Barcelona huffs and puffs but have beaten the third best team of the Liga this season in what is said to be an intriguing match. Having lost Alves in the first half to a seemingly hip injury, followed by the knock to Adriano who got replaced by Villa thus forming a formidable 3-4-3 formation, but it was short lived as Messi walked back into the stands following another injury. This perhaps lightened the moods of Athletico players who slowed down and Barca willingly upped the tempo. Following was a miracle as Alexis Sanchez scored of a Cesc Fabregas assist, thus extending their recently formed partnership(remember Mallorca). Soon enough, Tello golden run proved too hot to handle as he slid a ball past to waiting David Villa who clearly misfired a shot but it took a deflection of Godin and sailed behind the nets. As Messi watched from the bench, Barca wiped the lead Athletico took in style and dumped them off at their own backyard. Now Athletico have failed to take a point out of the four matches between them and both BArcelona and Real Madrid, who also beat them both at home and away. Ten man Barca slid past the team with the best defence in this Liga season. Meanwhile, Athletico has a lot to learn before entering into the fray of European championships.
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Mourinho praises Barca
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho congratulated Barcelona after his side's 1-1 draw with Espanyol ended the title race.
Holder Madrid needed a victory at the home of Barca's city rival to prevent Tito Vilanova's side from taking its title.
But it was disjointed and off the pace in the first half which was dominated by Espanyol, which was unfortunate to only have a one-goal lead courtesy of Christian Stuani's 23rd-minute strike.
Hector Moreno incorrectly had a goal disallowed as Real appeared to have one eye on next week's Copa del Rey final against Atletico Madrid, with key men including Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
The second-half introduction of Ronaldo was followed moments later by Gonzalo Higuain's 58th-minute equaliser but Madrid could not find a winner and the title went to Barca.
"First of all I want to congratulate Barcelona, their coaches, their players, their managers and their fans," Mourinho told www.realmadrid.com. "They have just won the league title, which was ours until now, and I think the least we can do is congratulate them.
"Last season we won and wanted, justifiably, to speak about a great league campaign and I think it makes sense at this point is to congratulate the champion. You should give the champions the importance they deserve."
Mourinho stood by Pepe's continued absence from the team.
The defender was in the stands to watch the game against Espanyol having recently backed Iker Casillas in his row with Mourinho, who has favoured Diego Lopez over the Spain number one of late.
Mourinho said: "It was my decision and that's it. I'm the coach. I don't have to justify anything.
"From the first to the last day I'll always be the one to decide. Sometimes I can share the reasons for my decisions and sometimes not, I'll take that option.
"On Friday you'll see who plays and it will always be my decision and responsibility."
Pepe could yet find himself in contention to play in the cup final as Raphael Varane, the young centre-back who has taken his place in the team, picked up a knee injury against Espanyol and looks set to miss the game.
Mourinho said: "I don't want to second guess what the medical services have to say but at this point it looks like there is a certain degree of gravity, fairly serious let's say and it is impossible that he will play the cup final or the two or three matches left until the end of the season.
"We have alternatives. It is a position in which we have people who are playing well and that's good.
"We are obviously sorry that he cannot play in match that everyone wants to play, but there's no need to make a drama about it because we have solutions."
Xabi Alonso, who replaced Varane in the first half, turned his attention to the Copa del Rey final.
"The aim now is the cup and we have fight for the title that we have left to play for," he said. "There are six days to prepare and that's what we are thinking about.
"We are very motivated, eager to play a great match and lift the trophy in our stadium, albeit on neutral soil."
Holder Madrid needed a victory at the home of Barca's city rival to prevent Tito Vilanova's side from taking its title.
But it was disjointed and off the pace in the first half which was dominated by Espanyol, which was unfortunate to only have a one-goal lead courtesy of Christian Stuani's 23rd-minute strike.
Hector Moreno incorrectly had a goal disallowed as Real appeared to have one eye on next week's Copa del Rey final against Atletico Madrid, with key men including Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
The second-half introduction of Ronaldo was followed moments later by Gonzalo Higuain's 58th-minute equaliser but Madrid could not find a winner and the title went to Barca.
"First of all I want to congratulate Barcelona, their coaches, their players, their managers and their fans," Mourinho told www.realmadrid.com. "They have just won the league title, which was ours until now, and I think the least we can do is congratulate them.
