Look at yourself in the mirror. Keep looking until you decipher the most minute freckles on your face. Keep looking until it strikes you quite hard; that you have changed. Sow a first counter thought in your brain – is the change an illusion because you haven’t seen your face for excruciatingly long minutes in a long time? An encapsulated revelation inside your brain is about to explode. Allow the detonation and continue seeing your face.
Tiny sparks withered out of the blue and bewildering memories came back to life on the mirror right in front of me. I was inspecting my foot marks on the sands of time and was showing myself how I had lived my life till that point. Memories struck me like guided missiles, each time aggravating the sparks which, by the time, had mutated into a magmatic eruption.
Sow a second thought in your brain – are you truly happy when you look at your foot imprints on the sands of time and when you reminisce about the you you used to be? Think about the disruptive alteration life has bestowed upon you and the chasm left by the intensity of it. Seek answers from your face for it is craving to give it to you; you just have to fine tune the wavelength of your question to sync with the wavelength of the answer your face wants to give.
I used to be the innocent one.
There are three rules of engagement – The game of life lets you know who you are meant to be when you can’t know who you are, changes you when you don’t know why you change and finally makes you realize who you were meant to be when you think it is too late. Now sow the third thought in your brain – Is it ever too late to know who you were meant to be and live the life you wanted, that way? Never. Never too late.
Life obeys laws of inertia till a threshold. After discovering yourself, even though the subconscious retracts back to the real you, the conscious makes efforts to keep you the way you are, the you you were not meant to be. So there is a constant tug of war between the subconscious wanting to be the real you and the conscious wanting to be the reel you. When it happens, the story of how the conscious was dethroned by the subconscious will be a sweet epiphany.
At this moment, start to relish the perks of life and stop not until your conscious has seen what your subconscious has. Start to live the tiniest speckles that light up a million years and the mightiest twinkles that light up a million more. Leave no stone unturned in this journey of a lifetime.
Permeate through the space-time fabric with a lucid brain. Have no prejudice, no sorrow and no hate; after all we get to live the present once. Make up for your mistakes, make new ones, fall, learn, find strength in pain; be happy and see someone smile, doing all this. Be the you you are, not the you you want.
To give you a brief introduction, Chennai is a southern city in India and supposedly a metro. Culturally rich and traditionally extravagant, this city has managed to acquire the status of a gamma minus world city. Over the last few weeks, this city has been a standing example for the famous quote, “Do not judge a book by its cover.” Usually, this is quoted to elucidate how good something is on the inside and how the appearance is not so appealing. In Chennai’s curious case though, this quote has managed to get a counter application.
The recent rains have caused the city’s roads to succumb under water and the whole infrastructural setup has been taken for a toss. How an amazing, supposedly metropolitan, city could implode like this and expose its weakness at such a rudimentary level? I see a lot of people blaming the government but all the government had to say is this: “Rains which must’ve poured over one whole year has come down in a few weeks.” Well, let us not blame the government. It is true what they say; they just weren’t prepared for this gargantuan level of rains. Hence, the city too was just not prepared for this. Weather is the most unpredictable thing on mother earth. Even then, there have been some terrific scientific advancements to guess the weather patterns (El Nino etc.). At the most, the MET can say whether or not it will rain. The intensity though, they just cannot say it on dot. They still try to guess the intensity, but fail to predict the right amount 9/10 times.
So why would I say “Greetings from Chennai!” at the beginning? That was aimed at the media and more specifically, the big guns – CNN IBN, Times Now and NDTV. When Aamir Khan claims that India is intolerant to his wife’s feelings, the media etches itself on to it and just doesn’t let go! They (the media) don’t see what they (the media) are intolerant about, in the first place. Well, let me tell you what. It is South India. The national media big guns are just intolerant of the fact that South India is still in south of India! A brief statistic from twitter tells me the following (strictly about Chennai, though I am defending whole of South India):
Time frame: 1-Dec-15 0000 HRS to 1-Dec-15 1900 HRS – That’s 19 hours of solid (initially intermittent) rains in Chennai.
CNN-IBN – 9 tweets about #ChennaiRains
NDTV – 3 tweets about #ChennaiRains
Times Now – 2 tweets about #ChennaiRains
Times Now – 2 tweets about dusty fog looming over Lucknow
On the bright side,
BBC – 4 tweets about #ChennaiRains
What Aamir’s wife told could be a big story, no doubt. But stories pertaining to disruption of normal life in a city like Chennai should not be any less. This is intolerance.
The death toll because of rain as of date in South India is around 250. But this isn’t breaking the news. This is intolerance.
To walk on similar lines to the media, who seem to be clearly giving a shit load of shit about movies and entertainment to keep their TRP on the rise, a few actors donated sums up to 10 lakhs INR for the flood relief operations in Chennai. At the least, that could’ve been made to break the news. But no! This is intolerance.
Chennai looks like a dilapidated Venice now. Automobiles floating here and there like in the middle of the ocean. And it looks scary. Really, really scary. Should the media start concentrating on South India now, it will be a case of too little, too late. They were not there when the rain was exhibiting its full wrath, they were not there when the damage was happening, and they don’t need to be there when this beautiful city resurrects and normalcy returns.
Thank you, media. You truly are a disgrace to this side of the country. But whatever said and done, since you are from my country, here is a sincere piece of suggestion: Rethink on what journalism truly means. No, think again.
Disclaimer: This post is obviously not about the movie. So if you are here for Stephen, you might as well go ahead with all your other jobs. It is better that I write this piece in the heat of the moment. This might be a long read but I assure you that it will be at least a little fascinating.
As I was lying down on my overhead tank trying to see the hell out of Saturn thinking I might be able to identify the rings with naked eye, a random thought flashed across my brain that strengthened my earlier theory of something similar to what I’m going to write. Please do not forget to prefix “I think…” to whatever you read post this paragraph. As I already tweeted about what I’m going to write, the ones who take the pains of reading through this whole thing will end up with one of these three conclusions:
1. Whoever wrote this is a Phycho/drug addict.
2. Dude, give me some of what you’re smoking.
3. WTF! This is genius. What if!
(though my money is on the first two)
So here goes…
There are many distorted things that are known to man that are linked with each other. We don’t know about this link because there is one huge barrier – our thinking capacity. It limits us to thinking only at a specified level; not for nothing did the ‘myth’ that the average man uses only 10% of his brain’s potential come till the point of actually being proved scientifically. Since they haven’t disproved it, I might as well incorporate that theory into mine for better support to my explanations. So, the distorted things that I was talking about in the start of this paragraph are the basic fears and enlightenment of man – God, devil, ghosts, demons, reality, anti-reality, matter, anti-matter, existence, anti-existence, heaven, hell, OM (AUM), aliens, UFOs, darkness, mirror, air, refractive index value of 1, light, sound, universe, static on the cable TV, drugs, probability, Venn diagrams and many more. Now, here’s the deal – I say that each and every one of the above terms is interlinked to one another.
