Poster Series: Riscone 2012

These are three of what was supposed to be a five-poster series on Roma's training camp in Riscone di Brunico, a place in the mountains where the team traditionally holds a training camp every summer. Ideally it should have gone up before the team left Riscone but I didn't want to post it before it was complete, and since I never did get around to the last two posters it just never got posted. I'm putting up the existing three now, even though months later they're now outdated both in terms of content and my own technique; not to mention the way the once-exciting Zemanlandia has sort of blown up in Roma's metaphorical face.

 Zeman's (in)famous Gradoni were first introduced when the team was at Riscone, awaited in fact, as we all knew this was an aspect of training that would eventually make its appearance. When I watched the video of the first Gradoni day the players reminded me hugely of oversized red frogs hopping up and down the stairs so that's what I tried to portray.

Another trademark thing Zeman put the players through while trying to whip them into shape was running with these big watersacks over their shoulders, something I haven't really seen with other coaches so that made up the second poster.

The training camp couldn't be complete without Zeman setting the players to 100 meter races almost daily, and there Coco Lamela was the undisputed star coming in first time and time again.

There were two more posters planned, one on the famous bromance between Dani Osvaldo & Francesco Totti, quickly labeled Danesco as the two were inseperable that summer; and a second making fun of the way Taddei wore his shorts, with Roma fans constantly mocking/groaning about it. Alas, those two never happened.

Hey Everyone...

So, it's been like a week or so since I've updated the blog, and it hasn't been the first lull since the relaunch... to be honest, I don't know how I thought I'd be able to keep up with this along with everything else I've got going on, especially what with university just starting. Basically what I'm saying is, I don't see how this blog can really be all I want it to be.

So it looks like I'm hitting an undefined hiatus again, BUT, I will continue to cover all things Barca from my twitter account. Links, pictures, news snippets and opinions, I'll be tweeting as much as I can and it won't be much different than what this blog would have covered, except that it'll be easier and faster than a daily blog, and I'll be able to offer you more that way. Anyone who hasn't joined twitter yet really should, there's so much more acess to so many things.

And I'll be back with a new blog or site sometime, I promise! Love to all.

Polls & A Little Break

Hey guys... just here to let everyone know that I'm going to take a few days off from the blog, in case you missed my tweet last night (I'll keep tweeting though) and to post the results of the summer poll: The Ibrahimovic Issue: It was close, but most were of the opinion that the club did well to sign him and he'd do better his next season; too bad he didn't see it that way.

The overdue Barca hottie poll for this season is now up (sidebar to the right): who do you think is the currently the finest boy on the team?

Andres Iniesta: GQ CoverBoy

I suck at updating lately, but bear with me, my beautiful readers, soon enough I'll get things back on track and routine-ness shall resume. Right now, here's another post of randoms:

- The picture you see here is, obviously, Andres Iniesta on the cover of this month's GQ España for their special on "Los Héroes de España", that also featured photos of David Villa and Cesc Fabregas. Barca coverboys ftw!

- David Villa recently recorded a song with Spanish singer Ana Torroja for the upcoming "Together for Mali" album, and he sounds pretty damn good. Who knew KingSoulPatch was harboring this talent behind all his blitzy baller skills? Following the release of the album on the 23rd of November, a concert is set for December 2nd - and I am dying to know if Villa would possibly attend and perform the song live.

- The basketballing counterpart of our club is to host the 'Basketball Without Borders' event, with Barca Regal also set to face U.S. b-ball stars the Los Angeles Lakers. The natural result of all this is for the NBA's vice president of international operations Kim Bohuny to present Lionel Messi with his very own customized Lakers Jersey, with Lio lamenting that he'll have to miss the Regal-Lakers match (set for October 7) because he'll be with his national team as they prepare to play a friendly against Japan.

- An ad featuring Barca coach Pep Guardiola is tactfully placed right in front of Real Madrid's stadium, the Santiago Bernabeu; meanwhile Barca player Adriano recently had his car stolen and returned.

- And to cap things off: Barcelona just beat out Turkish club Galatasaray as the club with the most fans on facebook, with over 4.5 million fans. Viva Barca!

Lio & Links

Hurried and harried, so I'll leave you with a few quick links:

- Lio Messi spent the past couple of days trotting around London on a PR stunt for Adidas that went horribly wrong. I don't see how they expected it to work out in the first place.

