FC Barcelona grand mess

FC Barcelona appears to have started the season well with two victories over Valencia and Athletic Bilbao, two traditionally difficult sides. But the good start is overshadowed by the financial mess that is the Catalonian club, and which needs to be addressed, as well is putting in doubt these financial rules for big football clubs.

The entire financial situation is a mess as described in articles that can give a finer description of the details than I can. One immediate consequence that we see as fans is that FC Barcelona's salary ceiling appears to be too high, and they have this week been forced to let go of Ilkay Gundogan, the outstanding German midfielder who has returned to Manchester City after only one season at the Catalan club. While Barcelona also had to abandon trying to sign Nico Williams (whose partnership with Lamina Yamal would be a great asset), and need to find more savings to be able to be allowed to sign Dani Olmo from Leipzig.

While FC Barcelona and its accountants are trying to do do accounting acrobatics to stabilize income amid the rebuilding of the Camp Nou and closing a debt gap of nearly one billion USD, one has to wonder how a club like FC Barcelona has gotten itself in this situation...

It appears to be years and years of financial mismanagement as the "socio" structure: the club is owned by members of the FC Barcelona society, where anyone can become a member by an application and an annual fee. These socios elect the members of the board and the President of the club in democratic elections.

It is a model that is also used in Real Madrid, and has set the clubs apart less as "money machines" to an illusion of them being representatives of a community and working for that community.

But this is obviously an illusion as these clubs elect presidents who appear to have limited interest in the financial stability of the clubs, and perhaps more importantly, limited knowledge of what financial stability means. Because FC Barcelona, its socios, and its fans appear to have to face the truth that their club is bankrupt and that if it is not to be punished by being disqualified from European football and punished in La Liga (the latter being less likely), they need to find investors with real money who can save the club. 

As was seen with Valencia, this may not work, but it seems to be that the club either accepts a new ownership structure or accept a few seasons where the priority is to rebuild the finances at the cost of lower positions in the league.

I would prefer the latter if I were a fan. They still have a solid team that will play high level, if not fighting for trophies, as they rebuild. But that is exactly what seems to be unacceptable for anyone in this side, who prefer to live the illusion of democracy and great football.

As a football fan it is a pity, but FC Barcelona have brought themselves into this situation.

Circus Spanish Football Federation

Few people around the world knew who Luis Rubiales was. But the head of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has become a world celebrity following his embarrassing behaviour at the World Cup final, grabbing his crotch and kissing one of the Spanish players, Jenni Hermoso. He has in a rather pathetic apology defended himself with being euphoric at the moment, but at the same time said that he will not step down from his lucrative position as head of the RFEF. This he categorically said in a speech to the RFEF, and was widely clapped by the many machos of the RFEF, such as the Spanish national team manager Jorge Vilda and Luis de la Fuente.

In the meantime player Jenni Hermoso has said that the kiss was not consensual, and been attacked in an official communique by the RFEF. In support, many players, including the entire team of World Champions, has said that they will boycott the national team until the leadership steps down. Rubiales has been suspended by FIFA and has been widely denounced both nationally and internationally.

This is a sad circus. Spain are World Champions and attention goes to these men who live in a previous century. Because let us admit that there are still many men like Rubiales in the world and in particular in the world of football. Men of power who believe they can do anything and behave in any way they want. This is mainly because they have normally been allowed to abuse and misuse. 

If anything good comes out of this circus it is perhaps that the obviousness of men like Rubiales comes to light.

Barcelona's first title under Xavi

The ex-footballer and Barcelona manager Xavi has taken time to build a competitive side, but being who he is and knowing the club, he has proceeded to build a team that will surely win titles, and today they won their first title in Saudi Arabia: the Spanish Super-Cup. The tournament has become a money-making machine, with the runners-up to the League and Copa del Rey participating in a mini tournament that nevertheless, to the joy of the people putting the money into the tournament, saw Barcelona face the giants of Real Madrid.

