One of the first players I recognized in England was Ian Rush in the eighties. A player who used to hide in the shadows of the match for 89 minutes and 59 seconds giving the 21 players on the field the chance to showcase; then before the referee’s final whistle hammers the players’ eardrums, Rush rush and strike. He was my father’s favorite and I remember my father ignoring all the match scenario and only waiting for the Rush moment that change the game. The player’s quality made that appreciation infectious. 

I can’t say I was a Liverpool fan at any time -which make this article an opinion of an outsider rather a judgment of an expert. But from Ian Rush to “you’ll never walk alone” to the uniquely refreshing red jersey and the culture surrounding the club and the city, from the Anfield , to The Beatles leads any observer and football follower to respect this amazing club in world football. 

The early nineties witnessed the birth of the English premier league. The new competition was structured to meet two interrelated needs: Competition and financing. Yet, handing the competition management to the division clubs’ corporation prevented the ability of the football Association to tune the development process and maintain stability - that’s if we assume that they would have had enough vision and awareness in that matter. The result was an inflated drive to create competitive clubs regardless of any club resources and abilities to meet the challenges of competing to win the title or reach the European competitions. The traditional strategy of creating a club good enough to survive in the first division for few seasons needed to build a more competitive club was not appropriate anymore. The possibility of getting relegated for a season to enhance the team building and prepare a successful comeback became an unacceptable nightmare, because the huge return in the Premier division makes it almost impossible for any club that relegates to catch up later on. 

If your club’s financial returns were not sufficient to meet the competition demands, you had one of three options: Loans, Acquisition, or death. None of the English clubs proved suicidal enough to avoid barking after destructive loans or strip to tempt wealthy buyers. The only flag up the hill was the competitiveness needs regardless of the price paid, or lack of fulfilling. 

Football clubs became too fragile to acquisitions that a clash on a horse between an owner and a coach led to selling the wealthiest club in the Premier league to a buyer who paid the price demanded through taking loans, much of which were secured against the club's assets. In other words, a buyer who was financially poorer than Manchester United, still succeeded to buy the club - for free.

Chelsea in the other hand felt no need to check the books of Roman Abramovich to figure how he made his fortune before handing him the club. He may not be as amazing as one of their ex-owners like Elton John but he can make the fans sing by creating a competitive squad. That’s all what is needed. Manchester City knights were willing to go as far as offering the club to the likes of Thaksin Shinawatra. The uniqueness of each club faded under the new business oriented approach and there were no more fans, but customers.

Liverpool had more reasons to be aggressive while seeking their competitive spell. The club’s records were threatened by the dominance of Manchester United in the new league format. After the amazing era of John Smith ending 1990, the club lacked the suitable leadership to engineer the club and meet the challenges of the new league (EPL). 

In 2004, David Moores decided to sell the club. Yet it took him three years of inappropriate bids (including a bid from the one and only Thaksin Shinawatra himself) to find the right buyers. Inspired by Roman Abramovich model at Chelsea, and Malcolm Glazer’s tale at Manchester united, George Gillett and Tom Hicks stepped in and bought the club. 

The new owners of the club a club recently won the Champions’ league were welcomed by the fans and the coach. The expectations were high and everyone had the belief that Liverpool success in Europe will extend to dominate the English League again. I do believe that the crisis started there.

No one can argue that it is insane to sell a great football club to someone who has absolutely no idea not only about the history and the culture of the club, but even the game itself. It is true as well that the conflicts between Hicks and Gillett were destructive and served the club no favor. Yet, the main reason leading to fans upset was the team’s performance. In that matter, it is hard to blame the owners for being the reason why the team collapsed. The list below can give some indications:

