Why Bojan Krkic has been so good lately?

How quick things change in the world of football? Last December every Barca fan were complaining about how disappointed were they with the performance of the little Bojan Krkic; now they can't stop praising him. Indeed Bojan Krkic has been in a tremendous goal scoring streak and have impressed everyone including his manager. Guardiola suddenly started to believe in him, which explains why he was preferred in place of Ibrahimovic in two of the most crucial away games against Villareal and Sevilla. Every Barca fan is swearing by his name and would like to see him replace the 70 million Ibrahimovic in the last game of the season. But it was not so bright and shiny for Bojan at Barca this season. Till recently he was struggling to find any meaningful playing time under Guardiola. Forget having a lack of confidence in the young striker, Guardiola's approach earlier gave a picture of having o belief in his talent. He was overlooked for Pedro on numerous occasion. Even when Ibrahimovic was struggling Guardiola never called upon Bojan, not even as a substitute. The only piece of action he was seeing was the Copa del Rey actionl; but with Barca going down to Sevilla he was virtually warming the bench. I earlier wrote a piece arguing why Bojan should move out of Barca for the good.

A look at the article and many of you could argue that I have no confidence in the youngster making it good at Barca. But a closer look will reveal that I have actual tremendous faith in Bojan, but not much with him under Guardiola. Actually,I was one of those rare Barca bloggers who constantly pitched in for him. In the start of the season I wrote an article claiming Bojan could be the trump card for Barca this season. One guy came out and blasted me for writing such a non-sense article (you can see in the comments). In the end of the day, whatever I wrote in there came true. As I explained, Ibrahimovic is struggling at Barca and towards the end Bojan has become quite an influential player. You could only pray that what if Guardiola realised that a bit early and started with him against Inter Milan.

Now coming back to the topic of the article - What is the reason of Bojan Krkic's recent success? Many will atriculate the reason as a return of the self-belief, but I would say that the real reason is Guardiola's new found belief in Bojan Krkic. It is not a secret that Guardiola never thought high about Bojan Krkic, his stats also justify Guardiola's lack of confidence. Bojan Krkic has score 12 goals from 35 appearances this season. Compare this to Ibrahimovic's and Pedro's twenty one goals, he gives a picture of a rather inept striker. But the staticstics does not tell the whole story. In the 35 appearances, Bojan Krkic has started only fifteen times; now the statistics looks really good - in 15 starts he has 12 goals. That is a true mark of genuine talelnt. Bojan Krkic came to the first team as a prodigy who has made it a habit of scoring goals. His first season was really good even though Barca struggled. Last season he struggled to find any meaningful playing time and this season he failed to make anything out of the few chances given to him. Many started writing him off after each one of those disappointing performances especially in the Copa del Rey.

In contrast to Bojan, Pedro became an instant hit with Barca fans. Pedro had the coach's backing and he did produce some mesmirising football to entertain hard-core Barca fans. Bojan on the other hand was constantly disappointing in the few outing he got. Nobody cared about the fact that Bojan never got an oppurtunity to start with the best eleven. He got most of his oppurtunity in the Copa del Rey when most of the major players namely, Messi, Xavi and Inietsa were rested. And he did struggle in the absence of them. A close look of what have changed now give you the real reason why he is having a great time. Recently he is getting quality playing time with the likes of Messi and Xavi. Messi and Bojan seems to get along well on the field. And that is showing interms of confidence and match performance. In that sense the turning point for Bojan was the goal against Stuttgart. He scored within two minutes of his introduction. It's not the fact that he scored, but the fact that he scored in a match were Ibrahimovic was benched makes it a real turning point. From then on he got much more playing time and he has made good of most. If that goal against Inter Milan was not unfairly ruled out, he would have been the most worshipped player in Barcelona.

What's the future hold for Bojan at Barca?

I know many will be considering this as a stupid question. But hold on, I would highlight some scenarios which will make that question perfectly valid. At his current form Bojan is expected to be an integral part of Barca's attack next season. But it won't be that simple for the littly guy. As the rumours go FC Barcelona is expected to sign David Villa this summer. Now that makes Bojan's situation a bit tricky. Even though there are rumours going that Barca has offered Ibra's services to Chelsea, Juventus and Manchester City, I don't expect him to leave this summer. Many may argue about that, but I firmly believe that he deserve one more season to settle in Barca. Now if we have both Villa and Ibra, then that makes it impossible for Bojan Krkic to find any playing time. That could be suicidal from his point of view. There are some rumours of a loan deal with many major clubs, that may not be a bad thing to do. But he has to make sure that he goes to a place where he can get enough playing time. On the positive side, if Barca manage to sign Villa and also manage to find Ibrahimovic a club, then it will be all good for Bojan. Bojan si expected to be the next big striker from Spain and it would be great for him to work along with Villa. Whatever happens, this summer could be the most important one for our Bojan Krkic.

