Sunday, March 25, 2012

Adversity Revisited


Eric Abidal: More trials.

This is the point of the season that tests teams.

Barcelona are currently involved in three competitions, the Copa del Rey (who's final--to be played against Bilbao--is all that remains), the Champions League of Europe, and finally, the quest to win la Liga.

That the schedule of "top" teams becomes multiplied to double that of lower ranked teams, means that the most competitive had better have a bench of back-up players that are ready to step in when things inevitably go pear-shaped.

Case in point, right now Eric Abidal has been marked out from play until lord knows when, seeing as he is due to have a liver transplant. Apparently, the issues that took him out for several months last year have resurfaced more gravely and now King Eric needs to undergo a full removal of the cancerous organ.

And who is there to pick up the slack? Fontas, or Adriano or Dani Alves--all three of whom were out through injury and suspension from this weekend's game in Mallorca. Pep was forced to field only three defenders on Saturday, but this is actually an exciting thing.

The 3-4-3 formation that Pep has resurrected this year from the old-school total football playbook has been something of a revelation. The keys to its success lies in the fact that Barça, even when they field the conventional 4-3-3, are basically playing a 3-4-3 since Alves or Adriano usually spend as much time darting upfield on the wing as they do "defending." The only difference is mostly one of declared intent.

In Saturday's game the team was laid out more in a 3-3-4 with so many central attacking midfielders on the pitch making themselves available in the final third. The old joke about Barcelona being a goalie + 10 midfielders is largely true.

And hopefully there will be another one returning to the field in a short while.


Afellay and Pep

Ibi Afellay has been out almost the entirety of the season, but may make it back on the field (unlike David Villa) before its end. Messi has picked up the slack for a somewhat under-performing Alexis Sanchez and a non-scoring Pedro, though there has also been an increased scoring presence from Xavi--plus a banner year for Cesc--you get the feeling that the attack could especially use the Dutch-born Moroccan's skill at sending crosses in from the wing.

Since he has been gone, there have been other resources to explore, namely the B team and Isaac Cuenca and Cristian Tello.


The Boys from Company B

The two have been plucked from the B team by Pep, who has given over 20 members of the B team their debut in the A team since his arrival at the helm. Both players are explosive attacking in the box (with Cuenca possessing a particularly accurate cross and knack for blowing by defenders with his gnarly trick-footwork), and they have certainly raised the profile for B side upstarts already boosted by the advance of Thiago early this season.

So while it seems that as long as Barça have la Masia educating young players in football and molecular gastronomy (or whatever else they get into...), they will not run out of talent to pull from at a bargain price, but they still angle for bigger signings to keep them in all three races they run through the course of a year.

The rumored trades for the summer look to be Gareth Bale from Spurs, and David Luiz--the Brazilian back for Chelsea that looks and plays like Animal from the muppets.


David Luiz

Personally, I think either one would be a great acquisition, Luiz in particular, as he has the kind of die-hard engagement in the game that suits the team, but the issue is also tempered by the need of the team to balance their books. Either way, the cold-war-arms-race-style spending it would take to procure Neymar would be a dumb-ass waste of money that would do more to characterize the team as another Galactico, rather than the largely home-grown club that it really is.

Barça are currently 6 points behind Madrid in la Liga, after Madrid drew two out of their last three games during the week. At this rate, the possibility of winning the league perseveres. It would only take Madrid losing one more game out of the remaining nine, as well as getting beaten by the Blaugrana at the Camp Nou.

On Wednesday, Barça will travel to Italy to face AC Milan again in the Champions league, this time not just in an irrelevant meeting at the group level, but in the Quarter Finals. The return of Ibra... the cracken stirs up from its grumbling deep.


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