Extended hiatus

I haven’t been around. Or updating, as you must have obviously noticed.

I’m putting the blog on extended hiatus for now. It’s becoming way too much work for one person to maintain, research, compose, write, edit, de-spam, moderate and publish. You never know how much work goes into one lone entry.

Anyway, I will reinstate the blog once the dust around my life has settled a little. Meanwhile it’s still viva la Barcelona, which isn’t playing all that great but the eternal champions are the ones that make it past all odds. I’m extremely happy that Eto’o is back in the fray… Now all Barça needs is for Lionel Messi to come back.

Till then.

Christmas Break!

Hi all,

Valerie On the Ball is going on her first year end break! Since there will be no be Barça matches till 7 January 2007, reviews will resume on that day.

Have a good Christmas and a great New Year. Thanks for everyone’s continuous support and insightful comments.

Merry Christmas!!!

Valerie

And the Championship dream stays alive

Even the wall falls for Ronaldinho.

This was the most nerve wrecking match for anyone who remotely cares about Barcelona. Werder Bremen vs Barcelona. A draw means elimination, a lose is a most definite elimination. Only a win would ensure Barça to stay on till the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League.

The final score is 2 – 0 with Barcelona being the winners.

And it was a performance by champions indeed. Granted that I began to fall asleep during the second half. It was already 4.30 am and I was running a fever, but nevertheless, I shall do the best I can to report.

Determined to win
The match started with Barcelona dominating very strongly. The commentators for the match were eagerly jabbering about how the first twenty minutes would go a long way to determine the winners of the match. I hated to admit it, but they were perfectly correct. Anyone with sufficient experience in match watching will know this and it is especially true for big matches. Barça definitely knew this too and they went all out to secure the first blood.

It was stunning night in Camp Nou. I remember how the fans were cheering SO loudly and determinedly, “Barça! Barça!”. Normally, I never hear any audible words from the spectators, but that night there was no mistaking that the word ‘Barça’ was on everyone’s lips.

The minute the whistle was blown, Barcelona launched straight into attack mode. There was no hesistation and the ball only went in one direction, towards goal. It took Barcelona no time at all to find their rhythm. In comparison, Werder Bremen looked somewhat disorientated and there were pockets of inconsistency.

First blood: Ronaldinho’s cunning free kick

In the 13th minute, Ronaldinho had just won a free kick for Barcelona. Some people had words to say on how the free kick was won but no one could deny that contact had indeed been made. As usual, Ronaldinho took up his position behind the ball. Just as everyone expected him to do his usual left curling overhead free kick, Ronaldinho tucked the ball under the wall! During the split second when everyone was wondering where was the ball, it burst through from under the wall and beyond Bremen keeper, Tim Wiese’s reach.

The entire Camp Nou gasped at that bit of artful trickery.

Compounding goal: Eidur Gudjohnsen’s goal

Before the rest of Camp Nou could put their hand over their hearts, Barcelona broke through with another goal. A long cross from the right by Ronaldinho reached Giuly. Some artful planning and Giuly skipped being offside by giving the ball to the waiting Gudjohnsen. Gudjohnsen, having a good run with strikers Eto’o and Messi out, made the best of his chance and scored the second goal of the night. During that 18th minute, Barcelona never looked stronger.

Nervous game
The night wore on and everyone was still horribly nervous. While Barça scored two convincing goals in the determining 20th minute window, the ball is round and anything can happen. Werder Bremen, shell shocked by the two goals that occurred in such quick succession were reacting badly. Barcelona continued to dominate the ball and went for the attack time and again. Then at the half hour mark, Werder Bremen began to snap to action. Wome of Bremen delivers a threatening cross that was swept away by the alert Gio van Brockhorst.

Giuly, a slip up

Late in the second half, Giuly missed a great chance to make the tally 3 – 0 before half time. Deco shone with all the midfielder prominence and brilliance. He tore up the midfield with such speed and grace, the Werder Bremen midfielders were just trying to catch up with him. The waiting Gudjohnsen relieved Deco of the ball and sidestepped four Bremen defenders with supreme agility and attempted a shot. The ball glanced off the post and landed within Giuly’s reach, but Giuly screwed it up. And it was an open goal too. A dreadful finish to a great buildup.

The rest of the ten minutes were unremarkable as the game folded into half time.