The following sentence/paragraph might be a little complex to decipher, but do try your best and if it isn’t possible, read again. Let’s say that what you’re able to see with naked eyes is matter and what you cannot see is anti-matter. You can replace the word ‘matter’ with ‘existence’ or ‘reality’. So what exactly do you see when your eyes are open? Folks in your house, your pet, yourself, stuff on the table, your laptop, phone etc. And what do you not see? Nothing, right? But no. Think about it; you don’t see air and you don’t see anything when it’s complete darkness – these are the two that you don’t see.
Consider the whole universe to be the parent circle in a Venn diagram.
So the biggest circle represents the universe. The As, Bs and Cs represent whatever you can see with the naked eye. Check the following equation:
Area of the parent circle – Area of ( 3*A + 3*B + 4*C ) = Anti-existence
The simplest example that comes to my mind when thinking about how to explain this in layman’s terms is this: You are sitting on your desk, working on your computer. You exist, your hands exist, your computer keyboard exists and your computer monitor exists. But there is nothing in between you and your computer but air. The space between you and your computer is what I’m referring to as the anti-existence. This is just a very simple and a small scaled example. Extend this example/argument to whatever you see around you and extend the same for the whole universe. Mars exists and Jupiter exists, but in between Mars and Jupiter there exists nothing but an asteroid belt. So, in the Mars-Jupiter system/niche, everything in the system save Mars, Jupiter and the asteroids, anti-exists.
Let me now talk about this from a mathematical probability point of view.
P(seeing what you see) + P(seeing what you don’t see) = 1
P(what exists) + P(what doesn’t exist) = 1
P(existence) + P(anti-existence) = 1
P(anti-existence) = 1 – P(existence)
I’m saying this anti-existence is a whole system in itself. I would like to rephrase it as “…anti-existence is a whole world in itself” though it might sound amateurish. And to describe this whole new world henceforth, I’ll use the abbreviation OME, standing for “One Minus Existence.” Many entities in existence seem to have an analog in OME.
People = Ghosts
Animals = Demons
Goodwill = Heaven
Ill will = Hell
…and many others
I am a person who doesn’t believe in ghosts and demons but badly want to as it would explain many things. We know ghosts, ghouls and demons only to be vengeful and in a way attacking the entities (us humans!) in existence. I’m saying that this is the case in very select cases only. So, according to me, in the OME, there are a lot of harmless ghosts, ghouls and demons. Once a person dies, his/her soul exits the body and enters OME. Once an animal dies, its soul exits the body and enters OME. If the person or animal is highly dissatisfied with something that happened or didn’t happen during his/her/its existence, a sense of anger is created in that soul and this is the rudimentary explanation as to why they attack the entities in existence. To conclude this part of the explanation, ghosts are the people of OME, demons are the animals of OME. OME is everything but what you see. In a way, we all permeate through OME. And applying the vice versa, OME permeates through existence. Existence and OME co-exist.
While I was writing about “…attacking the entities in existence…”, the only thing that pops up in mind is of course, “How do the entities in OME attack the entities in existence. How do they cross the barrier. Can the entities in existence too cross this barrier?” Well, there are many artificial ways as well as natural phenomenons that cut through the barrier to connect with OME. Since OME has a refractive index value of 1, we will not be able to see it (which is the base for my whole explanation). But, everything in existence has a refractive index value more than 1, which is why we are even able to see stuff around us including water (refractive index of 1.33) which is transparent. Now, the following points give a detailed account of what and how to cross the barrier between existence and OME.
1. Sound: There are many credible reporting from across the world of “hearing” ghostly stuff. This goes to say that sound cuts across the barrier to an extent. I’m saying ‘to an extent’ because I don’t know the behavior of entities in the OME, if they talk like us between themselves, obviously, we must also hear it, no?
2. Light: This simply is supported by credible ghost sightings from across the globe.
3. Dreaming: Dreaming, as we all know, takes you to a secondary state of mind, often referred to as ‘the subconscious mind’. Oftentimes, people describe having seen dead people in their dreams, alive and kicking. How/why is that possible? The metamorphosis of the electrical signal that the brain uses elevates the thinking capacity of humans and we see ‘unreal’ stuff. A venture into OME, perhaps?
4. A high human: Now, I’m not into how people respond to various drugs but I am intrigued because whatever they speak when they are completely high wouldn’t make sense at all. They become creative, horrified, happy and sad all at the same time. This I think is because the drugged/high human is in a state of inexplicable trance that he/she oscillates between existence and OME. I know a friend who says he sees all kinds of colorful creatures floating in the air when in reality/existence, there is no such thing. What if he/she is seeing through the other side, the OME?
5. Animals, especially dogs: There is a dog adjacent to my house. A few years ago, an old man from a building adjacent to that dog house died. The night he died, the dog was howling the hell out of itself (before he died) and it howled even more after he died. This dog is never known to howl and I can bet a thousand bucks on the fact that I have never in my life heard it howl before that day. So how did the dog see death coming? Perhaps, there was someone (ghost?) from OME who came to the old man’s house to detach the soul from his body and set free in OME. Probably, the dog was seeing this all along. Think!
6. Ouija board: I am not familiar with this but it happens to be extremely credible as per whatever I’ve seen and read on the internet.
I thought about a few more mediums but I’ll add-on as and when I remember.
There is a beautiful analog I found for cartoons in OME. There is a song called Time Go by Caught A Ghost. I’m embedding the video right after the paragraph. The video will look like it has absolutely no relationship whatsoever with the audio but you’ll notice something. At least I did. The cartooned video wouldn’t look like our cartoon, like the basic ones that we see. It is a kind of ghostly cartoon. Do watch this, I bet you’ll find a reason why I’m saying so.
