The 2008/09 Season: In Pep We Trust

By: Isaiah | June 4th, 2009

Wow.

There’s not much you can say other than that word. It’s almost unfathomable what occurred. Nine players left and six players arrived (the 7th, Henrique, has yet to arrive, so to speak), the season began in qualifiers, found its first heart attack — an omen of things to come? — moved to defeat in Soria, and then, like some sort of an RPG of godlike beauty, raced upwards to the highest of heights and never really looked like faltering, despite the occasional blip.

Copa, Lliga, i Champions.

Those words haven’t gotten old yet and I don’t think they will. A real treble made of three real competitions that could blood, guts, and plenty of tactical acumen. FC Barcelona is the first team in Spanish history to achieve such a result, even eclipsing the Real Madrid super team of the 1950s, at least in one sense. This is a feeling you don’t often have in sports, winning the treble and doing it in absolute style, so treasure it, remember it, and play Viva La Vida over and over again, just to remind yourself.

Copa, Lliga, i Champions.

Wow.

And so, we move on to the statistics, because there’s no reason not to delay the inevitable. I’m going to discuss them and it might as well be now, rather than later. The final table looks like this:

Barça, Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Atleti all go to the Champions League; Villarreal and Valencia go to the Europa Cup/NIT; and Betis, Numancia, and Recreativo Huelva fall to La Segunda. Everyone else: midtable.

Now, for Pythagorean Expectation, which is (of course) adapted for soccer using points rather than wins:

Thanks to losing the last 3 games of the season, Barça ended up as the most underachievingest side of the year! Sporting Gijon, which didn’t go down and now I owe John a beer, was the most overachievingest, going from what should have (according to goals scored vs allowed) been the lowest earner, pointswise. But that’s not how it went down in Asturias because they don’t give a crap about your goal difference nonsense, anyway. They’re all “feel free to score like 80 goals against in a 3 game span or whatever, we’re going to avoid relegation with a second half comeback on the last day of the season. And you’re going to like it.” And what’s crazy is that I did!

Surprise of the season: besides the treble, I’d say it’s that Atleti made the Champions League. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that. After that, maybe that Espanyol were able to dig themselves out of that insane hole they were in back in February. They went 8-1-1 to finish the year, earning 25 points to garner a top half finish from what, really, should have been a relegation year.

Not surprise of the season: Numancia relegated, Valencia struggles when not paying their players. Seriously, if you had known that Valencia was going to go months without paying their players, would you have doubted that they wouldn’t be in the Champions League spots? And Numancia has the smallest budget since, uh, Recre Huelva.

Back to the beautiful boys in blaugrana and their brilliant statistics (if only it were babistics! The alliteration would have been bombastic!):

Goals scored:
Total: 154. Top scorer: Messi, 38
La Liga: 105. Top scorer: Eto’o, 30
Copa: 17. Top scorer: Messi, 6
Champions League: 32. Top scorer: Messi, 9
Minutes played per goal scored: Messi, 107 minutes ~37 seconds

Most appearances overall (Copa, La Liga, CL): Alves, Xavi, 52
Most minutes played overall (Copa, La Liga, CL): Alves, 4767
Most minutes played per appearance (outfield player with more than 5 appearances): Pique, 93.44

Most appearances in La Liga: Eto’o, 36
Most minutes played in La Liga (outfield): Xavi, 3106
Most minutes played per appearance in La Liga: Pique, 92.48

Most appearances in the Copa: Bojan, Busquets, Pinto, 9
Most minutes played in the Copa (outfield): Busquets, 782
Most minutes played per appearance in the Copa (outfield): Keita, 94.0000000

Most appearances in the Champions League: Pique, Xavi, Valdes, Messi, 12
Most minutes played in the Champions League (outfield): Pique 1144
Most minutes played per appearance in the Champions League (outfield): Alves, 95.70

