So far new president Sandro Rosell has not made any signings but as he is eager to make an impression as the new club supremo it is likely that we will see a new player arrive before the end of the transfer window. Having made a name for himself as a strong negotiator, though, he will not buy a player at any price as he showed with Cesc Fabregas. Rosell said that every player has his price and if the selling club are not prepared to meet it then it is always better to be ready to walk away as he did with Arsenal over Fabregas. There is now talk that he may arrive next summer but the truth is that is doubtful whether Barça really needed a player with Cesc's characteristics as they already have Xavi and Iniesta. So far this summer Barça have brought in David Villa and Adriano, two players who will have different roles in the team. Villa is the man they lacked last season, someone like Samuel Eto'o who will guarantee goals and the only doubt about him is whether at 29, it makes good business sense to spend so much money on him. Meanwhile Adriano will give the team more strength in depth as a left sided utility player. Guardiola rejected Robinho as he was not convinced about his temperament and it appears to be a sound decision if you look at his track record with Real Madrid and Manchester City. Certainly Barça don't need a half-hearted player who blows hot and cold. the question is now whether the coach will give the green light for Ozil from Werder Bremen. The German international showed at the World Cup his potential and would be available for a knock-down price of 12m euros. He surely would be a useful addition even if perhaps he is not yet the finished product as he needs to improving his strike rate and consistency in front of goal.

With Barcelona already having signed David Villa from Valencia who would you also like to see playing for Barcelona last season. Villa's performances for Spain at the World Cup show that he is likely to be a useful addition to the team even though he is 29-years-old. The club now are desperately seeking to off-load Ibrahimovic, who had a disappointing first season and his sale would free up a lot of cash. Cesc Fabregas is the most likely arrival now but there are plenty of question marks over whether he is the player that the club need right now. They have similar players in Iniesta and Xavi and surely another addition would just lead to unrest in the dressing room. It is true that Iniesta could play further forward in attack but his best position is in midfield as he does not score enough goals for a striker. It seems a shame that Toure is on his way after he had a very successful first season. During the last campaign he was used less and became unhappy at being overlooked often with Seydou Keita playing ahead of him. If Toure does leave, which appears likely, then Mascherano is his ready made replacement at Liverpool. Personally I would like to see a solid centre half move to the club. Rafa Marquez could well be leaving in the summer as he wants more playing time and Chygrinskiy has been something of a disaster since his move last year, so it leaves Puyol, Pique and the injury prone Milito.

Barcelona will announce the signing of Valencia striker David Villa in the coming days. One of the hotest properties in the world game, Villa will finally make the move to Barça after Valencia agreed to part with their most valuable asset and he will become a key addition to the forward line for next season. Villa was touted with a move to a top side last season especially with the debts that Valencia have been under but they decided not to sell and instead figured out a financial plan based on making more money through keeping him and qualifying for a place in the Champions League which they have achieved. Barça's alternative was Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan and the Swede has failed to fit in perfectly with the system at the Nou Camp but this is unlikely to be the case for Villa who will complement the pacy forward line with his own speed and top class finishing. "I want to go to the World Cup with everything sorted and I don't want to go through what happened last season with all that uncertainty," explained Villa.

Former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o said after Inter Milan won at the Nou Camp last week that that his side had beaten the best side in the world and that appears to be the general feeling that while Barça play the best football they can be beaten especially against more physical sides. Last year Barcelona were within minutes of going out against Chelsea and had it not been for Andres Iniesta's wonder strike then they would have been eliminated and then this time around without a miracle comeback they were knocked out by a super defensive Inter side which used their physical strength to out muscle Barça. Back in 1974 it was claimed that while Germany won the World Cup it did not matter to the Dutch players who had been beaten as they knew they had played the best football and that is true up to a point but is there a way that Barça can improve to become more competitive in Europe. Personally I think that Pep Guardiola did not make the most of his man advantage against Chelsea for the final hour of the game. It was only in the last 15 minutes that he played Pique as a centre forward and so mixing up their attack and that paid off immediately with Barça's goal. Surely though Barça could have tried different tactics earlier in the game in order to find a breakthrough. The decision to play Milito instead of Maxwell did not seem to make much sense when you are pushing forward for a goal and that meant bringing Toure into the defence whereas he could have been a valuable addition bringing some muscle to the midfield. Perhaps Guardiola signed Ibrahimovic with the hope that he would bring some height and strength to the attack but this has far from worked and instead slowed down the forward line. The most disappointing aspect is that against Samuel and Lucio he was unable to create any real danger and yet Bojan came on and was a threat straight away. There has also been plenty of talk about Mourinho on his return to Barcelona but I think it is a big mistake to take him too seriously. He comes along deliberately trying to wind people up and people should not fall into the trap. He likes the attention and every time he comes to Barça the local press and fans get irritated by him. The fact is his defensive style worked but Barça should not be beaten by a side which just sits back and especially when they have ten men.

