Josep Guardiola: officially official
Josep Guardiola: officially official
Pep Guardiola was officially presented as the new manager of the first team today, closing one chapter (that of Frank Rijkaard) and opening another. It’s good to have Guardiola actually be part of the team so that we can focus all of our energy on other things. In his post-presentation press conference, Guardiola made a couple […]
Pep Guardiola was officially presented as the new manager of the first team today, closing one chapter (that of Frank Rijkaard) and opening another. It’s good to have Guardiola actually be part of the team so that we can focus all of our energy on other things.
In his post-presentation press conference, Guardiola made a couple of bold statements. Some of them I liked, some of them I thought were statements being made by someone who doesn’t know how to handle the media.
I’m not experienced [as a coach] because I’m 37 years old. The only thing I have going for me as a coach is that these gentlemen [Laporta and Txiki] have chosen me. I’m not worried and I’m not scared by the challenge. I’m taking it on with a lot of confidence.*
That’s all well and good, though he makes the mistake of admitting that his superiors took on a completely inexperienced coach; whatever, hopefully it’s just Guardiola not giving a crap about what the media does to his words. He does, however, go on to further dampen the mood for me.
Every player from last season’s squad struck me as being at a high level [talent-wise]. With the technical secretary [Txiki] we are forming a squad and Deco, Ronaldinho, and Eto’o are not in our minds, but we’ll see how it goes.**
I disagree a million percent with saying straight up that you don’t want particular players, especially when those players are top-notch stars. Deco is having a superb Euro and yet he’s out? Eto’o is just another superb striker with some emotional problems, but the operative word, for me, is superb, not problems. Ronaldinho, well, that’s something else that can’t really be judged from the outside, but suffice to say that it’s probably a difficult situation (and now the LA Galaxy are in the mix, according to El Mundo Deportivo — they’ve offered Barcelona €26m for him and offered €32million a year to Ronnie himself in salary and image rights, split evenly).
Still, you don’t air that sort of thing to the media even if you don’t give a crap about what they’ll do with it because it’s not in your best interest to force your club’s hand thanks to the players in question getting offended and turning potentially salvageable situation into a utter disaster or making any transfer fee for them lower because everyone knows they’re being run out of Dodge. It’s certainly nice for the speculators (myself included, of course) to know what’s going on, but since we still don’t have a clue as to what’s going on, why does Guardiola feel that giving out these details is a good idea? If you’re into unity above all, e pluribus unum if you will, why create fissures in your locker room before you’ve taken control? Bold statements lead to bold reactions and that’s just the sort of thing that hurt last year, if we can believe all the reports we’ve read about internal division.
Barça B ain’t no first team, buddy. This comic from Sport is a good example of what Guardiola is in for. If you can’t read Spanish, I think you’ll still get the gist just by looking at the pictures.
*Feel free to take umbrage at my translation: “No tengo experiencia porque tengo 37 años. Mi único mérito como entrenador es que estos señores me han escogido a mi. No tengo miedo ni estoy asustado ante el reto. Lo cojo con mucha ilusión.”
**”Todos los jugadores que tenía la plantilla la pasada temporada me parecen de un nivel altísimo. Con la secretaría técnica estamos formando una plantilla y Deco, Ronaldinho y Eto’o no están en nuestra mente, pero veremos como va”
Vacation Time!
Hey folks, this is just a brief note to tell you that I, Isaiah, am going on vacation for 3 weeks. I’ll be doing the European backpack tour, so I’ll probably be completely out of contact during that time. It’s up to Kevin to hold down the fort in terms of telling you what’s going […]
Hey folks, this is just a brief note to tell you that I, Isaiah, am going on vacation for 3 weeks. I’ll be doing the European backpack tour, so I’ll probably be completely out of contact during that time. It’s up to Kevin to hold down the fort in terms of telling you what’s going on.
I’ll be back the week of July 21, in case you’d like to keep a running countdown to my return.
As they say in the Czech Republic, “Kde domov m?j?…mezi ?echy domov m?j!”
Welcoming Martín Cáceres
We have a new South American central defender who is known for his tenacity and crazy ass hair. And no, this isn’t a flashback to last year. I’m talking about Uruguayan international Martín Cáceres, who has joined from Villarreal (though you’ll remember him from Recreativo Huelva last year, where he was out on loan) in […]
We have a new South American central defender who is known for his tenacity and crazy ass hair. And no, this isn’t a flashback to last year. I’m talking about Uruguayan international Martín Cáceres, who has joined from Villarreal (though you’ll remember him from Recreativo Huelva last year, where he was out on loan) in a deal worth €16.5million. Cáceres’ contract is for 4 years, running out in June 2012, and has a buyout clause of €50million.
