Barça: Siempre Positivo

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni talk about Barcelona 1-1 draw with Alaves on Saturday night, before one of the smallest crowds in Camp Nou's history. They also look ahead to the Champions League clash with Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday night. Running order: --Was this any better? --More vigilant in defence --Memphis focus --Aguero incident --Attendance woes --Rik's ratings --Toni's Cout...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni analyse Barcelona's 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in Sunday's Clasico at Camp Nou. David Alaba and Lucas Vazquez goals gave Madrid the three points, with substitute Sergio Aguero's late goal serving only as a consolation. Where did it go wrong for Ronald Koeman's team this time? Were there any positives?    Running order: -- A fourth straight Clasic...

Send us Fan Mail Barcelona got back to winning ways against Los Che with Ansu Fati scoring and winning a penalty, while Philippe Coutinho also got his first goal for nearly a year. Sam, Rik and Toni discuss the game, the Barca AGM on Sunday which didn’t get finished, and more. Running order: --Ansu Fati --Quelling any euphoria --Dest on the wing --Agueroooo --Camp Nou atmosphere --Rik’s ratings --...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni discuss why Luis Enrique can make a team with so many Barcelona players look so much better than Barcelona. That's what he's done in 2021 with Spain, making good use of Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Pedri and now Gavi. Busquets and Gavi were particularly good this past week in the UEFA Nations League. Joan Laporta's latest Lionel Messi...

Send us Fan Mail The boys are back and Koeman will be too, apparently. Sam, Rik and Toni discuss Barcelona's 2-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, Koeman's comments after the game where he appeared to blame Nico Gonzalez and also Joan Laporta's statement too. --What went wrong? --No Messi hurting the defence --Blaming Nico --Rik's ratings --Toni's Barto...

Send us Fan Mail What a difference a week makes! Finally, some good news for Barça fans, with Ansu Fati not only returning from injury but scoring too. Sam, Rik and Toni give their views on Barça's impressive 3-0 swatting of Levante which also saw a lot of young players thrive. --Ansumania --Gavi and Nico --The formation --Schreuder's attire —Memphis thoughts --Rik's ratings --How m...

Send us Fan Mail Sparks fly on the latest pod as Sam, Rik and Toni get stuck into Barcelona's 1-1 draw with Granada on Monday night. Listen up, because Barça are in action again on Thursday night against Cadiz and we will pod again for our Patreon subscribers. Topics:  --Atmosphere at Camp Nou --Is Koeman right? --Awesome Araujo --Rik's ratings --Andrea Pirlo --Will Ronald last the week?...

Send us Fan Mail The Monday pod is coming early this week because its shelf-life will only take us up to the Bayern game on Tuesday. So here we go, previewing Barcelona's first Champions League clash of the season. We have a special guest in Archie Rhind-Tutt, of ESPN fame, to give us his breakdown of Bayern and how they are different from the team that dismantled Barça 8-2 in Lisbon. Running...

Send us Fan Mail It's international break, but Siempre Pod isn't stopping. In fact, we're growing. Our Patreon has launched and you can get a lot of extra content there, as well as this free weekly pod.   https://www.patreon.com/siemprepod This week Sam, Rik and Toni discuss the various news stories in the Barçaverse. From Pjanic's departure to Emerson's issue with Laporta...

Send us Fan Mail The transfer window is closed! Sam, Rik and Toni analyse Barcelona's final day in the market as Antoine Griezmann returns to Atletico Madrid and Luuk de Jong joins from Sevilla. Others to leave Camp Nou on a busy day were Emerson, Ilaix Moriba and Rey Manaj.  Running order: --Goodbye Antoine Griezmann  --What does Luuk de Jong bring?  --Emerson, Ilaix & Manaj out  --Asses...

Send us Fan Mail The final days of the transfer window are upon us and Barça are still trying to get rid of the deadweight in their squad. Sam, Rik and Toni analyse the window as well as raking over the 2-1 win over Getafe on Sunday in La Liga. Running order: --Not a great performance --Memphis makes the difference --Defensive failures, again --Good to see Gavi --Rik's ratings --Emerson, Pjan...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni chat about the 1-1 draw at San Mames, with Memphis Depay earning the Catalans a point. It's also coming up to the end of the transfer window so plenty to talk about there. Running order:  --Athletic's suffocating high press --Memphis delivers --Eric Garcia's tough day --Rik's ratings --Competition winner! --Umtiti and Pjanic --Can Barça sign a...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni are back for a second season of Siempre Positivo (it's like they never left) and they unpick Barca's 4-2 win over Real Sociedad, the first game with fans back since Covid-19 changed the world as we know it.  Running order: --Atmosphere at Camp Nou --Whistles for Messi chant? --Opening salvo --Eric Garcia surprise start --Memphis magic --Rik's ratin...

