Valdés
Alves
Márquez
Puyol
Abidal
Xavi
Busquets (82 Cáceres)
Keita (71 Gudjohnsen)
Messi
Eto'o (68 Bojan)
Iniesta
27 Xavi 0-1
32 Eto'o 0-2
48 Jorge (own) 0-3
50 Maldonado 1-3
69 Iniesta 1-4
85 Messi 1-5
89 Messi 1-6
assists
Iniesta
Puyol
Xavi
Messi
Iniesta
Xavi
cards
-
red card opponent
56 Gerrard
bench
Pinto
Piqué
Touré
Pedro
out of match squad
Sylvinho
Víctor Sánchez
injured/coming back from injury/ill
Jorquera
Milito
Hleb
Henry
Table
1. Valencia 7
2. Almería 7
3. Villarreal 7
4. Espanyol 7
5. Atlético 6
6. Real Madrid 6
7. Sevilla 5
8. Getafe 5
9. Barcelona 4
10. Athletic 4
11. Deportivo 4
12. Numancia 3
13. Valladolid 3
14. Recreativo 3
15. Osasuna 2
16. Betis 2
17. Racing 2
18. Mallorca 2
19. Málaga 1
20. Sporting 0
#
Posts
12 comments:
I expected a little bit more struggling from Barca. Now they should stay calm, 'cause they've played against last squad in La Liga. Gijon had a player less whole 2nd half so it was predictable win. I have opinion that Alves didn't find his form yet, just like Keita. But, as long Barca have Xavi&Iniesta there should be no problems on the pitch. Messi was selfish little fuck as usual. I was watching only 2nd half and for me men of the match are Iniesta and Eto'o. Why Eto'o? I think he impressed me because he was all over the pitch-from defense to attack. He has a lot of energy. BTW, Kalou scored yesterday for Chelsea and Barca should think wisely about him, he could become a good signing this winter. 60M for Aguero or Benzema? Too much.
Guardiola rating: 12!
- For that 3-1-3-3 offense set up he applied, giving every player the chance to have the role that he do best.
- For spending almost the whole game up on his feet leading the troops regardless of the result , pst: may be some people forget about doubting his winning mentality, we know this pepe since he was a player, full of passions to the game.
- For pulling messi to play as a striker opening the right path for Alves and making sure eto don't get isolated as a sole striker any more.
- For using iniesta as a wing, where he didn't only opened the game and created balance with the right wing, but even made the left side of the Barcelona take all the flashes from the right (may be for the first time since...).
- For leading Xavi to discover the missing piece in his unique talent! yea man you can be a killer scoring goals, not only a maestro dictating the tempo and orchestrating the game.
What was bad about the game is that it was only 90 minutes, I was hoping the referee add 2 hours injury time. that carnival was too satisfying to end, but too short to satisfy passionate footballers.
Flash comments about players:
- Valdes, for the first time as I remember he player the libero Role he has to play as a goalkeeper for a team that apply a high pressure defense, remember that ball and that tackle? well thats one of the attributes of class keepers only, he may not be one yet, but I will take that as a good sign!
- Alves: he was ok (but for his standards, he was a shadow) if he play on his level on right while having iniesta shinning on the left...I will start to petty those we play against. he need to remember that even though on set offense he turn to play a winger role but he is a right backward at the end and has to do his defensive role seriously! offensively he has no reason not to succeed everything is set for him to shine, messi evacuated the right path so he fly freely there, and Abidal is acting like a 3rd center back to insure depth in defense when alves fly on the right, right?
- Marquez need to concentrate, he play greatly all the game but he has "those moments" like that penalty the referee didn't whistle for sporting, he only needed to guard the ball closing the angle, not tackling the guy!and of course the goal...bad positioning.
- Payol is very dedicated and passionate for the barca colors, but thats not enough, His situation is critical for himself and for the team, how will he take the fact of not being the corner stone of defense anymore? will he accept a secondary role? his reaction to that will play a big part in deciding the dressing room environment during the season. but hey...will pepe be strong enough to do that? time will tell!
- Abidal...he is not my son, and he pay me no salary, I just defended him before because that was the fair thing, now after this display he is in a safe situation and no one will draw a knife and run for his throat, and if anyone did, I know there are more people to defend him now so...he need me no more.
Busquets: Demanding performance, I don't know when was it the last time Barcelona youth ranks offered that kind of DM, since it is one of two positions youth academy don't offer (beside big strikers), he may not be as flashy as bojan but playing in a position where its even harder to find the right player for, he is certainly the future of Barcelona as well.
- Keita simply filled the missed part in barcelona midfield since many seasons, balancing strength with techniques, possession with direct style, and offensive power with defensive stability.
- Xavi the Barcelona jewel, what will I tell about u?! The maestro! and lately a mean one, scoring all these goals, FOR YOU, perfection is just a beginning...
