[totalBarca] Barcelona-based Media Jump Into Madrid’s Sandbox

Mar8

Rugby players love to taunt us that “Football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans.” The same sentiment applies to professional sports journalists in Spain.

For weeks now, madridista writers have accused FC Barcelona and Spanish Football Federation president Angel Maria Villar of conspiring against Madrid, against football, against puppies and against God. There is no evidence offered beyond the standard second-guessing of referees (a tradition as old as refereeing itself). As the drumbeat of conspiracy has crescendoed, and the headlines have turned ever more shrill, culés have begun to feel they must respond. And so we see a disappointing 2-2 result blamed on a harsh decision– the harsh decision blamed on the madridista writers– and the whole ugly package wrapped up in a bow of “I know you are but what am I?” (that is to say, Real Madrid’s comeback victory over Sevilla is chalked up to officiating mistakes).

It’s hard to blame the writers and publishers of partisan football rags. After all, theirs used to be an indispensable and almost honorable function. Before massive television contracts and widely-available internet streams, when only a tiny portion of the fan base could sit in the stand and watch the home side scrap its way through 90 minutes, sportswriters were our only conduit for information on our teams.

The internet has democratized the fan experience. Arguments about Busquets’ play in midfield or Ibra’s recent form can stretch round the globe without any of us leaving our keyboards. We don’t need sportswriters as much anymore, but they certainly need us. They count on our attention to sell advertising. Football journalism, in many places, is a simple bottom-line business. And nothing catches the attention of the Spanish football fan like a good chunk of morbo.

“Morbo” is a tough word to translate to english. Most dictionaries fail to grasp the whole of the concept, and Phil Ball needed a couple hundred pages to explain the concept in his wonderful book of the same name. Basically, it is the combination of emotion (outrage and passion work best) with a sense of scandal and an opportunity for vengeance. Sport is the perfect outlet for morbo, as many sociologists have observed over the years.

“It is good that sports are so important. They…play a role of relieving pressures in human beings which once had no other outlets but wars, Bedlams, and public hangings.” — Robert Nesbit, American Sociologist

In a country with so many distinct nationalisms, football sides are vessels for regional pride and results matter to us far more than they should (or so my girlfriends have always told me, while shaking their heads and packing their suitcases). The tension between Madrid and Barcelona is too old, too broad, too serious to fit onto a football pitch– and yet it does, at least twice a season. Recently, it’s even been crammed into the front pages of sport magazines.

“Villarato!” and conspiracy are the watchwords for Marca and AS. Their childish disease has has proved catching. As Barca fans, we may be inclined to nod along when El Mundo Deportivo decries Barca’s “persecution” in the press, and blames Marca for harsh decisions by the officials, but it is no less shrill or embarrassing when it comes from “our” side of this silly standoff.

Instead of serious tactical discussions, writers are left kicking sand back and forth across Iberia. “Pedro was offside (and a half-baked graphic to prove it!)” cries Madrid; “You’re influencing the refs! And Sevilla should’ve won because you didn’t earn the corner that led to 2-2!” shrieks Barcelona. “We’d be in first if you weren’t cheaters!” whines the capital; and on, and on.

Bad decisions, missed fouls, successful dives are all part of our beloved sport, and ever shall be. I guess the adult thing to do is to ignore it. It’s too bad Barcelona’s newspapers have decided to fight fire with fire. I for one will not feed this beast any more, with mouseclicks or words. I refuse to pay attention to this nonsense again until someone produces evidence of corruption, or invents a robot that will never get a call wrong.

by ock19

[Ramzi’s Rambles] FC Barcelona 2010, Better or worse?

Mar5

“An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: great vices are made greater, great virtues greater also; interesting incidents are made more interesting, softer legends more soft.”