"Last season we won and wanted, justifiably, to speak about a great league campaign and I think it makes sense at this point is to congratulate the champion. You should give the champions the importance they deserve."
Mourinho stood by Pepe's continued absence from the team.
The defender was in the stands to watch the game against Espanyol having recently backed Iker Casillas in his row with Mourinho, who has favoured Diego Lopez over the Spain number one of late.
Mourinho said: "It was my decision and that's it. I'm the coach. I don't have to justify anything.
"From the first to the last day I'll always be the one to decide. Sometimes I can share the reasons for my decisions and sometimes not, I'll take that option.
"On Friday you'll see who plays and it will always be my decision and responsibility."
Pepe could yet find himself in contention to play in the cup final as Raphael Varane, the young centre-back who has taken his place in the team, picked up a knee injury against Espanyol and looks set to miss the game.
Mourinho said: "I don't want to second guess what the medical services have to say but at this point it looks like there is a certain degree of gravity, fairly serious let's say and it is impossible that he will play the cup final or the two or three matches left until the end of the season.
"We have alternatives. It is a position in which we have people who are playing well and that's good.
"We are obviously sorry that he cannot play in match that everyone wants to play, but there's no need to make a drama about it because we have solutions."
Xabi Alonso, who replaced Varane in the first half, turned his attention to the Copa del Rey final.
"The aim now is the cup and we have fight for the title that we have left to play for," he said. "There are six days to prepare and that's what we are thinking about.
"We are very motivated, eager to play a great match and lift the trophy in our stadium, albeit on neutral soil."
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Puyol to Milan?
Barcelona’s Carles Puyol is reportedly negotiating for a move to AC Milan this summer.
The 35-year-old central defender has previously spoken of his desire to play for the Rossoneri as Paolo Maldini is one of his footballing idols.
According to ‘La porteria’ a programme on local TV station Barcelona Televisió (Btv), the Cules captain is negotiating his departure from the club in order to seal a move to the San Siro.
Puyol has been plagued with injuries this season and despite renewing his contract until 2016, he is thought to be negotiation for a buyout clause of €10 million, while the Rossoneri have already thought to have offered him a deal.
This season, Puyol has managed 13 La Liga appearances for Barcelona, with his last game for the club coincidentally coming in the 4-0 Champions League victory over Milan.
Barca aiming Luiz/Hummels
The modern day Barcelona have clung to the maxim that however many
goals they concede, they have the firepower to score at least one more.
Much as with the Catalan call for independence from spain, they feel
that it’s what defines t In fairness, it’s a philosophy that has served
them well. Enough silverware to exhaust a few cans of Brasso, a
worldwide reputation for excellence and more than a few superstar
players bear witness to that. In this creed, defenders have merely been
the first of the forward players. Aside from the elegant Piquet and the
lionhearted Puyol, the penchant for attacking full backs such as Alves
and Alba, and midfielders such as Mascherano – regularly - and Busquets –
occasionally - converted to quasi-defenders, has held sway.
The recent maulings by Bayern Munich however, may have put a little dent in the Catalan confidence, and the need to at least offer a salutary nod to the necessity of defence may have been recognised, and the press has linked them with the pursuit of a couple of, inevitably, star players, Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels, and Chelsea’s David Luiz.
Despite making the error that led to Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal in the home leg, Hummels was a star performer as the German club resisted a persistent and incessant Madrid pressing in the return game. The 24 year old is an outstanding defender and already has a German international cap for every year of his life. Borussia doubtless would not like to see him go, but with typical Teutonic logic, a large bid may persuade them to let him leave.
If you wanted to draw a photo-fit picture of a Barcelona defender, it would probably neatly fit with the tousle-haired Brazilian. Full of skill and confidence, prone to an occasional error, but with pace to burn and a neat suite of goals and free kicks, Luiz is without doubt an entertainer. Once described as being like a “Playstation footballer” by Sky pundit Gary Neville, he has now matured into one of the outstanding defenders in the Premier League. He also excels playing as a holding midfield player; a role that gives expression to his range of passing skills. Talk is that Abramovich has earmarked Luiz as the new team captain, so Chelsea will be reluctant to let him leave, but so much will depend on how the new manager views his kind of defending.