But what of this man? Who is he? Where does he hail from? What’s his sign? Well, here are all the facts:
José Martín Cáceres is 21, born and raised in Montevideo, stands at 6′0″ (183cm), is a Pisces, and has crazyass hair. He’s known for his hard defending and a couple of headed goals, a couple of which can be seen here. Note his hard challenge on Messi…
Because he’s only played one year in Europe, it’s hard to judge his durability and his true skill, but from all accounts he’s a fantastic player with one hell of an upside. [I’ll admit here that I didn’t note him specifically in the Recre match this year; neither did Kevin, who wrote the review here. Cáceres only participated in our 3-0 home smashing of Recre, not the 2-2 draw at the Nuevo Colombino, so that’s why the previous sentence appears in the singular, even though we obviously played them twice.] With all this talk about how good he is, I’m excited to see how he’ll do on the pitch. He’s not a jersey-selling signing, but rather a for-the-future defensive stalwart signing, which definitely makes me very, very happy.
Because I can’t truly speak about his positives (both of his goals for Recre were game winners, which is pretty great), I’ll focus on the negatives, though that in no way signals that I am against this signing. We needed another central defender and we got one that was being pursued, if only vaguely, by several other major clubs, so we can consider ourselves to on the track. As a 21-year old, Cáceres brings potential to the table, but can’t be considered an automatic starter at this point, even with the lack of depth at the position. He’ll take time to adapt to the situation, to the pressure, and to the new tactics in a way that an older, more experienced player might not. That means we’ll more than likely see a starting lineup of Marquez and Puyol to begin the season, which isn’t something I’m particularly sad about, but which does suggest that Cáceres better have his ego in check before stepping on to the field.
I doubt that Guardiola will have any issues keeping Cáceres off the field if he doesn’t think the kid is ready to play 90 minutes every game, so that’s a positive (Rijkaard would plug him in and do a trial-by-fire kind of thing, I’m pretty sure). If he’s as impetuous as some have said and often caught out of position because he’s being too aggressive, Guardiola will be forced to keep him off the field until he learns the correct positioning. Puyol can handle anything short of a thermonuclear warhead thrown at him, but even El Capitan Valiente sometimes needs backup. Because of Barcelona’s attacking capabilities (see above-mentioned WMD for defensive destruction capabilities), Cáceres won’t be needed to attack as much as he was by Recre. However, let’s get his head up there for corners, where we’ll still need him, full of mighty mites as our front line is.
Another potential negative is his aggression. In the video I linked before the jump, there were several in-the-box tackles that will be called penalties when they’re committed in Valdes’ box. That’s just how it’s gone the last year and our defense has to adapt to that.* Over-aggression leads to penalties, leads to draws and losses, leads to more pressure, leads to more penalties, etc. Cáceres has to keep himself in check and learn from Puyol when to kill an opponent. Not with kindness, but rather with the hatchet. Yellows aren’t bad as Milito taught us; in fact, they’re Deco’s best friend. It’s just that accumulating them in stupid circumstances (see Deco; Eto’o) is not a good idea. So calm down, son, and let’s play ball for real. You are surrounded by world class players; learn from them and you’ll be a star.
*I’m not suggesting a conspiracy, but that’s how it was this last year and I don’t expect that to change next year. Our defense was constantly off balance because of midfield issues and for at least the first third of next season, I expect the penalties to continue at the regular pace we had as Keita and company settle in.
It’s now official, so welcome, Gerard Pique!
“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.” Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the […]
“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.”
Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the defender, who was signed away when he was 17 years old from our youth ranks, isn’t any less sweet.
And now, the stats. He’s just 21 years old and can play center or right back (for those wondering about the Alves stand-in). He’s 6-foot-4 inches tall, and is known for his good head. The fiscal deal isn’t really all that well-known, but as has been reported earlier, it’s probably something around the bargain price of 5 million.
He gives us size, he gives us pace, and on set pieces he’s a real threat with his height and size. This is no Crouch. Pique has some meat on his bones, and gives us much-needed defensive depth. It goes without saying that he can defend with his head as well, and you’d need to be one hell of a leaper to outdo him.
Are we as excited about this signing as the others? Not quite, because I don’t figure Pique to have a regular spot in the starting XI. But as well all saw, depth was a huge problem for us last season. As back line players got tired, the folks that were brought in weren’t quite up to snuff. Thuram worked hard and knows a lot, but he isn’t anything vaguely approximating the man he once was. So there was lots of flailing. As the season wears on, easy controls of counterattacks become just a step behind the attacker, which leads to goals. Depth is critical, and Pique is part of that program.
He’s Catalan, so he understands what it means to wear the shirt.
Pique continued, “My desire to play for this club is unlike that I have for any other.”
I have no doubt that he’ll show it. Man U sold him at a good time for his development. He’s going to become one hell of a defender, and like all good young’uns coming up in Catalunya, he bleeds blaugrana.
So let’s give it up for the newest member of the side, and wish him well.
P.S. Yes, I know what his last name is, and I don’t care that it isn’t all that uncommon in CataLand. I just can’t bring myself to type it sometimes.