Walter Bagehot

Season 2008-2009 will always be an inspiring memory for all the Cules around the world. The best year in the club’s history and some may argue that it will keep being the best year for a long period of time. Everything has side effects though, and one of the passive impacts of that glorious year, will be the public unfairness while judging the years that will follow. Everything will be compared to season 2009. The comparison will not only lean on reasoning but even on nostalgia that reshapes the records and over-praise the previous achievements just to bash the current (and future) accomplishments. As Hervey Allen said: “Legends are material to be moulded, and not facts to be recorded”. Season 2009 was a legendary period that will not be forgotten, no doubt.

If we can agree that season 2009 was an exceptional period, we have to put two lines under the term “Exceptional”. Exceptional means that it’s like a strike that doesn’t hit the same place twice. That’s why the exceptional events are not valid to be used as benchmarking parameters unless if we want to make a harsh evaluation. Einstein was exceptional so we don’t use his brilliance level while planning IQ tests. Charles Dickens was exceptional, so don’t you dare to draw comparisons between this article and “The tale of two cities”. Comparing Barcelona’s last season to the current one is not recommended as well.
But we all know we still can’t avoid the “Last season…this season” debates. How far can we say that last season the team was better than this year? Is it an obvious certainty that needs no proof? Is it possible that we only remember the good days of 2009?

Last season, after two flops in the first two games, the team started a destructive period ruining opponents one after another. High scoring games, amazing football displays, a carnival of skills and techniques, and an uncontainable dominance that earned the team the praise of rivals before supporters.
Make no mistake; one of the reasons of that surprising evolution was the fact that it was simply…surprising. None of the opponents expected this style of play. It was like a bus that in the middle of the night catches a road crosser by surprise, so shocking that the unfortunate covers his face rather than jumping back to the pavement.

As the season approached the end, teams became more capable of customizing their tactics to resist Barcelona threat. That’s why, If we want to make comparisons, it’s more valid to compare the team current performance to the team performance in the last 24 games last season, rather than to the whole season or the first 24 games.
No one would have imagined that we can perform this season on the same level as the previous one. We changed our main striker, which is a very notable revolution for an offense oriented team like Barcelona and it need time to mature (time means a full season). But while some may take that as the reason for the so called “drop in form”, how can we ignore that Henry this season is not the same Henry V.2009? Yaya? Iniesta (till the last few games)? The injuries that we had to deal with so far? And most importantly the opponents improved experience regarding how to play against Barcelona. All that made a huge impact, no doubt.

Here we come to the most important point. In fact even while not firing on all cylinders, we are not worse than last season. In fact we can go as far as saying that the team this season is more productive. That’s if we don’t dare to say that it is performing better. Not as charming but as lethal.

It is interesting to check how the team productivity varied throughout the last season. To give a fast idea I listed below the first 24 games’ figures (That’s the same number of games we played this season so far), followed by the last 24 games* the team played last season (Excluding weeks 36,37,38 after the team guaranteed the liga), Then posted the records of the whole season.

		Goals Scored		Goals Conceded		Goal Difference	Points
	Segment	# of Goals	Average/ game	# of Goals	Average/ game		Earned	Average/ game
2009	First 24 games	71	2.96	20	0.83	51	62	2.58
	Last 24 games*	67	2.79	23	0.96	44	58	2.42
	Whole season	105	2.76	35	0.92	70	88	2.51
2010	24 Games	59	2.46	14	0.58	45	62	2.58

*The idea was to take the last 24 games of the season, after excluding the last three games followed guaranteeing the Liga title, where the club was defeated twice and draw once. Obviously including these games makes last season positive numbers decline.

This season, Barcelona scored less than the beginning of last season, and conceded more. Yet, we still managed to earn the same number of points (62). If it’s a sign of anything, that’s consistency.

The most important factor for me is the average number of points earned per match. Obviously I prefer the results 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 in four games over 6-0, 0-0, 6-0, and 0-1.

