Having successfully guided Barcelona B to promotion in his first year in charge of the youth team, Pep Guardiola has now got bigger fish to fry next season at the helm of the first team. It will be no easy task for the former youth-team player, a favourite among cules, to reorganise the dressing room after two difficult seasons but he is a strong minded person which should make up for his lack of experience. Although the expected clearout has not yet happened, surely in the next few weeks the stars of the past four or five years like Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Deco will move on for new players to take their places. The question will be whether Barca can entice the same level of quality with players like Villa, especially after a successful European Championships to date, likely to be very expensive.

The future of Joan Laporta will be in the hands of socios this summer and if they decide to vote against him then new elections will be held most likely in September. The voto de censura appears to have been successful and so now a referendum will be held among socios with Laporta forced to go if there are two-thirds or more of fans against him. In that eventuality elections will be held in which other members of the board will be able to stand but not Laporta himself. It is unlikely that as many as two-thirds of fans will vote against president but in any case even if it fails it will be a clear demonstration to Laporta of the dissatisfaction of fans over the way that he has approached his role almost like a dictator.

It was interesting watching France against Romania in the European Championships and the chance to see the Barcelona players in action but one of the big questions I was left with was how good would Benzema be for Barcelona. He is currently keeping Henry out of the French side which is no big surprise considering his form for Barca this season while Benzema has received plenty of plaudits but I have to say that I am not convinced either that Benzema would be the right player. Benzema has been linked to a lot of the top clubs in Europe and says that he would like a move to Spain but I would say he still has to prove himself worthy of a large transfer fee. In the game against Romania Ribery was a lot more convincing but unfortunately there will be no chance of him moving this summer as Bayern Munich have refused to give him permission to talk to Barca.

It looks as though the personality of Joan Laporta could be his undoing if he is finally deposed as president this summer but is this best for the club? Since he became president he was always had an autocratic style of leadership which alienated a lot of people and so that when the team stopped playing so well, they were quick to attack him. It is incredible that while the team has played badly fans have only complained about Laporta and it shows how distant he has become. There are many examples of where he showed himself to be undeserving of this elected position such as the speech he made a couple of months ago to fans where he sounded like Fidel Castro, dictating to the masses rather than a man representing the fans. I think a need for change is necessary but I'm not sure that having elections now would be best for the club as it means they can have no clear plan during the summer for rebuilding the team as there will be little time left after the elections before the start of the new season.

 After two years of failure which has led to the departure of Frank Rijkaard, Joan Laporta has turned to local hero Pep Guardiola in the hope of bringing success back but is his lack of experience too much of a gamble?

The favourite among fans and the directors seems to have been Jose Mourinho but Laporta keeping faithful to his advisor Johan Cruyff has gone for Guardiola more than anything because the Portuguese wanted complete control of running the football aspect of the club which was very unpopular with sports director Txiki Begiristain and Cruyff.

Guardiola though is a massive gamble and if it does not work then it could be the end of Laporta who is already on the back foot due to dictatorial style and the team's recent failures. Guardiola is definitely going to be given a big reception because of what he means to the club - a home grown player who played football how fans like to see it played. The fact is though his only experience has been running the Barca B team for a season, it looks as though it will be a case of him sinking or swimming.
 

 Coach Frank Rijkaard is about to stand down as Barca coach according to a confidante of the Dutchman and it brings to an end five years at the Camp Nou where he brought the second Champions League success.

After two years without a tropy everyone has been expecting him to go but it will be a sad end to Rijkaard who brought winning ways back after the dark days of Gaspart's presidency. No one will forget the way Barca played in its prime with Ronaldinho leading the way, alongside Deco and Eto'o.

Insiders claim the failure to continue Barca's good run has been down to politics in the dressing room and infighting between egos. It looks as though Rijkaard has not been hard enough on these players with Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Deco at the centre, and this has led to a lack of commitment. Perhaps Barca's failure was to see the loss of Ten Cate two years ago, a tough coach who has now helped Chelsea to the Champions League final as Avram Grant's assistant. 

 Once again it was a lack of goal-scoring prowess which cost Barcelona against Manchester United who will now be going to the final in Moscow.

Barca had plenty of possession but they never really looked like they were going to score except for when Lionel Messi had the ball. United played a solid game but if Barcelona had played to their capabilities then surely they would have created better chances. Eto'o once again was disappointing up front and does not look happy at the moment while the midfield again did not function.

Rijkaard has surely got to realise that he can't always play with a 4-3-3 formation and needs to vary the side while Xavi and Iniesta do not play well together. They are too similar and while they did not both play in midfield against Manchester United they still need a more cutting player. I actually think that Barca really lack a player like Giuly who like Messi runs at people and creates chances. 

 The draw against Manchester United at the Camp Nou was disappointing in that they did not score a goal but it showed that they are more than capable of beating the English side at Old Trafford.

Barca played better than they have done for a long time, perhaps their best performance of the season as they took the game to United and they only lacked the killer pass. United were stretched to the limit at the back and will have been more than pleased with the draw.

I think that Deco was vital to the performance and showed again that the team struggles without his attacking runs from midfield. With Iniesta and Xavi in midfield there is no player who will make the killer pass, they are both technically strong players and never give the ball away but also they rarely try to make a key pass that could lead to a goal.

Manchester United will be under a lot of pressure against Barca at home and they know that if they concede a goal they will be in a lot of trouble. Once again Messi though will be the vital player for United as he is the one who can separate the teams. 

 

 

With the club struggling to keep pace with Real Madrid and Frank Rijkaard apparently unable to maintain control of the players it is likely that the Dutchman will leave in the summer.

