Chaos and finals

Chaos with the FIFA situation seem to take up a lot of space in the media these days. And actually I welcome this as it might remove a little of the focus from the team who more or less have only finals left to play this season.

The main contender this season is Atletico Madrid who currently can stop FC Barcelona from winning both La Liga and Champions League.
In La Liga At. Madrid will visit Camp Nou in the final game!!! How sick is that?! While Espanyol will go to Bernabeu to finish their season - a pure Barcelona vs Madrid final in the league.

Looking at the Champions League FC Barcelona will play At. Madrid tomorrow in Madrid. This is the second leg of the quarterfinals (first game 1-1) and can prove to be more important than ever.
If FC Barcelona can defeat At. Madrid they not only go to the semifinals they also get the upper hand between the two before the last games in La Liga and the grand final round.

Under normal conditions the key to success would be resting important players in minor games and have them fully fit when it really counts... that's a luxury we don't have this season as every single game matters!

• With just 1 point up to At. Madrid in the league FC Barcelona need to win all games and beat At. Madrid in the last round.

• Champions League is the same scenario - beat At. Madrid!

• Then in the middle of this there's a Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid.

Leaving the 13/14 season with one or no trophy will not be enough as things are right now. But only time will tell if FC Barcelona will do what we all hope.

Més que un Club

Who should Barça sell?

The title is a question a friend gave me yesterday. After the question we ended up talking about it for hours. Now I'll share my thoughts on the matter.

There are a few players that are more logical to sell than others. Alexis is one of them. He is a great player but never really found his spot in the regular starting XI.

There are a few clubs who have shown their interest in the dribbler from Chile. Also with the arrival of Neymar his playtime will be limited.

David Villa is another player that is a logical sale. He's in the last years of the career and would like to play more than Barça let him. Again with Tello moving up the ranks and Neymar joining there's a line building for the spots as forward - and Villa is not 1st or 2nd pick for Tito.

Cesc is another player I think we could do without. I was never the big supporter of his transfer in the first place. We have players with great skills and talent who I think will be of better use in the long run.

Then there's Song. Why did we buy him? Good player for the Premier League but too slow in his play for a team like Barça. Also we have Mascherano and Busquets or even Adriano to play the defensive midfield.

Many of the youngsters could also be potential sales but I think most of them will go on loan at first. Some players are returning from loans and might be sold - like Cuenca and Bojan. Not sure what will happen with Afellay yet but he might be sold too.

2013/2014 XI

With the transfer marked still open it's hard to say who might leave or join the club. Any number of things can change the squad in a matter of days.

Still I'll try to look at the starting eleven as the squad is now - and keep in mind this is just the way I'd like them to see them line up.

Goal
We still have Valdes, and I hope he'll stay for the final year as our first choice between the posts. Then we have Pinto as a solid backup but we should still look for the next #1.

Defence
This is the area where we still need some work. Puyol can't last forever (actually maybe he can!) so we need to get a new one in here. As it is now I see Alves, Piqué, Puyol and Alba as the ideal chain. Montoya, Adriano and Mascherano is the backup players. With more play time Bartra will also be of good use is he stays.
- I'd like to see David Luiz or Marquinhos join the squad as the next main center defender.

Midfield
This is pretty easy. We have two of the best players in the world here, so no reason not to have them on the field; Xavi and Iniesta. Then it's a matter of the last spot where I do think Busquets are the best choice. Thiago is a super player too and should be more than just a backup, so to perfect it maybe some sort of rotation in order to keep Xavi and Iniesta as their best for the bigger games.

Attack
This is actually where I run into the most trouble. Messi should, in my mind, play on the right side again but as we have no real strikers that's not really an option at the moment. So putting him in the center where he is now is the best. Then we signed Neymar, and it's hard to say he can't start, so I'll put him on the left side. Pedro and Tello fight for the last spot - in my mind there's no doubt Tello should get it. he can play both sides and has become more than just another youngster this year. He's lethal with the ball and quick as f***! Pedro on the other hand didn't have the best season.

My starting XI
Valdes, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Tello, Messi, Neymar

U21 players

Looking at the stats from yesterday's U21 match of Spain it's clear that Montoya and Tello more than deserve playtime for FC Barcelona.

I always loved those two but not until I saw them play against Denmark in my hometown did I have any chance to understand their true skill and potential.

Montoya is in need of first team time and Tello needs more than he gets if he is to grow to the level of greatness he can be.

If Tito decides to loan them out I'm more than a little disappointed. None of them should have to leave to get to play - they fit in and definitely have the potential to become a natural starter for FCB.

