Barca soccer style is built from the back. Not only do they very rarely smack the ball forward hopefully, the goalie almost never punts it. Defenders are trained to move the ball laterally all the time, switching from side to side.
Barca makes this look easy. Their youngest players play like this. But it takes practice and organization.
Key points:
• The center defenders must space themselves widely. Too close together and they are easy to shut down.
• The full backs should be almost on the touchline. This forces the attackers to defend almost the entire width of the pitch
• Defenders must work hard to make sure that the pass backwards is always an option
• The goalie must be part of the system, a good option for a pass back. Must be calm with the ball, draw a forward and then pass to space. Defenders must help him.
• Center mids must work to become open when the center backs have the ball. They are the first option. Barca constantly makes 20-30 yards passes on the ground straight upfield from the center backs to center mids
• Wing mids must come back for the ball when it is on their side. They should then look for the quick linking pass to the center mids.
So being able to move the ball around at the back results from a team effort to ensure that player with the ball always has options
Training
Key is to ensure that defenders become confident enough on the ball that they can look for first, second, third option.
Center defender:
First option: pass square to other center D
Second option: pass wide to near side full back
Third option: pass up middle to center mid
Fourth option: pass back to goalie (at an angle)
Full back:
First option: Pass upfield to wing midfielder
Second options: Square/back pass to nearest center D
Third option: Pass back to goalie
NOTE: diagonal forward passes to defensive mid or center mids are often too risky and should be avoided where possible
Drill
4 defenders vs 2 attackers, full size field. Goalie rolls ball out to defenders. Objective is to maintain control and pass the ball to receivers acting as wing forwards.
• 2 attackers try to exert maximum pressure. They are replaced after 3 iterations and switch with the wing receivers.
• Attackers must learn to hunt in pairs and exert pressure efficiently
• Defenders work hard to ensure that man with ball always has options.
• Center D without the ball always drops to ensure an open passing lane
• Balls are played crisply; players must work to control them quickly and efficiently.
Option: require a set number of passes among defenders and goalie (e.g. 3)
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Patterns of play
Patterns of play
Barca plays very systematically. They repeat the same patterns of play over and over. This makes it easy for players to make decisions because they make the same limited set of decisions many times in a game and have prepared for those same decisions in practice.
Of course, many of these patterns are themselves based on very advanced technical ability. In particular, first touch is huge because it provides time and because it makes Barca players so hard to mark.
Still, these patterns help make Barca so efficient. And it is worth looking at a few of them in a bit more detail.
1. Playing across the back
The ball switches across the back 4 for Barca dozens of times a game. It’s a central part of their strategy, and it requires that playesr be committed to playing the ball and not panicking, while teammates always move intelligently to give the player with the ball multiple standard options.
2. Ball up the wing.
This is almost as prevalent. The wing defender plays a fairly short (10-20m) pass up the wing to the wing midfielder or sometimes wing forward (Barca play 4-3-3). Mid has several set options, all played one or two touch:
• infield toward the center mid (preferable)
• if that is not open, back to the wing.
• Third option is diagonal pass back to center D.
Note that what the wing mid does NOT do is try to turn and dribble.
3. Center mid triangles
The center and wing mids and three forward interchange endlessly to create small triangles that rotate the ball until an opportunity present itself.
These triangles require a lot:
• lots of short movement,
• excellent touch,
• vision (looking up to see what’s what before the ball even arrives)
• brilliant turning and shielding ability (watch Xavi – best turns in the world)
4. Cut in wingers
The Barca wingers play extremely wide. This tends to leave them one on one – whicvh they exploit not by going outside down the line but infield. This drive brings the closest center defender toward them, and leaves open a space into which the CF can move. Eto’o was a master of this, but Ibra is learning the system and quickly getting better.
5. The big switch
Because Barca wingers stay so wide, the far side winger is often a long way form the closest defender who has been trained to drop back toward the center to provide additional cover.
Hence a big switch from the right center mid or center back to the left winger is often an easy and safe pass.
6. Overlapping fullbacks
The cut-in wingers leave the defense with an impossible problem if the full back goes with the winger. It leaves a massive hole for an overlapping fullback, exploited multiple times a game by Dani Alves in particular.
If the ball stays with the winger, Alves can continue his run right into the penalty area. Otherwise he can simply receive in stride and strike a low powerful cross. Many of Barca’s key goals have come from Alves crosses (e.g. Messi’s goal against Man U in the Champions’ league final and again last week against Estudiantes in Dubai).
Barca plays very systematically. They repeat the same patterns of play over and over. This makes it easy for players to make decisions because they make the same limited set of decisions many times in a game and have prepared for those same decisions in practice.
Of course, many of these patterns are themselves based on very advanced technical ability. In particular, first touch is huge because it provides time and because it makes Barca players so hard to mark.
Still, these patterns help make Barca so efficient. And it is worth looking at a few of them in a bit more detail.
1. Playing across the back
The ball switches across the back 4 for Barca dozens of times a game. It’s a central part of their strategy, and it requires that playesr be committed to playing the ball and not panicking, while teammates always move intelligently to give the player with the ball multiple standard options.