Doesn’t it look like their cartoon? The cartoon made exclusively for the entities in OME!
Another major thing I wanted to share is the concept of OM or AUM. Here’s the first line from its article on wikipedia:
Om (ॐ; in Devanagari as ओं oṁ [õː], औं auṃ [ə̃ũ], or ओ३म् om [õːːm]) is a mantra and mystical sound of Hindu origin.
Aum is said to be the sound of the Big Bang. Aum, according to me is the only syllable that mutually coexists in both existence and OME. There is a reason in its name. Aum is AUM; or A Union M. In other words, Anti-matter Union Matter. The whole of the universe in Aum. the conglomeration of existence and OME is AUM.
Finally, I should concede a few points. I have not been able to explain the following:
1. God – I haven’t able to explain about God because according to my explanation, both God and Devil must coexist in OME.
2. Tangibility – If there are entities in OME in ghosts and demons, why is there no tangibility in most cases? (on a lighter note, recollect the scene in Paranormal Activity where the actress gets dragged by a demon)
I am hoping to come up with an explanation for the above two discrepancies as soon as possible. This didn’t come out to be as sharp as I thought it would, but still. I get all these thoughts when I’m alone in my terrace on a cloudless night. I look at the stars, listen to very different music and this blog was a result of one such moment. What music?
I am a not-so-fair complexioned ugly South Indian dumb-fuck driving my way through the streets of Alwarthirunagar on a scorching hot May afternoon talking in Tanglish to a Rajasthani businessman’s Hindi speaking son about how RP Singh managed to bowl a no-ball in the last ball of the game against CSK in 2013 and how that resulted in the low number of pubs in the culturally sound and an amazing Chennai. No sukku-kaapi points for guessing which city hates the previous sentence. Oh, and I will be going to the Marina beach this evening macha. Burn, Luru, burn.
As Arnab absentmindedly yells “THE NATION NEEDS TO KNOW” while trying to find his misplaced spectacles, I, a proud Chennaiite, will try and break down the first sentence of this blog. So why exactly do Bangaloreans despise Chennai? No, Cauvery issue and all is okay da but why so much puvar behavior by Bangaloreans in Chennai? If you want US visa, you have to come here only, you know no? Like how you give hypothetical reasons to love your city, we have real reasons to love our city da.
“I am a not-so-fair complexioned ugly South Indian dumb-fuck…”
Believe me when I say this, most of the Bangaloreans in Chennai judge Chennaiites based on their looks and intellectual capabilities. “Hey but not all Bangaloreans are like that you know?”
“Misssss not all of us were shouting in the class like that gang. Pencil box promise miss. Why are you making all of us stand in front of the Principal? Misss miss please miss don’t call my mother alone, pleeeeease miss.” As Thirugnanasambandham Muthukaruppan Chettiar puts it, “Booty is in the eye of the begolder.” There is nothing called ugliness in the cosmos and Bangaloreans along with other mean people in the world must join hands in fighting away the concept of ugliness. And intellectual capability? Seriously? You want to make it a TN scientists vs K’taka scientists round up? I really don’t want to do this but okay. CNR Rao + Shakuntala Devi + Sir Visvesvaraya <<< MS Swaminathan + Srinavasa Ramanujan + APJ Abdul Kalam + Sir CV Raman. Now, that was ‘ugly’ but you asked for it, Luru.
“…driving my way through the streets of Alwarthirunagar…”
There is absolutely nothing called driving in Bangalore. At best, it can be called “inch-by-inch movement.” Recent studies by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation say that the Earth moves faster than Bangalore traffic. And God, I do not know why Bangaloreans boast about safe roads and low accident rates compared to Chennai. Where is the question of accident when one cannot drive above 15 km/h in the first place? Bangaloreans hate the names of places in Chennai. But I really don’t understand why. Why are they making fun of the names Nochikuppam, Katankulathur or Eekkatuthangal when they’re from a place which has two places called Doddanekundi and Kundalahalli?
“…on a scorching hot May afternoon…”
I agree to this and Chennai loses hands down. The heat is unbearable (to the outsiders and perfectly bearable to the Chennaiites) but still, according to stats post 2005, Chennai schools get more rain holidays compared to Bangalore schools on an average. *Leaves work behind to take a bathroom break. Goes in and laughs the shit out of self*
“…talking in Tanglish to a Rajasthani businessman’s Hindi speaking son…”
Claim: “Tamilians have the audacity to come to Bangalore and not learn Kannada or Hindi. Even if we push them to do it, they’re stubborn and stick to English.”
Justification: We are not you.
Bangalore has bowed down to North India, partially lost their culture and language on the way and that is why all of them know Hindi. I am not saying it is a good thing or a bad thing. But our (Tamilians) mindsets are framed that way – we feel the need to protect our language, culture and heritage. We feel we shouldn’t lose to Hindi. We feel protective and proud because, quite simply, Tamil is one of the oldest languages ever and the oldest surviving Indian (Dravidian) language. So if Bangaloreans want to do something about it, I advise them to learn Tamil and help the language survive and grow.
“…about how RP Singh managed to bowl a no-ball in the last ball of the game against CSK in 2013…”
This is probably the most hurtful burn of the lot. The following two images will be the explanation and might even cause widespread outrage among Bangaloreans.
Can’t really blame them because we are even winning the twitter battles handsomely.
“…and how that resulted in the low number of pubs…”
What is it with almost ALL Bangaloreans complaining about the number of pubs in Chennai being low compared to Bangalore? We are content with the pubs that we have and not for nothing is Chennai called the cultural capital of India. We don’t need pubs at every nook and corner but even then we can get high be happy about it. If you keep lamenting about this, just know that it is perfectly fine to take the early morning Shatabdi and move back to Bangalore for good. We are proudly maintaining the sanctity of this beautiful city; at least comparatively.
“…in the culturally sound and an amazing Chennai.”
There is no argument about which city is culturally more sound. Bangalore ‘had’ a good culture until the IT boom after which that status just collapsed. I totally agree that Mysore has an amazing heritage but Bangalore, frankly, is just that spoiled brat (no offense). “I am totally cool with being a spoiled brat. We are who we are. That that man that that trait.” FAIR ENOUGH!