With the signing of Neymar there might be less time for Tello. And with Alves still going strong Montoya is 2nd string at best.

But please give them their chances.

Have them play all Copa del Rey games and minor league games as a minimum.

Summer transfers

So far this summer we've set Abidal free and signed Neymar.

To be honest that's a total of two things that bother me.

I'd rather we take use of our own players like Tello and Gerard D. than sign a new player priced at 57 million euro.

This signing could mean we'll have to say goodbye to two of our best offensive talents for years.

- the 57 million should have been used to sign what we need; defender(s) and maybe a keeper in case Valdes should leave before 2014. 

The farewell to Abidal bugs me due to the reason. How can we cut a player and keep the coach when the situation is the same?

- it's very un-Barca to act this way.

On a personal note I had hoped for David Luiz and Marquinho to join and not Neymar.

But let it be known that it's not that I don't like Neymar - he's just not what Barcelona needs the most right now. 

Transfer rumors

One of the things the media is writing about every day is transfer rumors. One of the more covered rumors is Neymar and his supposed transfer to FC Barcelona.
Then there's a ton of national papers who want their national stars to play for the big clubs too.

Here in Denmark it's possible to read about how FC Barcelona should be on the hunt for danish national players Daniel Agger (Liverpool FC) and Christian Eriksen (Ajax FC).
- they might be good players but I really can't see any reason why FCB would sign them.

Christian Eriksen would have to fight for playtime and taking the spot away from Iniesta, Xavi, Cesc, Thiago or Busquets is not an easy task... if not impossible. Then there's a few guys with a huge potential on the B side and they have close to the same level as Eriksen - they just need more first team games.

Daniel Agger will have to fight his battle in a more safe spot in the FCB lineup - defense. If there's one thing we're pretty much in need of it's a central defender. Right now Puyol and Pique is the main choices. Then we have been using Mascherano, Busquets, Adriano and Song down there. So yes, we need one for the mid defense.
- but we have some really good players to use there as it is so give them some time!
Bartra and Munesia is about to grow into the first team so let do so by giving them more time.

Neymar, well my opinion here might not be like all others. Basicly I don't want Neymar in FC Barcelona at all. I don't see even the smallest reason for him to be even considered for FC Barcelona!
Yes I'm aware he is a good player in Brazil - but so was Saviola in Argentina when we picked him up. And to be honest he didn't live up to the hype even though he tried his best.

Looking at the FCB players Neymar would have to battle we have Alexis, Villa, Pedro, Messi, Cuenca (on loan) and Tello. And that's just the players currently in the first team squad.
Tello is a rising star who we should definately rely on in the future. He's got a lot of potential and can make a wreck of even the most experienced defender. Also he has the FCB way of thinking - and he thinks fast.

Then we have Dongou and Deulofeu coming up from behind. And I'm rather sure Deulofeu will be a man for the future - if he'll just find himself as a person and rise with it.

What I'm trying to say here is no matter how much people want to see certain players in FCB there's little or no reason for Barcelona to sign them.

Right now I believe FCB should get an experienced defender (29-31 years old) to fill in with the youngsters and Pique as the leading defender.
Signing a keeper might be a thought too if we can't make Valdes stay. If then we have to get someone for the midfield then there's no doubt in my mind that we should set Isco as the main target. But I don't believe we need a midfielder at all.

insideCule

So what is this all about?
Well it could be yet another FCB blog. And it is. Difference is I'm not going to post news about FC Barcelona - I'm posting thoughts. This could be about transfers, line-ups, games... more or less everything about the club that I've followed since the age of 5 (almost 30 years ago!).

By no means am I trying to be the new/next Johan Cruyff or jst another football expert. I just write about my personal thoughts about the things happening in and around the club.

So who is this Culé?
Just another fan of the club we all love. Since the age of 5 I've been told this is the greatest club of them all. It all started with my dad who was a great fan of danish footballer Allan Simonsen who played for Barcelona in the period 1979-1982. But it wasn't till right after he left I began my interest for the game - but by then my dad was all about FC Barcelona.

So actually I only saw the highlights from big games back then. There was no La Liga games on danish tv. But that was all about to change. In 1989 another danish player joined the club. He became more than just a player there... he became a true 10, an icon - a legend!
Michael Laudrup was part of a legendary Barcelona team under the command of Johan Cruyff. This was the team I grew up watching on tv and since then there's been no doubt in my mind - Barcelona is something special... not just on the field but also in history.

- with these things in mind I'll bring you my thoughts about why FC Barcelona is més que un club.