Second half, the German domination
To be honest, I paid scarce attention to the second half. Partly because I felt slightly relieved as Barcelona had already bagged a convicingly lead in the first half. The other part of the reason was because I was getting drowsy from my medication.

The Werder Bremen players clearly had a rousing pep talk during the half time break. They came on very strongly, determined to dominate and score. In the first half, they played a slow, cautious game. Their initial strategy was probably to gain ball possession, retain possession and wear out the Catalans with the ball chasing game. But they underestimated the power of the offensive style that Barcelona is so feared for. In the second round, tactics have changed and Werder Bremen was ready to show the world their glittery lineup of offensive players.

Diego, a diamond in the rough?
Early second half, Diego had a brush with Carles Puyol. Apparently, Puyol had been too eager to defend and had landed an ugly challenged on the midfielder. Diego was a consistent player in the match with an eye for goalscoring chances. He showed that when he attempted an overhead scorer in the 48th minute. His efforts flew wide but it went a long way to show that he’s not afraid to try to score. If he brushes up on his finishing, he might become a true force to content with.

Klose, not close enough
The man to be feared from the Bremen side. I saw him perform during the World Cup for Germany. Young, sharp and terribly swift within the box, Klose is indeed almost every team’s dream striker. In the match this night, Klose breached the Barça more than couple of times and on one memorable occasion, responded too late to an effort by his team for goal.

In the 54th minute, Klose worried the Barça defence and made Valdes sit up as he had to race to thwack the ball away with his hand. Klose has a sharp eye for gaps. Many players have that too, but he shines for he can actually utilise them to his benefit. He made me nervous when I was watching. I felt if there was one single Werder Bremen player that could TRULY worry the Barça defence that night, it was only him. And perhaps, some assisting from the very willing Werder Bremen midfielders. But I’m not dismissing the rest of the Bremen team.

So I end this
I don’t want to go on about this match forever. Then isn’t even much to analyse. The match is simple. It a match between a German side and a Spanish side. A Spanish side that is VERY sure of they want and very insistent on achieving it. For now, that much is clear. I will supplement this post with the respective videos when it’s up.

In response to readers
I’m SO happy to have so many people reading my reports. Yes, I will try to post as soon as I can. With regards to the videos, it is very much dependent on the availability in Youtube. Usually within 3 days of the match, videos will be available. Once again, many thanks for reading and posting observations.

Shiren
Thanks for your very rich insights. I have to agree about Victor Valdes not being the best that Barça should have. But Valdes has a spirit that shows he will be willing to die for Barcelona if need arises. I do suppose loyalty counts for nuts in times of the crunch. But soccer being one of the most emotional sports in the world, I’d gladly have a loyal keeper than one who can fly by night at the lure of a 30 million pound transfer fee.

On the attacking front, when Eto’o and Messi return, we can only expect it to become more colourful and awesome. I’m looking forward to that. On Larsson’s departure, it’s a shame but Barcelona can still shine without him. The idea of signing Buffon is something that’s very interesting to contemplate. Yes, the Barcelona defense could do with a more vibrant defense and more responsive and energetic midfield. I always feel that the Barcelona midfield lacks something to shine to brilliance. It’s a lot better now, used be to just shameful. Especially during the times when Barcelona lost to Chelsea and Real Madrid in quick succession.

Lastly, Ronaldinho scored two goals that night. The first one with the 5-0 hand sign is the penalty that he scored. After careful observation, the still image is not the one he scored the bicycle kick goal. It should have been taken when he scored the penalty. Thanks for pointing it out.

Source of report: FC Barcelona, ESPN Soccernet, Youtube

Undeniable champions

Ronaldinho nets his 50th goal in the league

Barcelona has done it again! For their latest game against Villareal in La Liga, Barça achieved more than 4 goals, more than a clean sheet and more than anything else, they’ve cemented their ability to score and STILL play beautiful football.

Final score: 4 – 0, Barcelona wins.