Epilogue:
Sir CV Raman, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, MS Swaminathan, Thiruvalluvar, Ilayaraja, AR Rahman, Kamal Haasan, Balamuralikrishna, KV Narayanaswamy, MS Subbulakshmi, Vijay Amritraj, Viswanathan Anand, Dhanraj Pillay, Raghuram Rajan, P Chidambaram, Indra Nooyi, Padma Lakshmi, Kamala Harris, M.I.A., Sundar Pichai, Balamurali Ambati, Aziz Ansari, M Night Shyamalan and Subramanian Swamy constitute just a small fraction of the world renowned Tamilians. Bengaluru, ನೀವು ಏನು ಹೊಂದಿಲ್ಲ? Wait, are you a Bangalorean and weren’t able to read that? Dei!
Mostly for these kinds of posts, the rebuttals will be the more famous one (if at all). I do not mind that. Rather, I’d enjoy it.
And by the way, they have to be called “Bangalureans” from now. Haha.
Full Moon Fireside is a gathering here at Bluestone Farm on or near the full moon, beginning with a half-hour’s drumming, followed by a presentation and discussion either outside around the fire pit, or in the “great room” around the wood stove. If it’s too hot and humid for fire as it was this past week, a simple candle will do. We end by chanting and then entering the monastic Great Silence. Wednesday was both the Full Moon Fireside and the eve of the Transfiguration.
After hearing Brian Greene, I talked about Edwin A. Abbott’s little book Flatland. The book is part indictment of Victorian social class structure, part mathematical treatise, and part mystical analogy. The “author” is a two dimensional being writing about a three dimensional adventure. The hero, A Square, has…
From the hazy streets of Santander in the north, till the nooks and corners of Malaga in the south. From the Portugal kissing Vigo, till the beaches of Cartagena. Spain will be silent tonight save for the shouts and cries from the capital city’s footballing fortress – Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
The timeless runs of Laszlo Kubala.
The legend of Ferenc Puskas.
The tireless legs of Alfredo Di Stefano.
The ethereal style of Johan Cruyff.
The dizzying dribbles of Carles Rexach.
The rock solidness of Manuel Sanchis.
The permeation of Cesar Rodriguez.
The beautiful finishes of Ronaldo Luis Nazario.
The flamboyance of Michael Laudrup.
The Luis in the name of Figo.
The Luis in the name of Enrique.
The marauding skills of Rivaldo.
The clinical strikes of Emilio Butragueno.
The diminutive dynamism of Romario.
The poker face of Vicente Del Bosque.
The diabolical passes of Pep Guardiola.
The gargantuan figure of Zinedine Zidane.
The unpredictability of Hristo Stoichkov.
The swerves and bends of David Beckham.
The twists and turns of Ronaldinho.
The solid hands of Iker Casillas.
The ever improving gloves of Victor Valdes.
The scintillating goals of Raul Gonzalez.
The astounding ability of Samuel Eto’o.
The Felix Baumgartner-ness of Sergio Ramos.
The lion incarnation of Carles Puyol.
The position in the name of Claude Makelele.
The genius of Sergio Busquets.
The passing range of Fernando Hierro. The Maestro in the name of Xavi Hernandez.
The driving force of Guti Haz.
The 360 degree vision of Andres Iniesta.
The glitters from the boots of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The grandmother thanking celebrations of Lionel Messi.
The footballing spectacle is here. El Clasico beckons. #ViscaElBarcaaa!
The funny part is, he never gets tired of writing about his dad. The quality of relationship they shared is fairly imaginable but definitely, there’s much more than what meets the eye. He deeply regrets and apologizes for not having written to him last year around due to some petty hullabaloo. So here goes the n+1th ode to the greatest father in the world according to the boy.
“How old are you?”
“I’m 50 years young.”
Stretching his bat halfway of his full stretch, pointing at the crowd and acknowledging their applause for his brilliant half century, his father is out there in the middle of his innings, still up and running with the same enthusiasm and ethereal energy he showed as a 10 year old. Will this man ever stop? “I don’t think so. There is not even one delivery that will be able to make him walk back to the pavilion”, his son says. “He has been a true champion and he will keep proving to the world his worth.”
“The first memories I have of him are when I opened the door of my house and there he was, returning from office, with a black bag in the hand, orange-ish shirt and brown pants. I remember this more than anything else because I had just learned how to unlock the door. I also remember once when I was playing football with a blue colored plastic weightless ball when he came and tackled. And once he was having dinner, sitting on the floor. I too sat on the floor behind him with my back facing his back and just leaned on him.”
“He has been a pillar of support for me right from the beginning. I am blessed to have a father like him and I couldn’t have asked for a better life. He has been on my side come what may and has even amazed me with his capabilities. All my life, I have been merely trying to copy him and even succeeded in several occasions. I don’t even feel bad about doing it because he is my father after all! If not him, then whom? There lies my greatest talent. To grasp and redo something. Well, it has worked to my advantage at least in the short run.”
There is a famous thirukkural which goes: “Magan thandhaikkatrum udhavi, ivan thandhai ennotran kol enum sol” roughly translated as: “The greatest filial service of a son is to conduct himself in such a manner and make the world wonder, what austerities has his father performed to be blessed with such a son.” Well, his father dented, reversed the meaning and is now making his son think what austerities he had to perform to be blessed with such a father.
“My father is a man with humongous talents. Unparalleled articulacy in a huge repertoire of topics of interest, sometimes makes people contemplate whether or not he is a martian. He is a big think tank which keeps on ‘providing’. And who is at the receiving end of what he emanates? Me. I should learn to extract more out of him. It is only a matter of time before I make full use of him and try to become at least half as good as him in anything and everything.”
“Such an amazing person, he is more a friend to me than a father. Now not every father can be like that, can they? Above all, he is an exceptional teacher. I am what I am today, purely because of him. Though we weren’t together for the better part of my childhood, he always made his presence felt in some way. In a way, he made me become independent, at least physically. Every step that he took was carefully calculated with the people around him as the constants and variables in the equation of his life. To look back at his life in such an angle amazes me, and they say epiphanies are strictly restricted to fantasies.”
“As already mentioned in the beginning, it is my father’s 50th birthday today. I wish him success in his life. I look forward to being with him from next year. And if the almighty grants me ONE wish I would request him to make me relive one day of my life with my father between 1993 and 2003. I was still a tiny kid back then and all those days were golden.”
