The Beautiful Game

Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Brighton & Hove Albion. He'd just get in the way. 
Tags


Filed under

FC Barcelona

 
July 13, 2009

Espanyol: The new Barcelona

Later on this season I shall be making a football pilgrimage to the home of the holders of the UEFA Champions League, FC Barcelona. Over the coming years I plan to visit all the major footballing arenas across the globe. From Wembley Stadium to the San Siro to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and one day the Estádio do Maracanã in Brazil. The list goes on. It is a long one, but a great one and my plan was to take in a match at Camp Nou this Autumn.

However, the logistics of my trip have clashed with the recent La Liga fixtures and instead of witnessing the Messi and Pep show at the Camp Nou I will instead be heading over to the other side of Barcelona and taking in RCD Espanyol v Tenerife. Some may see this as a disappointment, others a failure of organisation and planning and frankly a bit of a waste of time.

However, to me it is a footballing opportunity.



A chance to watch true La Liga football in Spain, with passionate and dedicated fans. This will not be the package trip to Madrid to sit in the corporate boxes or along-side the tourists, this will be real football. With all the glamour of the top 4 Premier League teams and the cash lighting up Madrid - I think more people should turn to the 'mid-table' teams if they really love the game.

Chances are that RCD Espanyol/Tenerife, Fulham/Wolves, Genoa/Bari or Cologne/Vfl Bochum would provide a clearer indication of the power of the top European leagues than the standard matches that happen at the tail end of the UEFA Champions League. Sure the players are not considered as good (they are probably earning a lot less than Cristiano Ronaldo) and get less headlines but that does not mean they can not play. We are still talking about elite professionals. For example, I will get to see Iván de la Peña, Carlos Kameni and Shunsuke Nakamura play for RCD Espanyol - all International footballers.

I am excited by RCD Espanyol v Tenerife and the true experience at the new Estadi Cornella-el Prat stadium, and I encourage others to not always be drawn to the flame of the glamour clubs - there is more out there to experience and enjoy within the game we all love.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   Cristiano Ronaldo   Espanyol   FC Barcelona   Football   La Liga   Soccer   UEFA  

Comments [0]

June 24, 2009

Resting Players? Good, bad or ugly..


Each season, more and more players are involved in more and more fixtures. There has been a big debate around Theo Walcott and his involvement in the seniors prior to the UEFA U-21 European Championships , and that he will end up without any rest before getting stuck back in to pre-season training.

However, that has now gone away (although bound to resurface if he gets any injuries next season), and the fact that Gerrard plays 65 games in a season does not surprise anyone anymore. It is always going to happen as the game continues to grow and be the global power that it is. What is interesting to me in these days of huge squads (and teams with a number of star players) is whether resting players actually helps the team.



You hope by resting players they will be fresh, focused and up for it when the big matches come along. There is a crucial game for England's U-21 team on Friday where hopefully this will be the case.

It is the semi-finals of the UEFA U-21 European Championships and England go into their match against Sweden having rested players fully (England rested 10 players in their last Group Match). Now Stuart Pearce believes this will give his team an edge as he has a rested squad to pick from. Their opponents are co-hosts Sweden, and they had to play a  tough and intense last Group Match to get to this stage. If they lost they were out. They had to win to qualify, and win they did. Sweden now have momentum, England do not.

I wonder if Sir Alex Ferguson looks back on the end of last season's campaign with regret at resting his stars against Hull in the last game of the Barclays Premier League season. In the UEFA Champions League Final his side looked leggy and tired, and struggled to chase down and win the ball back from FC Barcelona. Perhaps United would of been better to of play the Hull game with the same intensity to carry into the final against FC Barcelona. We will never know.

Maybe Managers should be avoiding rotation and resting players as it interrupts the rhythm of the team and could even cause players to lose their focus. Look at Liverpool - last season was Benetiz's first where he played regular line ups and formation, and were it not for the injury to Torres I believe they would of ended up walking off with the title in May.

I think over the course of a season it makes sense to rest players when they are tired, but in big tournaments and just before big matches I would always rather my team approached the game with the same mentality and the same line up to maintain that momentum and energy into the final matches.

I just hope that Stuart Pearce does not look back and rue the decision to rest his players after they had already qualified. We will find out on Friday.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   David Beckham   England   FC Barcelona   Football   Gerrard   Hull   Manchester United   Semi-Finals   Sir Alex Ferguson   Stuart Pearce   Sweden   Theo Walcott   UEFA  

Comments [0]