Barcelona have already signed up midfielder Keita for the new season from Sevilla but who else would you like to see playing at the Camp Nou next season? With Samuel Eto'o set to leave, Barca will need a centre-forward to replace him, but who is the right player who can score the goals that he has done over the last few years? Could it be Ibrahimovic at Inter Milan, with Mourinho taking over the reins at the San Siro his future will depend on the Portuguese, but either way he will be expensive. Then there are also Benzema, Trezeguet and Inzaghi who have all been linked with a move. In defence Daniel Alves appears to be close to a move and he should provide an important injection of quality at left-back which was missing during the disappointing two-year spell that Zambrotta was at the club. Hopefully the signings will not be effected by the elections if they do happen, as the new board would not have very long to negotiate with clubs.

 

Cules gave Frankl Rijkaard a warm reception at the Camp Nou on Sunday night for his last night in charge as fans preferred to remember the good times and the success rather than the last two years of disappointment.

The whistles were saved for primarily Joan Laporta and the players especially Deco and Eto'o who deliberately got yellow cards last week so they did not have to play against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Now that Rijkaard is going, time will tell on whether Laporta will be able to last until the end of his mandate in 2010. Despite the two leagues and a Champions League success he has a lot of enemies who are unprepared to put up with his dictatorial approach in which he always tries to be the protagonist and runs the club as though it is his own business. 

 It looks finally as though Ronaldinho will not be given the chance to say farewell to fans before his anticipated departure from the club in the summer.

No one should forget what Ronnie has done for Barca but for many cules his recent disinterest and preference for the Barca nightlife has turned the story sour. Just this week it has been revealed that the night before Barca's biggest game of the season away to Manchester United, Ronnie was in Barcelona out partying until 5am in the morning.

It is believed Frank Rijkaard wanted a chance for Ronaldinho to say goodbye to fans in the last home game of the season but due to this risk that he good get a bad reception it is probably going to be scrapped. Personally it seems sad that a player who has given so much will leave by the back door as so many others have done in the past - Maradona, Ronaldo, Rivaldo..... 

Only two years ago Barcelona were the top team in Europe winning at home and abroad but now they appear to be a team which is finished and everyone says that it is the end of a cycle but why is it considering many of the players are still in their mid-20s.

Ex-player Albert Ferrer said that he thought it was an internal problem that started with the team doing well and if that is the case then it is Rijkaard and ultimately Laporta's fault. Everyone knows now that Ronaldinho only was going to a third of training sessions and no one complained and this is amazing, can you imagine at Manchester United, Alex Ferguson allowing say Wayne Rooney to go to just one in three training sessions?

I think that Rijkaard has been stubborn and too laid back, he has always planned to leave at the end of the season and looks as though he really doesn't care. The Barca dressing room is difficult to manage of course because of all the personalities and so they need a strong trainer. 

Sevilla midfielder Keita is the latest player to be linked to Barca next season but who would you like to see at Barcelona next season.

Keita has been a revelation for Sevilla since his move last summer from playing in France. He has struck up a good partnership with Poulsen who incidentally has also been linked to Barca. Do the blaugrana actually need another midfielder though and with Toure do they not have a similar kind of player?

It will be interesting to see who they sign in attack and of course we don't know which of the present strikers are still going to be there. Will Henry return to London? Maybe with Chelsea? and surely Ronaldinho will go with Milan the most likely place at the moment.

It will be difficult for Barca to sign any of the players already with top clubs like Ronaldo who has a long term deal with Manchester United and Fernando Torres has a similar contract at Liverpool. Drogba though has been linked to United but I think Barca would have to play a different style of attacking football if he came as he is more about pace than strength. Benzema is a striker who is likely to leave Lyon in the summer and says that he would like to play in Italy or Spain so maybe he would provide some more hunger in attack which Barca definitely need as at the moment only Bojan is providing this.

 

 

 

 

Barcelona director Xavier Sala i Martin revealed what everyone had been thinking yesterday by admitting that the club had been hiding indiscipline by claiming players were injured.

He revealed that certain players, without naming anyone, had been separated from the rest of the team for their behaviour and it caused storm clouds over the Camp Nou stadium on Thursday night.

