Cesc Fàbregas, Guardiola's wildcard

The story of the signing of Cesc Fàbergas for Barcelona was long. So long that even some sectors of the barcelonisme starting to have doubts, due to the high price demanded by Arsenal and the progression of Thiago Alcántara. Some other fans (I must admit I may belong to this group) were not sure of paying important amounts for a player that had been raised in La Masia, but had decided to leave in a personal decision, since this effort could send a wrong message for the young players of Barça's youth system. At this point, if there is someone who really insisted in this signing, it is Pep Guardiola.

The general opinion was that the signing of Cesc Fàbregas, as good as it would be anyway, was also unnecessary. Barcelona probably count on the most powerful midfield on Earth. Xavi and Andrés Iniesta are World class players and Cesc Fàbregas would be a good complement, but not an urgency. Besides, Thiago Alcántara was there too. The same generalized opinion said that Guardiola wanted him thinking in the mid-long term. With Xavi being 31, Iniesta being 27 and Thiago being 20, Cesc (24 years old) appears as the one who was going to replace Xavi in Barcelona to allow a slow and non dramatic transition, which would also help Thiago to progress on solid grounds.

Cesc joined Barcelona late this summer, so Guardiola could not experiment with him much. But in these weeks, it has been possible to see Cesc in several positions. Not only this, the individual skills of Cesc Fàbregas also allowed Guardiola to try different tactical versions, with the player in different positions. It is true it is not the first time Guardiola make changes in the positions of the players nor used tactical variants, but with Cesc Fàbregas being the wildcard, the possibilities of doing them seem to grow significantly.

Cesc Fàbregas made his debut in the Supercopa against Real Madrid. Barcelona used the classic 4-3-3 formation and, with 10 minutes to go and the 2-2 in the scoreboard, Cesc replaced the winger Pedro, while Iniesta was moved to the fake winger position in order to leave the central midfield for the new #4 of Barcelona to partner Xavi. This is what everyone expected, a natural change, Cesc playing in his natural position and Iniesta moving in order to take advantage of his versatile style. With the 4-3-3, Cesc seems to be the 3rd option for the central midfield, after Xavi and Iniesta. The plan worked for Barcelona, Cesc is deeper in his style, compared with the classic partnership, which was what Barcelona needed at that moment and it worked, since Barça scored in the last minutes with Cesc involved in the creation of the goal.

The first relevant test was in the Gamper trophy, the game of presentation of the team in the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi, usual owner of the #9 position in Barcelona was not part of the initial XI. Until then, it was Villa who used to fill this space, but Villa stayed in his already natural position as left winger. Surprisingly, Cesc Fàbregas was the #9 of Barcelona. It was well known that Fàbregas possess a higher capacity to score goals and appear in the box compared with Xavi and Iniesta, but definitely the position was not natural for him. But, since Guardiola renounced to have a classic #9 to fix the rival's central backs to play with Messi in this position on free role, the Catalan coach wanted to test the possibilities that Fàbregas in this position. And, still knowing it was just a test, it worked. Cesc was the #9, but as Messi, he was given a free role to fall to midfield and help in the creation, which gave Barcelona superiority in midfield and caused chaos in the defense of Napoli, who were chasing shadows, not having a reference to mark.

Last Monday, in the game against Villarreal, Guardiola put his Barcelona in a time machine and proposed the classic 3-4-3 of the Dream Team of the early 90s. Probably, this system is just a consequence of the situation (Barcelona had lots of players injured in defense), but it is also true that Barcelona also needed the right players to do it. Statically, Cesc was placed in front of the two central midfielders and behind Messi, a kind of Italian trequartista, the typical mediapunta, a pure playmaker. But football is also movement and there were 8 field players which had an important discipline at keeping the position, while Cesc joined Messi in the free role style. If Messi himself usually is a disturbing element due to his unpredictable movements, Cesc joined the perfect chaos too, interchanging positions with the Argentinian star or supporting the midfield to create superiority in the creation zone. Villarreal had a 4 back line plus 2 defensive midfielders, but Barcelona opened the field with 2 pure wingers, creating lots of spaces for Messi and Cesc, who were not occupying attacking positions, but appearing in this zone. Barcelona did not packed the attack with forwards. Barcelona created the spaces for the forwards and central midfielders to appear surprising from second and third lines. This is possible because Cesc's skills are more suited to this kind of zone and definitely suited to Barcelona's style. As Messi himself said: "I mix well with Cesc, because we have played together since we were kids".

