The Guillem Balague Debate: Barça Blog Versus Chelsea Blog
Monday, 27 April 09, 10:23 AM · Comments (19)
Some of you may know Guillem Balague, he the resident Spanish football expert on Sky Sports and he also has his own personal website at http://www.guillembalague.com/ So I was delighted when he invited me to take part in a debate with a Chelsea Blogger before our semi final with the Blues. TheChelseaBlog was chosen as the opposition and the following is the first half of the debate (the other half will be posted tomorrow morning):
Part One:
Guillem Balague: The majority of my colleagues in the media are hyping Barcelona up as favourites: with Chelsea as the underdogs. But in the past, that is a role the Premiership club have often seemed comfortable to adopt. Does The Chelsea Blog agree, or are the European press underestimating your boys?
The Chelsea Blog: As much as I’d love to say Chelsea are being totally underestimated, hand on heart, I can’t really. Everyone knows what a massive task we face. Barça just can’t stop scoring and despite having the tightest defence in the Premier League, we’ve been leaking more goals than usual lately. I believe Messi is going to be the key player for Barcelona – I know that’s an obvious choice, but since Ronaldinho's departure, little Argentinean has really come into his own this season and he's just scarily good. Taking in to account that Chelsea will be without a recognised left-back to pit against Messi and, short of bricking up Petr Cech’s goal, I’m not sure how we’ll keep them out. Having said that, we’ve already played a couple of our toughest games in this competition against Liverpool and shown we’re not shy when it comes to attacking either, so maybe I’m not giving us enough credit. Or does FCB News think it’ll be pretty easy for them?
FCB News: I think it would be foolish to think it will be easy: Chelsea have some cracking players and plenty of experience at this level. However, Barça have to be favourites to get through. Pep Guardiola has done an extraordinary job this season to restore order, discipline and belief at the club - and the response from the players has been excellent. We have so many players performing at a great level that it gives us plenty of options, it's not just about Messi who just gets better and better; but Iniesta, Xavi, Eto'o and Henry are all playing extremely well too. We are not perfect however, and in the 2-2 draw at Valencia at the weekend some of our weaknesses were exposed.
The Chelsea Blog: I guess our weakness has to be defensively. Petr Cech has looked far too suspect lately and although he's managed two clean sheets as well as saving a penalty in the run up to the Barça game, he still looks fragile under pressure particularly from high balls. As for our other concern in defence - Ashley Cole's suspension - from the weekend's practice run, it looks as if Jose Bosingwa gets to switch sides for this game so it's not a case of 'overcoming' our weaknesses but more patching them up. We still have our strengths as well though and we'll be expecting players like John Terry to show his in defence, whilst players like Essien, Drogba and Frank Lampard were made for these sort of games. Michael Essien in particular just loves these big European nights and his presence in midfield is going to be the key for Chelsea: after a lengthy spell out, he came storming back for us showing everyone what we'd been missing.
So, in terms of actually beating Barcelona, I don't think we'll be looking for set pieces or home advantage in the second leg to decide it for us; we'll just need to show we want it more than they do...
Guillem Balague: Hiddink has certainly restored some of that hunger and self belief hasn’t he. But, I’m glad you mentioned both Drogba and Essien because many observers seem to believe Chelsea may be able to impose themselves on Barça with their more superior physical presence - and as The Chelsea Blog says, ‘by wanting it more’.....
FCB NEWS: Drogba and especially Essien are two players I rate very highly. Drogba is certainly capable of causing our defence some headaches, so the key for us is to try to make sure he sees very little of the ball. This is basic Cruyff philosophy: if the opposition don't have the ball they can't hurt you. Barça's game is all about possession, if we lose possession too often in midfield then we will have problems. The same thing applies to for our supposed weakness at defending set pieces; we are only likely to concede free kicks or corners if Chelsea have the ball. Fortunately we are very skilled at keeping the ball, and at winning it back in the opposition's half when we lose it. This has very little to do with physique, it is all about positioning and teamwork.
However, Chelsea are one of the best teams in Europe so we will have to be on top of our game to win. I believe that Michael Essien will also be the key player for Chelsea and I am very interested to see if he will mark Xavi, as it will be a fascinating battle; Xavi had a surprisingly poor game at Valencia but at least that means he shouldn't be due another bad day for a couple of years now.
As for ‘wanting it more’, I don't really think there will be much difference between the sides. This is the Champions League and all the players will be giving 100%: Barça haven't won anything since 2006, so the hunger is definitely there.
To read part two of the debate click here - PART TWO
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19 Comments · Add yours
Very interesting debate nic . I agree that the obvious threat to Chelsea is Messi . They also would try to keep Xavi under control but I think the player who could cause the most headache to Chelsea is Iniesta . Chelsea just don't have enough people to shut down all of Barça's offensive threats . Hopefully Eto'o and Henry can take advantage of the panic our three little guys would create in Chelsea's defence and convert it into goals. They can't afford to shoot blanks anymore . Needless to say that we need to score as many goals as possible and conceed as few as possible . It is easier said than done but if we win by a goal or two we could be in trouble . My worries defensively are giving up silly fouls and the inability to defend crosses and corners .
Did you read Cruyff's column in el periodico this morning. Echoed what you said about posession, but he said that the problem against Valencia was the speed at which Barsa moved the ball around and that it was slower than normal. He said that against Chelsea we've got to move it a lot quicker to cancel out their physical advantage - ie, by the time a Chelsea player arrives to make a tackle, the balll has already moved on...
