Milito Central To Bettering The Barça Defence?
With a formidable attack seemingly in place to take next season by the scruff of the neck, the Catalan giants are trying to shore up what proved to be a rickety defence in the past highly disappointing year.
With fans eager to see a rearguard that won’t fritter away any advantage gained in attack there’s a real debate as to how the Blaugrana rearguard needs to be recomposed to face what promises to be an even tougher challenge in both Spain and Europe.
Real Madrid are almost ready to sign, seal and deliver Chivu, FC Barcelona consequently finding the pressure to nab a centre-back rising. Is premature haste forcing Barça into a stress position, are there better alternatives...or is Milito the man?
zoom - galleria The Barça defence has always been a sore point that tends to bleed in the wake of trophy disappointments, and given that Rijkaard and his men were expected – almost obliged – to win something last season the wound is weeping. First aid has already arrived in the shape of Thierry Henry up front, Yaya Touré in holding midfield and Éric Abidal as the left-wing back but there is still debate over who is the right man to cement the defence into a watertight wall.
Christian Chivu, who various pundits and Barça execs have been batting eyelashes at since he broke out at Ajax Amsterdam, was one of the prime candidates for the post but appears to be swapping Rome’s Olimpico for the Bernabéu instead of Camp Nou. The 26 year-old Rumanian is being placed on the block for a cool €18 million that caused Barcelona to apparently throw the towel in, although Real Madrid apparently don’t find the figure too rich for their blood and have reportedly shaken hands with the Giallorossi.
The remaining frontrunner is Zaragoza’s Gabriel Milito, the Albiceleste centre-back (also 26) being seen as the ideal balm to apply to the sore back four as Chivu ends up wearing white in the Spanish Capital. The problem here is that Victor Fernandez and the Maños aren’t as happy as Spalletti and AS Roma to respect the player’s wishes for a change of scene – unless €16 million comes their way in exchange.
With the FC Barcelona moneymen eager to avoid the sort of inflationary auctions that ruined the club coffers under former President Joan Gaspart, the line is being drawn at €14 million for a centre-back. Unless something can be done to reduce the cost of the remaining frontrunner – whether via negotiations or the inclusion of other players – alternatives are being sought for Barcelona to avoid beginning the 2007-8 season with the same faces...and potential problems.
Three other players have captured attention in light of the complexities thrown up by the Chivu and Milito deals: Jorge Andrade, Gabriel Heinze and Pepe. All three fit the bill in terms of their potential cost and ability to add to the quality of the Blaugrana rearguard rather than just make up numbers, although they present different characteristics that have many humming and herring about who’s the right man for the job.
Jorge Andrade (Deportivo La Coruña) has the edge over the others as far as the coaching staff is concerned, also coming with the added bonus of two thumbs up given by Portugal Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Felipão has openly recommended the player as a born leader on the pitch, although this doesn’t mean to say that he’s incompatible with would-be centre-back partner Carles Puyol.
Andrade almost ended up in Barcelona last year, but a tendon injury (ironically suffered during the Barça-Deportivo clash at Camp Nou) torpedoed the deal. Now recovered and proving both at club and country level that he’s still got the goods, the Portuguese centre-back could be landed for €12 million given that Deportivo La Coruña are in need of quick cash.
Another Argentinean Gabriel, this time Heinze, has also been thrown into the mix with Milito hanging on the willingness of his club to let him go to Barça. His ability to play both left-back and centre-back add to his proven track record, although some balk at paying a lot for a 29 year-old who won’t be rippling many nets. In common with Milito his current club Coach Alex Ferguson won’t be chuffed to let him go without a fight or suitable recompense.
Nevertheless, Heinze isn’t exactly enamoured of the damp Manchester climate and has expressed interest in returning to play in a La Liga de las Estrellas (The League of Stars) that he had a taste of ten years ago, 1997-98 seeing him playing for mauve-and-white stripers Real Valladolid. Ironically, Olympique de Lyon may beat a Barça offer...to cover Abidal’s move to Catalunya.
