Barca 1-Racing 1, a.k.a. “Close but no cigar.”

By: Kevin | September 13th, 2008

Well, it just wasn’t to be. This was, philosophically and psychologically, a must-win game for the lads. Statistically? Sure we can afford a couple of points now. Why not? But a message should have been sent, and it wasn’t. More on that later.

And before I go one step farther, the keeper for Racing Santander, Antonio Tono, was crazy. He is the reason we have one point instead of three. How he makes that kick save is beyond me, but he did it, and there it is.

One point.

We had an interesting starting XI: Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Keita, Hleb, Pedro and Eto’o. It’s difficult to imagine what Guardiola was thinking, but I have an idea: Recall the storm I started when I said that sitting starters is often the most effective way to send a message? Internationals and “fatigue” is a handy-dandy excuse.

There’s also the mid-week Champions League match, a competition that I would imagine Guardiola values more than the Liga. So again. There are valid reasons for the starting XI. But don’t you have to wonder?

Marquez and Henry were left off the roster. Some say Champions League. The Barca-friendly papers say he was dropped, and you know why, wink….wink. I sure wouldn’t have minded seeing Henry come in for a bit to play in the box.

The brightest spot of the first half was Aleksandr Hleb, who was chopped down by a tackle that, at first glance, should have warranted a straight red. It was hard, from behind, and seemed to have zero interest in the ball. But as events were to show, this wouldn’t be the first display of ineptitude from this officiating crew, who decided that as long as Santander challenges didn’t draw blood, they were pretty much okay.

We got the usual defense in front of the ball, as debuted by Numancia: 10 men and a foul. It worked to excellent effect in the first, scoreless half in which the lads were drum-tight, with four very notable exceptions: Hleb, Pedro, Busquets and Pique. In a half in which we had all the possession in the world but never really looked like scoring, there wasn’t much to say, really. Xavi was lifeless, Alves was shit, Keita was yelling at folks, trying to get some life into them, the back line was twiddling its thumbs, looking for something to do.

Oh. When Hleb was injured, Iniesta came in to immediately demonstrate why I saw him leap from the bench and shouted “Oh, NO!” He takes too much time on the ball. I know people like him, and I think he’s a very talented player. But he simply has to learn to play with the speed that an attack such as ours requires. The dropoff in attacking mojo when Hleb exited was noticeable.

But then came the second half.

Alves was a completely different player, and dare I say, the player that we signed. Ball after ball opened up the Santander defense, sending them scrambling to cover holes that were suddenly there. And Xavi came to life. Suddenly, with an attacking midfield and right side, we were cooking. And how.

My early second half notes read “No speed of play.” Then suddenly, they started playing faster. It was almost as if someone realized that the way to beat a side is to hit the ball where they aren’t, and it was off to the races. Eto’o received a number of passes that simply served to prove that you can’t give him the ball with his back to goal. That, coupled with bad first touch after bad first touch will not make this match one for his highlight reel.

But man, Alves! And he finally worked the magic with a rifled-in cross that was stopped (yes, deliberately) by a Santander defender’s hand. Messi, who entered to match to little effect, really, stepped up to take the penalty and suddenly it was 1-0.

Then Santander actually started playing offense, and yes, you could see it coming. An absolutely horrid call off a won ball by Puyol meant a free kick, which was deflected past Valdes, who had the initial free kick lined up. Garay knew the wall would jump and went under it, a very bold move. And it was 1-1 and all over but the shouting.

Yes, we played some beautiful football at times, but we did last season, as well. Most importantly, we aren’t converting chances. Taking chances is a bit part of the game. It’s hard to argue with Santander’s shots to goals percentage, right?

On a sad note, dimwitted fans were waving white flags already, and it’s way too early for that. You can see how good this team is going to be when it comes together. So what did we learn from this match?

–Speed of play can beat 10 men behind the ball.
–But you need a real striker to do it. For my money, Eto’o ain’t it.
–Yes, referees suck.
–Santander have one hell of a keeper.

Now, what do I think?

–This team can win the Liga and Champions League.
–It can’t do it with Eto’o as the striker.
–We have to start fouling right back. Yes, it’s petty, but a message must be sent.
–Camp Nou fans need to calm the hell down.

