Dundee – Barcelona (Preseason)
By: Isaiah | July 26th, 2008There’s little to say about the match, really, but here are a couple of streams where you can watch it:
Humsurfer (thanks, ballbeav)
Livefooty (thanks, Light)
There’s also always Radio Barca on the official site.
Please put your comments about the game (and whatever else) in this post.
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Haha no doubt.
Posted from
Canada
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Cesc playing for them would be more of an insult than Figo. It would be horrific.
Posted from
Ireland -
Really? Figo, laudrup, ronaldo, saviola….Seldomly have barca players showed commitment and love for their team, its quite obvious the club doesnt satisfy its players’ needs leading many of them to become mercenaries. Now in Real’s case…how many times has it happened as opposed to our archinemesis Barca? its clearer than cristal water, our madridistas feel the colors and those who don’t…to the highway. Im sure most players who arrive at barca want to simply play the game and not become laporta’s puppets. Funny how Real is labeled as the evil empire as opposed to the barca rebels (also known as separatists) yet more boldly known to be aristocrats of the iberian peninsula…very rebellious indeed.
Posted from
Spain -
Eto’o has been impressive pre-season but against weaker opposition he has always done the business. As I have said before… a fit Eto’o guarantees us La Liga. This is definitely a good thing, and why not give him the opportunity to get us our crown back.
Henry certainly showed plenty of ability to score goals against English teams to let him start in the middle against Premiership teams and Eto’o has scored against every team in La Liga. It makes sense to keep both. I’d start Henry and Eto’o ahead of Adebayor, Berbatov and (depending on the opposition) Drogba.
If we sign Arshavin or Thiago Neves and keep a striking trio of Bojan, Eto’o and Henry to add to the genius that is Messi we will be awesome on all fronts.
Dani Alves could really be the difference maker. With the amount of energy that he has you can’t just stand off Messi because Dani will be bombing down on the overlap. He will create so much room for the rest of the attack.Thiago Neves seems a smarted gamble than most of the other options. We should force a deal through with Fluminese as soon as possible with a take-it-or-leave-it €15million offer and stop wasting time. He has nearly a goal every two games average for Flu and even if that dropped to one in three/four in La Liga he’d still get into double figures for the season. In a front three – all three have to be able to get decent numbers in the season
Posted from
Ireland -
9 Champions League titles, yes all those names have left Barca for Madrid, but none of them are Catalan. Ciaran is right when he uses the word horrific in Cesc’s case.
Posted from
Canada -
true but perhaps there are catalans who don’t support barca or agree with laporta’s management.
Posted from
Spain -
tehy are not true catalans!
Posted from
Australia -
Cesc is just keeping his options open and letting Barca know of it too…do you seriously believe he is not ready for the Camp Nou or the Bernabeau?? because as i see it Arsenal have gone down further this offseason..he does not want to leave them this season after the departures of Gilberto, Hleb, and Flamini…he will see how it goes and should be ready next year or so!…I hope being a true Catalan he is just playing with Madrid and will give pumpkins to them somewhere in the future!
Posted from
United States -
If anyone’s interested, I’m in a Messi-Robinho debate over at the RM offside, so if anyone wants to stand up for the golden boy, please do.
And no way could Cesc go to Madrid. He would get murdered (literally) by the Barca fans.
Posted from
Australia -
haha…I cannot believe that estoverao guy…talk about being biased for Robinho! Messi is an order of magnitude better than Robinho..I’m going to pass up on that one…that is not even worthy of a debate
Posted from
United States -
true but robinho is showing a slow growth of an enormous potential. Lets remember messi has suffered two hamstring injuries which are lethal and could depart him from the pitch or intimidate him from performing explosive sprints. We’ll see how messi does this year, especially after barca’s golden age, now the cules find themselves where Real was 4 years ago…and it takes time to develop a new project and especially under laporta’s management.
