2012 - 2013 Football Thread! - Page 205

On January 09 2013 01:50 WillyWanker wrote:
Well this position requires a lot of experience, it's about decision making, so the more matches, the better he becomes.
During his early years, he was young, and before Guardiola, the team was a mess. Look at Iniesta, are you contesting that he would not fit in another team? I highly doubt it, and Iniesta before Guardiola wasn't even a starting player in Barcelona. Look at what he became... Maturity means a higher tactical level as well as better decision making.
I agree though that Xavi needs a certain system to shine. The same system Pirlo shines in: 1 or 2 purely defensive players around him (Gattuso, Busquets) so he has space and doesn't need to waste energy on getting the ball back for your team.

On January 09 2013 02:42 WillyWanker wrote:
It's easy to hit on the midfielder when the whole team wasnt even acting as one. Between Xavi's career start and the arrival of Guardiola, Barcelona have had maybe 2-3 years (out of 9) of great play, which was the 2 years and a half where Rijkaard built a really strong team. Before that and after that, the team was far far far from the level at which it is now you can't even compare... If the teammates don't work for you, when you are a pure teamplayet like Xavi, you're screwed. When he has players around him doing the dirty work he shines, when they don't give a crap, well Xavi ain't Busquets, he's not gonna tackle everybody..

On January 09 2013 02:56 WillyWanker wrote:
That's just the way you said all that about Xavi makes me think you believe that Xavi would only work in Barcelona and no other club because he could only shine in a very very very specific system, which I think is wrong. He would work in any team that has tactically devoted teamplayers like Juventus, MU, hell he would even work in Real Madrid if they had a slightly more controlled playstyle.

On January 09 2013 00:34 Telcontar wrote:

I'm sorry, but define what you mean by 'lack of versatility', because I really don't know where this is coming from. He would almost certainly walk into most teams in the world, and great ones at that. His fitness level, at age 32, is still top-notch, as is his passing (as you mentioned), ball control, pressing, dribbling, and decision making. His pace might be lacking, but he has a good turn of speed which is pretty much all you need as a playmaker, and he also makes well-timed tackles more often than not. He has proved that he can get forward and score goals too, but his duty as a deep lying playmaker rarely let's him do so.

People tend to get too hung up on one aspect of a player, which is deemed his/her best. Xavi is about so much more than just passing, even past his peak. His lack of a physical presence is a downside, but it's easily compensated by everything else

On January 08 2013 07:55 sharkie wrote:


messi voted for his teammate while christiano had no one else to vote for

stop trying to interpret too much into it

On January 09 2013 06:22 Pandemona wrote:

Bradford are in League One (aka division 3)

On January 09 2013 09:04 sc4k wrote:
Wow Bradford you fucking beauties!!!! It looks like more people voted for Cristiano out of the pros, what's the deal?

On January 09 2013 06:56 Steveling wrote:


And I quote straight from his lips, a mere 2 days ago, " If I could, I’d vote for myself ", yes he did say that, he's that tacky.
After reading this you should check who acted captain for portugal in their last games, for at least 1 year.
Then see who appeared as captain at the ballon d'or vote.
As a final hint I'll say that one can not vote for oneself and that national teams' captains can vote.

So, can you accept that cr7 is a dbag? xD