Guardiola's tactical switch swings clásico in favor of Barcelona

There are still those, remarkably, who ask whether tactics really matter, still people who persist using the Luddite insistence that the best players will win out come what may. No matter that Lionel Messi never produces his Barcelona form for Argentina or that Dani Alves regularly flounders for Brazil, Barcelona, these flat-earthers continue to say, win simply because they possess the best players.

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

What happened within the Bernabeu on Saturday, surely, will disabuse them. Good players are essential, of course, but this was a game title turned on a tactical shift, a game Barcelona won because Pep Guardiola created a formation to which Jose Mourinho could not find a solution.

For that first quarter of the game, Barca was rattled. Real Madrid, slightly surprisingly starting avoid a 4-3-3 however with a 4-2-3-1, pressed solid, often a highly effective type of five bearing down on the man in possession, with just Lassana Diarra (used as a midfield anchor and not, as numerous had expected, as a back, where Fabio Coentrao fought an increasingly vain battle to prevent Andres Iniesta) left to support the rear four.

It had been the rate of that pressing, allied to an ill-conceived and ill-executed pass from Victor Valdes plus some doziness from Gerard Pique, that led to Real Madrid's opener, and in addition it prevented Barca developing anything like its usual fluency or rhythm early on. Barca's system would be a little odd, resembling less the familiar 4-3-3 having a false nine than the usual 4-4-1-1 or perhaps a 4-3-2-1. Alexis Sanchez, beginning to the left, worked across the forward line, with Lionel Messi less an incorrect nine than an orthodox 10, tucked behind him. Cesc Fabregas had what was presumably intended like a free role, but he often seemed too advanced, denying Xavi and Iniesta the easy short passing options on that they thrive.

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

In those opening stages, Real looked dominant and, frankly, it seemed the title was already won, it was time for you to invoke the Three-Year Rule of the great Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann and explain how rarely the very best sides, and specially those based on intense pressing, sustain their success right into a fourth season.

But midway with the half, Guardiola made the tactical switch that turned the sport and, perhaps, the growing season. Dani Alves was pushed forward into an attacking right-sided midfield role, with Carles Puyol moving to back, a far more naturally defensive presence to stifle Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been further neutered incidentally Alves could prevent Marcelo getting toward support him. Ronaldo's contribution, while not overly significant early on, dwindled to zero next, one badly misplaced header along with a couple of unsuccessful free-kicks his only notably involvement within the other half. By the end, Mourinho had shifted him right, away from the attentions of Puyol, but at that time the sport was lost.

That meant Sergio Busquets dropping in to the back four, although he continued to come out into midfield. In turn, Xavi and Fabregas fell deeper, with Iniesta going wider left, Messi floating inside a trequartista position, and Sanchez becoming the central forward. It was the triangular interchange of Alves, so much better as an attacking wide man who makes the odd tackle than as an orthodox fullback, Sanchez and Messi that proved key in an attacking sense.

That was seen most obviously with the third goal, an excellent break begun when Pique won possession and fed Iniesta, who darted through two challenges before giving the ball to Messi. He laid it on for Alves, whose cross was ideal for Fabregas, arriving late, to score with a diving header.

The equalizer came from Messi dropping deep from any markers, obtaining possession and surging forward to tee up Sanchez. In the Super Cup, Mourinho had used Ricardo Carvalho to track the Argentine, but the fact he wasn't a false nine here coupled with Sanchez in front of him meant the 2 center backs needed to stay in place. Perhaps if Mourinho had used three holding midfielders, one of these could have tracked Messi, but he chosen the additional creator in Mesut Ozil who could facilitate our prime press -- as well as for Twenty minutes approximately, he seemed to have got it right.

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

Just like essential as the Messi-Alves-Sanchez triangle was the battle between Ozil and Busquets. Looking at towards the back four gave Busquets additional time and space and allowed him to initiate moves in the way he usually does, from the intentions of Ozil. Leaving the opposing playmaker free is a gamble, obviously, but it worked here, not least because Ozil isn't a particularly quick distributor, almost an old-fashioned No. 10 who requires a second or two to consider his options. Often that capability to create calm -- what Argentines revere as "la pausa" -- within the hurly-burly of a game is an asset; here it gave Barca breathing space, and Busquets could come out and close Ozil down.

