On April 07 2011 05:06 Copymizer wrote: Barcelona clearly defines the beauty of the game. God i love this team and their fine ball handling. Spanish football all the way
Barca could be really awesome to watch - but they did not only master the art of football, they are masters of diving and playing theatralic aswell. I hate it so much....
i must agree with you on some part there, i saw it when they played in Denmark vs Copenhagen and it looked so grim, especially alves is a player i despise as he was laying down he intentionally without any reason just kicked oscar wendt but ofcourse the referee didn't see it. And because they're barca the referees tend to go a little easier on them. fuck that shit. victor valdes should've had a red card for what he did. My heart stood still and i remember it as it was yesterday
dani alves acting like a pussy
wow bias much? what valdez did was questionably a card since he clearly got contact with the ball first and keepers usually have the right away in situations like that. and alves being a disgrace? what? all he did was crash into a player he didn't see and get right back up.. :O
Also...Torres why are you so bad? Why in the hell did Chelsea sub out drogba when he was one of the players who was doing alot, instead of subbing out torres who was horrendous... I couldn't understand that.
a keeper outside the box is treated just like any other outfield player. any outfield player who took a 15 yard run and then left his feet with studs up in the air to kick a ball at head level would have been sent off instantly and suspended.
anyways, that video is extremely irrelevant now, not sure why it was posted
On April 08 2011 02:15 Stimp wrote: Give him a full pre season and time to integrate into the squad then judge. I still stand by how Berbatov was given two seasons before he became the second coming.
Yes, but in the mean time we have to keep a sense of humor about it. I know I made cracks at Berbatov's expense last year, so it's only fair that other clubs can have a laugh at us now.
i think it's too much hate on torres and i blame papers for this for example drogba scored just once (couple of days ago against stoke city) since 50mil boy joined the blues, but noone blames him for not scoring
On April 08 2011 03:09 BeaTeR wrote: i think it's too much hate on torres and i blame papers for this for example drogba scored just once (couple of days ago against stoke city) since 50mil boy joined the blues, but noone blames him for not scoring
its because if you see the game Drogba contributes a lot more to the team than Torres
If Barcelona keeps playing the way it did against Shakhtar, I can't see them eliminating Real. So many stupid mistakes by the defenders and despite scoring 5 goals, their offensive play was rather mediocre (lack of passes on small area + lack of mobility without ball, compared to previous matches). They had luck of Shakhtar being unfocused and losing lot of goals that looked more like a self-sabotage from the visitors. Also, Messi and Pedro both look already exhausted with the season; I wonder if they'll be able to recover soon enough. Mourinho must be clapping his hands with joy...
On April 08 2011 16:12 popzags wrote: If Barcelona keeps playing the way it did against Shakhtar, I can't see them eliminating Real. So many stupid mistakes by the defenders and despite scoring 5 goals, their offensive play was rather mediocre (lack of passes on small area + lack of mobility without ball, compared to previous matches). They had luck of Shakhtar being unfocused and losing lot of goals that looked more like a self-sabotage from the visitors. Also, Messi and Pedro both look already exhausted with the season; I wonder if they'll be able to recover soon enough. Mourinho must be clapping his hands with joy...
Messi is not tired. He is just not going to give 100% when they are dominating and beating them byu 5 goals, especially when he has been playing in La Liga, international friendlies for Argentina and the ECL...
On April 08 2011 16:12 popzags wrote: If Barcelona keeps playing the way it did against Shakhtar, I can't see them eliminating Real. So many stupid mistakes by the defenders and despite scoring 5 goals, their offensive play was rather mediocre (lack of passes on small area + lack of mobility without ball, compared to previous matches). They had luck of Shakhtar being unfocused and losing lot of goals that looked more like a self-sabotage from the visitors. Also, Messi and Pedro both look already exhausted with the season; I wonder if they'll be able to recover soon enough. Mourinho must be clapping his hands with joy...
hahahah lack of passes what? They have about 70% of ball possession during their matches because of the football idealogy barcelonas has wheres you most have most ball possession, you must not have the ball for more than 5 seconds then pass it, keep the pressure on the ball holder.