Early action
For this match, Barça sheds all her passivity and plays in an offensive formation of 433. Villareal plays it safe with the common 442 line up. The games starts with the visiting team charging forward like mad bulls (as usual). Within 2 minutes, Valdes got challenged to show his goalkeeping skills as Forlan darts near to goal. Again at the fourth minute, Valdes performs another save with a quick deflection. In the eighth minute, Barça makes the first shot on goal. Ronaldinho wins the ball and sends it to Deco who transfers the balls to Gudjohsen. But Gudjohsen was unable to convert it to goal

Access Denied
At the 15th minute, Deco tried a long pass from the opponent’s goalpost. It was the most amazing long pass and incredibly accurate for a long pass. Giuly picked up it’s trail and blasted after the ball. But alas! He was offside. Ronaldinho tried to set Gudjohnsen up for goal two minutes later but it was firmly denied by Barbosa, who IS indeed hungry. Hungry for some power goalkeeping, that is.

First blood!: Ronaldinho’s penalty kick

In the 34th minute, Gudjohsen was tripped by Cygan in the box. The referee, Lasa, awarded Barcelona a penalty kick. Ronaldinho was up to the task and he let loose a solid shot into the net. It was too much even for hungry Barbosa to handle. Later, Cygan was awarded a yellow card for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The sign Ronaldinho was making indicates that that was his fiftieth goal in the league for Barça.

‘Hand of God’ goalkeeping
A header from Gio van Bronckhorst nearly burst through to make the tally 2 – 0 before half time, but something amazing happened. Barbosa, in the effort to stave off the ball, leapt into the air and punched the ball over and beyond the crossbar. It was absolutely stunning. When I watched it, I went, “Oh. My. God.” Unfortunately, I cannot find any videos on Youtube to supplement this section, but do take my word.

Second half
The second half remained almost like the first half, but the Barcelona rhythm actually became stronger after the break. In my earlier reviews, I always lament that Barça tend to slack after the half half. Not in this match. Deco had a very near chance to score but it was dashed away by Barbosa.

Second goal: Header by Gudjohnsen

Ronaldinho had just sent the ball into the wall after a free kick. The ball sailed skywards from the impact. Meanwhile Iniesta finally was ready to get his boot into the scoring pool. He darted up and sent a shot from the right side of the field. But it was slightly offmark. Just then, Gudjohsen comes up and heads the errant ball into the net. 2 – 0.

Third goal: Scissors kick by Iniesta

Not content with his missed chance, Iniesta outdoes himself. A great cross from Zambrotta was converted to goal by Iniesta. Iniesta performs this amazing scissors kick with his right foot and the ball flew into the net, not unlike a Chinese kungfu movie. That was some neat footwork by Iniesta. This man just keep getting better match after match. This is his third consecutive goal in 3 matches.

72nd Minute Backlash
Almost in response to all the goals by Barça, Villareal steps up on the attack and attempts 4 consecutive shots on goal in one minute. In the 72nd minute Forlan tries an attempt on goal but was blocked by an alert Valdes. Barely seconds later, Marcos Senna who had assisted Forlan earlier attempted another shot on goal from the center of the box. Valdes deflects this shot quickly. But just as quick, Forlan gets up and attempts YET another shot from the left side which bounces off the post. The ball bounces off but Senna wins the ball quickly. He assists Franco who attempted a right footed shot on goal but he misses. The flurry stops only after Gudjohnsen was called to be replaced by Ezquerro.

This was the longest minute. With Villareal’s repeated surges to goal, it seem imminent that Barça would concede, but Valdes held strong. Kudos to him. Never seen him with a quicker reaction time.

Final flourish: Ronaldinho’s grand bicycle kick

This is the goal the left the entire Camp Nou waving their white handkerchiefs in solemn approval and respect for the awesome goal by Ronaldinho. Xavi, from midfield sends the ball to Ronaldinho in a long, decisive kick. Ronaldinho catches the ball with his chest. While the ball was still airborne, he swung himself around and with his right foot, performs a classy overhead bicycle kick which propelled the ball beyond Barbosa’s reach.

As a memorable touch to this very memorable goal, Ronaldinho strips off his jersey and flings it around like a lasso, all the while running and screaming around the pitch. Everyone leaps onto Ronaldinho and celebrates in a mad frenzy.

Then he was awarded a yellow card for excessive celebrations.

So…
Not much has to be said except that it was a BRILLIANT match with very little dry moments. And I didn’t know you couldn’t strip off your jersey during the match, much less know that it was a yellow card offence to do so! But it was brilliant watching this match. Precisely because the forwards were all so lively and effective today, the midfield effect wasn’t really felt in the game. Villareal’s performance was just totally eclipsed by Barcelona’s brilliant goals. Villareal, without Riquelme is a machine without it’s core. While the parts are added to make up for the missing core, the machine functions but never reaches it’s optimum capacity.

