Valencia 3, Barca 2, a.k.a. “Well, we still have the double” edition

By: Isaiah | March 20th, 2008

Dammit, this one killed me for so many reasons. First off, I know why he did it, and I’ll never, ever question his manhood, but Yaya wasn’t himself. He took the needle (cortisone) to play, and tried like a lion. A healthy Yaya stops that first goal, but such is life. It does absolutely nothing to dilute my man crush in any way.

Now. We saw two different teams today, pre-Henry and post-Henry. The first was kind of laconic, still overly fond of the back and lazy lateral pass, one of which led to the first goal, off a bad giveaway by Zambrotta.

But the second….THAT was more like it. Running off the ball, smart passing, moving forward in waves. Why did it take crisis to rouse that team from its slumber? I loved the second half, and was screaming my fool head off. I was pretty sure, once Henry came in, that we were going to come back. But luck wasn’t on our side today.

Nor was our suddenly-porous defense. To allow three goals of the type they allowed, just Keystone Kops kind of defending, with guys falling over each other, sliding past each other, only to leave a Valencia player open and taking the shot. That third goal was the killer, but even then, we came right back and tried and tried. It just wasn’t to be, however.

This is going to be mostly good, even in the face of the bad result. I’ll get the bad over with. Krkic needs to work on his first touch. He was off today. Two goals, one in the first and one in the second, went begging for lack of a more solid first touch. The second, he probably scores 9 out of 10 times. Today, he shoots it over the bar.

And Rijkaard is just a little late with the substitutions. It should have been as clear to him as it was to the rest of us that Yaya wasn’t up to snuff, and why he doesn’t start Henry is beyond me. This game is too important to trust to the young’uns. Does Henry have the same effect in the starting lineup instead of coming off the bench? Dunno, but I sure would have liked to have found out.

And Gudjohnsen was a cipher.

Now, the good:

Abidal clearly heard it from the Almeria match. He was everywhere, white shoes flashing, heading away balls, shutting down attackers, even taking a long-range shot that was just a bit off, toward the end of the first half. Excellent stuff.

Eto’o, once freed of the burden of being playmaker, really opened up with his cutting and movement. That goal he scored was a thing of beauty, the way he curled the ball. Knock me out.

Iniesta was on form as ever, and Xavi played a strong match. Milito usually nails that header that Xavi served on a silver platter. I really liked the open, flowing football that was on display here. We usually win those types of matches, going away.

And credit Valencia. They played a strong match, and had the hunger. This was their season, and they played like it. The first goal was one hell of a strike, open or not. The other two were more opportunistic, but still….well worked.

Now, we have the double to go for, and what do we know?

Yaya shouldn’t play when he’s that injured.
Rijkaard is late on the draw with subs.
Gudjohnsen doesn’t do it for this reviewer.
Henry brings energy off the bench.
Eto’o is a killer, when freed from playmaking burdens.
We need some defense/marking clinics run in practice.

Now, player ratings:

Valdes: 3. Guessed wrong twice, especially that third goal.
Puyol: 4. Got snookered a few times, and is showing his age against fast players.
Zambrotta: 1. Didn’t really have as much effect as I had hoped, except for Valencia.
Milito: 3. Two chances to score off headers, and missed. Clunky in defense. 3rd goal was his.
Abidal: 6. He was all over the place, and played a very strong match.
Xavi: 4. Played strongly, but not quite to his usual standard.
Yaya: 3. Playing hurt, wasn’t himself and it showed. We bad back folks feel his pain.
Gudjohnsen: 2. Just took up space.
Iniesta: 6. Strong match, with almost constant aggression and pace.
Krkic: 3. Sometimes, youth will not be served. Work on that first touch, kid.
Eto’o: 4. A lot of flailing in the first half, and didn’t really shine until Henry came in.

Subs:

Henry: 7. Energy, pace, drive and man, what a header for the first goal. Wow!
Sylvinho: 6. Great pass for Henry’s goal, and strong play.
Edmilson: 2. Remember what I said about the Brazlandic monument that is Gudjmilson? Okay.