Al-Ahly 1, Barca 4, a.k.a. “Careful with that axe, Eugene!”

By: Kevin | July 26th, 2009

I don’t know about you guys, but this match caused me almost as much anxiety as the Champions League final.

Why? Because one key injury can derail our season and frankly (and apologies to any Al Ahly fans here), the club we were playing wasn’t good enough to be on the pitch with us. So there was a lot of grabbing, holding and fouling, particularly in the second half when Messi made his debut, and the ref was allowing it, presumably because “Well, look, it’s mighty Barcelona, after all. They don’t need my help.”

So the hatchets were out, and I didn’t like it one bit.

Yes, the first half was a mess, with really only a couple of moments of individual brilliance to show for it. Krkic was first, as he deked his defender and smoked in an Henryesque goal. His defender, of course, in diving at Krkic’s feet as he shot, rolled over on his ankle and could have caused a serious injury. Thankfully, The Kid seems to be okay.

Midfield control was nonexistent, as the kids were poking at the ball instead of stroking it, with the result being passes that were going all over the place, defenders who didn’t want to play the ball forward….just a big ‘ol mess.

Guardiola rolled out “You Still Here?” Montoya, Adriano, Muniesa, Abidal, Rueda, VicSan, Keita, Rochina, Krkic and Assulin. And what a mess that was. Things started out brightly, then the game seemed to turn into chaos as the kids started spraying balls everywhere. We scored, but you knew they were going to score, and so they did.

It all began when Assulin lost control of the ball, and the man who intercepted it was off to the races, with the entire side caught in attack mode. Space was open and sure enough, he rolled it past Jorquera, who was also caught out of position. Assulin didn’t knock me out this match. At. All.

Rueda made it 2-1 with a long-range blast that I thought would go through the back of the net. Placement and power personified.

And then Guardiola had to go and mess it up by trying to give people their money’s worth. The second half saw the entrances of Pedro!, Jeffren, Fontas, Caceres, Dos Santos, Dalmau, Espandin, Gudjohnsen, Messi, The Yaya and Valdes.

And the fouling began, and my anxiety elevated. The Yaya took one, and was slow to get up. Messi got hacked almost every time he touched the ball. It was absurd, but lesser sides will lunge, dive and flail, overplaying in an effort to at least slow down the better side.

That’s when injuries happen.

Monument was shit, but why should this season suddenly be any different? But hey, he did kill their keeper, right? Some measure of revenge was extracted. And Jeffren put in a ball that really, Monument should have done something with. Whatever.

Monument thought that he made up for it with a pass in space to Pedro!. No. There was nobody on that side of the pitch except for Pedro!, who turned the trick with a nicely taken goal. And that was it, the rest was just taking fouls and trying not to get hurt.

So, who impressed me, and who didn’t? Well in the first half, pretty much everybody was stanky, bad passing, holding the ball too long, trying to stand out. Except for Krkic, Rueda and Muniesa, who I think is one of the kids who will come on the U.S. tour.

Second half, Dos Santos impresses the hell out of me, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come. Assulin might be the other kid to come along, purely a political, care-and-feeding move, as I don’t think he’s ready for the big time yet.

But Pedro! and Jeffren sure as hell are. Wow.

I also like Fontas very much. Rueda looked very good, and Montoya brings the ball up from the back as fast as anybody I’ve seen. But none of them are ready for anything except another look next season, or toward the end of this one, in the great hopes that it goes like last year and it’s all wrapped up bright and early.

*P.S.: The EE played, I saw, and I don’t give a shit. Didn’t record it, don’t even care what the final score was. Rock.

P.P.S.: This is going to be a hell of a week, with the Ibrahimovic signing, and Isaiah’s tear-inducing “farewell, Mad Sammy” post.

P.P.P.S.: Fuck Hleb. I can’t believe I expeded bandwidth and typed my fingers to the bone defending him. Get out. Go to Inter and work out whatever issues you have. Just get the hell out.