Posted on Tuesday, 31st August 2010 by Suminder Sandhu
Barca get their man
Few recent summers can contend with the anticipation accompanying La Liga this year. Barcelona didn’t exactly enamour themselves with a large number of North Londoners (and probably some Merseysiders) but they eventually did land one long time target, David Villa, whilst unceremoniously ridding themselves of the vilified Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Barca set pulses Racing
I literally sat speechless when I looked at the clock and realised it had only taken Lionel Messi 2 minutes and 45 seconds to influence the first league game of the season. Andres Iniesta’s feint and subsequent through ball was latched onto and converted, a right footed dink over the helpless Toño, by Messi. For all who assumed that the forward trio of Villa-Messi-Iniesta would see the ex-Valencia man at its most focal point, this probably won’t be the case. Guardiola used Messi as his number 9 for many of the big games last year – most notably after Ibra’s loss of form post January – and his reasoning cannot be argued with (something Argentina should maybe learn from?): as a central forward he can influence the game more drastically. He is closer to goal, can engineer chances from nearly nothing, can vary Barca’s approach by playing as a false nine, and is painfully (for non Barca fans) clinical. He’s like a Chris Nolan movie; it’s got to the point where people are just plain bored of how often he’s on it. Jonathan Wilson said it perfectly last year, ‘[when Messi didn’t complete a hattrick of hattricks in La Liga against Osasuna] not-brilliance has become a bigger story than brilliance.’
Tactically however this isn’t that much of a surprise. Not because Messi is an intergalactic talent and can play anywhere, but more to do with Villa. As an outright number 9 it’s clear he wasn’t at his most threatening for Spain at the World Cup (coming in off high left saw a lot of his damage being done). And for Valencia he had the kind of license to do what Messi is doing for Barca now. And if it’s a straight choice between Messi and Villa for that kind of freedom, it’s no contest. He will however have plenty of moments centrally (as his disallowed goal demonstrated) due to the movement of his outstanding partners up front.
The victory at Racing saw a dream start for the forward trident – a goal for each of them! Iniesta nonchalantly looped in a first time volley for the second as Racing failed to clear their lines and Villa nodded a difficult header into the far post from Alves’s excellent cross. What’s definitely intriguing to see is just how Mascherano can fit into this midfield. Xavi and Busquets (I have no idea why this guy isn’t getting his dues from a lot of English pundits; his peekaboo antics against Inter make him a bit of a fairy but he is a class footballer) are virtually undroppable leaving only one space – Keita played it on Sunday but I definitely think Guardiola wants someone else in his best XI. If Mascherano comes in the difficulty is then just how deep Xavi is deployed; Mascherano and Busquets alongside one another with Xavi just ahead, as he did for Spain? It becomes a destroyer-passer-creator relationship, one that has worked well for top European sides using 4-3-3/4-2-3-1s, but Xavi is not at his most controlling in this position.
It’s a dilemma Guardiola will welcome however considering how few options he’s had to work with over the past 18 months (he’s only really had 14 players whom he could reliably choose from). Although the squad is balanced at the moment, I still think it’s a couple of players thin – aside from Bojan, Pedro, Keita, and Abidal there aren’t a wealth of options and Maxwell isn’t the most convincing (though Adriano’s arrival should change that).
Ibra out
The eternally polarising Ibrahimovic has finally had his fill of Spain and Milan are left smiling at their latest acquisition. Unlike our Harry Redknapp, who had a couple of choice words for Sky Sports over the weekend, this piece of wheeling and dealing will have Adriano Galliani and all concerned with the Rossoneri licking their lips; the artist formally known as Ronaldinho is vaguely resembling the real Ronaldinho, Pato has a one-in-two record for Milan at only 20 years of age (40 goals in 79 games if you can believe it), and now the undoubted talents of Ibra make the club and its faithful optimistic in Serie A and Europe for the first time in five years.
Although we won’t know with any veracity what actually went on behind the scenes between the Swede and the ‘philosopher’, what must be true is that Ibrahimovic has an ego the size of himself and Guardiola has an unnerving ruthlessness (one might argue that it’s an imperative in this business). What is definitely more unsettling for the club than personal friction is financial mismanagement; why is it that two of their most expensive signings were only given one year before being (unfairly?) discarded? Zlatan has been derided publicly for his apparent failings but 21 goals and 11 assists doesn’t smell like a flop – in big games he did deliver, contrary to the myth (Stuttgart – yes, it was a big game – away, Arsenal away, and the winner in el clasico). As Sid Lowe puts it, ‘Only Gonzalo Higuaín was directly responsible for securing his side more points in La Liga.’
But after all the vitriol and analysis and talk of a failed ‘plan B’ the only man whose opinion actually matters has decided that the small, nifty guys are his plan A and his plan B. But the irritating inconsistency of esteem vs. output in the media makes me doubt that Villa would get even an iota of the hate that Zlatan did if he ends this season with 21 goals and 11 assists.
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Tags: Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in Blogs, La Liga | Comments (3)
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September 2nd, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Great summary of Barca’s performance Sam. It seems so painfully clear that Villa was the forward they wanted all along, and it’s a shame for that they had to waste time and effort on the Ibra farce. Villa was a ready-made Barcelona player already and I have no doubt that he will have an incredibly fruitful and productive stint at the Camp Nou.
What’s interesting to see is that Messi is the figurehead of the trident, many would have initially assumed that Villa would have taken Ibra’s number nine position. But highlighting Messi’s virtues, as you have, and the benefits of having him in the middle make perfect sense.
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September 2nd, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Cheers man. Yeh its just a credit to the monstrous nature of Messi’s ability that he’s the number 9 now. As I said my only rankle, media wise, would be if Villa is extolled for a similar goal return as Ibra – the inconsistency annoys me sometimes.
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September 2nd, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I am still staggered by the way in which Messi and Ronaldo have blurred the lines as to defining what a striker, forward or winger is now. It’s mindblowing! Do you think there are in comparable players in the Premier League who evade positional pigeonholing quite as much as these two?
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