It is incredible how quickly people forget what a massive impact Rijkaard has made at the club in five years and during that period the team won the league twice and the Champions League playing the best football in Europe. Now though people can only talk about the indiscipline of the players which may or may not be true.

It probably will be right though now for a new coach who can bring in new ideas and a fresh approach. If there is one thing true then it is that Barca always play the same system of a 4-3-3 and there is no doubt that now other teams know better how to deal with this threat but Rijkaard refuses to change the formation.

Laudrup is the favourite of Cruyff someone he knows well as a player in the Dream Team and he has more experience of coaching than Guardiola who also was coached by Cruyff. The big advantage that Guardiola has is that he is a massive favourite at the club while Laudrup of course left for Real Madrid


 

Barcelona put aside all their problems as they made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League and they face Manchester United for the first time since 1999.

It was by no means vintage Barca though as they struggled to build on their 1-0 lead from the first leg against Schalke. The internal problems at the club were obviously taking their toll on the players as Schalke failed to make the most of several early chances.

A lucky rebound though saw the ball fall to Toure though and he cooly finished to give Barca a cushion which they held until the end of the game.

Bojan was Barca's best player again looking lively and dangerous on the right wing and there were whistles and white handkerchiefs for Rijkaard's decision to take him off.

While everyone went away happy the question remains though whether the way Barca are playing is going to get them any further in the competition. They were stronger in defence against Schalke but they appear to be too slow in midfield, failing to break quickly enough with the ball and then in attack Eto'o and Henry are not living up to their reputations as deadly finishers.

 

It has been public knowledge that Ronaldinho has always enjoyed the nightlife but when it is not affecting his game then no one complains, the question though now is that if he continues to miss training and go out partying should he be punished.

Last season it was claimed that the Brazilian missed half the Barca training sessions and it was a running joke that he was always in the gym. This season he looks to be doing the same and surely it is time that someone puts him in his place. The idea from the start that certain players should be treated differently to others is wrong and this is a clear example why as when he is the star the other players cannot say anything but now they can and it causes friction in the camp.

Earlier in the season Edmilson talked about a black sheep in the team who was obviously Ronaldinho and that he was not pulling his weight. It doesn't look like he has learnt his lesson either as he was out two nights on the trot last week and as a punishment missed last weekend's game.

What do you think they should do with Ronaldinho. Should he be fined or at the very least be made to take part in all the training sessions until the end of the season. It is definitely looking now as though he will be on his bike in the summer but where too is the big question. 

 

It appears as though Jose Mourinho has finally decided upon his next club and he will replace Roberto Mancini as the new coach of Inter Milan.

Barca certainly have been closely linked to Mourinho and he has been in negotiations with the club but no deal was made. He has talked about wanting to go to a club which really wants him and will give him all the power he needs and it looks as though Barca were not prepared to do that or at least they were not ready to make a commitment until the end of the season.

Rijkaard is more than likely to leave Barca at the end of the season and there is a good chance that it will be his own choice and he will not be pushed. Of course though the club cannot arrange for a new coach though at the moment because if Rijkaard does win the Champions League then he has to be given the chance to stay.

The debate is open on how good a coach Mourinho would be for Barcelona in any case as he has always shown a preference for defensive football whether at Porto or Chelsea. At Chelsea he had money and top players and still preferred a defensive approach so maybe he is better suited to Italian football.

When Henry signed last summer more than 30,000 faithful cules turned up to watch the presentation. Everyone was waiting to watch him line-up alongside Ronnie, Eto'o and Messi but lets face it he's not cut the mustard.

It's true that he has been struggling with injury this season and it should not be forgotten that he missed a lot of the last campaign as well through this but what is most worrying is that he doesn't really appear to be trying his hardest out there. It's almost as though he doesn't want to be there.

It's understandable that he is irritated by the constant comparisons with Arsenal but it is inevitable that people are going to be looking for a similar style player but where is he. Pires his ex-team-mate says it's because he is depressed and it is down to problems with the break-up with his wife. He also says that he is not happy about being played out of position on the wing.

After the Villarreal match he is supposed to have stormed off after being substituted and not waited behind to see the players. Then he didn't train on Monday apparently due to a headache. It all sounds a bit strange to me but one thing is for sure ex-vice president Sandro Rosell seems to be right in his judgement that it was money wasted on a player past his best.

 

It was not so long ago that we were celebrating a two point difference at the top of the table but Barca have not taken advantage of Madrid dropping points and the performance on Sunday against Villarreal was desperate. There are no excuses with the quality of players out there as they struggled against a well organised Villarreal side who lets face it are nothing special. Where has it all gone wrong since the team won the Champions League, maybe it is the loss of Ten Cate who was the hardman alongside Rijkaard's softer approach. Rijkaard certainly seems to be taking it too easy and so do the players accordingly. Interestingly the new players have gradually got worse as the season has progressed, apart that is from Henry who has never got going, and maybe that is down to the training as some players themselves have said that they are not being pushed enough and have done their own private training.

Franco battling away caused far too many problems for Barca's defence who gave away the penalty and then with no one in the forward line capable of scoring it was Xavi again who had to make the difference. This time though he was not able to save the day as sloppy defending allowed Villarreal to score again. It was a sorry performance and Madrid now look a long way away. Even Laporta said after the game that they have allowed the league to escape them but Rijkaard has kept faith saying that no league title is decided in March. One thing is for sure though that if they are going to put the pressure on Madrid they are going to have to improve dramatically. At the moment it is difficult to see where that could happen as Ronaldinho does not appear to be returning to his former glory and Henry lets face it doesn't care. 

 We're introducing a new section here at the Barcelona Fans site.

The "Camp Nou Latests" will cover the day to day news regarding the Barça-players.

Stay tuned...