Josemi, Xabi Alonso, Antonio Nunez, Luis Garcia, Fernando Morientes, Bolo Zenden, Scott Carson, Godwin Antwi, Mauricio Pellegrino, Besian Idrizaj, Peter Crouch, Jack Hobbs, Pepe Reina, Miki Roque, Mohamed Sissoko, Paul Anderson, Antonio Barragan, Robbie Fowler, Mark Gonzalez, Jan Kromkamp, Gabriel Paletta, Fabio Aurelio, Ryan Crowther, Martin Hansen, Daniel Agger, Dirk Kuyt, Nabil El Zhar, David Martin, Astrit Ajdarevic, Craig Bellamy, Alvaro Arbeloa, Daniel Pacheco, Alex Cooper, Fernando Torres, Andriy Voronin, Jordy Brouwer, Francisco Duran, Sebastian Leto, Ronald Huth, Gary Stevens, Daniele Padelli, Mikel San Jose Dominguez, Javier Mascherano, Daniel Sanchez Ayala, Jermaine Pennant, Gerardo Bruna, Yossi Benayoun, David Amoo, Lucas, Damien Plessis, Andras Simon, Emiliano Insua, Dean Bouzanis, Charles Itandje, Krisztian Nemeth, Ryan Babel, Lauri Dalla Valle, Martin Skrtel, Emmanuel Mendy, Andrea Dossena, David Ngog, Vincent Weijl, Philipp Degen, Vitor Coutinho Flora, Peter Gulacsi, Robbie Keane, Zsolt Poloskei, Diego Cavalieri, Albert Riera, Nikola Saric, Christopher Buchtmann, Victor Palsson, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Glen Johnson, Alberto Aquilani, and Chris Mavinga.

A coach who buys 70 players for a club like Liverpool in 5 years is a confused coach who has no idea what he wants, or what his team need. I will not go as far as claiming that Rafa Benitez spent £229m on players, because he recovered some through selling the players he bought. Yet, that’s only a financial evaluation that must not cover the fact: Benitez created a chaos. Such Chaos cost the club money (transfers and salaries), and it damaged any chance to create any harmony in the squad. That’s a need if you want to win any titles. This habit started long time before the new owners’ arrival. The difference was that during the first seasons there were no expectations. That’s the environment where Benitez can do magic. When the club won the Champions’ league and welcomed the new owners with the likes of Mascheranos and Fernandos the expectations rocketed high, and Rafa suffered a panic attack leading him to continuously change players and tactics, and fighting with managers and criticizing everyone else, but himself. Some may argue that there are some players who were bought for the reserve team but the question is how many of the mentioned players served the first team later on? 

Nowadays, with more businessmen running clubs, as businessmen, the role of managers became vital. It is true that Liverpool owners were unwilling to keep on financing Rafa Benitez “Football Manager” antiques forever, but if we compare the effectiveness and budgets of coaches like Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson, one can only wonder what would have happened if one of the mentioned would have been in Benitez shoes. The coach is the hostage of his team’s results and if he was able to achieve anything in the last few seasons he would have been able to dictate his conditions on the club owners. The owners made a bet on the coach and the squad he structured and when the bet failed there was no way to recover. 

With the team underperforming and the owners lacking any charm and vision, it was a matter of time before the fans revolt. At the end of the day, competitiveness is the ultimate goal. There was no way back from there on.

Everyone who was involved in the acquisition in the first place carry the main responsibility for how the story ended. Some of those figures started Liverpool’s mess long before the arrival of the new owners. There should be strict guidelines governing this matter. Liverpool is neither the only victim nor the first one to fall. Portsmouth is another example. Manchester United already stands in the queue. One can only wonder what will happen if Abramovic failed to rejuvenate the aging Chelsea and the list is long. 

Then there is a coach who failed to create a project and present a vision leading to Permanente success and forcing the owners to adopt. 

In the English Premier league, managers role nowadays exceed their team building responsibilities on the field to their role in club building in the offices through contributing in the creation of the club business and football module. Genius technicians place is on the Assistant manager bench, while managers need to act as innovators.

Hicks and Gillett were just two naïve gamblers in a bad Casino; putting their bets in a game they don’t know its rules. They lost their money and were thrown out of the door for new wealthy candidate to take their place. Only time will tell if the new owners will start by setting rules and guidelines or will just lead the club to another gamble.

