Well that was an absolutely dreadful weekend of transfer news, culminating in the proverbial and yet somehow literal kick in the crotch that was Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s odd loan + buy option for next year at €24M the following term. In its wake, enough e-ink has been spilt over the transfer saga to drown even the most epic of football or FC Barcelona fans. Predictably, much hand-wringing has been made about the financial bath that the Blaugrana took from this mess, and rightly so. This was an unmitigated financial disaster that is going to cause us a fair amount of monetary distress, not to mention the problems if Zlatan is injured during the season and Milan balks at the purchase, but also making everyone involved in the deal look very very bad. Truly this was another of Pep’s phyrric victories, his scorched earth policy that consumes all who get on his bad side and all agents who would deign to deride his managerial style. However, should we, as Barça supporters be so down about this as to become fed up with everything and start laying blame everywhere, even when it may not be so deserved? Maybe we can brave this one with a little humor, a level head, and the man with the knowledge on La Liga at the Guardian Sid Lowe, whose excellent article provides all the quotes below.

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Sunday, August 29, 2010. 1 PM EST, 7 PM Barcelona time. ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com

So this is the new year? Yes, yes it is. And isn’t it about damn time we get down to some La Liga games? As far as benedictions go, this is a good one. On Sunday, FC Barcelona begins its 80th La Liga campaign and another league championship title defense at Racing Santander. For a squad that many are predicting will win its 21st league title this year, Barcelona certainly faces a number of questions ranging from the starting front line to depth concern and the prospect of youth and young manhood taking over in the midfield. Then again, the club also sports the greatest amount of talent in the league, and likely of any club in the world. So… let’s preview shall we? Continue Reading

The negotiations around Ibrahimovic’s potential transfer at this point in time are relatively opaque and confusing. Why all of this has come to a head now is unclear and will still take time to figure out.

But from what has been reported, let’s take a look at where the negotiations stand and why they are proceeding in the complicated fashion they are. In other words, let’s follow the money.

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Well, this is turning into an interesting back half of the week. Today FC Barcelona announced on its official site that the club has reached a deal with Liverpool to buy Argentine MF Javier Mascherano assuming proper medical clearance and all that jazz. Terms are being reported differently everywhere, ranging from 25M euros to 21M + 3M in incentives to 16 + 3 and so on and so forth. All seem to agree that Mascherano will sign a 4-year deal with the club following medicals, photo-ops, and pledging allegiance to Lord Pep. Continue Reading

Woo! It’s preview time for the Sevilla match and Barcelona is hoping to bring home the 8th championship of the Pep Guardiola era and start the season off right after an offseason of ups (hey, 8 World Cup champions) and downs (Zlatan is staying, for the last time, if you ask again, the banhammer is coming out). But out boys have got some work to do after taking a 3-1 beating at Sevilla last weekend in a game that featured very little good play, although that’s to be expected when none of your players have practiced together in 3 months and most of them have spent that time on a beach. But enough with the excuses here, Barcelona lost and the only way to make it better is to win at least 2-0 tomorrow. Continue Reading

About seven hundred years ago, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ did not refer to a Pat’n’Vanna megasquirt of game-show CheezWhiz (am I the only one here old enough to remember when you had to buy the ceramic dog?), but an oversized accessory for the hippest gal in the galaxy. Her name was Fortuna, and she dangled men from her wrist like a giant charm bracelet, turning them round to glint in the sun or to tumble into shade. When you’re down, there’s nowhere to go but up, and if you’re up, well, don’t look down. Who’s in, who’s out, who’s hot, who’s not … it’s the September Issue. Let’s see who’s taken a ride on Fortuna’s wild Wheel this summer.

