The Liga is dead. Long live the Champions League! Barca and Arsenal

Barca

Molt be, al final, but we passed through some really rough moments in that game. This was a really important game for the confidence of the Barca players. Having just lost the league, and I am certain that they have just lost the league, the only competition of any great importance is the Champions League. Bueno, this is not to slight the great tradition of the Copa del Rey, but frankly, it's just not as important. Teams are judged by direct competition with their contemporaries in other leagues.

To reinstate player confidence, the ideal opponent would have to be credible, but not too strong. Bayern Leverkusen fit the bill perfectly. They have a solid reputation as a European club.  Though not in the top tier, they regularly make it into European competition. It is a good thing that we face them now.

Barca showed some frailty in this first leg. Sergio Busquets gave the ball away with far too great frequency; Abidal again was strangely out of character. Against Osasuna, Abidal had a crapper. Granted, so did the entire barca defense. Messi payed a poor first half, but made up for it in spades in the second. Credit should go to Adriano, playing left in the attacking three for the first time I have seen him the, ever. He played reasonably well. Alexis was stupendous.
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Arsenal
And l thought the Barca performance was sub-par. Wow. Arsenal played a real stinker tonight against Milan. I am and have been a skeptic for some time of Arsene Wenger, but this performance was truly awful. Risicky should be sold, Arteta just isn't good enough. Henry? Past his prime and out of shape.

I understand that it is difficult to play so far away from home, and that everything is complicated by the opposition. Milan were much better prepared for this game. It looked like the payers had done their homework, and they stymied almost every single Arsenal attack. Good for them. It will be nearly impossible for Arsenal to turn this tie around. See you in the next round, Milan.


**In the near future, I will be heading to games at the Nou Camp. Pictures to be included.
 

The Money League: Group Phase Thoughts

The Champions League 2011-2012 edition has begun. The groups were drawn last week, so it is prediction time:

Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli

This is the group of death -- Manchester City and Bayern Munich are the most likely to advance. Villareal traded Santi Cazorla over the summer, but kept Rossi. Still, they are weaker and will struggle to get to the knock-out round. Napoli are no pushover, though, and might give Bayern or Man City a run for their money.

Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor

This is the snooze group. Inter and CSKA advance, methinks.

Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati

This is too easy for Man United. Benfica should also advance. Swiss side Basel are familiar faces in the Champions League, but have not yet made it out of the group stage. Otelul Galati are a Romanian side I know nothing about. Good for them for making it this far!

Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb

Such is my loathing for RM that I am hoping for a miracle here in the shape of Ajax or Dinamo. Alas, it is extremely unlikely that either of those will make it through.

Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen,Genk

Genk is such a great name for a football club. They will be the whipping boys here. Should be interesting to see who between Valencia and Leverkusen make it through (along side of Chelsea, of course). My hopes are that Valencia can do the job -- they could use the money to keep up with Barca and RM.

Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund

With the crap Arsenal have been playing lately, it is hard to imagine them making it through. Their new signings might just provide the necessary spark, however. I expect some hard fought matches in this group, and it should get very entertaining. Dortmund were incredible last year in the Bundesliga -- they are my tip to win this group.

Group G: FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit, Apoel FC

I bet this will be closely fought group, but I don't expect any of these teams to make it past the first knock out round.

Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen

BATE Borisov play their European games at the Minsk Stadium in Belorussia. I am glad Barca plays them in September, rather in December as the temperature must drop brutally. Good to BATE for making it into the CL - I hope they enjoy the experience. Barca's game against Viktoria Plzen in the Czech Republic should be interesting, but I assume they have both the quality and the depth to get the points from those fixtures. The Milan games should determine who finishes first and second in the group, and they (Milan) are bound to run us close.

Visca el Barca!

Cesc Fabregas, the Copa America and the WWC

Mr. Wenger, Cesc Fabregas has done all he could do for you. It is time to let him go.

The scouts at Arsenal were astute in spotting Cesc's talent over eight years ago when they initially signed him. Since then, Cesc has been an integral part of the team, helping them to maintain consistent top four status. He has started 266 matches, scored 57 goals and enhanced Arsenal's reputation as a team that plays attractive football. He's put in a good shift for you.

