EPT2013-2014 Champions League & Europa League Thread - Page 42
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
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WillyWanker
France1915 Posts
 Madrid are looking a lot better recently, not scary yet but enough to beat this Juventus. If they win this game, this group is over (for the 1st spot). | ||
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RvB
Netherlands6282 Posts
On October 23 2013 10:31 WillyWanker wrote: Damn Barça, you're going to choke again? Draw against Osasuna, draw against Milan, this smells like a big defeat against RM Saturday! I don't understand why he put Piqué/Mascherano after what Bartra has been doing and after Puyol came back from his injury... Also playing Messi 3 times in a row after repeated injuries, even if it's for important games, is silly... they'll never learn! I don't want to sound too negative about a team that has a 8-1-0 record in la Liga, but this Barça will probably not win the CL this year again. Since Guardiola left, it hasn't really been the same, and Martino's tactical plan isn't as good as some people are saying. It might be "fresh" but it's not better by any stretch. With these technically talented players, you need the ball. Why the fuck would you waste posession with long balls that your strikers have 5% chance to receive? They're not Ibrahimovics or Drogbas, they're fucking 1.65m PedrITO and Messi. Then you lose the ball and you realize your players aren't as good when they have to make defensive efforts all game and tackle. Only Busquets and Cesc seems on top of their form this year Puyol is 35, just came back from an injury and slow as a turtle I can see why he doesn't play. | ||
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
 He was such a beast though, they have never even thought of replacing Puyol at Barca which is very sad, he should be just playing 5/6 games a year but he is needed to play way more as he is their only good solid CB who can read games. Pique is more of a David Luiz, always a mistake in him, but his ability to pass and height kinda make up for it. Why Barca didn't sign a CB in the summer was beyond me! Maybe they had no money left after the Neymar deal, not sure. Ashley Williams and Vermalen were on the market in the summer as well, both CBs who can pass the ball so well, and also such good defenders. | ||
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WillyWanker
France1915 Posts
Bartra is better than Piqué this season, so theoretically we have 4 good CBs : Piqué, Bartra, Puyol and Mascherano. We shouldn't need a 5th one to warm the bench. The problem is that Piqué hasn't been playing at this 2008-2011 level and Puyol is old and always injured For the future, we have a beast in la Masia called Bagnack, he's one of the kids brought by Eto'o, like Dongou. These two would fit perfectly our team and give a lot more impact while not losing too much on the technical talent (since they've progressed in Barcelona for years now). They need 1-2 years and they're good to go! | ||
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
Puyol is to slow, and his body is failing him (injuries) Pique is fine if you partner him with someone who is better defensively than him Masch i still hate that he is playing CB these days, he was like the worlds best DM when Barca bought him xD Bartra needs to play week in week out to improve so i hope he gets the game time Like you say add in a Hummels/Vermalen/Williams to that group and your fine, but at the moment they are 1 defender short >.< | ||
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haitike
Spain2731 Posts
On October 23 2013 17:53 Pandemona wrote: Pique is fine if you partner him with someone who is better defensively than him >.< I think you are right. Everyone says that Pique this last two years isn't like his 2009-2011 level. What is the difference? Back then, Puyol was the full defender, and Pique was like a playmaker defender. But since Puyol has been injured this two years he lost Puyol company and he can't play as Puyol. So this two years the team got lot of goals. Maybe in the future, if Bartra progress, he could be a good couple with Piqué. He is improving a lot, but he need some years. | ||
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WillyWanker
France1915 Posts
Thiago Silva + Puyol, we wouldn't need any other defenders in the backline | ||
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
Which i guess is fine as Neymar is awesome i like him, but its a shame because they probably need that Silva CB more than a Neymar at this moment in time | ||
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Ferrose
United States11378 Posts
