We all know it is practically impossible to repeat the successes of last season. There is a certain amount of luck necessary for things to go right for you at the right time, and last season we had some crucial moments such as Iniesta's goal at Chelsea and the Pinto penalty save in the Copa del Rey semi final without which we might have ended the season with only La Liga to show for our efforts.

Putting luck to one side, we can look at the start to this season and assess whether or not we are looking as good as we did last season. So far the results have gone our way, two Supercups in the trophy cabinet, a valuable draw away to the best team in our Champions League group and four straight wins by at least a...

With the closure of the transfer window just days away and the new season upon us, many fans are unhappy with the size of our squad in the face of a  season that could prove to be very long. We may be on the verge of signing Dmytro Chygrynskiy but even if we get him, it will only be the third signing this summer while we have lost Eto'o, Sylvinho, Caceres, Hleb, Victor Sanchez and Jorquera, and Henrique and Gudjohnsen will probably be loaned out. So, do we have the manpower to last such a long season?

It seems we may have to make do with a squad of just 20 (including Chygryskiy) and this includes Milito and we have no guarantee that he will ever regain full fitness. We have two goalkeepers, eight...

In 2003 when Joan Laporta was voted in as Barça president his closest collaborators were Ferran Soriano who was financial vicepresident, Marc Ingla who was marketing vicepresident and Sandro Rossell who was sports vicepresident and regarded by many to be Laporta's right-hand man. Rossell was given a lot of credit for being behind the signings of Ronaldinho and Deco, which were helped by Rossell's connections in Brazil, he was also credited with the signings of Marquez and Edmilson. The relationship between Laporta and Rossell seemed to be a firm friendship but halfway through the first season Rossell fell out with Laporta, so what went wrong between them?

According to Rossell he fell out with Laporta due to a lack of democracy and transparency at the club. However, it seems the real reason had ...

While the press are building themselves into a frenzy of transfer speculation I thought I'd let you know who I would keep and sell this summer if I were in charge. The first thing Guardiola should do is talk to each player to explain his philosophy and try to gauge the player's level of comprimise for the club. We have seen what can happen to the team when there are internal problems so it is vital that Guardiola does everything he can to make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction.

Unfortunately I do not have the chance to talk to the individual players so I have to make my judgement based on what I see on the pitch or hear in interviews. I would try to find the right balance of comprimise, hunger, talent and unity that is so difficult to achieve in the modern game. So first out I'm afrai...

In football today it seems increasingly difficult for one team to dominate Europe for very long. No team has won back-to-back European Cups since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, while in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s it was quite common for one team to do this (Real Madrid 1956-1960, Benfica 61&62, Inter 64&65, Ajax 71-73, Bayern Munich 74-76, Liverpool 77&78, Nottingham Forest 79&80). Interestingly this has coincided with the new format of the Champions League and perhaps more importantly with the post Bosman-ruling era and the age of the millionaire footballer.

In modern football there seem to be a few basic ingredients to achieving success. Obviously you need to have talented players, but as we have seen with Madrid's 'galacticos' and Barça's 'fantasticos' it is not as easy as s...

While everyone knows which formation Barça will use on Wednesday night, it is a little bit more difficult to guess how United will play. Sir Alex Ferguson has used variations of 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 this season but despite declarations that United will attack, I imagine the formation he chooses will be more conservative than usual.

Edwin Van Der Sar will return in goal after missing United 1-1 draw at Blackburn, and the back four will almost certainly be Wes Brown at right back, Ferdinand and Vidic in the middle and Patrice Evra on the right. Ferguson knows that to stop Barça, United need to stop Xavi and Iniesta, I also think he will be worried about Leo Messi. For this reason I can see a defensive looking midfield with Carrick and Scholes in the centre and perhaps Hargreaves and Park on the flanks t...

The Spanish Football Federation have dictated that Saturday's match between Betis and Barça will take place in Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon stadium. Betis had appealed against their stadium being closed after the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Armando was hit by a bottle two weeks ago, but the Appeals Committee today rejected their appeal and the Federation have told Betis that the game will now take place in Madrid.

To complicate things more Betis have appealed again, this time to the Committee of Sports Discipline, so Barça can still not be sure of where they are travelling to tomorrow and may have to change route when they are already travelling. A lawyer for Betis has declared that playing the game in Madrid is "almost an act of terrorism", and while I feel he may be putting things a bit o...

While Toure Yaya's attitude and commitment are commendable, I really feel it is time for him to take the operation on his slipped disk. Toure says that apart from a few sharp momentary pains he is capable of playing on with the help of injections but his performances in the last two games are below the high standards he was showing before the injury.

If Toure had the operation now it is thought he would be out for one month which would mean he could be back in time for a theoretical Champions League semi final. While Schalke will be no pushover, I believe it is better to have Toure at 100% even if it is only for the last few games than to have him struggle on in his present condition. If Marquez cannot play either we will just have to put Iniesta in Toure's position. If Barça are going to have a cha...

I have to admit that there are some days when I don't much feel like writing anything. I don't know if you realise how disappointed I was with yesterday's draw, not so much with the performance which was not as bad as many people are saying, but with the missed opportunity to reduce the gap with Real Madrid to five points.

The reaction of the fans is understandable but I will never tire of saying that you can't always win. Almeria are a good team who are in the top half of the league and have beaten Madrid, Sevilla and Espanyol this season. From when Henry came on until Milito's sending off Barça were controlling the game, and I'm convinced that Barça would have gone on to win but for the harsh refereeing decision.

What worries me most at the moment are the injuries to Toure and Marqu...

Thierry Henry gave a very frank press conference yesterday explaining that he is not happy in Barcelona. The reason, he stated, had nothing to do with Barça, but was because he missed his two-year-old daughter Téa. One can understand how difficult it must be; Henry said he had only seen her five times in the last eight months.

Henry's best game this season was against Murcia which coincided with a visit from Téa, so I think we can believe the importance of a player's mood if he is going to perform well. I'm afraid I can't help wondering why he came in the first place if his daughter is so important to him, and perhaps the answer lies in the well-known break up of his marriage with Nicole Merry. People who go through emotional crises tend to make hasty decisions and it's possible that Henry si...