- Here's Gerard Pique 'not knowing what to say' about his status as the number one sizzling Catalan in the eastern or western hemisphere. Oh, he was also promoting his new book, Viatge d’anada i tornada.

- Pep Guardiola features in a new ad for Spanish bank Banco Sabadell, and needless to say he's fabulous in it. Now, if he ever showed up at my door like that...

- Barca's Adriano is on twitter, btw. That makes three tweeting Barca boys; get following chicas!

- Just because: Rafa Marquez graces New York Fashion Week with his sexy self. I'm missing him crazy.

- Going farther back with ex-Barca boys, remember Ludovic Guily? Of course you do. If you don't, this video will make sure you never forget him. Let me know if you're able to watch the whole thing through without cringing.

The New Nine

Time for a news round-up, and we'll kick it off with the most prominent issue of the moment: Bojan transitioning into the number 9 shirt, worn by Ibrahimovic and Eto'o before him (Jeffren is now wearing Bojan's former 11). Bless EMD and the photographer who took the glorious shoot (below) of him pulling his new shirt on bit by bit...

And speaking of transitioning, Barca's newest signing Javier Mascherano is transitioning well into the team, with his Argentine compatriots Lio Messi and Gabi Milito making sure of that. Arriving together from Argentina on Wednesday, the three continued straight to training at the Ciutat Esportiva and Lio and Gabi didn't leave Javier's side all through the session, with Gabi also acting as his spokesman.

Second keeper Jose Manuel Pinto has a new hairstyle: he's done his dark locks up in cornrows. I'm not quite sure where I stand in regard to the look, but the important thing is that he's happy with it: "My new haircut wasn't planned. I just went to the hairdresser and kind of picked it on the spot. I had it before, it's comfortable."

New studies show that Barca is the most popular club in Europe, with a pretty wide margin between them and the holders of second place, Real Madrid. Anyone else not surprised? Details and things here.

Our injured Captain Carles Puyol is pretty doubtful for the club's approaching Liga match against Hercules, but he's working hard on his recovery and was able to train along with the rest of the team yesterday. The only other sidelined player is Jeffren, who is still training apart from the rest.

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Pique To Get Us Through

The international break is boring the hell out of me, since the only Barca 'news' anyone can come up with is the Pep/Mourinho handshake controversy at the UEFA Elite Coaches Forum. Apparently Marca think that Pep was a bit slow to take Mourinho's hand, and made it their front page story - in other words, they need to get a life.

This sizzling picture of Gerard Pique is to help us get through the boredom of waiting for Spain's match to start/get over the disappointment that Brazil vs Barca B won't be televised. For the same purpose, check out this adorably funny video of Pique trying to walk a runway.

Randoms: Pique's Greek Getaway

- So much Barca gossip, and it's not even about Barca. It's about Pique, who can't help but attract limelights from all around the world even when he's vacationing in the remotest parts of it...

- Like during his recent vaycay in Greece with his girl Nuria Tomas (pic via kickette) which shuts down all speculation that they had split up. What also calls to be shut down is the web of claims that Gerard had an affair with Shakira during his stay in Ibiza. She may have been there and they may have hung out together, but I doubt there's much more to the story than that. Chica's been in a committed relationship since forever, and in case you missed it, our boy has a girlfriend.

- Back to Barca: Our B-team beat the champions of China 3-0 yesterday, woohoo! Okay, it wasn't exactly the B-team, but almost. Barely a handful of first-teamers participated (goals from Roberto, Nolito, Ibrahimovic) what with the team's eight Spanish champions still missing, which brings me to the next piece of news:

- International issues ended with the World Cup. Right? Wrong. They keep getting worse what with the upcoming friendlies, like the Mexico - Spain match that's disrupting Barca's Supercup squad. Our Spaniard champions, bar Iniesta, are stalled from catching up with the team since they've all been called up; and Jonathan Dos Santos would have gone packing to join Mexico if they hadn't agreed to pardon him. You won't see anything like that concerning the Spanish players though, so our wait for their return is further extended.

- Iniesta alone reported for duty in Barcelona today, took his physical and was put right to training, solo. Hopefully this season he won't be plagued with injury again, and Barca can stop worrying about buying a midfielder that I personally think we don't need. Pep doesn't seem too keen on buying Ozil anyway, and In Pep We Trust, right?