Although Real Madrid had some good initial chances, their midfield stars of Modric and Toni Kroos were simply not functioning, while FC Barcelona dominated the match after their initial lead by Gavi.

And it was indeed the 18-year old Gavi who was the star of the match, running around Carvajal in the Real Madrid defense. He made the pass for Lewandowski easily to make it 2-0, while he was also the creator of the third goal by Pedri. Karim Benzema's goal for the Real Madrid in the dying minutes meant nothing as Xavi took his first title, and is also in the lead of the Spanish League.

One of the great things Xavi has done is not only to find the right tactics for difficult matches, but has also empowered young players, not only Gavi, but also Alejandro Balde, who played a great match in defense, alongside the two newcomers Andreas Christensen and Jules Koundé. And finallly, players that were rumoured on their way out, such as Ousmane Dembele and Frankie de Jong, have renewed confidence to show their incredible talent.

Xavi's first title appears not to be the last, and under him Barcelona may be on the way to another glorious era.

Burgos CF

As mentioned, I recently participated in the Budapest-Bamako rally. I wasn on the team "Diamond-Child Burgos", since we were bringing materials to a school in Freetown, "Diamond Child School", and because my two team-mates are from the old city of Burgos. 

Known for its UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral, Burgos has never really been known for its football. Burgos CF is in the Spaniosh second division where they have languished for decades. But the last few years Burgos has more ambition, and have the former Oviedo, Swansea and Napoli player as manager. In these years Burgos CF has been constructing a team that is currently vying for a first division spot. In fact, they started the season strongly, beating the all-time record of any Spanish team with a clean sheet, going 928 minutes without conceding a goal. 

The club's prospects are reasonably creating expectations in Burgos. I did not know much about the team, but it was central during the trip across West Africa (alongside the Salvadoran flag), and I will surely be following and cheering on Burgos as they make history!

The continuing Valencia crisis

I had really hoped that the arrival of Cesare Prandelli as Valencia manager would change things for the (now tiny) Spanish giants. But I was wrong, after only three months in charge, and only one league victory, Cesare Prandelli has resigned in a way that has to make Valencia fans wonder if the problem with the club is the managers (there have been nine managers since 2012) or something more systemic.
Mr. Prandelli's qualities as a manager cannot be doubted, and he is just one among many successful managers who have left Valencia without success. So what is wrong with Valencia? Is it a management who thinks more of numbers than about football? Is it players who have no commitment for the club? Is it fans who are not supportive enough of young talented players?
Or is it rather a combination?
Truth is that Valencia, who ten years ago was among the great clubs in Europe, is now nothing more than a mediocre club that fights to avoid relegation. And as a fan of Valencia, it hurts to realize this.

Neville's first victory

I have never been really fond of Valencia's eagerness to fire managers and hire new ones as a way to success. Since Rafa Benitez in the 2003-2004 season Valencia has done little under a wide array of managers that have included Claudio Ranieri, Ronald Koeman and Unay Emery.
It was a surprise when the ex-Manchester United player Gary Neville was made new manager in December. With Neville never having coached a top team before, it certainly seemed a gamble, and personally I continue to be skeptical. There have been some awful results, from the elimination in the Champions League to the 0-7 humiliation by FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey. And only now, more than two months since he took over, Gary Neville got his first victory when they defeated Espanyol 2-1 in la Liga.
Maybe this first victory, coming so late, will be the start of something good. I doubt it though. I fear that this first victory is just an exception under what I don't believe will be a good period for Valencia under Gary Neville.
I hope I am wrong.