So there you have it, the statistics from 2008/09. Who was our best player? I think that’s impossible to say because in every game there seemed to be someone else willing to step up, to become The Man for the minutes we needed them to do so. Take the second Clasico, where we were down 1-0 fairly early in the first half, even Phil Schoen saying we were down and out. And then Henry steps up. Then Puyol. Then Xavi robs Diarra and slots it to Messi. Then we let in another goal and it’s Henry again. Then Messi again. Then, of all people, El Piquenbauer, putting in the sixth, the hammer to the nail in the coffin of RM’s season, the hand that officially lifted the league trophy for us. Then there’s the Copa del Rey final, with The Yaya stepping through 4,894 defenders in order to fire in a lasercannonblast to win the Copa del Rey. Then there’s Iniesta’s Foot of God smacking the life out of Chelsea. Then there’s Eto’o cutting Vidic. There’s Messi powering the ball beyond Osasuna’s keeper. Then there’s Gudjohnsen scoring and Eto’o pushing Pep. Go back to the Gamper, to Puyol’s goal there, then Eto’o’s winner. Wherever you look: gorgeous play and with gorgeous goals.

This season will live on in superlatives uttered by Ray Hudson and in our memories as snapshots of brilliance and joy. And for that, I am grateful. To the whole team, to every member, even the ones who didn’t perform ‘well enough”. We, as fans, are indebted to them, to what they have given us, to 9 months unadulterated greatness. Statistics don’t come close to describing what was accomplished, what occurred, what every moment of every game was like. Talk of beautiful football and you now must speak of this year’s Barça.

Copa, Lliga, i Champions.

Wow.

Some Related Barcelona Posts:

Category: La Liga, State of the Liga, Statistics

« Season recap, pt. II: Goal of the year | Home | Vacation »

nani

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...

the corner flag from the champions league finale in rome!!!
nani

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...
Alexinho

Great post, and great comparison of Pique to Beckenbauer. Don't know if it's appropriate, but perhaps Puyol?

Riise....hmmm...he's poison for playing for Liverpool, but it's not the same poison that taints Real Madrid, and he is a damn good'n. I like. I like Maxwell better, though. Still, a younger player on the left would be better.
Jonathan

sport.es also reports that we may be contracting a bid for Ex-Liverpool left back Risse, he's an extraordinary player with a cannon on his foot, who attacks with a hunger to score that fits the Barca style.

I would love to see him here, also, hiw physicality would alos dominate in La Liga as he learned primarily from the EPL. I would love to have him, anyone feel otherwise??
IceMel

I'm going to purposefully Hectorize myself ...cause it seems most appropriate here to thank Isaiah and Kevin for being blogeros equal to the magic of this team.

Some games that I missed I actually chose to read Kev's wrapup before watching the recorded game...the drama was so good off the page. Isaiah, your full-out statistic rich previews set the tone for this seriousbutfunabsolutelyaddicting blogspace...look at all the non-cules that can't help but hang out here.

enhorabuena!!
mku

plus, we play with our feet. football is a monument to surreality!! :D
mku

hector: sporting coach is a really funny guy but his name is MANUEL PRECIADO not pernía. :D

have you heard the sentence:

"ni cuando perdiamos eramos la ultima mierda que cago pilatos ni ahora que ganamos somos el bayern leverkusen"

we weren't the last sh*t that pilatos shat when we were losing as now that we are winning we are not bayern leverkusen

he was mocking spanish press, SORRY FOR THE LAME TRANSLATION.

on that Pythagorean Expectation thing, you only to be 1 goal up to beat your opponent, I don't know about its purpose very well. The team that scores more goals and gets less doesn't have to be necesarily in 1st place I guess everybody knows that.

football will always be more fun than any other sport, a football goal is not the same than a basket or a run or a handball goal or a touchdomwn or a cricket whatever. It's not the same to score 120 points in a game than 1. When your team scores in football the field turns into madness, no matter at what minute the goal comes.

I think basketball games should last only a minute, all the minutes before look kinda useless. But don't take my opinion too seriously, I only know how to play football.
Kxevin

The funnniest part of the Ghostface/Cranky Cameroonian pic is the unison stride it finds them in. :D
Tutomate

By the way did anybody see Piquenbauer steal the nets of the posts after the CL final.
Dude is funny.
Hector

OhYes-

Holy cow, I forgot about their "we do not draw" policy. You hit the nail on the head. 100% Pure Colombian Awesome. Which small team in any other major league in the world has the cojones to play like that? Absolutely Gangsta.
Hector

I LOVE Pernía, the Sporting coach. The dude is bat-shit crazy nuts and his press conferences are hilarious. He also happens to have what is arguably one of the best 10 mustaches in all of Spain. They won their share of ganmes but when they lost, they REALLY lost.
OhYes

Sporting is awesome and totally gangster. They hate to agree to disagree (only 1 draw) and always fight to the death.

