Barca 3, Sporting 1, or “See what I mean?”

By: Kevin | September 16th, 2008

This picture was chosen for a very good reason: It contains two of the stalwarts of today’s most excellent Champions League group stage tie against Sporting Lisbon. Ciaran saw a good one, as we had a live representative in the stands. I’m sure he’s giddy.

Now. El Capitan was the surprise left back today, doing yeoman work. And Eto’o. I believe that the reason he was allowed to take the penalty shot was not only because he created it, but because it was just reward for his hard, hard work out there.

But the penalty wasn’t the most significant thing. Did anyone notice that Eto’o didn’t run into the net to grab the ball? He ran over to the sidelines to salute the crowd, and celebrate with his mates. That, to me, was the coolest part about that goal.

To begin with, let’s all ask Isaiah for betting advice. He was right on the final score, and two of the three goal scorers. Great stuff!

Now. Who can doubt that Guardiola reads this blog? Look at the starting XI: Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Marquez, Alves, Keita, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Henry, Eto’o. Nice lineup, right? Anyone notice Messi playing in behind Henry and Eto’o, who were really working well as more of a dual-striker tandem than winger and striker? Yeah, baby, I thought you did.

Meanwhile, Pique is on the back line, as suggested, to add pace and height. Lads and ladettes, we were right.

The attacking was constant, the fighting for every ball was convincing, and the shooting was incessant. Now, the lads need some long-range shooting practice, as too many shots were high, but it’s early yet. Let’s look at the ways this win should bring delight to the hearts of cules everywhere.

–Effort: The boys worked like dogs today. Sporting were rarely allowed a chance to play.
–Offense: It was a movement-based offense, with multiple players in the box (yes, we’ve all been saying that….told ya Guardiola reads us).
–Synchoronicity: Messi and Alves are learning to play together, and even more critically, so are Henry and Eto’o. The danger of these four players, once they really learn how to work together, canNOT be overstated.

Sporting sort of came out to play, but even if they hadn’t, multiple players attacking the box will always make it difficult to play defense in depth. Xavi was charging, Keita was charging, it was great to watch. Passing lanes are opened up from movement, and with players always willing (well, not always….more on that later) to work the give and go, it was only a matter of time before the goal came.

That it came from abysmal marking, off a laconic Marquez header was kind of funny, actually, given all the great chances that have hit the woodwork or been stopped by a keeper standing on his head.

I laughed, anyway.

Guardiola’s fundamental tenets were on display in this match: work, attack, and everybody defends. The way Henry came charging back to make a sliding tackle, the constant work that resulted in ball after ball being prised loose from a Sporting player. This was Guardiola, through and through. I’d bet cash-ass money that the first words from his mouth, after “Great match,” were “This is what I was talking about, yo!”

Defensively, the side was playing very, very high. This would have been dangerous, but with Pique back there, nobody’s going over the top. Wing attacks can be contained, so it makes sense. It compressed the pitch into the opponent’s end. I loved watching it, and I loved the result. Not only because of the win, but because if you are going to play possession football, that is how you play it. Not with lateral nonsense, but by making purposeful forays into the attacking end. If that side shows in either league match, we’re 6 points on the board, no problem.

Now, for the ratings:

Valdes: 6. A solid match. He couldn’t do a damn thing about that goal except watch the train go by. Nice distribution, a couple of very solid saves and excellent movement. No tendency to get rooted to the spot, as he sometimes does.

Alves: 7. Had a few clunky first touches, and is still a little frilly with those backheels and what not. But he picked right up where he left off. His playing style will make a Pique essential, because we were in effect playing with 3 in the back line. His passes, movement and overall aggression were great to watch. And man, is he learning to work with Messi. He also created chance after chance with balls into the box. Wow.

Pique: 8 Crazy good today. He looked like a veteran out there, even taking a couple of strategic fouls to stop Sporting counters. He was a constant safety valve, and any aerial ball that came near him, he won. Calm distribution and great position defense were his trademarks today. He made the back line look really, really good. You can’t coach height and pace. Pique has both to burn.

Marquez: 5 Rafa giveth, and Rafa taketh away. Yes, the header was nice, but his marking of the Sporting player who scored stank all the way to Chicago. See, Rafa, if you mark right up on a guy, he isn’t running full speed by the time he gets to you. See? The header was nice, he still has the gift of the great long ball that starts an attack. But he was snookered a few times. If Abidal plays a match like that, people are ready to fly to Barcelona and kill him.

