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In the post-match press conference after the solitary goal win against Almeria last night, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, acknowledged that he was surprised by his counterpart Hugo Sanchez’s approach of individual man-marking of Xavi and Iniesta but believes his team can overcome these tactics.
“We tried to play Messi through the middle but could not provide the passes” adding, “If teams do that to us, we will find a solution. I know how that can be done.”
Guardiola admitted it was difficult for his team to play their usual game as Xavi and Iniesta had to leave midfield (play wide) to create more spaces, saying “We created very little danger which demonstrate that everything has a price”, adding “It is necessary to win against Almeria or any team (for that matter). They all prepare themselves well and they all have very good coaches.”
The coach was satisfied with Iniesta’s recovery to play the full 90 minutes and Marquez’s involvement in the match after returning from an injury that required surgery. But most of all he was delighted with Pedro. “He is still young and has a lot of room for improvement”, asserted Guardiola. “He is gradually given playing time and can only keep improving. Pedro helps us a lot as he has a sense for goal and (tonight) has scored a great goal.”
Talking about the tactical approach of the Almeria’s coach, Guardiola insisted he is not worried about other teams emulating the approach, “We merely lacked the ability to make inside passes. It does not worry me. When they defend against players individually
Andrés Iniesta “I feel sorry for Ortiz because he came to play and practically did nothing at all but follow me around. They put two players on me and Xavi, but we have other options”. “It was a strange game. We were not good in front ogf goal and perhaps if we'd managed another that would have changed things”. “I felt good. I didn't know if I was going to play the whole 90 minutes, but I'm happy to have been able to”. “We've won six from six and that's important”.
Pedro Rodríguez “Almeria made it tough for us, but I'm happy about the goal and the win, though I think I wasn't too good with my passing. I was a bit careless, but when you play more your confidence grows. I always try and bring something to the team”.
Víctor Valdes “The other team are playing as well, it's not all down to us. Almeria played an intelligent game, marking our midfield and looking to hit us on the break. I don't think we were tired – on the whole we played well in a very hard game. The changes freshened things up a bit. I'm very pleased for and proud of Pedro who is a guy I really like a lot. He's very self effacing and he deserves this type of reward”. Sergio Busquets“I wouldn't say it wa steh hardest game, but it was a bit strange. We took the points as best we could and I think we were the better team. It was difficult because we are not used to facing tactics like Almeria used. My ex-teammate Chico did a great job and I wish him all the best. We are on a good run and it's good to get a win just before the break, even without playing at our best. Let's hope Madrid don't win and we will be on our own at the top”.
Dani Alves
“We quickly saw that this was gpoing to be a tough game as they tried to stop our passing game, but we won and we continue our great run” “I'm a football fan, so I'll be watching Seville and Madrid. It'll be a hard game for Madrid”. “Like all Brazilians, I'm very happy about Rio being chosen as the venue for the Olympics ”.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic “I'm very happy to win a tough game and make it six out of six. We founfd ourselves up against some very difficult tactics, but we won without really playing well. It's very hard to play against 5 defenders and although I didn't score, somebody else did to give us the win Pedro¡s goal was a really good one”. “We have a decisive game against Denmark and if we can win we will be top of a difficult group”.
To Start things Off everyone give a round of applause for this guy here. Not only did Prince Of Monaco saved us by scoring our only goal today,(what a Golazo!!!! BTW)he was so lively and efficient unlike our sulky Frenchman has been these past weeks. He is definitely growing in confidence and is taken his chances by the horns.
Now back to the game......Anyone who watched the 1st 10mins of the game knew it was going to be an low-scoring game as Hugo Sánchez made it clear that he'd be trying to emulate Espanyol's Nou Camp win last year. Although I did not like what I saw in this match I did however saw something which was never present in last year's team. This squad although being smaller is very well talented in mostly every position. Today’s win now takes us 18-points and have equaled the best ever start to a season with six wins out of six.
Pep rolled out Valdes, Alves, Marquez, Puyol, Maxwell, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro!, Messi, Ibrahimovic to see of this very stubborn Almeria side.But it was not to be as Sanchez and company played to their game plan of breaking down the rhythm of the game through fouls and delaying tactics, whilst hitting us on the break. They played with basically 9-men behind the ball and man-marked Xavi throughout the game. It almost worked to if it was not for the aforementioned moment of individual brilliance saving the day.
In the first half, we began with the usual combination passing and domination but were mostly held in check by their tactics. Our 1st chance of the game came from when our lovely lil 2 maestros combined well on the left only to see Messi curl just wide. Their tactics seemed to be working for the first half of an hour with only a Xavi shot against the woodwork on 17 minutes troubling the visitors,
The problems were clear for every1 to see. As Xavi was restricted in his distribution and was under pressure. That was until our quick thinking mastermind coach instructed Marquez to move into Xavi's position and Xavi to push out right to create space in the middle. This eased the pressure on both Iniesta and Xavi was there were able to provide more for the front men. after enormous pressure from both Ibra and mess the deadlock was finally broken, as Ibra did some good work on the left and played the ball to an up-running Maxwell who in turn passed it to PEDRO!!! who picked up the pass, spun past his marker and instantly arrowed in a sumptuous shot on the edge of the box into the top right corner.
After the goal the tactics from Almeria didn't change much as it was funny to see how Chico would often ignore the ball going past him just so he could concentrate on marking Xavi. With a goal advantaged we started to play with less-nervousness and more confidence in our passes.
