Barcelona 3-0 Recreactivo: (The “Flatter to Deceive” edition)
By: Isaiah | November 25th, 2007Guest blogger: Kevin
Make no mistake about it, the lads are in trouble. This scoreline will convince those who didn’t see the match, but let’s take a look at the…erm…as we say in management, challenges facing Barca.
1. They all hold the ball too much. Dribble, dribble, oh, look. A defender. Where did he come from? Until they go back to the slashing, movement-based style that they do so well, look for more lacklustre performances such as this one.
2. They’re playing right into the hands of defenses with the ball-holding style. Lazy, deliberate passes mean that clogged midfields and jammed boxes will work every time.
3. They’re becoming selfish. With so many stars, everyone wants their name in the book. Time after time, players are opting to take the shot rather than play in an open man.
Is the answer Jose Mourinho? Reports have Rijkaard out as coach in December, and Mourinho already drawing up plans for Barca, but who knows? Personally, I think that Mourinho is what the side needs. Rijkaard got them this far, and set the table, so to speak. Bring in a firmer coach to finish off the deal.
But we’ll see…
Now, for the match. The big news was Ronaldinho not being in the side because of “fatigue.” Between this, and Edmilson’s “black sheep” commentary (more than 60% of people polled found Ronaldinho to be the ultimate “black sheep”), things are a little tense in Blaugrana land.
But do you swap in a human pylon such as Gudjohnsen for a player as dynamic as Ronaldinho? Rijkaard did, with the expected result: A big, fat zero. At least Ronaldinho occupies defenders. Gudjohnsen just lumbers around like a big, Icelandic monument.
Henry was showing off his passing game to precious little avail, and Xavi cocked up two glorious opportunities because he’s too slow off the mark. Against a better side, the lads would have been in trouble, but thank heavens Recre just came to defend.
The flailing all ended with the substitution of Bojan Krkic. This kid is the real deal, folks. Right away his movement, pace and skill in tight places meant that suddenly, there was ball movement. Everybody stopped dribbling and passing the ball around and started playing football. From then on, the result was inevitable. Gaby Milito’s most excellent header was the first payoff, and Henry’s setup of Krkic, paid off with a beautiful turn and finish, was the rest. And how thrilled was Henry after the Krkic goal? He seemed truly happier than if he’d scored himself. A deserved Messi penalty finished off the scoring, and the deja vu (two previous visits to Camp Nou resulted in the same scoreline for Recre).
The GolTV announcers were whining about the ref, but truth to tell, there wasn’t a lot in it. He was blowing calls on both sides, and seemed more inclined to let them play than the usual La Liga pantywaist refereeing.
The real question, however, is this: Everyone sees how good Barca is without Ronaldinho, as long as they keep the ball moving, as they did when Krkic came in. Deco is a much bigger absence, frankly, than Ronaldinho. So, what next?
And now, the grades, beginning with the starting 11:
Valdes: 9. Didn’t get much work, but made all the right calls, and had very good distribution from the box.
Milito: 9. Played like a man, including a cruching challenge that was called a foul (and deserved it), but sent a clear message to Recre.
Puyol: 9. The defense was great today. He picked up a rib knock, and probably will be out against Lyon. Everyone, repeat after me: Oh NO, not Marquez!
Abidal: 9. Pace, pace and an unbelievable work rate make his signing look better with each match.
Yaya: 10: He played a crazy good match. No wasted balls, always in the right place at the right time, and covered for people who weren’t.
Zambrotta: 6. Lots of flailing, precious little result. He still looks lost more often than not.
Xavi: 5. Barca should have been up 2-0 at the half, but for Slow Draw McGraw.
Gudjohnsen: 2. No energy, no creativity, just lumbering about. Rijkaard’s sub of him came about an hour too late.
Iniesta: 6. Energy and drive aplenty, but directionless and still prone to disappear for periods of the match.
Messi: 7. Lots of runs, without a lot of thinking. He made some good passes and has great energy, but more passes and fewer solo runs would help.
Henry: 6. A clunky first half was salvaged by his dynamic duo with Krkic, but he still doesn’t seem inspired when playing in the side.
And the subs:
Krkic: 10. Wow. Can one player energize a side more than he did? And what a goal he scored.
Marquez: 4. I just don’t understand his inability to grasp something as simple as positional play.
