The Barcelona Phenomenon
I've waxed lyrical about Barcelona on this blog before, but now seems as appropriate a time as ever to do so again. Because what a team. What a team this Barca side are turning out to be, with a phenomenal run of results behind them. Last night's stats speak for themselves. Yet another Messi hat-trick securing them a 5-1 win, which takes them eight points clear of Athletico Madrid, a mind-boggling twelve clear of Real Madrid, who as far as I'm concerned aren't on the same plane of existence as Barca right now, let alone comparable as a football team in any sense except for money, and with a thirty-five game unbeaten run in place in all competitions, they look to beat Arsenal's forty-nine game run, having already beaten the record for a Spanish club.
And don't give me that "oh it's only Spain nonsense". They've beaten Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Arsenal, Roma, Bayer Levekusen, not to mention the fact that most of the mid-table teams in Spain would give most Premier League clubs a run for their money, if you need reminding about how United struggled against Sociedad in the group stages, or how Athletic Bilbao played them off the park a few years ago. And if it was that easy to go unbeaten for thirty-five games in all competitions in Spain, why the hell has nobody done it before?
At the heart of this of course are Messi, Neymar and Suarez, who now have 62 goals between them in La Liga this season (staggering), and look set to score more than they did last season. Let's just take a moment to note the state of play. Last season, Barcelona won La Liga, the Champions League, the Copa Del Rey and then went on to win the Super Cup and World Club Championship before 2015 was over. And this season, they've stepped their game up. Up. They've got better. Seriously. This is a football team that is smashing everything and everyone in front of them and that only seems to be improving. Maybe the quality of the opposition has dipped, or maybe they've just hit a run of good luck, but either way, for me there is a genuine question as to what the ceiling of this side is. Is this Barcelona side the best to ever play football? Will they become that? And if, as expected at this stage, they win everything again this season, who the hell is going to stop them in 2016/17? La Liga looks all but won already and we're in March, they should win the Copa Del Rey final and frankly nobody in European football looks capable of stopping them in the Champions League. Hell, last year they steamrollered Pep Guardiola's Bayern, their closest contenders, scoring one of the finest goals I've ever seen in the process. How can they top that?
The fact that Real Madrid look like a shadow of the side that they should be, with Ronaldo's brilliance masking the fact that they are essentially a lightweight version of Barca inferior in every department and lacking the tactical awareness to do what Athletico Madrid are attempting to do which is something different (and might just be the only team capable of stopping Barca on any front, as they managed to do in 2014), should not be in any sense used against Barcelona. It's not that they don't have good opposition. It's just that they are better than everyone else.
And who knows how long that will be the case for, or how far they can go in terms of quality. Messi, Neymar and Suarez all have realistically five years at the top of their game left, and the likes of Iniesta and Xavi who looked like being huge losses to this side have seemingly already been replaced with Arda Turan, Rakitic et al. Barca always have quality coming through, and the simple truth is, I'll be stunned if anyone can topple them over the next few years.
And don't give me that "oh it's only Spain nonsense". They've beaten Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Arsenal, Roma, Bayer Levekusen, not to mention the fact that most of the mid-table teams in Spain would give most Premier League clubs a run for their money, if you need reminding about how United struggled against Sociedad in the group stages, or how Athletic Bilbao played them off the park a few years ago. And if it was that easy to go unbeaten for thirty-five games in all competitions in Spain, why the hell has nobody done it before?
At the heart of this of course are Messi, Neymar and Suarez, who now have 62 goals between them in La Liga this season (staggering), and look set to score more than they did last season. Let's just take a moment to note the state of play. Last season, Barcelona won La Liga, the Champions League, the Copa Del Rey and then went on to win the Super Cup and World Club Championship before 2015 was over. And this season, they've stepped their game up. Up. They've got better. Seriously. This is a football team that is smashing everything and everyone in front of them and that only seems to be improving. Maybe the quality of the opposition has dipped, or maybe they've just hit a run of good luck, but either way, for me there is a genuine question as to what the ceiling of this side is. Is this Barcelona side the best to ever play football? Will they become that? And if, as expected at this stage, they win everything again this season, who the hell is going to stop them in 2016/17? La Liga looks all but won already and we're in March, they should win the Copa Del Rey final and frankly nobody in European football looks capable of stopping them in the Champions League. Hell, last year they steamrollered Pep Guardiola's Bayern, their closest contenders, scoring one of the finest goals I've ever seen in the process. How can they top that?
