News of the Day July 31, 2010
By: Cameron |
2 Comments
First and foremost, el Kaiser, our Mexican defender, Rafael Marquez has been released on a free from his club contract, and is free to seek employment elsewhere for the upcoming season. Strong indications are that Rafa will join former Barcelona player Thierry Henry at New York Red Bulls, but no deals have been finalized as of yet. Here is an excellent youtube compliation of the Kaiser.
Thank you to Rafa, who was always a great professional at the club and served FC Barcelona with dedication. He came the same year as Ronaldinho (03/04) and was a rock at the heart of the defense for us. He was not afraid to put his studs into an opposing player should they cross us (el Clasico 08/09 at Camp Nou comes to mind). Best of luck to you and your future endeavors.as Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team News
Thoughts on our First Friendly
By: Cameron | 9 Comments
We played Valerenga today and won 4-2 in our first friendly of the 2010/2011 season. Here is the review of the game from fcb.com here
So I was out of town and then got back into town and passed out as life goes. I saw about 15 minutes of the game, so I saw Maxwell’s goal and Benja Martinez’s goal. I also saw the halftime commercials. Here is a reaction from someone who saw the game in its entirety. Courtesy of tiki-taka.org
FT 4-2
A lot of promise shown from the kids, Bojan and especially Adriano. There’s a lot to like for season 2010/2011 on the basis of that performance. Some shakier moments in the second half, mainly from Dalmau, but that’s a learning experience to be had. Given that these guys are midway through their season and we’ve had basically a week together, it’s even better. The only negative is that both of their goals came immediately after we scored, but hey, most of them are younger than me, so I can’t be too critical.
As for the positive stuff, quite a lot. Marti, Vic San (yes, a reasonable showing + goal), Soriano, Bojan, Adriano, Nolito and Benja all impressed me, and that’s probably forgetting one or two others whom had good games such as Gomes and Ilie. They’re only going to get better with time and experience, so, wooooo for the future of this club.
I liked their number 21. Can we kinda just put him in a Barca top and leave Vic San in Norway, or export Hleb or something?
Those of you who saw the game, what did you think? How did the likes of Jonathan dos Santos and Marc Muniesa look? Who from the B team did you see tonight that impress you, and who do you feel deserves a spot on the first team roster? And of Hleb? What to do with him. . .I want to hear yalls comments in the comment section below as always.
Category: Team NewsNews of the Day July 26, 2010
By: Cameron | 11 Comments
Yee haw!
So not much to speak of on this marvelous day, but let us delve in to the things pertaining to this most successful of clubs.
First and foremost, one of the les Rebelles Français, Eric Abidal has reported to preseason training today, taking his medicals and fitness test etc to join up with the group. He is a fantastic LB for us and we have never had any issues with him, and I feel he still has a good two seasons left in him as our starting LB to contribute great things. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsNews of the Day: Pre-Season Commences and Josep Speaks
By: Pedro | 44 Comments
Monday, July 19th 2010 was the official start of FC Barcelona’s pre-season work. Like all other pre-seasons, it starts with a day completely filled with medical check ups. However, the first medical filled day of pre-season was overshadowed by Josep Guardiola’s first press conference of the season. Since Josep refuses to participate in interviews and alternative press questionnaires, more than a few Spanish sport outlets and fans were eagerly anticipating his answers to some peculiar queries. Read the rest of this entry »
2010-2011 La Liga Schedule…
By: Ade C. | 1 Comment
Meetings have been had, schedules have been approved, calendars have been written up. Now we know when we are going to play this season, and I bring you the details here so you can start planning your excuses to be absent for work for Clásicos (this season, we have Real Madrid at home on November 28th, and a visit to the Bernabéu on April 17th) and other important dates.
In the meanwhile, enjoy the sight of the seventeen canteranos who joined the pre-season modelling the 'voltage cherry' training gear...