“Did you realize that teacher’s day coincides with your father’s birthday?”
A new manager, a new marquee signing and the best player injured; the 2013-14 season at the Catalan club had to kick off only with an iota of doubt. Things were moving smoothly in the early parts of the season with a decent run in La Liga and a more than decent run in the Champions League.
In all fairness, one would have confidently put his money on a La Liga victory and a Champions League top four finish for FC Barcelona. But that wasn’t the way things panned out for Barca. The level of competition in both the La Liga and the Champions League was too much for them and they succumbed to the pressure. They bid adieu to the Champions League and did all but bow out of the La Liga race, all in one single week.
So what exactly went wrong? Who was responsible for this dismal debacle? A rough analysis yields us four culprits:
The squad chemistry
Coaching tactics
Club transfers
The board
It all started off with Sandro Rossell winning the presidential elections in 2010, taking over the position from Joan Laporta. This led to several other events that weakened the club right from the beginning of the Rossell era. First and foremost, he developed differences with a monumental figure of the club – Johan Cruyff. He was stripped of his title of honourary president by Sandro Rossell. He was insulted and left the club.
The then coach, Pep Guardiola, whose mentor was Johan Cruyff also performed below par during that season. With absolutely no support from the board, Guardiola left the ship to slowly sink and took a sabbatical. Guardiola was succeeded by none other than his assistant coach Tito Vilanova. Tito’s tactics weren’t as strong as Guardiola’s but still, he managed to win La Liga. Due to health problems, Tito had to step down at the end of the 2012-13 season.
For the next season, the 2013-14 season, the next coach came from Argentina. Right from the beginning of the 2013-14 season, things were going wrong with the board. There was a legal issue with the transfer of Brazilian star Neymar from Santos and because of this, Sandro Rossell had to step down.
The mood in the team was also no different. Valdes and Puyol decided to leave at the end of the season. There was no proper Centre Back to replace Mascherano. Injuries here and there, wrong players playing in the wrong positions, the total team chemistry was a flop. Andoni Zubizarreta made absolute howlers dealing with the transfers.
Thus, the debacle of Barca is collectively attributed to various factors. This trend cannot continue for long and thus solutions must be sought after. One of the solutions that can be considered is a total revamp. Here’s a plausible one that might prove to be the catalyst for the much needed resurrection:
People who would leave the club:
Victor Valdes Barca and Spain’s goalkeeper decided to leave the ship in the last season itself, but instead offered to stay for one more season so that he could give some leeway for the club to find a suitable successor. But things took an unfortunate turn as he tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament in March, thereby ruling him out for the rest of the season and also for the World Cup. He was tipped to beat the legendary Iker Casillas to get the number one position in Spain, but all in vain.
Carles Puyol
The veteran Centre Back decided to retire from the game and move away from Barcelona so that he could pave way for new talents. His last two seasons have been plagued with injuries and this appears to be the perfect time for him to step out. The only thing that Barca will miss the most is his leadership and the never-say-never attitude.
People who should leave the club:
Josep Maria Bartomeu
The current president of the club who took over from Sandro Rossell for the interim period before the elections next year. Lack of experience at the top level will make a case against him. He doesn’t appear to be a genuine president’s material.
Andoni Zubizarreta
The former Barcelona and Spain’s goal guardian has conceded a lot of goals since taking over as the director of football at the club from Txiki Begiristain. The most logical signing he must have made is of a Centre Back, which he failed. The next, he was unable to convince Puyol or Valdes to stay at the club. He should have been long gone.
Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino
The Argentine who hails from the same place as Lionel Messi was a student of Marcelo Bielsa. Having led Paraguay into the quarter finals of the World Cup in 2010, he was called upon to replace Tito Vilanova. Though his approach was clearer early, his tactics seem to be exceedingly predictable and this suggests that he might not be the perfect man for a club of Barcelona’s stature. He is a good coach, but not good enough. Sorry, Tata.
Jose Manuel Pinto
The former Celta de Vigo goalie is already 38 now and is long past his peak. He was bought to replace Victor Valdes since Albert Jorquera was injured back in 2007. But now, the time is up for Pinto and it is for the best of both the club and him to part ways.
Daniel Alves
Dani was a terrific find for Barca, from Sevilla. For the initial three seasons, he was doing exceedingly well, but in the last couple of seasons his performances have dipped. He is a great passer of the ball, but has completely lost his pace. Martin Montoya would be the ideal replacement for Dani Alves. One of the mistakes made by Martino this season was not giving enough playing time for Montoya even though he proved his worth several times.
Alexandre Song
Till today, nobody has absolutely any clue as to why he was bought from Wenger’s Arsenal. He is definitely a great player, but Barcelona isn’t the right place for him. His signing will remain as one of the worst howlers Zubizarreta made during his tenure. He came into the club as a deadwood and this deadwood needs to be chucked out so that he could prove his actual worth in some other club.
Jonathan Dos Santos
Yet another case of being exceedingly talented but needs to be chucked out because of acute lack of space. For the position of Centre Midfield, already Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Busquets, Song, Sergi Roberto and Ibrahim Afellay are competing. Jonathan is recovering from an injury and it is best for him to leave the club post complete recovery, either on loan or permanently.
Ibrahim Afellay
The Dutch national hasn’t been fully fit for even one full season. Unfortunately, the really talented attacking midfielder is losing his game due to lack of playing time. He has just recovered from an injury and it’ll be best for him to go back to the Netherlands to pursue his career there.
Isaac Cuenca
Isaac was put into regular use by Pep Guardiola. The next season he was loaned out to Ajax where he got injured. The quick footed fragile Spaniard has humungous talent, but at Barca, it will be too competitive for him to handle.
Cristian Tello
The biggest regret. The young six footed winger has been a terrific player for Barca. He is a player who seldom wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. He was a prominent figure in the line-up during the Guardiola and Tito eras, but has seen almost only the bench this season. It is an insult to his talent and he must be loaned out.
People who should be brought into the club:
Joan Laporta
This Spanish lawyer is the best man to be the president of the club. He has proved it and he is still hungry to do something to the club. So, if he wins in the next presidential elections, which looks most evident, it’ll be a big boost for Barca.