2. Ball up the wing.
This is almost as prevalent. The wing defender plays a fairly short (10-20m) pass up the wing to the wing midfielder or sometimes wing forward (Barca play 4-3-3). Mid has several set options, all played one or two touch:
• infield toward the center mid (preferable)
• if that is not open, back to the wing.
• Third option is diagonal pass back to center D.
Note that what the wing mid does NOT do is try to turn and dribble.
3. Center mid triangles
The center and wing mids and three forward interchange endlessly to create small triangles that rotate the ball until an opportunity present itself.
These triangles require a lot:
• lots of short movement,
• excellent touch,
• vision (looking up to see what’s what before the ball even arrives)
• brilliant turning and shielding ability (watch Xavi – best turns in the world)
4. Cut in wingers
The Barca wingers play extremely wide. This tends to leave them one on one – whicvh they exploit not by going outside down the line but infield. This drive brings the closest center defender toward them, and leaves open a space into which the CF can move. Eto’o was a master of this, but Ibra is learning the system and quickly getting better.
5. The big switch
Because Barca wingers stay so wide, the far side winger is often a long way form the closest defender who has been trained to drop back toward the center to provide additional cover.
Hence a big switch from the right center mid or center back to the left winger is often an easy and safe pass.
6. Overlapping fullbacks
The cut-in wingers leave the defense with an impossible problem if the full back goes with the winger. It leaves a massive hole for an overlapping fullback, exploited multiple times a game by Dani Alves in particular.
If the ball stays with the winger, Alves can continue his run right into the penalty area. Otherwise he can simply receive in stride and strike a low powerful cross. Many of Barca’s key goals have come from Alves crosses (e.g. Messi’s goal against Man U in the Champions’ league final and again last week against Estudiantes in Dubai).
Catalunya vs Argentina
Camp Nou: Catalunya vs Argentina. December 22. 8.30 pm
Despite predictions of heavy rain and drizzle all day, we decide to go. Our friend Tito begs off, but we are determined – and rewarded. The skies clear, the night is crisp but not cold. After finding our way through the intricacies of the mobbed ticket window in either Catalan or Spanish (I’m still not sure which), we emerge high above Camp Nou at the center line just below the press box. Fantastic seats!
The place is hopping before kick off. An elaborate trampoline routine is coming to an end, and the oboe player for a Catalan supergroup is dancing his way out in a single spotlight from the far corner to the center circle where the rest are waiting. Very dramatic.
But that’s nothing to the welcome for the Catalan players. Fireworks and light shows greet every player – seemed very like the NBA except outdoors in a 100,000 seat stadium. Every player is greeted with a roar, especially home town heroes from Barca like Xavi, Bojan and of course Puyol. The biggest cheer though is for Johann Cruyff, the Catalan coach, who still enjoys demi-god (actually not so demi) in Barcelona almost 20 years after coaching here.
Messi won’t play, but plenty of top Argentine talent is on display led by Higuian from Real Madrid.
The game takes time to warm up, but gradually Xavi, Bousquets, and Picque (playing defensive mid – not very well it must be said) take control. Bojan is looking lively, and it’s his long cross field ball to the far side that allows the left winger to provide Luis Garcia from Espanyol with the first goal, slid in from behind the Argentine defense which is looking pretty disorganized. Their goalie ain’t so hot either.
A second goal comes just before half time, but Argentina strike back almost immediately as the Catalan defense is exposed once again as short of speed. Puyol is a great player, but Higuain can run rings around him for pace. If the Argentine finishing had been any good they would have won this game by a cricket score.
Ten minutes into the second half, Bojan scores a cracking goal, dribbling in from the left wing near midfield, accelerating through a gap, then cutting inside the fullback and burying it inside the near post. He showed why Barca persist with him even though he seems far too small to lead the line, and hasn’t really taken his many opportunities. The emergence of Pedro has added pressure as well. Beyond his goal, Bojan was very lively, very determined – maybe it was his first international (I don’t think he’s played for Serbia yet).
The crowd is totally into it now. A sea of Catalan flags around the stadium, roaring encouragement. Call and response echoes across stadium. There is a tremendous sense of national pride and cohesion. This is after all the Catalan national team playing in Camp Nou – a profound statement in a country where one of the first victims of Franco was the President of FC Barcelona, shot in 1936, and where the Catalan language was banned for 40 years.
On the other hand, Cruyff himself – a massive Catalan nationalist – was appealing on the day of the game for fans to show up, with only 30,000 tickets sold. And at best, the stadium was only half full at game time.
Two goals up, Cruyff starts subbing. Xavi goes first, then Bojan – and the wheels start to come off. Higuain scores a smashing goal, a volley from the edge of the box: 3-2. Then the ref gives a very dubious penalty to relieve the pressure, calmly slotted home.
Now many of the stars are gone – Luis Garcia and Puyols are off. And Argentina are just driving through the defense. They must have missed half a dozen good chances in the final 10 minutes.
Hard to read this result. Argentina looked very fast and dangerous up front, extremely quick transitions on the counter. But their midfield didn’t look too hot and their defense wasn’t even ordinary. Still they were missing a lot of what will presumably be first team players. I’d be a bit concerned though – Catalunya are not exactly a world power.