The fact that Real Madrid look like a shadow of the side that they should be, with Ronaldo's brilliance masking the fact that they are essentially a lightweight version of Barca inferior in every department and lacking the tactical awareness to do what Athletico Madrid are attempting to do which is something different (and might just be the only team capable of stopping Barca on any front, as they managed to do in 2014), should not be in any sense used against Barcelona. It's not that they don't have good opposition. It's just that they are better than everyone else.
And who knows how long that will be the case for, or how far they can go in terms of quality. Messi, Neymar and Suarez all have realistically five years at the top of their game left, and the likes of Iniesta and Xavi who looked like being huge losses to this side have seemingly already been replaced with Arda Turan, Rakitic et al. Barca always have quality coming through, and the simple truth is, I'll be stunned if anyone can topple them over the next few years.
The Super League Nonsense
I'm going to say this right off the bat. If Liverpool participate in the so-called European Super League, which is supposedly a pre-season tournament that will probably end up rivaling the Champions League if it ever comes to fruition, then I will have no part of it. I will continue to support my club in the Premier League, but it will be with a heavy heart, and I want no part of the elitist bull that is the Super League.
Now of course, this is all hearsay, at this stage there is nothing concrete at all, nothing on paper and nothing to suggest that any of the clubs will go along with it. And if the Super League is created and it remains a cheerful pre-season friendly tournament that nobody takes seriously then fine. Everything that I'm going to say here is probably and hopefully pointless, aimed at something that will never happen and shouldn't happen. But if the so called big five English clubs, United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool do intend to set up their own big tournament, with other European giants, simply because none of them are as good as they used to be and the likes of Leicester are stealing their Champions League spots, then I have one word for them.
Tough.
Tough luck. You aren't in the Champions League on merit, there's nothing more to say than that. It looks as if at least three of those five clubs won't make Europe's top tier and that, as fair as I'm concerned, is entirely their own fault. They all have the money, the managers (well most of them) and the infrastructure to be making that top four. Yes, one of them has to miss out by default but that's the way things go, more money and more power in the game should up the competition not have the clubs falling over themselves. That of course, is no disrespect to Leicester in particular, but also to Spurs, who are both where they are on merit. But the top five clubs need to look in the mirror and say, how can we improve, rather than throwing a sulk.
Because this is what it is, a sulk. A refusal to acknowledge that money and prestige can't buy everything and that Leicester City are right now, the best team in English football and rightfully taking a spot in European's top competition. And how dare the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, who have woefully underperformed this season, be so damned snobbish as to think that they deserve it more than them.
Arsenal have already come out and denied the idea (funny that, the team that arguably needs a Super League the least is the only one to have denied it) but frankly all the other clubs should do the same. And if Liverpool, United and Chelsea are all genuinely considering helping to set this up then I'm genuinely disgusted. And you know what, I'd rather watch the Champions League anyway because frankly, I'd rather watch Leicester v Barca than any other English team v Barca. Because United, Liverpool and Chelsea have been largely awful to watch this season. A Champions League with those three clubs in it ahead of Spurs and Leicester is not one that's worth watching at all to be honest.
If you want to prove that you're a bigger and better club than those that you look down on. Do it where it matters. On the f*cking pitch (sorry, urge to swear was growing too much). Earn your place in the top tier. Or stop whining about it.
The Liverpool Conundrum
Not twelve hours before Adam Lallana ripped Manchester City to shreds, I suggested that he was the sort of player that Klopp might get rid of in the summer. I was resoundingly rebuffed by Lallana himself on the pitch and jokingly by my friend Joe off it.