Fabregas is a catalan but there is a higher identity which is being spanish, and many catalans don’t support barca and especially laporta’s ambitiions which are far off a simple football project. For those who live abroad, the president is disliked all over the country, not just by madridistas. The Real Madrid emblem sells itself, no need to beg and im sure Cesc is aware of how many barca players have flown away, which has become quite a consipicuos trend at barca and one wonders why? Perhaps the players are too tired to attend laporta’s obligatory catalan classes after practice!
Posted from
Spain -
Fabregas was quick to deny the report:
Looks like the journalistic quality we usually see from Marca.
Posted from
United States -
“The Real Madrid emblem sells itself, no need to beg”
not sure whether what Real have been doing with Kaka for ages and Cesc has been anything but begging!
RM have a perfect right winger in Robinho, who granted is taking more time to mature than you expected, but they want to beg Cristina now! what do they teach arrogance after practice there??
Posted from
United States -
I think it’s very interesting to note opposing viewpoints on players transferring from Barça to Madrid. 9CL claims that players want to play for a team with a Spanish lilt, while Barcelona fans routinely call it being a traitor.
Not being Spanish, I don’t know all the nuances, but it seems clear that the city of Barcelona attempts to be insular, to retain a cultural aspect to the city and thus the club that primarily represents it. The history of the club is as embroiled in the domestic political scene as just about any other institution and has certainly come to symbolize if not an anti-authoritarian movement or feeling, then at least the idea that sovereignty and self-governance is not a question for others to decide for you. Catalunya is no more capable of surviving on its own than Quebec or Basque country, but it certainly attempting to retain a cultural identity that was repressed for many years (and not in a kittenish way, either).
9CL forgets that players can choose to go from RM to Barcelona as well, but it is not always that they choose not to; sometimes the club chooses not to anger their own fans by bringing in someone who has been “tainted” by the blanco jersey. Fair enough, says I, but it would behoove us all to remember Luis Enrique, who bridged the gap between those two clubs (starting at Madrid and ending up as a hero of Barça and is now a coach there) by being neither from Madrid nor Catalan.
Sometimes politics plays a role, sometimes it doesn’t. Most of the time I think it is money that plays the biggest role and Madrid certainly is willing to throw the cash around as much as, if not more than, anyone. I’m not saying that Barcelona is guilt free, but from the age of Di Stefano, Madrid has bought their way to the top and to deny this aspect of the game would be a foolish and naive approach to take (same as it would be foolish and naive of me to act as if Barcelona doesn’t buy their championships).
Don’t forget that many Spanish still remember the Franco years quite vividly (he died in late 1975) and that can’t help but factor into the feelings many have about the clubs in question. I’m sure there are many who believe that RM still stands for Franco and I’m sure there are many who still believe that Barça stands for separatism and rebellion. Perhaps both are right and perhaps both are wrong, but that’s the beauty, to me, of a fluid game and a fluid club.
I’ll never claim to support Laporta, by the way, and I feel that he has made a couple of dramatically wrong moves in terms of the direction of the club, but he has also been at the helm of an expansion of Barça’s status as a world leader in actually doing something with their club for the greater good (part of that is displayed on their jerseys).
Madrid is a classic example of a sports business. There’s nothing wrong with that, but to act as if Barcelona fits that mold perfectly (obviously it has a dog in that race) is to forget that the club has always been more than a club, just as it claims to be. It is a social network and a cultural icon. No doubt it has lost a lot of that since the death of Franco, but it is still there, supporting Catalunya to be Catalunya rather than just Spain. I personally see it, after having just visited for the first time, as far more than Spanish, rather than far from Spanish. It’s Spanish with a twist, and that’s awesome and should never be given up. It’s got its own language and it’s got it’s own verve and why would you ever want anyone in your own country to give that up? That makes no sense to me, honestly. I don’t want everyone in the US to be “American” but rather I want the US to adapt to be what everyone here is.
And for the record, as a city I liked Madrid a hell of a lot more than I liked Barcelona. But the politics in Barcelona were obviously right up my alley.