2010:
August 28-29: Racing – FC Barcelona
September 11-12: FC Barcelona – Hércules CF
September 18-19: Atlético de Madrid – FC Barcelona
September 21-22: FC Barcelona – Sporting de Gijón
September 25-26: Athletic de Bilbao – FC Barcelona
News of the Day: Adriano Signs, Pre-Season Starts in Fuchsia, and more Busquets…
By: Ade C. | 1 Comment
-Adriano is now officially a Barça player. Inheriting number 21 from the recently-departed Chygrynskiy, our new Brazilian was declared fit, signed his contract, shook hands with Rosell and posed for pictures on Saturday, and he will be ready to join the start of pre-season on Monday.
-Because yes, finally, pre-season starts on Monday! All the players who were at the World Cup still have holidays, but Pep has called seventeen players from Barça B to make up the numbers along with the eleven players from the first team who are available. The whole list is: Pinto, Milito, Maxwell, Adriano, Keita, Jeffren, Ibrahimovic, Bojan, Henrique, Víctor Sánchez and Hleb from the first team (the last three coming back from being on loan to Racing, Xerez and Stuttgart, respectively), and Oier, Miño, Masip, Dalmau, Sergi Gómez, Armando, Fontàs, Muniesa, Martí Riverola, Ilie, Víctor Vázquez, Sergi Roberto, Jonathan dos Santos, Edu Oriol, Benja, Jonathan Soriano and Nolito from the Barça Atlètic.
Ugh, why is Hleb still here? Why haven’t we sent him off somewhere? Why does no one want him? (scratch that last one, I understand them perfectly well…) On the other hand, it’s a great chance for Pep to evaluate the young’uns and see who is he going to call (Ghostbusters!) when we have holes in the first team.
-And, just to make things more interesting, Nike has unveiled this season’s training gear. And it’s fuchsia. They call it ‘voltage cherry’, which is hardly any better, and along with last season’s away kit in ‘radioactive mango’, it shows us that someone at Nike has a serious problem with both neon colours and fruits. And Barça.
-Also, in case you think we don’t have enough Busquets with Sergi, good news! His dad, Barça old-timer Carles Busquets, will replace Juan Carlos Unzúe as goalkeeping coach for the first team, and will be in charge of Valdés and Pinto’s magical ponytail, after spending seven years taking care of the goalies at the Barça B.
And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, because with pre-season already here, there’ll be plenty of news that we can send you in 140 characters or less!
F.C. Barcelona sign Adriano… no, not the fat one…
By: Ade C. | 10 Comments
Adriano Correia. Brazilian, 26 years old, has played for six seasons with Sevilla. You don’t know the guy? Tsk-tsk. Haven’t you watched Sevilla lately? The man started a whole *five* matches last season! I mean, that’s almost as many as… Maxwell.
Our new signing and Dani Alves, when they were gingers...
Oh dear. And he’s a left-back too. But he’s also a right-back, which is the Dani Alves replacement we were asking for. And he can play winger, just in case we don’t have enough of those. And hey, if he’s so versatile, we can stuff him in our under-staffed midfield in case of need. Having such a multi-purpose piece in our chess-set will allow Pep the Wizard to work his confusing magic on the team, and to plug any sudden holes the Barça ship should develop through injuries, exhaustion or international matches.
Moreover, he comes cheap, at a mere 9,5 million euros (plus 4 million more in variables), which is nice, if it’s true that we have ‘only’ 50 million euros to invest in signings this summer (hear that, Uncle Arsène? We’re beggarly poor and can’t afford your prices. Sorry!). With the 40 millions left, we need to find a DM (although no one will replace Yaya in our hearts), and possibly reinforce our defence, since Rafa Márquez seems to be on the verge of walking out.
On Saturday, Adriano will visit Barcelona for his medical, to sign his contract and pose for pictures next to Sandro ‘Big Ears’ Rosell. In the meanwhile, we can discuss this (surprising) signing and speculate who we’re going to buy with those other 40 million… Javi Martínez? Mascherano? Juan Mata? Cesc?