What Mr.Wesley Beeckman and Mrs. Anneke Maes were not aware of, is that two months later this child will be their only certificate to prove they deserve being Barcelona members, based on the new regulations. If you are a Belgian and you still has no child named Barca, then you are not welcomed. Fix your records first.

There was a huge mess recently regarding membership regulations at FC Barcelona. There is a feeling that the club that was hailed as the fans’ club, became after the most recent regulations a family-like-business. Before diving in the consequences and taking positions, it is important to shed a light on the membership idea itself, and try to figure the stitches hidden between the lines of the recent changes. Then, asking the big question: Will such changes help Catalonia or the Catalan identity of the club? Because protecting the Catalan soul of the club is the axe of the wheels in this matter. 

Is Barcelona’s membership system that unique in football world? At the end of the day, almost at any club, you can buy a share or stock and there you are, a partner. In fact, that makes you more a club owner than the membership of Barcelona. In some clubs, you can even expect some dividends in the following few years. You won’t get enough for models to propose to you, but you got my point. Moreover, you pay just once, not once every year. If next year you had some cash, instead of spending it just to survive as a member, you can buy more shares and that makes you more owner-istic. Based on your shares value you can vote, contribute in decisions making, and –unlike membership-no one can take that away from you, as all the courts of the world protect your rights. If you need your share no more, you can simply sell it and get back your money. Some clubs will beg you to buy shares, because that will finance their books as well. Again, all the mentioned should be considered on a microscopic level compared to the big clubs finance, but it will still mean a big thing for a fan.

That’s exactly where membership at Barcelona gets the credit. It is not a financial alternative but a commitment. It does not generate immense profit for the club. At least, not as much as Barcelona fans may think it does. At the same time, it barely has any tangible benefits for the massive majority of the members if you think about it. What makes Barcelona’s membership unique though, is the fact that all the fans are equal under the membership umbrella. There are no elite and tweet classes between the club owners based on how many shares you own. At Barcelona everyone is (was) equal from the most distinct fan to the club’s directors. That gives Barcelona’s membership the edge over shares based clubs. And obviously, it is (was) way better than clubs owned permanently and eternally by one or many partners who inherit the club from father to son –to cousin- while the rest of the fans are just: Customers.

First of all, let’s put the mentioned regulations in their right perspective, instead of playing hide and seek. It’s a strategy that was supposed to counter the increase of none Catalan members in the last few years, threatening the club’s identity. During the election campaign, the current board thoroughly expressed their concerns about having 50, 000 Chinese fans. There were suggestions that such regulations will affect Catalan and none Catalan fans equally as it says: “All Barca fans who are not members will not be allowed to apply for membership unless if they have cousins registered as members etc…” They didn’t say “all none Catalan fans” they said “all fans”. So, where did this none Catalan argument come from? Shame on you, conspiracy psychos!

See, this is one thing I don’t like. Call me unwanted, call me unaccepted, call me –shudder- a foreign. But don’t assume that I am stupid. First, taking it from a hypothetical perspective, after generations where membership was exclusively a Catalan loaf, one can only wonder those –over 14 years old- Catalans who are yet to become members, have no cousins who are members, and never been members before nor their parents or their grandparents or eternal parents ever been. How far they will be interested to become members now? They are either Espanyol fans or aliens (if there is any difference), or people who have no interest in the whole membership headache. Why after all these decades, the board decided to change the membership regulations at this moment? Coincidence? Success is making Barca membership more appealing to an extend that it started to create chaos. Right (I will come to so-called glory hunters later). Well, this is not the first success cycle in the club’s history. So why THIS time there is a problem?

The increase of club members is not solely related to club success, but most importantly to new technologies, internet, and web applications that made the membership procedure more attainable. For whom? It is also the outcome of the previous board strategy to promote membership to help the rebirth of the club after being in a catastrophic marketing mess. That strategy took place and was approved when Sandro Rosell was still a key member in that (now shame on them) board. And that’s exactly what the new regulations try to block from a standpoint that: “Well, now we have enough of you. The rest need to scatter”. Checked.

