FC Barcelona News
Adeu to Frank Rijkaard
May 9th, 2008Barcelona’s 4-1 defeat by Real Madrid on Wednesday proved to be the last straw for the club directors, who met on Thursday to discus Frank Rijkaard’s future. Joan Laporta confirmed the inevitable at the press conference that followed, saying that Frank Rijkaard would leave at the end of June, with B team coach Pep Guardiola stepping up to take over for next season.
Guardiola was part of Barcelona’s “dream team” and seen by many as the ideal candidate – ex-Barça player, Catalan and already part of the furniture. However, it isn’t a view held by everyone and it remains to be seen whether he can breathe life back into a much demoralized squad.
Barcelona’s Lineup Changes – Summer 2007
October 15th, 2007The summer saw some interesting activity for Barcelona. Thierry Henry finally settled seasons of speculation and made the move from Arsenal. This gives Barca a wealth of opportunities up front but Henry’s versatility and ability to play as a lone striker or on the wings in a striking formation will certainly seem to work to Barça’s advantage.
In the same week the club also signed midfielder Yaya Toure from Monaco and defender Eric Abidal from Lyon. It’s generally thought that Abidal was signed as a direct replacement for Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. Finally, the club also signed Gabi Milito from Real Zaragoza which fills the hole left by the departure of Motta for Atletico Madrid.
Gio Van Bronckhorst made the move back to Feyenoord over the summer. Although he had recently signed a contract until 2008 with Barca, he had a verbal commitment from the club that they would allow him to move back to Feyenoord, the club he supported as a child and where he first played football, if they came in for him.
Maxi Lopez, after a season’s loan at Mallorca, made a permanent move to FC Moscow. The striker didn’t look likely to get a first team chance at Barça, especially after the arrival of Thierry Henry. The same could be said for Saviola who left for Real Madrid on a free transfer after his contract was not renewed in June and Giuly who, with a year left on his contract, made the move to Roma. Both players found it hard to break into the team last season and with the arrival of new players and the emergence of home-grown forward talent, they seemed unlikely to be able to make much of an impact this season either.
In defence, Belletti finally made his much speculated about move to Chelsea. The 31 year old found it hard to compete for a first team place with Zambrotta in such fine form so was allowed to go. Finally, Motta fell out with coach Frank Rijkaard in the summer and was put on the transfer list. The player found it hard to consolidate his place in midfield at Barcelona – a position which wasn’t likely to change given the current talent, new signings and the emergence of youth players – so eventually agreed a one-year deal with Atletico Madrid.
The summer also saw the emergence of two Barça Youth players who may well make their mark on the first team this season. Bojan Krkic has progressed through the youth set up in phenomenal time and, although only 17, is hailed as one of the most exciting striking prospects in the game. Giovani Dos Santos, also a forward player, is also considered a ‘Wonder Kid’ and has been hailed as the new Ronaldinho.
Players in:
Thierry Henry, Arsenal (£16.1m)
Yaya Toure, Monaco (£6.1m)
Eric Abidal, Lyon (£10m)
Gabi Milito, Real Zaragoza (£12.1m)
Players Out:
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Feyenoord (Free)
Maxi Lopez, FC Moscow (£1.3m)
Javier Saviola, Real Madrid (Free)
Ludovic Giuly, Roma (£2m)
Belletti, Chelsea (£3.7m)
Motta, Atletico Madrid (undisclosed)
Barcelona’s new signings
June 29th, 2007With the transfer season open FC Barcelona has been busy shopping. As well as signing Thierry Henry, which we reported earlier in the week, Barcelona has also opened its chequebook for midfielder Yaya Touré from Monaco and today the club announced that defender Eric Abidal is joining from Olympique Lyon.
So far only Gio is leaving the club, but it is certain he won’t be the last to leave.
Gio leaves Barça
June 27th, 2007
Full name: Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Birthplace: Rotterdam, Holland
Date of Birth: 5th February 1975
Position: Defender
Height: 176cm
Weight: 72kg
Previous Teams: Arsenal, England; Glasgow Rangers, Scotland; RKC Waalwijk, Holland; Feyenoord, Holland; FC Barcelona.
National Squad/Number of Appearances: Holland/60+ Overview
Giovanni van Bronckhorst originally joined Barcelona on loan from Arsenal for the 2003-4 season before making a permanent transfer. He can play in either a left-back or left midfield position – he tends to play as a left-back for the team at the moment. An experienced defensive player, van Bronckhorst also likes to attack and is a proficient and creative crosser of the ball. He has an eye for goal and a strong and successful reputation in deadball/free-kick situations. He transferred back to Feyenoord at the end of the 2006/2007 season from Barcelona.