Overall, a fabulous night – incredible stadium, unbelievable atmosphere. Meant more to me as I’ve just finished reading Burns’ excellent history of the club, “Barca.” Once everyone had left, we could see the mural across one entire side of the seating – “Mes que un club” – the Barca slogan “more than a club” in Catalan. It certainly felt like that last night.
Despite predictions of heavy rain and drizzle all day, we decide to go. Our friend Tito begs off, but we are determined – and rewarded. The skies clear, the night is crisp but not cold. After finding our way through the intricacies of the mobbed ticket window in either Catalan or Spanish (I’m still not sure which), we emerge high above Camp Nou at the center line just below the press box. Fantastic seats!
The place is hopping before kick off. An elaborate trampoline routine is coming to an end, and the oboe player for a Catalan supergroup is dancing his way out in a single spotlight from the far corner to the center circle where the rest are waiting. Very dramatic.
But that’s nothing to the welcome for the Catalan players. Fireworks and light shows greet every player – seemed very like the NBA except outdoors in a 100,000 seat stadium. Every player is greeted with a roar, especially home town heroes from Barca like Xavi, Bojan and of course Puyol. The biggest cheer though is for Johann Cruyff, the Catalan coach, who still enjoys demi-god (actually not so demi) in Barcelona almost 20 years after coaching here.
Messi won’t play, but plenty of top Argentine talent is on display led by Higuian from Real Madrid.
The game takes time to warm up, but gradually Xavi, Bousquets, and Picque (playing defensive mid – not very well it must be said) take control. Bojan is looking lively, and it’s his long cross field ball to the far side that allows the left winger to provide Luis Garcia from Espanyol with the first goal, slid in from behind the Argentine defense which is looking pretty disorganized. Their goalie ain’t so hot either.
A second goal comes just before half time, but Argentina strike back almost immediately as the Catalan defense is exposed once again as short of speed. Puyol is a great player, but Higuain can run rings around him for pace. If the Argentine finishing had been any good they would have won this game by a cricket score.
Ten minutes into the second half, Bojan scores a cracking goal, dribbling in from the left wing near midfield, accelerating through a gap, then cutting inside the fullback and burying it inside the near post. He showed why Barca persist with him even though he seems far too small to lead the line, and hasn’t really taken his many opportunities. The emergence of Pedro has added pressure as well. Beyond his goal, Bojan was very lively, very determined – maybe it was his first international (I don’t think he’s played for Serbia yet).
The crowd is totally into it now. A sea of Catalan flags around the stadium, roaring encouragement. Call and response echoes across stadium. There is a tremendous sense of national pride and cohesion. This is after all the Catalan national team playing in Camp Nou – a profound statement in a country where one of the first victims of Franco was the President of FC Barcelona, shot in 1936, and where the Catalan language was banned for 40 years.
On the other hand, Cruyff himself – a massive Catalan nationalist – was appealing on the day of the game for fans to show up, with only 30,000 tickets sold. And at best, the stadium was only half full at game time.
Two goals up, Cruyff starts subbing. Xavi goes first, then Bojan – and the wheels start to come off. Higuain scores a smashing goal, a volley from the edge of the box: 3-2. Then the ref gives a very dubious penalty to relieve the pressure, calmly slotted home.
Now many of the stars are gone – Luis Garcia and Puyols are off. And Argentina are just driving through the defense. They must have missed half a dozen good chances in the final 10 minutes.
Hard to read this result. Argentina looked very fast and dangerous up front, extremely quick transitions on the counter. But their midfield didn’t look too hot and their defense wasn’t even ordinary. Still they were missing a lot of what will presumably be first team players. I’d be a bit concerned though – Catalunya are not exactly a world power.
Overall, a fabulous night – incredible stadium, unbelievable atmosphere. Meant more to me as I’ve just finished reading Burns’ excellent history of the club, “Barca.” Once everyone had left, we could see the mural across one entire side of the seating – “Mes que un club” – the Barca slogan “more than a club” in Catalan. It certainly felt like that last night.
Youth soccer in Barcelona
Local youth soccer in Barcelona
12/14/2009
One of my hopes in coming to Barcelona was to find a youth team where Mikey could practice. We did that, but it’s turned out a bit differently than I had expected.
I tried a few avenues before coming to the city but none of them panned out. So the first day in our apartment, I walked the streets and found a big store not far from us selling soccer gear. I wandered in and asked whether anyone spoke English. They pointed me to one guy with curly hair, and he spoke enough for me to explain that I was looking for a local youth team for my nino.
He said he would make a few calls. When I returned, he said there was a team playing on a field not far away on Montjuic, the big mountain and park overlooking Barcelona. He gave me some vague directions, and said that he didn’t really know when they practiced but that maybe it would be OK to go there at around 5.30 or 6.
One of my city maps actually showed a soccer field in more or less the right area, so next day off we went – Mikey with ball and boots. The street was small, and steepened into a real hill to trudge up. But we could see floodlights ahead which gave hope. Right at the top a small gate opened through the wall – into a brand sparkling new turf field!
There was a row of changing rooms with a café at the far end, past the full size turf pitch and the small size dirt field. We walked over and found that we should speak to “Julie” who ran the place. He showed up a bit later, and we had a fairly comical conversation with someone speaking Spanish very fast with a thick Catalan accent while smoking heavily. The gist was that Mikey was welcome to train with the team but could not play in games – which we expected.