With the season moving into its crucial stage with less than two months to go before the major titles will be decided, the question for Barça fans is whether the team has the same ruthless qualities to beat all before them that they had last season. Barça are neck and neck with Real Madrid at the top of the table but while they are in a similar situation to last season, when the crucial match was the visit to the Bernabeu to more or less decide the title, this year there is no point denying it that they are stuttering more than firing on all cylinders. Messi apart the team seem to be struggling to find their form. Defensively they have had injury problems which has unsettled the team while in midfield, key players are not delivering. Iniesta has been very quiet while Toure Yaya is clearly unsettled and not happy about his situation at the club. The most worrying area though is in attack where Ibrahimovic has been unable to adapt well to the Barça movement in attack, which rely on quick movement and pace. He looks out of place and it was almost embarassing to see him given the ball by Messi after the Argentine was felled for a penalty. Apart from Ibrahimovic, Henry already looks like he has one foot out of the club with his next destination expected to be the MLS in the United States. The main positive note is Messi who is in amazing form at the moment and appears to be capable of beating teams on his own. He is back to the form he showed a couple of years ago when he ran from the half'-way line to score against Getafe. Also, as Guardiola said, the team may have dropped its level but it is by no means a crisis and they have the players and the quality to win titles especially as there is no rival who appears beyond Barça. If you look at Madrid they have constantly failed this season in the big matches and then in the Champions League the biggest threat appears to be Manchester United but Barça showed how they can beat them playing their passing football last season. Arsenal should not be underestimated as they have a lot of talent and have a good chance of winning the Premiership but there is no doubt if Barça play anywhere near their potential they can out play them. The draw is good news for Messi as well as he in particular plays better against footballing sides rather than the more physical teams. Inter Milan would be the likely semi-final opponents and they are a solid side, who won't be easy opposition but they lack truly world class midfielders. The main danger is Samuel Eto'o, who is in a good run of form right now, and perhaps Barça will be regretting selling him especially having exchanged him for the disappointing Ibrahimovic.

There has been plenty of talk in recent weeks about Barça's form in recent weeks and the question has been asked about who is not pulling their weight in the team. Even one of the club icons Johan Cruyff says that there are players that are not playing at the necessary level and the club certainly has struggled in certain matches like last weekend against Almeria but is this any worse than last season?

It is easy to look back to last year with rose tinted glasses but the reality was that at times the team was not at its best. Obviously they won every competition available but to win any cup competition you need a certain amount of luck and it all came together last season. It doesn't matter how brilliant you are you always need that stroke of fortune such as the ball falling to Iniesta in injury time at Stamford Bridge in last season's Champions League semi-final.

It should not be forgotten that when Barça produced that famous victory at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid last season the title race was very tight, it wasn't as though Barça were running away with the championship and it is the same now. Is there any truth though that some players are under-performing. It's true that there have been a lot of injuries and suspensions recently but also players like Yaya Toure and Carlos Puyol aren't playing at their best.

The debate about Ibrahimovic is interesting. I would say that he has never perfectly fitted into the Barça system of quick passing and attacking at pace. He is a technically strong player, strong and good in the air but that is not the Barça style. Often he slows down the attack and now too often the midfield plays the ball long looking to use his height which also hasn't been that effective.

It is wrong to blame Ibrahimovic though but it is true that Eto'o was a player who fitted more into the Barça system with his pace and ability to combine with Messi, Iniesta et al.

 

 

 

 

 

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure is not happy that he has only had a bit part role for Barcelona this season and there has been plenty of speculation about his future but it would be a big mistake to allow him to leave. All successful teams need a hard man as well as the skilfull and creative players. If you look at teams in the past like Manchester United, they had Roy Keane, Arsenal had Patrick Vieira and Frank Rijkaard himself was a physically imposing midfielder for Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan team in the early 1990s. Toure signed a new deal with Barca hoping to play regularly as he had been doing at the end of last season and was an integral part in the side that won the treble. Since then though his star has started to fade and coach Pep Guardiola has chosen instead to field Seydou Keita who has been in blistering form. The agent of Toure is famous for being outspoken and was was quick to claim that the player was not happy and wants to leave the club because he is not playing enough. He says that while Toure was playing the big matches he also wanted to be involved in the regular games in a similar way to Xavi and Iniesta. As a result it was particularly disappointing for Toure when he was not included in the side which faced Real Madrid at the weekend and the player himself came out in 'France Football' to say that he needs to play more games. There are no shortage of admirers especially in the Premiership for Toure and there is no doubt he would be a big success there. For that reason it would be an error to let him go and it would probably rebound on the club. Toure's physically prowess was especially valuable against Chelsea and Manchester United in the Champions League and they are two of the clubs who are now keen to sign him. Playing in Europe it is necessary to have someone like Toure who can come out on top in a battle for example with Didier Drogba. Of course at the moment it is difficult to drop Keita but Guardiola would not be making a mistake by rotating his midfield more and giving more time to Toure because if he doesn't then he risks losing him and that may well come back to haunt him.

