Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona?

During a recent interview for the Argentinian newspaper Ole, Lionel Messi has hinted that he could not finish his professional football career at Barcelona, many things can change in football.

Lionel Messi has spent all his professional football career with the Catalan giants and during this time at the Camp Nou, he helped the club win six La Liga crowns and three Champions League trophies.

Even after he revealed that he wants to see the end of his career at Barcelona, also conceded that this is not guaranteed due to the volatile nature of football.

He talked of the present and how hi wants to make a great year and win titles with Barcelona, and nothing else is in his mind, after that, we will see.

“Things can change a lot in football”, he said during the interview with the newspaper, “While I have always said I would like to stay at Barcelona, sometimes things don’t work out the way you would”.

He also was asked if his future depends on him or in someone else and his answer was that if it was up to him he will stay at the Nou Camp forever, but not everything happens the way you expect, more when talking about football and its volatile nature where it’s complicated to see the future, more during the moments that Barcelona is experiencing right now.

He also commented on the current season and the way things are shaping for Barcelona, he said that this is a huge club and after loosing two matches there is always criticism from everywhere.

He is confident with the new coach and the ideas he brought to the team, but things take time to settle. The team has enough quality players to win everything this year and Messi is relaxed about it.

Read more about FCB EScla in Canada. Registration is now open fo Winter Soccer Camps in Mississauga. Very Limited Spots!

Time to solve issues

The international break gives Luis Enrique an opportunity to solve the problems that surfaced in recent weeks, after a promising Barcelona season start.

Nothing is lost, with just over one-quarter of the season complete, Barcelona is just two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid and is already qualified for the next round of UEFA Champions League.

On  a normal team, just three defeats in 15 games would be a very good start for most coaches, but for Barcelona this is not the case, and after the game lost in the Santiago Bernabeu two weeks ago, Enrique has been under pressure.

With one week before the next changeling match against Sevilla at Nou Camp, the coach has time to deal with some long-term issues for the next fixtures to come.

One of the most pressing matter is Gerard Pique, who has been out of the pitch in the last three starting lineups and has been considering to move abroad during the January transfer window. A move that won’t hurt the club financially with a contract signed until 2019 after recovering the player from Manchester United in 2011.

The problem arises when we look at the defense line situation and the ongoing ban for Barcelona until January 2016; loosing a top-class defender like Gerard Pique will not help the team. 

Luis Enrique still has an opportunity to show the player that stills trusts the center-back in the next important games facing Sevilla, Valencia and Espanyol. Enrique needs some stability in defense more than anywhere else.

Luis Enrique has issues all over the field, with his decision to rotate the team so much, for example, in the last match against Almeria, Lionel Messi was paired in attack with Munir and Pedro Rodriguez, but after a terrible first-half, Suarez and Neymar where called from the bench and were able to turn things around.

Why have both players benched in the first place? With upcoming international break there is no need to rest the players, more when Neymar and Messi have begun to forge a relationship and Suarez in need of pitch time to get him up to speed.

There is no simple answer, and everyone has his own best starting XI; but only Luis Enrique can determine that and will be in his mind in the next 10 days.

Read more about FC Barcelona program for March break 2015, Training in Barcelona. Limited Spots!

It’s the right time for youngsters

Barcelona was trying to forget his worst week, where the team lost his match against his historical rival Real Madrid and was unable to score a single goal against Celta. These to consecutive defeats raise some questions about Luis Enrique club direction and style.

 The match against Ajax had two clear halves, and the first one showed everything that is wrong in current Barça. But at the end the result was 2-0 for Barcelona with Messi breaking another record, so everyone was happy at the end.

During all this season, some things showed in Barcelona that need to be fixed. The first one is the inability of the midfield to link with the forwards, with a lack of creativity that is required to allow Messi to play his best games, and forcing him to drop deep to get the ball for himself.

We thought of Rakitic as a possible substitution for the important role of Xavi, but he has been unable to do so and it seems that Barcelona still needs Xavi now more than ever. But with Xavi getting older, and Rakitic not at the same level, playing safer and not trying to penetrate and open the opponent’s defense there is no easy future in the midfield. Also, the injuries of Iniesta will not help this team weakness.

Probably now is a good time to introduce the youngsters, Denis Suarez, Sergi Samper and Alen Halilovic to help in this position and prepare for the future of that midfield. They are a group of talented young players, but they need time to get used to the Barcelona First team and the couch has to give them minutes so they can understand the roles of Xavi and Iniesta.

It’s time, also, for us to say goodbye to Xavi and Iniesta, it was a great era, but is now ending and to accept that Barcelona needs to introduce new kids thinking in the future. It’s not easy, but Luis Enrique is the one that needs to start this movement as soon as possible, and the fans to accept the changes.

Read more about FC Barcelona soccer camps in Mississauga. Very Limited Spots. Programs from FCB Escola Canada for Kids 6-17 Years old. Registration is now Open!