- Xavi, who has been very vocal concerning just about every matter under the sun lately, is still ranting about Cesc being kept from joining Barca, saying things like "You should never cage an animal that is meant to be in the wild and you can’t cage a player of Cesc’s talent." Then again, the Daily Star isn't the most reliable of sources, and after Puyol denying his alleged Cesc-related comments, you never know what to believe.

- Last of all, y'all need to check out this wonderfully imaginative interpretation of the Cesc saga if you haven't already.

Randoms: Villa & His Girls In Ibiza

- Check out David Villa and his radical shorts at the beach with his wife and daughters in Ibiza. Spanish keeper Pepe Reina is there with his family as well.

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- Barca's World Cup winning Spaniards aren't due back on the team till August 9, but Pique and Puyol decided to drop by training in Barcelona to see the squad before they take off for Norway today.

- In case you were wondering, Cesc, who was with Pique in Ibiza, would continue his vacation in Greece according to some reports, or go back to London to yell at Wenger and force his Arsenal exit accoriding to others. Take your pick.

- Spain isn't done celebrating Andres Iniesta. He's set to be named the adopted son of Albacete, as the city pays tribute to him in an event tomorrow that includes him meeting with regional president José María Barreda. He'll also recieve the title 'Ambassador of the Fair and Bright Badge of Albacete Balompié', and accept the Gold Medal of the City of Fuentealbilla. Rock on, Andresito!

- Andoni Zubizaretta, the legendary goalkeeper of Barca, will be presented today as the club's new sports director, taking the place of Txiki Begeristain.

Randoms: Felicidades Principe Pique

- Following Gerard Pique's unforgettable ad for cookie brand Galletas Principe de Beuckelaer, the company released this poster in congratulations to him after winning the World Cup with Spain. And I think I'm going to start calling him Principe Pique from now on.

- Andres Iniesta hasn't signed any Hollywood contracts, but when his footie career has run its course he'll always have his wine business to fall back on - he'll be producing red, white and rose wines bearing the name 'Iniesta' by September.

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- Iniesta has also been featured in the July edition of El Mundo magazine, and what do you know, he has hair! Pictures of the spread as well as english translations of the articles here.

- Just because: Spain's U-19 squad (milling with boys from Barca's youth) taking a day off in the pool.

- Chinese artist Wang Huaping has combined his love for football with his talent in carving actual eggs to produce eggs bearing the faces of several top footballers, including Barca's Lionel Messi and David Villa - all I can say is wow.

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Randoms: Pique Vacationing With... Guess Who?

- For those of you wondering what Gerard Pique is up to now that the World Cup is over, he’s in Ibiza with none other than... Cesc Fabregas, naturally. They're on a vacation that revolves around beaching and boating, and you know what that means – hot waterside photos of the two. There are already some shots of Pique on the boat in question, looking great if you can look past the puffy pink shorts; you could also get your Pique fix from this video.

- David Villa is set to be the face of a new ad for the NESTLÉ ice cream Maxibon, also promoting the related ‘Mix The Trip’ contest that invites participants to propose their dream trip, or something. More here.

- Apparently, Barca has about fifty million euros to spend on transfers this summer (does that include the 9.5 million already put up for Adriano?), which basically means that the club can spend it all on Cesc, or make several other back-up signings. With the club saying they'll certainly sign a centerback and a defensive midfielder, I wonder which it'll be?

- The international retirement bug is really going around after this World Cup, as Thierry Henry, who is currently busy training with the New York Red Bulls, has just announced the end of his France career. I know, he’s not a Barca boy anymore, but I felt the urge to report this anyway.

- Remember that cute Brazilian kid we signed last summer, the one who claimed he wants to be the best player in the world someday? After Keirrison spent last season between loans to Benfica and Fiorentina, Pep has decided that he still isn’t ready for the team. Accordingly, the player has been dispatched back to Brazil, this time on loan to Santos.

- Pep has called up all of Barca’s B-team players who aren’t off at the U-19 Euro, to join the first team when preseason training kicks off on Monday. Three cheers for the youth players! I’m most excited about the participation of Jonathan Dos Santos, Marc Muniesa, and Oier Olazábal – anyone of the seventeen players that piques your interest?