And with that, player ratings.

Valdes: 3: Was the goal his fault? Not entirely, but if you only get one chance to make a save, you kinda have to. People have knocked him for technique. Would a more athletic keeper have been able to track that deflection? It was clearly going to happen, right? Just asking.

Puyol: 3 Yes, it was a shit call. So read the match. No reason to think the refs were going to call that one right. With the height advantage over a short attacker who had no real options approaching the box, let him take the pass then shut him down. Harsh? Maybe. But you don’t give idiots a chance to screw up. That’s part of reading a match. He didn’t have much to do outside of that one play.

Pique: 6 Strong match, with a couple of clunky moments. The middle was so solid with his height in there. Again, not much to do except distribute from the back line. But this is someone we should see more of in the starting XI. He looked very good today.

Abidal: 6 Rock-solid, and it was very funny when he just picked up the attacker and pointed him in the right direction, to keep the match moving. Abidal was a constant safety valve, ran down balls and played strong position defense. I can only think of one clunker for him, which is a very good match for him.

Alves: 5 A crappy first half and a stellar second one average out to a 5. At first I was thinking, “Tell me again why we signed this dude?” Then in the second half his blistering, fast-moving, direct football opened up Santander time and time again. He was the reason for not only the goal, but many a fine chance. Now we’re talking.

Busquets: 6 Does he look a bit like Edmilson to anyone else? Kind of played like him too, but in a good way. Very solid, great touch, good with the ball. Covers a lot of ground, and made life easy for the back line the few times such concerns raised their heads. Again, I want to see more of this kid.

Xavi: 5 Again, crappy first half, excellent second half. He is really getting the hang of this offensive football thing. Now he must do it for an entire match. That lofted ball that Iniesta pulled down (actually) was pretty as a picture. I do want him to shoot more, though. But I want everyone except Iniesta to shoot more.

Keita: 6 Strong and solid, excellent moving forward. He was creating space and energy when he moved into the box, and he was often the lone attacking option….which says what, when your defensive mid is taking passes and attacking the box. Lots of energy, too. When he settles in, he’s going to be great.

Hleb: 7 The cruelest break of all might have been the tackle that took him out. He was playing with style and aggression, along with his usual ball control majesty. Between runs and crosses, he was energizing that left side when he was over there. You have to get this guy in the starting XI whenever possible. He proved that today. Imagine if the other players had been up to his standard?

Pedro: 6 Lots of energy, really settled into the side well, and picked up right where he left off v Fiorentina. His first touch deserted him a few times, probably attributable to nerves. But he will come around, and should be a viable option. If we see Gudjohnsen used more than Pedro, something isn’t right in the world.

Eto’o: 2 He had the stank today. Seemed a step slow the whole match, and didn’t really do much except lose the ball at his feet, and show why he just isn’t the striker for defense in depth: Because he can’t play with his back to goal. If he gets the ball in that situation, he should just pass it back out rather than trying to do something. He’s capable of so much more, as we all know.

Substitutes:

Iniesta: 4 He brought a little energy once he woke up. But he still slows the attack down because of his incessant need to dribble the ball. How ’bout taking the freakin’ pass and moving it to someone right away? See how that works. And stop shooting those damn moon rockets from distance. Those things are probably still in orbit over Barcelona.

Messi: 4. Yes, he scored the goal. What else did he do, really? The difference makers in the second half were Alves and Xavi. Messi’s constant attempts at little stab balls through the defense just don’t work when there are 10 men making sure that they won’t. He’s smart and talented. Figure it out. Was Maradona right? Dunno, but there was one instance in which Messi got the ball out wide and charged the box. Three defenders facing you probably means that someone is open. Yes he won a corner, but we aren’t a team of set pieces. Corners are almost meaningless as part of our offensive scheme. Keep the head up, and look to pass. Messi isn’t selfish. But he does have that tendency to want to take it all on. He can’t. He should get the ball, start a run and sow panic in his wake.

Krkic: 5 Energy and pace galore. Can’t believe he didn’t get more chances at goal.

And that’s what I know.

P.S. T’was nice to see that the TV rights dispute didn’t result in any disruption of our viewing.