Valdés
Alves
Piqué
Márquez
Puyol (88 Sylvinho)
Xavi
Keita
Iniesta
Messi
Eto'o (66 Touré)
Henry (75 Pedro)
21 Márquez
60 Eto'o (pen)
71 Tonel
87 Xavi
assists
Xavi
Eto'o
Iniesta
yellow card
Piqué
bench
Pinto
Cáceres
Gudjohnsen
Bojan
out of match squad
Abidal
Víctor Sánchez
injured/coming back from injury/ill
Jorquera
Milito
Hleb
Table
1. Barcelona 3
2. Shakhtar 3
3. Basel 0
4. Sporting 0
#
Wednesday 17 September 2008
CL group 1: Barcelona-Sporting 3-1
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14 comments:
Didn't see the game but it seems like Marquez showed everyone that he should be in the starting XI. It's pretty sad that Touré don't get any playtime, if this continues he will probably leave us after this season. I mean the one that started against Racing (Keita) should have been benched against Sporting.
I'm happy but the most important thing is still the Spanish league, so now we have to prove us there. Plus we have to prove us in an away game (two defeats against Wisla -true, didn't really matter but is that a reason?- and Numancia so far).
The national league is the real test for any team.
I especially liked the Xavi-Iniesta connection yeasterday.
i really dont understand peps deal with yaya toure...he was one of our best player last season...without him playing despite his injury barca would have dropped more...pep comes ,signs keita ...dont know why...and now a fine player like yaya is sittin on bench
Poor comments from Henry after the match attacking the press. He plays one good game and there's the arrogance back... He can learn from Eto'o.
The game of Henry was great, this is the henry we have seen too little until now but hope to see more often from now on. I also liked it that he got the chance to move to the centre after Eto'o was taken off.
Now for this other Sporting...
Touré, Bojan and Sylvinho have dropped some places under Guardiola, it seems.
I think it doesn't look good for Touré. It's a guy who needs to play a lot to feel comfortable and who is also physically capable of playing a lot. Even with problems at his back he was always there and amongst the best of the team last season.
I hope there's a medical reason behind all this, that they are bringing him slowly after his surgery this summer, otherwise one can start to be pessimistic about his future at the club.
i think pepe likes the youngsters allot,all except bojan,maybe because he wasnt in his squad last year,but it seems pedro is getting way more chances than bojan,(i like pedro)but i want to see bojan more on the field and this slows his progression alot.
i didnt see the first half of the game cause i had football practice ,but i will catch a torrent of the game later and see it.
on yaya its really a shame ,pepe must think that he is slowing us down and prefers keita who is more simple player in his passes and his touches,i think if yaya dont get enough play time he will leave for arsenal,i cant see him staying on the bench
I for one would be glad if Toure left. He doesnt wanna wait his turn, thats fine then he can follow Giovani, Crosas ect. out the door! Dont know what the big deal is with this guy. Not that impressive when he plays. Keita is much more impressive and gels with the Xavi/Iniesta duo way better.
Xavi and Iniesta will ALWAYS be first team, because in the eyes of many prestigious coaches around the world they are both seen as WORLD CLASS mids. In my eyes as well. The only thing benching either one of those two would be fatige or injury. Not Toure!
The thing i dont agree with however is Pedro ahead of Bojan. Bojan was coming along really well with the team since last season. Sell Abidal to Milan, Toure to whoever, but Bojan needs to play more than Pedro.
-------------------------
Man of the match: Guardiola, for taking Abidal out!
(player,comment,rating)
Valdes = Solid 7
Pique = Good 7
Marquez = Acceptable 7.5
Puyol > Abidal 6.5
Alves = Improved 7.5
Xavi = Master 8
Iniesta = Great 8
Keita > Toure 8
Messi = Bad luck 6.5
Eto'o = Good 7
Henry = Improved 7
Toure = Bench 6
Pedro = Bench 6
Sylvinho = N/A
It's only been 2 league matches and 1 Champion's league group match. I don't think it's time to panic about Toure yet. The season is long, and with Keita/Xavi/Iniesta as our midfield options for 3 clear cut spots on the starting XI there'll be plenty of action for Toure. People will be rested, different tactics will be used, etc.
Arsenal on the other hand only plays 2 central midfielders and one of those spots is locked onto Fabregas. Toure has to compete with Denilson, Ramsey, Diaby & even Song at times for 1 spot. No doubt Toure could probably beat out all those players for first choice but all those players need playing time as well. Especially with Arsene promising first team action for the younger guys.
Bojan isn't losing his place either, if Sporting hadn't scored their goal and Puyol not been hurt. Bojan would have come on a lot earlier. Pep was clearly thinking of replacing Bojan for a midfielder right after bringing on Pedro. But he had to change his tactics when the game changed.
He will get playing time, James, but there's a difference between getting playing time as regular (playing the most games and the big matches) or as someone to fill in if the regular starter needs a rest. It seems clear that at this point Guardiola prefers a fit Keita over a fit Touré.
Bojan isn't losing his place but he's getting less time than last year (when Ronaldinho and Giovani were still there) and that could block his progress.
It will be up to Guardiola to balance all this and keep them all satisfied.
i was very much impressed with yesterday win, even though there was problem wit d top striker. i hope we will improve.
@ memo..
what planet do u live? Has he Yaya come to your door to complain or seek advice or why are you saying he is not waiting his turn?
And did u say he's not impressive when he plays? He was our best player last season. so how many games has he played this season that made you say he is not impressive?
And Y must Iniesta and Xavi be starters? You play whoever is in best form my friend. I said it in one of posts that if you are the Barca coach, you would have lots of sacred cows.
...i also think that it was our best players who were on the field last night except hleb who's now injured...with hleb back he could replace henry and we'll be back for more...i was very pleased with the spirit and the performance our players showed...hope they do same at la liga...i think too that toure is good,but he does too many and too little comes out...keita was superb...bite like a dog and the will of a spartian...
would like to congratulate guardiola about giving a good performance last nite. to be compare to Rijkaard's, this team is much faster on decison making and passing the ball. it's still the same barca concept (posessive) but its much master while passing it all around. Can see that he is building the team around Xavi and Iniesta but not Messi ( you can see he's still adapting to the new style). On Toure part i'm assuming that Keita much more suitable to the 3-4-3 system. Although Yaya is good, but he lacks that control and pace that Keita has. I can compare Keita abilities is on par with Senna(Villareal). Plus, Keita is box-to-box player. On Xavi-Iniesta tandem, now i know why he wanted Silva joining the team. He wants it to complete. You can imagine how Iniesta-Xavi-Silva could be. Just look on to the Spain's Barca-esque EURO 2008 team. That's Barca.
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