Keita najavio povratak u staru formu
Seydou Keita has made a solid but unspectacular start at Barcelona ever since his €14 million summer transfer from Sevilla.
The holding midfielder, who has a penchant for outrageous long-range goals, netted his very first strike for Barcelona last weekend in the 0-2 win at Recreativo Huelva and he believes that the goal could be the catalyst for him to revive his form.
“As a defensive player, it was important for me to score the goal because sometimes, it can be the difference between winning and losing,” he was quoted as saying by Marca.
“For us midfielders, it’s not our objective to score goals but it is still something we like to do because we feel like we have made a contribution,” the 28 year old added.
The Malian international then went on to outline his immediate objective: “My goal is to continue to improve so that I can rediscover the form I showed at Sevilla and I am confident I can achieve that.
“Generally, I am not doing as well at the moment, but considering the circumstances, I would say my valuation is positive.
“I have already adapted well to team and the new playing style. At Barça, you don’t have to go looking for the ball; the ball comes to you,” he offered.
Finally, Keita spoke the relationship with his new coach, Pep Guardiola.
“I speak a lot to the coach. He tells me that he is satisfied with my work but he also lets me know what else I need to do to contribute more to the team and the instructions are always clear,” he assured.
With Andrés Iniesta and Touré Yayá out injured, Keita looks likely to be featured prominently this weekend for the Blaugrana as they take on Getafe.
Eto izglasao Messija protiv C.Ronalda
It appears to be a two-horse race at present between Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and each player have received either glowing endorsements or rave reviews over the past few months.
And Barça striker Samuel Eto’o has now thrown in his two cents’ worth by backing his Argentine goalscoring accomplice at the CampNou.
“Cristiano (Ronaldo) is a great player, but Messi is above everybody at the moment,” he told French television channel, TF1.
“He does things not just in training but during matches that no one has ever done before.
“He is the new Maradona. He is a player who makes other people dream of playing like him,” he added.
Eto’o then analyzed Barcelona’s current playing system under coach, Pep Guardiola, which seems to be brining enormous success.
“Our present system isn’t all that different from the one last season. It’s still a 4-3-3 formation but in reality, it looks more like the system developed by (Johan) Cryuff’s Dream Team,” the 27 year old explained.
Barcelona currently sit atop the La Liga standings on 28 points after 11 rounds, with a massive 36 goals scored, 21 of which are shared between Eto’o and Messi.
Barcelona vs Benidorm
![[11-11-08_BOJAN_Y_PIQUE_02.jpg]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nD6ybg9ftgk/SRpnBgJdglI/AAAAAAAABsI/Ok6-0hcPqJA/s1600/11-11-08_BOJAN_Y_PIQUE_02.jpg)
Pep Guardiola has yet again delayed the naming of the squad against Benidorm till the time of the match. This looks like his way of keeping his players focussed. Whatever we might say it have worked in this season. FC Barcelona goes into this match in a kind of tricky position. They have won the away leg with a goal margin and are the hot favourite to proceed to next step. Already the Copa Del Rey had one big casuality in the form of Real Madrid; Madrid was outsed by an injury time goal by Real Union. As I mentioned in my previous post Copa Del Rey Awakes, for the smaller teams all match is like the final match. Today's match is Benidorm ultimate match and they can be expected to throw everything at Barca.
Zidan:postujem Real ali je Barsa bolja
While Madrid's season took another knock in midweek with their exit from the Copa del Rey, Barça have continued to shine and Zidane was not afraid to say so.
"I am a Real Madrid man and I always want them to win, but it is obvious that FC Barcelona are playing better now although that does not mean anything at the moment," Marca quote him as saying.
"They appear to be in a difficult moment; however, I think that Madrid are strong when they have difficulties and although things are delicate I believe that they will grow and improve."
Zidane then explained that he has spoken to Madrid president Ramón Calderón about a return to the Bernabéu, but that nothing had been decided or agreed.
"Now I can enjoy what I could not before, but I intend to return to football," he continued.
"Calderón called me to have chat and invited me to a game, but I told him it was better if we met in a restaurant.
"There we spoke a bit about everything and also about the option of doing something at Madrid."
After surprising people by announcing his decision to quit the game two years ago, Zidane has no reason to believe that he should have gone on longer.
"I was 34 and although it was not that old, I reached a point where I did not enjoy it any more," he added.
"Now I do not regret that decision because I wanted to finish my career with Real Madrid."
I AM GOING NOWHERE - HENRY
After a frustrating first term at Barça, Henry now wants to prove himself to the club's fans by becoming a key figure in Pep Guardiola's resurgent side.
"I am very clear about this and I am happy here. I do not see myself playing in England. I could maybe do some great things in England, but I have not won anything with Barça and I have to stay," he told Catalan television's Hora Q programme.