Congratulations, Barça B!
With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first […]
With a 1-0 victory at the Miniestadi against Barbastro on Sunday, Barça B achieved promotion to the Segunda B. Hopefully this is the beginning of a revival that pushes the them all the way to the Segunda A, but they’ll have to do it without Pep Guardiola, who will be presented as the new first team manager tomorrow (Tuesday).
The team finished the regular season with a record of 25W-8D-5L (83pts), 70GF 41GA (+29GD). At home they were unbeaten, winning 17 and drawing just twice. They weren’t so great away (8W-6D-5L), but they got the job done when it counted: the playoffs. There, they drew their first game away to Castillo 2-2, but then blanked them in the return leg 6-0. They advanced to the final and again started away to Barbastro, winning 0-2. At home in the return leg Barça B won 1-0 and secured their promotion.
Congratulations to all the Barça B players!
Seydou Keita: Official Presentation
Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though… Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May […]
Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though…
Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May your stay be wonderful and full of more goals against Real Madrid!
It’s official: Dani Alves is in the house
Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.” He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. […]
Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.”
He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. And he’s our most exciting signing of the summer transfer season. He’s also the most expensive defensive transfer ever. Is he worth it? Time will tell.
Interested fans will recall that some of us were saying that Mr. Henry was the most exciting transfer of last summer, and one Toure Yaya turned out to be in fact the most exciting signing of the summer, in the 20/20 goodness that is hindsight.
Be that as it may, I repeat:
This is the most exciting signing of the summer season. Davi Alves is considered by most to be the best right back in the world. He is a terrier on the pitch, who seems to take losing possession of the ball personally, as does our very own Leo Messi. The road was long, which began with our offer of a lot of money, and Sevilla’s own Skeletor saying “For 25 million, I will send them Alves’ boots, so that a junior player can wear them.”
And so it went. We don’t have exact numbers, but figure he’s a 30 million Euro man, by the time the incentives, etc are finished.
A quote from the very geeked Mr. Alves: “I am hungry to start playing and the sooner the better so I can show they did not make a mistake with me.”
I like to hear that. It’s hunger, the same kind of hunger that makes him the fittest player on the Brazilian national side, the same kind of hunger that made him a thorn in the side of every Liga team for season after season.
I’m not big on stats, so I won’t bother with them, because he’s starting from ground zero with us. But the question is demanded: Why did we sign him?
Well, we had a pretty good right back, Gianluca Zambrotta. But he wanted to go home and frankly, he would have been sent home anyhow after this signing. Alves is faster, better with the ball, a better shooter and an exceptional crosser of the ball. He’s also one of the world’s best free kick takers, not quite up there with the soon-to-be-gone Gordinho. It is a significant upgrade for the position, and more importantly makes us verge on unplayable.
Last season, Zambrotta was an excellent defender, but not really a threat. This season, Alves can stop an attacker, steal the ball, lead the break, lace in a cross or take the shot himself. The other big part of his game is free kicks, which means the “when in doubt, foul Messi” program is officially at an end. Who’s more dangerous, Messi in the box or Alves over a dead ball, just outside the box?
“I am happy to be living this dream,” says Alves.
So let’s all join in a rousing Blaugrana welcome for Dani Alves.
P.S. Yes, the plan is almost complete, because there’s still that striker complexity.
Martín Cáceres: blauguayan
A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of […]
A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of depth; this year he’ll be standing in (or replacing outright) Gabi Milito, who is going to be injured until sometime around when the cows come home. Which is, unfortunately for the beef eaters out there, not until March or so.
The vital stats for Cáceres: 6′0″, age 21. Born in Montevideo, plays for the Uruguay national team, and has Sergio Ramos hair. For my money he looks like Javier Bardem’s younger, more athletic, less ruthless brother. And yeah, I’m acting as if the only movie Bardem has been in was No Country for Old Men cause I’m a jackass American.*
I expect big things from Cáceres, but I don’t expect him to start automatically unless he somehow has a great report with Puyol. I do expect Márquez to start alongside Puyol at first, but Guardiola may take advantage of his grace period and really just experiment with the lineup a little, including putting Cáceres in the starting 11 from the get-go. We’ll have to wait and see.
And I still very much dislike the new home jersey.
*For the record, I really liked Mar Adentro and I was so-so on Carne trémula, but I haven’t seen Before Night Falls, Love in the Time of Cholera, or actually anything else Bardem’s been in. And I didn’t even like No Country all that much, but only because I got bored by the end.
Barça’s New Jerseys
You can check out the new FCB kits here on the official site. Let’s hear what you have to say about them in the comments. Here are all three together: Update: And thanks to faithful reader JC for this newest link to the players in the new kits.
You can check out the new FCB kits here on the official site. Let’s hear what you have to say about them in the comments. Here are all three together: 
Update: And thanks to faithful reader JC for this newest link to the players in the new kits.