Johan Cruyff
Barcelona badly requires the help of the Dutch again. He was insulted by Sandro Rossell and left the club in bad blood. All possible amendments must be made to bring back his expertise into the Catalan club. If Joan Laporta arrives, it’ll be better because Cruyff and Laporta maintain a brilliant rapport. Till date, whatever he has predicted has come true.
“Throughout my career, I’ve simply tried to instill what I learned from Johan Cruyff. He has had the biggest influence on football out of anyone in the world, first as a player and then as a coach. He taught me a lot and you can see that in the fact that so many of his former players are now coaches, because he made sure his love for the sport got through to us. He’s very special to us.” ~ Pep Guardiola
This genius must be brought back, without further ado.
Frank de Boer
Frank is the second Dutch from whom Barca must seek help. De Boer will be the best replacement for Tata Martino for four reasons. He has been a student of Johan Cruyff. He has played for Barcelona, thus he perfectly knows what is what. He has played with Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Valdes and thus the coach-player chemistry will tend to be good. He has defeated Barca twice with Ajax and thus basically, he will give Barca, a pressing mentality combined with Tiki-Taka – an enhanced version of what Guardiola provided.
Marc Andre Ter Stegen
Probably, the best decision made by Zubizarreta. He has been scouting Marc for the past one year and reports say that a deal has already been struck between Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach for 10 million euros. Marc is good on the ball with the feet which is an important part of Barca’s Tiki-Taka style and he has also proved that he’s a terrific keeper on many occasions.
Jordi Masip
He must be promoted from the B team where he doesn’t deserve to be. Oier must be sent back to the B team in return or must be loaned out to some La Liga team. Ter Stegen and Jordi Masip can form a partnership till the former grows familiar with the club and atmosphere of La Liga. Jordi Masip is a top keeper who Victor Valdes himself said once that he would love to see the homegrown Masip becoming his successor.
Patricio Gabarron
The young B team right back was a part of the main team during the pre-season and it must be said that he was pretty good, showing off his worth. He would be a good addition to the squad if Dani Alves leaves. Martin Montoya can permanently seal the right back position for himself and Patric can be an effective second right back for the team.
Mats Hummels
The bulky German Centre Back has time and again proved why he is one of the best in the business. With Puyol leaving and a defensive midfielder occupying the spot, acquiring the services of the Borussia Dortmund Centre Back will be absolutely imperative for the club. And the fact that he is German will make both him and Ter Stegen feel important at the club. Furthermore, Hummels has always showcased excellent football against Real Mardrid. What more does Barca need?
Matheus Dória Macedo
Two Centre Backs are essential as effectively only two Center Backs will be there in the team in Pique and Bartra. The 6’2” Centre Back who plays for Botafogo in Brazil will be just the right fit at Barca because he is good with the ball in his feet. He is a passer which will suit the Barca style. Being just nineteen years of age, he can go on to guard the defense for a very long time in the club.
Rafinha Alcantara
The quick footed ever bubbling younger brother of Thiago Alcantara will prove to be a quality long term replacement for Iniesta. He was loaned out to Celta Vigo during the 2013-14 season where he showed signs of absolute brilliance. Being just twenty one, he can provide some quality cover to the ageing Iniesta.
Gerard Deulofeu
Regarded as one of the best players in his age group, Gerard was loaned out to Everton for the 2013-14 season. He needs to be brought back to provide the much required new dimension to the Barca attack which is showing no signs of creativity at the moment. Gerard’s ability to make defenders chase his shadows combined with exquisite passing makes him appear right on top of the wanted list in Barcelona.
Bojan Krkic
The Pacey attacker who was loaned out to several clubs owning to lack of space at the club has impressed in his latest spell with Ajax where he has been working with Frank De Boer and close attention from Johan Cruyff. He is desperate to make a comeback in Camp Nou. Lionel Messi will be 27 next year and Bojan will be a very good substitute for Messi, whose game time is expected to dip next season. Bringing in Bojan will also prevent the usage of Fabregas in the false 9 position.
Special Mentions/Reminders:
Josep Fabrice Ondoa
The Cameroonian international was inducted into the La Masia from the Samuel Eto’o academy in Cameroon. He is regarded as one of the best goalkeeping prospects in the youth leagues and has been impressing hands down, at various competitions. So the question is, should Barca go a short term prospect or a long term prospect?
Denis Suarez
Denis was signed by Barca from Manchester City during the 2013-14 season. As per the signing, a clause says that he must be promoted to the first team after spending one year in the B team. If he too gets promoted, Barca must consider loaning out Sergi Roberto.
Sergi Samper
The 19 year old B team wonder-kid has been a revelation. Widely regarded as the next Busquets, the diminutive defensive mid-fielder is having a solid season with the B team. Samper is a long term replacement for Sergio Busquets and until he gains some experience, Mascherano can provide cover to Busquets.
If all these changes are made, a good twenty three member squad can be formulated and put to work slowly and steadily. The squad will read:
GOALKEEPERS: Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Jordi Masip
DEFENDERS: Martin Montoya, Patric Gabarron, Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra, Mats Hummels, Doria, Jordi Alba, Adriano Correia
MIDFIELDERS: Xavi Hernandez Cesc Fabregas, Sergi Roberto, Andres Iniesta, Rafinha Alcantara, Sergio Busquets, Javier Mascherano
FORWARDS: Alexis Sanchez, Pedro Rodriguez, Gerard Deulofeu, Neymar Jr, Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic
COACH: Frank De Boer
The sad part is, there is a transfer ban on Barca that FIFA has imposed, for inducting players less than 18 years of age. Only if a proper valid appeal is made will the ban be lifted and all these changes (transfers) can be made possible. If not, it is safe to say that Barca’s form will further worsen in the coming year.
It surely had to be in the dying moments of the transfer window. But it was a foregone conclusion that Gareth Frank Bale would flaunt with the same white colored home jersey but with the highly esteemed crest of the Los Blancos on it. On August 24th, MARCA, a Spanish sports daily reported that the Welsh star had already arrived in Andalusia before any kind of official statement from both clubs.
BALE LOOKS ON FROM MARBELLA
DUE TO TRAVEL TO MADRID AFTER OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Gareth Bale has already swapped London for Spain, more specifically the Andalusian city of Marbella, a place where he often spends his holidays.