In any case, Lallana is starting to find some form in a Red's shirt, with three goals and two assists this calendar year, bettered by only a handful, both in his own team and in others. Only Milner, with three goals and four assists, and the mercurial Firmino, whose six goals and four assists not only make him the best attacking player for LFC but for the whole of the Premier League in 2016, an astounding feat for a player who for so long looked like he was struggling to come to terms against English football. And the thing about Firmino is that he produces against big teams, with his best performances of the season coming against Arsenal and twice against City, with a total of four goals and at least a couple of assists coming from those three games.
But then this is all part of the Liverpool problem at the moment. Because where was Firmino in the cup final?
To clarify, this is not me having a pop at Firmino for not scoring in the cup final, but how the team as a whole performs under pressure. Three days afterwards, with no pressure on, we go and spank City. But in the cup final, we can't step up. It's our season summed up. For every top performance, there is a poor one. For every 3-0 win against City, there's a 2-2 with Sunderland. For every 6-1 against Southampton, there's a 0-3 to Watford.
Of course, injuries have played their part but my point is this. We have a core of quality players that can work wonders. The likes of Lallana and Milner who have been utterly superb at points in the season. And somehow, Simon Mignolet keeps a lot of clean sheets.
And yet they don't turn up. We have poor games aplenty, far too many for a side of this strength. Yes, we've been forced to play Benteke up front who doesn't fit this team and has been awful in front of goal for large portions of the season. And yes, Mignolet is a liability. And yes, several key players in our midfield (Hendo) have been underperforming. But this is the Liverpool conundrum at the moment. Are we a top side chronically underperforming at the highest level? Are we a mediocre side who occasionally play very, very well and can beat anyone on our day? Or are we somewhere inbetween. a mix of world class players, players who are bang average and some who have a lot of unfulfilled potential?
Scrap Mignolet, shore up the center of defence, get Sturridge a top class strike partner to lighten the burden and for the love of God keep Firmino and Coutinho fit. Then we can start to work with the likes of Adam Lallana, who really is in that middle category. He's not a world class player, but he's not a bang average one either and if he can build up a head of steam, he can be exactly what we need, a support player who consistently adds something to our game. Because no team has 11 Mesut Ozils or Roberto Firminos, but what Liverpool are missing right now, is a consistent set of performances, and more performances like yesterday from players like Lallana, in big games, are how we start to close the gap on the top four.
But then this is all part of the Liverpool problem at the moment. Because where was Firmino in the cup final?
To clarify, this is not me having a pop at Firmino for not scoring in the cup final, but how the team as a whole performs under pressure. Three days afterwards, with no pressure on, we go and spank City. But in the cup final, we can't step up. It's our season summed up. For every top performance, there is a poor one. For every 3-0 win against City, there's a 2-2 with Sunderland. For every 6-1 against Southampton, there's a 0-3 to Watford.
Of course, injuries have played their part but my point is this. We have a core of quality players that can work wonders. The likes of Lallana and Milner who have been utterly superb at points in the season. And somehow, Simon Mignolet keeps a lot of clean sheets.
And yet they don't turn up. We have poor games aplenty, far too many for a side of this strength. Yes, we've been forced to play Benteke up front who doesn't fit this team and has been awful in front of goal for large portions of the season. And yes, Mignolet is a liability. And yes, several key players in our midfield (Hendo) have been underperforming. But this is the Liverpool conundrum at the moment. Are we a top side chronically underperforming at the highest level? Are we a mediocre side who occasionally play very, very well and can beat anyone on our day? Or are we somewhere inbetween. a mix of world class players, players who are bang average and some who have a lot of unfulfilled potential?
Scrap Mignolet, shore up the center of defence, get Sturridge a top class strike partner to lighten the burden and for the love of God keep Firmino and Coutinho fit. Then we can start to work with the likes of Adam Lallana, who really is in that middle category. He's not a world class player, but he's not a bang average one either and if he can build up a head of steam, he can be exactly what we need, a support player who consistently adds something to our game. Because no team has 11 Mesut Ozils or Roberto Firminos, but what Liverpool are missing right now, is a consistent set of performances, and more performances like yesterday from players like Lallana, in big games, are how we start to close the gap on the top four.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Lucas out for six weeks. Balls.
- Cech out for four weeks. Game over.
- Elimination style qualifying? Oh boy.
- Andy Murray is winning in the Davis Cup. Shocker.
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