Goals: Milito, Krkic, Messi
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Comments
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Thanks for the update, Kevin. Didn’t catch the game but from your report it looks like the defense is pretty solid (or was…now that Puyol is out there may be trouble). One thing that I was very worried about was that a lot of the players would be out there trying to prove that they weren’t the “black sheep” Edmilson was talking about. Maybe doing some flashy moves or attempting difficult shots to sorta prove they weren’t the one that’s been slacking or whatever. Hopefully now that they’ve won this game and the buzz of the press is starting to die down after what Edmilson said everybody will calm down a bit.
Last thing: Bojan. What a kid. I really can’t get enough of him and I hope he only continues to improve. Great goal against Recre…man, he’s just awesome.
Posted from
United States
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Even with Marquez in for Puyol, i think that they’ll have enough for midweek. Valdes Zambrotta Puyol Milito Abidal and Yaya is the basis for a very solid team for the rest of he season. if the front five could keep the ball moving at a good pace then we should win a title or two. Eto’o back in training again. i think between Etoo Henry Messi and Bojan, Ronnie might be bored by the end of the season
Posted from
Ireland -
In the summer some things will have to change. In my opinion here is the dealings i’d love to do.
Marquez for Ezequiel Garay. Edmilson for Miguel Veloso.
Sylvinho for Gael Clichy. Gudjohnsen for Diego Ribas.
Ezquerro for a new toothbrushPosted from
Ireland -
I agree with a lot of what you said, but I really don’t see how you can fault Marquez in any way. He’s a brilliant defender (Unfortunately he’s mentally weak, at his best he’s our best defender, at our worst he’s a massive liability) and while he wasn’t tested, he didn’t do anything wrong. He has a habit of drifting, but that’s because he was able to. He definitely understands position, he reads the game better than any of our defenders except Milito when he’s paying attention.
Posted from
Canada -
bojan is an absolute hero. good timing for him to come on, because at the time i was arguing with my friend who believed that bojan was only being talked about because he’s young, and really makes no contribution to the team (idiot, i know). anyway, he is unstoppable. messi was pretty selfish, disappointing to see. hopefully puyol is ok. he was a rock as usual. so was the whole defense, to copy exactly what you said, kevin (thanks, by the way). cant wait for lyon. i think mourinho is a great coach, but he would bring his chelsea stars, which is good, but we would have to sell some of ours (and i love barca as it is).
edmilson is a dick head. a selfish, backstabbing dick head. leave in january, for the love of god.
Posted from
Australia -
do you really want to play like Chelsea. stupid.
Posted from
United States -
that is my point. we dont want their players. mourinho’s style with chelsea was different to when he was with porto, so obviously he can adapt to our game, but will want to bring his players that he is close to.
Posted from
Australia -
No way should Mourinho be allowed anywhere near the Barca dressing room. He’d destroy the club
Posted from
Ireland -
I’m not completely convinced about Mourinho, but I know he’s better than Rijkaard, who has lost control of the dressing room. Mourinho had Chelsea playing the way they were because of the talent he had. They weren’t really built to play the aggressive, slashing style that we love from our lads.
I don’t think that wholesale changes in the roster are necessary. But if Mourniho comes, I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Drogba and/or Essien come along (with the latter and Toure, we wouldn’t even NEED a back line).
For Chicago Bulls fans, Rijkaard/Mourinho is like Doug Collins/Phil Jackson. Collins set the table, but couldn’t really handle the talent the team had. Jackson could, instilled discipline and was able to finish it off. Six NBA titles later….
Of course, we all know the credence that press reports deserve, right?
Posted from
United States -
Frankly I’d be surprised if Mourinho went to Barcelona. I could see him going to another G-14 team, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for him to come to Barca.
I agree with Kevin when he said that Rijkaard has lost control of the dressing room…sad but I think it’s true.
Posted from
United States -
A few points I’d like to make:
1. I think this Mourinho talk is rubbish. Not simply because it’s being bandied about in the rag daily press, but also because of the fact that I don’t think Rijkaard is going anywhere. Sure, these are “down” moments for Barca, but for chrissake we’re 3rd in the league, 2 points off of first and, barring utter insanity, we’ve qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League after the fourth game. What more can you really ask for in the world’s most competitive/best league? Should Schuster go because they’re not outright winning the title? Or Koeman because they lost a match? No. So the same thought should be applied to Rijkaard. The Collins/Jackson comparison doesn’t make a bit of sense, Kevin, because Rijkaard won 2 league titles and a Champions League in his time. Sure, there are times to get rid of coaches, but just because you’ve lost a couple of games doesn’t mean you should be sacked. That’s silly. And I don’t want Mourinho anyway. He’s a dickface. And yeah, I just used that term.