Bojan, It's Time To Move On

Bojan Krkic has recently indicated via media an urge to stay in Barca and fight for a spot in the Barcelona forward line-up. His decision is most probably made up on the fact that no concrete offers came in for his loan in the winter transfer window. But it is yet to be seen whether he intend to stay in Barcelona the next season. Bojan Krkic was the next big thing after Messi from Barca's youth academy. His debut season was sensational but the last two season, Bojan have been finding it difficult to see enough playing time. To his discredit he has not done justice to the opportunities given to him. But then it is harsh judging him by his performance in these matches as the opportunities come very few and far in between. If Ibrahmovic has not yet regained his form after playing game after game, Bojan will never hit any kind of form with playing time of ten minutes per month. From an outside perspective Bojan's situation is not bad, actually many would die to be in his position. Taking the position of centre forward into consideration, he is the only real alternative for Ibrahmovic in the team. And that simply means he should get enough playing time , but that's not the case with Bojan.

Limited Playing Time Makes Life Difficult for Bojan Krkic

Bojan's biggest problem is his coach - Pep guardiola. Guardiola does not have an iota of confidence in this little striker from Lleida . This fact was reiterated by the reluctance of Guardiola to give him good amount of playing time in recent matches. The last match between Gijon and Barca is a prime example of the scenario. Ibrahmovic was not contributing much to the game but Guardiola never thought of substituting him for Bojan. Anyway with Ibra not firing, how much risk it creates substituting for Bojan (especially considering Ibra don't contribute anything to defending)? Guardiola eventually brought Bojan on in the 91st minute. That should prove it to Bojan that he don't have any immediate future under Guardiola at Barca. It would be a different option if he could prove himself somewhere else. Bojan made a big mistake not looking for another club in the summer. But there was rational in his decision - Barca was going to play in four competition and he was bound to get some time. With Copa Del Rey exit he has lost any opportunity of getting some quality time.

An apparent move to English Premier League May not be good for Bojan Krkic

Bojan again has to be very careful with the team whom he chooses for the deal. His former team-mate Giovani Dos Santos made a huge blunder by choosing Totenham. Under Ramos he had some chance of getting some time, but once Redknaap took over it was over. Anyway things look to have sorted out for Giovani with a loan to Galatasaray and a unification with Rijkaard. English coaches are never known to encourage young talents and he should definitely give them a miss. Manchester City is one team very much interested in him but considering the amount of forwards they already have, do not even think about it. The best option will be a loan to a smaller club in Spain - Maybe a promoted one. The second choice should be a loan to mid size clubs in Germany, France or even Italy. If he chooses the second option it would be better for him to go for at least a two-year loan period. Whichever option he chooses - Loan or a transfer, this has to happen this summer. He has already wasted two entire season. There may be many Barca fans who would question his loyalty if he opts for a transfer. But he should simply ignore him. Rijkaard helped the likes of Messi by giving enough playing time for them in their first two seasons. But Bojan cannot expect the same from Guardiola. So his top priority should be his career over anything.

I don't think there exist a Barca fan who will put his club over his personal career. We all might give the office a miss to catch Barca playing some match, but we will not jeopardize our career for that. Bojan is in such a juncture at this point of time. Some years ago same loyalty arguments were thrown out at a player who is playing at Arsenal, bloody hell I also did the same. The fans have forgot all those now and is asking for his comeback. I myself did some mistakes by not taking the opportunity in my professional career, and I can guarantee you that time is not going to comeback. So this summer would be the most important period for Bojan Krkic's career. It would be sad to see a great product from Barca's youth academy playing in other club, but it would be disastrous to see him not fulfilling his potential.

Bojan Off To Arsenal?