But let’s assume that this is categorically untrue. Shame on me, conspiracy psycho! There is still another –smart- hidden stitch there. The percentage of Catalan fans to none Catalan fans at the moment will create an unannounced Permanente Quota on the long term. A thousand members will no doubt have more cousins than ten. No brainer. That serves the current board objective perfectly if you like to take people as numbers, not as values. 

Then, there is this special condition about 14 years old fans who want to become members. I will walk in the field of my ignorance mines now and admit that, I have no clue about this detail. Are the 14 years old children eligible to become members in the first place? Do they have membership rights? I mean, if tomorrow a vote of no confidence took place (Not that I hope or anything…), will a 14 years old boy vote? If not, then hm…why the hell is that child a member? Who is that kid ruining the plants over there in the meeting hall? Take him out! What do you mean I can’t? Because he is the club owner? What do you mean get out? Opps! That’s not fair! A child who was jumping on the desks kicked me out of the club because unlike me he owns the club, or a tiny part of it (the plant he slaughtered maybe).

Not only that, but he is a Barcelona fan who can become a club member while the Pope is not qualified enough (Pope John Paul II was a member, too late for benedict xvi). There is no shame to admit having absolutely no idea about this. But there is one thing I can tell for sure, the explanation spread across the internet doesn’t make any sense. I am certain it is not true. “You can make your brother –who is 14 years old- a member, then based on that you can become a member yourself” Voilà!! People are really underestimating the intelligence of Barcelona’s board of directors. I don’t know where all that come from. Seriously. I mean, what if you convinced Mammy and Daddy to have another Baby. Made him a member. Created your membership based on that, then next year you renewed only yours. The baby will not need it anyway and whenever he wants he can reactivate it for being an old member (old young member to be specific, eh…) or for having a brother –that is you!!!- who is a member – thanks to him!!!. That’s not the case, I am sure. Hm… I hope. 

Because if that’s how far the regulator generator can project inside Barcelona’s board, then expect more entertainment in the following year indoors than on fields.

Next: Bandwagons virus, Catalan identity of the club, and another approach to make things work. (Though a Champions’ league coverage will interrupt). 

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The Grinch, a fictional, bitter, cave-dwelling, catlike creature with a heart "two sizes too small," lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep, 3,000-foot (910 m) high mountain just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his faithful dog, Max. From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Envious of the Whos' happiness, he makes plans to descend on the town and, by means of burglary, deprive them of their Christmas presents, holiday ham and decorations and thus "prevent Christmas from coming". However, he learns in the end that despite his success in stealing all the Christmas presents and decorations from the Whos, Christmas comes just the same. He then realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents. His heart grows three sizes larger, he returns all the presents and trimmings, and is warmly welcomed into the community of the Whos. (Wiki)

Fairy tales are just like that, a beam of beauty threatened by the pangs of evil vibes. It always ends with Beauty not only beating evilness but even turning it to kindness and joy. Because beauty should be infectious and healing by nature, and because it is the gift we seek most. It is planted deep in the subconscious where we water our dreams and raise our crops either hanged on the trees of our days or melted in the shadows of our tales.

But let’s forget about shadows and fantasies and present our facts under the sun.  There are specific infections beauty may fail –and usually fail- to heal. Envy, fear, possessiveness, chauvinism, egoism, selfishness and resisting change. Beauty may heal one. Treat two. Or resist three. But when all the mentioned collectively stab their heartless daggers in the eye of Beauty, that will prove too much to handle. The only hair of hope in a moment like that is to pray the hands holding the daggers to point it toward the swamps of destruction existing in each and every one of us, whether it is envy, fear, possessiveness, chauvinism, egoism, selfishness or resisting change. That’s not the easy way. It is the right way. It’s easier to just let it go. It is easier for you to entomb your roses so no one else can smell instead of chasing its scent to lock it in a bottle. But then expect it to become a feast for the soil warms. 

