Quickies: Crisis! (again?), Bojan looking for work, Guti talking smack

By: Isaiah | May 15th, 2007

There are some things that are inevitable when a team begins a downward spiral into the maddening depths of second place, the worst of which is definitely that the local sporting press begins to whine and moan like some sort of Arsene Wenger doppelganger. In this case it’s Barcelona’s ever-so-eloquent Sport that is leading the charge towards the depths of hell second place seems to be. As of right now (10am EST) Sport is featuring this picture of the first team in training, with the headline “Why did they gift the league?” FIRST, the season is 4 games from being over, so perhaps a little more confidence in the team would be nice. SECOND, this “crisis” is just like the previous one and if you shut up and wait for it, the team will play like they know how. It’s amazing that after their February crisis they sank so low as to remain in first until now. Wow. What a problem.

There’s yet another piece of news regarding Bojan Krkic: according to the aforementioned Sport (Spanish), he’s either going to play for Barcelona’s first team next year or move to another club. That’s interesting in that he’s only 16, has never proven himself beyond the Segunda B division (10 goals, team’s leading scorer) and U-17 Championships (championship winning goal), and actually isn’t allowed to sign a professional contract until he turns 17 (August 28). Regardless, Barcelona better make sure he signs with them as his upside (there’s that undefined, over-used sports term again) is spectacular. I’m getting more and more excited about Giovanni Dos Santos as well, having seen more videos and read more articles about him, meaning that with both Bojan and Gio v2.0 we have another couple of stars coming out of the cantera (youth system) to go along with Messi and Iniesta (not to mention Oleguer, Puyol, etc). So sign him, Barca!

Last time it was sour grapes, but this time it’s just some straight-talking-fun. Guti is weighing in on the Barcelona “collapse” (Madrid have made up 5 points in 9 games), saying that the Catalan club’s inability to win lately is a “mental” issue (Spanish). He’s right, terrible eurotrash hair and all, but he does go on to compare today’s Barcelona with last year’s Real Madrid. Hold the phone there, buddy. You may be right about the mental thing, but you are dead wrong about us being like, well, like you. The Galacticos era was one in which the various egos of players were fostered. Beckham was brought in for marketing. Name a single player who is a member of Barcelona based purely on his ability to win fans in Asia…time’s up! The answer is no one. Not even the stunning features of clear-skinned Iniesta (it’s like you can see through him…as he takes the ball off you) were brought in to garner advertising dollars. That’s a pretty fundamental difference to me. Perhaps I’m just wrong, but Guti can take his Barcelona-is-like-Real-Madrid comments and [edited for explicit content]. Yes, it’s possible for Barcelona to fail to win a trophy this year after starting off with the potential for 6*, but you know what? Guti may be right, but don’t compare us to Madrid! And don’t ever quote me about saying Guti was right. Ever.

*UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA World Club Championship, Copa del Rey, Champions League, La Liga

[Additions]
According to Barcelona’s official website, Rafa Marquez is headed back to full fitness…at some point. He had his first outdoor training session and seemed to show good signs. That’s great news and hopefully he’ll be back to playing fitness in a couple of weeks, just in time for the end of the season.

Also according to FCB’s website, Ronaldinho’s goal on Sunday against Betis was the 400th under Frank Rijkaard. Here’s hoping that Numbers 401-405 come against Atletico on Sunday!