Monthly Archives: April 2012
Is Tito really the right man for the job ?
I can’t recall a Barca victory having such a bitter-sweet taste about it as last night’s crushing defeat of Rayo Vallecano. It was good to see Barca scoring goals, with Messi breaking his own drought, as well as watching substitute goalkeeper Pinto make some dramatic saves-but Pujol showed himself a true captain when he urged Alves and Thiago Alcantara to desist in their celebratory Brazilian dance . Sure this was a match that Barca needed to win if only to lift some of its shattered morale after losing the La …
Pep Guardiola’s catharsis
We will probably never know for certain when exactly was the moment when Pep Guardiola decided to quit as manager of FC Barcelona. But the Guardiola who spoke to the media after Barca’s defeat by Chelsea on Tuesday was I think no longer committed to another season. Some commentators suggested he was exhausted. To me, Guardiola looked liberated. Much has been said of Guardiola as a person who , both as player and manager, had always chosen his next move on his own terms. And yet circumstances I think combined …
A great Bayern victory
Never thought I would end up supporting and praising a German team, but I did last night. The precisoun, flow, spirit, and energy of their assault on Mouirinho´s Real Madrid contributed to making last night´s semi-final the best game so far of this season´s Champion´s League. I doubt the final will come anywhere near this. If Bayern repeats this performance, it will destroy Chelsea. In Sitges last night the sports bars were mostly empty. Those that were not, resonated to ecstatic cries of celebration. For Barca fans, seeing Ronaldo´s blunder in …
Barca´s nightmare night
So I eat my hat. Barca are not through to the Champions League final in Munich this morning as I had predicted days ago they might be, and sitting here writing this in Sitges, I share in the collective Catalan hang-over. My heart and soul tells me that Chelsea did not deserve to win. That a team that played for much of the game just defending their own goal line against a much more skilled and talented team that simply was unlucky on the night will make the final a …
Barca is Munich-bound
I am happily disconnected much of the time from modern comms at present but have wondered down to the village cafe mindful that my silence post El Classico might be misinterpreted. Barca lost because Guardiola got his starting line-up wrong and he is missing Villa. Now, I rarely make football predictions as you know but today is one of those exceptions. Barca will beat Chelsea with a sufficient margin to go through to Munich. Guradiola has told us his players are going to win. Oh, yes, and Pique is back.
A dampener at Stamford Bridge
I had twittered my expectation of ballet in the mud. Well, it turned out less than that, this latest encounter between FC Barcelona and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It was for sure wet, damp and cold sitting with a group of Barca fans just to the right behind the goal at the visitor’s end-the kind of conditions that remind one that watching even the best team in the world live sometimes involves a large degree of masochism. Just a yard and a line of stewards separated us from the nearest home …
Alves and the Grudge match
Good chemistry in today’s Guardian newspaper between Sid Lowe one of the doyenes of Spanish football reporting, and Dani Alves, one of the most entertaining and talented players of La Liga . With the British media- including the Guardian’s own new story-focusing on Chelsea’s desire for revenge over the alleged injustice of that Iniesta goal at Stamford Bridge three years ago, the Alves interview provides some refreshing reminders of what football should be about. As Alves points out, that Iniesta goal, far from representing an enduring injustice, should be seen …
Messi & Ronaldo: A study in contrasts
Anyone yet to be convinced of the value of Lionel Messi to the world of football need to have gone no further than watching him react to the two goals he scored against Levante last night. The first had him picking him up the ball from inside the goal and running back to the centre of the pitch with an attitude of total selflessness and determination. Barca had been trailing, 0-1 down. They still needed to win to have any possibility of keeping open the race for La Liga. The second …
Why we need La Cantera
Easter weekend had been watching two local youth teams battling it out on the outskirts of a very typical English provincial town. I have deliberately resisted naming the teams or the town as I would not want their reputations unfairly tarnished. Suffice it to say that I was shocked by the poor quality of football played compared to similar level games I have seen played in villages and towns across Spain, and I blame this on poor coaching and facilities rather than the lack of any potential talent- although it …
When thugs meet poets
There is something sadly somewhat predictable about some English sports page headlines this morning focusing on Lampard’s apparent statement that Chelsea has “some unfinished business” to take care of when it meets FC Barcelona in two weeks time. In fact my recollection is that Lampard was interviewed by an English TV journalist after the match against Benfica last night who used the phrase in his question, prompting an even less literate response. But the phrase stands as a necessary myth capable of fuelling the base instinct each previously humiliated …
