With the Christmas break upon us, the press and fans have plenty of time to mull over what went wrong in yesterday’s Clasico. Unfortunately, when it comes to analyzing a Barça defeat the press and fans alike are prone to making knee-jerk conclusions. Calls for the heads of Ronaldinho and Frank Rijkaard are par for the course this season, but would sacking Rijkaard and selling Ronaldinho lead to a better future?
Of course we will never know unless it happens and quite honestly I can’t see Laporta panicking just yet. Of course it is terribly frustrating to be outplayed by Madrid at Camp Nou but it is important to keep our heads, and with a little reflexion I think we will see that things are not as bad as some would have us believe.
It is easy to say now that Rijkaard made mistakes; for me the biggest mistake was to play the guessing game of who will play all week. By playing Deco and Ronaldinho in the second XI against the first XI in last week’s training session he may have kept Madrid in the dark as to his plans, but he lost an opportunity for the team to practice together. I believe Barça should concentrate on what they want to do and not worry about what the opposition may or may not do in response. The press may have fallen for the Ronnie won’t play game but I doubt Bernd Schuster did (that’s if he gave it any importance at all).
As for the team selection I think Rijkaard was right to play Ronnie. Of course it is easy to say afterwards that Ronnie had a bad game, but I think his attitude was correct. The alternative to Ronnie was to play Giovani dos Santos, and quite frankly I have to say that I don’t think he is that good. Maybe one day he will be, but he still has a long way to go. The shame was that Barça lost width because Iniesta needed to come infield to get into the game. The decision that I didn’t agree with was to start with Deco in place of Gudjohnsen. Of course, on his day Deco is the better player, but he hadn’t played enough since his injury and lacked the rhythm for such an intense game. Gudjohnsen was excellent in his last two games against Stuttgart and Valencia and deserved the chance to continue in midfield.
On to the subject of yesterday’s substitutions. First Rijkaard was right to take off an ineffective Deco but I think Gudjohnsen should have come on and not Giovani. Zambrotta for Puyol was normal as Puyol was injured (he needs to rest for a week, apparently). And finally Bojan for Xavi after 82 minutes was perhaps a bit desperate. Bojan might have made a difference if he had come on earlier but I think he should have come on for Ronaldinho, putting on forwards for defenders or midfielders is never my favourite tactic as the team loses shape and the forwards tend to get in each others way. However, I can understand that sometimes you need to take a risk to try and change the way a game is going.
So, I don’t agree with some of Rijkaard’s decisions - we can all be experts after the event -but that doesn’t mean I think he should be sacked. He has proved his quality becoming only the second coach in Barça’s history to win the Champions League and I believe he can do it again. I honestly think that most people’s favourite to replace him, Jose Mourinho, would not succeed at Barça. There is too much newspaper talk here and Mourinho would surely end up clashing with the press. I can see a repeat of the Louis Van Gaal story if he came.
If Rijkaard should stay then what about Ronaldinho? This is a really complex issue. First I do not believe Ronaldinho should be kept because of what he has done in the past, there is no place for sentimentality if you want to succeed in football. No player can live on his past. The question we need to face is - what can he offer Barça in the future? Normally I would back Ronnie here; not necessarily to be as good as he was but certainly to still make a more than positive contribution to the team. However, at Barça everything is always that little bit more complicated as many will always blame the stars for any defeats. For some, either Ronnie is the best in the world or he should be sold as a worthless pile of junk. Being judged like this could be ruining the player and I do begin to wonder whether in the end it might be better for everyone if he left. For more on how the Barcelona press and public can ruin a career see my article on Van Gaal and Ronaldinho - http://fcbnews.com/van-gaal-ronaldinho-and-the-barca-self-destruct-button/
Lastly, just a quick comment on the suggestion that it is not possible now to catch Madrid. Utter nonsense. There are still 21 games left in this league and Madrid are only seven points ahead. The attitude should always be - never give up until it is mathematically impossible. Football is a funny old game and anything can happen. So, chin up you all, and let’s keep supporting our great club right to the end.
6 responses so far ↓
Titi186 // Dec 24, 2007 at 22:10
I really agree with you - Gio is NOT that good at This moment in time. Throwing him into the game yesterday was a measure of how Rijkard got it wrong. Someone who single handidly destroyed Madrid at the their ground (Henry) was left on the bench for an overrated 18yr old (Gio) and a talented but inexperienced 17yr old (Bojan). This is wrong and sometimes highlights Rijkards relative inexperiene in dealing with pressure situations. However I think this was a pragmatic move as Henry will be crucial to the next two months as Eto’o will be gone to ACoN so maybe it was not worth the risk but in hindsight I wonder if he would have put him on at some point he would have had more of an impact than the other two I dont care what anyone says.
When Rijakrd came to be, Madrid were all over the place from the board room to the pitch and Barcelona litterally had to grasp the title without any pressure from Madrid. However now they have sorted out their politics in the board room and more importantly have had two managers who pick players on their current form/abaility rather than their past, seem to playing very well and are sitting pretty on top of the league.