- Keep up to date with the latest Barcelona news with Twitter at http://twitter.com/BarcaTheOffside Angry Arsenal fans are also welcome.
News of the Day: Guardiola Signs Contract, Henry Leaves, Keirrison Exists…
By: Ade C. | 21 Comments
-It took a lot of begging, bargaining, and being silly, but Pep kept his word. Unfortunately, all of Sandro Rosell’s dubious charms weren’t enough to convince Guardiola, or his second in command, Tito Vilanova, to renew their contract further than July 2011, so expect another summer of contract negotations in a year.
Presidents always look silly in these pictures... but Pep's jeans don't!
-Just now, the club’s official Twitter account announced what we all knew already: Thierry Henry’s contract is rescinded and our dear Frenchman will sign for the NY Red Bulls of the MLS (more on his new destination at the Red Bulls Offside). We had all been expecting this, but it still makes me a bit sad, because Tití has been a part of three unforgettable seasons and we have much to thank him for; there’s a nice article on his Barça career here, to feed the nostalgia.
-On other transfer news, Keirrison will go on loan to Santos. ‘Who?!’, I hear you ask. Keirrison. Brazilian, striker, 21, bought from Palmeiras and quickly shoved onto Benfica, and then Fiorentina… and now Santos. To tell you the truth, I almost didn’t remember he had signed for us. Still, he is young and has time to mature while we deal with the wealth of strikers currently on our team; maybe he won’t turn into another ‘Chygrynskiy case’. Here’s to hoping he gets to play more than the handful of matches he was allowed to play last season!
-And, in passing, let us say that the club has signed a sindicated loan for 155 million euros with Banco Santander and La Caixa (also, Caja Madrid BBVA, Banesto, Banco Popular, Banco Sabadell, Caixa Catalunya, CAM and Cajamar). This means that Don Sandro shan’t be able to cry anymore about how Laporta left the treasury full of spiderwebs and moths, but also that we, like every other club out there, continue digging ourselves deeper into debt…
A joke in poor taste…
By: Ade C. | 87 Comments
I was happily watching the celebrations for Spain’s well-earned World Cup title, and enjoying Pepe Reina’s hilarious commentary of his teammates (in the same vein as his previous effort for the Euro’08), when the time came to introduce Cesc Fàbregas. And this happened.
“Barça’s future, Spain’s future… Cesc Fàbregas!!!”
For what it’s worth (namely, not a whit), I want to apologise to any Arsenal fans that might read this. I am truly sorry. Cesc Fàbregas is a great player, and some people want him at Barça and some others don’t, and he might someday end up playing for us or he won’t, but it is no reason to disrespect the fact that at present he is Arsenal’s player and Arsenal’s captain. It was a light-hearted joke from players that were too drunk and high on excitement to care about anyone’s sensibilities, but I think about how I would feel if that was a Barça player, our captain, paraded with another team’s shirt and I cringe…
(thanks to reader nj who got a picture of the incident!)
((on a lighter note, The West Brom Blog has Its very own personal take on the matter here, don’t miss it! If you have a sense of humour, that is… and even if you don’t, pageviews are pageviews anyway!))
Barça Wins the World Cup… well, almost.
By: Ade C. | 8 Comments
Yes, bring it on. Spain won the 2010 World Cup last night, getting by throughout the tournament exclusively on goals from Barça players (Villa, Puyol and Iniesta), and with seven Barça players in the starting XI for the final… can life get any more wonderful?
Moreover, Villa won the World Cup Bronze Ball and the Silver Boot, after scoring 5 goals in the Cup.
And Leo Messi congratulated his teammates by saying: “What can I say, I’m happy with Spain’s victory for my teammates, it’s great that it has the Barça seal.”
So, congratulations, and let’s hope this invigorates the Spanish barcelonistas into achieving similar results with our club this season!
Under the break, Iniesta’s goal that was worth a World Cup (all memories of Stamford Bridge welcome!), and his celebration wearing a shirt remembering late Espanyol player Dani Jarque: Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Players
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