The deal was made right on the deadline day, 1st September for a record transfer fee of a grand £88,000,000. A grand reception was waiting for Bale at the Santiago Bernabeu on the 3rd of September, when he was unveiled in front of a boisterous capacity crowd. Exactly like how the Messi-Neymar combination was doubted, even the Ronaldo-Bale combination came under question. But all those doubts have been partially brushed aside with Bale opening his account in his debut against Villareal.
This is the Real Madrid side of the story. Let us go out of this box to drop into another one, the Tottenham Hotspurs’ one.
With the departure of their highly coveted winger, and with only Lewis Holtby in the bag, it would’ve sent shivers down Andre Villas Boas’ spine if not for the presence of a genius in their chairman/owner, Daniel Levy. With a purely businessman state of mind, he managed things to utmost perfection. His masterstroke that thudded on the White Hart Lane opened the mouths of football pundits from all over the globe, in awe. But was his way of managing the Bale departure prove to be good enough for fortunes to fall on Spurs in their near future endeavors?
July 06 – Paulinho – Corinthians – £17,358,000
July 21 – Nacer Chadli – FC Twente – £7,172,000
Aug 01 – Roberto Soldado – Valencia CF – £26,400,000
Aug 15 – Étienne Capoue – Toulouse FC – £9,680,000
Aug 24 – Vlad Chiricheș – Steaua Bukarest – £8,360,000
Aug 30 – Erik Lamela – AS Roma – £26,400,000
Aug 30 – Christian Eriksen – AFC Ajax – £11,880,000
The above data is the list of the players signed by Levy for Spurs (the dates and transfer amounts, as specified in http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk). Levy made sure the Bale transfer saga was all hyped up before he could wave the green flag to Florentino Perez and Bale himself. In the meanwhile, he signed these seven players. The arithmetic shows that Levy splashed a whole £107,250,000 for all these acquisitions. Though it was a huge gamble played by him, it was definitely a calculated risk taken bearing in mind the desperation shown by Real Madrid on Bale. With Neymar rejecting them for Barcelona, the capital city club had to look for alternatives and it was one and only one man, Bale, who could replace Neymar on their roster.
It was deadline day and Bale was offloaded for a record £88,000,000. With seven new signings, Levy had to get rid of some more players on the squad. So in addition to Bale, Levy also managed to get rid of Scott Parker, Massimo Luongo, Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey and Stever Caulker for good amounts.
Transfer expenditures = £107,250,000 Transfer income = £111,513,600 Net profit = Transfer income – Transfer expenditures
Net profit = £111,513,600 – £107,250,000
Net profit = +£4,263,600
Incoming players (loans excluded): Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado, Étienne Capoue, Vlad Chiricheș, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen.
Outgoing players (loans excluded): Gareth bale, Massimo Luongo, Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Clint Dempsey, Steven Caulker, John Bostock, Nathan Byrne, William Gallas, Jack Munns, Dean Parrett, Jack Barthram, Jake Nicholson, David Bentley.
In addition of a monetary profit, they have also made a profit on the average age. The outgoing players have an average age of 24 years whereas 23 years 4 months is the average age of the incoming seven players which is surely a valid plus point.
The two most important qualms now for Tottenham are team chemistry and success. Their current squad is fiercely potent but will they adapt within themselves? Will their team chemistry take a kicking? Will Andre Villas Boas manage to keep up a certain momentum which will earn them a champions league spot, this season? All these questions need to be pondered upon. In the premier league it is always difficult to adapt because of the tenacity and the level of competition it offers. With seven players from entirely different league backgrounds, it will be an absolute delight to see how they cope up with England and its accomplices.
The success and momentum factor also plays a vital role in this team building process for Villas Boas. Bale was a proven goal scorer, a winger who took his chances and often came inside the D. Nacer Chadli is a pure crossing winger like Aaron Lennon while Lamela and Eriksen are purely attacking midfielders. So essentially, Bale was doing the job of Chadli + Eriksen/Lamela. So Villas Boas would have to work on his formations too. All these factors will be of high reference in their race to glory. They can keep the momentum going only if they manage to get a string of vital victories in the leagues. With this highly potent squad, they are also expected to concentrate and do well in the Europa League after a disappointing campaign last time around.
To sum up, whether or not Daniel Levy’s calculated risk was right, will be shown only as time passes. They look like a solid team with nothing to worry about. In the first four rounds, they sit atop the league table in second position, just below their North London rivals Arsenal.
With or without Bale, the practice balls at the White Hart Lane still get kicked by a hugely talented set of youngsters.
“Keep passing the ball until their heads spin” – is one of the cheeky mottos of La Masia, the youth club of FC Barcelona. La Masia has been up and running in scouting, training and hence producing exquisite strings of footballers. But is Football Club Barcelona, the principal behind this immaculate organisation, making full use of it? It is a question to be pondered about, especially of late with the transfer policy the club has adopted.
On November 25th 2012 in the 4-0 league game victory against Levante, after Dani Alves suffered injury in the 14th minute he was replaced by Martin Montoya. Barcelona vaunted about 76 minutes of an all La Masia XI. It was the first time ever in Europe’s competitive level that a club fielded all eleven players who had graduated from its own youth system. It sent shockwaves across the globe, to say the least. Looking at the issue from that perspective, one could evidently say La Masia has been markedly successful and FC Barcelona has made the full use of it. But one thing to be noted in the line up on that day was that the three players namely Gerard Pique, Franscesc Fabregas and Jordi Alba were odd ones out. They were players who initially left the club and came back after a stint at a few other clubs for a considerable amount of time.
Fabregas left the Barcelona academy in 2003 ‘citing lack of opportunities at the big stage’. He was portraying a huge amount of potential during the time of his departure to Arsenal. At Arsenal, he attained captaincy at the age of just 21. He became a big hit for the Gunners helping them in consistently finishing among the top four in the Premier League. Eventually, owning to ‘lack of silverware’ at Arsenal, he came back to Barcelona in 2011. However he was not able to cement a place in the starting eleven, with Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets rock solid in midfield. Fabregas left Barcelona and went to Arsenal as a free agent. But he came back for a fee of €29 million with a further €5 million in variables.
Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba left La Masia on 2004 and 2005 respectively. Pique left as a free agent to Manchester United and came back to Barcelona in 2008 for a fee of €5 million. Jordi Alba left to Valencia CF for a lowly €6000 and came back in 2012 for €15 million plus variables.