Facts:
- Van Bronckhorst was the only Barca player to appear in every game of the 2005-6 Champions league campaign.
- Nicknamed Gio, van Bronckhorst has opted to have his nickname as his shirt name at Barcelona whereas previously his shirt name was van Bronckhorst. It’s thought this was partly done as Spanish commentators find it hard to pronounce the player’s surname.
- Originally signed to Arsenal to replace Emmanuel Petit, van Bronckhorst’s time at the club was marred by injury and he found it hard to break back into the team with the then emergence of players such as Ashley Cole.
- During his time with Barca he has won two Spanish Supercups (2005-6/2006-7), two League Titles (2004-5/2005-6) and the Champions League (2005-6).
- At Feyenoord he won the Dutch Cup in 1994-5.
- At Glasgow Rangers, van Bronckhorst won two League Titles (1998-9/1999-0), the League Cup (1998-9) and two Scottish Cups (1998-9/1999/0).
- Whilst at Arsenal he won the Community Shield (2001-2), the League Title (2001-2) and two Cup Finals (2001-2/2002-3).
- He was one of a record four players shown a red card during the World Cup match against Portugal in 2006 when Holland were knocked out of the competition.
- He is contracted to Barcelona until 2008 and has announced his intention to return to Feyenoord to finish his career there.
Henry headed for the Nou Camp
June 23rd, 2007It is being widely reported that Arsenal’s Thierry Henry has signed a €24 million contract to move to FC Barcelona. Although both clubs had agreed to delay the news, the story was leaked by Cadena Ser on Friday and Henry will be appearing before the press on Monday.
What’s going on at Barça?
February 15th, 2007After Eto’o's comments earlier in the week the club is eager to ensure that all looks right to the world. Eto’o was seen hugging Ronaldinho at training yesterday and it was all put down to misunderstanding on both sides.
But, is that all there is to it? Eto’o also mentioned to journalists that there were two factions inside the team, one of the pro the president and the other unspecified but presumably anti-Laporta. Sandro Rossell, previously Laporta’s buddy until their big falling out, has long been considered a contender, but he looked surprised at Eto’o's comments and it seem unlikely that he is behind any kind of coup.
What is clear though is that all is not well behind the scenes at Barça. What it is we don’t know, but Eto’o's outburst shows that there is a tide of discontent sweeping over the players.
Eto’o attacks Rijkaard and Ronaldinho
February 13th, 2007It seems that Samuel Eto’o isn’t the happiest chap in the Barça squad at the moment. After his long awaited return to fitness he refused to play for the last 5 minutes of the match on Sunday (according to Rijkaard) and then stormed at both Rijkaard and Ronaldinho at an appearance today. Apparently Ronadinho had apparently made a comment in a post match interview to the effect that he should have put the team first, a comment that Eto’o was clearly furious with.
Messi fit to play
February 8th, 2007Lionel Messi has been given the medical all-clear. Frank Rijkaard is free to pick the Argentinian for next Sunday’s game with Racing Santander at the Camp Nou.
Messi was injured last November 12 in Barça’s league game at the Camp Nou against Zaragoza. In the training match played on Wednesday at the Miniestadi, he showed that he is almost back to full fitness, playing so well he was one of the outstanding figures in the game, along with Eto’o and young Bojan.
Recovery stage in Argentina
The Argentinian forward has been following a meticulously planned recovery programme arranged mainly by the prestigious Doctor Dalmau, who performed surgery on the player, along with the rest of the Club Medical Services. Messi was released from hospital on November 17 and began his rehabilitation in Barcelona before returning to his home country. He was then able to spend the last weeks of recuperation with his family.
http://www.fcbarcelona.com/eng/noticias/noticias/n07020712.shtml
Match preview: Osasuna-FC Barcelona
February 2nd, 2007At the Nou Camp back in September Barcelona beat Osasuna 3-0, but with Ronaldinho playing far below his peak and Messi still out of the picture it remains to be seen whether Barça can get as good a result on Sunday night in Pamplona.
However, Samuel Eto’o is back in training with the squad and is widely expected to make his return, although Frank Rijkaard will probably choose to play it safe and not play him for the entire match.
Barcelona remain in top position in the league with 42 points, just 1 ahead of Sevilla and 4 points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid. However, Sevilla are playing Real Sociedad who have won just 2 matches this season, meaning at least one point almost guaranteed for Sevilla – Barça need to win this match to ensure their lead and once its star players are back in action and at peak performance that lead needs to be extended.
Osasuna-FC Barcelona
Date: Sunday 4th February
Time: 21:00
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