Quality up Front: Neymar along side Leo Messi!

The Barcelona fans should be happy to know that they will have two of the best attacking players in the world at the start of the new season. Neymar alongside Messi might sound great but it might take time to work. Neymar will definitely have to adjust his game because Lionel Messi is the star of Barcelona. Messi However needs to understand the way that Neymar plays so that they can be effective together. If they can get an instant chemistry together Barcelona will again win the Spanish La Liga despite all the signings that Real Madrid has made.

Over the past two seasons Barcelona only had one player averaging at least 30 goals per season and that was Messi. If one is to go back in the past to 2009 that year when Barcelona won their 3^rd European Champions League and also 5 other titles, they had Messi and Samuel Eto’o both scoring over 30 goals for that season. At the end of that season they sent away Eto’o and acquired Ibrahimovic and in the following Champions League season they got eliminated by Inter Milan the team that Eto’o was playing for.  In 2011 they bought David Villa (Spain’s current all-time leading goal scorer) and villa was fantastic in his first season netting over 30 times for that seasons and Messi with his usual record breaking performance they won 6 trophies which included the Champions League which they were winning for the fourth time. Since then Lionel Messi has basically been scoring all the goals which is why they have not been able to win that fifth Champions League which would see them tying with Liverpool for the team with the 3^rd most Champions League titles in the history of the competition behind Real Madrid (9) and AC Milan (7).

Lionel Messi is fantastic however he alone cannot do all the scoring. If it’s him alone Barcelona would only be able to win maybe one trophy each year and that is just simply unacceptable from a team like Barcelona. In the upcoming season with Neymar a player who has the potential to score at least 30 goals for one season, Barcelona will again be that powerhouse that every team once feared. Something that is very clear is that Barcelona will concede goals so often times they just need to outscore their opponents and with Lionel Messi being the usual scoring machine that he is and Neymar with his ability to destroy defenses also Pedro and Sanchez playing their roles Barcelona will be a real treat even to Bayern Munich.

I would love to see Barcelona and Bayern Munich squaring off again in the Champions League with everyone fit.

It should be a goal feast in Spain.

Goodbye Barca fans: David Villa leaves for Atletico Madrid

David Villa is set to join Atletico Madrid after three seasons at the Camp Nou. In 2010 he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles. David Villa throughout his career has been a reliable striker, however due to an injury picked on December 15 2011 he has been struggling to recapture his amazing form that saw Barcelona paying €40 million for him.  Personally I think that Villa should not have been playing in that match due to the quality of players that Barcelona has. There were about three other forwards that could have been chosen to play in that game.  After he had broken his leg Barcelona just did not seem to put any trust in him anymore because I’ve seen games that Villa could have easily dominated and he did not even play in some of those games. I could see this transfer happening from the moment Barcelona set sights on Neymar it was just a matter of time before one of the other strikers had to leave and the decision was made easy for management.  Alexis Sanchez 24, and Pedro 25, it is very clear what Barcelona are trying to do and that is building for the future because one would have to say that both Pedro and Sanchez has not reached the peak of their careers as yet on the other hand David  Villa could be looking to the end of his career.

This transfer proves a lost for Barcelona and a gain for David Villa’s. He went to Barcelona to win trophies and he did accomplish that, he has won every major title at the club level at Barcelona basically in his first season. Barcelona bought this player for €40 million and sold him for €5.1 this is a huge lost for the Spanish giants. Usually when a player is leaving a club it is often times for more than what he came in at. So it is therefore fair to say that Barcelona did not develop this player. Instead they used him and refuse him. David Villa is 31 and he is Spain all-time leading goal scorer. Below is a list of his honors.

Honors

Club

Real Zaragoza

• Copa del Rey (1): 2003–04
• Supercopa de España (1): 2004

Valencia

• Copa del Rey (1): 2007–08

Barcelona

• La Liga (2): 2010–11, 2012–13
• Copa del Rey (1): 2011–12
• Supercopa de España (2): 2010, 2011
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2010–11
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2011

Country

Spain

• FIFA World Cup (1): 2010
• UEFA European Championship (2): 2008, 2012

If you’re counting correctly that is 14 winners medal. Below is a list of his individual honours.

Individual

Awards

• Spanish Player of the Year: 2005–06
• Zarra Trophy: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10
• UEFA Euro 2008 Golden Boot
• UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament^[121]
• UEFA Euro 2008 Man of the Match Spain vs Russia, Spain vs Sweden
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Shoe
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament.^[131]
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2010
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Man of the Match Spain vs Honduras
• Male Athlete of the Year: 2010
• FIFA/FIFPro World XI: 2010
• UEFA Team of the Year: 2010

Achievements

• Valencia Top Scorer: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
• La Liga‘s Top Assisting Player: 2006–07
• Spain all-time top scorer: 51 goals
• Spain’s all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup matches
• Most goals scored in one World Cup (by a Spanish international): 5
• Most goals scored in one calendar year (by a Spanish international): 12 (2008, 2009)
• Largest streak of games having scored (by a Spanish international): 6

Decorations

• Prince of Asturias Awards: 2010
• Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2011

A lot of players could only dream of such achievements, David Villa has done it all.

Expect David Villa to score against Barcelona when they face Atletico Madrid.

Rockets Strengthen: Howard to Houston

At the start of next season Dwight Howard willing be playing as a Houston Rockets player. This move could turn out to be profitable for all parties involve. The real problem at Lakers was the personnel. When Dwight Howard was playing for the Orlando Magic he was the star of that team and when he arrived in Los Angeles the star there was Kobe Bryant. Dwight Howard did not want to adjust his game and Kobe Bryant was not going to do the same so that created a huge problem. The bottom line of the story was that they could not be on the same team. What the Lakers should have done was to get all the guys to rally around Dwight Howard and try look towards the future with him being the main man, however they did not want to face fact that Kobe Bryant was not getting any younger.  So in the end they went to playoffs and got swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

Dwight Howard will be a very important player for Houston in the upcoming season. Something that was very noticeable with the Rockets last season was that they did not defend well even though their starting centre Omer Asik had a remarkable season throughout the entire season the Rockets was just outscoring their opponents with no real defensive playing tactics.  They were easily scoring 100 points per game but they were also unable to hold opponents to under 100 points per game. Therefore that goes to show that Dwight Howard will be need for his defensive attributes and his inside presence will be good. Howard has been named NBA defensive player of the year for 3 times in his career and also 5 times in the past he had lead the NBA in rebounding. The Houston rockets will definitely be a treat in the west with a strong backcourt and the best centre in the NBA today.

It should be an exciting affair next season. What will be very crucial for Houston is will these players be able to understand their role and adapt to it. Also who will have the ball in their hand at the end of games if the team is down? Howard or Harden? We will just have to see.