<div id="attachment_2077" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div>This is the kind of space Xavi thinks he deserves.</div>
The theory is that because of the low amount of scoring in football, using particularly protective and cynical tactics ruins the sport whose nature inhibits a high amount of goals per match.&nbsp; Football’s common nickname is “The Beautiful Game,” but from where did that phrase initially originate?&nbsp; Credit is usually given to 50’s and 60’s Brazilian star Waldyr Pereira, universally known as Didi, and those Seleção teams spoiled the world with their slick passing, their showmanship, and their creativity.&nbsp; In today’s football, FC Barcelona would be the team that most resembles this vision of Joga Bonito.&nbsp; Barcelona survived a 1-0 victory over feisty Almería on Saturday to maintain their perfect start and their position at the top of the table.&nbsp; While the game itself was not that interesting, the postscript afterward <a href="http:\/\/www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/spain/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/09/10/04/SOCCER_Barcelona.html">brought attention to a long-standing feud between defensive tactics and football</a>.&nbsp; Xavi Hernández, the main orchestrator of the Barça attack, had some bold statements regarding Almería manager Hugo Sánchez’s strategy to stifle Barcelona’s flow:
“We will have to get used to it.&nbsp; It’s a shame that they come here to pack the defense.&nbsp; I’ve never been marked like that.&nbsp; It was madness, obsessive.&nbsp; Even when they had the ball or when I was going to take the corner they marked me.&nbsp; (Coach) Pep (Guardiola) told me to use the wings to create space so that Busi (Sergio Busquets) and (Lionel) Messi could get the upper hand in the middle.&nbsp; I practically had to leave the game.&nbsp; It was very boring for me.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played in the Italian Serie A for the last five years, was far less incensed with Almería’s style of play:
“It’s difficult to play against five defenders.&nbsp; We didn’t play well, but we’ve won.&nbsp; This is also important.&nbsp; I’ve not scored, but I’ve made another.&nbsp; This is important.”
The tight marking of Almería was something Ibrahimovic faced in Italy weekly, so he was not as frustrated as Xavi.&nbsp; Ibrahimovic also keyed on a point that Xavi failed to address: Barcelona did not play that well.&nbsp; Xavi deflected the criticism of their play by pointing out how Almería did not let them play their football.&nbsp; Does Xavi make legitimate claims concerning the opposition?&nbsp; Last year, Almería lost both meetings to Barcelona, 5-0 at the Camp Nou and 0-2 at home.&nbsp; Almería wants to win just as much as Barcelona, and there is no doubt Hugo Sánchez remembered those matches and was wary of what Barcelona could do to his team.&nbsp; In terms of pure technical ability, there is no argument that Barcelona has the most technical ability in Europe and uses it to the fullest extent, so a team like Almería, who does not have the resources or the players like Barcelona, has to be much more pragmatic with their approach.&nbsp; Every team wants to entertain and provide a spectacle for their supporters, but results are most important, and sometimes, they have to make sacrifices in order to get the outcome they want.
Even European powers like Chelsea and Manchester United knew that trying to fight fire with fire would only lead to their demise.&nbsp; They swallowed their pride and played with nine to ten men behind the ball for the majority of the time, not worrying about the chastisement they would receive from the fans and the media.&nbsp; Manchester United pulled off a 1-0 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the 2008&nbsp; UEFA Champions League semifinal, and Chelsea was a couple of minutes from completing the same task as Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League semifinal before Andrés Iniesta banged home the equalizer and the 1-1 victory on away goals.
So how is defense treated in other sports?&nbsp; In baseball, while a home run fest excites many fans, a pitcher’s duel with great defensive plays is equally appreciated.&nbsp; Two of the most storied teams in American pro football history are the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, who each had tenacious defenses and held their opponents to less than thirteen points per game.&nbsp; Hard tackles and tough defense are paramount in succeeding in rugby union.&nbsp; The closest sport that would identify with association football’s loathing of ultra-defensive tactics is hockey.&nbsp; The New Jersey Devils won a few Stanley Cups with their employment of the neutral zone trap, but many criticized the Devils for this scheme because it drastically reduced scoring and made their games boring in the eyes of fans.&nbsp; The NHL took action during the 2004-2005 lockout by implementing changes in the rulebook to penalize teams who employ such methods.
Unfortunately, for Xavi, unless FIFA changes its rules, Barcelona will most likely face opponents that employ Almería’s tactics to limit Barcelona’s goal-scoring machine.&nbsp; What Xavi fails to recognize is that there is more than one way to play football.&nbsp; The sexy football that Barcelona plays is an ideal that almost no teams can accomplish.&nbsp; If teams want to play like Bolton Wanderers or Stoke City and use their physicality and direct style to stymie Barcelona, then it is up to Pep Guardiola and the team to figure out how to unlock the defense.&nbsp; If clubs like Villarreal and Valencia want to compete with their passing football, it will likely be a better display for the fans, but the task is still the same: to unlock the defense.&nbsp; Barcelona has a very good chance to retain all three crowns from last year as well as adding other trophies to outdo last season’s treble-winning season.&nbsp; Worrying less about their opponents’ tactics and focusing on their own game will greatly benefit Barcelona in the long run.