It may be valid to say that given Barcelona’s state of mind after the shock to their own mortality inflicted by Bayern, it’s more significant to look at that position of the players they are looking at rather than the individuals themselves. It may be that the Catalan club fail to capture either Hummels or Luiz, but if the club are now likely to pay due regard to rebuilding from the back, it may be a loss of innocence that changes the outlook of the club.
The recent maulings by Bayern Munich however, may have put a little dent in the Catalan confidence, and the need to at least offer a salutary nod to the necessity of defence may have been recognised, and the press has linked them with the pursuit of a couple of, inevitably, star players, Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels, and Chelsea’s David Luiz.
Despite making the error that led to Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal in the home leg, Hummels was a star performer as the German club resisted a persistent and incessant Madrid pressing in the return game. The 24 year old is an outstanding defender and already has a German international cap for every year of his life. Borussia doubtless would not like to see him go, but with typical Teutonic logic, a large bid may persuade them to let him leave.
If you wanted to draw a photo-fit picture of a Barcelona defender, it would probably neatly fit with the tousle-haired Brazilian. Full of skill and confidence, prone to an occasional error, but with pace to burn and a neat suite of goals and free kicks, Luiz is without doubt an entertainer. Once described as being like a “Playstation footballer” by Sky pundit Gary Neville, he has now matured into one of the outstanding defenders in the Premier League. He also excels playing as a holding midfield player; a role that gives expression to his range of passing skills. Talk is that Abramovich has earmarked Luiz as the new team captain, so Chelsea will be reluctant to let him leave, but so much will depend on how the new manager views his kind of defending.
It may be valid to say that given Barcelona’s state of mind after the shock to their own mortality inflicted by Bayern, it’s more significant to look at that position of the players they are looking at rather than the individuals themselves. It may be that the Catalan club fail to capture either Hummels or Luiz, but if the club are now likely to pay due regard to rebuilding from the back, it may be a loss of innocence that changes the outlook of the club.
Monday, 6 May 2013
Where will Barca go from here?
There are many issues that Barcelona
find sitting on their table today. After a comprehensive defeat by
Bayern Munich in this year’s Champions League semi final, the club is at
a crossroad.
It’s a problem that most clubs would
relish but could it be one that rips the clubs foundations apart? They
weren’t just defeated by Munich but where shown that others have learnt
how to play against their tiki-taka style and have developed something
to defeat it, proving the elite have moved on where Barcelona have stood
still.
This may seem harsh considering that they have just reached a record breaking 6th
consecutive semi-final of Europe’s most glamour’s club tournament and I
am myself torn on which argument is correct. A team that contains the
talents of Valdes (highly under-rated), Pique (slightly over-rated), Jordi Alba, Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa (massively under-rated) and Lionel Messi (highly over dependent) will always be reaching the later stages of all tournaments. But is that enough? With these stars, winning is expected.
There is another two groups of players
that are in the squad; the pretenders that are trying to force their way
through and the players that have been brought, expensively, to the
club but are either not playing to the level that they should or are not
trusted by the management team….and that is another issue that will be
address later.
So with regards to the question above relating to the 2 groups; do they stick or twist?
It is clear that certain players are not
playing to the level that they were two years ago, a possible reason
for Pep Guardiola leaving, and thoughts are that they won’t get back to
that level, so which road do they take?
If they can’t grow them, do they buy
them? A road they don’t seem to want to go down, and if they do, they
need to do it better than they have recently.
Buy or Grow?
The Golden Generation
For several years the academy system, La Masia, has been producing world class players that have made the Blaugrana
the envy of every club chairman in the world as with the list of
players above, only Villa didn’t come through the ranks. They are
numbered in today’s squads and are all international class players that
would be stars in every other team. But was that a freak?
How often will a youth team of Valdes,
Pique, Cesc, and Messi & Inesta all come through together with a
team that contained Busquets, Pedro, Alba following on very closely to
supplement more established players like Poyul and Xavi? It surely is a
one off?
There are promising youngsters coming
through. We have already seen the attacking talents of Tiago and Tello
frequently this season and both of the pretenders to Puyol’s throne,
Bartra and Montoya, have had their chances too. They have 2 promising
players gaining experience elsewhere in Afellay and Cuenca which will
hopefully result in a better player gracing the Nou Camp when they are
back. Also some players that haven’t yet progressed to the top team but
are highly thought of are Deulofeu and Juan Angela Roman. But will
they be good enough? If Barca are on a slide, can these players lift
them from it?
