JOSEP GUARDIOLA TO LEAVE FC BARCELONA | THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY BY ALBERT EINSTEIN

I have received an also “alarmed” email from a Spanish Football Sports reader asking if it is true that FC BARCELONA Coach Josep Guardiola will leave at the end of 2012. The question arises after it has been “splashed” all over the World Sports media some words that Guardiola mentioned in a TV Interview to Italian channel “RAI” whist in Italy visiting his ex-Club Brescia.

FC Barcelona Coach Josep Guardiola 

These are the now “famous” words":

"Creo que mi etapa en el Barça se está acabando".
"Me quedaré este año, éste será el cuarto, y un entrenador tiene que saber el momento de marcharse. Los jugadores se cansan de los entrenadores y viceversa.

Translated:
• “I feel my time at Barça is coming to en end”.
• ”I will stay this year, it will be my fourth & a Coach has to know the moment when to leave. The players get tired of the Coaches & vice-versa”.

Some have said it was a “April fools” stunt, others ask that we watch & listen to the whole interview & put it in its correct overall context which becomes "watered down".

Either way here is my reply for other readers who may have the some questions in mind as our dear reader who sent me the email (encourage all to do so, by the way)

Albert Einstein

My thoughts to all this are in line with the great scientist Albert Einstein were I take a leaf out of his "General Theory of Relativity" & use this theory to explain Coach Guardiola words & the possible future outcomes for FC Barcelona & all the millions of fans around the World. Here we  go. 

These are some consequences that flow from the two inbuilt grand ideas that Albert Einstein formulated to create the “General Theory of Relativity”

Several of the consequences that follow from the special theory of relativity are 1) time dilation (clocks moving near the speed of light operate more slowly than stationary clocks), 2) length contraction (objects moving near the speed of light appear to be contracted in the direction of motion), 3) relativity of simultaneity (things that appear to happen at the same time to stationary observer A may appear to happen at different times to moving observer B), 4) mass-energy equivalence (mass and energy are essentially the same thing and transmutable into each other).

These ideas could very well apply to Football – Soccer in general. As in physics, things in Football are relative, were time distorts, space bends & visuals are stretched. The only difference is that while in the “General Theory of Relativity” the force of GRAVITY is the vital force, in Football WINNING is the force that dominates.

Will Coach Pep Guardiola leave FC Barcelona at the end of 2012? Depends, depends on if he & the Club are WINNING & if other objects are travelling at the “Football Speed of Light” & where Guardiola is in a particular point in space & time & what he observes.

REAL MADRID | GONZALO HIGUAIN IS BACK !

Its always good for SPANISH FOOTBALL to recover a World Football star. That joy is also evident at REAL MADRID as Argentine International forward GONZALO HIGUAIN has returned to the squad for tomorrows Liga match against Real Sporting de Gijon. Why the post on the return of "another" injured player? 

1. Nearly miraculous. Higuain was discarded for the season after a "complicated" back operation.
2. Sports medicine has advanced spectacularly 
3. American Dr. Fessler has gained a whole new market & European fame
4. Higuan returns when he is most needed for Real Madrid ( overload of important matches & Benzema injuried)
5. If you suffer a back hernia & need to be operated, Higuain is your example of getting back fine. 

Gonzalo Higuain: photo jesus aguilar

Gonzalo Higuain will be on the bench & may get some minutes tomorrow as part of a carefully planned "back to work" schedule. Nice to see you again Pipa!

REAL MADRID | SERGIO CANALES | THE SHAMAN & THE DESERT

SERGIO CANALES arrived at REAL MADRID CF at a cost of 10M€ from Racing de Santander as a 19 year old midfield promise after having a wonderful & meteoric season 2009 – 2010. Now after more than six months the youngster has had just a few games ( mostly friendlies ) with Real Madrid & many observers had dubbed this “his lost season”, a term not at all positive for a young Football professional with serious long term ambitions.

Young Canales has a few names ahead of him at Madrid in his area of expertise: Ozil, Khedira, Granero & Pedro Leon, with the latter in an even “worst” situation. Apart from the mentioned names Coach José Mourinho hasn´t all the confidence in the player as he would wish, perhaps being Canales lack of big game experience. One may intuitively suppose that Mourinho ( his Football “shaman”) is making Canales go through a particular “40 days in the desert” scenario as a character building exercise that will make the 20 year old Spanish International stronger in the long run. Whatever the strategy there is only one sure way & method that truly works for a Football player, that is, field minutes & playing games.