At the moment, FC Barcelona is the victim of clashing egos. Those who consider the club a possession they are not willing to share with others, and those who consider their support to the club as an unquestionable right to get their fair share of that cake. It is a clash between the parents of the princess who love her so much that they want to lock her in her room and the princess friends, admirers, and the life that is waiting her with open arms.

As Gibran Khalil Gibran said once: "Human beings unite in destroying the temples of the spirit and cooperate in building the edifices of the body."

This was the preface of a post about the new regulations of FC Barcelona. I thought it was better to post it alone though, so we free some space for more points in the main post. I will publish that part as soon as possible. Till then -now that we mentioned Gibran, I leave you with the following translation for one of his master pieces. As if he wrote it about Barcelona.

Kahlil Gibran

    Your children are not your children.
    They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
    They come through you but not from you,
    And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

    You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
    For they have their own thoughts.
    You may house their bodies but not their souls,
    For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
    which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
    You may strive to be like them,
    but seek not to make them like you.
    For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

    You are the bows from which your children
    as living arrows are sent forth.
    The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
    and He bends you with His might
    that His arrows may go swift and far.
    Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
    For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
    so He loves also the bow that is stable.

It didn’t take time. Sandro Rosell fulfilled one of his ambitions.

From now on, only family in 1st and 2nd degree from members, children younger than 14 years and ex-members can become a member of Barcelona.” Barcastuff

Will it just pass or will it be debatable at least? I can’t comment on that. You have to agree that fans outside Catalonia were too passive to take their responsibilities that I am not sure how far their membership worth protecting. 

Admittedly we had a group that was working behind the scene to try creating a campaign to prevent such moves. Yet, this was fast. And I was too busy lately to follow up. I can tell you though, there are big Penyas across the globe who are not hailing this decision at the moment. From what I’ve been told at least.

Sandro is afraid that lot of foreign members means damaging the club identity.

I wonder if he will start dictating a specific number of children any member can have. So he guarantees the club’s “future”. 

At the moment I leave you with this article I wrote once on Total Barca, in case you missed it

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There is no doubt in my mind that Ronaldinho was the magician who rescued FC Barcelona from the failure syndrome they suffered for many years. He was the spark needed to light the universe of Catalonia after an eternal night. 

Still, there was another less flashy, less catchy bull who was the black powder needed in the midfield for Barcelona’s rocket to launch from the catastrophic start of the Season 2004 till January- where the club struggled in the middle of the table- to a historical comeback afterward. Placing the club in the second place right there behind Valencia, the League winners. “A man that Real Madrid's intellectual sporting director Jorge Valdano - who obviously has unresolved spectacle jealousy issues - dismissed as "not a galáctico". A man who Marca columnist and ex-Madrid winger Míchel, sneered was a has-been who'd bring "nothing" to Barça.” ¹

That match against Deportivo was a demonstration of how important Davids was for the team. After receiving a yellow card, Davids was subbed to avoid a suspension. The result was 2-0 for Barcelona. From there on, the doors of hell opened, with Depor creating waves of dangerous attacks. The final result was a lucky 3-2 win for Barcelona, thanks for Ronaldinho who scored Barcelona’s third.

Davids joined Barcelona on loan in January 2004 from Juventus to fill an obvious gap in the midfield. Mind you, Barcelona had a player like Cocu back then, but still there was a need for a player with specific profile and Davids was the right glove.

This season, Barcelona is not exactly in that catastrophic situation they were in when they brought Davids. After some unpleasant results there were talks about crisis and chronic problems. I still think the club is far from being in crisis and the squad available can make it. There are some “issues and threats” though; Pep can tactically solve it, now that there are no options to solve it by counting on individuals skills. We will come back to that as I promised before vanishing away from football orbits for a whole week or so.