This, perhaps, may be the ultimate result of Guardiola's use of a back three this season: on Saturday, he used a back three-and-a-half, with Busquets operating partly as a center back and partly like a holding midfielder, to an extent doing what fullbacks have been doing for a long time, and using the space afforded defenders in an attacking sense. That development was logical and may be foreseen.

What's startling, though, may be the juxtaposition of Busquets' role with the events of Thursday evening, when two sides -- Universidad de Chile in winning the first leg of its Copa Sudamericana final off to Liga de Quito and Rwanda in its Cecafa Cup semifinal win over Sudan -- used a 3-1-4-2. There is, it may be added, a typical source for the reason that Guardiola and Universidad de Chile's coach Jorge Sampaoli, are generally devotees of Marcelo Bielsa.

Perhaps that's the future, revealed on three continents in the space of Two days. More prosaically, Saturday involved Barca reasserting itself, about showing it's not gone stale. Guttmann always insisted that after 3 years in a club either the manager or the players had to be eliminated to prevent staleness and complacency. Guardiola has tinkered with personnel, but more crucially, his side is still evolving tactically, which gives him options like the one he invoked on Saturday.

Van Persie in the form of his life

LONDON -- Robin van Persie is sitting alongside a Dutch journalist within an otherwise deserted cinema, watching images of himself like a young boy flickering on the big screen. He looks pensive, then smiles because he sees each goal: at 13, dribbling past three defenders and rounding the goalkeeper for Excelsior¹s youth team; at 15, much taller, scoring in a Rotterdam youth game similarly; and then, three years later, playing for that Feyenoord first team.

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

As goals fly in, the comparisons are easy to make: the free-kick against Twente (December 2000), straight from the Pierre van Hooijdonk school; the back-heel turn and shot from 25 yards against AZ (February 2001) like Thierry Henry in the pomp; the dribble past Twente (February 2003) much like Lionel Messi today, and also the chest-then-volley against Ajax (February 2003) similar to Dennis Bergkamp against Argentina.

Watching these goals, included in Dutch TV documentary Heilig Gras, it seems astonishing to consider that Feyenoord ever wanted to sell Van Persie, however the goals don¹t tell the whole story. The little one who dribbled everywhere round town with a ball -- "I drove the shopkeeper crazy, because when I was paying I'd keep the ball up as well," he told Hard Gras, "and when somebody passed me I played him with the legs and continued playing" -- was arrogant, unruly and tough to handle back then.

He started the 2002 Uefa Cup final, in which Feyenoord beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2, but spent the sport trying out ideas to humiliate his opponent Evanilson, and only lasted an hour. He's since admitted he was more interested in himself compared to team and his relationship with coach Bert van Marwijk was strained (Van Marwijk has become in charge of Van Persie with the Holland team, age has mellowed each of them plus they now access it well).

Arsenal signed him for £4.5 million ($7M) in summer 2004, and each year, injuries notwithstanding, Van Persie, a thinker and, according to Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, a football obsessive, has improved his game.

Nearly seven years later, Van Persie is at the peak of his career and, almost single-handedly, leading Arsenal¹s revival after its rocky start led one British pundit to suggest it may be fighting relegation this year.

Van Persie is around the hottest scoring streak of his life: in 2011, he has scored 45 goals in 52 games, with 39 goals in 43 games for Arsenal; this year alone, 14 goals in 13 league starts.

This run coincides with Arsenal selling its two best passers over the summer, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, while its next best, Jack Wilshere, is out with a long-term injury. Which has forced Arsenal to experience a more direct attacking game, using the pace of Theo Walcott and also the trickery of Gervinho to create chances for Van Persie. "The two wingers are creating waves while Van Persie dances and plays within the splashes they make," David Winner, author of Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, told SI.com.

Van Persie is no longer scoring the glorious goals of his Feyenoord days but he is making scoring look easy, and that is something that Bergkamp, his hero and mentor for that two years they crossed at Arsenal, never managed. "Van Persie would go to where the ball will be, before anyone knows it will be there, and that¹s a mysterious gift to possess," said Winner.

"Bergkamp didn't have that, and nor did Van Basten. It jogs my memory of Gerd Muller, the way in which he checks a run, finds space, and finishes so efficiently with this perfect technique. He makes interesting runs, he still has the touch of a street player about him but his extraordinary movement is both cerebral and instinctive."