Guardiola found its wildcard, which adds depth to the team, but also gives the team tactical options that were not so obvious until now. These possibility allow Guardiola to reinvent Barcelona's tactical system again. This is why the already legendary coach of Barcelona wanted Cesc and only Cesc.

The day Arsène Wenger's project collapsed

The 8-2 defeat of Arsène Wenger's Arsenal in Old Trafford is one of these historical results which have consequences and, probably, the most evident is the death of a football project.  Arsène Wenger has taken Arsenal to glorious moments during the past 16 years and the Gunners got prestige and admiration, but the decisions taken in the last years started to act like a slow death poison. Until August 28th 2011, a date that will not be easy to forget for the football fans. The day Old Trafford was The Theater of Nightmares for Arsenal, the day of no return.

When Arsène Wenger got Arsenal's head coach position back in September 1996, he was an unknown coach in England and Europe in general. He did not have an easy task in front of him, since he had to put some order in a club that was living in instability after the George Graham years and the interregnum of Bruce Rioch. After a very good debut season (1996-1997), taking Arsenal to the third position, only missing the UEFA Champions League spots for goal difference, Wenger added players like the French Nicolas Anelka and Emmanuel Petit, as well as the Dutch winger Marc Overmars, who joined the also young midfielder Patrick Vieira, who had signed the previous summer, and the "old guard" of Arsenal formed by players like Ian Wright, Adams, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown and Bould.

In this 2nd season (1997-1998), Arsenal overcame a 12 point gap to win the Premier League 2 weeks before the end. The Gunners also won the FA Cup this season defeating Newscastle in Wembley. In his second year, Wenger became the first foreign coach to win the English league and gave Arsenal their second double in history.

Despite the signings of Ljunberg in 1998, Thierry Henry in 1999 and Robert Pires and Wiltord a year later, Arsenal could not repeat these successful moments during a 3 year period, despite they were close several times. In the 1998-1999 season, Arsenal topped the league during certain moments of the season, but ended up losing it by a single point against Manchester United, who completed their historical Treble. The following 2 Premier League seasons only had an owner, Manchester United, but Arsenal still were their main rival in the competition. During this period, Arsenal's main failures happened in the UEFA Champions League, where the Gunners failed to perform. But these failures were balanced by an UEFA Cup final in the year 2000, lost against Galatasaray in the penalties, and a FA Cup final in 2001, lost against Liverpool. Arsenal failed to win titles, but the project was growing and the future looked brilliant.

The 2001-2002 season was historical. Arsène Wenger's project reached its peak. Despite the departure of important players like Anelka, Petit or Overmars, who had been essential in the Double of 1998, the squad found the solidness Wenger had been working on for years. Thierry Henry finally adapted to become a striker that was going to mark an era and players like Pires or Ljunberg reached their best moments of their careers. Sol Campbell also joined Arsenal in a very polemic signing, since he was a symbol of their eternal rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs. Arsenal broke a tight run for the title with a 13 game winning-streak to open a definitive 7 point gap on the runner-ups Liverpool. But it was not enough, Arsenal also won their 8th FA Cup, defeating  Chelsea to win another Double.

The following year (2002-2003), Arsenal seemed to be able to retain the Premiership crown, but the team ended up losing an 8 point gap to give Manchester United the title. Despite this disappointing defeat, the triumph in the FA Cup against Southampton, winning this title for 2nd time in a row, something that had not happened in 20 years.

The 2003-2004 season will always be recalled as the year of "The Invincibles". Arsenal won the Premier League without a single loss in the entire season, something that only Preston North End had achieved in the 1888-1889... in a very different era of football. In the summer of 2002, Arsène Wenger had announced that his team was able to do it. He just missed his prediction one year.

In the 2004-2005 season, Arsenal was unable to retain the title, which was won by a record-breaking Chelsea, managed by Jose Mourinho, but they could extend their unbeaten run up to 49 games, an all time English league record, which will be there to be beaten for decades. Consolation again happened in the FA Cup final, where Arsenal defeated Manchester United in the penalties. At this point, no one would have thought this title would be the last crown for Wenger in Arsenal.

