Barcelona 0, Rubin Kazan 0 – I can’t believe it’s not butter (better)!

By: Cameron | November 5th, 2009

And so I command, and so it shall be done.

Or at least, that’s what Pep wanted to have happen tonight. It didn’t quite turn out that way. Barcelona, traveling to the frigid unknowns of Municipal Institution Football Club Rubin Kazan and their home in Kazan. It was supposed to be a day of redemption, you know, from that game. We were going to plug away and break the deadlock on the frozen pitch, and we were going to applaud Pep for getting things right this time.

But then…..

The look. You and me both buddy.

Little went according to plan. Of course we had all the possession, 75% worth. We had nineteen shots, however only five were on target. . .not the best representation of our talent and ability. Rubin seldom threatened, and when they did, Valdes and company were up to the test. Pep’s relative inexperience (yes, just his second year at the helm here, and third overall as a manager) showed again, not introducing a substitute until the 82nd minute, and the only substitute at that! Inspirational half-time-Pep-talk looked to be just that coming out of the gates, but alas. . .nothing concrete came to fruition.

We came out in the second half a little more composed, and relaxed. We held possession in the Rubin Kazan 18 yard box for upwards of a minute at a time. That is pretty cool to watch. We did this two or three more times in the second half. Unfortunately we passed far too often around the box than into it. I am of the philosophy though that if you’re going to set up shop in front of the opponents end and pass around, you have got to pass into the box as well. I saw way too many times tonight we would pass around endlessly then attempt a cross where there was no one in position to receive it. We failed to stretch Rubin Kazan with width and as a result Ibra would be guarded with 2 or 3 defenders at once with every ball that came his way. Also, Daniel Alves’s crosses were horrendous to the tenth degree. I know he had just come back from injury and played the full 90 (well in to him for having an irradiated body impervious to fatigue) but he was definitely out of his element.

-6.03×10^2841226192394 were how effective Alves’s crosses were today.

This cluster fuck of a match almost turned out for the worst in the last 15 minutes of the game as a clearly tired Barça began being exploited by the fresh legs of the Kazan sub, Aleksandr Bukharov, who had come on in the 63rd minute, (take some notes, Pep) which nearly cost us the match. A couple glorious opportunities left much to be desired by their finishing with the end of the match coming near.
Valdes, Alves, DJ Pique, Puyol, Abidal, the Yayaminator, “Golden Boot Winner” Keita, Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and Ibrahimovic took the pitch as our starting XI. This selection pleased me, as it meant we had the steel of midfield in Keite and the width of Iniesta. But from the beginning, things went awry. Besides the post incident in the 2nd minute of the game from Ibra, little of note in clear cut chances were made. Keita was invisible. I saw him do absolutely nothing of note, except swerve a few shots well wide. Iniesta was having a hard time of it too on the pitch, not finding a rhythm.

Xavi is tired, and it showed tonight, again. Rest him, we have quality on the bench that cannot be Xavi, but they can be good enough to get the job done. We don’t need Xavi to set the tempo in a game like we had today, when the other team was coming out only to defend. Xavi isn’t going to send one of those wonderful through balls through 8 men stacked within 8 yards of each other.

This is a team, and we should be able to function without one, two or three pieces. This is not Xavi & Company, or Messi and Friends, this is FC Barcelona and dammit, we should be able to showcase the other talent sitting there when our main men aren’t getting it done. Pep’s substitutions (or lack thereof) are worrying. His stubbornness and pride hath got the best of him, although he may preach modesty and humbleness when confronting the press. We’re missing the fire of the year past. We didn’t want it enough, plain and simple. Complacency? Still too early to tell for sure, but the thought crossed my mind today during the match. This game was reeking of 2007/08 when we had similar games just like this one, all possession no substance.

Last season, I had the feeling of something special in the air, most of us felt it, no matter what. I do not feel that this year so far. Perhaps this will change with more games, but I am not convinced of a repeat Triplete (neither are most, I’m sure).

Of course, it didn’t help that in the second half Iniesta and Messi went from team players to “backyard-pitch-let’s-dribble-the-whole-team-by-ourselves” mode. Horrific passing decisions, which they incessantly persisted in making, in between three players. Rubin Kazan players ARE NOT GHOSTS, THEY ARE NOT TRANSPARENT. This frustrated me the most of anything in the match. There was an instance around the 65th minute where Messi dribbles past a player, then there are literally three Kazan players standing in his way, side by side, and he tried to pass between all of them! This was similar of what Iniesta did on the flank. It will never work! Stop trying! Look for teammates por favor. I know you are both game changers and on your day are the best players in the world, but you are surrounded by other individuals who are equally as talented as you are. Use them, it works wonders! There is a time and place for individual brilliance, and there is time for a concentrated let’s go rape them together mentality. And the lot of you put your wrong thinking caps on today.

Pictured: Where Ibrahimovic was in the second half. Wait a minute...

I must also mention Ibrahimovic. I feel bad for the guy. Active in the first half, denied by the post oh so early, and was up to his usual trickery early on. He had a splendid first half, and the second half he vanished. Ibracadabra for all the wrong reasons. It’s not his fault, mostly. As I just mentioned, the ball hogging of certain players and lack of service in general from anyone else saw Ibra just mostly stand around and contribute little. His responsibility then comes in, he should be demanding access to the ball. If the ball doesn’t come to you, go find it.

It’s still early in the season and we have a long ways to go. Match day 10 is this weekend against Mallorca. We’re severely hampered in our options though for the next two Champions League matches. We have to go all out in both games, whereas before the season began, we saw these last two fixtures as those possibly which we could power down a little bit and rest some of our key players. 5 points from 4 games, atrocious run, and this HAS to change against Inter and Kiev. We control our own fate, and Pep will make this abundantly clear in the coming weeks. We’ll be ok. Visca Barça.

PS My MEN of the match, Alves, Puyol, Keita. All three of whom did not wear long sleeves during the match today. the Yayaminator was required to keep additional clothing on, for fear of releasing a nuclear explosion should any of his body be exposed to the elements. the Yayaminator’s body does not react well to anything other than the temperature of destruction.