Real Madrid player Sergio Canales

To this end the Club is thinking about giving the player options outside the Club, seeing that at Real Madrid the doors are currently shut. The Club could very well loan the player next season (or sell with a buy back option) so that Canales can continue with his “apprenticeship” & evolution elsewhere with guaranteed playing time.

A few names are appearing in the horizon as the rumour mills begins to churn as the season gets into its final sprint stage. Liverpool, Arsenal & Chelsea sound from England, while Sampdoria & Genoa sound in Italy. However, there is a Spanish option that has strength & may be more suited for Madrid & Canales: Getafe. Real Madrid is said to wish to recover “home grown Real Madrid junior” midfielder PAREJO for next season & may include Canales in the operation.

Whatever happens, we desire all the best for Sergio Canales because potential & talent are not missing from this extraordinary young player. I hope that he can get back to be a regular player as it would be an injustice to “lose” him in “the desert” of Football.

SPAIN 5 NORTHERN IRELAND 1 | EURO U -17 GROUP QUALIFIERS

The Spanish U-17 National Football Team played Northern Ireland today & won 5 – 1 in their Group qualifier for the upcoming U-17 European Championships. The Spanish Team clearly dominated & was 3 – 0 after 45 minutes. The second half saw Spanish Coach Gines take off some important players (the main name being Deulofeu) & give others a run. This did not seem to halt the Spaniards momentum as they scored two more goals, although Northern Ireland got a consolation goal.

Spanish U-17 International Deulofeu

Spain will meet England on Thursday which will be the vital match of the Group as it is more than likely that the winner here not only takes Top Group spot but puts one foot into the Euro Finals. 

Details:

5 - SPAIN : Herrero (David Gómez, min.79); Menéndez, Garrido, Sáez, Luque; Deulofeu (Moisés, min.50), Calvet, Íñiguez, Vico; Denis Suárez (Raúl de Tomás, min.74) & Iker Hernandez.

1 – NORTHERN IRELAND : Brennan; McLaughlin, Jones, Clarke, McNally; Barton, Wilson, Morgan, McElroy; Ball (McAllister, min.58) & McCartan.

GOALS:1-0, min. 19: Deulofeu; 2-0, min. 31: Denis Suárez; 3-0, min. 38: Iker Hernández; 3-1, min. 59: Morgan; 4-1, min. 68: Iker Hernández; 5-1, min. 84: Pol Calvet

SPAIN 1 BELARUS 1 | U-21 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY

The SPANISH U-21 FOOTBALL TEAM played a friendly match against BELARUS in Madrid with the final result a 1 - 1 draw. Spain used this match to fine-tune themselves for the upcoming U-21 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS in Denmark next June where team also play for a place in the upcoming London Olympic Games.

Spanish U-21 International Bojan 

The Spanish team started with the following 11:

De Gea; Montoya, San José, Domínguez, Vila; Parejo, Fontás, Ander Herrera, Capel; Adrián & Bojan.

The Spaniards dominanted from start to finish the game but were not able to break through the tough & tactically positioned  Belarus side & their defensive wall. It was Spanish player & Getafe midfielder PAREJO who managed to score in the 67th min, to see REKISH equalize for Belarus in the 75th min.

Spanish Coach Milla gave everyone a run & the match finished with Spain having a good sparring partner to test things & see what they need to better if they are to do well in the Euro Championship & get a London Olympic Euro place.

The only bad news was the ankle injury that young FC Barcelona player Bojan received that may keep him side-lined a few weeks. At first sight it did nt look bad but needs to have the doctors have a look at his ankle.

FC BARCELONA | THE "SECRET" TO THEIR SUCCESS

Just some informative & interesting observations from Spanish Sports paper "Marca" that I thought would tantalize FC BARCELONA fans around the World. Did you know that Barça hasn’t gone below 50% of ball possession,  that is,  total control of the ball in a game, in the last three years? That is,  166 games were the opposition Team hasn’t been able to get the possession of the ball beyond 50% of the time?

FC Barcelona 2011

The last time Barça was below 50% of ball possesion was back 16th of March 2008 with 49.5% against Valencia FC. Since then FC Barcelona have never been below 50% & have risen as high as 80.3% against Real Zaragoza this season & 80.2% against Inter Milan last season. The match average this season is 71.1% which is simply amazing.