A bit of simple arithmetic says that on the whole Barca suffered a loss of almost a whopping €54 million plus variables on three of their own players. Coincidentally it happens to be around the same amount of money with which they lured the Brazilian starlet Neymar from Santos earlier in the transfer window. Ergo, the basic functionality of the sporting directors, performance analysers come under question.
The arrival of Neymar raised a few significant eyebrows including that of one of the most prolific men in the history of the club, Johan Cruyff. The former Ajax veteran was quoted as saying “I imagine he’s very good; I haven’t seen him, but the important thing is to put together a team. I wouldn’t put two captains on the same boat. We have experienced the difficulties in that”. Ronaldinho was the captain of the ship for five years, from 2003 to 2008 but was eventually eclipsed by Lionel Messi. Does this trend suggest that Neymar will cast his shadow upon Messi?
On the Barcelona half of the story, exiting 24 year old Chilean Alexis Sanchez and the ever bubbling 25 year old Pedro Rodriguez are expected to peak in the coming season, while David Villa (31) has already left the Camp Nou to join Atletico Madrid for a cheap €5.2 million. In addition to that, the injury prone Dutch international, Ibrahim Afellay is expected to be back at the Camp Nou following a loan spell at Shalke 04. With humungous talents in store in the form of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca, the emerging duo Gerard Deulofeu and Rafinha Alcantara (loaned out to Everton and Celta respectively), a case of acute snafu is expected to pop up for the front three in line-ups next season. Cuenca showed glimpses of brilliance in the few chances he got in Pep Guardiola’s last season after which he was loaned out to Ajax. Tello proved that he seldom wakes up on the wrong side of the bed by exuding sheer class and scoring 8 goals for Barcelona so far in the 2012-2013 campaign. He was only two goals behind Pedro Rodriguez for the season’s tally. Deulofeu is often compared to the likes of Messi and is tipped to become one of the best players in world football. If Messi dependency was the sole qualm, then the solution was in their own backyard at La Masia. The key was to be patient and try different permutations with the existing talent. Tito Vilanova has not been good enough in experimenting different combinations by rotating his players, the trait which was well embedded in Guardiola.
A pretty similar scenario prevails in the midfield as well. With Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets in the team, it’s quite admissible that it would be a herculean task to replace one among them unless issues of injuries or suspensions arise. This brings one to the curious case of Thiago Alcantara, the extraordinary young La Masia product who was tipped to fill in the boots of Xavi who in turn is reaching the twilight of his career at 33 years of age. But with the arrival of Barcelona’s prodigal son, the exceedingly talented Fabregas, Thiago’s hopes of filling a position in the Barcelona central midfield has diminished for at least the next 4-5 years. Seeing the lack of opportunities to play, he has decided to leave. The scintillating Barcelona youth is expected to kick start his career under his mentor and former Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich where he can get enough playing time so that he is recognized by Vicente Del Bosque and thereby brightening his chances of breaking into the Spanish squad for the World Cup at Brazil, next year. The transfer amount is rumoured to be around €25 million, a real prize catch for the Bavarians. To fill in a void that will blossom, a B team player should be considered. The 21 year old Sergi Roberto who himself rose through the grades of La Masia has shown real temperament to play at the high level and thus he looks like the best choice for promotion. In the middle of all this melodrama in midfield, what added fuel to the fire was the needless signing of Alexandre Song. With a top centre back’s arrival anticipated, Javier Mascherano who has spent most of his Barcelona career playing at centre back is expected to start competing for his beloved primary position of defensive midfield. To sum up, seven players namely Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Fabregas, Song, Jonathan Dos Santos and Mascherano will be vying for three spots in the centre of midfield next season.
This erroneous transfer policy has already done the damage. Neymar’s presence has put a question mark over the future of Deulofeu, Rafa Alcantara, Cuenca and Tello. And the presence of Song and Mascherano has already had its impact on Thiago and will definitely hinder the growth of Jonathan Dos Santos and Sergi Roberto. To at least mend this problem partially, some of these young talents must be loaned out so as to assess their quality, adaptability and versatility without losing them. Barcelona has done a good job by planning a loan move for Deulofeu to Everton where he can get playing time. And Rafinha Alcantara is expected to spend a year at Celta de Vigo, on loan. If next season is going to be a repeat of the current one for some of these potential stars, Barcelona would have to just look at them leaving, exactly like what happened with Oriol Romeu, Mauro Icardi and Gai Assulin to name a few. They would always leave their doors ajar.
Therefore, Barcelona must look to emend their transfer policy. They must go out and out to keep hold of a whole list of B team players comprising of Joseph Ondoa, Carles Planas, Marc Muniesa, Gerard Deulofeu, Javi Espinosa, Sergi Samper, Sergi Roberto, Rafa Alcantara, Kiko Femenia and Jean Marie Dongou. With the proper usage of La Masia, the success is assured to remain in the same vogue with the added advantage of cutting out on superfluous expenditure.
The following list comprises of a few players who graduated out of La Masia, who are playing competitive football at top leagues across Europe.
BARCELONA: Víctor Valdés, Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Xavier Hernández, Marc Bartra, Martín Montoya, Jonathan Dos Santos, Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodriguez, Isaac Cuenca and Cristian Tello.
RETURNEES OF BARCELONA: Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba.
IN OTHER LEAGUES: Oriol Romeu Vidal (Chelsea), Iago Falqué (Tottenham, loan to Southampton), Bojan Krkic (AC Milan), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Luis Alberto (Liverpool), Mauro Icardi (Internazionale) Jordi Gomez (Wigan), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Ignasi Miquel (Arsenal), Thiago Motta (PSG), Gai Assulin (Racing Santander), Nolito (Benfica, loan to Granada) and Victor Vazquez (Club Brugge), Gerard Deulofeu (loan, Everton), Thiago Alcântara (Bayern Munich).
SPANISH LIGA: Trashorras, Ruben Martinez, Sergio Rodriguez (Rayo Vallecano), Fernando Navarro and Botia (Sevilla), Marc Valiente, Peña, Lluis Sastre (Valladolid), Victor Sanchez, Baena, Verdú, Sergio García (Espanyol), Giovanni Dos Santos and Fontàs (Mallorca), Victor Rodriguez (Zaragoza), Nano (Osasuna), Rafinha Alcantara (loan, Celta).
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