Send us Fan Mail Rik and Sam were delighted to welcome author Simon Kuper to the podcast for a special interview. His new book, 'The Barcelona Complex' is out on August 17 and is a superb read about the rise and, sadly, fall, of the club over the past few decades.  With great insight on Lionel Messi's power at Barca, the way the club works inside out and much more, settle in and lis...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni look at the significance of Lionel Messi's signing for Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. The French club have signed the forward on a free transfer from Barcelona after his contract expired. It brings to an end a crazy few days, which started on Thursday, when Barca announced that they could not afford to keep Messi.  Running order: -- The professional's...

Send us Fan Mail Sam is joined by Rik and Toni to discuss Thursday's stunning news that Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona. The Catalan club released a statement explaining that Messi will bid farewell because they are unable to register him while complying with LaLiga's financial fair play rules. What happens next? Does Messi really end his 21-year stay at Camp Nou? If he does, where doe...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni are all away from Barcelona (frauds) but they still managed to get together to talk this week at Barça. Ronald Koeman's side are looking good in preseason. They beat Stuttgart 3-0 on Saturday, with Memphis Depay impressing again. Honourable mentions for Gavi and Nico Gonzalez, too. But what's going on with Ilaix Moriba. Is he going to leave? Has Joan La...

Send us Fan Mail Rik jets back from San Sebastian and Toni connects from Menorca to join Sam to talk about Barcelona's second preseason win of the summer. Goals from Gerard Pique, Rey Manaj and Memphis Depay, on his Barça debut, secured a 3-1 win over second-division Girona. There were some impressive performances from the youngsters, too. In the second part of the pod, the team respond to li...

Send us Fan Mail Rik has recovered from coronavirus but Toni has not yet recovered from his Greek hangover.... however they both join Sam to discuss this week at Barcelona. They start by looking at the pre-season 4-0 win over Gimnastic de Tarragona, which came complete with a Rey Manaj hat-trick. There was also a goal for Alex Collado. They then turn their attention to Barça's scramble to red...

Send us Fan Mail Coronavirus and Greek holidays don't stand in the way of the podcast as Sam, Rik and Toni return to discuss this week's developments at Barcelona. Lionel Messi, fresh from winning the Copa America, has agreed a new contract with Barça. But do the numbers fit?  They may do if Antoine Griezmann leaves. Barça's second-biggest earner (biggest, technically, with Messi st...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni are back to discuss Lionel Messi helping Argentina into the Copa America final and to look at why he's still not signed a contract with Barcelona. There's also an update on Operation Exit and it's time to reflect on Spain (or should we say Pedri?) at Euro 2020. The podcast also lives up to its name for poor old Rik this week... Running order: -- Me...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni are back to discuss Lionel Messi's situation at Barcelona, with his contract expiring on WEDNESDAY! Meanwhile, Messi's breaking records with Argentina at the Copa America. Could he finally win a trophy with his country? There's Euro 2020 talk with Pedri and Sergio Busquets progressing and impressing. However, Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay, Clement...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni are back to discuss Barcelona's players at this summer's Euro 2020 and Copa America tournaments. New signing Memphis Depay is looking good, Ousmane Dembele is injured and Lionel Messi has matched Javier Mascherano. We also watched Barça's general assembly so you didn't have to and there's some rumours to discuss: Adama Traore, Robin Gosen...

Send us Fan Mail Sam, Rik and Toni have a lot to talk about. They start off by looking at how Barcelona's players are faring at Euro 2020 and the Copa America, before turning their attention to the imminent signing of Memphis Depay (unless he pulls a Georginio Wijnaldum). They then discuss who Barça need to move on this summer, 100 days of Joan Laporta and Garcia Pimienta being sacked as the...

Send us Fan Mail Sam and Rik look back on a week that saw Barcelona make three signings but miss out on Georginio Wijnaldum, back Ronald Koeman and appoint Jordi Cruyff. There's also a recap of what's going on with Spain after Sergio Busquets tested positive for coronavirus and a look at Pedri's big summer. The pod ends with a question and answer session from listeners.  Running ord...