Salamanca, Spain, was the venue; more specifically an Irish Pub just outside the Plaza Mayor called the Holy Grail. I had earlier found the Spanish opinion of American knowledge of futbol to be nearly unanimous: humorously poor, yet somehow cute. That night, I hope I surprised Alberto, one of the three bartenders, with our banter over whether Fernando Gago was a classic Argentinean ‘5’, a box to boxer, or a link man. I thought Gago was useful, but Alberto seemed unwilling to budge for anyone but Andres Iniesta. He wanted Madrid to purchase a midfielder.
It was a Tuesday evening in early summer, 2008.
“Dude,” I said, forgetting that ‘dude’ was probably not a term widely used by Spaniards using English as a second language. “That’s ridiculous, Barca would never sell him…Especially not to Madrid. He’s Catalan, isn’t he?” You could feel that corner of the city sort of deflate as if a tired generation had grown weary of mixing so much politics into the game. “He’s from Albacete. Everyone thinks he’s Catalan. He’s from Albacete.”
I looked to Barca-fan Fran, the second bartender in the nearly empty bar, with a raised eyebrow. Fran’s English was not as good as Alberto’s, but he got the gist. He smirked and shook his head, “No way.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, “You at least need a bruiser in there. Diarra and Sneijder, then. Focus on a striker.”
The name Diarra caused Alberto to throw up his hands. “Iniesta and Sneijder,” was his response.
Incredulous, I asked, “Where’s the meat? You Spanish and your tik-a-tak-a.” The men roared and it was either that line or the drunken and accidental over-tipping that won them over.
“What about Theth?” asked Cristina, who had yet to speak up. “Huh?” I asked. “Cesc,” Alberto responded, realizing I probably didn’t have the whole lisp thing down.
“Fabregas? Never.”
Alberto shrugged as if considering it, I shook my head no at the impossibility due to my pedestrian knowledge of modern day Spanish sentiment, and Cristina folded her arms as if to ask why not.
Fran smiled sheepishly and shook his head, “No way.”
“We should just get Fernando Torres, while we’re at it, so long as there’s no ideology left in Spain.” El Nino’s name caused the entire bar to gag.
“Doesn’t matter anyhow,” I responded before finishing my beer. “All we need is David Villa. Threepeat.” Their laugh was patronizing, I’m sure. Within a week of my return, I was nearly ready to celebrate when Marca declared, through Yahoo’s Babelfish, “Villa for 40 kilos of grain and of the network!” (I should note that, though Marca is probably run by a group of crazy persons, the deal was apparently Villa to Madrid for 40 Euros, Granero, and De La Red. Later, Bernd Schuster would tacitly blame Raul for ruining the deal.)
Oh, how the times have changed.
99 points. About 70 million cups. Half the world says Barcelona is the best team on the planet and the other half says they are the best team in the history of the planet. And to make matters worse for Los Vikingos from Salamanca to Seattle and Madrid to Manhattan, Barca will be far more lethal after their recent acquisition of David Villa and their presumptive purchase of Francesc Fabregas.
I would like to make one thing painfully clear: Fabregas will be sold to Barcelona and will be sold this summer. Under assorted rocks and in Iowa there are still Gooners out there who are holding out hope that Wenger may be able to hypnotize the boy for one more season. Unfortunately, that ship sailed last year when Fab saw Barca take 6 titles and saw Arsenal win nothing. Again.
The moves make perfect sense for both players. If there hasn’t been enough waxing over the prodigal son and his return home, you haven’t been paying attention to the news about Fabregas who strategically dropped the bombshell and scooted off to World Cup training. And from Villa’s perspective, his decision to be “ready” for the Premiership called was due mostly to Barca’s previous unwillingness to pay the asking price and Perez giving Valencia the two-fingered salute last summer and taking the same, rejected, offer to Lyon for Benzema (I know, it didn’t quite work out how the Whites wanted, but history is all about timelines and when you know what you know). It was always Barcelona or Madrid. Villa never wanted to leave Spain, never wanted to take his wife and his children, one newly born, to a foreign nation, and now he does not have to.