So off Mikey went. First he had a kick around with some older kids, then practice started at 7.
An older coach organized practice. A couple of runs round the field and they were quickly playing a scrimmage, which lasted till the end of practice.
Mikey will have his own story, so here’s what I saw.
There were a range of kids. This seemed like a neighborhood select team (more on that below). There were a few weak kids, but most were very skilled by US standards, some outstandingly so. One kid had really remarkable dribbling skills, beating three or four opponents with ease.
The coach did little coaching except to yell at the dribbler to pass the ball. No drills, and almost no instruction. No limitations (two touch etc.). Perhaps partly as a result, I saw soccer that was largely the opposite of the Barca one-touch style: every kid wanted to dribble, no one moved well off the ball, so the game was slow even though the kids were quick. Mikey seemed to have little difficulty fitting in – his passing was way above average, his foot skills well below.
The kids were great, going out of their way to make Mikey feel at home. No-one spoke English. One of the kids had a few words, but that was it. So Mikey had to quickly learn a few Spanish terms.
We came back a week later for the next practice. New, younger coach, completely different. Almost no ball work at all. Physical training only: many laps of the field, followed by a tag game, and then wind sprints. A crossing drill followed: two strong crossers on the right touchline, two runners into the middle (near post/far post). Many repetitions of pass down the line, big cross from the corner (which no kid that age can do accurately). Not a single goal scored in 15 minutes, during which the coach went off at one of the weaker players for misplaying a cross. Only two players ever crossed the ball, and only from the right corner. An even odder event came next: a game in which two teams scrambled fore the ball with one goal, and threw the ball (with their hands) so a teammate could score with a header. 15 minutes of that and they were done. Practice over.
Back another week later (fiestas constantly interrupt the cycle of practices. This time yet another coach. Three laps, followed by long ball passing practice – at which point the practice was canceled 20 minutes in by the club president apparently because the kids had not met commitments to raise money by selling national lottery tickets! Practice over.
Many things to think about.
This is not a rich club in a poor part of town. Solid working class. Dues are 30 euros a month. The club has been playing on this field since 1928, and fairly recently persuaded the city council to spend 600,000 euros to build the turf field with lights. Not surprising given the neighborhood that no-one speaks English. So the business with lottery tickets is understandable but the actions were by our lights very harsh.
I’m reminded a little of the kind of clubs one might expect to find in Pittsburgh or Leeds. Hard nosed, run in a fairly authoritarian manner. Maybe not too much science to the coaching with a strong emphasis on physical fitness. Coaching by former players. Of course I may be generalizing too soon, and the language barriers makes things harder, but still…
The structure of practice left me angry. I thought it badly wasted precious time on the field. Time is allocated in one hour slots, and no-one had apparently thought to have the kids do their physical training first on the dirt field or by running laps outside the field. Coaches were clearly not concerned about their limited time – typically, they sent a kid off to collect balls or equipment and everyone stood around while that happened. Every coach had the kids standing around for ten minutes or so doing aimless individual stretches while the coach talked (but did not demonstrate). Having talented kids on a 600,000 euro field and not using the ball is – to my mind – just short of criminal. So the lack of thought and lack of organization imposed a heavy burden on the kids, though they of course thought all this perfectly normal.
But worst of all, I saw almost no actual coaching. Not an single demonstration, not a single walk through. As a result, the kids played high skill poor quality soccer. It seemed like a visit to the coaching time machine, back to mid-1960s when scientific training did not exist. It surprised me to find this in Barcelona of all places. And made me realize that the there is an upside to the professionalization of coaching in America, for better quality teams at least.
We’ll be back one more time, so I’ll update after that.
12/14/2009
One of my hopes in coming to Barcelona was to find a youth team where Mikey could practice. We did that, but it’s turned out a bit differently than I had expected.
I tried a few avenues before coming to the city but none of them panned out. So the first day in our apartment, I walked the streets and found a big store not far from us selling soccer gear. I wandered in and asked whether anyone spoke English. They pointed me to one guy with curly hair, and he spoke enough for me to explain that I was looking for a local youth team for my nino.
He said he would make a few calls. When I returned, he said there was a team playing on a field not far away on Montjuic, the big mountain and park overlooking Barcelona. He gave me some vague directions, and said that he didn’t really know when they practiced but that maybe it would be OK to go there at around 5.30 or 6.
One of my city maps actually showed a soccer field in more or less the right area, so next day off we went – Mikey with ball and boots. The street was small, and steepened into a real hill to trudge up. But we could see floodlights ahead which gave hope. Right at the top a small gate opened through the wall – into a brand sparkling new turf field!
There was a row of changing rooms with a café at the far end, past the full size turf pitch and the small size dirt field. We walked over and found that we should speak to “Julie” who ran the place. He showed up a bit later, and we had a fairly comical conversation with someone speaking Spanish very fast with a thick Catalan accent while smoking heavily. The gist was that Mikey was welcome to train with the team but could not play in games – which we expected.
So off Mikey went. First he had a kick around with some older kids, then practice started at 7.
An older coach organized practice. A couple of runs round the field and they were quickly playing a scrimmage, which lasted till the end of practice.