These numbers illustrate very clearly the strenght of FC Barcelona. The opposition without the ball cannot play, added to which,  they are constantly running after the ball not with the ball.

REAL MADRID - FC BARCELONA | CLASICO OVERLOAD

Lets suppose that we can comfortably bet that both Real Madrid & FC Barcelona manage to tie up their 2º leg Q/Finals Champions League games & get into the semi-finals. With this scenario, Spanish Sports paper "Marca" highlight to their readers that we are heading - as spectators - towards 4 big Real Madrid - Barça clashes once a week all in a month.  

Possible upcoming fixture

• 16th of April : Spanish League - Liga Round 32 game
• 20th of April : Spanish Cup Final
• 27th of Abril : 1º leg Champions League semi-final
• 3rd of May. 2º leg Champions League semi - final

A bonanza for World Football fans & multi million €/$ for Television & promotions. The unfortunate & unavoidable side of all these games is that one team or the other will come out stronger & the other "critically" wounded. This tends to happen when two "Football Beasts" of this size & strenght go head to head.

Love it!

SPANISH FOOTBALL | ROUND 30 SATURDAY GAMES SPANISH LEAGUE RESULTS

Top level SPANISH FOOTBALL was back with Round 30 of  LA LIGA returning with three great games with results that may have given FC Barcelona the Spanish League title after rival Real Madrid lost at home. Here is a summary of events, all the results & the scores.

Real Sporting de Gijon gave the surprise
in Round 30 of the Spanish League

REAL MADRID lost 0 - 1 to REAL SPORTING DE GIJON thus breaking Real Madrid Coach Mourinho´s "150 straight home games without loss" record ( or 9 years without loss at home) & allowing FC Barcelona to escape & further opening their classification gap to 8 points. Although mathematically the Spanish League has yet to be decided the advantage to Barça is very significant & puts them firmely in the "box seat" to take this years Spanish League title.

Real Madrid was missing key players like Xabi, Ronaldo & Benzema & looked "relaxed" most of the match. Although they controlled the whole game they missed some very clear chances & were not given an obvious penalty in the first half. However the last point is no excuse, as Sporting defended well & worked hard. So much so, that Coach Mourinho wentl for the victory putting more "fire-power" up front with Higuain, Canales & Pepe ( shifting Ramos as an attacking defender) to attempt to score. However, with spaces, Gijon made one of their very few attacking counter-attacks & scored via DE LAS CUEVAS in the 78th min.

From here it was all rush & nerves, as Real tried everything, but failed again with some very clear chances to equalize. Final result,  a very severe blow for Madrid as they now look onwards to Tottenham next Tuesday in the 1ºst leg Q/Final Champions League match.

Roberto Soldado had a big night with Valencia CF

VALENCIA CF travelled to Madrid to play GETAFE & won 2 - 4 with ex-Getafe player & now Valencia forward ROBERTO SOLDADO scoring all four goals for his team ( 46th, 63rd,70th & 77th min). Getafe got ahead early via MANU in the 12th min before the "Soldado Show", & got another towards the end via SARDINERO in the 87th min.

A needed win for Valencia whos Coach Emery was being questioned during the week & more trouble for Getafe who are not looking good at all.


VILLAREAL hosted an undernamed FC BARCELONA which had Messi starting on the bench, Xavi out with sanction, Abidal with his illness & Pedro still recovering from his injury. It made little difference in the end as Villareal lost 0 - 1 to Barcelona which knew beforehand that a win tonight would virtually give them the Spanish League title as Real Madrid lost earlier their game & the 8 points difference would be a classification table gap to wide to shut.

The first half was very balanced with both sides having chances & perhaps Villareal looking the more dangerous. But things changed in the second half & especially when LIONEL MESSI came on in the 52nd min that allow Barça to dominante proceedings. 

Pique scores for Barça

The Barça goal finally arrived in the 74th min via PIQUE putting Barcelona ahead & later giving them 3 points to - as already mentioned - take the Spanish League title a little bit more closer towards Barcelona. Villareal reacted somewhat & Barça goalkeeper Valdes had to do a "miracle" save, but Barça kept things relatively under control right up until the end. 

Lots of joy at "Camp Barça" as they see via their rear-view mirror Real Madrid drift back onto the horizon.