Ok, the latest rumours that is doing the rounds in Barca circles are the possible move of Bojan to Arsenal in the January window. Arsenal has been plagued by injury problems for their attacking line-up and Wenger is rumoured to be looking to add Bojan to his squad as a soultion. Bojan has been having a tough time finding playing time under Guardiola as Pedro is the coach's favourite. He was considered the next big thing after Messi to come out of La Masia but his career has taken a downward spiral after that. It is very clear that he will make his move out of Barcelona by next summer. There was a report which suggested that he is not at all interested in a loan move. Now that comes as a testimony of how Guardiola treats players who was picked by some other managers. Bojan was interested in a loan move for this season, but looked to have talked out of it by Gaurdiola. But the manager does not clearly think high of him and looks like has only talked him out of a loan move as a precaution in the squad. The last time a young player who siad that he will not prefer a loan move was Giovani Dos Santos and it was a result of the way Guardiola treated him. But Giovani's career has taken a further downward spiral as he chose a wrong team to make his switch. English teams apart from Arsenal is not known to favour youngstars and it should be a lesson for Bojan before he makes the switch.

Another problem that is hurting Giovanni's transfer out of Totenham is the contract they made with Barca when buying him. The contract had a clause which is restricting Giovanni's sale. If he is sold in the first 2 years , Barca gets 20% of it and after that 10%, I believe that could be another reason that's hampering his transfer. Bojan has to be careful with these in the future. Arsenal at present might need Bojan but he has to look into the long term. Once the stars who are injured return back, he may find it difficult to find playing time there also. So a loan move to Arsenal till the end of the season may be good but a permanent move may not be that interesting for Bojan. Meanwhile Barca has clarified that they have not received any interest from Arsenal for Bojan. Let's wait and see how this story shapes. Meanwhile Txiki Begiristain has said that he has spoken to Yaya Toure's agent about his future. Nothing is clear apart from that the coach will call the shot.

Will Bojan and Toure Move out of Barca?

Bojan and Toure are two contarsting case. One is eager to prove his talent but has no oppurtunity and the other one has showed the world his worth but still won't get a decent playing time. It wasn't a secret that Guardiola never preferred Yaya Toure as the defensive midielder in his setup. The initial comments from Guardiola gave the impression that he was too happy to see the back of the most consistent player for Barca in those two pathetic years. The initial treatment also pointed a same approach but Yaya fought back into the team and was one of the major reason we had a great last season. During the summer there were all kind of rumours that Mascherano would be preffered to Toure but somehow in the end we managed to give him a proper contract. But now it looks like the presenting of contract was to ensure that the player don't leave cheap rather to ensure the player remain in the team. He is not getting any quality playing time and performnace against Xerex has been pointed out by some as a reason he should not. As far as I am concerned he along with Essien are the best defensive midfielders in the world. And not giving one of the best enough playing time is a crime. Some of Barca fans points out the fact that he will be out for one month during African Nations cup as a reason Busquets is preffered to him. That's quite strange - if there was a Copa America going on, would you have preffered somebody else to Messi and Alves?

Will Bojan and Toure Stay at Barca Next Season?

Bojan's situation is rather grim. Everyone expected him to go on loan in the summer, but he didn't and he is definitely regretting it. Bojan had one of the most successful debut for Barca youngster. But still last season he played below par. To add to his misery, whenever he gets a chance the whole team changes. He hasn't got enough chance to play along with Messi, Iniesta, Xavi etc. In that sense Pedro is more lucky because he mostly walks into the usual eleven. Pedro is a player who was brought into the first eleven by Guardiola. So he gets most of the oppurtunity and to his credit he made most from those. Bojan meanwhile looked very good in the begining of the season, but with the lack of oppurtunity; he is struggling. It won't be a surprise that if we see these two players playing in different teams next season. Toure is keenly followed by both Arsenal and Manchester City and both teams may need a quality defensive midfielder to bolster their ranks. It is not yet clear what are the options available for Bojan, but he will doa world of good for him chosing a small team over the bigger ones. Giovanni destroyed his career going to Totenham. He is not seeing any playing time. His form for the national side has been really good but still not get noticed by Harry Redknapp. Anyway I am running a poll to see what the fans of Barca thing will happen to these two.

Should Bojan Krkic Start in Rome?

Next year there is a high possibility of Bojan Krkic being loaned out to some other club. Bojan has always insisted on staying in Barca and fighting for a place, but recently he seems to be in line in accepting a temporary loan move. Celtic again has shown interest in him, but then there is also interest from some Premier League clubs like Blackburn. With the League title in the kitty, Bojan had got two consecutive starts which has been so rare this season. He had a great outing in the Copa Del Rey final and rounded up that display with a wonderful goal. Again in the weekend he was the best Barca player on the pitch. He looks more comfortable playing in the left rather than in centre. He is a player who likes to have space to work around and that explains why he has not been that sharp when played in the centre. But nobody doubts his credential as a natural poacher. He already have ten goals to his credit eventhough he has not started that much this season.