On April 08 2011 16:12 popzags wrote: If Barcelona keeps playing the way it did against Shakhtar, I can't see them eliminating Real. So many stupid mistakes by the defenders and despite scoring 5 goals, their offensive play was rather mediocre (lack of passes on small area + lack of mobility without ball, compared to previous matches). They had luck of Shakhtar being unfocused and losing lot of goals that looked more like a self-sabotage from the visitors. Also, Messi and Pedro both look already exhausted with the season; I wonder if they'll be able to recover soon enough. Mourinho must be clapping his hands with joy...
hahahah lack of passes what? They have about 70% of ball possession during their matches because of the football idealogy barcelonas has wheres you most have most ball possession, you must not have the ball for more than 5 seconds then pass it, keep the pressure on the ball holder.
Additionally, to score goals you must first have the ball. If you have more posession than the other team (as BCN does) you will most likely win most of those games (as BCN has proved time and time again).It is ridiculous to claim this system is bad or flawed in anyway. Short passes and extreme possession will break any defense. If you have every played a team that plays like this as a defender its is incredibly frustrating to run around and around and never really get the ball. In the end, this frustration will get to your head and you will make mistakes. And when you make mistakes against players of Barcelona´s caliber they will not forgive you.
I was actually really surprised at Mourinho´s inter being able to hold for two legs,although at time they came really close to losing it. In the end, I have to say it was a combination of Inter having ridiculous defenders and an ironclad defensive scheme which was really drilled and refined to the max potential by a strategic genius as Mourinho is.
On April 08 2011 16:12 popzags wrote: If Barcelona keeps playing the way it did against Shakhtar, I can't see them eliminating Real. So many stupid mistakes by the defenders and despite scoring 5 goals, their offensive play was rather mediocre (lack of passes on small area + lack of mobility without ball, compared to previous matches). They had luck of Shakhtar being unfocused and losing lot of goals that looked more like a self-sabotage from the visitors. Also, Messi and Pedro both look already exhausted with the season; I wonder if they'll be able to recover soon enough. Mourinho must be clapping his hands with joy...
Abidal injured. Puyol Injured. Busquets playing as a center defender. Mascherano and Keita in midfield. Iniesta playing higher up. Messi + Villa not being 100%
If Barcelona can get their 11 starters vs Madrid they will destroy them. If they can't get everybody back then as long as Puyol returns in time and Busquets is moved back to Midfield, they will win.
You do know Pedro was coming off an injury and vs Shakhtar was his 1st time playing in some time right?
I was referring to their style of offensive play, most of the time Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Pedro are really close together when mounting the attack, they are exchanging lot of short precise passes which ends up with either decisive dribble into penalty area or finishing pass for eye-on-eye situation.
Against Shakhtar it was different, Iniesta scored a goal that shouldn't happen even in Segunda Division, running with a ball while surrounded by three passive defenders. Second goal was cute, surely Iniesta's passing masterpiece, but quite a blunder from Shakhtar as well. Pique's 3-0 shot was a combination of extreme luck and Ukrainian awkwardness; Ipatov would took the ball free but there the rebound came. Keita and Xavi scored legit but at that point, Shakhtar was already broken by the course of events.
Guardiola praised Shakhtar's midfielders, it was clear he was dissatisfied with his team play which was worse than the actual result; if only visitors were more focused and cold-blooded, rematch would still be a problem for FCB. Now it's all over, although I hope Ukrainians will save honour and win in Donetsk.