The average points per game declined last season as the competition reached the final shift. We scored less, conceded more (whether you take it as an average or as numbers). We earned 58 points in 25 games (again without counting the last 3 games: 1 draw, 2 defeats). In 24 games this season, we earned four points more than same number of games last season. It means that we started the new season better than we finished the previous one. More boldly the first two thirds of this season, went better than the last two thirds of Season 2009.

Is that enough to say that this year we play better? Obviously not. But at least we are as effective. Considering all the circumstances surrounded the team, efficiency is the luxury bless. Keeping in mind that last season we were hoping the team keeps on performing on the level they showed at the beginning of the season, while its more than certain that currently Barcelona are far from hitting peak performance. If at the moment they are capable of matching last season output though not at their best yet, then no complaint.

This season, we’ve seen more tactical diversity, more rotations, more youth, and had to overcome more tricky scenarios. Our Champions’ league group was more difficult this season, but when the team needed a win they raised their game. Even against a team like Inter who just defeated Chelsea a week ago, we outplayed them with our key players on the bench. The tough part of the season is yet to come. If we want to predict based on what we achieved so far, the future is promising. Even when we played the worst 45 minutes this season, we brought a good result back home.

Will we win the Liga and the Champions League? I will not bet my money on the double. But that is not the factor that decides the quality of this team. Let’s not forget how we won last season’s Champions League. A goal scored by Iniesta. Not Messi, Eto’o nor Henry. Iniesta. If there is anything Iniesta lacks to become the most complete player in the world, it’s finishing. Being the goal scorer shows the knockout competitions uncertainty. The possibilities of us winning the competition this season matches the possibility of Iniesta being the winning goal scorer again. Not impossible but… you get the message.

The only thing to expect from the players is dedication, added to the determination to be serious contenders. To always show the beautiful image of the club’s football philosophy. To play their hearts out and fight till the last minute. To do their best. Then we can cross our figures that lady luck smiles for us again. You can create your own luck but to win titles, you need some supernatural help that Pep can’t control, nor his players.

[Adrian Cercelescu] Moartea pasiunii, în chiloţi noi

Cred că de doi ani nu mi-am mai speriat copiii şi vecinii strigand GOOOOOL! în stil sud-american, la un meci de fotbal al naţionalei. Ultimul răcnet l-am dat când a înscris Mutu cu italienii, la Euro, după care mucles - că doar nu m-am tâmpit să urlu când deschidem scoru cu Insulele Feroe. Mă, şi ce suflet puneam când jucau băieţii. Cum mă mai dopam cu titluri din ziare. Acum ori niciodată, Pă iei!, 17,5 ore până la meciul secolului, Azi facem istorie. După care mi-am luat seama: ce dracu, sunt prostu lor? Adică io, ca suporter, intru în cantonament cu o săptămână înainte, nu ating berea, şpriţul sau oricea altă substanţă de îngrăşat ca să fiu în formă maximă când îmi transport prietenii în Piaţa Universităţii - şi în timpul ăsta fotbaliştii şi-o trag în freză şi exersează scheme imposibile cu bagaboantele? Gata! Îmi agăţ telecomenzile în cui.

Moartea pasiunii nu s-a produs fulgerător, dar erau semne clare că dragostea se degradează. Mi s-a întâmplat să aţipesc odată în plină dominare tactică la mijlocul terenului. Bă, şi nu mă simţisem deloc obosit. Dar, de prin minutul 15-aşa, mă uitam cum pli-iimbă ai noştri mingea şi parcă îmi legănau un ceas d'ala de buzunar în faţa ochilor. La un meci capital de calificare, m-am surprins schimbând canalele ca să văd niţică acţiune la o partidă de snooker. În ultima vreme, celebrele mele zbierete care îmi împinseseră faima dincolo de zidurile blocului au fost înlocuite cu un eh! - la golurile lor şi hm! - la ale noastre. Aseară am zis eh! de doo ori şi ăsta a fost tot meciul. Băieţii de la ProSport au rezumat splendid omorul pe care l-am luat de la Israel: Ştrul l-a bătut pe Bulă.