Mikey will have his own story, so here’s what I saw.
There were a range of kids. This seemed like a neighborhood select team (more on that below). There were a few weak kids, but most were very skilled by US standards, some outstandingly so. One kid had really remarkable dribbling skills, beating three or four opponents with ease.
The coach did little coaching except to yell at the dribbler to pass the ball. No drills, and almost no instruction. No limitations (two touch etc.). Perhaps partly as a result, I saw soccer that was largely the opposite of the Barca one-touch style: every kid wanted to dribble, no one moved well off the ball, so the game was slow even though the kids were quick. Mikey seemed to have little difficulty fitting in – his passing was way above average, his foot skills well below.
The kids were great, going out of their way to make Mikey feel at home. No-one spoke English. One of the kids had a few words, but that was it. So Mikey had to quickly learn a few Spanish terms.
We came back a week later for the next practice. New, younger coach, completely different. Almost no ball work at all. Physical training only: many laps of the field, followed by a tag game, and then wind sprints. A crossing drill followed: two strong crossers on the right touchline, two runners into the middle (near post/far post). Many repetitions of pass down the line, big cross from the corner (which no kid that age can do accurately). Not a single goal scored in 15 minutes, during which the coach went off at one of the weaker players for misplaying a cross. Only two players ever crossed the ball, and only from the right corner. An even odder event came next: a game in which two teams scrambled fore the ball with one goal, and threw the ball (with their hands) so a teammate could score with a header. 15 minutes of that and they were done. Practice over.
Back another week later (fiestas constantly interrupt the cycle of practices. This time yet another coach. Three laps, followed by long ball passing practice – at which point the practice was canceled 20 minutes in by the club president apparently because the kids had not met commitments to raise money by selling national lottery tickets! Practice over.
Many things to think about.
This is not a rich club in a poor part of town. Solid working class. Dues are 30 euros a month. The club has been playing on this field since 1928, and fairly recently persuaded the city council to spend 600,000 euros to build the turf field with lights. Not surprising given the neighborhood that no-one speaks English. So the business with lottery tickets is understandable but the actions were by our lights very harsh.
I’m reminded a little of the kind of clubs one might expect to find in Pittsburgh or Leeds. Hard nosed, run in a fairly authoritarian manner. Maybe not too much science to the coaching with a strong emphasis on physical fitness. Coaching by former players. Of course I may be generalizing too soon, and the language barriers makes things harder, but still…
The structure of practice left me angry. I thought it badly wasted precious time on the field. Time is allocated in one hour slots, and no-one had apparently thought to have the kids do their physical training first on the dirt field or by running laps outside the field. Coaches were clearly not concerned about their limited time – typically, they sent a kid off to collect balls or equipment and everyone stood around while that happened. Every coach had the kids standing around for ten minutes or so doing aimless individual stretches while the coach talked (but did not demonstrate). Having talented kids on a 600,000 euro field and not using the ball is – to my mind – just short of criminal. So the lack of thought and lack of organization imposed a heavy burden on the kids, though they of course thought all this perfectly normal.
But worst of all, I saw almost no actual coaching. Not an single demonstration, not a single walk through. As a result, the kids played high skill poor quality soccer. It seemed like a visit to the coaching time machine, back to mid-1960s when scientific training did not exist. It surprised me to find this in Barcelona of all places. And made me realize that the there is an upside to the professionalization of coaching in America, for better quality teams at least.
We’ll be back one more time, so I’ll update after that.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Barca vs Espanyol
Camp Nou: Barca vs. Espanyol
12/12/2009
Finally, a chance to see Barca at legendary Camp Nou. We just missed El Classico with Real Madrid two weeks ago, so this is their only scheduled home game during the month while we are here.
Getting tickets. I expected to find tons of tickets online at craigslist.org or the local equivalent, loquo.com. But nothing – not a one showing up. Internet to the rescue – I found a number of ticket agencies. Mostly working out of town, and with wildly different prices. Some wanted as much at 230 euros for a decent seat behind the goals, and almost 100 for the top of the top tier (and that’s a long way from the game at camp Nou. But while walking near the Ramblas (the main promenade in Barcelona), I found a small shop just selling tickets to Barca and Espanyol matches. They offered some 40 euro tickets for the top tier, but said (somewhat mysteriously) that they would have others in a day or so. On Friday afternoon I returned, and was very relieved to find they did actually have what appeared to be good seats behind one of the goals for 65 euros each. I snapped them up.
Getting to the game. It’s pretty easy to get to Camp Nou. Game was at 8, so we start out around 6 pm. We strolled down to the Para-lel metro stop and grab the green line (L3) to Zona Universitat. 6 stops later and we are at Marie Cristina station, where everyone seems to be getting out. Metro was crowded but not packed.
Once we get out things are not so clear. I am a bit turned around, and much of the crow is actually going Christmas shopping at the huge Cortes Ingles store, which turns out to be in the wrong direction. Once straightened out, we walk back along the massive Avenue Diagonal to the Princess Sophia Hotel, owned by a former president of Barca and a long time hangout for team members, journalists, and cules (hard core Barca supporters). Turn left after the hotel and the crowd is thickening fast as we move downhill toward the suddenly looming stadium. It’s big!
