Sven Will Save Thierry from Sad, Gloomy Barcelona, Promises Sunny Beaches of Manchester

Last week, you might have heard Thierry Henry telling Marca that he wasn't unhappy with Frank Rijkaard's system, just unhappy in general. And while he maintains seeing his daughter just five times in the last eight months has nothing to do with his performance at Barcelona, it would help his performance if he could see her more often.

Wait, what? Oh, and the accountants at Barcelona must be thrilled to learn that the club paid 24 million Euro for someone other than "Henry of Arsenal".

Whatever Titi was trying to say, Citeh boss Sven Goran Ericsson heard him loud and clear. Now Sven's #1 goal for the summer is to save Thierry from the dark cloud of sadness that envelops Camp Nou and to bring him to the City of Manchester Stadium.

This should work out well, because if the movie title is to be believed, the people of Manchester party for 24 hours at a time! And Spain is a sad, sad place – I know this because I have seen Pedro Almodóvar movies and Picasso's "Guernica".

And Henry isn't the only one in a funk at Barcelona. Knocking off Celtic in the Champions League turned out to be rather pyrrhic, with Leonel Messi going down in the first half with a torn thigh muscle again, raising questions about his long-term health. And former wonderboy Ronaldinho missed Thursday's practice and the team's trip to Almeria.

So it comes as surprise that Samuel Eto'o, the one member of the supposed "Magnificent Four" who looked to be the odd man out at the start of the season, is the only one of the quartet of high-priced forwards who's in form. And even he can't be too thrilled about Barça's current slump, which finds them closer to third place Villareal than to the La Liga-leading Real Madrid, after dropping two crucial points in a 2-2 draw at Almeria.

Now Barcelona finds itself seven points behind leaders Real Madrid and just two ahead of surging Villareal.