Valencia's transformation

It has not been easy to be a fan of Valencia over the last 10 years. In 2004 the club won the UEFA Cup and the League, but since then the team has been in huge financial troubles and besides a Copa del Rey title in 2008, has not been part of any European elite. Whenever there have been great players, these have been sold to some of the big teams of Europe to cover the mounting losses: David Silva, Juan Mata, David Villa, Raul Albiol, Roberto Soldado... they have all gone.
But times may be changing.
In May the Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim bought the majority stakes in the club, and he has brought in a long list of new players for the new season. Firstly, they have contracted some exciting new players: Rodrigo de Paul, an interesting 20-year old Argentine from Racing; Lucas Orban, another Argentine defender from Bordeaux, and Nicolas Otamendi from Oporto, an Argentine player who was highly sought in the market. Additionally, they got the young German world champion Shkodran Mustafi from Sampdoria and the young Portuguese defender Ruben Vezo from Vitoria Setubal.
But Valencia has also been out borrowing players: from Rio Ave the Brazilian defender Filipe August, and from Benfica the two exciting young attackers Andre Gomes and Rodrigo. After only five games both players have already scored goals, and both are on the verge of entering their respective national teams (Portugal and Spain).
Valencia has also borrowed two players from Manchester City: Alvaro Negredo and Bruno Zuculini. Negredo is still to make his debut, and the young strikers will surely not make it easy for him.
The most exciting young striker of Valencia is 21-year old Paco Alcacer, educated in Valencia's own ranks. He made his national team debut in August, and has a great career ahead of him.
Valencia's integration of its young players has been great this season: Antonio Barragan, Carles Gil and Jose Gaya are all from its own ranks.
Many big clubs have already had their eyes opened on the young defender Jose Gaya, but the great thing for many Valencia fans is that the club may now be able to hold on to its players. All the new blood is already making an impact, but Valencia was able to keep some of the most important players from last season, most notably Pablo Piatti, Dani Parejo, and Sofiane Feghouli, who after a great world cup with Algeria, was a highly coveted man!
After defeating Cordoba 3-0 Valencia is leading the Spanish league ahead of Barcelona, on goal difference. Of course, there is a long way to go, and Valencia are not really candidates for the title. That said, Valencia has announced its intention to return among the top of Europe, and with the young team at their disposal, will certainly be a force to be dealt with.

"A boring league"

Just read an interview with the successful Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone, in which he calls the Spanish league "boring". In spite of his team's second place in the league he says his only expectation when the league started was to bother the two great teams, and this he has greatly succeeded at. But still, his team has to fight hard to win every match, and their second place is also, in my view, because of the prolonged crisis that Real Madrid has been in. And I certainly agree with Diego Simeone when he says it is laughable to talk about crisis in FC Barcelona, when the team has won 12 league matches and is quite uncontested in first spot.
In reality one needs only to look at the history of the Spanish league in the last years to see how boring it is: not since 2008 has another team than Real Madrid and Barcelona been in top-2 (Villarreal, who trailed Real Madrid for the title). Not since 2004 has another team than Real Madrid or FC Barcelona won the title (Valencia, ahead of Barcelona). In 2012 the point difference between number 2 (FC Barcelona) and number 3 (Valencia), was 30 points, which was greater than the difference between number 3 and number 19 (Sporting de Gijon), who went down to second division, just showing the Spanish league to be a league of two teams fighting for the title and 18 teams fighting for survival.
One can say that this is because Real Madrid and Barcelona simply are better, but this is overly to simplify it. Both teams have advantages that the other teams can only dream about. While all teams struggle financially, both teams seem to have never-ending amounts of money, negotiating their own TV deals, which are worth more than the entire rest of the league together. As such, they continue promoting themselves as global brands and making money, perpetuating their superiority.
It is refreshing that Atletico Madrid is up there, bothering the dominance of the two Monster-clubs, but just as Simeone, we all know it is just for a little while, and that Atletico has no chance of taking the title in the near future. Maybe they can take second spot, but that will also require all the hard work and luck that Simeone and his players can find.
In any case, the Spanish league is slightly better for it, but continues to be the second most boring league in the world.