Crowds are very orderly (by English standards anyway) and we are early so it’s not too tough. We find ourselves right outside the gate we’re supposed to use and then pretty much outside the correct inner gate. Once inside, we find our way to our seats and then look up. It’s huge – an enormous bowl with 5 tiers of seats reaching way up into the night. The field is sparkling with lights, filled with action – teams warming up, cameramen looking for position.
Our seats are remarkably good – much better than I expected. We are behind one of the goals, in line with the edge of the box, and only about 15 rows back. There is a glass partition right in front of us, apparently to stop fans rushing forward toward the field, and then there is a huge net hanging right across behind the goal almost from side to side of the field.
People next to us are friendly – a much younger crowd than at the West ham game we saw a couple of weeks ago in London. Lots of couples, quite a lot of women. Some older couples, and lots of men of all ages. Plenty of kids too.
Teams. Unfortunately, Barca are without Messi, injured at the end of a rough game against Dynamo Kiev that we watched on TV. He makes a token appearance to show off the Ballon d’Or that he won last week, but he will be missed.
Barca’s front six are Xavi, Toure, and Iniesta in midfield, with Henry, Ibra, and Pedro up front.
There’s a huge roar as Barca come out, after a chorus of whistles and boos for Espanyol, long time cross town rivals who are also intimately involved in the politics of Barca – anti-royalist, and anti-Spanish, anti-Madrid, who surely do not appreciate a local Catalan team calling themselves “Espanyol.” The Barca fans sing their anthem, and it’s time to go.
Espanyol start fast, narrowly missing a shot in the first minute. After that it’s pretty much all Barca as they start to weave their patterns across the field. Valdes is at our end in the first half, and has little to do except make one very good save to tip over a swerving shot from outside the box.
But despite the possession, Barca are not doing all that much. Espanyol are marking Xavi very closely, and he’s not seeing much of the ball. Henry wants too much time on the ball, and though Pedro shows flashes of brilliance and speed, he’s not in the game all that much.
It’s Ibra who really catches the eye. He’s physically huge and very imposing. He relishes knocking defenders down when he can. But his touch is incredible, and his vision is awesome. He makes a number of crisp passes, always seems to have an understanding of where his first touch will go, and is clearly understanding the Barca system better every day. I originally thought that the trade for Eto’o plus 40m euros was insane. But I now think that Ibra is bringing a new dimension to Barca’s game, making them even more formidable, and that it was an incredible trade.
Suddenly, Pedro is flattened in the box at the far end. We can’t really see what happened, and Barca does a horrible job with the jumbotron. It’s small very high up and worse still they don’t use it! For anything! Not even for goals!
Ibra takes the kick, and it’s upper 90 all the way. 1-0 Barca.
Game gets into a rhythm. Barca pressing forward, Espanyol playing long ball and hoping for a mistake – which nearly happens as Pique gets caught in possession. But Barca cover quickly and snuff out the threat.
Despite their possession, Barca aren’t really creating many chances – the Espanyol goalie has to do not much except pick up a cross or two. Half-time, and the game is not really catching fire.
Half-time. Stretch the legs, find a snack. Fairly chaotic, but eventually snag a huge Catalan sausage (“botifarra” in Catalan) in a baguette. Share it with Mikey.
Game restarts, but the second half is pretty disappointing. Henry makes a couple of runs down towards us, but can’t get by the full back. Pedro is still bright and active but can’t get close to goal. Even Ibra is less threatening.
Pedro off in the 60th minute, replaced by Keita (a somewhat defensive move). Ibra leaves for Bojan, who seems lost playing as a lone striker. More fouls, more niggling, game coming now only in fits and starts. You can still see what Barca are trying to do, but without Messi they don’t seem to have the creativity to unlock to even a fairly mediocre team like Espanyol.
No more action. 1-0 Barca.
If I was Pep Guardiola, I’d be a bit worried. Barca looked pretty toothless without Messi to provide the spark, the creative genius, and to gather the attention of the defense. They still play very pretty football, but I wasn’t surprised that they only scored once. I don’t think the Espanyol goalie had to make a significant save all night.
Visiting the Camp Nou was a great experience. I loved the stadium, and the fans were in the main pretty pleasant. There were some obscene chants directed at the Espanyol players especially when one was writhing on the ground injured or getting carded for fouling a Barca player.
The one thing missing – was noise! No singing. I’m used to English grounds, where fans sing their traditional songs all game long, and direct abuse in the form of songs at other teams. There was a roar when Barca scored, but nothing much to encourage the players. It was quite quiet, actually, most of the time.
So the pleasant family atmosphere went hand in hand with a spectatorish approach -people watched but didn’t participate all that much. It’s not I was expecting, but it made for a fun night out without any of the edge one often feels around English grounds.
12/12/2009
Finally, a chance to see Barca at legendary Camp Nou. We just missed El Classico with Real Madrid two weeks ago, so this is their only scheduled home game during the month while we are here.