On a sidenote, the EPSN Soccernet review for this match is incredibly inaccurate and contains factual misreporting. What a disappointment and dip in standards! It mentions this:

This time Iniesta changed from provider to predator, finishing off a Deco cross with a fabulous scissor kick and thereby making up for missing a much simpler chance just minutes before.

It was not Deco that supplied the cross. It was Zambrotta. Refer to video if you doubt me.

Watch highlights on Valerie On The Ball!
What’s the point of reading reviews without being able to visualise them correctly? Valerie On The Ball is taking the next step in her match recaps and reviews. From now on, I will include videos for all goals and highlights (availability from Youtube). Currently, this is still in evolutionary phase, so patience everyone.

Source of report: Youtube, FC Barcelona, ESPN Soccernet

Barcelona still in Champions League

Iniesta weeps with joy after scoring.*

The match against Levski Sofia was a very important match for Barcelona. Losing it would mean they were almost definitely out of the Champions League. Drawing it would their fates would be decided by the result of the Werder Bremen – Chelsea match. Only winning it would secure their place in the CLs, for now.

As fate would have it, Werder Bremen beat Chelsea with a 1 – 0 score. But the Barça team did not disappoint, they won Levski Sofia with 2 – 0 thus ensuring they would be in to face Werder Bremen on 5 December.

Despite this match being a crucial match for the Blaugrana, it wasn’t a spectacular match. The entire match was fraught with a sense of cautious playing and a wait-and-see approach. The cold weather was probably another reason. The home team, on the hand, gave it all they’ve got. They swarmed time again against the Barça defence but a lack of big match experience and a lack of strategy thwarted all their efforts.

Barcelona held an unusual formation for this game. The formation was 4321. A defensive formation, said Mr. X. True enough, it was indeed a passive gameplay by Barcelona. The opponent had 4231. A similarly defensive approach too. Most minnow teams when up against offensive teams like Barcelona, they employ defensive stances, which may or may not work…. results occur in varying degrees.

Levski raring to go right from the start
Levski Sofia bared their intent to win or at best, give Barcelona a hard time right from the blowing of the whistle. Levski kept the ball to their side of the pitch by playing the passing game. They’re pretty good at the passing game too. Levski would rather get the ball cleared than let it to slip to their opponents. But during the 2nd minute, Deco shot the first shot on goal, perhaps trying to emulate the early 3rd minute goal in the earlier game against Chelsea. But the shot missed. Not to be outdone by the Blaugrana, Levski grabbed the ball upon re-entry and darted horribly close to goal. They missed.

First goal
Barcelona drew first blood in the fourth minute when Giuly seized the right cross from Zambrotta. Levski failed to intercept the ball in time. In my opinion it was a goal that should have not happened but too bad that Levski did not intercept the long cross from Zambrotta in time. Good for us, bad for them. Good for Giuly who seized the moment perfectly. If it were Gudjohnsen, he might have missed the chance for Gudjohnsen has a tendency to hesitate in the box.

Face-off
Later in the sixth minute, Gudjohsen was tripped and a free kick was awarded to Barcelona. Ronaldinho was unable to get the free kick into the net this time. Just two minutes later, Ronaldinho had his face mashed by a Levski defender. Ronaldinho looked visibly annoyed as he clapped a hand over his blinded eye. As though one fash mashing incident was not enough, Gudjohnsen had his face mashed too during a free kick scuffle in the twelfth minute.

Valdes saves
A couple of times Levski got too near to goal but Valdes was always there to save the ball in time. Sometimes when the defenders got distacted and Levski seized the chance to try to score, Valdes proves to frustrate their efforts. While Levski seems to finish rather poorly, running out of steam just before the goalpost, Valdes left no room for accidents.

Missed chance by Barcelona
Gudjohnsen fumbled a chance to score by hesitating for one second too long in front of the goal. He had gotten ahead of the defenders, should he had taken a decisive kick towards goal, he might have scored. But he dawdled and the defenders caught up and wrangled the ball from him.