Puyol: 7. Okay. Who here thought that our Capitan was going to be the left back? Here we are, having the Sylvinho debate, and it’s Puyol, ranging far and wide. What a match. Yes, he got caught out a couple of times. Still, turning back the clock like that to a time when he had pace and grace was so, so impressive.

Keita: 6 He’s showing why he was bought. He’s a much better offensive defensive mid than Yaya, but the latter is a rock. It initially looked as if Keita got a touch on that Marquez header, but he certainly screened and harassed the keeper into hosing that one off. His long shot will get better. He is going to add something to our attack that Yaya can’t, just as Yaya adds so much to the defense and making the attack-starting pass that Keita can’t. I like the one-two punch those two offer. His movement was much better today. I still don’t like the amount of lateral and back passing that he does.

Iniesta: 8 Effort and energy=brilliance. There were only a couple of times that I had to yell “Move the ball, SPF!” His distribution and sense of the give-and-go were spot on today. When he plays like that, he is a devastating player. His pass to Xavi for the third goal was a thing of beauty, precisely weighted and exactly where it needed to be. I just wish he played like that all the time. The charging, the challenging, the precision of his movement with and without the ball had me over the moon. When Iniesta plays like that, he’s a footie fan’s player. Casual observers of the game won’t get why he was so magical, because it was all so smart and logical. But there you have it.

Xavi: 8 Speaking of smart and logical, this man always knows exactly what to do with the ball. And when he becomes a real offensive threat, it just makes us that much more imposing. His goal was a thing of beauty, to outrun the defender to the spot, knowing that the ball was going to be there. I gave Xavi some shit last season, and he deserved it. But he’s been mostly brilliant this season. His passes will eventually result in lots of goals, and I can’t wait.

Messi: 5 I can hear the caterwauling now. In addition to his bad luck, he made his own bad luck. He held on to the ball for one dribble too many, ignoring teammates. He had some funky first touches, and was generally average today. The announcers, like everyone else, gives him benefit of the doubt because he’s Messi. But if Henry had cocked up the number of opportunities Messi had today, again, people would be calling for an immediate sale. His effort and committment are not to be questioned, and his heart is in the right place. But he has to learn to take advantage of the panic he sows whenever he gets the ball. You can see defenders just lose their minds. Playing directly into three of them just plays into their hands. And how many times is he going to pass into the shins of defenders before realizing that stuff isn’t going to work? Just asking.

Eto’o: 8 Now, his play warranted about a 7, but the extra point is for the team spirit that he showed. From harassing attackers to trying his best on left wing (see how good Henry is out there, comparably?) and wreaking havoc in the box, Eto’o was on form today. He was moving like quicksilver out there, and the penalty he earned came from sheer effort. Lots of strikers would have given up after the initial attack, but not Eto’o. And when the ball came back in, Sporting had to foul him to keep him from scoring. And this was the first match that he seemed really interested in learning to play with Henry. He almost seemed to realize, from that early pass from Henry for a great setup, that the Frenchman’s presence can make his job so much easier.

Henry: 8 We were so, so dangerous with him in the central striker role. He would normally score that goal that he just missed, but that will come. Eto’o’s gift is cat-like movement inside the box. Henry’s gift is being able to play just off the defender, break loose with pace, and take a well-weighted pass. Xavi has a million of ‘em. We looked much more dangerous with Henry playing just off Eto’o, with both working the box than we did with Henry or Eto’o on left wing. Guardiola should have been taking notes. This was the Henry we signed, and this match shows why he should always be in the lineup (even if he shouldn’t, because he needs rest). Like Messi, he sows panic and draws multiple defenders. From sheer pace, liveliness and effort (tracking back on defense? Hell yeah!), he was spot on today.

Substitutes:

Pedro: 4 Looked a bit out of his element. The other guys were playing at too high a level for him to comfortably work within that overall excellence. He looked like a B teamer today.

Yaya: 7 Man, was it good to see him. Notice how smart he is with the ball, and how he will always make an offense-minded pass where Keita will back pass. That’s the value of our Yaya. He was as he is always, rock-solid. We regained control of the midfield when he came in, which helped make that third goal inevitable.

Sylvinho: 3 His first touch resulted in a giveaway that almost led to a real Sporting chance? Dude. Come on.

Now, the real question is will they be able to carry this into the next league match? It’s another low-level side that we should be fattening up on. If we play as we played today, Gijon is going down. Hard.