"It is not that I really want the Champions League, it is because I want to win the league and Copa del Rey.
"I am happy, yes. I have said so many times. I like the city, the food and the climate.
"When I put on the Barcelona shirt before going out on to the pitch it is an incredible moment. Last year it was not so incredible, but it was an honour to play."
Henry then admitted that he knows that he cannot demand to play in a more central role in the team, having spent the majority of his time at the club on the wing, because he believes Samuel Eto'o is the best striker in the world.
"I do not want it to sound like an excuse, but we have showed this season that we if we play like a team then we can win trophies," he continued. "Having the best players in the world does not guarantee you anything.
"We do have to recognise though, that we do have some of the best players in the world and the best striker in the world in Samuel.
"He is a much better central striker than me and we are fortunate that he stayed.
"It is normal that after what happened last year the supporters were not happy. I was also angry with myself. The fans have to know that we do not go home feeling happy if we have not played well.
"Everyone knew that it was difficult to explain why we did not win anything with the squad that we had, but now we are playing as a team we can change that."
Wenger pusta Fabregasa u Barsu
ENGLESKI Sunday Mirror piše kako će Wenger pustiti Cesca Fabregasa u Barcelonu, a da će zamena za španskog reprezentativca biti ialijanski, Daniele De Rossi.
Već se duže vrieme poteže priča kao Cesc Fabrgas silno želi ponovno zaigrati u Barceloni iz koje je u London otišao još kao dečak. Ovaj transfer se opet aktualizirao, a čini se kako je glavni menadžer Arsenala Arsen Wenger, spreman pustiti španskog reprezentativca u Barsu.
Takoe, engleski Mirror donosi vest kako je Wenger već pronašao i zamenu za Fabregasa i to u ialijanskom reprezentativcu Danieleu De Rossiju.
Čak Englezi idu tako daleko i tvrde kako će De Rossi biti "kapiten budućnosti" tima u Arsenalu.
25-godišnji De Rossi cijelu je svoju karijeru u Romi te je rođeni Rimljanin i produkt njihove omladinske škole. Od 2002. kada je počeo igrati za seniorski tim Rome, nastupio je u 160 susreta i ukupno dao 18 pogodaka.
Pepeova Barsa obara Di Stefanov rekord
Barcelona have equalled Real Madrid’s untouchable golden era of the late 50’s for scoring more goals than any other team by this stage of the league season. It appears that there is nothing in Spain that can stop Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Last Saturday’s 6-0 annihilation of Real Valladolid was their eighth consecutive La Liga win and their 34th league goal scored in just ten rounds of football. It’s a tally that equals the revered Real Madrid side of the 1950’s that comprised of mythical names such as Di Stéfano, Puskas and Gento when they also notched up that same number of strikes by this stage of the 1959/60 campaign. Not even the great Madrid squad in the 1989/90 season that scored a total of 107 goals in a single season or the post-Dream Team Barcelona side who netted 102 times during the 1996/97 term managed to amass this many goals after just ten games. According to Marca’s calculations,Guardiola’s men are currently averaging 3.4 strikes per match and only the Los Merengues outfit in the 1958/59 campaign have scored more when they tallied 35 goals in the first ten league outings. Some of Barça’s outrageous scorelines so far this season have included 6-1 triumphs over Atlético Madrid and Sporting Gijón, back-to-back 5-0 wins against Basel and Almería, a 1-4 victory at Málaga just last weekend and ofcourse their biggest margin thus far, last Saturday’s 6-0 slaughter of Valladolid. And with still 28 more rounds to go, if the Blaugrana can maintain their present ratio, they will easily surpass the 107-goal record and even set an unprecedented milestone.
Benzema:sledece godine idem u Barsu ili Real
Barça have repeatedly shown an interest in Benzema, while Madrid were linked with him before they embarked on their quest to prise Cristiano Ronaldo from Old Trafford.
In an interview on French television, the 20-year-old revealed that he was ready to leave his boyhood club and his family home in Lyon to play for the Blaugrana or Los Merengues.
"My future? I like Spain. Next year I will play for Barça or Madrid," he told France 2's Stade 2 programme.
United have been following Benzema's progress and Sir Alex Ferguson was said to have been interested in signing him before turning to Dimitar Berbatov this year.
Lyon may allow him to leave the club, but it will be on their own terms and they believed to be only prepared to listen to offers that could break the record transfer fee having quoted €100 million earlier this year.
One criticism of Benzema is that he is not yet ready to step up and become a star at one of Europe's biggest clubs, but the player himself thinks that is unfair.
"Some people have said I cannot play at the highest level. How ridiculous. I have a lot to learn and am still growing. I am only 20 and am working hard to improve all the time," he countered.
Zinedine Zidane moved to Juve at 24 and Thierry Henry was 22 when he went to Italy and questions are being asked if Benzema is being forced out of French football too early.