Archive for April, 2010

1. Inter were the better team over 180 minutes. There is no getting around this fact: they deserved to go through. They did all the hard work in the first leg — very rarely does a team score three goals in one leg of a Champions League semifinal and not go through. The difference between 2-1 and 3-1…hell, I don’t even know what the appropriate metaphor would be. But it wasn’t 2-1, it was 3-1. And scoring two goals against this Inter team, coached by Jose Mourinho, featuring seven hard-ass South Americans whose sole purpose is to stop you scoring (Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Zanetti, Motta, Cambiasso, not to mention Chivu)? Highly unlikely. I knew as much before the game; I had watched them against Chelsea (both legs) and watched Barca’s first leg and knew that finding a way through would be nigh on impossible. Not twice. And so it proved.

2. There is plenty of talk out there about Inter’s “tactical brilliance”. This is one of pet peeves with football “analysis”. Putting ten men behind the ball and having them organized is not a measure of tactical brilliance. It is justified, and it is to be admired if done right under the circumstances (as it was today), and so on, but please don’t confuse it for tactical brilliance.

Funnily enough, I thought the actual tactical brilliance from Inter came in the first leg. There they left Milito and Sneijder far enough up the pitch such that Pique, Puyol and Busquets were always fearful of the counter, and thus could not join in the attacks as they did today (substitute Puyol for Yaya). They also took care to not press Barca in the middle of the park, which so many teams try to do before getting ripped apart with their slick passing. No, they made a very conscious decision at the San Siro to press Barca only in the final third, to conserve energy but also to frustrate Barca. It worked, and they nicked three goals to wit (that one of them was off-side is neither here nor there).

But repeat after me: putting. ten. men. behind. the. ball. is. not. tactical. brilliance.

3. The game was supposed to be 90 minutes but it only ended up being about 55 thanks to Inter’s time-wasting. I suppose I should hate the game and not the player, but really, this was so egregious. Maicon, Samuel, and Lucio were the biggest offenders. Is it a surprise that Jose Mourinho coached teams all seem to do the same disgusting things? No. But it doesn’t make it less galling.

4. A couple of points about Sergio Busquets. He is a cheat — a diving, play-acting cheat. He embodies everything about FC Barcelona, except exactly the opposite. I don’t want to spend too much time on this. I just hope Pep really sorts him out. He’s still young, and I have hope that he will learn. But right now, he’s a disgusting footballer.

But please keep in mind that while his rolling around was disgusting, Motta was already on a yellow and would’ve got sent off anyway because a hand to the face is a yellow. He would’ve missed the final either way too. So please relax on that front. And Motta had it coming to him — him and Bayern’s Van Bommel are the prototypical “we do a lot of shit off the ball and kick everything that moves and are basically thugs but we seem to get away with it an awful lot” guys. So he gets no sympathy from me. (Ironically, both Motta and Van Bommel were important cogs in the Ronaldinho Barca teams).

5. On Ibra and Henry: well, can’t say Ibra disproved his doubters today. He held the ball up well, but he also was a non-factor in the box. The simple fact is that Ibra was bought to break Chelsea-style buses. Barca faced a Chelsea-style bus today. And the only time they looked like breaking it is when Ibra was replaced by a nineteen year old kid who looks twelve. I’d say that’s pretty damning. He’s scored a lot of goals (more than Eto’o) and provided a lot of assists (more than Eto’o) this year, so I’m not saying the transfer was a “mistake”. I’m just saying some tough questions have to be asked given the circumstances.

And Henry? When Pep puts you behind Bojan and Jeffren, I’d say that’s a pretty good indication that your career for big teams is over. Not that we needed another reminder, but still. Barca need an attacking midfielder/winger who can score goals in the worst possible way this summer. Whether it’s David Silva or Cesc Fabregas or Luis Suarez or Angel di Maria or whoever — they need another goal-scorer.

6. The refereeing in the two legs was quite crap, but it was quite crap for both teams, so no one can complain.

7. You stay classy, Jose. I mean, just look at his reaction after the game. It’s pathetic. It’s so, so pathetic. It always has to be about him. Winning or losing, home or away, he can never be gracious. Look at him poking his nose in Guardiola’s business. Who does that?

I know there are people out there who like Mourinho for all this stuff, but I can’t see why. You can be cunning and employ gamesmanship or what not, but to have such little class is really unseemly. It really is. He is a disgusting human being.

8. Pique, you beauty. He really has become Barca’s third most important player, after Xavi and Messi. He can do it all, including, evidently, playing center forward. Watching him in these two legs, and watching him keep Ronaldo in his pocket in the Clasico, and watching him against Chelsea and United last year and against Inter in the group stages, you begin to realize how much of a big game player he is. If he’s not wearing the captain’s arm-band in less than five years, I’ll wear a CR9 Madrid shirt in public.

9. In general, I was very proud of the Barca team today (except for the aforementioned Busquets). They kept fighting and fighting and fighting and gave it their all. It really was a heroic performance. Yes there were some bad touches and some ill-advised shots and some panicky moves in the second half, but you can’t fault the effort and the desire. No team is going to win everything, but it really warms the heart when your team leaves it all out there. And Barca did. They can walk away with their head held high.

10. I really hate it when my sports teams lose. It is very, very cruel. European football especially — you work, and work, and work, and then it comes apart because one or two moments of madness. And I have no need to tell you that this year, as a Barca fan, making (and winning) the final would’ve been extra special. Extra, extra, extra, extra, extra special.

Sigh.