So there’s my ten cents or so.
Posted from
United States -
Mat is being very generous in saying that Robinho is “taking more time to mature than you expected.” He’s one of those “all-potential” team members, who might never achieve that promise.
Messi vs Robinho isn’t even worth taking part in. That’s just silly.
Meanwhile, the rumor mill continues apace. Now it’s Trezeguet for Eto’o in a swap, of course after the Benzema/Eto’o rumors were rubbished by all connected parties.
Man U is rumored to be considering a bid for Thierry Henry. I’m sure there will be much rejoicing in some parts but I’m not sure why, unless we have someone with the talent to have a sub-par season and still lay in 17 goals and 20 assists.
The number being floated about is 20 million. Apparently Eto’o digging his heels in might be forcing the team to look at other options.
So we sell Henry, keep Eto’o and go back to making ineffectual curlicues in front of jam-packed boxes in the Champions League. Henry entered the Old Trafford leg like a bolt of lightning, generating better chances than we’d had the entire match.
But keeping Eto’o would make everybody (well, not me) happy, we maybe win the league, go out in Europe against a Premiership side again, then have to sell Eto’o for next to nothing next season to keep from losing him on free transfer.
If our Benzema inquiries have some success, then the Evil Empire is going to enter the frame. But none of it is going to happen, because Aulas has placed a valuation on the forward that any team would be insane to meet, with the player being as he is at present. He might develop into one of the world’s best strikers, or another Ligue 1 player who couldn’t quite cut it in the big time.
And that’s what I know.
Posted from
United States -
I could not resist…
http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/web/gen/20080728/53508009490.html
sorry..this is for that 9CL chap!Posted from
United States -
Hey, is anyone planning to attend the Friday practice session at Toyota Park, in advance of the match on Sunday. I’m still not sure about that one. It’s at 7 p.m. on a Friday night, and Chicago-area traffic is difficult at best. That’s right in the teeth of rush hour.
And here’s something for you Xavi lovers:
http://www.newspagedesigner.com/users/2765/pases.jpg
Posted from
United States -
wow what an interesting graphic. i’ve often wondered about that very question, but haven’t seen it answered so informatively. are there any more of these? why aren’t they used all the time?
Posted from
United States -
They’re a growing trend in journalism, started by a guy who freelances for the New York Times. He began playing with tracking events such as concert reviews, with graphics.
http://www.earlboykins.blogspot.com/
It seems to be spreading all over the world now. Properly done, they are very smart.
Posted from
United States -
“I’m not saying that Barcelona is guilt free, but from the age of Di Stefano, Madrid has bought their way to the top and to deny this aspect of the game would be a foolish and naive approach to take (same as it would be foolish and naive of me to act as if Barcelona doesn’t buy their championships).”
One of journalism’s golden rules is to place your words where the proof is, in which case Isaiah, is there any proof that R Madrid, Franco etc bought their way up? Yes Franco was a R Madrid fan (what can i say…the old man had good taste ; )) perhaps many players were detracted from signing other clubs, its definitely an urban legend, but in other more bold cases its been proven as Berlusconi’s AC Milan. R Madrid have recieved political help at times like when Madrid’s Major, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón bought its training facilities for an exagerated inflated price value. But in the end, its eleven vs eleven and the rest is pure excuses or jealousy, as much as i hated it back in the day, i praised barca’s display and superiority over the blancos.
Speaking of FC Barcelona as “Mes que un club” is shared among fans but the rest of us don’t see it that way. The beef started long before Franco, when the catalans allowed Napoleon to invade Spain (since they didnt want to pay taxes, and hence the infamous joke “who invented the copper thread?-two catalans trying to pull a coin from one another” ) and take over until the independence was reached in Madrid, the true definition of a rebellion against les blues and of course due to the courtesy of our left handed hermanos los catalans. Barcelona is without a doubt one of spain’s most modern and beautiful cities if not the most. Its art and architectural history embellishes a country that was ruled and permeated under the Arab rule for many centuries. In fact its more of a european city more than “spanish” since there is an ethnical district in each corner, well im exagerating but its quite closer to london.