Second goal
The second goal was from Iniesta, man of the moment. Deco had the ball and decided it was time to go for goal. But he missed by just a bit. Just as everyone thought the ball would surely be cleared soon, Iniesta burst right up and finished the goal in an extremely classy fashion. Once again, Iniesta left his opponents slackjawed as he danced around celebrating with his team. Iniesta has proved himself to have a sharp eye for finishing and a certain speediness and agility in his movements. In the days to come, watch this man, he will become an essential gear in the Barcelona structure, if not already a major gear.

Well, so what I think..
I did not watch the match to full time because I felt certain that another goal was not likely to happen. Rijkaard obviously told his players to play it low key and prevent overstretching themselves. That was being practical for Levski Sofia is hardly a team to bring out all the artillery for. The ball possesion was a mere 46% for Barcelona. They were hardly touching the ball yet managed to score two goals. A perfect showcase of watching waiting, effective goalscoring. There were barely any wasted movements from Barça. Levski Sofia was owning all the football teams in their own home league, but they’re still long way from becoming world class, apparently. Perhaps if they were in another group, they might have stayed a little longer in the league.

I was surprised at first that Chelsea lost to Werder Bremen. But upon reflection, I realised it wasn’t so surprising either. Werder Bremen won by a penalty and Chelsea was without Frank Lampard that night. But above everything, Chelsea no longer needed any points to advance to the knockout round, unlike Barcelona. They could afford to take it easy, play it slow.

For now, we are safe. The next match against Werder Bremen has several factors to our advantage. One being that the match will be played in Camp Nou. The support from the home crowd will be even more uproarious and passionate than usual, given the nature and severity of this match. The other being Rafa Marquez attaining his Spanish citizenship. This enables Barcelona to acquire another non-EU player for the senior squad. With our long list of casualties, another player for the flanks is most welcome.

Next match for Barcelona is against Villareal. This match looks to be a challenging one for Barça given that Barça has never won Villareal with a crushing victory before. One thing for sure, Barcelona will give it all they’ve got.

* I REALLY wanted to put a naughty caption like “Deco and Iniesta, what a sensational duo!” or “Deco tries to give Iniesta some much needed comforting”. But I’ll leave you all to wonder about that strange photo by yourselves.

Updates: Mrs. Ronaldinho is back from her shopping téte a téte. I will squeeze opinions from her to supplement the reviews again.

Source of report: FC Barcelona

Blaugrana still top the table

And here is the latest review of the latest match. YES, I still owe this place the Zaragoza, but here’s the report on Barcelona vs Mallorca.

Final score: 1 – 4, Barcelona wins.

Overview
The match opened a at comfortable pace with neither side having any chance on goal. Most of the playing was confined to the midfield (rare for Barcelona) and at the first defensive line. Neither team was taking lead. Despite the seemingly boring conditions, it was anything but.

Watchers of Barcelona would know that it is rare to see so much action in midfield in a game with the Catalan giants. Most of the time we just see them breaking defenses and scoring, or defending furiously against the opposite team. I’ve always lamented about the midfield being Barça’s weakest link.

Tonight’s action against Mallorca has proved me wrong. This match shows that in times of need, the Barça midfeld is more muscular and versatile than imagined.

The Mallorca defence, one of the most touted and resilient defence in the La Liga, was impressive. But to me, did not really live up to all the bells and whistles. Their record sheets revealed that while they scored the least goals (just 5 times), they also conceded the least goals in the La Liga. That, my friend, are very interesting statistics, making this game no walk in the park.

The midfield is strong
After all the terrible news of the injuries of Messi and Saviola, no one can doubt that Barcelona is under fire. Forced to relinquish his usual lineup and focus on a slightly different style of play, Rijkaard shows that he knows his men well indeed.

Barcelona had solid passing today. Despite only 57% of possession, we seldom lost the ball to Mallorca in passing. The midfield was ever ready to for a chance on goal. I’ve never seen the Barça midfield so alert, so aggressive. But it wasn’t all wows and whistles. After Mallorca scored their lucky goal, the Barcelona side began to dissolve into a mess. Against a stronger team, Barcelona would have been knocked out of their 3 points long ago. Complacency is still something Barcelona yet to prove to rid themselves of.

Mallorca and Barcelona defence
In the first half, Mallorca kept the ball firmly in the midfield with their players scattered in front of Valdez. In fact, most so-called impressive defences have like 8 players blocking the goalpost, not for Mallorca. While I missed the starting lineup diagram, an educated estimated of the number of defenders used were 3 and 2 more midfielders that are lean more towards defensive duties.

