Espanyol-1, Barca-2, a.k.a. “Are you KIDDING me?”

By: Kevin | September 27th, 2008

Yes, it’s the moment from my man of the match, Thierry Henry. But more on that later. There’s a lot to say here, but I’m going to rein in the urge (I hope). But first things first.

Not to speak ill of the dead, but a Frank Rijkaard team does not win that match. And that’s the second match in a row that we can say that. Pep Guardiola has infused this team with spine, edge and a hunger. They want every shot, every ball, every 50/50 ball. They don’t want to let any team play football except for them, and it’s glorious to see. They’re fit and ready, with a work rate that is astounding. Henry, deep into stoppage time, dashing back down the pitch to stop an Espanyol attack in the Barca box? Are you kidding me?

The result is wins.

Ah, the Catalan derby. With plenty of fouls, rancor and cards. And how cool was it to see Messi fouling away, finally giving back some of what he gets so much of? This was also a special, extraordinary match, a goosebump-raising extravaganza that might also have solidified a team far earlier than we could have hoped. First Betis, now this?

This was the craziest match of football that I have ever seen, from chance after glorious chance for us, a crazy good keeper, a resolute Espanyol defense, crazed, rioting fans and flares, a “roll the dice” lineup that subbed Eto’o for Abidal to start, and wound up with all the team’s forwards on the pitch at the same time, to a last-second penalty that wasn’t.

Craziness. Absolute, comprehensive craziness.

To begin with, props to Ramzi and Genis for getting 10 of the starting XI spot on (I got the score right, anyhow, and the no-brainier Pique prediction): Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Gudjohnsen, Messi and Henry.

Offense was clearly on Guardiola’s mind, and Henry was fully involved right from the beginning, with a killer spin and lightning-quick shot that just missed. Should he have played the ball back to Messi? No. Despite what Hudson said, Messi was covered. Any pass gets intercepted by a defender. This was a sign of things to come.

Essentially, 90% of the match was played in Espanyol’s end. Of the 10% that wasn’t, they worked some great chances, including another Keystone Kops goal. Give credit where it’s due. The attacker saw Abidal cheating off of his man, and lofted a killer ball to him. The cross comes in, and Pique got a rather laconic foot to the ball that pops it up instead of knocking it the hell out of bounds. It pops up, Puyol gives an attacker a subtle but clear shove right into Valdes, who compounds the error by just patting at the ball. It falls right to an Espanyol attacker, who buries it.

Complicity in the goal depends upon your worldview: Garbage in, garbage out (Abidal) or He who smelt it, dealt it (Valdes). After having watched it about six times now, I’m laying the bulk of the blame on Pique, who had the best chance to stop the attack if he deals with that ball the way that he should have. Any other defender we have hammers that ball toward the sideline. They get a throw, we steal it and off we go, toward the other end. Pique has to develop the mentality that anything in that box is his, dammit, and woe betide the unfortunate soul who tries to take what’s mine. If that same ball falls to Puyol’s feet, it’s gone with the quickness.

Yes, Abidal got beat. But your mates are supposed to have your back. He covers for them time and again. It’s part of being a team.

And for yet another match, a team wasn’t allowed to play the ball out of their own end. Even before the red card, every time they came out, at least two attackers greeted the player with the ball, harassing and stabbing at the ball until possession was regained. The net effect was that Espanyol were psychologically playing more quickly than they needed, just slapping the ball around because of pressure that they were sure was coming.

And finally, came the Great Equalizer.

Some will say that it was luck, yet again, as with the Gudjohnsen goal against Betis, that was the result of Henry’s goal. I say it was just fate. The gravitas of fate. Because we were due, sure as I’m sitting here.

It was a classic Henry goal, as he played just off the shoulder of the defense, and made the most of a ball from Xavi that could have been better (if it is, that ping-pong stuff doesn’t need to happen). He controls it in one motion, the keeper panics a bit, it bounces off the defender and directly to Henry’s feet. He controls and shoots in one motion, making the very difficult look easy as pie.

Blasphemy time: We don’t have another striker who could have scored that goal.

The match settled into the 10 minutes of time added because of having to remove the players from the freakin’ pitch, thanks to crazy-ass fans. Are you kidding me? Espanyol looked like they were going to get the draw, making their last derby match on the home pitch a positive result, and then:

We break the ball loose. A pass finds Henry surrounded by three defenders. He controls the ball and in one motion, hits Messi with an inch-perfect pass. Messi feeds a breaking Eto’o, who gets loose in the box and…

Trips over a turf worm. The defender got ball, and hardly any of a toe-dragging Eto’o. Hudson (who is really becoming a first-class nit) was screaming about how it’s a sure penalty, but when you look at it….I mean, really look at it, frame-by-frame (my DVR is great for that) Eto’o drags the feet after the contact, and sells the deal. Was there contact? Yes. Barely. But the defender got ball first.

Now. The difference between this and the Caceres play was the the referee. That play was no more (or less) a penalty than the Caceres play.

Messi steps up and, on the very last play of the match (probably to keep Espanyol fans from setting the place on fire), buries a nice, soft, rub-it-in penalty shot.

And we win another match that last season, we lose or draw. And my hands are shaking, my heart was going about a million miles a minute, and all I could do was sit there saying “Holy crap” like a mantra.

Holy crap.

Did anyone notice the really cool moment during the first half, when a bench shot showed Yaya, Eto’o, Krkic and Pedro, fully into the match and sharing a laugh? How often did we see that last season?