Barca's defending was pretty poor for the most part. I know that Dani Alves pushing forward is a very important part of their attack, but it left them very vulnerable on counter-attacks, and Milan had three or four great chances in the second half, but they (hilariously) wasted them all. My favorite was when Robinho had the ball on a platter and it went through his legs xD While we are on the topic of Barcelona defenders, why don't they go for someone like say, Gladbach's Alvaro Dominguez? He's Spanish, won the Europa League twice with Atletico, and combined with his eight Champions League appearances with Gladbach, he has 39 European apps, so he won't be intimidated by the big stage. At the other end, Barca wasted some golden chances of their own. Contrary to popular belief, the long balls were working, as in the second half Milan pushed higher up the pitch, so Dani Alves could find space on the right, Messi had a chance from one, and Adriano caught everyone (except Kaka) sleeping when he sprinted past the defense from deep but couldn't get his shot on target. They still tried passing the ball into the net; Milan pushed way too far up and Iniesta got clear through on goal, but he didn't make proper contact with his shot and it was easily saved by Amelia. This was awesome btw: ![[image loading]](http://i.minus.com/ibzWR6T4V7ys8g.gif) Kaka was awesome that game. He was linking up well with Robinho and did a great job helping with the defense, since Barcelona dominated the possession. | ||
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
Also Ferrose why you watching the game at like 5am USA time 0.O thats commitment brah <3 | ||
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Ferrose
United States11378 Posts
Going to do the same with today's games. | ||
aseq
Netherlands4000 Posts
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haitike
Spain2731 Posts
PD: Ahtletico, go go go. | ||
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Ysellian
Netherlands9029 Posts
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Greg_J
China4409 Posts
On October 23 2013 19:18 aseq wrote: I kind of agree. It's not as hard as it looks. I used to be able to do that as a kid. But it's very hard to do it usefully and successfully and he didn’t he lost the ball. If he'd successfully got a cross in after going past someone like that then it would have been amazing.i thought that move by Robinho was overrated. Anyone can do that on the pitch, doing it when it's useful is the big deal, and this was going nowhere from the start. I'm not sure I agree with everyone’s opinion that Lewandowski should have got nothing or a red. He didn't swing his elbow in with deliberate force to smash Koscielny in the face which would be a red card. He also wasn't entirely innocent. He didn't look at Koscielny but he knew he was there. He almost certainly meant to rough up Koscielny a little bit (like you see players do all the time) but not necessarily elbow him in the face. I think yellow was about right. It’s like diving it doesn’t have to be one thing or another. If the ref thinks the player is diving but isn’t sure he shouldn’t give a yellow card just in case he was diving. Just give nothing and let play continue. I don’t know why pundits and commentators keep saying he has to give the penalty or book him. If he’s not sure he really doesn’t. | ||
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Redox
Germany24794 Posts
On October 23 2013 20:45 Greg_J wrote: I'm not sure I agree with everyone’s opinion that Lewandowski should have got nothing or a red. He didn't swing his elbow in with deliberate force to smash Koscielny in the face which would be a red card. He also wasn't entirely innocent. He didn't look at Koscielny but he knew he was there. He almost certainly meant to rough up Koscielny a little bit (like you see players do all the time) but not necessarily elbow him in the face. I think yellow was about right. I did not read this thread, but I can only imagine people with a bias saying that should be red. It was a perfectly fine yellow. | ||
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
Arsenal Fans - Well he booked him thus the ref must of thought it was violent conduct = should of been a red Dortmund Fans - Ref booked him so he felt he did and didn't do it on purpose = Should have yellow taken away | ||
Liquid`Drone
Norway28814 Posts
obviously a lot of skill is required to pull it off that fluidly and with such speed right in the middle of a situation, like it doesn't seem like he was trying to do that at first, rather that he just did it cuz the ball happened to be right there. but it's really not that hard of a trick and something kids normally learn around the time they manage to balance a ball on their neck - and I've scored a goal doing just that while playing pickup football. I basically think whether that move looks impressive or not depends on whether you've ever practiced it yourself; if you have, then you will most likely have concluded that it's really not that difficult. basically the reason why you don't see this used as a method of dribbling people frequently is that, just as this example showcased, it's really hard to maintain speed and actually maintain possession even if you manage to pass one person. | ||
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Raidern
Brazil3811 Posts
@2:04. For the record, I can do these moves too. | ||
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