Mă uitam de dimineaţă pe ştiri şi-am văzut că ni s-au întors olimpicii de la Vancouver. Unii mulţumiţi că au ieşit pe locul 10 la biatlon, alţii surprinşi plăcut că au fost pe 11 la bob şi tot aşa până la ăia de ieşiseră pe locul 85 - satisfăcuţi că au putut admira peisajul canadian de la Start până la Finish. Şi am făcut comparaţia cu fotbaliştii: şi ăştia fără o medalie la viaţa lor, şi ăştia mulţumiţi că fac mişcare în aer liber. După care am extins analiza şi-am constatat următoarele. La fotbal, ocupăm locul 36 pe naţiuni (după Honduras), adică stăm ceva mai bine decât la schi fond (locul 37) şi mai prost decât la schi acrobatic (locul 33). N-o să intru acum în banalităţi şi meschinării - că cât câştigă unu care sare cu schiurile şi cât ridică unu care ratează săritura la cap. Doar atâta zic: ăstora de ne-au adus mai rău decât Hondurasul le face statul stadion de 200 de milioane de euroi, la Bucureşti. Iar ei, ca să pună capăt rezultatelor tragice din meciurile în care ne reprezintă, nu găsesc altceva de schimbat decât culoarea chiloţilor? (Adrian Cercelescu)

[totalBarca] Question of the Week: Why has Valdes been overlooked by Spain once again?

Mar4

This is a featured post, kindly scroll down for all the latest news.

Another round of international games brings with it that same old question: why is Victor Valdes constantly overlooked by the manager and coaching staff of the Spanish national squad?

Currently, the Barca keeper finds himself in the form of his life, having just completed the most succesful season in footballing history. Yet, with numerous top-class performances to his name, he somehow still finds himself left out in the cold by Vicente del Bosque and co., and although as Barca fans, we have come to expect the ommision of Valdes’ name from any potential Spain squad list, it does seem unthinkable that he is not at least third choice in the pecking order of current Spanish keepers.

As we speak, he is leading the race for the prestigous Zamora award ahead of Spain’s prefered number one Iker Casillas, with the Barca man having let in just 13 goals in the league during this campaign, as opposed to the 17 conceded by Iker. Both players are far ahead of Spain’s second and third choice keepers when it comes to goals conceded; Liverpool’s Pepe Reina has been beaten 28 times, Villareal’s Diego Lopez 37 times. With stats like that, you really do begin to question just why Victor isn’t getting a chance.

 There must be some other factor we are missing and I think to find the answer we must look a little closer at ourselves as FC Barcelona fans. It seems no matter what Valdes does, he is not given the respect he deserves by certain sections of the Barca support. He has had at least two or three fine seasons between the posts for the club and yet we ourselves can’t agree if we actually like him and want him to stay, or if we should sell him and replace him with Cech, Asenjo, Reina, et al. If we, as fans of Valdes’ own club, cannot agree on his value as a player, then it makes sense that no Spain manager is going to be willing to take that risk either.

Having said that, his recent performances cannot be overlooked. In the past 18 months, he has improved immensely, his confidence and understanding of the game growing ever stronger under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola. Think back to some of the biggest games in recent memory for Barca and Victor’s importance cannot be denied – a fine save against Drogba at the Camp Nou in the Champions League semi-final, two hugely important saves in the Champions League final, not to mention a handful of outstanding stops in the most recent Classico against Madrid, where his reading of the game and speed off his line proved tantamount to the end result.

His reflexes are second to none and with his growing confidence is coming a growing bravery. He is more in control of his 18 yard-box now than he has ever been before and seems far more willing to come and catch crosses and corners than he once was. And note that is catch not punch, something Spanish keepers are not renowned for, but something all great keepers must do well! 

