The international break has got us again as Barca gave a generally crappy performance last night. This is our third draw in the Liga this season, and we’d like to stop and point out that in all three cases, said draws came directly after the players got back from international matches. So yeah, we’re putting that on our blame list. And oh yes, there is a list. Let’s pick through this bit by bit, shall we? Starting with the defense.
Victor had a great match, there’s no denying that. Conceded twice, but they were hard-to-save shots and the second was kind of inevitable. Putting that aside, he really made some great saves—no blame lies on Vic’s shoulders here.
Moving on to the defense line itself. Yes, it was tacky. But what with Puyol injured and Marquez exhausted from an awful match and an oversees trip, what else could be done other than start Pique and Caceras and hope for the best. Sadly, both central defenders were terribly off form, Pique more so than usual. And what with Daniel Alves looking lost on the right, frankly, Abidal on the left wing was basically holding up the back string alone. He was just wonderful.
Midfield—er, let’s try not to think about that, shall we? Busquets did little to help out the sad defense and was just, well, clumsy. Then there’s Keita who did virtually nothing the entire match, and we’re eager to know his excuse. It’s not like he was off playing for his country instead of resting up for this one.
Attacking midfield? Well, there was Xavi. And there wasn’t. Xavi is wonderful player, and he certainly tried very hard, but he was just… tired. Pep honey, let the Xavster rest up a bit, will you? Because there’s no use in playing him when he’s having trouble just shooting straight.
Eto’o scored twice… again… but that doesn’t mean he played well. He was as off form as any of them. Th first goal was the rebound from a penalty he missed himself, and it’s a very good thing he got his own rebound. The second… we’ll give it to him that the second goal was great, and mostly his individual effort, but he missed so many chances besides, that we can’t give him more than average performance.
Iniesta was on the left wing and he was amazing. Pretty much, he was leading Barca all through the first half. When he got moved back to midfield we didn’t see as much of him, and yeah, he still tends to get slow and panicky around defenders, but still, he played a good match.
And then there was Hleb on the right—pretty much just useless. The way we see it, he shouldn’t have been on in that particular position. Barca’s attack is usually mostly generated from the right, and what with Dani and Xavi off form and Messi on the bench, you’re going to have to play someone worthwhile in Messi’s spot, and that someone is not Hleb. Playing Bojan there might or might not have worked, but rather than risk it, maybe it would have been better to just stick with two forwards, at least until Messi and Henry were subbed on.
And speaking of them two… Henry was great, came on, stirred up the attack and picked up the pace, did what was needed. Messi though was clearly not ready for this one after his full match with Argentina, and was pretty slow on the whole. Even after he and Titi came on, and the attack was livened up, chance after chance was thwarted and we are exceedingly annoyed at Ricardo, the keeper of Betis, for being so awesome last night. We even lost count of how many great saves he made against us.
That just leaves… Bojan who came on towards the end. He came on for Busquets, and yeah, Barca was actually playing four attackers, Henry, Eto’o, Bojan, and Messi, without forgetting Iniesta hanging back in midfield, and it was only after that that the equalizer came. Talk about pathetic.
Ok, this turned out longer than we'd intended. But this match has seriously upset us. All in all, we’re still rubbing our eyes and asking ourselves if that was really Barca out there. It was a very mediocre performance, and though we managed to scrape up a point, it’s still disappointing. The verdict? At least Bojan took his shirt off at the end.
That said, we’re going to cut the boys some slack and blame the international break, which left us with an exhausted squad, and hope for a better game next time. And they better deliver.
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