Sack Rijkard? No. Be realisit? Yes. Players need to be sorted out and the issue of Ronnie will become clearer after the summer (he wont go in the winter it will just be press b*llocks as usual). madrid are 7 points ahead and the players will most likely have to win in Madrid to get the title so lets look at the difference as 4 points and anything can happen in football. The next ten games will be crucial. Barca have to take at least 28 points from 30 (W9 D1) and hope Madrid draw 2 or lose 1 which is very possible.
We need Henry to play well and gel better when Eto’o goes and hopefully when the two play together they will be unstoppable trust me.
The next month will be a bum though as
e10 // Dec 25, 2007 at 1:50
Getting rid of Rijkard and selling Ronaldinho will not better the future of Barcelona.
Barca are now 7 points behind Real and i agree with Titi186, that Barca must win in Madrid to have a chance of winning the Spanish Primera.
I also agree that Gio is overrated and that he should not have come on in this must win game.
Barca must now go on some sort of unstoppable run where they don’t lose for a long period of time and hopefully catch Madrid in the title race.
I am confident that Henry will step and perform when Eto’o leaves for the ACoN, and prove once again that he still is the lethal striker he was at the Gunners.
Merv // Dec 25, 2007 at 2:27
This was the first time I’ve watched the Real Vs. Barca derby so perhaps my thoughts wont hold much merit. That being said, I agree with your article on many points.
I think it is a shame that during the Christmas break the players and Rijkaard will have to endure all the speculation from the press as to what went wrong.
Whatever stymied the game it certainly wasn’t a lack of passion to win on the behalf of the Barca players. A number of things could affect the outcome, be it the line up, subs or the physicality of the players.
Regarding the sentimentality of keeping players, I’m really on the fence here. Once the player develops a history at the club I, myself, find it difficult to watch them transfer to other clubs. I get attached. Maybe it’s a girl thing. I understand the need to have fit, talented players but have issues with letting go of players who’ve dedicated much of their prime playing years to an individual club.
I wish Barca the best and hope to see them on top at the end of the season.
blaugranafan // Dec 25, 2007 at 3:49
Just thought I’d chime in and say what a shame it is that some fans gave a very bad impression of the blaugrana faithful by shouting abuse at Ronnie at the airport. It’s legitimate to discuss his poor form and his problems in training (and partying?), but he deserves respect for what he’s done for Barca in the past. Cussing him out at the airport was disgusting behavior.
“Barca have to take at least 28 points from 30 (W9 D1) and hope Madrid draw 2 or lose 1 which is very possible.” –This is wishful thinking in my opinion, but I admire your faith in Henry, Titi! I was surprised that he didn’t come on as a sub yesterday, and I wish he had come on instead of Gio (or that Eidur had come on instead). Let’s hope Titi does come good!
Regarding Barca being “only” 7 points behind…to be honest, I’ve only been watching football for a few years now, so I’m not that well versed in movements up and down the table. But Madrid were back 5 last year shortly after winter break, and everyone was saying they were out of it. Seeing as they barely won while 5 back, the 7 point gap Barca now face looks monstrous, considering that Madrid’s form this year is better than Barca’s was last year (in my opinion). I appreciate the support some fans are showing for the club by keeping hold of a (misguided?) optimism and positive mentality, but let’s not sugarcoat things here. A greater emphasis needs to be put on results and the cold hard fact that the team is underperforming.
Joe // Dec 26, 2007 at 9:36
I cant say in enough Frank MUST GO. Without a dought if there where a real manger in Barca we would have won. It was 18 month since we lost at Camp Nou its really disapoiting to see that match last night. I will say it one last time if Frank stays at Camp Nou Mark my words we will not win a single thing. The three Changes during the game was a joke, Geting the captin of all people out of the game was a dump idea if he wanted to defend he should have bought in Zamprota as a RB ( Right Back) and let Puyol play as a CD ( Center Defender) and take out Marquez. What the hell was he thinking bering in Youth in a game like this ; This game had Henry writen all over it. It was a great chance to let the hole world see he was worth the money, He is still Henry and he is the best. Basically i want to give a msg to a truly great man Mr.Joan Laporta please fire Frank and hire Moreno the ( the previous manger of Chelsea). As for the referee he couldnt be worse he ended the game a min early and it was very appearing that he wanted Madrid to win ; but we cant say Barca lost becouse of bad referee. Barca Played bad due to the bad manger. No onder he thinks they played good. I just hope to see all these players next year with a new manger PLEASE DON’T LEAVE BARCA RONNIE we are losing as it is we really need some help from the captains of Barca to rise the club again for as today nothing is lost we can still win every thing and we will always be the team of dreams.PS I didn’t mean to offend the two youth players they did great for the time they played but it was a hard game for them to score. I know its not right to say this as a Barca fan but the truth is we need a miracle to win this league this year. Its not because the 7 points gap its because the team isn’t a team any more we need to find something to believe in again be a team again and hope that the new years brings glory. In the end Frank GO please and Ronnie Please stay don’t worry about the people at the airport they are not true barca fans because if they where they would know that you where one of the reasons we won the Champions league 2 years ago.
Jay Maniyar // Dec 26, 2007 at 11:19
Barca dissapointed big time. For the first time, you can openly blame Frank Rijkaard. It’s obvious that Ronnie and Deco shouldn’t have started the game. A sad ending.
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