep can do to solve this. Pounding the importance of possession and tiki-taka more than he already does may just make players shoot themselves in the face. Maybe Pep should wake Villa up. Or re-teach Pedro how to finish. Ask Messi--to play more like Messi? Alright maybe just tell Victor Valdes he's the only one who can actually defend against a goal.

VV. Speaking of Victor Valdes, he should really keep his focus on the game. Leisurely taking a stroll during a game isn't such a good idea. Who knows, maybe an opposing player may just kick a sneaky long-shot while his back is turned from the pitch. Don't believe me?--Just take a look at this irresponsible keeper in this video.

Handballs. Teach Busquets about handballs. Unless he's wearing gloves and sporting a bald head or ghetto braids, he's not allowed to touch the ball with his hands while playing.

FIFA virus. Ban players from attending international friendlies. Just stop them.

I can't say anything about the FCB vs. AC Milan match yesterday because I was stuck in lab. I did try to convince everyone to change our purpose and create a vaccine for the FIFA flu. It didn't work. My apologies to Pep.

Yet Another Look Into Future SPORT.ES

2011-09-08T23:42:00.001-07:00

Awkward Moments In FCB...

2011-08-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

About this game, Pep deploying every midfielder we have on bench--I honestly thought the game was going to hell with the line-up. But I forgot about one of the most basic Barca belief, that is--In Pep We Trust. So Barcelona won 5-0 against Villarreal. No big deal. It was still a fairly exciting game because this game couldn't have a lot errors in it. I mean, who knows... one give away by Barca could mean a goal for Villarreal. Barcelona played football well. Messi, alright-- average at best (why? because he should've got a hat-trick...Don't lie, I bet you also thought of it). Outside their football...it got pretty awkward. So let's get to the business before I start hearing my smug voice through typing.

This is Sanchez after his first goal. Not only does he show he's capable of contributing to Barcelona, but he also shows how incompetent he is with taking off a shirt. Ohhh Alexis..you pull, not push...

Here's Thiago trying his best to calm Pep down. Pep was all like, "Why did you only score one?!"...Understandable. Seriously Thiago, why only one?

"AHHHHHhhhh!!!"

Here's Pep again trying to make the game seem like Barca was behind on goals. Apparently in FCB 5-0 is still a close game. One more and we can relax.

Cesc is extremely confused about the yellow card he got, but this finally completes his induction to FCB. Don't worry Cesc, we're notorious for getting random yellows.

And here's Pep for the last time trying to paint the pitch in his head.

But enough about what happened on the pitch because that does somewhat relate to the football Barca plays. Off the pitch our players we're equally unique.

Dani Alves trys to do his best Lion King impression, lifting Simba every time Barca scores.

And here's Puyol and Afellay not enjoying the game they're winning. Puyol acting just as nervous as Pep. And Afellay....well alright someone answer this, why does Afellay look like he's about to crap his pants? What's he so scared of?

Okay, so they're not that graceful outside of the realm of football, but who really pays attention to this stuff? (Not me...)

The Pique Journals - Part 14

2011-08-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos! You remember me of course! Yes, this is Geri Pique, a member of the endangered species also known as natural center-back in FC Barcelona first team. Yes, we do exist, we're not just urban legend (though some people slot us right next to the Abominable Snowman). It's at times like these when both Puyol & myself are injured, and Pep is considering playing JDS at CB that I really miss Gabi. And then I come to my senses. Gabi is a great guy to be around, only except when the defense is leaking like a tea cosy and everyone's looking at you like it's all your fault.

So we somehow find ourselves in the situation of going into the first Liga game sans five regular defenders! But we're not too worried, Pep will think of something. There's no point in multiple people going bald worrying, Pep is bald anyway, so we let him do all the worrying. Meanwhile, Puyi & me are getting used to the novel experience of being able to say "moc moc" to Cesc in person whenever we want to!

Whenever Leo and Cesc are not making plans on how to combine & score goals in the last ten minutes of every darned game that is. Nope not envious. Not envious at all. I did tell Pep that he should deploy Cesc as the CB in the last ten minutes so we can work together to make a spectacular save, but Pep just pretended like he didn't hear me. Oh well.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Leo on winning yet another individual award. He was a bit upset because he had apparently repeatedly told Father Christmas he would trade in this award for the Copa America. Now that he's captain of Argentina team and all that, it's about time someone told him the truth about Santa? I just don't have the heart to.

So, good luck to us! Here's hoping for a positive start to the Liga tomorrow!Till next time then...moc moc!

El Clasico And Everything It Is

2011-08-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

El Clasico. El Clasico. El Clasico. A couple of days ago I was pacing back and forth with these 2 words in my head. My psyche was calmed by comforting words like how the Supercopa wasn't really that important, it's better to rest players before La Liga starts, or we don't usually get our form until mid-September. So as I reassure myself by ironically setting myself up and Barça up for failure, I came to one conclusion....DAMNIT, I WANNA WIN!