Not that the Barcelona defence was any weaker. Early game, Puyol showed why he’s captain of the top team in the La Liga. He singlehandedly took on Jankovic of Mallorca when he tried to breach the Barcelona defence. A neat interception to the ball and Puyol sent the ball safely away from Jankovic. While it was a mere interception, it was done so elegantly, not even Jankovic could have found fault with Puyol. Some interceptions peformed are so vicious and laden with evil innuendo, it just makes the defender look overly defensive and insecure. Not Carles Puyol. The Barça captain was not as sunshine-y as he usually is but he is very much on form, do not doubt that.

Deco, marked man
Another point of interest in the match was Deco. In the Zaragoza match, Deco was the uglyman of the show for deliberately throwing himself on the pitch in exaggeration. Ok, it just means Deco was acting. I’m a hardcore Barcelona supporter and I have no qualms saying that about Deco. Tonight, Deco continues his walk in the dark side as he delivers an average performance. No tricks from him today, but almost as though the other teams in the La Liga hate him for he had done in the Zaragoza match, he was marked harshly. Or maybe because Messi isn’t on the pitch and they have no one else to mark. Deco was involved in numerous fouls against Mallorca. Not that he had a hand to getting them into flak…. The final straw came when a Mallorca defender challenged Deco with a vicious slide to his legs. He was sent off because he already had a yellow card earlier. No smiles from Deco ‘Winnie-the-Pooh” today.

No effort needed to score
All of the Barça goals were achieved so effortlessly, I begun doubting the Mallorca defence, or rather the Mallorca keeper in particular. In the first goal, Gudjohnsen had the ball at his feet from Deco and it LOOKED like the keeper had snatched the ball from his feet. But Gudjohnsen had the ball magically glued to his boot and he skipped over the keeper like a lamb and tucked the ball into the unguarded net. Mrs. Ronaldinho and I burst out laughing when we saw how Gudjohnsen did his little skip.

The second goal was also by Gudjohnsen. Iniesta had supplied a neat pass from midfield, spying a space between two Mallorca defenders. The ball found Gudjohnsen. The keeper of Mallorca, Toni Prats, seemed to have his eye on anywhere but near the goalpost. The second goal was scored because he was not at the net. It was too easy. So easy that even when the camera was on Rijkaard, he displayed on visible emotion. He returned to the bench in an elegant stride.

Bliztkrieg by Iniesta
The third goal was by Iniesta. This is the goal of the match. Ronaldinho had just done his magical weaving skills and had ALMOST got through the last line of defence before Toni Prats. But he faltered the ball start to bounce off tangent. Then out of the nowhere, a flash of colours and the ball was shot into the net. The next thing we see is little Iniesta getting crushed to death by the rest of the Barça team. From another angle, I saw Iniesta dart between the Mallorca defence just as Ronaldinho was addressing the final defender. The moment the ball was off from Ronaldinho’s boot, Iniesta took charge and shot to goal from the right side of the goalpost (keeper’s view). He was SO fast, Toni Prats stood no chance of saving it. By now, he looked incredibly cross and was sitting on the pitch, hugging his knees, like Messi in the previous match.

Ezquerro makes his mark
At full time, Santiago Ezquerro, a backup Barcelona striker scored an unapologetic left footed shot to the bottom right end of the net. Ronaldinho set Ezquerro for goal in a manner so effortless and natural. Either they’ve been practising moves together or Ronaldino has an innate ability to match anyone’s style. Ezquerro played in the true Barcelona style, swift and sure. Once again, Toni Prats was left seething in his own embarrassment.

Conceding an unneccessary goal
During a freekick in the 70th minute for Mallorca, the ball had caught the wall, but the rebound did not it flying off too far. Eager Mallorca players were crouching so near to the goal. By then Barcelona had already scored two goals and thus were a little too slack. The defenders were near not near enough, leaving only Valdez to guard the goalpost. Víctor Castaño of Mallorca was SO near to the goalpost, it really did not require much of him to send into the goalpost. Valdez reacted too slowly.