Putting tactical treats aside, the squad lack height and depth offense wise. That is obvious since the beginning of the season. Regardless if the players available are perfectly fit to the needs of the system or not, there is no argument against the need to add an additional forward who can add something different. If not as a starter, at least as a game changer pending on the bench.

The following transfer period may witness the arrival of that player. Will he make a Davids-like impact as a winter signing or a Maxi Lopez impact? Across the web, names are flying like flies all over the place. But if Barcelona need a striker, who fits them best as a realistic target for X-mass shopping? Here are some of the names that were mentioned or will be mentioned in the following two months after posting a relevant article from the UEFA Europa League rules, which plays a role in deciding the possibilities for a mentioned player to sign for Barcelona:

Amauri (Juventus - out of Europa league): He was linked before to sign for Barcelona –even before he signed for Juventus. He is eligible for the champions league but regardless of how fitting he is for Barcelona, it is highly unlikely that Juventus loan him out to Barcelona. Even on permanent bases, that will leave Juventus with only two forwards for two positions after offloading Trezeguet. It is not even the best option for Barcelona on Permanent bases.

Andrés Nicolás D’Alessandro (Internacional): He and Javier Pastore (Palermo) are just rumors. At least for the following transfer period. I had to mention them because the news was there all over the net. Though, it is highly unlikely the club will ever consider them. That’s not the urgent need that may force the club to spend during the winter transfer period. Even if they fit, it’s not the right time till summer.

David Trezeguet (Hércules) it was shocking that Barcelona missed this transfer, though you can imagine it is one of the disadvantages of offloading one of your forwards at the last moment of the transfer period instead of doing so in day one. Three goals in three matches in the Liga shows he had no problem to adapt. He was linked many times to Barcelona and thankfully it didn’t happen as he is not reliable enough as a first option –at least for being injury prone. Yet as a bench player, he is quality without any doubt. The tricky part is that he made his transfer to the Liga couple of months ago. I am not sure if he can do another permanent jump to Barcelona, and I can’t see his team loaning him out unless if they receive a payment that equals a transfer value.

Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao): Great quality player. Barcelona’s Sport director is experienced with the Basque club. But in brief: Forget it. It won’t happen before the summer, and how I wish being wrong.

Fernando Torres (Liverpool): There is a big mess at Liverpool at the moment, and he is eligible for Champions league even with his team qualifying to round 32 in Europa League. Still, it will take a miracle for the new board at Liverpool –any board- to start their reign by offloading their key player. Besides, he is not a player to loan out, and before buying him Barcelona need to think twice about his injury record, as it is extremely worrisome.

Filippo Inzaghi (Milan): I am not sure why the Media mentioned him. For all his qualities, he can’t play in the Champions league for Barcelona and he is not the type of players needed.

Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria): qualified to round 32 played Play-off round of the Champions league where the club was defeated against Pertizan and moved to play the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. His profile may sound fitting but his transfer doesn’t make sense as he can’t play in the champion’s league.

Luca Toni (Genoa): he can play for Barcelona in all competitions. He has an ok quality that serves the needs of Barcelona to some extent. But he used to complain when he doesn’t play enough matches as a key starter. I don’t think Genoa will be tempted to loan him out as a new striker they brought last summer. I don’t think it will be smart for Barcelona to buy him permanently. So…highly unlikely.

Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund) La Pantera is no doubt a player with lethal finishing skills and decent work rate. If Barcelona will end up buying a forward –instead of loaning one- this option may head the list. He is a quality squad player but can he improve to become a key member? That’s a tricky question. How much will his team demand as a transfer fee? That is another question.

Mauro Zárate (Lazio): Check D’Alessandro and Pastore above.

Nikola Žigić (Birmingham): I just can’t see why his team will loan him out after spending 6 M to buy him from Valencia. Buying him must not be an option for Barcelona. Case closed.

Peter James Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur): 1) Barcelona will not be able to use him in the Champions league. 2) Extremely expensive as his team will have no reason to sell their key striker. No need to argue if he has the quality to serve Barcelona anyway, because he is not an option.