I understand it is Arsenal's job as a business to get the best price for him, but the directors should strongly consider the work he's already done, and allow him to leave as soon as possible.

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Copa America
Thank you for helping me get my football fix this summer, Copa America. Univision and Telefutura here in the US are broadcasting it, and the few games that I have caught have been incredible. Last night's match between Argentina and Columbia was excellent in it's competitiveness.

Both teams were highly motivated. rigorous in their challenges and sharp in their passing. I can't believe many of these players have just finished long seasons in Europe and still play at this level.

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A Word about the Women's World Cup in Germany
My guess is that the US team is expected to do well, we usually do. From what I saw yesterday, in the 2-1 defeat to Sweden, we do not deserve to. The Swedes were much sharper and deserved the win. In the second half, the US attack was pathetic -- Route 1, long ball tactics to chase an equalizing goal. It was painful to watch. We couldn't control the ball at all, or put together 3 passes.

The Usual Suspects

Leagues are at or are nearing the half way point and we are starting to get a sense for how things will end up. I've caught a good number of Premiership, La Liga and Bundesliga games. Here are my thoughts on the Usual Suspects for winning those leagues.
The Premiership:
Man U is in first place after displacing a Chelsea side that have recently shown that they can be beat. That is a bit a surprise to me as I thought the Chelsea bench was deep, and the motivation to win was still strong. Drogba's illness (malaria) and Lampard's absence due to injury has cost them dearly. Perhaps they can recover after the New Year?
United's bench is starting to look stronger than I initially thought at the start of the year, with Chicharito helpfully scoring valuable goals, Park putting in some good shifts and even Anderson doing his bit for the team.
Some people at this stage are saying Arsenal could challenge for the top but I am not completely convinced (especially after the tame defeat agains United on Dec 13). Arsenal tend to take on injuries at inopportune times in the season. If they can make it through January and February healthy, I may but more stock in their chances.
La Liga
See the next blog for the Clasico eval, surely 3 key points to determine the winner of the league.
As for the also rans, I too have been impressed with Villareal, and deceived by both Sevilla and Valencia. Neither of the latter can put any kind of good run together, and Sevilla, despite having a good squad on paper, are in a downward spiral.

Bundesliga
Judging by what I have seen of of them so far this season (admittedly only a few games), Munich don't deserve to win anything. Sure they have been hit by injuries to some key players, but this is Munich. More is expected.
Dortmund -- these guys are playing out of their skin, a mix of confidence and style. Hope they can keep it up after the long break, depite losing their Japanese star to the Asia Cup in January.
Hannover ? I just can't believe their good form will continue after break. Let's hope they can keep it up enough to make the UEFA EuroLiga Cup or whatever it is called.

Henry to NY

So Thierry Henry is coming to America -- incredible. I wonder how he will adapt.

I was thrilled when he moved to Barcelona -- I thought the move was a smart one for both player and club. Henry at the time was 29 years old and had done pretty much all one could have done with Arsenal in London. He topped the Arsenal all-time goal scoring charts. Helped them win the league twice, going undefeated in one season. He nearly won the Champions League with them, only to lose to...Barcelona... in the final.

While he led that Arsenal team with arrogance and at times petulance, he also did so with tremendous style and flair. Henry made a significant contribution to the Barcelona teams that won the last two league titles -- but it was hard for him to shine in a team with so many amazing players. Perhaps that is a credit to him -- he proved that he could adapt and contribute to a team effort after playing the role of superstar for so long at Arsenal.

Among the many different types of players in the game -- the industrious worker-bee types, the hard-men tacklers, the playmakers -- players like Henry, Ibrahimovic, Zidane, Larsson, Maicon, Luis Fabiano, Kaka are a class above. The have a certain coolness, a confidence and grace that distinguishes them from the rest -- good though they may be.

Michael Jordan had that grace; many say Lebron James has that grace now. You could argue that Tiger Woods is of the same ilk, though his crass life choices have tarnished his reputation.

I think Henry will find it rough going in the MLS. Hopefully he can avoid the tackles from the graceless cloggers that abound in our league here.

The run out in New York will be a new adventure for him. Welcome to America, Henry - and good luck to you.