Ok, coming back to the main topic. Thierry Henry and Iniesta is reported to be recovering well from their injuries. They both most probably will be available for the final in Rome. But it is yet to see whether Guardiola will start with both of them especially Henry. Iniesta, if recovered will move into the midfield as we don't have anyone of that quality to replace him in the middle. But the idea of bringing Henry directly from an injury lay-off to first team does not sound positive with me. I would prefer Bojan to start on the left and would like to bring on Henry early in the second half depending on the situation. Bojan has been performing well in recent matches. He knew that there could be a chance in the final up for grabs and he has readily jumped into contention. May be the match against Osasuna will give us more time to decide whether Bojan should start in front left.

Now Everyone is After Bojan

FC Barcelona fans and Management looks like is creating a habit of putting enormous pressure on new emerging talents. Last season it was Giovanni who wilted in the enormous pressure created and moved out of Nou Camp. Now it looks like this season it will be the chance of Bojan Krkic to be at the receiving end. But in Bojan's case the move could be a temporary one, this is what Sport.es is reporting. Sport.es reports that Barcelona could be thinking about a loan move for the youngster since he is getting very few playing occasion. Bojan started for the fisrt time in league and had a torrid time wasting some good chances. He was substituted in the 55th minute and looked very much depressed by his own showing.

Bojan sums up his performance as this "’m not happy at all with my own performance because this was my first start in La Liga and I wanted to do something special. But it didn’t happen.". There is so much to be read between in that statement. First of all is the fact that he is desperate to make a mark and grab Guardiola's attention. Every match whenever he has been brought in he has done the same. It is sad that no attempt has been made by the Manager to assure him. Many argue that this is a tough league and he has to toughen up to survive here. They point out the example of Messi's evolution as an example like last time they used to expel Giovanni. But they always forget the facts behind Messi's evolution. Messi was always given time to evolve as a player; he was always protected by his team mates; in terms of the burden of carrying the team it was Ronnie, Eto and Deco who carried us forward. Messi was guaranteed of his position on the right always; there was only Guily to fight for that place. Bojan's case is different; he is supposed to fight with Henry, Gudjonsen, Eto for the centre forward place; add to this Guardiola's preference of Pedro, Busquests and Victor ahead of him. Naturally he is desperate to get attention of his coach. Most of the game he has been brought in as substitute in the later stages. But as usual Barcelona fans will never be ready to see these facts nor will be ready to give him time to learn the trade. There is a huge chance of him moving out of Barcelona atleast temporarily. Remember next season it will be Busquets or Pedrito.

Bojan and Giovani - Firmly Striding Forward

In the begining of this season it was clear that the two wonderfully talented kids - Bojan and Giovani ,from Barcelona youth Academy will get their first taste of first team football. But a series of injuries and loss of form of the senior players have made sure that both of them remain an integral part of Barcelona team this season. In the start of season , there was too much of pressure on Rijkaard to include them in the side inorder to avoid other clubs robbing them. In contrast to some of their seniors who went in search for better shores, these two had made it clear in advance that their future lies with Barcelona. Giovnani was expected to make a sizeable number of appearances and Bojan was expected to make his debut this season. But as destined they both have made a sizeable number of appearances and also have made it into starting eleven on many number of occasion. This also has a downside with fans and media criticising them (like Giovani was criticised some game before) for the lack of impact in some games. The media and fans will do a world of good to the club if they take the time to remember that they just made their debuts this season. Messi, when he debuted some season ago was similiar to them, but ofcourse had more talent.

Of these two, Bojan Krikic looked to me more comfortable with rigour of La Liga football. This may be of the fact that he is an out and out striker, and (apart from Eto we don't have one also) he gets to play in his favourite position more often. Giovani had made much bigger impact when he was brought as a substitute but in matches where he started have to admit he was a dissappointment. Don't have to look too far the last match against Osasuna will act as a testimony for what i have written here. But I believe this may be because of the lack of centre forward in the Barcelona player setup. He is asked to do so much more than he might be capable of. Bojan already has four goals from 18 apperances which is very good as debutant, but also reiterates the fact that he is a out and out Centre Forward. Along with messi, these two will for the future of the Barcelona attack line up. But overall we can confidently say that these two kids have taken their baby strides in the big leagues of football very firmly.