Valdez, the on and off guy
Sometimes I feel that Victor Valdez’s performance is so erratic. While his style is not assertive and secure like Petr Cech, he does have his own signature style of saving goals. The only gripe I have against him is his reaction time. Sometimes, it is just half a tick too slow. During this match, Mallorca VERY nearly scored another goal. The reason it did not happen was because it flew wide. But had it not, we would have conceded again. Valdez had lept to attempt to save the goal just too late. Unnerving.

Overall
I’d say it is an easy match for Barcelona. Based on the Valerie metre of scoring: 1 goal is a win. 2 goals is a good win. 3 goals is a beating. 4 goals is a thrashing. 5 goals is a devastation. 6 goals is a destruction. Hence for tonight’s game, it is safe to say Barcelona thrashed Mallorca.

Highlights from the Barcelona team
- Messi has left the hospital.
- Motta’s red card from the Zaragoza match was withdrawn
- Barcelona still tops the La Liga table

So, Zaragoza?
Definitely by this week.

Source of report: F.C. Barcelona, ESPN Soccernet

(Mrs. Ronaldinho is currently on a holiday, her insights will not be featured in the next match review).

Sick, injured Barcelona

It is times like this, I really want to throw objectivity out of the window and weep with relief. Doctors have declared Messi’s surgery to be a success and he should recover in three or so months.

Barcelona does seem kind of cursed with deaths, injuries and key players having to serve international duty. But despite it all, Barcelona holds her head up high and manages to fight her way up to the top of the Spanish table. This could easily be the toughest season in recent years for us to face but we will prevail.

Anyway, I still owe this place the Zaragoza review. Been busy with work and I have not had time to review the second half the match. I am relieved to be able to say that Messi’s injury isn’t a result of foul play by Zaragoza. It was just his bad luck that his foot just gave way after the collision.

Meanwhile, please continue to come back time to time for updates, or you can subscribe to my RSS feed by getting an aggregator. Valerie On the Ball uses Bloglines.

Source of report: F.C. Barcelona

Adjournment

“Valerie On the Ball” will be closed till November.

There’s been a death in my family and I’m really in no shape or frame of mind to write any quality material. Don’t worry about me abandoning this place. I will NOT do that.

Everything will resume on 1 November 2006. Sorry and thank you.

Vamos vamos Argentina*

It is a strange time to be an Argentine fan.

With Riquelme out of the team and Puyol down with a wonky groin injury, most of us Argentine fans are in for a nailbiting time for their next international friendly against Spain. Sure, Puyol out of the game should mean some good news for the white and blue side but we DO lack Riquelme.

Some of you might think that I’m putting way too much emphasis on Riquelme’s position on the Argentine lineup. Let me explain a little why I feel quite strongly about Riquelme’s absence. Many thanks to Mr. X, who spent time and countless YouTube references of Riquelme’s intriguing style of play, all of which enabled me to give a humble opinion on him.

Without further ado…

The Riquelme Analysis

The moving balls waits for no man, except Riquelme

Riquelme is a well respected figure in the Argentine football squad. Sure, he may not be as well loved or as celebrated as Lionel Messi, but even Lionel Messi would, in a heartbeat, acknowledge this man’s vision and skills as playmaker.

Jorge Valdano was quoted describing Riquelme as such, “If we have to travel from point A to point B most of us would take the six-lane highway and get there as quickly as possible. Riquelme would choose the winding mountain road, the beautiful scenic route which takes him six hours instead of two.“

That’s what sets Riquelme apart from the other players. Most players would prefer a pounding, relentless game over a slow, meditative match. Make no mistake, Riquelme is no time waster. He is a careful man who thinks 3 passes ahead of anyone. His careful analytical skills was put to show in the now famous Serbia-Montenegro match during the World Cup 2006. Sure, the amazing 24 passes was a product of the Argentina game at it’s full glory, but Riquelme was instrumental to the success of it. He made a long pass to Ayala. Near him were other players like Sorin, but Riquelme had to foresight to pass it to the distant Ayala… not only that move caught the Serbian defense offguard, it gave his team-mates time to rearrange themselves, assess the situation before continuing the passing game. And it proved useful, Sorin was able to take a leaf from Riquelme’s move and actually took time to SEE who actually might get the ball before passing. Don’t even get STARTED on how foolish some passes have been made……………..

I’m not the only one who agrees that Riquelme was the centrepiece of the 24 Pass Argentine Show, Budweiser named Riquelme as Man of the Match.