If the answer is no then they have to
open the cheque book. Barcelona aren’t cheapskates, in the past seasons
they have bought big but have they bought well? In the current squad
big name buys include Mascherano, Song, Pique & Cesc (both brought
back to the club at a high expense) all from the EPL and Alexis Sanchez,
Villa, Alves & Alba (like Pique & Cesc too) from Latin
leagues. Previous big name buys have included Ibrahimovic, Chygrynsky,
Yaya Toure and many others but for different reasons. Other expensive
signings have proved successful, done a turn and moved on like Eto, Deco
& Ronaldinho.
An Expensive Mistake
There is nothing wrong with selling a player if they are not fitting into the system (Ibra & Toure)
even if they could bring something different, a plan B if you like.
There is no harm in moving a player on from the club to allow a Messi or
Inestia to flourish as they did with Ronaldinho and Deco. Finally,
there is nothing wrong with NOT spending millions on Javi Martinez when Sergio Busquets does the same job just as well.
Where they have went wrong is with their
“square peg round hole” philophsy. Song, Mascherano, Villa &
Fabregas have all been brought in for a lot of Euros but are either not
good enough (Song) or are being played out of position (Villa)
which is affecting them to such a degree that they can’t play to their
own standards because their confidence has been compromised.
If Puyol is to be replaced don’t convert
a holding midfielder into a centre half just because you want them to
be able to play out of defence, pay the money and buy one. What’s wrong
with Kompany, Agger or Hummels? It doesn’t look like Fabregas will
replace Xavi as seamlessly as first predicted so would Mata or Hazard
have been a better fit?. Can you play with 2 wingers if both full backs
push on as much as Alba and Alves? Robben at Munich is better at
cutting in and shooting with his correct foot than Sanchez is.
So what now for Barca? Is last year’s
defeat by Chelsea, were they were bullied, and this year’s defeat by
Munich, were they were outplayed, just blimps…..or do we need to see a New Barcelona step forward? Let's wait and watch.
When will Barca stop depending only on Messi?
What looked like what could have been a disaster for FC Barcelona turned into another amazing performance from Lionel Messi as the little Argentine came off the bench, and grabbed a brace as El Bluagrana won 4-2 against Real Betis at the Camp Nou on Sunday.
It looked bad for Tito Vilanova's men at halftime as Ruben Perez's golazo gave the visitors the lead.
At halftime, I worried that Barcelona were letting down their mental guard. After a tough week following the elimination from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich, it seemed that the Barça players had not shaken off the bad form.
All Culés looked to was the Barcelona bench, and if Tito Vilanova would bring in Messi.
In the 56th minute, David Villa tied the game up with a great header. One minute later, Lionel Messi came in to replace el guaje.
After a free kick was given to Barça, Messi stepped up and struck a golazo to give Barcelona the lead.
Thank you, Leo, for somehow telepathically reading my tweet while on the pitch, and answering my request.
With that goal, Messi has now scored in 21 straight league games—an all-time world record he continues to extend.
Messi added a second goal in the 71st minute. Messi started the play
by giving the ball to Andres Iniesta who then makes the backheel pass to
Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean then slipped by a Betis defender, and made
the pass to a running Leo who put it in the back of the net.
A beautiful team play.
FINAL: FC Barcelona 4 - 2 Real Betis.
Alexis Sanchez had a great game with a solid goal by the Chilean to equalize in the fist half, and a great assist to Leo for the fourth goal. I'm now becoming convinced that Alexis should stay at Barcelona next season. He's only 24 years old, and lately he's been playing outstanding.
I could see a forward lineup of Sanchez-Messi-Neymar in 2013-14.
David Villa probably should have had at least two goals in this game, but Villa's game was not 100 percent. Glad to see Villa get his much deserved goal in the 5th minute. But I can't help but remind myself that this will be Villa's last season at FC Barcelona. He's been inconsistent since his injury in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup. I'm a big David Villa fan, but Barcelona need to go in a different direction next season.
For now, let's just enjoy David Villa while we have him.
While I am happy that Lionel Messi inspired and brought FC Barcelona
back to a win, I can't help but think that it took a semi-injured Messi
to bring this team back to victory.
That speaks worlds for Lionel Messi's brilliance, as well as the lack of offensive creativity Barcelona has whenever Leo is not on pitch.