Rijkaard's trouble in the match against Sevilla doesn't looks like ending - now Deco and Sylvinho has been declared unfit for the tie. The three reserve players - Espasandín , Víctor Vázquez and Víctor Sánchez have been named in the squad. Out of which Víctor Espasandín has a high chance of making his debut as he is considered as a solid Left back. As i said in my last post it maight be time for Messi to justify world's belief that he is the New Maradona. This match will depend upon him a lot. Thinking about Ronaldinho, some strange idea came to my mind - we can place him in the Midfield may be in the position Gudjonsen is playing. That will cut down the expectation on him of scoring Goals and will surely help him in assisting more. Every time I see him on pitch he looks like trying too much for scoring Goals, because of which he is not assisting his fellow players or creating chances.

Bojan Krkic - young star of Barca B

Bojan Krkic - young star of Barca B

FC Barcelona home grown talent Bojan Krkic, 16 years old from Linyola, has got a great future ahead of him. Last weekend he scored 2 goals in the 3-0 victory over U.E. Lleida and is already the Pichichi of Barca B. He scored 7 goals or a total of 20. Since he is playing as a regular in Quique Costas team the reserve team has changed. Krkic is developing fast and in huige steps. Last year he was promoted with 15 years to the Juvenile (U19) and this year, with 16 years, he should gain some experience in senior football. Now, he is a lready a regular and the top goalscorer of the team. Football experts are convinced that Bojan will make his debut for the first team next sesaon. Barca B coach Quique Coasts was in a serious crisis just weeks ago. Barca B was bottom of the table of the Segunda B (Spain´s third Division). But the boy from Linyola, with its self-confidence, skills and overall with his goals got the team back to life. His stats are impressive. Bojan Krkic scored 7 goals in only 870 minutes playing time. 5 of them in the last 4 matches. He played 11 matches, 9 of them in the starting line-up. When the youngster joined Barca B this season, the team had only won 1 match so far, since Bojan played they added another 5 victories. Bojan is happy with his development and revealed: I am scoring goals and this helps the team to win. Things go very well for me on a personal level and Barça B is improving a lot. I already feel privileged by playing for Barca B with only 16 years. I am very young and I have still a long way to go. This is why I am only thinking of Barca B at the moment. Bojan Krkic has also been called up for Spain´s U18 to play the Meridian Cup. Source : Click here

Time for Krkic?

Barcelona's striker shortage could see them take a gamble on much-vaunted youngster Bojan Krkic.
After the 16-year-old predictably sparkled on his Barca B debut at the weekend, against Huesca, Frank Rijkaard must be tempted to consider promoting the precocious teenager into his first-team squad next year.
Krkic has been touted as one of the best young players in Europe and is reputed to have bagged over 800 goals at junior levels for the Catalan giants.
Although he did not score on his senior bow, the Spain youth international's progress will be closely monitored as Rijkaard currently seeks replacements for the likes of injured trio Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Javier Saviola.
His father is a former Crvena Zvezda player from Serbia but Krkic has opted to represent Spain.
There were rumours a short time ago that the forward snubbed interest from Chelsea to commit his future to Camp Nou.

Bojan Krkic

Bojan Krkic, born on August 28, 1990, in Linyola (Serbian: Lleida)is a 16 year-old Serbian-Spanish footballer who plays for Barcelona FC in Spain. His father, who holds the same name was a well known footballer in Serbia, where he played for Crvena zvezda. Bojan Krkic Jr. shot to prominence at the UEFA European Under 17 Championships in Luxembourg in May 2006 when he was joint top-scorer. He achieved this despite only playing 45 minutes in the four out of five of Spain Under-17s matches. He scored a hat-trick against Luxembourg before inspiring his side to a 3-0 victory over the eventual champions Russia, with all of the goal being scored when he came on to the pitch as a second half sub. In the third match of the tournament, he scored a penalty after once again being introduced at half time. He started the semi-final against the Czech Republic but after his team mate Roberto Garcia was sent off, Spain struggled and lost 2-0 in a shock result. In the third-place play-off Krkic was once again a second half sub and wreaked havoc in Germany's defence as he scored the opener on 53 minutes. When the match went to spot-kicks, Krkic cooly slotted his into the top-right corner of the net and his side won the match 5-4 on penalties to finish third.

Krkic is also reported to have scored over 800 goals in the lower divisions of Barcelona.
He is expected to become a full Barcelona player very shortly. Once 17 (and able to sign professionally) it will not be long before he is in the first team.