Romelu Lukaku (Anderlecht): a 1.91 m 17 years old played Play-off round of the Champions league where the club was defeated against Pertizan and moved to play the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. So he will not be able to select him for Champions league. Yet, if Barcelona had any chance to sign him today, they will not wait till tomorrow. That chance will not show up. He already pointed out that he wants to finish his studies in Belgium. There are lots of clubs following him as well. His team will not waste the chance of creating a bidding war in the summer just to do Barcelona a favor.

Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor played twice in the League and once in Europa League Manchester City qualifying to round 32. He is no more the key player for Manchester City where Tevez is leaving no space for any other forward to compete for. If things didn’t change till January, Barcelona may have a chance to get him for loan till the end of the season. He will not complain demanding more playing time at Barcelona because he will get more than his current club can offer. He is the closest option to Barcelona’s temporary needs and based on the impression he leaves during his loan spell he may earn himself a permanent deal. The only complication will be his salary. Something that may require lot of negotiation with Manchester city owners to compromise.

That’s a fast round on some names. But make no mistake, everyday a new name will feed the flame. It is not even certain that Barcelona will sign anyone after all. 

The post today was supposed to continue the topic discussed yesterday. Yet, an urgent trip to Stockholm forced me to pack fast and write a light match preview before rushing to catch my train. The other post need to wait till I am back from the Swedish capital on Wednesday. Till then, let’s survive on snacks.

This week, FC Barcelona hosts Mallorca who already won 2 games, lost two and drew one collecting 7 points and settling in the eleventh drawer in the table. 

The club owned by Rafael Nadal the tennis master after an acquisition campaign led by no one but Serra Ferrer, faced the first blow when the intelligent coach Gregorio Manzano decided to move on after an extremely successful spell which led the club to the Champions’ league before their hefty debt that exceeded 80 Million Euros gave the chance for the UEFA to practice the law on this humble team, now that they don’t dare to show their authority facing the giants. Platini had lot of pleasure punching the kid hoping that this will scare the beasts.

Our own (or not?) Micheal Laudrup is the current coach. He is a coach who can do decent work where the expectations are not high. That’s exactly the case at Mallorca. He can count on the strong defense Manzano structured last season. They signed De Guzman (free transfer) to strengthen the midfield and Cavenaghi as a striker adding to the existing options Víctor,Webó, Sergi Enrich, Martí, without forgeting Aouate, one of many keepers in the Liga who perform at their best against Barcelona.

If Pep will keep counting on the same system discussed in the previous post, then why don’t we go for a 3-5-2 instead. With Xavi being out, all options are on the table for the selection. 

Predicted Lineup:

Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal, Mascherano, Busquets, Keita, Pedro, Messi, Iniesta

No one like it. I can live with that. Though I think it will be good to use Messi as a nine for this one after coming back from injury. That’s a position that doesn’t demand the Physical readiness his initial position does.

Nothing much to say that we didn’t point out in previous post. Beside that I will almost mess my train if I don’t start running!

One of the main features of Barcelona recently is Pep’s tendency to use his holding midfielder as a third center back, releasing his fullbacks to serve more as wingbacks. 

It is worth noting that this Virtual-third center back is the habit that made the difference stabilizing Barcelona’s system since Pep took the leash as a coach two years ago. It is true that adding Abidal instead of Gio was an automatic upgrade defensively, but it was Pep who customized Abidal’s role as a third Center back freeing Alves to move forward with no concerns. A trick that worked during the first season.

Then, perfecting the system required that this option should be, well… an option, not a must. When the opponent leave one forward to dance between the defenders, there is no sense in locking three defenders to watch him while the offense is struggling to find spaces and stretch the opponent defense and the midfielders are leaving spaces behind while running forward assist the offense. That’s exactly when we started to see Abidal running forward on the flank more often. Last season, Abidal’s offense contribution reached another lever, though his contribution in the offense buildup was still insufficient. There was a need for some new ideas.