Why is Defense So Reviled in Football? - World Soccer Talk

Why is Defense So Reviled in Football?

<div id="attachment_1499" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Despite scoring a multitude of important goals, Eto&apos;o is on his way out of Barcelona</div>
Everyday in High School, I would come in early to discuss football with my friend Ron. On a particularly slow day in the footballing world, Ron declared “There is no loyalty in soccer!” A statement that was quickly becoming fact rather than opinion. However, I was in an argumentative mood, and back in 2003 there was still a glimmer of hope, that for a select few in the soccer profession the word loyalty meant more than serving the highest bidder. Carlos Tevez had pledged himself to Boca Juniors, Wayne Rooney was still playing for his childhood club, Everton, and Joaquin was rejecting offers from Madrid to stay with Betis. So I decided to press the issue . “Are you serious!” I scoffed while gesturing wildly(Probably in a&nbsp;subconscious&nbsp;attempt to compensate for the fact that in reality, I completely agreed with Ron and felt ridiculous defending such an obviously absurd position) Somehow, I managed to appear the victor in our little debate, but in my head I knew who was correct.
Fast forward to today’s soccer landscape and Ron’s statement would be looked at as a truism. A given that only the most stubborn and unaware of fans would dare challenge. Despite the acceptance of such a climate on the part of most fans(myself included), owners, and players, football has somehow managed to disgust even the most cynical of fans with Barcelona’s impending transfer of Samuel Eto’o.
Eto’os departure from the Camp Nou is nauseating even when compared to the most controversial of transfers because it lacks even the most selfish of motivations. When Figo left Barcelona for Real Madrid, he did it for a bigger payday. Rooney dropped Everton for a chance to win the Champion’s and Premier League Crowns. Ronaldo came to Milan only years after playing for their fiercest rival, Internazionale, and did so only to resuscitate a dying career. However, as Barca prepare to ship Eto’o and close to 60 million Euros in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, they are doing so for very little in return,&nbsp;relatively&nbsp;speaking.
In the past five years, Eto’o has scored over a hundred goals for Barcelona in La Liga. More importantly Eto’o is a big time player. In the past season he scored against four of the top five teams in La Liga, including the game winning goal against Real Madrid, Barcelona’s biggest threat to the title. Eto’o improved upon his impressive tally this season with the decisive strike in the Champion’s League Final against Manchester United, helping make Barcelona the first treble winning side in Spanish football history. In exchange for throwing Eto’o out the door, Barcelona will receive Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a talented player, but more importantly, a notorious big game choke. A prime example of Ibrahimovic’s inability to perform on the grand stage came against the very same side that Eto’o managed to score against in the final, Manchester United. He&nbsp;was blanked by Manchester United over two legs,&nbsp;a period of 180 minutes,&nbsp;in the round of 16 in the Champion’s League. He failed to even register a shot on target in those two games. In fact, Ibrahimovic managed only one goal in seven games in the Champion’s League. Those quick to defend Barcelona will certainly site Samuel’s behavioral problems, but Zlatan is not without his own (See <a href="http:\/\/www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/05/28/1290951/inter-striker-zlatan-ibrahimovic-stays-out-late-clubbing">here</a>).&nbsp;More troubling than the lack of motive for the transfer is&nbsp;Barcelona’s willingness to admit it. In a recent interview, Pep&nbsp;Guardiola said that Eto’os departure is the sole result of a <a href="http:\/\/barcelona.theoffside.com/team-news/pep-speaks-aka-etoo-you-gotta-go.html" target="_blank">“feeling”!</a> A player of Eto’s caliber and output can only feel disrespected by such comments.
<a href="http:\/\/barcelona.theoffside.com/team-news/pep-speaks-aka-etoo-you-gotta-go.html" target="_blank"></a> So while the whole world expresses outrage, and rightly so, over Real Madrid’s&nbsp;exuberant&nbsp;spending in times of economic crisis. Lets not forget that it is this type of mistreatment that presents the biggest blemish on the “not so” beautiful game.
<a href="http:\/\/answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1809014/">Do you feel Barcelona has mistreated Eto’o?</a>(<a href="http:\/\/answers.polldaddy.com">trends</a>)