These moves immediately make Barca deeper, which Arsene Wenger and Juande Ramos can tell you is pretty darn important when you’re chasing a title. One could argue the single most important player on Barcelona this season was Pedro, mostly because very few people actually knew who he was in August. Pep Guardiola had no clue that Ibrahimovic was going to have troubles adapting, that Iniesta would fight injury, and that Thierry Henry would fall off the map after the fisting he gave Ireland. Messi is amazing, but we already knew that. Pedro was amazing and we had no clue. Depth wins you cups, and even if there is a decision to sell Ibra, Villa and Fabregas give you two world class options for the Barcelona bandolier.
In addition to pure numbers and talent, Guardiola will now have increased options with selections, formations, and tactics. In Barca’s 4-3-3, Iniesta can move up to the left wing and Cesc can slide into his midfield role, bringing Pedro off the bench. Villa can either replace Ibrahimovic or supplement him. Cesc is capable of playing anywhere along the midfield three, and Villa is capable of playing anywhere across the front three. Barca’s fluidity make these two players perfect choices. While the 4-3-3 seems to be hardwired into FCB identity, but should Guardiola get creative, he could mix and match seamlessly with a 4-3-1-2, 4-4-2, a 4-2-3-1, a 4-3-2-1 …getting dizzy yet? Yeah, it’s not really worth the permutations unless you’re a nerd. The point is they can give a team a host of looks and switch on a dime to a new formation because all of their players are so multi-dimensional. Lastly, it’s widely held that Ibrahimovic was brought in as a plan B when the quick one-two’s weren’t working. Even with a completely dysfunctional center forward, Barca was able to get 99 points. With or without Ibra, Cesc’s outside shooting ability, according to Sid Lowe of the Guardian, gives Barca an additional layer of plans, and Fabregas will probably run more than Victor Valdes to boot.
Maybe more important than the options is the style. Villa is the Eto’o style forward who can play facing goal and is effective in the passing game in a manner supplementary to being the final recipient. Fabregas, Xavi, and Iniesta have almost interchangeable styles. The point is these players are square pegs in square holes unlike Ibra, who is just a peg looking for a hole. Someone tell your sister to look out.
As for me, I’ll be waiting for that Fernando Torres press conference and somewhere in Salamanca Fran the Barca fan is smiling sheepishly and saying, “No way.”
“Dude,” I said, forgetting that ‘dude’ was probably not a term widely used by Spaniards using English as a second language. “That’s ridiculous, Barca would never sell him…Especially not to Madrid. He’s Catalan, isn’t he?” You could feel that corner of the city sort of deflate as if a tired generation had grown weary of mixing so much politics into the game. “He’s from Albacete. Everyone thinks he’s Catalan. He’s from Albacete.”
I looked to Barca-fan Fran, the second bartender in the nearly empty bar, with a raised eyebrow. Fran’s English was not as good as Alberto’s, but he got the gist. He smirked and shook his head, “No way.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, “You at least need a bruiser in there. Diarra and Sneijder, then. Focus on a striker.”
The name Diarra caused Alberto to throw up his hands. “Iniesta and Sneijder,” was his response.
Incredulous, I asked, “Where’s the meat? You Spanish and your tik-a-tak-a.” The men roared and it was either that line or the drunken and accidental over-tipping that won them over.
“What about Theth?” asked Cristina, who had yet to speak up. “Huh?” I asked. “Cesc,” Alberto responded, realizing I probably didn’t have the whole lisp thing down.
“Fabregas? Never.”
Alberto shrugged as if considering it, I shook my head no at the impossibility due to my pedestrian knowledge of modern day Spanish sentiment, and Cristina folded her arms as if to ask why not.
Fran smiled sheepishly and shook his head, “No way.”
“We should just get Fernando Torres, while we’re at it, so long as there’s no ideology left in Spain.” El Nino’s name caused the entire bar to gag.
“Doesn’t matter anyhow,” I responded before finishing my beer. “All we need is David Villa. Threepeat.” Their laugh was patronizing, I’m sure. Within a week of my return, I was nearly ready to celebrate when Marca declared, through Yahoo’s Babelfish, “Villa for 40 kilos of grain and of the network!” (I should note that, though Marca is probably run by a group of crazy persons, the deal was apparently Villa to Madrid for 40 Euros, Granero, and De La Red. Later, Bernd Schuster would tacitly blame Raul for ruining the deal.)
Oh, how the times have changed.
