No centre-back for Barca

Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Daniel Agger, Mats Hummels, Nevan Subotic.. The list goes on. These are all players, more specifically centre-backs that FC Barcelona has, or has been rumoured to have tried to get to Camp Nou. So far none of the deals have worked out. And now it seems that it won't work out in the future either. Barca will be left without a new centre-back once again.

In a recent press conference new boss Gerardo Martino told that Barca will not be buying a defender during this transfer window. In fact he said that Barca doesn't need a centre-back, because they already have so many. 

Well, let's take a look shall we:

Carles Puyol: a great player, yes. But there's no way to deny that he is getting older and that means that his speed is not the same, his stamina is not the same plus he's so prone to injuries that Barca really needs a solid back up for him.

Gerard Pique: not much to say about him. Has all the talent to be one of the very best defenders in the world and sometimes he is, but sometimes he seems so distracted while playing that I have several times wondered if he even realizes he's on the field. I don't mean to be harsh, I really love Pique, in fact he's one of my very favourite players, but it's just frustrating to watch that he doesn't always live up to his full potential.

From Tito to Tata - A new manager for Barca

It is now official that Gerardo "Tata" Martino will replace Tito Vilanova as the manager for FC Barcelona. The Argentinean signed a two-year contract with the Catalans two days after Vilanova resigned due to health issues.

Martino is a rather unknown coach in Europe and it's no wonder since the man has never managed an European team before. "Tata" has made his name as the manager for the Paraguay national team and winning the 2013 Final Tournament with Lionel Messi's childhood club Newell's Old Boys.

Pep Talk - What's caused these nasty revelations?

When former Barca manager Josep Guardiola chose to leave the club fans all around the world were

sad but supportive over his decision. Even when the manager chose to take on a new project at Bayern Munich most fans wished him luck and respected his decision. Everything seemed to be going well. Fans still adored the coach who had brought them so much joy during his four-year spell at Camp Nou. But then something happened.

Recently Guardiola has started to say things about FC Barcelona, nasty things. And of course nasty things get a nasty response, this time in the form of his former assistant coach and good friend Tito Vilanova telling that Guardiola wasn't there for him during his cancer treatment, despite being in the same city. Of course it didn't exactly make things more friendly when Pep lured Barca talent Thiago Alcantara into his new team. So, who's telling the truth here? And what has caused these nasty revelations and bad blood between FC Barcelona and their former hero? Is this just the beginning of those nasty mind games that seem to be an inevitable part of the game these days or is this something bigger, something more personal? 

Confederations Cup 2013 FINAL - Brazil vs Spain

It was not what I had expected. It was not what me, the press, the team or even the opponents had expected.  It was a disaster. Brazil kicked Spain's ass. And I mean really kicked Spain's ass.

It seemed like just a mistake, a repairable mistake. Brazil's first goal I mean. It came out of nowhere, before the game had really even begun. Fred scored the first goal after only two minutes played. But it didn't seem like a big deal. They can - and will - come back from this I thought. But they didn't. And the saddest thing is that they didn't really even try.

Confederations Cup 2013 - Italy vs Uruguay

Italy finally got their bronze medals after a long fight against Uruguay. The game was settled in a
penalty shoot out where captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pretty much won the game by himself thanks to his incredible saves.

It was only the third place match. The unnecessary game for the losers, the unlucky ones that really wanted to play in the latter game. In the game where the real battles were fought where blood and sweat was spilled to win the prize that everybody wants. Because nobody wants play in that game. The game that only reminds them about the game they couldn't get in. Nobody wants to be the world's third best team. Nobody wants to be the fourth best either, but the difference between those two is insignificant. Like author Dale Earnhardt said "Second place is just the first loser" and these unlucky teams didn't even get to fight for the second place. With my long intro I guess what I'm trying to say is that nobody cares about the third place match. It's the one game where there's never anything left to play for and so it is no surprise that these to teams Italy and Uruguay didn't seem to give a rat's ass either.

Confederations Cup 2013 FINAL - Spain vs Brazil Preview

So this is it. The night that ends this spectacular two-week tournament. The night that will end with a winner - and a loser. So who will be the winner? Reigning World Cup and Euro Cup winner Spain? The team that hasn't lost a game in three years?

Or will it be Brazil? The host with the support of the screaming home audience? There has been plenty of controversy about this tournament in Brazil, but there is no question whether the locals want their team to win. And if one wants to be calculating could he say that winning tonight could make the locals forget the problems and therefore have a better attitude towards next year's actual World Cup...

Spain has a team full of winners. Experienced professionals that know what it takes to win an important game and have done so on several occasions now. But..after winning the World Cup and Euro Cup twice will they have enough hunger, enough motivation to give their all tonight? They also had one less they to rest and played an extremely long and exhausting battle against Italy. A battle that lasted two hours + the penalties.. Has the team rested enough to play on their best level tonight?

Then there's Brazil. A younger team perhaps.. Full of players that haven't really won anything yet. Hungry to show the home audience what their capable of. Hungry to show the European top clubs that they should play millions and millions for their services. Hungry to prove the coach that they should be chosen for the squad for next year. But is the team too young, too excited, too hungry? Is the pressure too high? Will they be able to put aside their dreams of personal accomplishments to give out their all for the team..

Only thing sure is that one of these too magnificent teams will go home with gold tonight. My, possibly biased, opinion is that the winner will be Spain. Because I hope so, but also because I think that they have proven so many times already their capability to bring their a-game when they need it the most. But whoever the winner is I don't think it will be easy..

Now, however, it's time to pop the corns and open the tele, cause it is GAME TIME!

Confederations Cup 2013 - Spain vs Italy

A long, long, long game finally ended on penalties with Spain securing their place in the final against Brazil. Italy will play for the third place against Uruguay on Sunday.

In the opening half Italy controlled the game completely. Spain's left side was very leaky and Italy was able to come through over and over again. Thanks to San Iker, who played an incredible game once again, Italy didn't manage to score a goal.

Confederations Cup 2013 - Brazil vs Uruguay

Brazil claimed a spot in the final of the Confederations Cup 2013 with a victory from Uruguay. The team will face either Spain or Italy in Sunday's final.

Before the game Uruguay was seen as an underdog. The team isn't as full of talent, and their performances in the tournament have not been great. Surprisingly, however, they really put up a good fight. They did use their usual tricks diving, whining and tackling, but also managed to score a goal and really tested the Brazilians.