On the outside, although still considered a quality acquisition is FC Porto man Kepler Leverán Lima Ferreira, better known by his less time-consuming Pepe nickname. Once again the third ‘alternative’ has his own particular merits. With youth on his side the 24 year-old Brazilian is also able to be fielded as European now that he’s about to receive Portuguese citizenship, plus he’s able to work as the lynchpin of a potential three-man defence.
This would mean that Barça could reactivate the old 3-4-3 system used by Cruyff; one mooted way of fielding the four-man attack of Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry and Eto’o with one of the fearsome foursome dropping back into midfield and Puyol reclaiming his original role as a right-back. The big problem is that Porto President Pinto da Costa has already rejected Juve overtones and is holding out for... €20 million.
Although some see the clock ticking with an increasing heartbeat, others feel that time is on Barcelona’s side. Sport columnist Lluís Mascaró feels that “Barça shouldn’t be in a hurry to sign a centre-back. If Chivu doesn’t want to come and Zaragoza won’t let Milito leave, alternatives will be found, but not at a Euro more than the planned outlay: 14 million...as VP Ferran Soriano made it clear that Barcelona wont be getting into any auctions.”
”The Blaugrana management has already done 75 of its homework as far as signings are concerned [with Henry, Touré and Abidal]. The summer has only just begun and there’s no need to throw caution and money to the wind as the transfer market hasn’t even got up to speed.” True enough, most big clubs have yet to hit the market with a vengeance, although to say that nobody has been spending would also be an oversight.
Bayern Munich and Manchester United have bitten the financial bullet and paid roughly €70 million apiece for reinforcements. Miroslav Klose, Franck Ribéry, Luca Toni, Jansen and Zé Roberto have been the FC Hollywood highlights, the Red Devils splashing out on Anderson, Owen Hargreaves and Nani. Could the Blaugranas be sealing their fate by tightening their fist or is prudence a virtue? That is the question that divides both onlookers and insiders.
Mascaró may be calling for the Barça hierarchy to keep a cool head, but Sport Miguel Rico wants to see more action – before it’s too late. “People close to those involved with the Chivu and Milito operations had views that could be summarised by: ‘I just wish that Txiki Begiristain has a fit of activity soon, because if not...’”. It wouldn’t be the first time that the ex-Barça striker-turned Sporting Director has been accused of being slow off the blocks.
“The Barça 2006-07...spent far too much time in their own half and the ball took too long to be played out over the half-way line. [It was] a handicap that Rijkaard and, above all, Begiristain wanted to solve by signing Chivu but, shamefully, it appears that they were late. Very late.” Rico then goes on to give his view of Milito versus Chivu. “Gabi Milito [is] an excellent centre-back, but very different to Chivu.”
“His [Milito] strong point is in destruction rather than creation. It’s strange that they turn to Milito when Jarque [the Espanyol number 21] is more similar to Chivu. A quality centre-back with a deft touch and a contract rescission clause of only €12 million – two less than Barça want to spend.” Perhaps 24 year-old local boy Jarque could be the key, but few would like to bet on a lesser name given the high stakes: it’s an enormous gamble when other bigger names are within reach.
Aside from outside incorporations, El Mundo Deportivo editor Josep M. Artells is banking on a resurgence of a player who was almost vilified for his irregularity last season but is currently showing that he could be the man for the job. “[Although he has been] off the map for the last few months, he’s now reappeared in all his splendour at the Copa América. Barça may move for Gabi Milito, but even better is the recovery of Rafa Márquez.”
“The Mexican is back to being the Kaiser de Michoacán [Leader – evidently from Beckenbauer’s nickname – from Michoacán] after a season where his poor performance at Barça put him on a hypothetical transfer list...Rijkaard still trusts him. The Coach isn’t forgetful and knows Márquez, pioneer of the Laporta-Rosell project, was the perfect complement to Puyol in the 2005-2006 double. The five million [Euros] paid to Monaco for Márquez are now small change compared to the price of a decent centre-back.”
It appears that Milito has it all to be the next flamboyant Barça signing, a way of making up for a certain slowness / over-caution shown by Begiristain. There are those who would like to see a player with more ability to play the ball out, but perhaps Landing Milito – so publically rejected by Real Madrid before he triumphed at Real Zaragoza – could be a real coup that provides the solidity behind and allows the talent up front the support to triumph in a resurging Barça.
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