An injured Messi is better than most healthy players in the world. But Barcelona cannot continue to rely on "Messidependencia" to save them over and over.
For a few years now, Barcelona has relied on Messi to create the majority of the goals, and the goal-scoring opportunities. And it worked! Barcelona's resume these past five years has been stellar.
But for me, last year's UEFA Champions League semifinal loss to Chelsea was the official "beginning of the end" sign of Messidependencia. After Messi's penalty miss, the offense kept trying to go back to Leo to make the goal. The wingers were inept, and Xavi and Iniesta were unable to create anything. As we saw against PSG in the first half of the second leg, and both legs of the semifinal against Bayern this season, no (or an injured) Messi equals no party for Barcelona.
This season, Leo has been nothing short—no pun intended—of brilliant,
when healthy. Leo broke Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a calendar
year, and has also scored against every Liga team in a row.
But Leo's most important contribution this season may have been what he did against Betis on Sunday.
Let's think about it—if Barcelona had lost against Betis, Real Madrid would have had the opportunity to come within two points of Barcelona by next Sunday if Real were to go on and defeat Malaga this Wednesday, and Espanyol next Saturday.
Imagine the pressure and criticism Tito, Messi, and even Sandro Rosell would have come under if Barcelona would have had to go to Vicente Calderon next Sunday against Atletico Madrid. It would have been Catalan chaos.
Thankfully, Leo saved FC Barcelona from Liga disaster.
But Leo's heroics are a reminder of how fragile this Barcelona offense is, has been, and will continue to be if help doesn't come soon.
So whose fault is this?
It's a combination of the wingers' inconsistent play, Sandro Rosell, and the coaching.
Pep Guardiola never had a "Plan B" for the offense, and Tito Vilanova
doesn't truly have one now. Perhaps David Villa was supposed to be part
of the Plan B, but his shaky play these past two years has
not merited that.
Sandro Rosell has not focused on two important issues these past two season: help for Leo, and the defense. It seems that this summer, Rosell will finally address these issues.
Finally, the wingers have had inconsistent play ever since Barcelona defeated Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League Final. Pedro has played well for the Spanish National Team, but not that well wearing the blaugrana. Alexis has improved lately, but overall he has been inconsistent. Cristian Tello gets a pass because of his age, and he's been the biggest scoring threat many times whenever Leo is not in a game. As previously mentioned, Villa has had his moments, but his game hasn't been the same since his broken leg in late 2011. Perhaps age is finally catching up to Villa.
I'm not saying Barcelona should get rid of all of their wingers, but I do think it's time to shake things up.
And one player who will shake things up is Neymar.
The Brazilian is nearly a lock to come to the Camp Nou next season, and it will be great to have another player that can create and score goals on his own if need be.
I'm not saying Neymar will solve Barcelona's "Messidependencia" completely, but he will be part of the solution. I feel Barcelona will look to see if they can acquire either a striker or centre-forward to help out as well.
Gerard Deulofeu will be a first-team player next season, but he's still a year or two from reaching his full potential.
And no, I don't see Robert Lewandowski coming to Barcelona, although it would be nice to have a striker like that on the team.
Pedro and Alexis Sanchez need to both have a solid season in 2013-14, or else they will become sale/loan bait—even Pedro.
Changes are coming at the Camp Nou this summer.
The defense needs to be priority number one.
Neymar will surely be on his way as well.
I'm just hoping that Neymar, the rest of the wingers, Tito Vilanova, and the team as a whole will begin to get away from "Messidependencia."
It worked for a few seasons, and it still works for the most part. But these past few weeks has shown us that Leo is human, and needs another scorer to take the weight off his shoulders—and his magical left foot.
It looked bad for Tito Vilanova's men at halftime as Ruben Perez's golazo gave the visitors the lead.
At halftime, I worried that Barcelona were letting down their mental guard. After a tough week following the elimination from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich, it seemed that the Barça players had not shaken off the bad form.
All Culés looked to was the Barcelona bench, and if Tito Vilanova would bring in Messi.
In the 56th minute, David Villa tied the game up with a great header. One minute later, Lionel Messi came in to replace el guaje.
After a free kick was given to Barça, Messi stepped up and struck a golazo to give Barcelona the lead.