Probably symbolic, but a turning point was the transfer of Patrick Vieira to Juventus in the summer 2005. Wenger had succeed at retaining the stars of the team until this point. Offers from big clubs of England and Europe were a constant every summer, attracted by the great talent of the Gunners. Wenger finally opened the door to Vieira, knowing that the promising Cesc was ready to fill the space left by the French icon. The domestic season was poor though, since Arsenal failed to challenge for any title, putting all the efforts in the UEFA Champions League. Definitely, Europe was an obsession for this team, since the Gunners had failed to show in Europe what they had done in England. Arsenal did a great campaign in the Champions League, but was defeated by Ronaldinho's Barcelona in Paris. With players like Henry, Pires or Ljunberg reaching their veteran years, the missed chance was painful for a team that had made history for Arsenal.

The 2006-2007 season was transitional, the first one at the Emirates. Very important players like Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Robert Pires, Lauren and Ljunberg left the club. Wenger was able to convince Thierry Henry to stay, but the injuries and the start of his decline did not allow the idol and captain to shine as he had done until then. Henry moved to Barcelona in 2007 and the season was poor.

Wenger had put all the faith in a new generation of players to return to the good old days. Wenger refused to compete in the market and focused all the efforts in bringing young talents and promote players from Arsenal's youth teams. The idea was to emulate the success of his arrival, when he was able to raise young talents to form a historical team. But Wenger failed to emulate the results. Why?

It is always difficult to find a particular reason. During the last years, Arsenal has been a brilliant team, with a very attacking minded and entertaining philosophy. The team always managed to start the season showing a good level of football, but failed to compete in the key moments of the season. These young squads collapsed in the last part of the season, when the titles are decided. During this period, the Gunners have been waiting for this young team to peak, but it has been impossible.

It was impossible because Arsenal has been unable to retain their talent. Players like Flamini, Hleb, Adebayor or Touré left the club when they were reaching the peak moment of their careers, the age of a player to become important. Wenger has been unable to replace these players properly. Unlike the first part of the last decade, when Wenger was able to keep the core of the team, the important players were leaving the club. Sometimes these players left the club looking for better contracts and faster success. In other cases, Arsenal agreed the transfers. Arsenal has not reinvested in established players, aside the cases of Arshavin or Rosicky, who had failed to meet with the expectations raised on them.

In one way or another, Arsenal fell in a vicious circle. The Gunners have been waiting for the team to grow up, but the transfers made it impossible. The team always was too young and unexperienced to compete for higher goals. The very few additions in the market were also very young talents, like Nasri, or players of a certain level, like the mentioned Arshavin or Rosicky, who still are too far to make people forget the glorious team of the early 2000s. This "eternal" young and promising team have been able to perform good seasons, but has never been considered mature enough to fight for big titles. Probably, these good seasons despite the departures have made the club fall in self-complacency, because the "near future" was always promising. The "next season" was always the goal to reach, but the seasons pass and Arsenal was where they were in the year 2007... only 4 years later.

This feeling ended up entering in the locker room. The stars of the team, the players who were supposed to lead Arsenal in the years to follow feel that they can not wait for the whole squad to grow, especially if the talent keeps leaving the club. This summer Cesc Fàbregas and Nasri could not wait anymore and did not listen to Wenger anymore, leaving Arsenal to join present projects like Barcelona's or Manchester City's. Cesc and Nasri just did what Touré, Adebayor, Flamini or Hleb had done before.

The 8-2 does not explain the difference between Manchester United and Arsenal. The young Arsenal is not such a bad team, but this result shows that it is a team that has totally lost their confidence in Wenger. At this point, no one in the team believes in his manager to build a team. The so-wished "near future" looks too far... or out of reach. When the players of Arsenal stepped on the grass of Old Trafford, they felt clearly inferior, since the very first moment. The few veterans did not have the personality to carry with the youth on their shoulders and the young players were terrified, feeling like toys in the hands of an adult team like Manchester United. The 8-2 can only be explained in one way: the players of Arsenal do not trust Wenger anymore.

