A long season ahead
Barca has got off to a good start this season, winning the Spanish SuperCup and beating Racing Santander 0-3 , but it would be foolish for cules to get over excited at this stage.
It would be foolish in the extreme to write off Jose Mourinho on the basis of a somewhat lacklustre draw for Real Madrid in Mallorca. Mourinho has signed up an exciting crop of talented young players led by Mezut Ozila. He will be relying on the experience of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo while hoping that the rejuvenated Real will become great again just as Chelsea and Inter were similarly forged by the charismatic tactician.
By contrast Pep Guardiola is relying on a group of players who have already achieved greatness as a team. The addition of Xavier Mascherano brings further experience and quality. But , with the exception of the midfield, t’s a relatively small squad nonetheless and major injuries to one or two of the key players as the season hots up will make the squad vulnerable.
This may be the season in which Guardiola will have little option but to rely increasingly on Jonathan Dos Santos, Thiago Alcantara, Rubén Miño, Sergi Gómez, and Oriol Romeu, the identified young talents of Barca’s B team despite the fact that the majority do not have the international experience of Mourinho’s young bloods.
Perhaps the best news of the week for me was the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He came to Barca overvalued over a year ago and destabilized the team in almost every major game he played in, seeking to be the centre of attention, and failing to lead by example. His exit, and that of the more lovable Henry, however, will put even greater responsibility on the shoulders of Messi to inspire old and new with his genius.
Simply put, that’s the nail on the head Jimmy.
I’ll be interested to see how much flair Mourinho’s Madrid play with. It’s what their fans and board demand, but I just don’t see him subscribing to play pleasing football for the sake of it.
I expect Barca to win all the plaudits again this season for the verve and attacking style, but more than ever, the focus will be on our defence and Mascherano/Busquets in the holding role and taking games by the scruff of the neck when required will be vital this season. Could well be another season like the last one where the big two go ‘toe to toe’ from start to finish.
I think I’m right in saying that Mourinho has never lost at the Camp Nou as an opposing manager, and we know he hasn’t lost a home game as a manager for 8 years. What better time for Barca to end both !
Good introduction to the season, Jimmy. I reckon Mourinho will take time to forge a new Real Madrid and I see Barcelona winning the league comfortably, with second place hotly contested by the Merengues, Valencia and Atleti. You mention the Cule young bloods, but Barcelona spends around 100 million euros a season on new signings, and this has been going on for decades. Failures like Zlatan Ibrahimovic (a mere 100 million euros last season – 60 million + Eto’o who was valued at 40 million – on loan to Milan now for just 24 million this season) probably helped put Barcelona deep into the red, so I would love to know, as a cule, how you reacted when it was revealed that Laporta had passed on a debt of narly 500 million euros to his succesor? Is this financial black hole being propped up by the Catalan Government and the Catalan financial institutions? Should a totally bankrupt club be allowed to continue to participate in the top competitions?……!!!!