Getting tickets. I expected to find tons of tickets online at craigslist.org or the local equivalent, loquo.com. But nothing – not a one showing up. Internet to the rescue – I found a number of ticket agencies. Mostly working out of town, and with wildly different prices. Some wanted as much at 230 euros for a decent seat behind the goals, and almost 100 for the top of the top tier (and that’s a long way from the game at camp Nou. But while walking near the Ramblas (the main promenade in Barcelona), I found a small shop just selling tickets to Barca and Espanyol matches. They offered some 40 euro tickets for the top tier, but said (somewhat mysteriously) that they would have others in a day or so. On Friday afternoon I returned, and was very relieved to find they did actually have what appeared to be good seats behind one of the goals for 65 euros each. I snapped them up.
Getting to the game. It’s pretty easy to get to Camp Nou. Game was at 8, so we start out around 6 pm. We strolled down to the Para-lel metro stop and grab the green line (L3) to Zona Universitat. 6 stops later and we are at Marie Cristina station, where everyone seems to be getting out. Metro was crowded but not packed.
Once we get out things are not so clear. I am a bit turned around, and much of the crow is actually going Christmas shopping at the huge Cortes Ingles store, which turns out to be in the wrong direction. Once straightened out, we walk back along the massive Avenue Diagonal to the Princess Sophia Hotel, owned by a former president of Barca and a long time hangout for team members, journalists, and cules (hard core Barca supporters). Turn left after the hotel and the crowd is thickening fast as we move downhill toward the suddenly looming stadium. It’s big!
Crowds are very orderly (by English standards anyway) and we are early so it’s not too tough. We find ourselves right outside the gate we’re supposed to use and then pretty much outside the correct inner gate. Once inside, we find our way to our seats and then look up. It’s huge – an enormous bowl with 5 tiers of seats reaching way up into the night. The field is sparkling with lights, filled with action – teams warming up, cameramen looking for position.
Our seats are remarkably good – much better than I expected. We are behind one of the goals, in line with the edge of the box, and only about 15 rows back. There is a glass partition right in front of us, apparently to stop fans rushing forward toward the field, and then there is a huge net hanging right across behind the goal almost from side to side of the field.
People next to us are friendly – a much younger crowd than at the West ham game we saw a couple of weeks ago in London. Lots of couples, quite a lot of women. Some older couples, and lots of men of all ages. Plenty of kids too.
Teams. Unfortunately, Barca are without Messi, injured at the end of a rough game against Dynamo Kiev that we watched on TV. He makes a token appearance to show off the Ballon d’Or that he won last week, but he will be missed.
Barca’s front six are Xavi, Toure, and Iniesta in midfield, with Henry, Ibra, and Pedro up front.
There’s a huge roar as Barca come out, after a chorus of whistles and boos for Espanyol, long time cross town rivals who are also intimately involved in the politics of Barca – anti-royalist, and anti-Spanish, anti-Madrid, who surely do not appreciate a local Catalan team calling themselves “Espanyol.” The Barca fans sing their anthem, and it’s time to go.
Espanyol start fast, narrowly missing a shot in the first minute. After that it’s pretty much all Barca as they start to weave their patterns across the field. Valdes is at our end in the first half, and has little to do except make one very good save to tip over a swerving shot from outside the box.
But despite the possession, Barca are not doing all that much. Espanyol are marking Xavi very closely, and he’s not seeing much of the ball. Henry wants too much time on the ball, and though Pedro shows flashes of brilliance and speed, he’s not in the game all that much.
It’s Ibra who really catches the eye. He’s physically huge and very imposing. He relishes knocking defenders down when he can. But his touch is incredible, and his vision is awesome. He makes a number of crisp passes, always seems to have an understanding of where his first touch will go, and is clearly understanding the Barca system better every day. I originally thought that the trade for Eto’o plus 40m euros was insane. But I now think that Ibra is bringing a new dimension to Barca’s game, making them even more formidable, and that it was an incredible trade.
Suddenly, Pedro is flattened in the box at the far end. We can’t really see what happened, and Barca does a horrible job with the jumbotron. It’s small very high up and worse still they don’t use it! For anything! Not even for goals!
Ibra takes the kick, and it’s upper 90 all the way. 1-0 Barca.
Game gets into a rhythm. Barca pressing forward, Espanyol playing long ball and hoping for a mistake – which nearly happens as Pique gets caught in possession. But Barca cover quickly and snuff out the threat.
Despite their possession, Barca aren’t really creating many chances – the Espanyol goalie has to do not much except pick up a cross or two. Half-time, and the game is not really catching fire.
Half-time. Stretch the legs, find a snack. Fairly chaotic, but eventually snag a huge Catalan sausage (“botifarra” in Catalan) in a baguette. Share it with Mikey.
Game restarts, but the second half is pretty disappointing. Henry makes a couple of runs down towards us, but can’t get by the full back. Pedro is still bright and active but can’t get close to goal. Even Ibra is less threatening.
Pedro off in the 60th minute, replaced by Keita (a somewhat defensive move). Ibra leaves for Bojan, who seems lost playing as a lone striker. More fouls, more niggling, game coming now only in fits and starts. You can still see what Barca are trying to do, but without Messi they don’t seem to have the creativity to unlock to even a fairly mediocre team like Espanyol.
No more action. 1-0 Barca.
If I was Pep Guardiola, I’d be a bit worried. Barca looked pretty toothless without Messi to provide the spark, the creative genius, and to gather the attention of the defense. They still play very pretty football, but I wasn’t surprised that they only scored once. I don’t think the Espanyol goalie had to make a significant save all night.