99 points. About 70 million cups. Half the world says Barcelona is the best team on the planet and the other half says they are the best team in the history of the planet. And to make matters worse for Los Vikingos from Salamanca to Seattle and Madrid to Manhattan, Barca will be far more lethal after their recent acquisition of David Villa and their presumptive purchase of Francesc Fabregas.
I would like to make one thing painfully clear: Fabregas will be sold to Barcelona and will be sold this summer. Under assorted rocks and in Iowa there are still Gooners out there who are holding out hope that Wenger may be able to hypnotize the boy for one more season. Unfortunately, that ship sailed last year when Fab saw Barca take 6 titles and saw Arsenal win nothing. Again.
The moves make perfect sense for both players. If there hasn’t been enough waxing over the prodigal son and his return home, you haven’t been paying attention to the news about Fabregas who strategically dropped the bombshell and scooted off to World Cup training. And from Villa’s perspective, his decision to be “ready” for the Premiership called was due mostly to Barca’s previous unwillingness to pay the asking price and Perez giving Valencia the two-fingered salute last summer and taking the same, rejected, offer to Lyon for Benzema (I know, it didn’t quite work out how the Whites wanted, but history is all about timelines and when you know what you know). It was always Barcelona or Madrid. Villa never wanted to leave Spain, never wanted to take his wife and his children, one newly born, to a foreign nation, and now he does not have to.
These moves immediately make Barca deeper, which Arsene Wenger and Juande Ramos can tell you is pretty darn important when you’re chasing a title. One could argue the single most important player on Barcelona this season was Pedro, mostly because very few people actually knew who he was in August. Pep Guardiola had no clue that Ibrahimovic was going to have troubles adapting, that Iniesta would fight injury, and that Thierry Henry would fall off the map after the fisting he gave Ireland. Messi is amazing, but we already knew that. Pedro was amazing and we had no clue. Depth wins you cups, and even if there is a decision to sell Ibra, Villa and Fabregas give you two world class options for the Barcelona bandolier.
In addition to pure numbers and talent, Guardiola will now have increased options with selections, formations, and tactics. In Barca’s 4-3-3, Iniesta can move up to the left wing and Cesc can slide into his midfield role, bringing Pedro off the bench. Villa can either replace Ibrahimovic or supplement him. Cesc is capable of playing anywhere along the midfield three, and Villa is capable of playing anywhere across the front three. Barca’s fluidity make these two players perfect choices. While the 4-3-3 seems to be hardwired into FCB identity, but should Guardiola get creative, he could mix and match seamlessly with a 4-3-1-2, 4-4-2, a 4-2-3-1, a 4-3-2-1 …getting dizzy yet? Yeah, it’s not really worth the permutations unless you’re a nerd. The point is they can give a team a host of looks and switch on a dime to a new formation because all of their players are so multi-dimensional. Lastly, it’s widely held that Ibrahimovic was brought in as a plan B when the quick one-two’s weren’t working. Even with a completely dysfunctional center forward, Barca was able to get 99 points. With or without Ibra, Cesc’s outside shooting ability, according to Sid Lowe of the Guardian, gives Barca an additional layer of plans, and Fabregas will probably run more than Victor Valdes to boot.
Maybe more important than the options is the style. Villa is the Eto’o style forward who can play facing goal and is effective in the passing game in a manner supplementary to being the final recipient. Fabregas, Xavi, and Iniesta have almost interchangeable styles. The point is these players are square pegs in square holes unlike Ibra, who is just a peg looking for a hole. Someone tell your sister to look out.
As for me, I’ll be waiting for that Fernando Torres press conference and somewhere in Salamanca Fran the Barca fan is smiling sheepishly and saying, “No way.”
Oracle of Iberia (of Wisconsin),
ReplyDeleteWith many special signings pending (maybe or maybe not including me self), who do you see on the way out of Madrid in order to make room? Perhaps that over rated Alonso, whose departure a year ago in no way had anything to do with me and the lads sub-standard performance this past season. Thank you for your many football premonitions,
-Genesis4Life8-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vKvSqPLFO4
After viewing into the deep haze amongst several plates of brass, the wavy lines of my vision spelled out the following names:
ReplyDeleteGuti
Drenthe
Granero
and, I hope, Karim Benzema.
Xabi Alonso is pretty good. We'll keep 'im around for a while.
~P~