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Sergio Busquets, our mercurial midfielder, is a much-maligned figure in the minds of many Barcelona fans. They say he can’t play DM at the Camp Nou because he’s not good enough and he makes too many mistakes. That he’s deficient in the key aspects of the game and is the most expendable man we have. Well, nuts to that. This seems a strange take for a player who started 26 games for the La Liga champions and all 7 games for World Cup champions Spain, of whom manager Vincente del Bosque noted, “if I was a footballer, I would like to be Busquets.” (Lest we forget that the likes of Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff has lavished even more praise.) Oh, and lest I mention the 7 pieces of silverware to his name and being named as La Liga’s breakthrough player of 2009. Thus far, Biscuits & Gravy has made quite a name for himself on the world’s best national team and one of, if not the best, club teams around. But why does out fan base doubt the 22-year old star? This article endeavors to deconstruct our newest star, and determine just what to make of his past, and the future. Continue Reading

With all the buzz ‘bout who’s coming, it’s easy to dismiss who’s going. Who’s coming generates excitement: He’s only 14 years old! He scored 8,973 goals for the youth squad! Imagine what will happen when he plays alongside him! And HIM! And HIM!

The goings, meanwhile, read like rejections from an on-line dating service: He’s too old. He has no style. He doesn’t get out enough. He didn’t live up to his profile.

But the goings give me, oh, what would Pep call it? Ah, I know. A fee-leen.

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So here we are, post-Cup and pre-Liga. For those of us whose teams broke our hearts, said organs are still tender but on the mend. For those of us whose teams broke records, we still smile, but not with all our teeth. And for all of us, the inner ear no longer vibrates quite so violently with echoes of a vuvuzela drone.

The first season I watched the last Barça match with the Hunky Soccer Husband, I sighed at the final whistle. ‘It’s all over,’ I said. ‘What to do until September?’ He blinked at me with surprise and disappointment, the way Sister Mary Holywater always did when a particularly gifted student gave a particularly stupid answer. ‘What ‘over’?’ he demanded. ‘It’s Transfer Time!’ And then he wrung his hands, like an old-timey villain in a silent film.

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The new La Liga schedule was just released after a fake or “early” version was inadvertently uploaded to the internet last night. Rest assured, we here at BFB were not taken in by such tricks or falsities. So here you go, the new schedule, complete with some commentary. These dates are the weekends of these games, meaning that they will either be Saturday or Sunday or that particular weekend (or Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday if listed as during the week), which has not yet been decided.

First Half:
8/28 – @ Racing Santander
9/12 – Hercules
9/19 – @ Atletico Madrid
9/22 – Sporting Gijon
9/26 – @ Athletic Club (Bilbao)
10/3 – Mallorca
10/17 – Valencia
10/24 – @ Zaragoza
10/31 – Sevilla
11/7 – @ Getafe
11/14 – Villareal
11/21 – @ Almeria
11/28 – Real Madrid
12/5 – @ Osasuna
12/12 – Real Sociedad
12/19 – @ Espanyol
Winter Break
01/02 – Levante
01/09 – @ Deportivo La Coruna
01/16 – Malaga

Second Half:
1/23 – Racing Santander
1/30 – @ Hercules
2/6 – Atletico Madrid
2/13 – @ Sporting Gijon
02/20 – Athletic Club (Bilbao)
2/27 – @ Mallorca
3/2 – @ Valencia
3/6 – Zaragoza
3/13 – @ Sevilla
3/20 – Getafe
4/3 – @ Villareal
4/10 – Almeria
4/17 – @ Real Madrid
4/24 – Osasuna
5/1 – @ Real Sociedad
5/8 – Espanyol
5/11 – @ Levante
5/15 – Deportivo La Coruna
5/22 – @ Malaga

As you may have noticed, the schedules second half is a mirror image of the first, with the sides only switching locations. Preliminarily at least, it looks like Barça got a favorable draw without having too many brutal or far away games packed into small frames of time. Even the trip to the Riazor comes after the winter break. This looks like a wonderful schedule for our boys, hopefully we can navigate with only one loss again.

In Other News:

-Apparently we are loaning Henrique out to Santander again, huzzah!

- Big rumors that Marquez is going to become New York Red Bulls third DP in a move that should net us a few million here or there.

- One of our youth players, Thiago, scored during the Spanish U-19 game against Croatia at their World Cup to equalize. Spain would eventually win 2-1.

-Not sure of anything else at this moment in terms of transfer rumors.