Eto'o to Inter?!?! - World Soccer Talk

Eto'o to Inter?!?!

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If you would believe various pundits, the annoying debate that many football fans have been subject to this year and last – Ronaldo vs. Messi – will come to its conclusion in the UCL final in Rome.&nbsp; On the biggest stage in club competitions, the two most complete players in attacking football will meet head to head.
The winner will be crowned the best in the world, the loser will claim second place.&nbsp; Fans of the loser will say he was robbed, the winner’s supporters will smugly proclaim that the final underscored the gulf in quality.
To boil the final down to this issue would be a mistake, and would ignore the other much more important battles that will happen on May 27th.&nbsp; While Ronaldo and Messi are both elite, I doubt the Champions League trophy will really go to whoever plays better on that day.
First of all, neither the Argentine nor the Portuguese has an impressive record against clubs from England and Spain, respectively.&nbsp; An injured Messi was pretty much ineffective against Barcelona last season in the semis, and Ronaldo was marked out of the game by Barcelona, notably Gianluca Zambrotta, who ironically teed up Paul Scholes for the long range, tie-winning goal.
This year in the final however, I see more of a Barcelona’s attack vs United’s back four.&nbsp; Vidic and Ferdinand, as it has been repeated so often, are the best two in the game.&nbsp; Evra looks to be back on form.&nbsp; The only suspect position, and I use that term only in comparison with the other members of the back-line, is right-back for United.
This is not to take away from the offense, but the free-flowing stuff of last season has been slowed down, maybe by Berbatov’s inclusion (didn’t the United vs. Arsenal meeting last week look like the 2007-08 campaign, with Berba notably on the bench?).&nbsp; This season the defense has really outshone the offense, not just in the club but in the whole EPL, 4-0 loss to Liverpool excluded.
Barcelona’s attack is frightening, but currently weakened.&nbsp; Henry and Iniesta both are having problems with fitness, Dani Alves and Eric Abidal (unfairly) are suspended, and Rafa Marquez is out for the season.&nbsp; These weaknesses in defense force makeshift changes and weaken the midfield, already less flowing and lethal when Iniesta has to play as a forward for the injured Henry.&nbsp; If neither Iniesta nor Henry play, Pep Guardiola will have to change his “Tridente” formation for the first time this season (or else play out-of-form Bojan or Gudjohnsen), which brings me to my next point.
Everyone playing Barca since late September has known that they will run a 4-3-3 with Messi on the right, Henry on the left, and Eto’o in the middle.&nbsp; The midfield will include Xavi, Iniesta, and Keita or Yaya Toure.&nbsp; Dani Alves plays at right back (in reality reality he is an attacking midfielder), Puyol and Marquez stay in the center, unless Pique plays in which case Puyol moves out left.&nbsp; It’s a formula, and it has worked, but against master tacticians, it won’t.&nbsp; It literally came within seconds from failure against Chelsea, but a combination of slack finishing, suspect calls, and a non-existant clearance from Essien allowed Iniesta one chance that he buried in style.&nbsp; Hiddink knew how to shut down Barcelona, and my bet is that Sir Alex will too.
The Scot should be able to field a United side that can take advantage of both the weakness in attack simply by keeping the defense as he has all season, and exploit Barcelona’s defense problems.&nbsp; The right and left wings will be open all night to&nbsp; players with pace now that Alves and Abidal are gone, and judging by the Chelsea game, the midfield looks like it can be muscled out by the likes of Carrick and Anderson.&nbsp; Most importantly, if Puyol moves out left or right, the center will be horribly exposed.
Barcelona are hobbling right now, and certainly cannot field a full strength team.&nbsp; Messi on his day is the best in the world, but he cannot make up for the obvious defensive weaknesses.&nbsp; If Iniesta and Henry do return for the final however, it might not matter how weak the defense looks.&nbsp; If Barca show up to Rome limping in both the attacking and defending third though, I feel that Sir Alex’s carefully planned team will be celebrating at the end of the night.