At this point, I do not know if Wenger will be sacked soon or if he will finish the season. I do not even know if this project can go further. But, in my opinion, Arsenal is closed in a vicious circle of an eternal unreachable promise, where no one sees an escape. Wenger has probably been too stubborn in his methods, which were successful while he was able to mix his great eye for young talent with the required experience. But the current team seems a caricature of the initial idea of Wenger when he joined Arsenal. In his favor, his good taste for football, his will to entertain the fans beyond the pure results. But the project is dead and Arsenal needs a shake. Arsenal's history is big before Wenger and will be big after him, just as it was with him. Wenger is a zombie and his team are walking dead players. It may happen tomorrow or in one year, but the game is over for the French coach. August 28th 2011 is the day Arsène Wenger's project collapsed.

Thiago Alcántara, blessed problem

You did not need to be a genius to realize that Thiago Alcántara is the player of La Masia with more potential, at least in the short term. He had been amazing everyone since he joined the youth system of Barcelona and it was evident that the kid had all the talent to triumph in football if he kept everything else in the right direction. Aside the talent, Thiago seems to have an infinite ambition. Last year, he started the season with Barcelona Atlètic in Segunda División, but his football was too good for the cathegory and the club was "forced" to make him part of the first team during the season, automatically activating a clause to raise his buyout price in order to avoid surprises, since he already was in the agenda of half Europe. The same ambition that betrayed him when he said that he wanted to triumph in football, not necessarily in Barcelona. Words that forced him to apologize fast... but also the kind of words that made people doubt about his head, since he would not be the first player to lose track in the progression for thinking too high too soon.

At the end of last season, Pep Guardiola set the objectives for this summer and, once again, Cesc Fàbregas was in the list. Many people made a logical interpretation: Xavi is already 31 and will be 32 early next year and, last year, the injuries were hauting him. Despite he did not show signs of decline, it is evident that he will have to start to save efforts pretty soon. Andrés Iniesta is in the peak moment of his career and is Xavi's perfect partner. But then, there was a gap between the fantastic duo and Thiago Alcántara. No one had doubts about his talent, but it was normal to have doubts about the capacity of such a young player to drive the most exigent midfield of the World so soon. Thiago was good, very good, but too young to be compared with the 2 best midfienders of the last years. And this is why, the logical reasoning asked for Cesc, a player with La Masia DNA, experience and leadership skills. It would be perfect for Barcelona and for Thiago's development.

Before the U-21 Euro, Luis Milla, the Spanish NT's coach and someone who knows Johan Cruyff's psychological methods too well said about Thiago: "If Thiago wants to be like Xavi or Cesc, he needs to be humble". A kind of attack on his star, which suggested that Thiago still had a lot to learn, trying to cool all the hype about him. Thiago responded with a magnificent tournament driving Spain to the victory, showing great football. Later on, Thiago joined Barcelona's pre-season and, if there is a name that is shining above the rest is Thiago Alcántara's.

Cesc is not in Barcelona yet and, once more, Thiago is going very fast, jumping stages in his career. With the signing of Cesc to be decided, Thiago is making people have doubts about the necessity of the player of Arsenal, considering the huge amount of money Arsenal is asking for. The debate is in the streets, is Cesc necessary having Thiago in the pocket? When at the end of May, most of the barcelonisme was convinced about Cesc, now things are not that obvious and there is an important sector that defends to give the #4 to Thiago Alcántara... the guy is prepared for it.

There are 2 possible scenarios: If Cesc joins Barcelona, will it be a problem for Thiago? Barcelona would gather 4 fantastic players for 2 or 3 positions (Iniesta can still be a fake winger) and Pep Guardiola would have to drive the situation very well, since it is hard to keep 4 players of very high level happy, if they do not enjoy all the minutes they want. In that situation, it is likely that Thiago would be the one enjoying less minutes and the club already knows the hot mouth of the Spanish-Brazilian player.

The 2nd possible scenario is Cesc staying in London. Then the question that arises is: Is Thiago prepared for the big games? One thing is to shine in pre-season games and a different one is to do it in the important matches of the official season. Xavi and Iniesta had to work and fight a lot to be where they are. In that sense, as much as Thiago is impressive, he also needs to keep in mind that things are not always that easy and sometimes you need to clash against the floor to get up stronger. It is not stupid to think that Thiago still has a lot to learn and do to compare his career with Xavi's and Iniesta's ones... even with Cesc's.

At this point, probably, Thiago is going faster than Pep Guardiola would have thought at the end of May and two possible scenarios seem to open long debates in Can Barça. Guardiola definitely has a problem and he will have to find a solution... but blessed problem!