Maybe it's not the most important game of the season (if we even call this the start of the season) but it's an El Clasico! The two words alone need to be sung in crescendo. But why? What makes these matches develop their own gravitational pull? For me, the easiest way to understand why El Clasico attracts so many eyes is through its definition. It's a noun. It's an event. It's a spectacle. So lets start there.

spectacle [spek-ta-kel] n.
1. a)A regrettable public display, as of bad behavior (lol check)
b)A public performance or display especially one on a large or lavish scale
c)Something that can be viewed especially something of a remarkable or impressive nature
2. A pair of eyeglasses

The former definitions describe it better than the latter, and there are plenty of examples as to why El Clasico is such.

Admit it, there's no way of getting around the fact that El Clasico does have "a regrettable display of bad behavior." But that's part of the attraction. For those who drew lines and chose sides, they can bear witness, or even feel like they're part of all the illegal tackles, kicks, hacks, while still viewing in the comfort of their homes. Violence, it's the sweet-tooth that can never be yanked out. In the first leg, spectators can wonder (and probably still wonder) how many fouls can be committed by Pepe, Khedria, (there's more...) before cards will be given out. Or completely question God's plan for why Sergio Ramos and Marcelo were made with absolutely no value for human life. But violence alone is a weak example for why people flock to El Clasico.

People don't make time for this special match, they schedule their routine around it. It's a scientific fact--that's how big this public performance is. And we're usually not disappointed... unless if you were a Barça fan watching the first leg. Yes, I know I'm hounding on the first leg but I can't comprehend how we played so terrible. We were extremely lucky to get out with a tie. And for me, miracles were impossible until I saw Cristiano Ronaldo's breakaway in the first leg and then he totally botches up his shot to win it for his team. So I'm going to repeat it--Barça was extremely lucky that day.

Not only does El Clasico display miracles in a 90 minute frame but it also shows human nature in it's raw form. Okay, lets say that Real Madrid didn't mean their over-the-top roughhousing on FCB. Just think, it's not all their fault--they're just too built for their own good. One little push for them can mean 4000 newtons of force for our Barça players. They're just trying everything they can to win. That goes the same for FCB. The hater's accusations of diving can be seen as just another means to an end (even though it's not really fair to single out Barcelona). And if they fall there's less of a chance they'll get even more mangled. To the players, the name of the game is simply survival; but to viewers, all of this, along with the games of the 2 respective teams, make for an explosive performance.

And a performance won't be complete without something amazing. So that brings us to the last part of the definition: something that can be viewed especially something of a remarkable or impressive nature. Something remarkable…well in the second leg it was extremely remarkable to see Cesc wear a Barça jersey. I mean the end to the Cesc Saga alone (and a chance to finally see him sport blaugrana colors) calls for people to see this match. Also, El Clasico definitely provides remarkable and impressive goals. And they're especially remarkable since most came from Barcelona. In the second leg both teams scored. Real Madrid's goals were EHHH (okay maybe their first goal was pretty cool)….but Barcelona's were AMAZING. I've been ranting about Barça in the first leg but they pulled through at Camp Nou. Iniesta's goal was exciting and provided us a short relief, but Messi's goals were CRAZY. Messi's first goal -- all Pique. His assist was nothing short of perfect. And Messi's second goal -- brought Camp Nou down. You can't choreograph goals like these! And the game was so close! And there was even an unnecessary brawl the last 2-3 minutes!

So, after bantering with my opinions and examples I changed my mind about the definition of El Clasico. Yes, it's a remarkable, public performance with bad behavior, but it's better defined simply as a pair of eyeglasses. It helps us see simple miracles like CRon missing the goal. Or the gray areas for when fouls should be penalized. It helps us remember forgotten instincts by seeing players in their most primitive form. And lastly, it sheds light on impossible things like Messi's goals (or Cesc's long-awaited transfer to Barcelona). In the end, people congregate to El Clasico because it's a spectacle--in every part of the word.

FC Barcelona (2) 3 - 2 (2) Real Madrid

From Arsenal to FC Barcelona another way to look at Cesc Fabregas

2011-08-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

I want to be one of the first Barcelona fans who welcomes Cesc – former Arsenal player- at FC Barcelona. I wish if the transfer was finalized tomorrow as I will have more time for this. But you know, sooner better. As if this transfer took a decade to be done or something.

First thing first, let’s put one thing aside before getting to what’s more important: I still believe we could have done much better spending the money invested on Cesc. But most importantly, there were more important reasons for me to reject buying the player. Reasons that goes beyond the value of the money or even the (realistic and hyped) qualities of the player. To keep it short, I will refer to one of the first posts I wrote about this case, and all the updates I made afterward through comments and tweets.

But we live in today. And today, Cesc Fabregas is a Barcelona player. Our player. Same as Puyol, Xavi, Messi, and Jonathan Dos Santos. And we should have the same distance toward all of them. For example, we cant say that having Iniesta give no space for Sergi Roberto. Same with Cesc.