Another funny moment was a Laporta sitting in the president’s box, looking as if he’d rather be having a proctology exam with white-hot barbed wire than be where he was, particularly with the score as it was. Awesome. I love derbies.

And with that, player ratings:

Valdes: 6. Strong match, even with the shot hose-off. In his defense, he was fouled, though the man was pushed into him. He comes out of the net like a rocket to defuse attacks. But I want to see him punch that ball away. If he does, no goal. He has to stand his ground and control his line.

Alves: 4. He just wasn’t very good this match, despite an exquisite nutmeg to start a break. He has to stop just knocking balls into the box, and learn the system. He’s playing some pretty good defense, but he’s supposed to be helping us score goals. We have guys to stop them.

Puyol: 4. Not sure if it’s the pace and overall quality of our play or what, but El Capitan is looking a little ragged. He knocked a few balls directly to Espanyol attackers, setting off the alarm bells. He looks a little lost out there at times of late. Hmmmm.

Pique: 5. Too casual in the defensive box. Made some strong plays, and is getting the knack of being in the right place at the right time, but he has to get some fire. Wonder if that’s what kept him out of the starting side at Man Yoo?

Abidal: 7. Our best defender by a mile. Yes, he got beat by the ball over his head. But notice the next two times they tried it, he was right there. Between chasing down breaks, winning ball after ball, making inch-perfect passes out of the back, making runs and being the perfect safety valve, he had another exceptional match. The time when he gangstered into three Espanyol players, stole the ball then started the attack was just awesome.

Busquets: 8. Okay. Wow. Holy crap, even. Have we signed this kid yet? And if so, why the hell not? He is the for-sure business, from getting a player red carded with slick, aggressive football, to chasing down breaks and winning the ball, to a Marquez-in-his-prime like ability to start the attack with a perfect ball from the back, he is one hell of a defensive mid. Yaya is a better defensive mid. But Busquets is a compelling blend of offense and defense that is pretty hard to argue with right now. His setup of Xavi for the post rattler, a little backheel, has me noting that neither Yaya or Keita make that play. Uh, oh….

Gudjohnsen: 5. Generally solid, but outclassed to the extent that his lack of complementary class made him a liability. Recall the one play in which Henry held the ball with a defender on his back, waiting for Gudjohnsen to make the run. By the time he processed the information and got his feet moving, the moment had passed. Eto’o would have been all over that give-and-go.

Xavi: 7. I can remember a time when I had less-than-complimentary things to say about Xavi. I take them all back. He is absolute class in a glass. But does his expression ever change? Just asking. He tracks back, he wins balls in the midfield, he makes and takes great passes, he always does the right thing with the ball. What. A. Player. And he’s finding the range on his shot from distance. It won’t be long before those post-rattlers are going in.

Iniesta: 8. His effectiveness was blunted a bit with the Henry/Eto’o/Messi combo platter, as someone predicted. But he was still about the best offensive player on the pitch today. If this has become the Iniesta standard, I love it. He is so smart with his runs, and is learning when to charge and when to pass. And unlike a certain wee Argentine, he rarely gets his passes blocked by defenders. His assists are going to be through the roof by season’s end.

Messi: 7. I know, I know. He scored the winning goal. But he still has a ways to go in becoming the force that will make us a truly dominant side. His runs today were great, and the fact that he is passing instead of just bulling into a trio of defenders now is what is making him so difficult to play. He still knocks the ball off of too many defenders legs for my tastes, and he still goes one dribble too far. But man, what a match from our Tiny Assassin. As good as he is, his up side is enormous.

Henry: 9. He should have scored that first goal. My notes say “Thierry, you have your shot. Put up or get out.” Man, did he put up. The way he controls the ball while keeping the defender on his back. The pace he showed when he pushed the ball past the defender on the wing, then took off with it, an attack that was killed because nobody went with him. Tracking back on defense to break up a dangerous, late-match Espanyol attack. The through ball that set up the pass for the winning goal. And that goal, as discussed above. I know that too many cules still think he should be sold, and lord knows why. He was awesome today.

Guardiola: 9. He had the coconuts to start Henry and Gudjohnsen, not giving a damn what anyone said. He sensed that he could sub Abidal with Eto’o because Espanyol had zero interest in attacking, and had pretty much given up on attacking Abidal’s wing. So any counters would probably be able to be controlled, because they weren’t going to go all-out with 10 men. He doesn’t make the same subs againt a full-strength side, or a more offensive side. And the wild, all-in move of all forwards on deck could have backfired. Instead it created the kind of chaos that led to goals. There is a fire in this man’s belly that is going to drag this team to the excellence it deserves. And how did he know Busquets was ready?

Substitutes:

Eto’o: 7. Man. He was dangerous almost every second he was on the pitch. He and Henry worked so well as the dual-striker tandem. They will learn to work together, because I suspect you will see those two on the pitch at the same time some more this season. The way he took that pass and streaked toward goal to win the penalty was classic Eto’o.

Krkic: 4. Came on, didn’t do much.

Keita: 5. Nice and solid, with strong moves in the midfield and some great attacking panache.

Oh, and we don’t normally rate fans, but we will this time.

Espanyol’s Fans: 8. Now, you might be thinking that’s a high rating for a bunch of wackos, right? And sure, the Boixos fired first, so to speak. But their excesses allowed our lads to regroup, and return to the pitch with renewed determination. It was almost like that 10 minutes was a “pause that refreshes,” if you will. So thanks, you blanc y blau hordes. We couldn’t have done it without you.