Mercurial. Erratic. Enigmatic. Wasted transfer. Sloppy. A great many adjectives are attached to the player that is Ousmane Dembele, who arrived at FC Barcelona with a massive price tag and even greater expectations, coming as he did right after the departure of Neymar, and one of two purchases with that windfall, the other being Philippe… Continue reading The problem with Ousmane Dembele
Category: Injuries
Dembele is back, and good things are possible
He had been training with the full squad, at full speed all week and was included in the squad for the Bayern match. Still, when news came down that Ousmane Dembele had, after a long road back from his latest injury and the attendant surgery, received medical clearance, it was hard not to smile if… Continue reading Dembele is back, and good things are possible
The Gomesification of Dembele, aka “Is it Christmas yet?”
Dembele out of the squad. The news that came on Friday was massive. It was assumed that the Frenchman would re-enter the squad at the end of his two-match ban after confronting Mateu Lahoz with the reality of his existence. That didn’t happen. Ansu Fati took his place, something that some on the Catalan side… Continue reading The Gomesification of Dembele, aka “Is it Christmas yet?”
Football no longer has time for frailty, or humanity
A player has a slight metatarsal fracture and the first thing half of my TL is immediately talking about is whether Barça should sell him. What happend to compassion and empathy? Sad stuff. — Alex Truica (@AlexTruica) September 14, 2019 This is a fascinating thought by a favorite Twitter account, because it sums up so… Continue reading Football no longer has time for frailty, or humanity
Rafinha, fate and cruel fragility
There was a moment, right after the benign coming together with the Atletico player, where Rafinha was limping, grimacing, making a decision. And maybe, just maybe, it’s the 20/20 hindsight afforded by history that allows us to wonder if there weren’t competing emotions washing over that chiseled visage, if somehow, he didn’t know. He waved… Continue reading Rafinha, fate and cruel fragility
Magic and Mayhem: My first visit to Camp Nou
(This is a guest post from someone you should follow on Twitter, @barcelista. This is an account of their first Camp Nou visit, an extraordinary experience for any culer, graciously chronicled here for us to live vicariously through. Enjoy!) It starts as a dream, as a kid watching Barca from Lebanon on grainy, pirated cable… Continue reading Magic and Mayhem: My first visit to Camp Nou
Barça, looking forward
The great thing about life, particularly as embodied by sports, is that the lessons are constant — none bigger than the reality that we don’t know anything. Sure, we know objective stuff such as statistics and final scores. But as we sit around and endeavor some vague predictions or notions, it becomes clear that we… Continue reading Barça, looking forward
Aleix Vidal: An underdog story
The rules have been violated. Barça won 0-6 at a difficult away ground, and the players don’t really care a whole lot. This is what Sergo Busquets had to say: “Vidal is loved by all of us, this is awful, we feel really bad. Win comes in 2nd place, he comes 1st.” As Busquets notes,… Continue reading Aleix Vidal: An underdog story
Valencia 2, Barça 3, aka “The Rage of Messi”
And it was all going so well … Possession stats in the 70s, the ball pinging around in midfield, Barça attacking, Valencia defending, Barça resetting, Valencia defending again. Everything was headed toward the inexorable conclusion until something horrible happened. Iniesta took a tackle of the type that players take all the time. Enzo Perez got… Continue reading Valencia 2, Barça 3, aka “The Rage of Messi”
A party of three, all found wanting
Errors. The results of the top three, the fanbases of each with a valid reason to say “We dropped points,” all came down to an error. — Real Madrid got Ramosed. — Atleti had a slack moment on a set piece. — Barça had a slack moment on a dead ball situation. The reactions, of… Continue reading A party of three, all found wanting
Messi’s out. So who’s in?
On Saturday, Barça did exactly what it was supposed to do in dispatching newly promoted Las Palmas. The 2-1 scoreline didn’t really reflect the almost constant danger posed by Barça in a match that could well have ended 4 or 5-1. But nobody counts those goals (unless it’s a draw and goal differential comes into… Continue reading Messi’s out. So who’s in?
Villarreal 1, Barça 3, aka “Whaddaya know … a final!”
Well, ain’t that just a kick in the teeth? There are so many eminently logical reasons for the predictions that this season’s Barça team wouldn’t do well. But just as with upsets in sport, the theory all falls by the wayside when the kicking begins. And this match is interesting for the simple fact that… Continue reading Villarreal 1, Barça 3, aka “Whaddaya know … a final!”