For that reason, lets dig for the positives of having Cesc in our squad, and I am sure I will later have further thoughts. As I said, this is a straight forward opinion piece written in a hurry. So here we go:

1) Cesc is a quality player. We can argue about the sort of quality and how good he is. But we can all agree that he is good.

2) It’s not a certainty that he’ll straight forward adapt to the method of play at Barcelona, but he definitely has the advantage over any new player the club may sign. He was here before – though our football now is not as identical to previous times as many people may think, but still. He plays for Spain as well. So it is safe to assume that he will have a smooth path to the mix.

3) Adding to the above it is already proven that the chemistry between new comers and residences is a deciding factor for the success of any player in our club. Ibra? Cesc is a friend for all the key players in our squad. In fact, they will do more effort to help him than he needs to do to find himself a space in the group. That’s a plus.

4) For me, one of the reasons that led Pep to approve signing Cesc is the demands he sensed in the squad. It is not a secret that the most influential players in the squad wanted their friend to join them. Fulfilling that is a morale booster. Pep is very dedicated to keep the good feeling inside his group. Its highly unlikely that buying any other midfielder instead would have made it easy for Pep to integrate him to the group that feels Cesc would have been a more welcomed addition. They are professional players, no doubt. But above all, they are human beings. Instead, and after a very tough season on every level, this transfer may serve as a fresh breath for the players, and will avoid redundancy both on football and human level in the dressing room. Don’t underestimate the impact of new joking streams, pranks, and daily routines.

5) We all know that Xavi needs rest. He can’t play as many games as he used to. And for me, Thiago and Co could have filled that space. But we all know that Xavi does not like to be benched that often. I do think that he will be willing to offer more playing time for Cesc – a friend he always wanted in the club- than to any young player. Between Thiago and Cesc, we can save Xavi for the big times.

6) In return, Cesc knows that he will not play as many games for Barcelona as he did for Arsenal. At least, in the following two seasons. But he knew the deal before he signed. Not a bad quality that is willing to serve as a squad player backing the midfield master.

7) One of the concerns is that he –Cesc- suffered lot of injuries recently. First, the transfer will take place after the medical staff give their OK. So its their responsibility to do the checking. Consider it a wishful thinking –and it is- but I do suspect that Cesc’s injuries have a lot to do with the poor record of Arsenal’s medical staff. Remember, his injury record is not an exception at Arsenal. The fact that he hired personal medical staff at the middle of the season is a slap on Arsenal’s face, and it may tell a lot. In return, our staff did miracles with the likes of Messi and Iniesta and we can hope it goes the same for Cesc.

8) In a way, you could have wished the transfer was delayed for one more year. But looking to the bright side of it, it will be good for him to spend more time with Xavi to put the final touches on his qualities. His time at Arsenal helped him to play against physical opponents, but it didn’t help him improving some other features that may appear while playing for us - especially the build up in the middle third. While Cesc is good reading his teammates moves, he still needs to learn Xavi’s quality to dictate his teammate’s moves. There is a huge difference that usually goes unnoticed.

9) We add a goal scoring midfielder who is good in the final third. We knew that about Cesc since he was in the youth academy. Compare his records to that’s of Iniesta and Xavi in the youth teams where it was obvious that this was one of the things he was specialized in. He left to Arsenal and proved having this quality.

10) The transfer fee – for a player like him- was fair. Look at it this way: He left when he had no chance to play key role in our first team. We avoided paying his salary for years. He is back now and I can predict that he will sell lots of shirts. His success in the EPL will add something new to our marketing kit as well. Compare his price to that’s of Kaka, and most recently Pastore and you get the point.

11) This marks an end to the long saga of the circus of chaos. We all know that next summer we will approach the transfer market more confident as there are no “must buy” player who keep our transfer process a hostage. We will scout the needs of the squad and have different alternatives for each need and roll.

12) Adding Cesc brings another player –added to existing youth and key midfielders- and make us less dependent on Xavi. I do think we were dangerously dependent on both Messi and Xavi last season. Adding Sanchez and Cesc will not make us independent of them, but at least add more security in the absence of any.

It is good to keep it just twelve points at the moment. So let us end this by wishing good luck for our new player. We will all hope Cesc will succeed and exceed all expectations. For some it will be a proof that this was the best way to strengthen the squad, for others it will be a feed for thoughts: If with Cesc we improved that much, imagine how much we would have improved if we invested the money in a better way. But that is a luxury theoretical –endless- debate. We roll with what we have. And we can’t complain about the quality of the squad that brought joy, titles and glory for years.

Summer Transfers: So How Are We Doing?

2011-08-10T23:02:00.001-07:00

We all know how the second half of last season went. No, I'm not referring to winning a lot of games and hoisting multiple silver pots. But, in particular, to the February Jinx with injuries that extended well into March, April and a part of May before it all came together miraculously towards the end. You might even remember contemplating flying over to Barcelona and volunteering as a center back just to help out. "If Pique had been injured, our season would've been over" sighed Tito Vilanova at the end of it all. A close shave indeed!