Van Persie has always had the habit of smoking of scoring important goals: his first league goal for Arsenal, in October 2004, was a last-minute equalizer against Southampton; after that first season, he would be a late substitute within the FA Cup semifinal against Blackburn, and scored two goals within the last four minutes; within the final, he took a penalty in the shootout against Man utd (after Edu had decided not to take one) and, "though I nearly blacked out I had been so nervous," scored in assisting Arsenal win its last trophy.

Last season, he scored the aim he ranks as his best ever: the equalizer as Arsenal originated from behind to beat Barcelona in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg. "It was against Barcelona, which for me has got the best squad in the past four decades," he told Heilig Gras. "It's an aspiration to measure yourself from the best and if you're the one which created the turning-point by scoring that goal, then in my experience, that's the best goal I¹ve ever scored." The next day, Van Persie was moved when a 75-year-old Arsenal fan came up to him and thanked him for providing his most breathtaking moment in soccer.

Winner is convinced that Van Persie could have reached this level two or more years back had injuries not intervened. A broken metatarsal in 2007, and ankle ligament damage in 2009, kept Van Persie out for very long spells, while repeated strains and pulls have meant he has yet to start 30 league games inside a season for Arsenal. Wenger has admitted that Arsenal would be concerned if Van Persie ended up getting injured, and the man "is on the edge [of getting injured]," so will be rotated in the next few weeks. He missed Tuesday's Carling Cup loss to Manchester City, and can sit out Tuesday's Champions League game at Olympiakos.

There is also the captaincy to consider: Van Persie's father, Bob, told Canal Plus that Robin's form is a result of the increase in responsibility since Fabregas's departure. "He's no longer just playing for himself, he's playing for that team. He is very important in creating that team now: he's leading they, not only by words but also by his actions on the field."

The Dutch journalist sitting with Van Persie in that cinema was Henk Spaan, the player's confidant and friend. "It's important to him to know that he's valued," Spaan told Mio Stadium. "Deep down he might still be an insecure figure. He's growing with his own importance."

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

That could mean there is more to come from Van Persie. Free of injuries finally, we might now find out precisely how good Van Persie really is."I wouldn't yet put him within the same category as Bergkamp, who was a mysterious and profound passer with a perfect technique, but Van Persie is certainly among the best from the current generation right now," said Winner. "What he's doing at the moment is genuinely astounding."

'Batman' star christian bale roughed up in China

As Christian Bale approached an impromptu checkpoint leading to this tiny village in eastern China, four men blocking the narrow path started marching toward him in menacing unison.



If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

"I am here to determine Chen Guangcheng," the "Dark Knight" actor said and I translated, with correspondent Stan Grant and cameraman Brad Olson next to us.

"Go away!" the plainclothes guards barked, pushing us back.

Amid the scuffling and yelling, dozens more guards in olive-green, military-style overcoats -- and 2 gray minivans -- emerged in the other side of the checkpoint, all coming toward us.

"Why can one not visit this free man?" Bale asked repeatedly, only to receive punches from guards aiming for his small camera as they attempted to drag him away from the rest of us.
Christian Bale roughed up in China
Christian Bale visits China as activist

Once we retreated, I recognized the ringleader -- exactly the same burly man who had hurled rocks in the CNN team 10 months earlier to force us from the same location.

A precarious scene ensued Thursday as one of the gray minivans chased our car at high-speed on bumpy country roads for many 40 minutes.

Once the dust settled, we counted a broken car, a damaged camera -- and a Hollywood star disappointed at -- although not shocked by -- his failure to see an individual hero.

"What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say how much of an inspiration he's," Bale said.

The person, 40-year-old Chen Guangcheng, has been confined to his home together with his wife, mother and daughter, and watched around the clock by dozens of guards since he was released from prison in September 2010. A nearby court had sentenced him to a lot more than 4 years in prison for damaging property and disrupting traffic in a protest.



If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

Blind China activist recovers amid call for his release

His supporters maintain authorities used trumped-up charges to silence Chen, a blind, self-taught lawyer who rose to fame within the late 1990s thanks to his legal advocacy for what he called victims of abusive practices by China's family-planning officials.

Bale first discovered Chen through news reports, including our coverage in February, when he is at China filming "The Flowers of War," a wartime drama set in 1930s Nanjing in which he plays a mortician attempting to save several schoolgirls in the clutches invading Japanese soldiers.