The Franco excuse is not enough, believe me the whole country suffered under a dictatorship, but some like to play victims. The Nou camp was a symbolic venue to speak the language and discuss cultural trends but even people in madrid were not allowed to speak out their opinions, which leaves everyone in the same place only that the madrileños don’t have their own language.
Isaiah, your assessment that its wonderful to have enjoy a state with a different language and customs borders naiveness-no offense with all due respect- but its quite more intrinsically complicated. Its just as if a european who happens to swing by the States mentions that New York pays higher taxes and its forefathers were dutch for which the state should be independent from the rest, cut the tax retributions, establish a new language and we all of a sudden have the independent republic of New York. You’d even need a passport to travel. The catalans wouldn’t have it too easy to survive for their companies and goods are sold mainly in the peninsula iberica and in the least attempt to establish independence, the rest of the country would boicot its products.
Second important point to make is that there is an antispanish teaching crusade nowadays. Any family in the rest of the country cannot send their kids to barcelona for the “Generalitat” have banned spanish from schools. I even have met interntional students who asked their teachers if they could explain certain terms in spanish to which the infamous reply was “if you want to speak spanish, go to madrid”. The catalan state is the second to recieve most retributions (fair enough, they generate more money) yet they ban spanish from their educational centers. Great! a 4 square meter country in which you cannot even now speak your mother language, its important to remark its not optional but an obligation.
In the end, a person is biased towards their social atmosphere, im sure many catalans will share blind hate against madrid, the franco excuse will always be there until barca can reach madrid’s palmarés which we may not live to see. The way i see it, Madrid fights to consolidate a country (allowing different languages and customs but of course sharing one main idiom so we can all understand each other) those who claim barcelona’s independence are nationalist fundamentalists who dont get much love from the catalan voters, had it been the contrary, then we would experience a true line of separatism nowadays.
Anyways, there will always be an excuse for madrileños and catalans to despise one another in order to really enjoy the derbis, if not, then it would look like one of those NBA matches with those decaffeneited billboards (besides that i love the sport and the NBA)
Posted from
Spain -
hey 9 champions league… Franco did assasinate the barca President of the time….. talk about intimidation!
Posted from
Australia -
Yes, those were different times, not a proud thing to brag about but that barca fans keep bringing up old fashioned stories, many madridistas could bring up the many examples of treason the catalans have committed with the rest of the spaniards. Whatever the case is, Real won three CL in a decade which left far gone the franquismo.
Posted from
Spain -
the question should then be how many CL titels have RM won outside of the Franco time???
3 right??? barca 2 right… aahhhhhhhh
Posted from
Australia -
Looks like we might be giving Samu another shot:
“The behaviour of Samuel has been good and I’m very happy for that. Apart from the technical decisions that could be taken, I’m satisfied with the behaviour of Eto’o. The rest is the responsability of Txiki. Every team would like to have a motivated Eto’o in the squad. But some things happened so we have to make a serious analysis. We thought that selling some key players was the appropriate thing to do but in this world of football nothing is unchangeable. In the case of Eto’o, I don’t think his situation is irreversible. The technical staff will have to decide and the football arguments should prevail. The mental and physical recovery of the player will be decisive in the final decision.”
Won’t Eto’o be pissed that we publicly announced it? And is it Pep or Txiki behind the “force out Eto’o” move?
Posted from
Australia -
“the question should then be how many CL titels have RM won outside of the Franco time???
3 right??? barca 2 right… aahhhhhhhh”haha touche, but those CL under franco were not exactly played vs barca, outside spain, franco would have to deal with hitler and mussolini jeje So i guess real was the better team jeje and we had di stefano of course, that just helped a little.
Posted from
Spain
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