So thankfully the summer transfer season is here, where we usually address these issues of acute player shortage and try to decrease the probability of fans expiring in huge numbers from myocardial infarction halfway through the season. Now we wouldn't want to dent those Facebook fan counts, would we? Yes we know Pep likes thin squads, but I bet even he doesn't like to have to struggle to fill the bench. Thanks to Rosell's master stroke of switching away from color cartridges, even budget isn't apparently a problem! An increase in squad depth has been a recurring theme as we headed into the transfer season, so much so that fans have been willing to contribute a dollar a head to the FCB "Buy a CB for heaven's sake!" Fund. All good so far.

So how're we doing so far on squad depth? Well, we've signed one player, and sent away three. Now I'm not a Math wizard, but even I can tell you that seems a very odd way to set about increasing depth. This demands a closer look.

Bojan: It's impossible to dislike Bojan. Unless you are the kind who hates small kids and kicks at puppies or kittens in your way. He leaves to Roma in a complicated sale where we don't really get any money except maybe in the distant future when we're required to buy him back anyway. A lot of ink has been wasted trying to understand the motivation behind the deal, we just think the intern at the contract department had a couple of shots and got creative.

Jeffren: Jeffren, aka The Eternal Optimist, has been sold to Sporting Lisbon in a more straight forward contract, 3.75M with a buy back clause and strict instructions not to style or cut the hair of any player or staff involved with the first team.

Milito: Everyone loves Gabi Milito. At least we do. Profusely. Gabi claims he is a centerback, but take it with a cup of salt. That's roughly where he stands on the pitch, but as to whether he really does any center-backish thing is certainly up for question. So Gabi woke up one morning, had a cup of mate, and decided he didn't fancy a flight all the way back to Barca and he'd rather sign for Indipendiente instead on a free transfer. So that's that. The only downside is that Leo Messi has taken to hanging out with Alves instead, and if "four chinchoneros" weren't bad enough, now we'll likely have five.

Ibi Afellay: When the rumors started about a possible Ibi move to Juventus, we were convinced Barca's somehow mucked up their internal memo from "Forward shortage, buy!" to "Sell! Sell! Sell!". Thankfully, as an inside source revealed to us on twitter, Ibi has just about come to terms with Spanish and doesn't fancy starting all over again with Italian, so we're safe for another year.

Sanchez: The Sanchez saga started off with all the trappings of another Cesc-like never ending affair, thanks to the mixed signals coming from Udinese camp. For the longest time we had attributed this to a Zamparini like multiple personality disorder before we realized there really were two Pozzos, father and son, and there was thankfully a happy ending in store. A big welcome to the talented Alexis Sanchez, our first signing of the summer for the first team. We are sure Sanchez is thrilled to be playing at Barca, but maybe not more thrilled than his Chile coach Borghi who can't stop talking about it.

Pep has clarified that we won't be buying any defenders in a hurry. After all, we do have Pique (who might be slightly injured), Puyol (who is recovering from knee surgery) and Fontas as the regular CBs, and we can always pull in Abidal, Masche or Busi (who has indirect traumatism in his left side, whatever that means). Maxwell is injured too, so Adriano can always substitute King Abidal at LB. How do we get ourselves into these situations before the season even starts? Oh well. Look out for more updates on transfers as they happen (if at all).

The Most Unimportant Game Ever.

2011-07-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Whenever people talk about FC Barcelona and Real Madrid there is naturally going to be a divide. We wrap ourselves in our own designated colors. Roll our eyes whenever our rival team declare themselves the best. We may even put our guard up when our Real Madrid senses start tingling (or FCB if you're a Madridista). The two just don't mix, but when they do it forms into this unsettling feeling deep in the abdomen. I almost had this feeling but the ticket I accepted to the Real Madrid vs. Philadelphia Union match was free.

I wasn't alone.

I didn't want to disappoint my friend since this was her first game. And at first I wasn't all that excited to go but there's something about watching football that transcends beyond bitter rivalry. It's the way we immerse ourselves for 90 minutes and forget about the rest of the world. It's that indescribable feeling when all the wrongs in your life can be justified with just one goal. Or that jolt of adrenaline when seeing larger than life players in the presence of commoners. It's addictive. And I'm guilty of being hooked.

But before I started having a good time I needed to find a way to pay off the 70 dollar ticket that my friend handed to me. So I unfortunately made up a lie that we would find Cristiano Ronaldo in Philadelphia and we'd get autographs and pictures. It was a lie because number 1) I had no idea where the team was staying and 2) even if I did I've never stepped foot in that city--ever. My freeloading guilt ran so deep that I became obsessed with fulfilling my lie. And I did. We ran into their hotel with a huge sea of white. I climbed a 6 foot rusty scaffold to see them with a slap on the wrist from the law (and a tetanus shot afterward)--But we saw them. I would be lying if I said I said I wasn't excited.