Blind lawyer makes Chinese officials jittery

The injustice faced through the activist and the family stirred such strong emotions in Bale that, upon hearing his impending return to China to advertise the film, he chose to do something unusual to boost the international understanding of Chen and thereby to turn up the heat around the Chinese government.

"This doesn't come naturally to me, this is not things i actually enjoy -- it's not about me," he explained during our eight-hour drive from Beijing to the eastern town of Linyi, where Chen's village is situated. "But it was just a situation having said that I can't look the other way."

Considered to be a media-shy celebrity, Bale reached out to CNN and invited us to join him on his journey to go to Chen.

In the car, he lamented the American public's lack of edcuation on Chen's case, despite senior U.S. officials' increasingly vocal support for his freedom. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Gary Locke, the American ambassador to China, have both championed Chen's cause.

Although China's state media has largely ignored the story, Chen's plight has spread on the internet and outraged an increasing number of Chinese "netizens." Many have attempted to visit Chen, and activists say nearly all would-be visitors have been turned back, often violently, by plainclothes police and local thugs.

"I'm not brave carrying this out," Bale emphasized. "The local people who're standing to the authorities, who are visiting Chen and his family and getting beaten or detained, I want to support them."

As our car sped toward Beijing at nighttime, Bale wondered aloud if he'd not be allowed back -- a prospect he is ready to accept -- even as "The Flowers of War" became China's official entry into next year's Academy Awards.

"Really, what else can I do to help Chen?" he kept asking because the clock struck midnight, together with his latest movie -- partially funded by the state -- going to open nationwide in China.

Man Utd requires New Goal Scorer

Manchester United must sign a goalscorer as well as replacements for injured duo Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic, says ex-United star Paul Ince.



If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

Midfielder Fletcher may be eliminated indefinitely through illness while defender Vidic is not going to play again this season with a knee injury.

But Ince thinks they also require a new striker to aid Wayne Rooney.

"There quite a bit of pressure on Rooney and that we saw what that did to him on earth Cup," Ince told BBC Sport.
MAN UTD GOALS In 2010
Stay with me the main story

 * Rooney 14 goals in 19 games (1 as sub)
 * Nani 7 in 22 (4)
 * Hernandez 6 in 17 (7)
 * Welbeck 5 in 15 (5)
 * Owen 3 in 4 (1)
 * Young 3 in 15 (1)
 * Berbatov 2 in 12 (6)
 * Valencia 2 in 15 (4)

"If you will compete with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea you will need somebody that will probably score you 20 goals a season and you can't just depend on Wayne Rooney to get it done year in and year out.

"Nani has chipped in and Ashley Young was flying early on, however they have quietened down form-wise, so that you wonder the location where the goals are likely to result from.

"[Dimitar] Berbatov's not playing enough, Michael Owen is going injured again and Danny Welbeck continues to be a new lad but he'll chip within goals."

Javier Hernandez, who scored 20 goals for United last season and contains notched six within this campaign, happens to be out injured for a number of weeks after damaging ankle ligaments against Aston Villa on 3 December.

Fletcher is taking a lengthy break after the club revealed he was being affected by ulcerative colitis and Ince, who spent five years at Old Trafford, believes his old boss Sir Alex Ferguson will be eyeing several midfielder.

"Darren Fletcher over the years continues to be that engine room, his levels of energy are incredible to hear this news that he's going to be out for quite a while is extremely sad," said former England midfielder Ince.

"But I'm they need that creativity in midfield, losing Scholesy [the retired Paul Scholes] was a big loss obviously.

"You're not going to get players like Roy Keane or Bryan Robson, those players aren't around anymore.
Phil McNulty's blog
Read on the principle story

 The 27-year-old midfield man's career now takes second spot to his rehabilitation, but his absence can be a blow to both United - whose midfield resources are already stretched - and Scotland.

"The game has evolved subsequently and you aren't getting those kind of characters, so he's got to check out another way of managing the midfield but that come from creativity in someone like Luka Modric or Andres Iniesta, those are the players I'd be looking at basically was Sir Alex Ferguson.

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

"I'm sure Sir Alex will take stock and he'll find what type of player he'll need in January also it won't try to be in midfield, I'm sure he's considering a centre-half with Vidic being out.

"But I'm certain he knows what direction to go, there is not any point me telling him how to proceed because he's the greatest manager That i've ever played under."

5 dead, scores injured in Belgium grenade, gun attack

A grenade and gun attack within this eastern Belgian city left five people dead, such as attacker, and 119 wounded Tuesday, authorities said.



