Jordi Alba Never one to lack fight and courage, Jordi Alba played with total commitment during the 0-0 draw against Espanyol. However, it has to be said that Alba’s overall performance was not of the desired quality and his passing at times was atrocious. While Barcelona did manage to keep a clean sheet, Alba did not have much defending to do throughout the course of the match and the Spanish international would surely be disappointed at not being able to offer more down the flanks in attack. Dani Alves Another Barcelona full back who had a poor game against Espanyol was Dani Alves. While … [Read more...]
Valencia Season Preview
Can Valencia win La Liga? I was always told it was best to begin with a joke. Maybe humour isn't my strong point... The fact that the question above is usually followed by an instant dismissal of Valencia's title dreams, almost as quick as Messi changes direction, makes glum reading for Valencia supporters. … [Read more...]
FC Barcelona Season Preview
Last season ended on a sombre note for the fans and players of Barcelona. Having witnessed arch rivals Real Madrid storm to the La Liga title in a similar way to which they themselves had done for the past few years, the club bid a fond farewell to one of the most successful and beloved managers of recent years. Pep Guaridola's decision not to renew his contract signaled the end of an era which heralded 14 trophies in quite scintillating fashion. Nevertheless, it has opened the door for understudy Tito Vilanova to prove his credentials. Formerly Pep's assistant, the Barca board promoted him to … [Read more...]
San Jose and Thiago to miss Olympics
Spain's Olympic football hopes have been hit in the last few days due to injuries which will rule out two of their star players. Mikel San Jose has joined Thiago Alcantara on the flight home from the base in Las Rozas as coach Luis Milla prepares to trim his 22 man squad to 18 in the coming days. Athletic Bilbao centre-back San Jose has contracted chicken pox and was forced to leave the training camp urgently to avoid spreading the disease on Monday whilst Thiago is still recovering from a tibia injury. … [Read more...]
The reign in Spain occurs mainly on the pitch
Last night Spain rewrote history as they became the first team to retain the Henri Delaunay trophy and in some style too as they thrashed Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and put forwards their claim to be the best team of all time. Vicente del Bosque's men won their third consecutive major tournament and in an invigorating, attractive way thanks to Silva, Alba, Torres and Mata goals. Spain strode out onto the Olympic Stadium turf riled by growing criticism of their play and a desire to change that. Their dominant and patient traditions of playing had been scrutinised and labelled … [Read more...]
Valencia v Stoke: The key battles
After seeing Lionel Messi rip apart yet another Champions League defence with tantalising ease a couple of years ago,the wise, old pundit Andy Gray once remarked that he'd love to see how the Argentine would fair on a dark, damp, dreary night under the floodlights of Britannia Stadium. This question has almost been turned into cliche it has been bounded about that much recently by the media and whilst Barcelona being demoted to the Europa League was never really a possibility, we will get to feast our eyes on arguably the next best thing as Aver Banega, Jordi Alba, Roberto Soldado and Adil … [Read more...]