Climbing this high is apparently illegal...

Because of that experience I now fully understand America's obsession with Cristiano Ronaldo. Maybe it's his super buff borderline inefficient body. Or maybe it's his uber metro-sexual personality partnered with outlandish Italian fashion choices. Whatever it was I found myself screaming at the top of my lungs when I saw his bronzed face. I guess it was the chance of being heard that caused it-- but there was, the high I was searching for. Plus there was the picture that saved me from being called a liar. Looking back it wasn't a big deal, but we made it to be.

After the hype we ended up in the stadium. The game was TERRIBLE. The fact that I was in the middle of a heat stroke didn't help either. I was a jealous neutral observer. Jealous because my friend was drowning with excitement whenever Real Madrid was on the counter. Her excitement told me she was a new fan. In her mind no other madridista was bigger than her. A win will end up defining her entire summer and a loss would sure bring depression for a good solid week. Seeing her made me wish I was still in that phase. Also seeing her made me wish I was watching Barcelona. But I had a different approach for watching the game. Switching allegiances between the two teams helped. A goal is a goal and I was wronged plenty of times in my life.

The game was over even before it started. 2-0 RM before the 10th minute. Philadelphia Union fans surprisingly drowned the sea of white. They booed when RM had the ball, cheered when they saw it. And when all else failed cheer for Barcelona (seriously, this happened). I was happy to see that loyalty can mute out the numbers. A true underdog story that will never be heard.

My one decent picture. Mesut Ozil.

In the end we laughed about everything that didn't deal with the game. Like how fate magically brought us to RM's hotel, surviving the 103 degree weather, or drinking because of every single reason out there. It was visually an entire blur but the feelings are still there. Vivid.

When the day was over I was enlightened. The rivalry between FCB and RM didn't matter. The game was more than just unimportant. It was a distraction from the monotonous script called life. It was about screaming to be heard in an unfair world. It was remembering feelings you've lost and righting wrongs. And most importantly, it's about the game of football and the small things that keep us bound to it.

The Pique Journals - Part 13

2011-07-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos!! It's me, Geri Pique again, at the start of a brand new season! In case you were hoping fervently that I've forgotten all about my regular column with FootballMood, no that is not the case. You see, great football writers and thinkers like Cruyff, Guardiola and me have to recharge our batteries, otherwise things might come out like the stuff fcbfandrivel writes (editor note: Hey!!). However hard it might have been, I told myself not to think about football tactics during the break, and now I'm back brimming with bright ideas!!

Pep to me: Quick Geri, tell me all your brilliant ideas when you still remember them, I'll jot them down!

First, you will be happy to see we've replaced the gray potato sacks that used to pass off as training outfits with more agreeable yellow ones. That was my last piece of advice before I left last season, and I'm glad to see it's already in effect. The next step is to ensure Puyol shaves off his beard. I mean, did you see him yesterday?! Even for a person like me who likes to do extreme sports during vacation, it was quite a jolt to suddenly run into him around a corner, it made me drop my MP3 player and jump on Xavi! It's not good for the morale of the team to be constantly unnerved by the sight of the captain. Sorry Puyi, but the beard will have to go.

That said, Pep and I spent a lot of the training session today standing next to the sprinklers and discussing plans for the season. "So what's the plan for this season, boss?" I asked him. "The plan, Geri" he told me, "is for you to stand next to Puyol and pretend to be a good center back". Hahaha. He is always funny, that Pep.

So here are a few of my great ideas for this season, exclusively for you, dear reader. Remember you read it here first, in case Pep uses any of this without due acknowledgement.

Deploy Villa on top of Pedro for set pieces. Then there is pace (Pedro can run really fast carrying Villa, believe me), and there's sufficient height to get the job done. (Note: Pep stared at the sprinklers for a long time after hearing this idea, think he likes it).
Deploy Messi in defense. I keep saying this, but Pep doesn't listen. Did you see how well he played for Argentina - starting next to Gabi, and then working his way through the entire pitch with the ball before trying to score on his own? The surprise factor will be immense.
Talking of Gabi, don't pair Gabi with me for heaven's sake, pair him with Puyi instead. Then the next time Puyi tries to shout at me for not doing the job of two centerbacks and one right back all at the same time, he'll know what it feels like.
As Leo will be starting at the back, start Dani in the front. That will save him the effort of running up and down the pitch throughout the game. And it will save me the effort of constantly looking to see where he's disappeared off to this time.
Andres Iniesta has come back all tanned. We'll have to evaluate how this affects his transparency and his ability to walk through people during pre-season so that we can be sufficiently prepared.
Don't send Bojan away to Roma yet. I'm working with Nike in designing a new boot that can help the balance-impaired by allowing them to run with the ball for a few yards without tripping on themselves. I think this will come in very handy.