Strangely, this “new” strategy of moving the holding midfielder back to assist the center backs is not new. Barcelona used this option few times last season, mainly when the selection contained Maxwell and Alves as fullbacks. The difference is that last season this option was a plan (B) that shied far behind the plan (A) which includes the quality defender Abidal. 

This season, Pep seems to depend on this option more often. I still think that he is still testing his options. There are some concerns about the depth at the center of the defense with only Puyol, Pique, and Milito to serve two positions.

That’s probably the main reason behind this adventure. If this trick works for Pep, then he can create a defense rotation that keeps everyone fresh with Adriano, Maxwell, and Alves serving as fullbacks supported by Abidal’s contribution where needed; and Puyol, Pique, Milito serving as center backs with Abidal’s contribution where needed. But first, there is a need to test if the team can sacrifice Abidals immense defensive quality beside two additional center backs. That’s yet to be confirmed.

It is understandable to think that this Barcelona crucially need to stretch the opponent defense creating holes because the team lack enough players who can create threat in the jam. That may sound like one of Barcelona’s motives to perform this trick. Yet, who said that the opponents will walk gratefully to that trap and let their defense block scatter in every direction. Hurcules didn’t do it. I think there were more motives for Barcelona to activate the flanks using the fullbacks when they had Henry to cut into the box beside Eto’o to benefit from the crosses. There was even a good motive when they had Ibrahimovic assisted by Keita’s runs to the Area. With an offense line of Iniesta, Villa, and Messi we need to think twice if this will end up being the perfect option after all. Mainly because such structure may dictate losing Keita’s offense contribution as the only possible threat inside the opponent’s Area, which is a need for this Fullback-offense-evolution to even worth trying. 

In Barcelona’s match preview against Athletic Bilbao I made the following remark about the previous match against Atletico where Barcelona used Busquets as a center backs' assistant when Alves and Maxwell move forward acting more as wing backs:

Against Athletic Bilbao, Pep recognized that issue. If you compare Xavi’s movement against Atletico to his movement against Athletic, he synchronized more with Keita in the later, playing behind him and covering that gap. That gave Keita more opportunities to move forward and create continuous threat in the Basques’ box.

Against Rubin Kazan, it was the time for the biggest test for the system applied. Barcelona had to face one of the masters of defensive tactics.

Last season, Pep’s decision to start Iniesta on the left wing at Kazan instead of henry was met by a storm of critic. It was not possible to convince Barcelona’s fans after a goalless draw that Pep prioritized possession over directness to decrease the threat of lost possession leading to counter attacks, which is a department the team was too fragile to deal with in that game. This season, Barcelona played –almost- a perfect game against Athletic that I thought Pep will use almost the same selection Against Rubin with only Abidal starting instead of Adriano/Maxwell. Yet, for the second time Pep decided to go for possession quality over directness. He confirmed the argument mentioned in the match preview against Atletico to use Mascherano-Busquets instead of Busquets-Keita in a game I thought will be more open than the Parked buses Barcelona usually need to deal with:

Add that to Rubin Kazan’s predicted style of play:

 

Pep ended up using Mascherano as a holding midfielder and Busquets as a Keita (more or less).

Regardless of all the advantages of this system, it seems that Barcelona need to do one of two sacrifices at a time. Either moving Xavi closer to the defense line to cover the space left by the Holding midfielder transition backward, and give a chance for Keita to stay closer to the opponent’s Area; Or Moving Keita back to do the covering and release Xavi to move forward. The first option leads to losing Xavi where he can generate more killing passes that slice the opponent’s defense. The second option undress the offense from the midfielder who can cover the forwards’ lack of Arial threat in the box leading to a dramatic decline in the usefulness of fullbacks contribution attacking the flanks.

Is this a good system for Barcelona to count on? That’s for everyone to decide. Do I think there is a better option? That’s for the second part that I will publish tomorrow.

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That’s the statement Rubin Kazan published on the official website. Yet, the match fever infected players who are no more playing with the club.