This can be, at least in some part, attributed to the standards set by Pep Guardiola and his goalkeeping coach Juan Carlos Unzué, who seem to have simplified Valdes’ game right back to the basics – concentrate, come for the ball as quickly as you can and play it on the ground to one of your back four. Simple. Quiet. Almost invisible.

Perhaps this is the problem. Valdes plays for Barca, arguably the most famous exponents of attack-minded, free-flowing, possession football in the world. Whereas the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, and even Real Madrid play a more changeable, pragmatic kind of game, reacting to what they expect the other team will do, with Barca the brand of football is set in stone, arriving at the stadium almost before the squad does.

Like Brazil, Barca keepers just aren’t the main stars of the show and as such are often overlooked. Valdes may make half a dozen important stops in a game that Barca win, but if in that same game Messi scores an unbelievable solo effort or Pedro adds yet another wonder goal to his tally, then which feat is going to grab the headlines? Great saves are just not what’s expected.

But of course there are some criticisms to be made of big Vic.

The main thing that springs to mind for many people when the name Victor Valdes is mentioned is his mistakes and it is a justified criticism. The lad does make some silly mistakes, with the most notable in recent times being his dreadful misplaced pass straight to Ivan de la Pena during the Barcelona derby last February, a goal that saw Espanyol beat Barca at the Nou Camp. But even the best keepers make mistakes, with notable blunders coming from Casillas, Cech, and Reina in the past eighteen months, all of whom are considered some of the best keepers in the world today, if not the best. So it can’t just be Victor’s mistakes that cost him. So what else is it?

At moments, his positioning can let him down. Many times he is beaten at his near post or from angles that a top-class keeper should never be beaten from. The first goal against Atletico Madrid springs to mind here. This may be down to a lack of concentration or a misjudgement with his angles, but either way it is one of the first things they teach young keepers – do not get beaten at your near post!

He can also be found wanting when coming to collect crosses, often needing more than one attempt to make a clean catch, dropping balls or looking too quickly for a foul to be given in his favour from referees. Perhaps he could work on his kicking in order to speed up those new counter-attacks Barca can wage with Ibra leading the line, but maybe that is something that will come with time as he gets used to playing that kind of game.

So maybe it is more of a personal thing? Maybe he is a disruptive character to have around the squad, encouraging conflict and grievances? This may well be the case, what with the notable exclusion of Raul apparently down to such factors. But having not heard any case to justify this, and looking from the outside in, Valdes seems like a quiet, grounded, and well-liked character within the Barca squad, many of whom feature for Spain, so it seems a highly unlikely cause for his being overlooked.

Still, even after such discussions and notable criticisms, it does seem ridiculous that so many people have such little regard for a keeper who has been a constant in a Barcelona side who have won the European Cup twice in the last five years. He has played a crucial part in the sextet winning team, made unbelievable saves from some of world football’s best strikers, and won ten caps for his native Catalunya. I can certainly think of a few countries who would love to have him in their ranks. Maybe he should apply for an English passport?

So why the constant international snub? It seems a far too complicated question to answer right now but one thing is for sure, Valdes is a big enough man to deal with the constant shunning, and as Pep Guardiola said recently, “The good thing with Victor, beyond everything else I think is his indisputable mental strength, his ability to overcome any bumps in the road. My confidence is total in him in such a way that he can make all the mistakes he wants.”

Maybe we as Barca fans should back that sentiment a little more ourselves and perhaps only then will wider aknowledgment come.

[Football Mood] Ramzi on transfers

[...]

It’s not right to pay the amount of cash needed to get Cesc back home, he found a new home for himself once, and he can find another home if he wanted. But the guy is most likely a Barcelona player next season. When he wears the Barcelona shirt, he is our kid again, and will get all the support required.
For fifty millions of cash you can buy Silva who can do everything Cesc does and more, and you will still have enough money to make an agreement with a hairdresser to take care of Iniesta’s hair for the rest of his career. It’s smarter to invest that amount of money on Silva and Iniesta's hair than on Cesc, no offense.