All right then, folks. Till next time, when I'll no doubt fill you in with more inside details. Signing off. Oh, and moc moc!!!

The Cesc Saga: Our Usual Summer Blockbuster

2011-07-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Cesc (Arsenal): "Will I go to Barcelona? Yes, on holiday (laughs)."
Thus begins the blockbuster summer entertainment package that is the "Cesc to Barcelona" annual event. The script has become all too predictable over the years, but with the sheer number of players involved in this drama, it remains enticing as ever. Here is how this year's version is proceeding.

Catalan Press: "The summer transfer window has opened. Cesc will be our first signing!"
English Press To Xavi: "Do you want Cesc to come to Barcelona?"
Xavi: "Sure, why not?"
To Villa: "Do you want Cesc to come to Barcelona?"
Villa: "That will be nice, I am very fond of Fabregas"
HEADLINE: "Xavi and Villa Want Fabregas to come to Barcelona!"
Blogs: Classless Barcelona players!
Fabregas (plucking rose petals): Arsenal...Barcelona...Arsenal...Barcelona...
Catalan Press: "Arsene Wenger sneezed in yesterday's press conference! Surely that's a sign that Fabregas is coming!"
Arsenal Board Member (secretively to Rosell): We might be willing to let Cesc go for 60M.
Rosell: 60M?!!! We have only 35M!
Board Member: 35M?! Are you kidding us?!
Rosell: B-but, we've already exhausted the savings from switching to B&W photocopies! We're planning on turning off lights at 9 PM, and that should generate substantial savings. We will contact you again in er...20 years. Pep will understand.
(Pep on vacation, playing golf)
Wenger: Fabregas loves Arsenal more than he loves his mother. I just know it. Now I'm waiting for him to realize it.
Catalan Press: "Fabregas plans to fast in front of Sagrada Familia to show Wenger his intentions!"

English press to Messi (in the middle of Copa America): "Do you want Fabregas to come to Barcelona?"
Messi: "Barcelona? No I'm not Catalan, I'm definitely Argentine. I love the blue and white!"

Fabregas (still plucking rose petals): ...Arsenal ...Barcelona ...Arsenal ...Barcelona...
Rosell: "We would like Fabregas to come, but the water has to flow to the river. No sorry...the river has to flow to the sea. Er...Something. Pep will understand."

(Pep on vacation, photographing turtles)

English Press to Xavi: "Will Fabregas take your place?"
Xavi: "No he won't. The more the merrier."
English Press to Thiago: "Will Fabregas arrival hinder your development?"
Thiago: "No, there's place for all."
Headlines: "Xavi says Wenger is Evil! Thiago says Arsenal players Just Like his B Team Mates!"
Blogs: Classless Barcelona Players!
Wenger: "Cesc doesn't know it yet, but Arsenal is his dream! Barcelona is just an infatuation."

Catalan Press: "Wenger says He Might Want Some Money for Fabregas! The Sacrilege! The Blasphemy!"
Fabregas (STILL plucking rose petals): ...Arsenal ...Barcelona ...Arsenal ...Barcelona...
(summer transfer window closes)
And that's it for this year folks! Check back same time next year for more!

Messi's road in Copa América (...so far)

2011-07-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

(In Barca)


(In Argentina)

The freekick blown into orbit...

Then came Lionel "pobre" Messi criticism

Argentina 3-0 Costa Rica

what will happen if FC Barcelona shocks the world and sign President Barack Obama?

2011-06-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

It seems that making a Dave Chappelle impression is not the only talent President Barack Obama can count on to create a better future than politics can provide. He is also the new Messi -Take that Neymar! It makes you wonder what will happen if FC Barcelona shocks the world and sign him.

- Rosell will have a strong ally supporting his pre-elections call to protect the club’s identity from thousands of Chinese who are seeking Club membership to dominate Catalonia.

- Football federations will customize all the laws so the referee only whistles for Barcelona’s favor. Even if a referee decides a foul against Barcelona, Obama will use the Veto to cancel the decision. Alves will no more need to dive and protect himself from Pepe’s tackles; he can tackle Pepe, break his two legs and still get him a red card for screaming of pain.

Or maybe we can exchange?

- Donald Trump will vow against the transfer claiming that Obama manipulated the transfer documents and moved illegally to Barcelona after signing an autograph for a fan playing at an amateurish club called Zebra FC.

- Mourinho will lead the resistance against Barcelona’s domination and abuse all the resources of Real Madrid in the fight, but in vain, before Marca leaks prove that the Special one is nothing but a UNICEF undercover CIA Agent working for Barcelona’s favor.

- Barcelona will open the medical center to offer services for public. In return, per Obama's recommendations, they will make the club membership for free, the stadium tickets for free, and donate the TV rights return to Qatar Foundation causing financial crisis leading to selling the Camp Nou.

- After a heated discussion with Pique, Obama will present the club with all the evidences needed to prove that Pique has joined Al Qaeda and working there under the direct command of Shakira.