Champions and champions

I usually find myself in cool places around the world to watch the FA Cup finals, but this year I found myself in an airplane, and was thus unable to watch a surprising final where Wigan Athletics won a surprising 1-0 victory over Manchester City. Wigan are fighting relegation from the Premier League and this victory is their first FA title ever! Manchester City in the meantime finish a "disappointing" season: second in the Premier League, second in the FA Cup and Champions League would have seemed like a miracle some years ago, but with growth expectations overshadow hope.
Wigan won with hope and no expectations, and must now hope for survival in the Premier League.
But that is what makes English football so great: these things can really happen!
Not so in the Spanish league.
When I finally got home from the airport I watched Espanol and Real Madrid play 1-1 in the Spanish League. This result makes FC Barcelona champions without playing, as Real Madrid can no longer hope to catch up with the Catalonians who will be playing Atletico Madrid later.
No surprises there: not since 2004 has another team than Barcelona or Real Madrid won the league (Valencia), and since then only one team has ended in top-2 (Villarreal in 2008).
Real Madrid can still hope for a title though: next Friday they will be playing Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. Atletico are no Wigan, but are still the smaller side against mighty Real Madrid, who will be playing at their home stadium.

The (second) most boring league in the world

The Spanish league starts today, and the script is already written: Real Madrid and Barcelona will be facing each other for the title. The only issue is whether Barcelona's new coach Tito Vilanova will be able to continue Pep Guardiola's success.
In the meantime, 18 teams will be fighting to avoid relegation.
That can be interesting too....

Great 0-0 match

People who do not know anything about football will often assume that the entertainment level of a match is about the number of goals.
This is surely not the case and tonight's match between Real Madrid and Valencia was proof of it. A great and intense match with many great chances, fantastic saves (and a save counts as a goal!), intensity and drama. For Real Madrid, this was almost a defeat, and you can clearly see the nerves in Real Madrid's faces: after having a lead of 9 points down to FC Barcelona, it is now only 4 points, and in spite of being able to maintain a one point lead in case they lose to FC Barcelona (something everyone seems to expect), another slip of nerves like the one today could likely cost them the league. There are more points between Real Madrid and Valencia in the table than between Valencia on third spot, and Gijon on the 20th and last spot. Just tells you that Real Madrid and Barcelona should win every match against the others, but that unlucky slips, like today, are bound to happen.

Valencia played a great match (wish they played like this always!), tactically intelligent in defense, and dangerous in the counterattack, where they hit the post twice and forced a couple of good saves from Iker Casillas. At the same time, Real Madrid's defense was shaky at times, but with good individual performances, notably Pepe played a good match; if he just weren't such a cry-baby! He had a situation where he kicked after Arbeloa, a player from his own team.... Xabi Alonso and Mesut Ozil had bad days, while Ronaldo and Benzema fought in vain against the Valencia wall. That said, it was probably Real Madrid who in the end should have gotten the victory, but too many missed chances and too much diving made it impossible.

The fight for the Spanish league title between Real Madrid and Barcelona seems to have opened up again, and it will be fascinating to see how it ends!

Spanish might

The Spanish League is a boring affair. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the ones always fighting for the title, glory and money, while the rest of the teams are left with the spoils. And one of those spoils is the UEFA Europa League, as the two giants are left to fight for the Champions League title.
The UEFA Europa league is indeed a B-league, where one sees the teams that are simply not strong enough to make it in the Champions League. That said, the Europa League is not devoid of quality or entertainment, and one can look forward to semifinals where three Spanish teams will be fighting for the spoils:

• Valencia-Atletico Madrid
• Sporting Lisbon-Athletic Bilbao 

Valencia is still third in the Spanish league, but has looked unstable of late, something that Atletico Madrid has not; under coach Diego Simeone and a splendid striker in Radamel Falcao (who won the UEFA Europa League last season with FC Porto), Atletico Madrid are looking like a slight favourite.
Another succesful coach (and also from Argentina) is Marcelo Bielsa, who is doing wonders with the talented Basque side of Athletic Bilbao. They are in the Spanish Cup final and after eliminating both Manchester United and Schalke 04 (two teams who were coming from the Champions League) from the tournament, should be counted as favourites against Sporting Lisbon.
I would put money on a purely Spanish final.

