First blood to Chelsea

Chelsea  defeated Barcelona in a match that left a lot to be said. And boy do we have a lot to talk about.

First of all Chelsea rode their luck and really capitalized on the one or two serious chances they got through their ever-green star, Drogba, who incidentally spent a LOT of the game rolling on the floor! Barca was unlucky to have hit the bar twice, get a shot cleared on the goal line and a few other shots that were saved by great acrobatics from Cech. I also assume things cannot stay the same in Nou Camp. But at the same time I think there are things that need to be addressed or at least considered as note-worthy.

Attack routes:  Barcelona’s  pointless crosses and corners into the opponents’ box and how they proved impotent only reinforces the fact that they DO need a tall, physical forward like Van Persie  to give them  some sort of an option in such situations. Yes, they experimented with the vindictive and egotistic Ibrahimovic. But that doesn’t mean every other striker will be the same.  But it was painful to see they try crosses and corners into the box for short forwards like Alexis, Messi and Cesc  who were always crowded by the tall, physical defenders.

Barca  has to think about adding other dimensions to their game and attack. Merely satisfied with “walking the ball into the goal” is going to get the team through each and every game and situation is just futile.This becomes more apparent when Barca faces teams that park the bus in front of their goal and fill their 18 yard box with 9 or even 10 players for long periods of the game.

Shooting: The shooting by almost everyone was atrocious. Most of the time the players don’t even look for a shot. But the scant few instances they did attempt, they rushed it or were amateurishly off target.

Overpassing and lack of urgency:  While the passing and tiki-taka is very pleasing and all, when the team falls behind and needs to show urgency, there is no change of pace or tactics. It still stays the same patient tiki-taka which allows the opponent to regroup and gather in their box and block our through passes from the middle. Don’t get me started on the wasted crosses from flanks.

And I’m afraid by now the whole world knows how Barca plays and what could impede their game. From leaving the grass uncut (in some pitches you could even see flowers at the tip of the grass!!) to parking the bus in the box to getting violently physical and rash style. Therefore mixing it up with a few new tricks and routes to attack will prove extremely successful for the club and will make defending against them that much more difficult and unpredictable.

Bottomline: No need to fret yet, though. We have the return game in Spain and with the crowd behind the team, given Barca’s great form at home leaves a lot to look forward to.

Sepahan in dire straits in Asian Champions League

When will our football officials, be they in the IFF or the clubs realize the desperate need for keeping up with the times and especially the need for a capable set of individuals who are competent in a foreign language and know their way around the internet and official sites like AFC or FIFA. I’m referring to the shameful and tragic elimination of our Omid team qualifiers where they simply forgot or didn’t bother to check the suspension/eligibility list of players prior to their game and foolishly turned a precious away 1-0 win in Iraq to a disgraceful 3-0 loss which resulted in the disheartened and defeated display in Tehran in the return game. We thought with that disgrace our officials would have woken up and made sure such nonsense would never happen again. Enter Sepahan’s quarterfinal game in the Asian Champions League against Qatar’s Al-Sadd and they include Rahman Ahmadi as their keeper (transferred in from Persepolis at the end of last season). They notch up a satisfactory 1-0 home win that gives them a slight upper hand in the tie. But as soon as the game was over, the Qatari officials lodge a complaint to the AFC regarding Ahmadi’s ineligibility due to the two yellow cards he received while he was playing for Persepolis, last season in the very same competition!


Sepahan may yet get away with it as the AFC officials in their list of suspended and ineligible players of the game did not include Ahmadi’s name (Not the first time we see AFC drops the ball and prove to us it is a far cry away from its European and American counterparts). But it still doesn’t take away from the fact that despite the Omid team fiasco, we have not learned our lessons and we continue to swim in the sea of ignorance and unprofessionalism. No matter how high the salaries and contracts are in our football! We only “pretend” to have a professional set up and league with such absurd amounts of money changing hands. Underneath that fast-fading superficial luster, we are as amateurish as they come!

Ps. – Speaking of ACL, we cant not make a note of Zob-Ahan’s precious away point from South Korea. With Zob-Ahan keeping a toehold on the tie with a precious away goal, and if Sepahan gets lucky and puts the blame on the AFC for its negligence in the matter of suspension list, our chances of having an all Iranian semifinal, and thereby, a Finalist (second time for both Esfahani clubs) is still very much alive.

Guardiola surpasses Cruyff

Barcelona reign supreme in Europe's Super Cup by defeating gutsy Porto 2-0

A whopping 13 titles in only 3 seasons screams of Guardiola's mastery and Barca's undisputed reign of world football. And with the upcoming World Club Championships besides the rest of the yearly/seasonal tournaments and championships (domestic and international), you can bet your house that Barcelona and Guardiola are going to need a much bigger trophy cabinet.

(Barcelona joins forces with Bill Gates to fight and eradicate polio)