Thank you, Leo, for somehow telepathically reading my tweet while on the pitch, and answering my request.
With that goal, Messi has now scored in 21 straight league games—an all-time world record he continues to extend.
A beautiful team play.
FINAL: FC Barcelona 4 - 2 Real Betis.
Alexis Sanchez had a great game with a solid goal by the Chilean to equalize in the fist half, and a great assist to Leo for the fourth goal. I'm now becoming convinced that Alexis should stay at Barcelona next season. He's only 24 years old, and lately he's been playing outstanding.
I could see a forward lineup of Sanchez-Messi-Neymar in 2013-14.
David Villa probably should have had at least two goals in this game, but Villa's game was not 100 percent. Glad to see Villa get his much deserved goal in the 5th minute. But I can't help but remind myself that this will be Villa's last season at FC Barcelona. He's been inconsistent since his injury in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup. I'm a big David Villa fan, but Barcelona need to go in a different direction next season.
For now, let's just enjoy David Villa while we have him.
That speaks worlds for Lionel Messi's brilliance, as well as the lack of offensive creativity Barcelona has whenever Leo is not on pitch.
An injured Messi is better than most healthy players in the world. But Barcelona cannot continue to rely on "Messidependencia" to save them over and over.
For a few years now, Barcelona has relied on Messi to create the majority of the goals, and the goal-scoring opportunities. And it worked! Barcelona's resume these past five years has been stellar.
But for me, last year's UEFA Champions League semifinal loss to Chelsea was the official "beginning of the end" sign of Messidependencia. After Messi's penalty miss, the offense kept trying to go back to Leo to make the goal. The wingers were inept, and Xavi and Iniesta were unable to create anything. As we saw against PSG in the first half of the second leg, and both legs of the semifinal against Bayern this season, no (or an injured) Messi equals no party for Barcelona.
But Leo's most important contribution this season may have been what he did against Betis on Sunday.
Let's think about it—if Barcelona had lost against Betis, Real Madrid would have had the opportunity to come within two points of Barcelona by next Sunday if Real were to go on and defeat Malaga this Wednesday, and Espanyol next Saturday.
Imagine the pressure and criticism Tito, Messi, and even Sandro Rosell would have come under if Barcelona would have had to go to Vicente Calderon next Sunday against Atletico Madrid. It would have been Catalan chaos.
Thankfully, Leo saved FC Barcelona from Liga disaster.
But Leo's heroics are a reminder of how fragile this Barcelona offense is, has been, and will continue to be if help doesn't come soon.
So whose fault is this?
It's a combination of the wingers' inconsistent play, Sandro Rosell, and the coaching.
Sandro Rosell has not focused on two important issues these past two season: help for Leo, and the defense. It seems that this summer, Rosell will finally address these issues.
Finally, the wingers have had inconsistent play ever since Barcelona defeated Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League Final. Pedro has played well for the Spanish National Team, but not that well wearing the blaugrana. Alexis has improved lately, but overall he has been inconsistent. Cristian Tello gets a pass because of his age, and he's been the biggest scoring threat many times whenever Leo is not in a game. As previously mentioned, Villa has had his moments, but his game hasn't been the same since his broken leg in late 2011. Perhaps age is finally catching up to Villa.
I'm not saying Barcelona should get rid of all of their wingers, but I do think it's time to shake things up.
And one player who will shake things up is Neymar.
The Brazilian is nearly a lock to come to the Camp Nou next season, and it will be great to have another player that can create and score goals on his own if need be.
I'm not saying Neymar will solve Barcelona's "Messidependencia" completely, but he will be part of the solution. I feel Barcelona will look to see if they can acquire either a striker or centre-forward to help out as well.
And no, I don't see Robert Lewandowski coming to Barcelona, although it would be nice to have a striker like that on the team.
Pedro and Alexis Sanchez need to both have a solid season in 2013-14, or else they will become sale/loan bait—even Pedro.
Changes are coming at the Camp Nou this summer.
The defense needs to be priority number one.
Neymar will surely be on his way as well.
I'm just hoping that Neymar, the rest of the wingers, Tito Vilanova, and the team as a whole will begin to get away from "Messidependencia."
It worked for a few seasons, and it still works for the most part. But these past few weeks has shown us that Leo is human, and needs another scorer to take the weight off his shoulders—and his magical left foot.