This Year's Champions League Final Will NOT Be Ronaldo vs Messi - World Soccer Talk

This Year's Champions League Final Will NOT Be Ronaldo vs Messi

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What do Werder Bremen, Villareal, Atletico Madrid, Panathinaikos, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Dynamo Kyiv, Celtic and Fenerbahce have in common (hint: the answer is not “They’re all in the Champions League group stage which starts today”)? Give up?
Well, all of these clubs are in fact in the group stage of the Champions League, but the answer is that all of them have escaped the group stage at one point or another. Sporting Lisbon, however, is another story. Perennially a contender in the Portuguese top division, Sporting’s European history has been mediocre at best. Discounting its 1964 Cup Winners Cup title, Sporting has been to the Champions League four times and never had a sniff of the knockout stage. Its best showing in the old European Champions Cup was in 1982-83 when it reached the quarterfinals, losing to Real Sociedad.
This year may be different. There may be light at the end of the tunnel for the Lisbon club. Sporting begins group stage play Tuesday at Barcelona, and despite this difficult challenge out of the blocks, Sporting was given a favorable draw. FC Basel 1893 and Shakhtar Donetsk round out Group C, and one would have to figure Barca for clear sailing to the knockout round and Sporting and Shakhtar duking it out for second place.
But how about Sporting for favorites to win the group outright? How about a true underdog pulling a shocker?
All we can judge is today, but today, Sporting might be a more well-rounded deeper club, Lionel Messi not withstanding for Barcelona. Sporting has won its first two matches in the Portuguese Liga and knocked off F.C. Porto for the Portuguese SuperCup to open the season. Sporting had a fruitful offseason, signing Helder Postiga Marco Caneira, Leandro Grimi, and re-signing Fabio Rochemback. They also have had another year of maturity for standout youngsters such as goalkeeper Rui Patricio, fullback Ronny, strikers Yannick Djalo, Rodrigo Tiui.
And speaking of seasoning? Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso were kept from the plentiful pockets of Inter Milan and Manchester United respectively in the offseason. For the first time in a long time, Sporting has managed to keep some homegrown talent from fleeing for greener pastures–at least temporarily.
Sporting is an interesting package for Barcelona to contend with. The Catalans had a tenuous offseason to contend with as new manager Pep Guardiola settled in. Ronaldinho is gone (some may say that’s a plus), and Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Carles Puyol, Thierry Henry,&nbsp; Iniesta and Rafa Marquez remain. Yet, Barca has gotten off to a putrid start under Guardiola, losing its La Liga opener to promoted Numancia and battling Racing Santander to a 1-1 draw this weekend. Worse yet, new signee Alexander Hleb from Arsenal will miss the Sporting match with an ankle injury.
If nothing else for Sporting, this year’s draw is a lot less cluttered with billion-dollar clubs. Last year, Sporting had to contend with Roma and Manchester United, and the year before, Inter and Bayern Munich.&nbsp; In Basel, Sporting sees a familiar opponent having wiped out the Swiss club in the UEFA Cup. Shakhtar, the kings of the Ukraine, are an unfamiliar foe.
Should Sporting gain a result Tuesday and Barcelona continues to be a shaky proposition in a difficult La Liga, Sporting could be poised to surprise and win the group.

ALL POSTS TAGGED "pep guardiola" - Page 9

Almería

Why is Defense So Reviled in Football?

Barcelona

Eto'o to Inter?!?!

General

This Year's Champions League Final Will NOT Be Ronaldo vs Messi

Leagues: Champions League

A Sporting Chance to Win Group C