- Republican congress senators will consider that soccer move committed by the president as a stab in the national pride of USA and will join the congress meetings wearing American football outfits.

Hm... I better stop here before I get myself in troubles. Be careful what you wish!

What should Barcelona buy? Protection, perfection or excellence?

2011-06-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

FC Barcelona is in the market with a shopping list that is as controversial as you can expect. This post will be straight to the point without the needless intros and preface. Who should Barcelona buy? What are the transfer scenarios to pick from and why did they decide to take one path over the rest?

First scenario, protection: Paying less for more

Shopping list: Alberto Botía (too late) + Jose Angel + Willian + Kanoute

This basically meets the austerity guidelines and keep the risk to a minimum. After all, Barcelona is a club where the president claims the administration staff are using archive papers to blow their noses so they save the money spent on buying tissues.

This may not seem as an exciting plan nor it is a squad booster via popular marquee names, but it is solid, reasonable, and practical. The idea behind it is to count on the quality of the existing squad -basically the starting lineup- and back it with depth. Simple as that.

Sell Maxwell for a younger left back, Sell Milito for a younger center back, Sell Jeffren for an obvious upgraded version in Willian, and buy Kanoute (or identical) to have a player who can play with his back to the goal, hold on the ball, and provide aerial threat where needed -as a sub- whenever the standard offense dynamics are not doing the job needed.

Not a surgery-like nor an electric shock process, but a very good nutrition program for a proven squad.

The flaws are obvious. Botia will benefit more from another season at Sporting. Angel is a very promising left back, but he offers almost nothing that Adriano don't. A slightly better defender, but slightly less productive in offense. A more reliable defensive left back can push Abidal permanently to a center back role. I doubt Angel can do so. Regardless of the same old question, with Abidal and Adriano in the squad, is it better to buy another left back or to look for someone on the right?

Another flaw, while the mentioned players can create the needed depth to make the starters more productive, none of them can seriously compete with any starter -nor with the direct sub in some positions. Added to the fact that the offense destiny will keep being in the hands of Messi. It is true that depending on such a great player is a given, but to be totally dependent on him can prove lethal - both ways.

The mentioned queue of players will cost less than 25 M out of the 45 M available for transfers added to the money received by selling Milito, Maxwell, Jeffren, and a dozen of loaned and B-team players. Invest 25 M in the transfer market and spend the rest on tissues and color toners.

Second scenario, seeking perfection: spend money like there's no tomorrow

First thing first, lets count the money. Beside the 45 M already available for transfers, it is safe to assume the club can collect at least 15 M more by selling some of the dispensable, loaned, and reserve players. That's a budget of 60 M.

Shopping list: Mamadou Sakho and Fernando Llorente

The idea behind this list is to boost the weakened areas with quality. The midfield is not a department to get worried about, Defense and offense are. In Sakho you expect a player who can serve as a center back or as a left back. Buying Sakho and promoting Fontas complete the defense puzzle. Adriano, Abidal, Sakho, Pique, Fontas, Puyol, and Alves are reliable. Some may point out that looking for a Center back who can also play as a right back is better for the team, which is true. But is there any option in the market? Bartra and Montoya are there to help where needed.

As for the offense, buying Llorente perfects Barcelona's offense by providing all the attributes the offense lacks to unlock just any kind of defense and to perform all combinations of offense. You can bet that an offense line of Pedro, Llorente, and Villa can defeat almost any defense without the need of having Messi on the field. That's enough to consider Llorente as a quality booster acquisition.

The flaws? are the mentioned players even available? Sakho recently renewed his contract and expressed his desire not to move this season. Beside, for all his quality, he is a risk -an expensive avoidable one. Llorente is one of the most dedicated Athletic Bilbao players who is so attached to his club. In the other hand, Athletic Bilbao are in no need to sell.

Third scenario, achieving excellence: The immoral rule, high risk high reward

According to David Ricardo's comparative advantage theory in economy , even if a country could produce everything more efficiently than another country, it would reap gains from specializing in what it was best at producing and trading with other nations.

That's exactly where the club is heading at the moment. Instead of seeking the perfection previously mentioned and trying to have an offense line capable of doing everything, why not excelling in what this offense already does best?

After Ibra's chaos, Torres -luckily- move to Chelsea, and Llorente's previously mentioned situation, picking excellence over perfection sound more and more as a default option. There is a method of play that proved successful. Just strengthen it and purify it instead of re-inventing the wheel.

Alexi Sanchez is the player who is supposed to serve the mission. If we review last season's offense flaws -based on the standard method of play- it is easy to see why the club is so desperate for this transfer

1) A huge gap between the three starters and the subs. This situation prevented any kind of rotation even when the starters were so in need to rest. When you buy a player of such quality, you can always have a game changer on the bench and enough rotation to keep everyone fresh.