Pique rubbishes rift report
Gerard Pique says speculation that he and Barcelona coach Tito
Vilanova have different ideas on how the team must be improved this
summer is wrong and that the pair have a "phenomenal" relationship.
Pique called for "decisions to be taken" immediately after Barca's painful 7-0 aggregate Champions League exit
to Bayern Munich last Wednesday, with Vilanova then 'joking' at
Friday's press conference that he assumed the defender "was not counting
himself on the list of changes".
There was more evidence of internal strife at the Camp Nou during Sunday's 4-2 La Liga win over Real Betis, when security staff removed a banner saying 'ResPePct', which referred to ex-blaugrana coach Josep Guardiola, who some feel has not always seen eye to eye with current president Sandro Rosell.
With these issues hovering overhead Pique told reporters after the game that too much had been read into his comments post the Bayern match.
"I just said that some decisions should be taken, but I was talking along general lines," Pique said. "On a personal level for each individual so we could take a step forward and try and be better and work more so that next season we can try and reach Bayern's level. The tie showed they are a step ahead of us."
The defender, who before leaving Barca for Manchester United in 2004 played in a youth team coached by Vilanova, said the two men had always been close.
"I do not see what he said [on Friday] as directed at me," Pique said. "I have a phenomenal relationship with Tito. He was my coach when I was 15 years old. I appreciate him a lot, and have the highest respect for him as a coach."
When Barca lost any small issue was always blown out of proportion, said the Barcelona-born player.
"We know we are Barca, and everything around us gets multiplied a lot," he said. "If you look at what was said, it is not from another world. We are at a club that, when things go badly, people always look for some murmurs, some internal problems that in the end are not there."
Betis went 1-0, and then 2-1, ahead in Sunday's game, before Lionel Messi appeared from the bench to score twice and seal a 4-2 victory, which leaves Barca just two points from securing this season's La Liga title.
"We played well," Pique said. "The goal in the opening minutes was a tough blow coming from the tie where we had been knocked out. In the end we had turned things around, we played a very good game, created lots of chances and deserved the win. Winning is the best way to react [to exiting Europe]. I believe the team has shown it has this character of champions, that we want to win every time. Today was a vital game, to almost clinch the La Liga title."
Anyone who felt this season was a failure was not aware of Barca's history, Pique claimed.
"If you look at the last 30 years of this club, winning a league title and reaching the Champions League semi-finals is magnificent," he said.
There was more evidence of internal strife at the Camp Nou during Sunday's 4-2 La Liga win over Real Betis, when security staff removed a banner saying 'ResPePct', which referred to ex-blaugrana coach Josep Guardiola, who some feel has not always seen eye to eye with current president Sandro Rosell.
With these issues hovering overhead Pique told reporters after the game that too much had been read into his comments post the Bayern match.
"I just said that some decisions should be taken, but I was talking along general lines," Pique said. "On a personal level for each individual so we could take a step forward and try and be better and work more so that next season we can try and reach Bayern's level. The tie showed they are a step ahead of us."
The defender, who before leaving Barca for Manchester United in 2004 played in a youth team coached by Vilanova, said the two men had always been close.
"I do not see what he said [on Friday] as directed at me," Pique said. "I have a phenomenal relationship with Tito. He was my coach when I was 15 years old. I appreciate him a lot, and have the highest respect for him as a coach."
When Barca lost any small issue was always blown out of proportion, said the Barcelona-born player.
"We know we are Barca, and everything around us gets multiplied a lot," he said. "If you look at what was said, it is not from another world. We are at a club that, when things go badly, people always look for some murmurs, some internal problems that in the end are not there."
Betis went 1-0, and then 2-1, ahead in Sunday's game, before Lionel Messi appeared from the bench to score twice and seal a 4-2 victory, which leaves Barca just two points from securing this season's La Liga title.
"We played well," Pique said. "The goal in the opening minutes was a tough blow coming from the tie where we had been knocked out. In the end we had turned things around, we played a very good game, created lots of chances and deserved the win. Winning is the best way to react [to exiting Europe]. I believe the team has shown it has this character of champions, that we want to win every time. Today was a vital game, to almost clinch the La Liga title."
Anyone who felt this season was a failure was not aware of Barca's history, Pique claimed.
"If you look at the last 30 years of this club, winning a league title and reaching the Champions League semi-finals is magnificent," he said.
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