If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

A 23-month-old baby died in a very hospital late Tuesday after being wounded inside the attack near a Christmas market in a city center square, said Katrin Delcourt, a spokeswoman for your Liege provincial governor's office. Others killed in the attack included two teenage boys, aged 15 and 17, plus a 75-year-old woman, Liege public prosecutor Danielle Reynders told reporters.

Some 52 everyone was treated for injuries by medics at the field hospital create nearby the scene, the prosecutor said, while some went to hospitals in your neighborhood.

Police fear the death toll will rise overnight, a spokeswoman for Liege police said.

The attacker was defined as Nordine Amrani, 33, of Liege, Reynders said.

He died inside the attack through which he hurled three grenades and fired weapons from a rooftop into the crowded square near a court building, she said.
Belgium attack witness saw carnage

The guy acted alone inside attack in position St. Lambert, and information not looking for other suspects, she said, adding which he had left his home with a pistol, a semi-automatic rifle as well as the grenades as part of his bag.

Police had asked the attacker, who had previously been previously convicted on drugs and weapons offenses, to come looking for interviews in a ongoing investigation, the prosecutor said. He never been arrested for terror offenses.

Reynders said officials weren't yet in a position to explain the motive to the attack.

Delcourt, the spokeswoman to the provincial governor's office, told CNN that Amrani was on conditional parole. She couldn't give details of the police investigation.

It remained unclear whether he'd committed suicide or passed away when one of several grenades exploded as part of his face, she said.

Among the weapons he'd, the light automatic rifle, is really a standard-issue weapon inside Belgian army, Delcourt said.

A senior Belgian security source, who may have been briefed on the investigation but did not desire to be named while he had not been authorized to speak with the media, told CNN that Amrani's police meeting scheduled Tuesday was for suspected rape.

Amrani was with an elevated walkway across the square when he soon started throwing grenades down into the group and after that firing, before shooting himself inside the head with his revolver, the foundation said.

Amrani was once in prison on drugs and arms racketeering charges, the source said, being caught cultivating "several thousand" cannabis plants.

Authorities will carry out an autopsy in part to find out if he was under influence of medicine through the attack, which has shocked the continent and its security service, the source said.

He stated that during Amrani's 40 months in jail, he was not diagnosed with any mental disorder or seen to be politicized before being released on conditional parole. The origin said authorities have discovered no ties to Islamist terrorism.

Liege resident Kevin Hauzeur told CNN which he ducked for cover because he heard a "huge explosion and 2 or three gunshots" inside city center.

A number of people were in the region at that time to buy at the Christmas market, Hauzeur said. Everyone else was "spinning around, crying -- it had been really chaotic," he stated.

He stated he seen what were the body of the attacker before police cleared everyone from the area. Police told him the guy had shot himself, Hauzeur said.

A CNN correspondent on the scene Tuesday evening said lots of police in fluorescent jackets remained within the cordoned-off square nonetheless it was otherwise deserted.

Municipal cleaning vehicles sprayed the central market area with water, he said, overseen by way of a large Christmas tree, which remained illuminated.

Oliver Moch, a spokesman for that Citadelle hospital, the biggest inside Liege area, said 31 people injured within the attack had been admitted for treatment there.

The Belgian Red Cross also stood a team on-page in Liege, operations director Gregory Jones told CNN earlier. It was providing psychological support.

King Albert II and Queen Paola went along to Liege to meet the mayor, provincial governor and workers with the Red Cross and emergency services following attack, the Belgian royal palace told CNN.

Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo also traveled to Liege, his spokesman said.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague issued an announcement saying: "There may be zero location for appalling acts of violence similar to this in any society, i condemn this attack in the strongest terms."

Charles Boisoin, whose apartment overlooks the town center, told CNN shortly after the attack that they and his neighbors ended up instructed by police not to leave their homes. The location center was virtually deserted and many types of he could hear and find out were helicopters flying overhead, he was quoted saying.

Television footage and images in the scene showed blood about the sidewalk, as well as law enforcement officers and vehicles gathered nearby.

The provincial governor's office initially declared police were searching for no less than one suspect.

If you are unaware of the latest news make sure you go through Breaking News and Hot News.

Liege is Belgium's third-largest city, after Brussels and Antwerp, the national tourist office says. Going back centuries, it is an important cultural and industrial center for your country.