2. I didn’t think Barca’s performance was all that bad, to be honest. Gudjohnsen (overrated, by the way, in your assessment: 1 at best! What do you have to do to be a 1 as a forward? Nothing aka what Gudjohnsen did) was a tactical mistake, but what else are you going to do with so many players out? I like keeping Bojan as a sub for now simply because of the experience factor. His performance, by the way, was far from a 10. Sure, he energized the team a bit up front, but so would’ve putting on, say, Bill Buckner. Bojan was good and it was awesome to see him out there, but a perfect 10? No way. An 8 at most. He missed some chances, made some mental errors, the norm for a 17 year old kid subbing on. Toure’s game I’ll agree was a 10. That’s fine. He was fantastic. My man-crush is in full effect.
The defense as a whole deserved a 7 or 8. Probably an 8. They allowed Sinama-Pongolle to get into the box several times and that could have cost them had his touches been better. He had a terrible game, after all. But for the most part, the D was awesome and a pleasure to watch. When Bojan came on (admittedly 15 minutes late), the team responded to another attacking force, creating a lot more chances. Messi was a big problem with his lack of passing, having created a ton of chances and spurning them for personal glory. That’s odd, I think, seeing as I generally see him as a very team-oriented player. Perhaps this just his ego peeking out and testing the waters. Bout time, though…
3. I agreed 100% with Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen (GolTV announcers) about the ref. He was trash. I mean, serious trash. At first he was pretty even-handed with his trash and then when Recre realized they could just hack at will, he became very partial to them. I was surprised, really, at the announcers really berating him, but I agreed. The linesmen took some heavy knocks they probably didn’t deserve (though Henry was well and truly onside before he passed to Iniesta), but the ref was pure trash. I wasn’t too worried about it except that he gave out some strange yellows, including that foul by Milito which I saw as a clean tackle. He obviously mistook Toure for Abidal, but Abidal needed to be cautioned to simmer things down just a bit.
4. Have to mention that Oleguer made an appearance. I don’t think that Zambrotta is truly fit, despite the club claiming he is. Oleguer gets a 6, I think, for merely existing and not being noticed. Nothing got passed him, really, but nothing was going his way. I’d take that any day.
Posted from
United States -
If i could get past the spam filter i’d agree that Rijkaard should see out the season. Maybe next summer there will be some changes.
Valdes Zambrotta Puyol Milito Abidal and Yaya is an awesome back 6. Pace and movement up front is all we need. I would like to see them shooting more. Valencia had 60% possession against Racing but had one quarter of the shots that Racing had, and lostPosted from
Ireland -
i dont like the spam filter here. it drives me nuts
Posted from
Ireland -
Thanks, Isaiah. I forgot about Oleguer! Ach! And true point about Collins/Jackson, but the reference is more from a locker room viewpoint. Rijkaard should have won everything last year. The spanking by Sevilla in the UEFA Cup was the first sign that the reins were getting loose. Recall the Bulls squabbles and public speakings out (a la Edmilson) that all stopped when Jackson took over. He fused them as a unit. The lads aren’t playing as a unit, even though they’re a team. That’s the coach.
But you’re probably right about Mourinho. He’s simply the best coach out there and Barca is the cushiest spot, which explains the reports. But I do think that Rijkaard would go in a heartbeat if something clunky or embarassing happened. They’re third in the table, but with all the talent he has, they should be top and disappearing into the distance. If he loses to Real at Camp Nou, he’s gone.
My reason for giving Krkic a 10 was the effect he had on the team. They would have settled for the 0-0 draw had he not shown the way he did. Technically, you’re right. He probably gets a 7, all else being equal. But his presence snatched victory from the jaws of a draw.
And thanks for the chance to contribute, and thanks everyone for showing passion without the nonsense that pollutes comments on other spaces. It’s a pleasure.
Posted from
United States -
Personally, I feel Jose Mourinho is NOT the answer to our woes. He is smart, tactical and a very very good coach, but he simply isn’t “Barcelona-material”. Even if you forget all the ramblings over the past two years, Mourinho’s teams never play beautiful football. Barcelona have a characteristic style of play and needs coaches like Frank Rijkaard or Johann Cruyff to properly implement it. The solution is not Jose Mourinho.
Also, I can’t imagine him coaching Barcelona. It just shouldn’t happen…..
Posted from
Oman
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