On April 08 2011 16:12 popzags wrote: If Barcelona keeps playing the way it did against Shakhtar, I can't see them eliminating Real. So many stupid mistakes by the defenders and despite scoring 5 goals, their offensive play was rather mediocre (lack of passes on small area + lack of mobility without ball, compared to previous matches). They had luck of Shakhtar being unfocused and losing lot of goals that looked more like a self-sabotage from the visitors. Also, Messi and Pedro both look already exhausted with the season; I wonder if they'll be able to recover soon enough. Mourinho must be clapping his hands with joy...
hahahah lack of passes what? They have about 70% of ball possession during their matches because of the football idealogy barcelonas has wheres you most have most ball possession, you must not have the ball for more than 5 seconds then pass it, keep the pressure on the ball holder.
Additionally, to score goals you must first have the ball. If you have more posession than the other team (as BCN does) you will most likely win most of those games (as BCN has proved time and time again).It is ridiculous to claim this system is bad or flawed in anyway. Short passes and extreme possession will break any defense. If you have every played a team that plays like this as a defender its is incredibly frustrating to run around and around and never really get the ball. In the end, this frustration will get to your head and you will make mistakes. And when you make mistakes against players of Barcelona´s caliber they will not forgive you.
I was actually really surprised at Mourinho´s inter being able to hold for two legs,although at time they came really close to losing it. In the end, I have to say it was a combination of Inter having ridiculous defenders and an ironclad defensive scheme which was really drilled and refined to the max potential by a strategic genius as Mourinho is.
i think a lot of people remember the 2nd leg from that tie and not the 1st leg. while barcelona is much less effective away from home, it's still an extraordinary result for inter to have won 3-1, against a team that was, in my opinion, much superior to them. without that result in the first leg, they obviously would have been forced to attack which would have been the death of them, especially with 10 men.
the one "flaw" that the barcelona system may have is that they have yet to really prove themselves against a top class team that defends deep and simply doesn't any space behind the defenders.
inter had a huge amount of success doing that and so did chelsea, i mean obviously barcelona won that tie but i don't think you can rely on one shot in 95 minutes on a regular basis. you can pass and retain possession as much as you want, but at some point you need to break through, and without a target man they are forced to penetrate a strong defensive line sitting on the 18 along the ground, which is borderline impossible. that being said, if there is one man in the world who can do it, it's messi.
On April 08 2011 23:25 popzags wrote: I was referring to their style of offensive play, most of the time Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Pedro are really close together when mounting the attack, they are exchanging lot of short precise passes which ends up with either decisive dribble into penalty area or finishing pass for eye-on-eye situation.
Against Shakhtar it was different, Iniesta scored a goal that shouldn't happen even in Segunda Division, running with a ball while surrounded by three passive defenders. Second goal was cute, surely Iniesta's passing masterpiece, but quite a blunder from Shakhtar as well. Pique's 3-0 shot was a combination of extreme luck and Ukrainian awkwardness; Ipatov would took the ball free but there the rebound came. Keita and Xavi scored legit but at that point, Shakhtar was already broken by the course of events.
Guardiola praised Shakhtar's midfielders, it was clear he was dissatisfied with his team play which was worse than the actual result; if only visitors were more focused and cold-blooded, rematch would still be a problem for FCB. Now it's all over, although I hope Ukrainians will save honour and win in Donetsk.
yeah it's a shame that the tie is effectively already over because it's going to be COLD for the return leg, could have made it really interesting
i guess this is as close to a cold day in stoke that we'll get D:
On April 08 2011 16:12 popzags wrote: If Barcelona keeps playing the way it did against Shakhtar, I can't see them eliminating Real. So many stupid mistakes by the defenders and despite scoring 5 goals, their offensive play was rather mediocre (lack of passes on small area + lack of mobility without ball, compared to previous matches). They had luck of Shakhtar being unfocused and losing lot of goals that looked more like a self-sabotage from the visitors. Also, Messi and Pedro both look already exhausted with the season; I wonder if they'll be able to recover soon enough. Mourinho must be clapping his hands with joy...
Almost all of the mistakes came from Busquets. I think he's an amazing DM but in defense he's terrible, dunno why Pep puts him there when he has Milito and a bunch of great youth players. hell Masherano would make a MUCH better defender than him.
EPT
Torres won't struggle at Chelsea forever. 