Ronaldinho and Deco are the obvious players to be implicated as they have both been out for long spells with dubious injuries and are known to enjoy the nightlife. Marquez is another who although he returned to the team against Schalke has had his professionalism questioned. Recently he was supposedly out injured and yet seen partying in a Madrid nightclub.

 

 

 

 

Rijkaard once again changed the players in the team but there were still the same problems, finally do you think it is the system which is wrong and they are too predictable for the opposition? Henry was left on the bench and Gudjohnsen was given a starting place but the team looked slow and disinterested until the last 20 minutes. Rijkaard looks like he has lost his ability to motivate the players and maybe it is time to play say a 4-4-2 at times with Henry and Eto'o up front which is the way that Henry says he wants to play.

After all the controversy involving Ronaldinho recently he has now been left out of the Barca team to face Valencia in the cup. The club published a medical report showing that there was nothing wrong with Ronaldinho after he had been claiming of injury suggesting that he does not want to play. Do you think that is the case that he isn't interested anymore or do you think the club has put too much pressure on him recently and not given him support?

Everyone has been talking about the success of the English teams in the Champions League this season with all four sides getting throuh to the quarter-finals while Spain and Italy both only have one representative. It reflects the way the Premiership is dominating football with its extra financial muscle and it looks as though Barcelona this season is the only realistic opponent to them.

Barcelona is a success story for club that still remains in the hands of the members - socios - and has not sold out to big money. If you look at the English teams in the draw the only one which hasn't got a foreign owner is Arsenal and even they are partly owned by Americans. Barca make their money through a global base of fans who support the team for what they represent and not from money moguls from overseas.

The big question though is whether Barca are capable of stopping the English sides this season. Looking at sheer ability then the answer of course is yes because Barca have a side which can match any but let's face it they are a long way off their best. Players are out of form and Messi is injured. It's probably a good thing that they are playing a weaker side in the next round as at least this gives the team time to find its form for later in the season for the crunch matches.

 

 

 

 

It looks like Barca got lucky with the draw today as it looks as though Schalke are the weakest team in the draw but they have to be careful as it won't be an easy tie. I think Manchester United are the toughest team for Barca because they are the team in form at the moment where as Arsenal have been struggling with injuries and I don't think Chelsea or Liverpool have been so convincing. It will be an interesting game for United though against Roma but Barca can't afford to look any further ahead than the Schalke game.

Except for Xavi and maybe Iniesta the whole team seems to be struggling at the moment, the play is too slow and there is no real desire. Ronaldinho's decline has been incredible from a top player to a joke, I can't remember the last time he actually beat a player. Henry similarly has been terrible and doesn't even look like he cares on the pitch, most of the time he just stands around watching and nothing else. Ok he may be good at encouraging the other players especially the kids coming through but is that what you pay 16m for, I don't think so. Rijkaard also seems to be basking in his previous success.

The gap at the top now is just six points which means Madrid are catchable especially with a game still to be played against them. What worries me though is that Barca are not playing that well, their Messi dependancy worked against them on Sunday as he did nothing special and the team could not break down a solid Osasuna side. What do you think?

Do you think that Rijkaard is still the right man to lead Barcelona? It seems as though he has taken the team as far as he can as the players look as though they are losing their way. Ronaldinho is unfit, Deco is out half the time partying and incidently lost his licence this week drink-driving and Henry doesn't look interested. Do you think Mourinho could do a better job?

Barca's two under-pressure stars Ronaldinho and Deco have been listed as injured and it does seem a bit suspicious with rumours that they may leave in January. Do you think that they should stay? Do you think that they have a role to play in the future of the club or maybe it is time to move on and let the young players like Messi and Boyan lead the way?

Who do you think was to blame for the defeat in the clasico? Lots of criticism has been given to Ronaldinho for his poor performance but should he have been given all the blame? After all the whole team played badly and Rijkaard's tactical decisions failed as well - Deco played ahead of Gudjohnsen and was clearly was far from his best as well while the Icelander has been playing well recently. The decision to play Ronaldinho for the big game obvously failed as well