Very nice!
Isaiah

mku, that sort of oddity (Gijon finishing so high despite an abysmal goals against record), happens in all sports from time-to-time. I'm sure the Warriors of the NBA are very much like that most years and only had one year where Baron Davis (before his suicidal move to the Clippers) and company were able to put up enough points to get them into the playoffs. They were immensely fun to watch that year because it was like someone decided that defense was worthless.

Sort of like Atleti, in a sense...
mku

I love that pic of samu and andres going absolutely nuts, what a year this has been, specially for andres that was kinda like in the shade before Eurocup, now people are starting to know who he is... best active midfielder. I think this has been the year of Iniesta, but Yaya Samu Messi & Xavi have been also unbelivable.

Pythagorean Expectation: sporting gijon with -32 ended up 14th, in front of -7 or -6 teams. That is why football is so fun, specially more than baseball.
Isaiah

With Pique, Botia, Muniesa, Caceres, Henrique (?), we've got a pretty good set of CBs lined up for the coming years. No need for Nemanja "I look like I want to break walls with my face" Vidic, despite how cool his nickname is.

Puyol and Marquez aren't done yet. What we need are reliable backups for Alves and Abidal.
OhYes

He could start with Pique and Puyol would fight it out with Alves for RB but mainly play as LB.

That's what I would consider a pretty damn good bus breaker. Vidic goes up to head crosses while Puyol covers him. Alves is the one dishing out no-look crosses to Vidic, and his position is covered by the almighty Yaya.
Kxevin

I'd take Vidic in a heartbeat. He's a good age, is strong like bull, and that would be the end of our lackadaisical marking on set pieces. But we're already pretty well set on the back line. I couldn't see Vidic (who would want to start) coming in without turmoil.
tom

Yeah. Vidic is too slow for La liga strikers.And Alex, I would prefer Silva from Ribery.(Maybe I like Silva too much)
OhYes

Yeah me neither! I had herd of those rumors before (Vidic to Barca) and I was intrigued but after his amazingly terrible performance in the CL Final, I want that guy as far from the Barcelona team as possible. Put him on a spaceship and send him off to the next galaxy if necessary.

Granted, he would be good in corners.
Isaiah

I want NO part of Vidic in our squad.
Alex

Aright guys, I just got off the phone with Txiki, Pep, and Laporta after one of our weekly conference calls. We hashed out the plans and this is what we're gonna do:

Out:
Hleb, Guddy

In:
Ibra, Ribery, Vidic, Henrique

Samu stays.
Jason

(no offense Isaiah, i just think that there is alot to be discussed because we had alot of players show alot of improvement)

also... its a shame that Busi isn't in the team picture, especially since he had a bigger impact on the team than some of the players in the pic, such as Guddy, Pedro!, VicSan, Jorquera, Hleb, and Caceres. oh, and Milito. (forgot he was alive)
Jason

Kxevin, its a shame you got Hectored...

now avenge yourself by posting today's "You Pick it: Most improved Player" post, effectively sending this post into oblivion...
Corrine

:')
Kxevin

Ow! Math! Ow! Math!
Isaiah

tom, basically the Pythagorean Expectation says, when applied to soccer as a Points % rather than a Win % as it is in baseball, that the more goals you score (runs scored in baseball) vs the fewer goals you allow (runs allowed in baseball), the greater percentage of points you should earn.

Makes sense that if you score 100 goals and allow 0, you should have 100% of the points available. Or vice versa, if it's 0 GF and 100 GA, you should have 0% of the points available. However, you could conceivably lose points in that you could draw 0-0 with people a lot and score score 10-0 other times. It's just a good way of assessing particular statistical anomalies and should really be applied to all situations (home and away) along with points earned when particular players are playing. I'm working on that, actually.
tom

Excellent post Isaiah, except that the Pythagorean Expectation confused me a little(I'm not good at Maths).

Copa, Lliga, i Champions.
Fares

great article and didn't we have the best season ever??
OhYes

Underachievers? And the guys win a treble? Haha there's no contradiction there at all.

:)

But yeah the team should have won that Numancia game (which EVERYONE in the media keeps alluding to) and a couple of others.

It was a great season that's for sure. Can't believe we're so spoiled !