Visiting the Camp Nou was a great experience. I loved the stadium, and the fans were in the main pretty pleasant. There were some obscene chants directed at the Espanyol players especially when one was writhing on the ground injured or getting carded for fouling a Barca player.
The one thing missing – was noise! No singing. I’m used to English grounds, where fans sing their traditional songs all game long, and direct abuse in the form of songs at other teams. There was a roar when Barca scored, but nothing much to encourage the players. It was quite quiet, actually, most of the time.
So the pleasant family atmosphere went hand in hand with a spectatorish approach -people watched but didn’t participate all that much. It’s not I was expecting, but it made for a fun night out without any of the edge one often feels around English grounds.
Visiting Barca U14s
Visiting Barca youth game
Yesterday we drove out to the Joan Gamper training complex where Barca does most of its training, to watch the Infantil A team – ages 13 and 14. The complex is quite a way out of town, and it is located behind fairly tight security. There are 9 fields, some with artificial turf, the others very high quality closely mown grass. It’s an impressive complex, with lights on all fields, bleachers for most of them, training and changing rooms (behind further security, not open to the public).
On entry, you walk down a long concrete causeway with fields on the right. We stopped for a while to watch an older age group team (U16?) demolish their opponents for a while, clearly using that familiar Barca style – switching the ball around at the back, short and medium passes up the middle out of defense to the striker coming back or the midfielders, then distributing out to the wings or switches to the opposite side. 7-0 Barca.
Game finished and the Infantil A game was starting, so we hustled off to field 7. This turned out to be the premier field: a large stack of concrete bleachers rising up from the near side of the field where spectators were congregating, and a beautiful playing surface. It appears this is the field made to Pep Guardiola’s specifications as an exact copy of the field at
The place was quite crowded – a maybe 3-400 spectators (for a U14 game). The game was also shown live on Barca’s TV channel, so there were TV crews all over, along with the TV announcer. All very exciting.
The two teams emerged from the corner of the field, where player passes were checked by the ref. Barca were playing Espanyol, cross town rivals. The Barca players looked a bit bigger, and included four players from
The game itself was close for a while. Even though Barca dominated, they had trouble scoring. Eventually their best player, #6, received a short corner while the defense snoozed and blasted a shot from well inside the corner of the box that ripped past the goalie before he could react.
Even at this age, Barca played in Barca style.
Interestingly, no overlapping fullbacks to speak of. Their job at this age is completely defensive.
Gradually, the game is dominated by three players – all African. The Barca #6 is incredible: He is basically playing defensive mid, and looks like a slightly smaller Michael Essian. Plays like him too: incredible first touch, tremendous turns and shielding, fantastic field awareness, and unbelievable strength: just shrugging off tacklers with sheer physical arrogance. Two footed.
He has clearly watched a lot of Xavi Hernandez – he makes a lot of tight turns, often with the outside of either foot, as well as a lot of dummy turns to create space. Any youth team could work on this often neglected area.
Barca #8 is similar though slightly less dominant – playing a bit further up the pitch, but linking constantly with #6. Both players keep the ball switching, often making difficult skip passes over the fullback to the opposite winger playing wide, or through to the forwards.
Up front, Barca have another extraordinary physical specimen: looks Kenyan or Cameroonian (at least two of the African players spoke French, so maybe all came from
Espanyol had scored on one of their few threats late in the first half after a defensive breakdown on the wing and a fine cross and header.1-1 at half time, and it’s starting to get colder. But soon after the half, the Espanyol defense backed off #9 just outside the area, and he turned sharply to smash one high past the (rather small) goalie from about
Barca started subbing, bringing off one of the rather ineffectual wingers. Both looked like they could be good but had poor games. They were surprisingly lacking in real pace (could not burst past their defenders) and moves. The new winger, a small but very fast African kid, made a big difference – Espanyol could not cope with his pace, even though he was extremely right footed. His cross led later to the final goal.
The next goal was the gem of the game. From an Espanyol corner, #6 led a fast break. Using a clever run from #9 that drew away the center back, #6 accelerated into the open space, cut inside, slipped untouched right through the center onto goal and very calmly passed beyond the goalie into the net. Incredible vision and composure.
Following a couple of late headed goals from Barca (who had a big height advantage late in the game after some subs) and one more from a good cross for Espanyol, game over: 5-2 Barca.
Of course, it’s difficult to draw conclusions from one game and from such young players. But they are only 3 years away from possible first team action. So here goes.
Near certainty: #6. best youth player I’ve ever seen. Would pay to watch him. Next Xavi.
Good chance. #8 and #9. Both a cut above everyone else on the field. #8 would have been dominant if #6 was not there. #9 just looked scary for any defender: big, very fast, good in the air, excellent touch and dribbling, rocket shot. What’s not to like?
Possibles. Both fullbacks played well within the system. Did not see much of them going forward, but both showed good defensive skills, excellent first touch. #17 (winger sub) reminded me of Wright-Phillips: small fast one-footed a bit erratic, but very dangerous. If he develops he could be very good.
I am going to see whether I can get to watch a training session for this team. And at least one more game.
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