Comments on: How to Build a Better Team (and have fun doing it!), part 1

By: ballbeav

ballbeav — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:39:03 +0000

barcelona canceled their friendly in saudi arabia, that was to have happened next week, and will play next year instead — due to all the injuries.

messi was interviewed about his book and the upcoming olympic games and he said this: “what is important is to make a team that aspires to winning titles.” he also recognized that “it would be a pity if Deco and Ronaldinho leave, because of all that i have been through with them, and because they helped me a lot when i came to the first team, i will always be thankful to them.”

time to over analyze: first, he used the word “if” with respect to deco and ronnie’s departures. maybe that is to be expected. second, he didnt mention eto’o — either he doesnt care about eto’o, or doesnt really think eto’o is gonna leave, so he isnt worried. hard to know.

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:56:20 +0000

Oh, and at this point, would it REALLY be a bad thing if we had to keep Deco, Ronaldinho and Eto’o? I’m on the fence about that one, in that I don’t know if the problems were Rijkaard-related or player-related. I’m sure that Guardiola will be having talks with them in the weeks/months to come. Deco is the only one who has been officially told that he can go. Ronaldinho and Eto’o, despite us making their availability known, still haven’t received the official “Get yourself gone” word, as I understand thing.

The other fiscal complexity is Dos Santos. If we want to keep him, it’s going to cost us. He was pretty vocal about not wanting to be loaned out. I don’t think he’s able to speak from a position of strength yet, but he thinks that he is. Dunno ’bout that one. Let him go if he wants to go, I say. But he needs seasoning, and we need to be able to find out if he’s going to develop into the kind of player who is more than the occasional three-goal flash in the pan.

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:49:53 +0000

Damn, I hope the Alves thing happens. He wants us (he had lots of glowing things to say about the side, playing in the colors, etc.). And if we can get him AND Keita (expect some difficulties with that, since the Romaric deal couldn’t get done with LeMans), I’d consider it a VERY successful summer tranfer season. That would be Alves, Keita and Pique. I’d like one more solid back line player (Coloccini?) and that Deco type. But we might have to splash enough dosh to get Alves and Keita that things might be messed up for further transfers, until the Deco, Ronaldinho and Eto’o deals manifest themselves.

By: fcbtransfers@blogspot.com

fcbtransfers@blogspot.com — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:33:31 +0000

The transfer fee of Alves is a tricky issue, but I nevertheless think 25-30 million euro is acceptable because of the following reasons (also comparing it with the Pepe transfer):

1. Alves has proven to be the best right back defender in the world

(Pepe was not the best central defender in the world and will never be)

2. Barcelona really needs a right back defender with Zambrotta on his way to Italy

(Madrid already had Cannavaro-Metzelder-Ramos-Heinze(?))

3. There just are very little top right back defenders at this moment (and even less on the market). Chelsea plays with Essien, Liverpool with Carragher, Arsenal with Kolo Touré, Manchester with Hargreaves or Brown: all of those guys not being natural right backs.

Look how Chelsea has been struggling to fill that position: Ferreira-Boulahrouz-Belletti-now Bosingwa: together that’s far more than 30 million euro (not even counting Essien…), so then you better buy the best there is instead of always buying second-ranked guys who don’t deliver forcing you to go back on the market the year after.

(there were lots of top central defenders available last summer, just mentioning Milito and Chivu who had proven more than Pepe and were sold for much less)

Taking all that into account: Alves is worth 27-28 million euro and he just has to come. And 30 million euro for Pepe will always be ridiculous. But I’m sure it helped Mijatovic to buy some golden taps for his yacht.

(tcfkap)

By: Ciaran

Ciaran — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:28:24 +0000

I think Rijkaard started the 4-3-3 to accomodate Ronaldinho but it molded Messi to play in that formation and now it is what suits Messi best. We have to build our team around Messi but have the flexibility to change if he’s out or its not working.
Looking at the champions league stats for the season:
Xavi passed the ball more than anyone else in the competition – no surprise there. Iniesta and Milito were also in the top 8.
Dani Alves had the most crosses in the tournament. Quaresma of Porto was second. We had no one in the top 8. It’s a bad sign of our Plan-A Only approach.
We were in 8th for headed goals.
Henry was in the top 8 for offsides. But I don’t mind that, it’s his game to get in behind defenses.
I’d love to have Alves on the right and Quaresma on the left putting in crosses for Huntelaar or someone

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:24:58 +0000

John –

Absolutely. He’s a cheating scumbag at times, but God is he effective.

Kevin -

The problem is that from all indications so far Guardiola will keep using 4-3-3. If he changes his mind, then we can be more flexible, but as it is I think we do need those types of players.

By: Ciaran

Ciaran — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:25:22 +0000

With the exception of Messi and Stoichkov, most of our best players over the last 15years have been black:
Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Kluivert, Ronaldinho, Eto’o.
If someone is successful people do not care what race they are. When someone isn’t they just pick the easiest slur.
On another note, now that Ronaldo has won everything possible with Man Utd, will he start looking further afield for challenges? I hope he stays away from Madrid. Regardless of his affect on the dressing room, he singlehandedly won the double for United

By: jake

jake — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:40:42 +0000

At least Ronaldo missed his penalty.

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:36:50 +0000

It’s funny, ballbeav. I vacation every year in France, with inevitable side trips into Barcelona to watch matches, have great food, etc. And I marvel at how multi-culti those parts of Europe are.

The anti-Lewis Hamilton sentiment during Formula One testing at the Circuit de Catalunya earlier this season was a bummer. It did bring back the monkey chanting episode that was so ugly, re: Roberto Carlos.

So that times are changing, not only socially, but in terms of more and more teams finally recognizing that Africa, like South America in baseball, is a hotbed of footballing talent. Yes, I’m sure that there are still some Catalans who are appalled by the fact that last season, we had five blacks in the side. But the fact that nothing really came of it, is either proof that things are really coming around, or that everyone just wants to win.

Since we weren’t winning, and because my glass is half-full by default, I tend to think it’s the former.

As a very funny aside, my wife and I were in Barcelona the year that we signed Thuram. We were out for a walk on a pretty summer day. I was wearing shorts and a Barca polo shirt, and we were both wondering why people were freaking out. It wasn’t until we were watching the news and Thuram was on, talking about some racist incident in Italy, that we realized the resemblance, right down to the shape of eyeglasses we both choose. We were speaking French to each other, too. Very funny.

Linda, question: Do you think we will still need the exact skill set of Deco and Eto’o if Guardiola brings a different system to the Camp Nou? Now, I tend to think that a Deco type is invaluable to any side, but he is much more valuable in our system.

By: john

john — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:53:46 +0000

Linda –

Watching Deco hack someone down at midfield then stand up with that priceless “Who? Me?” look will always be a classic image in footballing memory.