Muniesa (upper left) and Dalmau (bottom left) watching the Messias.

I haven’t had my Barça fix in two full weekends. I haven’t had the blaugrana flashing around on screen since they beat 4-0. That was 18 days ago. Eighteen days. I feel like it’s the height of summer and I have nothing left in the tank, no more ability to aguantar this insanity. But it’s coming, this tide of fury and passion. And, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll be able to experience it with me as I’m looking to head to a new bar here in Brooklyn to test out the waters. It’s called Woodwork and perhaps it will become my stomping grounds for when Nevada Smiths is too far or the subway is messed up.

Regardless, there is news afoot and it must be discussed.

-Because of Carles Puyol’s impending suspension for accumulation of yellow cards and Eric Abidal’s and Dani Alves’ respective injuries, we will probably see a very uncharacteristic back four against Getafe on Saturday (2pmEST, 8pm local). Normally when Alves is out, we rotate Puyol to the RB position, but that is obviously not possible this time around, so canteranos Marc Muniesa and Albert Dalmau have been called up to first team training this week. Muniesa, if you remember, is a promising youngster whose first official appearance for the squad was against Osasuna last year and ended with a straight red, though he is still considered to be one of the better prospects to emerge from the cantera in quite a while and he’s still only 17. Muniesa did not train with the squad today, but Dalmau, who is also 17, did.

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Hey, it’s been a while since I updated all of you on Fantasy Soccer. Just in case you missed it, we’ve got a competition going through Yahoo!’s Fantasy section. Here is our group (you might have to log in to see it, but the ID is 1037).

To the info: There’s hardly anything to report. There is nothing going on here. Nothing whatsoever — sob — nothing. I’m not in horrible, horrible 19th place or anything. I’m not that far behind player Hat Trick who has 1,071.5 points compared to my 827.00, but I’ve only got 18 more weeks to make up the difference!*

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Money! Yeeeaaah, that's what I want!

The price of success can almost be quantified. Whether justified or not, every player involved in that success, if they have a contract that is anywhere in the realm of being up for renewal, wants more money. Mo, mo, mo, mo.

Dani Alves is no exception. We have fiscal complexities at every turn. Gerard Pique is up for a renewal, and we have to deal with the kids. But also, we have our Brazilian Hummingbird who, dependent upon who you read, is either unsettled or not going anywhere.
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Valley of Puebla and Popocateptl (LCP, funksterwtf.blogspot.com)

First, I’m back. It was a good vacation, but now I’m back and you will be seeing a lot of me around these parts over the coming weeks. If I slip accidentally into Spanish, please forgive me. It’s going to be a rough transition to not saying “oye guey que pedo” every time I see someone. (Above is a picture of Puebla, where I was)

Secondly, it’s time to get to know your Second Half predictions. I previously posted the competition rules and now that I’m reunited with my lovely laptop, I will be tracking how well everyone is doing throughout the rest of the season.

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Dammit, Wayne! I said no, dude!

Guess who is 23 years old today? If you guessed Gerard Pique, you guessed right. The central defender, a canterano who returned home last season, also has the distinction of being one of only three players to have won Champions League glory in consecutive seasons, with different clubs.

He’s been capped 13 times, but you can look for many more, as the man whom we have all affectionately dubbed “Piquenbauer” for his dashing forward runs with the ball, is only just learning to become the defender that he is. And who remembers that Piquenbauer’s first Spanish goal was a match-winner, in a Copa tie against Espanyol? Very cool.

So happy birthday, Pique, and many more (in the colors, of course!)
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As many of you know, it’s crunch time for our next generation of La Masia jewels. The contracts of Thiago Alcantara, Jeffren Suarez, Gai Assulin, and Jonathan Dos Santos who happen to be our best prospects at the Barca Athletic level ALL expire this spring. That means they can either resign professional contracts with Barca or leave on a free transfer. As can be expected, the (mostly EPL) vultures are out and circling. With elections being postponed until June, it seems that Guardiola and Txiki will have to force their hands before the new administration takes over. Adding to the tension is the proximity of a free transfer giving our canteranos’ agents a significant upper hand in negotiations. As much as it hurts, we will likely not be able to keep all of our guys. So, let’s have a little discussion about which ones will/should stay and which ones will/should go. Mug shots and profiles of our enfants terrible follow: Continue Reading

What just happened??!!

So, JMo is right: That was rather a pessimistic liveblog during that second half, and for good reason, right? We couldn’t put the ball in the net, and Sporting Hee-hone was playing with pluck and determination, pressing hard and playing for the equalizer that was going to screw up all of our Saturday.

Right?

Right?

Wrong.
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How you like me now, eh? (Denis Doyle/Getty Images Europe)

Liga Preview: Sporting – Barça, Saturday 2pm EST, GolTV.

Well then. It feels like my last preview was three months ago, when it was only last Friday. It’s not just that my days are ridiculously long as I rise early and walk around Puebla and go to bed late after nights of hanging with friends–that is, of course, the idea of vacation: tire yourself out so that you need a vacation from a vacation–but it strikes me that life without Barça in midweek is like being in purgatory. Sure, it’s not that bad and you can, if you’re a CS Lewis style believer, just wander around in the rain looking at Napoleon and other famous faces as they pace back and forth in their mansions, but it still feels like an enormous amount of time between matches.*

As several of you have written to me personally, it’s hard to adjust to life without Our Beloved playing more than once every 7 days. Of course I want more Barça, but that’s because I’m an addict, like many of you and I’ve grown accustomed to my fix every three or four days; I realize full well that the rest the players are getting now by not being in the Copa del Rey is likely to help them in the Champions League when they would otherwise be playing on tired legs, but no matter, I just want to remain spoiled. Most of you have not been dutifully recording your second-half predictions, but you still can! Do it! Do it now!

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Hmmm .... we must improve, but how?

Is it already that time of the season?

–EMD is saying that Guardiola has been asked to choose between Ribery and Silva for our soon-to-be-vacant left wing. Apparently he likes both, but Silva fits the Barca profile better in terms of ball and player movement on the pitch, and being Spanish. Stay tuned for lots more in that shell game. Personally, I’m not sure that my preference sits with either. What say ye?
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