With Barcelona apparently keen to bring Robinho to Barcelona either in the January transfer window or at the end of the season, the question has to be asked how much they need the Brazilian. Robinho originally left his home country to join Real Madrid, where although he was not a disappointment he certainly didn't excel and that is clear from the way that they were willing to sell him when they did to Manchester City. Having wanted to join Chelsea he eventually was forced to join City with Madrid agreeing a deal with them but even though he wants to leave for a bigger club, he is far from vital at City who would happily recoup the money they spent on him. So the question has to be asked why Barca, who have such a rich array of talent in attack would want Robinho. It is true that Guardiola is looking to the future and Thierry Henry is coming to the end of his career, but Barca still have plenty of options in attack and Pedro has shown that he too is a candidate for a regular berth. Robinho meanwhile has never really delivered after such an enormous build-up before coming to Europe and his temperament also has to be questioned as he is known to enjoy the nightlife and has shown several breaches of discipline while at Madrid and City. Meanwhile the talk of Yaya Toure leaving is also worrying because as well as because all great sides need solid players who can complement the star players such as Iniesta and Messi. On top of this Toure has shown that he has a lot more to his game than just physical presence, as he is technically strong and has a good shot. It is worrying when his agent says that he is looking for a move to Chelsea or Manchester United or rumours surface of an exchange with Cesc at Arsenal.

With elections looming at the end of the season there has been plenty of posturing inside the boardroom over who will takeover from Joan Laporta and the signs are that it is turning into anything but a clean fight.

The crisis which the club endured at the end of the 2007/08 season led to a mass of resignations from the boardroom headed by the economic gurus Ferran Soriano and Marc Ingla who were responsible for the dramatic turnaround of the club's finances since the present board came to power in 2003. A vote of confidence was held against Laporta who stubbornly refused to stand down despite over 60 per cent of members voting against him. A two-thirds majority was needed to force him out.

Despite the success of Barcelona, Laporta has never won the hearts of fans due to his often dictatorial and arrogant stance as president. On taking over the reins in 2003 he promised to run a transparent board and also lift the covers on the Nunez and Gaspart years at what really happened behind the scenes in terms of spending. Instead while this never happened, he has been blamed for making the Barcelona board less open than ever.

As a spokesman for the Elefant Blau, the platform set up to oppose president Nunez, who was accused of becoming a dictator by the 1990s, Laporta championed the cause of the members but since being elected president himself he has gone down the same road. When accused of this at a meeting of members he responded to the questioner: "okay sit down you've had your moment of fame."

His rants and raves have become legendary. The time he argued with security staff at Madrid airport and took off his trousers in an act of petulance or the time when he kicked his chauffeur out of his car in the centre of Barcelona and continued driving himself. Many rightly felt these were not the actions of the president of a great club like Barcelona. Perhaps the biggest insult to fans though was when he brought Alejandro Echevarria onto the board and it was discovered that he was a founder member of the Franco society set up to honour the former dictator. Laporta denied he belonged to the society until he was proved wrong by a newspaper investigation.

The fight for power saw Sandro Rosell, crucial in the early signings of players like Ronaldinho and Deco, leave as he was angry at the way Laporta single-handedly ran the club and only listened to Johan Cruyff who wasn't even a board member and was entirely unaccountable. That was in 2005 and since then Laporta has gradually strengthened his hand in the boardroom by replacing directors who will yield to his every whim.

The latest saga to beset the club has been over the payment of money for the director Joan Oliver to organise a private security firm to follow four board members. When this was made public, Oliver denied it was spying but that simply the club was protecting these individuals although the information reported back did not back this up as they provided information on the presidential credentials of the directors. Most damning for Laporta was that one of these directors, Jaume Ferrer, was the favourite by other board members to replace the president but was not liked by Laporta himself.