Barcelona - Almería next La Liga match

After two consecutive losses in Spanish La Liga, the team was under a lot of pressure, but after the victory against Ajax last Wednesday in Champions League Group F match, the feelings have changed in fans, players and couch and the word that can describe it is “releif”.

After the last mediocre two matches lost, the team was in a log of pressure, but they responded with a solid 0-2 win over Ajax in Amsterdam, a hard fought match. 

But it’s not only the victory, but how it was earned, especially during the second half of the match, were The Catalans performed really well and showed good perspectives for the final months of 2014.

But this feelings need to continue in the next match, a trip to Andalucia to play against Almería, an always difficult match, even with an Almería that have only nine points after 10 la Liga matches. It’s difficult to play away from home, but Barcelona can win, even more after the last Champions League match in Holland where they were put again on track.

This will be the last match before, again, another international break, and due to this break, the coach Luis Enrique will not be rotating the squad as much as he has done in the rest of the La Liga season.

The coach is still searching for the right lineup and also needs to give more minutes to Luis Suarez with the top players in the team and to find the right connection with Messi and Neymar in the front line. 

We will, most likely, see the best 11 in this match, not very different from the one that faced Ajax.

Read more about FC Barcelona Soccer Camps in Mississauga for Kids ands Youths. The programs start December 22nd and 29th. Register Now!

Ajax 0 - Barcelona 2

Lionel Messi was the star of the last Barcelona UEFA Champions League fixture against Ajax, both for the victory and to match the goal record set by Real Madrid Raul with a total of 71 goals in the competition.

This last victory, help ensure a place for Barcelona in the knockout stages and finished the hopes for Ajax to continue in the European League. The victory of Paris Saint-Germain over APOEL Nicosia set the top two spot in Group F.

All eyes are now fixed to when will Messi break the record after surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo in the process.

The match started with an early goal from Neymar after just three minutes, but this early lead was disallowed for offside. 

During the first half, Ajax was lively and about to take the lead with a shot fired by Lucas Andersen after a poor interception from Dani Alves. 

Ajax winger posed serious problems to Barcelona defense in the first minutes of the fixture and Davy Klaasen had his opportunity for Ajax but was stopped by Marc-Andre ter Stegen just after 26th minute.

Jordi Alba was fortunate when he seemed to block El Ghazi with his arm. However, just minutes after, Barcelona took the lead when Cillesen having blocked a free-kick from Messi, went to the left edge of the area to take a ball but was beaten by Marc Bartra who passed Messi, the Argentinian scored the first goal with his head past Ricardo van Rhijn on the line.

The Catalans improved after the half time interval and seemed sharper, with Luis Suarez having his opportunity to increase the advantage after a clever pass from Messi, but he was denied his first Barça goal against his former club where he made 159 appearances during the last four seasons.

Ajax had his opportunity to draw the match thanks to Arkadiusz Milik, but Ter Stegen was able to stop it with his right hand, after just one hour of game. But the hopes of victory for Ajax were dented after the second yellow card for Velman after bringing down Messi.

This advantage was capitalized by Barcelona when Messi scored his second goal after a Pedro’s cross from the right finishing a perfect answer after the two consecutive La Liga defeats.

Read more about March Break, Training in Barcelona, from FCB Canada. 

Barcelona, what’s happening?

During this year, we have seen two different faces for Barcelona: the first one, when breezing through la Liga and Champions League with a perfect clean sheet. But when they faced teams with some quality, they were unable to play, especially in their match against Real Madrid.

It’s clear that loosing against Real Madrid and PSG is not a cause for alarm, but it’s the way this defeats came that should concern, in contrast with the rest of the matches. Despite some brilliance in the front line, the team seemed vulnerable nearly all time during the two matches.

At Bernabeu, with a starting midfield formed with Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta, the same trio of the rest of the matches, they were slow, unimaginative and overrun by Real Madrid. From a tactical point of view there is no difference between this team and the team that beat Real Madrid 4 years ago with a 5-0 score at Camp Nou, but this is most likely the real problem.

The players are the same in some extent, but they are 4 years older and the midfield formed by Xavi and Iniesta are showing a lack of ability to impose their will in the big matches.

In the front, the trio formed by Neymar, Suarez and Messi is an upgrade to the Messi, Villa and Pedro front line but with no tactical evolution, the other teams will found ways to stop them.

This was the case with Real Madrid and PSG, they denied them space to move and make their game while launching lighting transitions that left Barcelona defense and midfield exposed.

Another problem in Barça game was in the set pieces, with a lack of height, especially in defense has been the issue, one problem that they were unable to address and put the team in a vulnerable position.

They are still one of the best teams in the world, but they need to change their game, start been unpredictable and shake things up tactically, to improve their results in the biggest matches.

The last loss against Celta broke their domination against weaker sides, but it’s unlikely to signal a downward spiral, they had a more than decent chance to win La Liga title.

Read more about FC Barcelona Winter soccer camps for youth in Mississauga. The Programs from FCB Escola Canada start December 22nd and 29th. Very limited Spots. Register Now!