2) Villa and Pedro are no doubt amazing. It is safe to say that they will even get better next season. But none of them is known to take defenders on one-on-one situations. This fact is making Messi's job more complicated. Having a skillful player like Sanchez forces the opponent to create more cover for the player who takes him instead of the traditional zonal marking. No team can afford checking both Messi and Sanchez without suffering in the positional defense structure. That creates more spaces especially when you have maestros like Xavi and Iniesta who can keep on changing play from one flank to another with all what that can cause for the opponent defense physically and mentally.

For what price?

For me, and taking the current market inflation in consediration, Alexi Sanchez nominal price is somewhere around 25 Million. For 25 Million I will take him without hesitation and pay a tip for someone to carry his bag to the hotel room. For 30 Million I'll scratch my head first. It gets more tricky and risky and the decision can go either way.

Paying over 30 Million is a huge gamble that in a reasonable world, no one should consider. I would look elsewhere.

Is Rossi the "elsewhere"?

It depends. For 25 Millions, Rossi is a very tempting option compared for an over 30 Millions overpriced Sanchez. For 30 Million, he is not. And I do believe this is how the club is looking at it. Rossi's transfer will take place if the club will have to decide between Rossi for less than 30 M and Sanchez for more than that.

Rossi can improve depth very well. Rotation will not show any variation in quality. He is a proven goalscorer and a hard worker. But he don't really add any thing different to what Villa and Pedro can.

Yet, if we keep in mind that Willian and Forlan will cost together less than Rossi or Sanchez, it makes you think. Willian is not at the same level of the Chilean player, nor as experienced as the Italian. Yet, Willian is not poor technically and Forlan is a more proven goalscorer for many seasons than both Sanchez and Rossi.

Talking about risks involved, isn't it more likely for one player inquisition to disappoint than two? Check the probabilities. Beside, injury risk spread on two is less critical than on one.

Financially, buying both Willian and Forlan means that the club can sell Bojan and Jeffren. Comparing Jeffren to Willian, and Bojan to Forlan you'll spontaneously get excited about the offense upgrade for the following season. If Barcelona buys Sanchez, they cant sell both Jeffren and Bojan unless if they buy another forward. That's something to add in the cost-benefit analysis.

That's why, for the price rumored, I believe Barcelona need to look elsewhere.

Yet, it is important to note that hating on Alexi Sanchez for his rumored price is high is pure nonsense. It worth reminding that he is making a huge financial compromise to join the club, so its not that the boy is greedy and want to rob Barcelona's money. And its also nonsense to expect him to be the new Messi just because Barcelona paid lot of money to get him, as he is NOT the one who decided to pay nor the one who decided the price.

If Barcelona signs Alexi Sanchez, the risk is high for potentially high reward. He may prove being the best expensive signing since Daniel Alves. And he may suffer a free fall that in a hindsight turn his transfer to a global joke.

For me, I will not use the grey style that could be manipulated later as it fits me. I will say it straight: I am a believer. I do believe in this player's talent and quality. But if the club is really in financial crisis, we cant afford taking high risks.

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Twitter's Vacation Upkeeping

2011-06-18T05:45:00.000-07:00

After a long season of winning a World Cups, breaking records, and winning more such and such trophies our players earned a well deserved break. And with this new technology called Twitter we can now ask "what have our players been doing now that the ball has been taken away from them?" Here are the vacation upkeepings according to twitter:

Perdo is going to spend time with friends and family (that's nice). Puyol had been at Ibiza with his girlfriend Malena. They were getting their tan on in hopes to become as bronze as Cristiano Ronaldo. And as usual, Puyol couldn't resist but tweet every second of it ("it" being his love triangle).

No need for google translate, it basically means "bromance". Afterwards, he went straight back to setting the world record for fastest knee surgery recovery. He'll be in the Guinness Book by the end of the month. Iniesta also jumped on the beach bandwagon where he was pictured taking in some sun. Maybe the power of UV rays can finally pump some color in our pale-faced player--or maybe not. Iniesta's best mate, Victor Valdes, is receiving all kinds of awards in his hometown. One of them being "Best Smug Smile" probably for stealing the Zamora Trophy from his counterpart, Iker Casillas.

For Pique's vacation, he's doing the unheard of: mainly logging himself out of twitter.

It didn't last long.

Our players are also once again vouching for Cesc after he trolled that cryptic statement about wanting or not wanting to be back at Barca. Does the saga ever change? It seems like VV is the only one catching up on the pattern...

Speaking of Cesc, instead of enjoying the vacation Thiago is sweating nuts about his position in Barca.

But on a lighter note, Dani Alves is dancing like no one is watching. Xavi is no doubt still looking for space, space, space. David Villa is most likely reading up on "How to Avoid Goal Droughts". He's applying what he learned on the national team. And finally besides thinking about football, Messi is probably practicing for the Copa America. Which means not resting (*sigh* what can you do...). So who figured that twitter can be so informative?! Wish our players a good vacation because it'll only be a matter of time before they get back on the pitch.