In a board which is so dominated by Laporta there is little chance of recriminations and the man set to be chosen by Laporta to succeed him Xavier Sala i Martin is unlikely to face much of a challenge to be the continuity candidate. It remains to be seen who will fight him externly with Rosell almost certain to stand while Ferran Soriano could also throw his hat into the ring. It is set to be an intriguing battle between several leading figures who have a bitter resentment towards each other.  

 

 

Barcelona are among a host of top European sides following the progress of 20-year-old Brazilian Sandro Guimaraes. The Internacional de Porto Alegre player is a regular in the Brazilian U-20 national side and broke into his club's first team last season where he has already made a significant impact. Currently he has a contract until 2013 but it is likely he will move to Europe in the summer. Tottenham Hotspur made an offer of 14m euros in August which was rejected for contractual reasons. Meanwhile, Barca are also interested in Racing Santander midfielder Sergio Canales. The 18-year-old made his Primera Division debut for Santander this season and is one of the big hopes of Spanish football. With his contract coming to an end this summer he is also likely to move on but Barca are likely to face tough competition from Real Madrid.

An important decision before the kick-off against Rubin Kazan was the choice of putting Gerard Pique and Rafa Marquez in the heart of the defence and leave Carles Puyol on the bench. Under Pep Guardiola, Puyol has stopped being the ever-present stalwart of the team that he has been in the past. A lot of this has been a result of the emergence of Pique who can offer the strength of Puyol coupled with the fine ball control and the ability to build play from the back. A key element to the way Guardiola perceives the game is that he looks for technical quality from all areas of the pitch and that seems to be the reason why he prefers to play Marquez ahead of Puyol - for his ability to launch attacks with his short and long range passing. The downside though was only too clear against Rubin as there is no substitute for the character and commitment of Puyol who drives the team forward relentlessly. Against the Russian's counter-attacking, his pace and battling was sorely missed

Barcelona are keen to reinforce their attack with Manchester City forward Robinho but if they do so they may have to lose Yaya Toure who the Premiership side are keen to bring in. Toure was one of the unsung heroes of the Barca side last season and his importance should not be forgotten amid the praise given to Barca's famed attacking players. While Messi, Iniesta and Xavi et al all lit up the stadium with their skills, Toure was also very effective either in his accustomed midfield role, protecting the defence or as a centre-half which he did impressively against Chelsea and Manchester United in the Champions League. Reports also suggest that Puyol's future is still not secure. Following news that the club is stalling on offering Rafael Marquez the terms that he wants, Puyol is still yet to sign a new deal to stay at the Nou Camp. He remains a talisman for the side but it appears that the board are looking to the future and especially see Gerard Pique as the way ahead.

Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan has been strongly linked with a move to Barcelona this summer to reinforce the forward line. Having finished the season on 32 goals, Forlan has shown once again his quality and would be a welcome addition to the Barca squad and surely would be a better signing than Ibrahimovic who has shown himself to be moody and lazy at Inter Milan. Ibrahimovic has said that he would like a move away from Inter and look for new challenges but while he has undoubted ability, his temperament leaves a lot to be desired. Another striker Benzema is also linked once again and he has expressed an interest in coming to Spain, a deal for him could also likely see either Gudjohnsen or Hleb go in the other direction to Lyon. Defence is one of the areas were the team needs to strengthen, especially at left-back and there is talk that Barca are ready to make a move for Chelsea defender Ashley Cole

With so many players suspended and injured it is going to create a selection headache for coach Pep Guardiola. At the moment it looks as though Iniesta and Henry are going to be fit to start but there is also the worry that they are not a 100 per cent. The Catalan papers think that the most likely starting line-up will be a backline of Puyol, Pique, Toure and Sylvinho; then Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets in the midfield and in attack Henry, Eto'o and Messi. I would have thought that it would be better to play Kieta in midfield ahead of Busquets who isn't really that experienced at this level yet and he didn't do too well against Chelsea when he started with him in midfield at Stamford Bridge. I think that Sylvinho is the obvious choice for left-back but it is going to be a worry to see him up against Ronaldo as he isn't that defensively strong and he is in his mid-30s now. The key for Barca is that Xavi and Iniesta can run the midfield and out-play the United players, likely to be Anderson, Carrick, Park and Giggs. If United have one weak point I would say it is the midfield as Giggs is now 35 and Anderson is very inconsistent. It will be a very difficult game but Barca manage to keep possession we should win.

Barca have made it hard for themself again by only managing a draw with Chelsea at home but at least the Premiership side did not score an away goal. If the game is more open then that will suit Barca's attacking game but it is going to be a tough match with Chelsea having the backing of the home fans. It will be a game in which individuals like Messi and Iniesta an win the match for Barca.