Don´t bother....

Tonight is the Spanish Copa del Rey semifinal between Valencia and FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid in the quarterfinal, after which it has been widely proclaimed that FC Barcelona will now win the tournament. Only the most die-hard Valencia fans believe otherwise. I don´t believe otherwise.
Indeed, the Spanish league is the most distorted degree in the world, to the degree that serious commentators in Spain, even coaches and players, call the third placed team and downwards, "The other league".
I cannot see how this can benefit Spanish football, and find it a joke when Spanish TV promote a match between Villarreal and Levante as a match in the "best league in the world".
Were it not for Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Spanish league would not be much better than the Swiss or Cyprus leagues (the "other league" in Spain has no teams in the Champions League knock-outs, while Switzerland and Cyprus do).
Valencia is currently leading the "other league" in Spain. But that is the only title they are vying for. Tonight, they will, as all other Spanish teams, be just another hurdle in the Barcelona/Real Madrid battle for championships.
I will not even bother watching the match.

Bad week for Valencia

After falling in the Champions League midweek, Valencia only need to concentrate on keeping the third spot in the Spanish league in order to make it back to the Champions League next season. I got ready for the match against Zaragoza after the gym, a bit in the pool, and the Manchester United-Arsenal match (2-0, putting United in the semifinals of the FA Cup, and also a bad week for Arsenal). I got myself a six-pack of Solera-Verde beer, and was in the mood for a good Valencia match! But I stopped watching at half-time. Valencia played like a bunch of leg-less chicken. Nothing worked, and Zaragoza, who is struggling to get away from the relegation area on the table, won 4-0. Valencia had not lost by four goals since 2008, to FC Barcelona.

Better Betis

I have a TV now and satelite connection, so my life will now take a great leap in terms of being able to watch football!

Although many people like Barcelona, I think it is great when teams like these are humbled by a smaller team. And it was great today to watch Betis, from the Spanish second Division, defeat the best team in the world 3-1 in the quarterfinal of Copa del Rey. Granted, Barcelona won the first match 5-1, and are in the semifinal, and today played with many reserves, but that does not take away that Betis played a great match against a team that even with substitutes should have been better. It was in fact disappointing to see some of the Barcelona reserves not play well, and hold far less possession than one is used to from FC Barcelona. Betis was great nevertheless, and everyone should greatly look forward to seeing them in the Spanish first division!

Knockout

Granted, I have never been a fan of Real Madrid, but this latest team, under the leadership of José Mourinho, was gaining my respect, until today.
A great team emerges in the face of adversity. Until today against their archrivals of FC Barcelona, Real Madrid had cruised through the Spanish League, and expectations were therefore enormous for the match: two of the greatest teams in the world. But truth is, there was only one great team on the pitch today: FC Barcelona dominated every aspect of the match, and not only the 5-0 score was a humilliation of Real Madrid, but more so the way the Catalonians played around with the helpless Madrid players. It was a show of strength from Barca, but the way it ended for Madrid was not gracious. I understand players can get frustrated, but Sergio Ramos' slaughter of Messi and attack on Puyol at the end was much more than just frustration; it was the pathetic expression of a player that does not belong at this level.
There is only one great team in the Spanish league, and it is FC Barcelona.

Best league...?

Any football fan in his/her right mind should be looking forward to tonight's match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Between them the teams assemble some 13 world champions and some of the best players in the world. It will be a splendid match.
However, for the Spanish football league, this cannot be good. Last season these two teams completely ruled the league, and this season they are again far ahead of the third ranked team. Truth is, the Spanish league is a two-team league, just like the Scottish, where the rest of the teams have just been relegated to be mere spectators. Barcelona and Real Madrid win every week, and the only interest when they are not playing one another, is how large their margin of victory will be.
Thus, the Spanish league may have the two best teams in the world, but it is surely not the best league: when matches between Getafe and Athletic Bilbao hardly raise an eyebrow, and the largest surprise is if Barcelona "only" wins 2-1 against Mallorca, it proves that the league is far less interesting than the English, Italian or German leagues, where competition is much closer, and there is a high standard.
Again, while any fan must love two teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid, in the long run this cannot be healthy for Spanish football at large: there will be disillusion among other teams who simply cannot compete, and interest will fall, in the end creating a smaller future generation of new Spanish players. The Spanish football league, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, would do better to try to create a system like in Germany or England, where TV money is distributed more evenly and there is more possibility for teams to retain young stars. A more equal playing field can only be of interest to Spain!