In the second half the game didn't change much, with Almeria breaking Barca's passing game and awaiting their chance of a counter. With Xavi pushed out right, Barca lacked fluency in their play and as the game continued, Almeria came more into the game and tried to pick out some space in the defense
Eventually Pique came on for Marquez (who played a solid game) to give us more ideas bringing the ball out. You could’ve seen the change immediately as Maxwell had more freedom to push forward. After that Pep bought on our 2 Africans to add steel to the midfield and regain control of this game. Keita and Toure really beefed things up as pressure was relived on Xavi and more opportunities were created.
This was definitely our toughest fixture yet and showed us a preview of most teams’ tactics in the League this year. Although not being our best performance we earned a valuable 4-points and go top of the table with EE games 2moro in mind. Unfortunately Zlatan couldn't score today on his 28th birthday so he will have to be content with just equaling the record of Cesar in 1950. So we are now 6 for 6 and face an away trip to Valencia after the international break.
Onto the Player Ratings
Team: 6 didn’t click well 2day and showed us a future for January without our African Men of Steel. Also to much individual brilliance.
Victor Valdes - 7: Didn't actually have a save to make at all, but dealt with crosses and please no more passes out of the area. Gives me heart attacks
Daniel Alves - 7: Was generally solid, but committed a few silly fouls towards the and be more lethal on your freekicks.
Rafael Marquez - 7: Didn't make any mistakes, but his usually accurate distribution left a lot to be desired.But was solid in the back and a could cover for when CAN comes around.
Carles Puyol - 8: An excellent performance from the captain, who got plenty of important challenges in. Showed us why he is still here for 10 years and counting
Maxwell - 6: Provided the assist for Pedro, but also made a few mistakes at the back, including one terrible back pass.He gives away to much corners and is lacking in accuracy.
Sergi Busquets - 3: Was plain jus Awful. Gave away the ball to much and didn’t help relieve Xavi or Iniesta
Xavi - 7: Kept the ball easily as always, but lacked his usual creative spark. Marked out of the game.
Andres Iniesta - 7: Had a quiet game for the most part, but came alive towards the end when he was moved further upfront.
Lionel Messi - 6: Looked very lively early on, but had a poor second half.Continue his run of bad touches and DUDE common we know your great but pass the ball.1v1 is nice if u score.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 6: Average from our big Swede, showed some nice early touches, but was a passenger for the entire second half.
Pedro - 8: Took his goal brilliantly, and generally looked very lively and direct. Showed us the brilliance in him and his amazing vision for the net. That is 4 for the season from our livewire. Substitutes
Gerard Pique - 7: Looked solid and comfortable as soon as he came on.
Yaya Toure – Came on to calm things down and do the job Busquets didn’t do.
The last time this fixture took place in Camp Nou was a little over a year ago. The result was 5-0 in which an unstoppable Barca had well and truly come into their best form. A form that would eventuate into a treble winning phenomenon.
This time round we’re seeing much of the same build up. As Barcelona have once again exploded forth to the top of the table as they venture to duplicate the radiant football that won them the League, the Copa and the Champions League last season.
Almeria have started off in less than satisfactory form. Despite collecting a hard fought win against well defensively-strung Getafe, They have since deteriorated and are forever fading into the background.
However despite not being given a second thought from the media in regards to their chances in the game, widely respected former player and now manager of Almeria Hugo Sanchez has stated that his side has been warily surveilling the Blaugrana and their game play.
The former Real Madrid star has been quoted by Spanish sports tabloid AS as saying: “We (Almeria) have been working all week for this, and it will be important to make a good team effort and stay focused for the whole 90 minutes. They have a lot of talent, but while we will look for flaws in their game, they will be difficult to find.”
Sanchez also went on to make an indication towards the performance that Espanyol thrust upon Barcelona in their emphatic win at the Camp Nou last season.
Team News
Striker Thierry Henry will sit out for the second week in a row after pulling a muscle against Malaga.
Bojan Krkic has been named in the squad and is fit after being out of action for a little over a month, however Guardiola has a history of easing players into the starting line-up when returning from injury. Chygrynskiy is yet to recover from straining ligaments in his knee whilst Almeria are set to field an un-changed side from the one that faced Racing last week.
Once again it’s the in-form Swede that’s in the limelight. Scoring tonight will break a club record and will see him go to 6 goals from 6 games. The Barcelona attack should run rampant against Almeria and expect to see ‘Ibracadabra’ (who incidentally celebrates his 28th birthday today) leave Brazilian Diego Alves blushing on more than one occasion.
Kalu Uche
The illustrious Nigerian will need to be in the form of his career if Almeria are to have any chance against the La Liga leaders. All you need against the giants in football is one chance and it could see you through for the entire 90 minutes. If Uche and co. up front get one, it’s take it or bust.
Prediction
Despite the glimmer of hope that Almeria are clinging onto Barcelona’s form is faultless of late. Their frontline is capable of scoring an abundance of goals against the top sides in the world. Almeria really aren’t up to the job and if they decide to be bold and attack Barcelona, then they will fall victim to the merciless wrath, that is the FC Barcelona attack.
The Barça squad returned Thursday morning to prepare training for Saturday's match at Camp Nou against Almeria, after a day of rest granted by Josep Guardiola
The main event was the return of Bojan Krkic to training with the rest of the group, He recovered from a ruptured adductor in his left leg that occurred on Aug. 31 against Sporting Gijon.
Another novelty of the session was the emergence of Thierry Henry, who participated in the initial stage of training as he is still recovering from the elongation in the adductor of the left thigh that took place last weekend in Malaga.