Anyway, playmaker cannot succeed if he does not understand the strengths and weaknesses of his team-mates. He will not make the game flow as well as it should if he cannot think on feet, if he cannot surprise, if he is predictable. Riquelme is well known to a be a slow player. Some even go so far to say, an old man on the field. But this old man knows his cards, he will draw another card and yet another card from the deck, then finally stun with a royal flush, tossed down onto the card table with a flourish too.

And you want to say Riquelme cannot move fast? I do remember during the match against Mexico in the World Cup, Riquelme was dealing with a this tough nut who was buzzing around him. Suddenly, Riquelme sidestepped him and began to run like never before, this went on for about 20 metres before he sent the ball neatly to Crespo. Sure, he probably can’t even run half as fast as Messi can, but it sure made me sit up. This illustrates Riquelme unpredictability.

As I said… it is a strange time to be an Argentine fan. Numerous changes are happening to the squad as I type this… and of course as I type this, Argentina is probably giving it their best on the field against Spain…

I’m more than a little worked up about being unable to get any form of live telecast of the match against Spain. We’re looking at chances of Ibanez or Juanito of stepping into the arena. Regretfully, I cannot offer any insights onto how these two players might stack up against the odds of Spain… Dearth of Argentine (or DECENT matches of any kind) telecasts have led to my poor growth as a student of the world game.

I’m wearing my Argentine jersey and praying hard for our eventual victory.

To Meghna:
I’m not certain what Basile will do for this Spanish match. I’m not even sure how he coaches the team. I know for sure Pekerman made a fool of himself at the World Cup. He had the BEST men in generations and he had to go fuck it up. Let’s hope Basile will be a wiser man… I will comment more when I have a chance to watch an Argentine match soon, or read some sensible and objective reports.

But like you, I’m gunning for Ayala… he has the charisma and that inherent instinct of when to be aggressive and when to back down to guide the game.

Yea, I guess it IS pretty rare to find a soccer blog that actually is not about gushing over delectable players…and written by a girl to boot. Thanks, I will keep this place going.

*means Come on, come on, Argentina

Source(s) of report: TEAMtalk, ESPN Soccernet, FIFA World Cup, Wikipedia

UPDATES
I’m changing this blog’s name to Valerie on the Ball for the time being.. the current title is just too misleading… Despite my best efforts to tell people that the selection is over, I still get emails asking about it.

I’ll trying to think of a less cheesy name to come…

Viva La Barcelona

Viva la Barcelona.

I finally watched a full length Barca match. The feeling is indescribably wonderful and fulfilling. When I was done, I was just contented. My sista was telling me, “Muahah, I feel so shiok.”

The match I watched was the Barcelona vs Ath. Bilbao of the Primera Liga. The first match without Samuel Eto’o, who is out on a knee injury.

Gudjohnsen was in place of Eto’o. While Barcelona won the match with a couple amazing goals, I felt that the Barca rhythm wasn’t as strong as it should be. But hell, I enjoyed the match plenty.

Messi did not feature much for this match. Puyol covered his embarassing ass by scoring just before half time with this amazing kick to the goal with his BACK facing the goalpost! The second goal was by Gudjohnsen, a nice straight kick to goal. Finally, Saviola topped it all by slotting in an effortless goal at the 70-something minute.

The only regretful thing was not seeing Messi in greater action.

The opponents, Ath. Bilbao played a fast and pounding game. Without a doubt, they were more powerful and commanding on the field during the first half. It wasn’t until Puyol’s goal did things begin to unravel for them. They scored in the eleventh minute, seizing the cockup between Puyol and Valdes. After that, Valdes sharpened himself and performed two saves that redeemed himself.

=

sggooner: Thanks for reading my soccer blog. I have much respect for Arsenal, even though I’m not an all out fan. I was very glad that Arsenal broke Man U unbroken record. They’ve been doing well steadily since then.

General update
Haven’t been updating much due to the lack of time to watch matches. But I have not and will NOT abandon this blog. I still have yet to rename it… so maybe I will come up with another creative pitching contest for it.. I’ll think about it.

I’ve created two new categories to categorise my precious entries (not being sarcastic here, I really love this blog and put much effort into writing it), namely Argentina and Barcelona. It is VERY clear what the categories encompass. I will work on categorising the entries at a later date. These categories make it easy for any reader who only wants entries pertaining to certain topics only.

And easier for me to archive and reflect.