The genius José Mourinho

I think José Mourinho will go over to history as the greatest coach that ever lived. What he already achieved in FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan far exceed what most coaches achieve (and note, as a true global 21st century football legioneer, he has done it in now four different countries!), but what he is doing in Real Madrid is also impressive.
Real Madrid has been a circus the last years, with a rotating door of coaches, many who seem to have been pressured to use the stars in a lineup that seemed more about individual players than about the team. Understandably, fans have often been annoyed.
Everywhere he has been, Mr. Mourinho focuses on the team. No player is above the team, and he works to get the best out of every player. He has a superb eye for the form of the players and surely give them a lot of space and responsibility, something they also return.
Real Madrid's new players are looking awesome: Mesut Özil and Angel Di Maria (as well as Khedira, although with a lower profile than these two) have all been splendid. They are young, and have benefitted Cristiano Ronaldo from the passes and space that these players give him. Yesterday he scored four goals against Racing Santander, with Mesut Özil as the frequent architect.
Real Madrid has scored 12 goals in its last two home matches. Mourinho is certainly refuting his reputation as a defensive coach, but one must also mention that the team has so far only played "small" teams from La Liga (except for Espanyol). A big test will be in early November when they face Atlético Madrid, but surely the team is looking awesome.
I think Mourinho is on the way to adding more trophies to his and Real Madrid's CV.

The artist and the beast

Ever since Lionel Messi I have been waiting for him to get injured by some cynical player who would rather destroy him and let the little magician pass by him. With his small size, I really feared that Lionel Messi's career would end there. Fortunately, Messi has proven more robust than I thought, but also, referees are much more protective against wild tackles than they were in the 1980s for instance, when Maradona often was slaughtered in match after match.
That has not prevented some players from trying, and in this weekend's la liga match between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid (that Barcelona won 1-2 on goals by Messi and Piqué) another player came close to destroying Messi: Atlético Madrid's Czech defender Tomás Ujfalusi decided to end the match (it happened in the dying seconds of the match) by doing a vicious tackle on Messi, who for now will apparently be out for a couple of weeks. Ujfalusi was correctly given a red card, but this does not take away that these day's football magician will be sorely missed for a couple of weeks.

Barcelona or Real Madrid

In the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, Sevilla defeated Barcelona 3-1 at home, and there was hope that someone besides Real Madrid would be able to challenge the Catalan giants this season. However, in today's second leg, Sevilla were mere spectators to a spectacular Barcelona side. Xavi and Iniesta, the architects of Spain's World Cup triumph were outstanding, and with three goals Messi is probably confirming that he is quite worthless without the two generals behind him.
Barcelona will be truly exciting to watch this year, because of their style, since the Spanish League is now virtually a two-team affair: nobody but Barcelona and Real Madrid have any chance of winning it, and the only question is whether José Mourinho can do his magic in Real Madrid and make them take the title from Barca.
Real Madrid is looking interesting because of the many changes; of course José Mourinho's entrance on the team, but specially because of the many new starts that have entered the team, such as Angel di Maria, Mesut Özil and Ricardo Carvalho, and whether Mourinho can build up a team using some of the other stars such as Ronaldo, Benzemá, Higuaín, Casillas and Xabi Alonso. The quality is undoubtfully there. It will not be easy for them though if Barcelona plays like they did today, but Mourinho has been known to have a good run with the Catalans.
In any case, it will be exciting, but only for one thing: Barcelona or Real Madrid?