But the guy is coming. I think JDS will be the victim of signing Cesc as he plays almost an identical role, while Thiago has some other features that makes him a different kind of players than Cesc. 

[...]

2) If we sign Villa, the offense line will look like this:
Villa-Ibra-Messi as starters and Pedro- Bojan -Jeffren as backups. That’s my favorite structure. Villa is a goal scoring forward who will be converted to a flank forward role (Henry), which will guarantee more goal scoring qualities than getting a pure wing. He is more compatable to Ibra and Messi style of play than any other option and he fits perfectly our tactical structure that is a mix of 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 diamond. Even for the youth, it’s better that the first team sign a 28 years old player than a 22 years old wing. Keeping in mind that so far we don’t really have a young striker whom we can put our bet on for the future (in the following 5 years), while on the flanks we have lot of Pedros and Jeffrens. Even Bojan is at the moment closer to a flanked forward/second striker than a nine.

Even with Henry staying, I still favor Villa over Silva, especially if we signed Cesc. Silva is a great talent that any team would like to sign, but I can’t find anything Silva can do that Iniesta cant. Something we can’t say about Villa.

[gsp.ro] Cătălin Ţepelin despre ruşinea la care o supune Gigi Becali pe Steaua » La pomană

În timp ce triou-ul Bucşaru - MM Stoica - Dan Petrescu gustă succesul proiectat cu cap şi dospit în linişte, GIgi Becali continuă să creadă că banii, şmecheriile şi aroganţele ţin loc de fotbal

Gigi Becali ţine morţiş să pervertească finalul unui campionat care, prin încoronarea Urziceniului, îşi merită ştampila de "cel mai corect din ultimii 30 de ani".

Răzvan Lucescu uită că a crescut în alb-roşu şi îşi montează fabulos echipa în Ştefan cel Mare, Timişoara se ţine scai de Urziceni pînă-n ultima secundă a meciului, Buzăul încurcă pe toată lumea deşi punctele n-o mai ajută la nimic, aproape toate echipele îşi văd de treabă. Numai Becali nu se dă dus din mocirlă. A inventat ceva despre o fuziune, n-a ţinut, iar acum se milogeşte de Urziceni să se dea la o parte: "Steaua merge în Europa League, pentru că Unirea va băga tineretul în ultima etapă. Sînt deja campioni, ce le mai trebuie victorie cu noi?".

Ar fi al cincilea final consecutiv mînjit de Gigi! Scurt remember: în 2005 a luat titlul pentru că în ultima etapă Olăroiu şi Poli au jucat fără răutate-n Ghencea. În 2006, un nou campionat cîştigat în ultima rundă, cu un 4-0 la Vaslui în urma căruia Porumboiu şi-a concediat aproape întreaga echipă, convins că jucătorii s-au vîndut. În 2007, forcingul lui Becali s-a bazat pe arbitraje. Şi aşa a prins locul 2, demolînd avansul CFR-ului. Plus banii trimişi spre Dinamo să-i încurce pe clujeni, plus fularul "cîinilor" la gît. Anul trecut a dus valiza la Cluj, sperînd într-un nou titlu. S-a ales doar cu un sechestru.

Prins de apetitul pentru combinaţii şi mînăreli, poate că patronul Stelei nu sesizează penibilul situaţiei: în urmă cu 4 ani trăgea sforile pentru a lua campionatul, acum a ajuns să stea cu mîna întinsă la Urziceni ca să prindă locul 6! Cu cît se bagă mai mult în treburi de tactică şi management, cu atît echipa se scufundă mai tare.

Convins că e întruchiparea unicului patron-manager-antrenor-psiholog din lume, Gigi Becali va continua probabil să nu mizeze pe competenţele dovedite, ci doar pe cele ale lui, închipuite. În ritmul ăsta, în cîţiva ani ar putea dirija lupta la retrogradare, cerşind de la Prefab Modelu punctul salvator ce-o va menţine pe Steaua în prima ligă.