Let's be honest, it wasn't our best month ever. However, we could also say we only lost one game (to Rubin Kazan) in six and of the three main leagues in Europe - Spain, England and Italy - we are the only team to remain unbeaten in our domestic league. Whatever the case, when I look back at the six games from this month there are very few individual performances that stand out. After some careful consideration I have decided that the Fcbnews October Player Of The Month has to go to Seydou Keita. His hat-trick against Zaragoza was the best individual performance of the month and that was backed up by another goal on Saturday against Osasuna which also makes Keita the top scorer of the month.

The award very nearly went...

As expected Carles Puyol signed a new contract today which will keep him at Barça until June 2013. There had been speculation a couple of months ago that Puyol would not sign a new contract and he was reported to be considering a move to play in England. The fact that Barça had signed Chygrynskiy, combined with the fact that last season Puyol was left out for the first game against Chelsea, may have given our captain doubts about whether Guardiola valued him.

However, it has all been resolved now and Puyol seems happy to stay even though he could have earnt more money elsewhere. The main change in his contract is the lowering of the release clause to €10 million which will give him a chance to leave...

You can tell we are moving towards the end of the year by the number of awards ceremonies. Last week we had the list of candidates for France Football's Ballon d'Or and now it is the turn for the other most prestigious individual award: the Fifa World Player. Fifa have released a list of 23 candidates for 2009 which includes six Barça players, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Henry and Ibrahimovic plus ex-blaugrana Samuel Eto'o. Compared to the Ballon d'Or list which you can see HERE the difference for Barça is the inclusion of Carles Puyol and the omission of Toure Yaya. We all know that Leo Messi is going to take...

Tests today have confirmed that captain Carles Puyol has a strained ligament in his left ankle. The time of recovery is thought to be three weeks. Fortunately he should only miss three games in that time, the Champions League second leg with Lyon, and the league games away at Almeria and at home to Malaga. With Eric Abidal out and Gabi Milito not yet ready to return we are going to be a bit stretched at the back and will have to pray that nobody else gets hurt soon.

Spain's national team coach Vicente Del Bosque has included Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué in the squad for the friendly game against England in Seville on February 11th. This is the first call-up to the full squad for both players and is recognition for the form shown this season. Also in the squad are regulars Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta which means Barça together with Liverpool are the most represented team with five players each. The full squad is as follows:

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid),...

Bad news for our captain Carles Puyol this morning as tests confirmed he has a small fibre tear in his left leg which will need around ten days for recovery. Puyol will miss Sunday's game at Racing and the first leg of the cup semi final against Mallorca. Hopefully he will be back in time to face Sporting Gijon the following weekend. This injury will no doubt reopen the debate about rotations, Puyol was playing his fourth game in a week and a half and may well have noticed the strain of the accumulated matches. Let's hope he makes a speedy recovery

Fifa have announced their ideal team according to votes made on their internet page and Barça are the only club to have as many as three players chosen in the best XI. Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol and Leo Messi have all had their efforts recognised by Fifa's readers. However, playing the way we are at the moment I think there would be a good case for Alves, Eto'o, Iniesta and Toure to also be included. The full Fifa team is: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Terry, Puyol, Lahm; Xavi, Gerrard, Kaká, Ribery; Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo.

What do you think?

Last week I wrote a piece in praise of Leo Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry. However, it could be argued that the form of Barça's defence is just as important if not more so to this season's success. Victor Valdés has only been beaten nine times in fifteen league games which makes Barça's the best defence in La Liga so far this season.

At the start of the season there were still a few problems at the back especially when it came to defending at set pieces.  The first clean sheet in the league wasn't achieved until the 0-1 win at Athletic Bilbao in the seventh jornada. Since then we have managed another six clean sheets in La Liga and have now only...

Not really much surprise here. Despite some excellent performances from his team mates in November, Leo Messi who won the award in October is once again my player of the month. Messi played in 7 games this month, and the only one of those games that he didn't score in was possibly his best game of the month: the 6-0 victory over Valladolid. Toure Yaya comes in second and it is great to see the big man back in such excellent form after a slow start to the season. Captain Carles Puyol is third, he has excelled in every defensive position this month but he was especially impressive in the swimming...

Three Barça players, Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol and Leo Messi have been named in the ideal XI by the Federación Internacional de Asociaciones de Futbolistas Profesionales. The full team is as follows: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), John Terry (Chelsea), Carles Puyol (Barcelona)  Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Xavi (Barcelona) Kaká (AC Milan) Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United).