posted May 9, 2008

Yes, the players let Rijkaard down.

But Rijkaard let the club and fans down by not being able to handle his players.

Rijkaard knew how to bring the team to success, but he did not know how to maange that success.

FCB were much more than just Ronaldinho. For god's sake, don't dispute their CL crown, they were far and away the best that year. Puskas, you sound like an Atletico fan talking about R.Madrid. What a pity.

FCB/Rijkaard/the players unbelievably let the makings of a legendary team fall into decay and the last straw was to humiliate themselves on Wednesday night against the worst possible rival.

If Barcelona had only an ounce of the self-respect and pride for their colours that Liverpool show when they play in Europe, we would probably be asking ourselves when their reign was going to end.

I'm a RM fan and am pleased to see FCB struggling so much, but Derby County could probably have achieved the same Wed-night even with proper refereeing. Real Madrid have been nothing to write home about this season.

I've seen RM win every title possible, so now what would truly make me happy would be to see FCB in Div 2 before I die. That or Spain winning the World Cup, so my hopes are pinned on BarÇa going down.

Seriously though, I appreciate good football and it saddens me to think of all the wonderful games I could have watched these guys play if only they had kept it together.

It's painful to see your team go down, but if you watch and enjoy the likes of Laudrup, Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Sacchi's Milan etc., you realise that there's a beauty in the game that's on a higher level.

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posted May 9, 2008

frank is not a bad coach per se.the problem is that the team has the best specialists on the ball,who tend to struggle a lot when changed position, e.g Thierry playing left back vis-a-vis centre striker,so there is nothing Frank can do.

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posted May 9, 2008

The best managers keep discipline, he hasn't done that. Time to change I think, and perhaps it should have been earlier for Ronaldinho and co to regain their form?

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posted May 9, 2008

Time for a change... since Paris we have not been good! Rijkaard lost control of the dressing room and the result is what we have now.

More worrying is Laporta's decsion to appoint Guardiola. AWFUL!!

The future does not look bright..

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posted May 10, 2008

Jose Mourinho will not come. He is busy now trying his hands on footbal talks and motivational presentation. Thats the best he can do. I did announce that WHICH EVER TEAM HE TAKES NEXT IS DOOMED. Why? all others gonna 'pray and fast' to beat him, and when that starts to happen, I will put a prize on his ego.

He is enjoying his early retirement; let him be.

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posted May 10, 2008

realthing, how can you say it was out of Rijkaard's hands? He has to shoulder most of the blame as the manager. He appeared to lose it the last 2 years, just like Ronaldinho. The players deserve some of the blame, but I would absolve Marquez (who is much better than Milito, who we won't miss being injured for 6 months), Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan & Eto'o (look at his goals/game record this season). As the Spanish papers have been saying, Laporta needs to admit he's made a few mistakes, but he shouldn't go.
Secondly, how can you say we played a reserve team against Real Madrid? Valdez, Zambrotta, Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Toure, Messi & Eto'o are all first choice, although I'm not saying they all deserve to be. The better team won, although the ref didn't help our cause.

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posted May 11, 2008

Its great to see such a big team like Barca have problems
We really shouldnt care about it, do you really think domestic fans in spain care if any of the top teams in england had problems? Of corse not, they would be laughing and thinking to themselves 'Long may thier problems continue'

So ha bloody ha Barcelona, although you will be back in a season or 2 and will no doubt dish out a hiding to one of englands elite. Until then.....ha bloody ha Barcelona. :D

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posted May 11, 2008

While I agree that Rijkaard is not being effective anymore for whatever reasons, it is also shameful and disgraceful that his successes (which are no small feats, by any means) with Barca haven't even earned a passing mention by any of the so-called "Pundits"!! Success never lasts forever, but the fact that even with his apparent "lack of individual man management skills" and other current vehement criticisms, he was able to win two Liga titles and even a Champions League title!! Can you imagine what it is like to be him right now, at a human level, and how under-appreciated and ill-treated he must be feeling right now!! We can definitely do better than that...

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posted May 11, 2008

dear soundsoethe70s not every one on 606 is an English fan so i do not understand what you mean by domestic whatever

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posted May 12, 2008

realthing, “how can you say it was out of Rijkaard's hands? He has to shoulder most of the blame as the manager. He appeared to lose it the last 2 years, just like Ronaldinho”.

Correct me if I am wrong but in Spain the Manager has very little to do with the transfer market per se. OK perhaps if he is lucky in that he is involved in the meetings where he is allowed to voice his opinion but in terms of what players come and go it is out of their hands, usually handled by the “Director of Football” such as “Pedrag Mijatovic” in Real Madrid for example. The role of the manager is to pick the right formation and tactics with the players that they have at their disposal.

After Barca won the CL in 2006 they should have refreshed the squad and brought in some new top talent. However they failed to sell Ronaldhino and brought in a burnt out Thierry Henry who despite being a good player is on the downward slide of his career. In 2007/2008 season Barca brought in 4 players Henry, Toure, Abidal and Milito and started playing some of there youth players. But injuries to players such as Messi and Etoo meant that there team was well stretched at times during the season. If you compare that with the transfers of Real Madrid 12 in all Soldado (Osasuna), Balboa (Racing), Metzelder (B. Dortmund), Baptista (Arsenal), Pepe (Oporto), Dudek (Liverpool), Saviola (Barça), Schorch (Hertha Berlín), Drenthe (Feyenoord), Sneijder (Ajax), Heinze (Manchester Utd.)& Robben (Chelsea) you can understand why they lost the league again this summer and why Rikyaard failed but was the innocent party in my opinion.

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