I love the idea Nic.
Wow, interesting!. However, i'm kind of confused here since i don't see chelsea very often..who do they have to make the key pass, to dribble defenses, or just to generate counter-attack plays? lampard? don't see it..ballack? no..Essien is fantastic, but on a destructive labor. Deco? not fit apparently..which leads me to think they might be quite similar to Valencia (minus the good wingers)..which also leads to think that in this particular game, wings could be very important. Alves, Messi and Titi/Iniesta must be at their top. I don't know..can't wait for tomorrow but i'm stuck in a conference ALL DAY!!!!
@Maria Ines
well said!!!!
@Nic on Debate
Nice job!!! way to respect the opposition!!!
@Nic, on VV
Maybe, you are right ... I am a bit harsh on the second. However, we need to be more competitive in the position.He needs to improve or move out:no excuses!!!
nice to see a chelsea fan with some objectivity and not that typical "we are the best leaugue" attitude. this is going to be a hard game, its impossible to think otherwise. do we have better players overall? yes. have we had a better season overall? yes. are we favorties? yes. is our footabll way more attractive? of course. does that mean we will win or even progress? sadly, no.
football is a so cruel. one team can be better for the whole game, even two games and a deflected goal here, a set piece there, and thats that.
the pressure of the matches are really getting to me. hopefully the players are handeling it better than i. pep seems a master of the psych, so i hope he is preparing them, keeping them motivated and level headed.
these few weeks has the potential for such happiness and such heartache.
I hope we will shoot a early goal! So Chelsea have to do more in offense!!!
But I think these 2 games will be very difficult for us. Especially because of the fact that El Clasíco will be very agressive this time !!!
Barcelona: 1
Chelsea: 0
^^
let not forget probably chelseas biggest asset. guus hiddink. such an excellent manager.
Good program and of course nice and respectful talk from both the representatives. I am only scared of our tight schedule and nothing else.To be honest..the display ,the beauty our team showed through out the season has increased my faith. So other than they are tired of this tight schedule i hope a fantastic result tomorrow for us..
But,yes if someone would ask me to choose from any of the three english semifinalist for this clash i would definitely not pick up chelsea...
Lets hope for the best and many things might be decided in next 5/6 days....
Barca!!!Messi!!!Grt!!!
pressure gets to me to, bboy
At this point, although I want us to overcome Chelsea, I am more interested in the "classico" to be honest. If we allow Madrid to overcome the 12 points deficit we had then things might go really bad for us. We just can't allow it. Every player needs to raise their level just one notch. I will stay away from the vv issue since much has already been said about it. We CAN DO BETTER THAN against Valencia.
Madrid keeps winning because of good goalkeeping...that is not rocket science!!! Casillas is saving them pretty much every game.It is not their "great" (sarcastic) defense or midfield...just good 'ol fine goal tending and hungry forwards.
I am in Madrid for the "classico" but I have never seen such confidence and arrogance. I am actually even avoiding football conversations with anyone here since they are all gloating, from the bartender to the taxi driver.I went to buy some newspapers today and had the guts to ask for "sport" and the little lady didn't even care to answer...she just quoted me a price for the AS and MARCA I already had in my hands and moved on( maybe she didn't underst).This is the kind of disdain and unhealthy hate they have for Barcelona and anything Catalan. The truth of the matter is that it makes me sick and I hope that we won't let this one get away.
At this point, I care about nothing but the league because the rudest comment I have heard so far was from a Taxi driver who upon finding out that I was here to watch the game, belted out the following:
"Can you count?"
I was puzzled thus decided to be coy and replied:"why do you ask?"; he retorqued and said "if you can count to 4 then you know that real Madrid has already won the league!!!". He was unconcerned and did not smile or laugh, it was something straight out of movie...I replied by telling him that "I count better than he does because I can pay him without a meter but that he couldn't collect from me without one". I think that shut him up and naturally this guy didn't get a tip!
The Key players for Barcelona in this game will be Iniesta and Henry. Mark my words. By the way, this is another interesting piece about the game:
LINK
@Barcelona Magic
Thanks for he link.great article, great analysis, Ramzi is Amazing...everyone check it out.This guy is a pretty good tactician.
GERMAN REVENGE!!!
Has anyone though of this:Ballack and his residual anger from losing to the Spanish national team in the Eurocopa!!!
His is great on free kicks and shots from outside the 18 and we all know what we have in goal. It just hit me that this guy could be out to take revenge on a Spanish side since the actual best player of that tournament (Xavi) is one of ours. Just a thought!!!
Balague is anti-barcelonista, we shouldn't deal with that kind of people.
Trez - If you go through life only dealing with people who support the same team as you, then I'm afraid you won't get very far. Maybe I should stop talking to my Dad as he supports West Ham
If my old man was a West Ham fan Nic, I wouldn't talk to him!!!!
The comparison with West Ham doesn't work, Nic, since it's not about all other fans but about people who are clearly anti-Barcelona by being an Espanyol fan and (almost as a logical consecuence) a Real Madrid lover.
And it's not about talking, it's about co-operating, giving the guy who is bashing us the whole time in a madridista paper like As legitimacy. But everyone has its own principles, I guess...
This is a good thing to do, the debate was good and clever.
@ Diatus, madristas think they're the best if the carry on with the attitude they have they won't get far.
your so lucky...