- Messi, a threat that shake any defense and open spaces for the whole team, with time he will get better no doubt, he is playing a new role for Barcelona this season and he will find his way, expect him to score more now as he switch positions with eto more often as a pure striker.
- Eto: I like his approach to the game and his mental set up, may be he is not the scorer recently but his move - specially now having messi as a striking partner will prove its worth for the team. he got pregnant after the goal and lets hope he deliver another little eto for the future of barcelona, but perhaps little bit taller?
Iniesta: MY BOY!! as I mentioned so often you are the most complete young talent in Barcelona (yes definitely the most complete and who will compete with whats unique!) Defensively : strong -accurate tackler, good positioning and closing up any spaces, in midfield tireless pressing abilities, great control on the ball perfect passing, and read the game like an Einstein! offensively open the game to the flank, great targeted crosses and assists, cutting inside dribbling and causing terror and hey! scoring! thats what I never thought u will do boy! so obviously getting better and better!
It was a game against a weak team but it showed what the team is capable to do.
Finally its so nice to see the team playing tactically exactly the same as i always demanded, great balance, and perfect roles for each and every player. specially my iniesta who proved me right that NO WINGER barcelona can get who is better than this guy!
There are also matches who proved you wrong on that last one, Ramzi. Let's not judge on one game against the last team of the Liga...
Great analysis, Ramzi. Although we shouldn't forget that it was against Sporting, who apparently will struggle hard against relegation this season.
I alos liked Eto'o. He's not as decisive as last seasons when it comes down to goalscoring but he must be the hardest working striker around. It's so important to have him there creating space for the others.
Xavi and Iniesta are just magic. They were on Tuesday and they were yesterday, hope they can keep up their level! And where is Busquets suddenly coming from?! It's sad for Touré, who was my favourite player last season, but this youngster deserves a spot in the first team.
Superb analysis Ramzi .
dont want to put a downer on what was a great performance but betis are gonna be tougher. what we need to do is bring the confidence from this game to the betis game.
with respect to sporting their defending was not la liga quality, but i'm glad barca kept trying to make a point as they had this game won at half time.
what is vital at betis is to get an early goal, the game against sporting was very similar to the game against racing except we scored early allowing less pressure and forcing the opposition to come out. barca need to go hell for leather in the first half hour as an early goal settles the team and allows them to express themselves more freely.
great performance and keep it up!
Xavi. <3
Right, SJP, we need a series. If we don't win at home against Betis, we can start all over again. Nobody will talk about our greatperformance against Sporting anymore.
So we really must win against Betis and then full force for the away game against Espanyol!
I'm a bit dissapointed at Alves, he didn't have good game by his standards. I think it's a shame that Touré don't get any playtime. If this continues the whole season he will most likely leave.
First of all, a short remark for some of the guys whom I read their comments and it go with the same tempo since months.
Some people feel so happy just for being healthy, others are healthy but feel sad because they believe they will get sick one day.
why am I saying that?because some fans seems to wait the team to flop just to lunch attacks, and when the team win, they say well lets wait and c if they will loose later, I cant see how they enjoy the season doing so, its a football game, its there to enjoy, in wins and defeats there is some thing sweet about it, no one will invade your surrounding riding horses and burning ur house, relax and enjoy man:)
Now regarding analyzing previous game, first of all lets differentiate between the system and the performance the performance is something that may go up and down, while the system is the base that if its right and solid, performance is easy to improve when u have quality (and i don't think anyone doubt the quality of Barcelona squad), what I praised was the system, I believe in this system and even when the team lost before I didn't loose my mind, as my comments on this blog prove. The same happen when I evaluate a player, I judge his attributes (thats nothing that change every week) i believe in iniesta the winger based on his attributes, not based on the way he performed against sporting but still, i am interested to read a name u suggest who would have performed better than him in the last two games, all over the field. some people do the common mistake of seeking an explosive pacey wingers for barcelona, thats not what the team need, because there will never be enough space for them to push the ball and run after it, or else henry will be able to dance on the wing, u have this guy who can do what it take in narrow croudy situations.
I don't really take the results seriously yet, because as I said when the team flopped in the first game, this team need time, whether we like it or not, its not an accomplished product yet, so I am more focused on the system and the vision, and this has nothing to do with whom you r playing against.
I hope my spanish friends don't get offended of what i say, but I believe spanish fans (infecting non spanish who support spanish clubs) are too demanding to get satisfied, and too spoiled to be supportive, there will never be a ferguson in Spain, not even a winger, when was the last time wenger won a title for Arsenal? do u know how long it took fregie to win the first title for Man UTD? same goes for ancelotti and so on...
Only on play station you will get good enough to win forever, and earn titles while walking whistling with ur palms in your pockets.
I will be supportive for the team all the time in ups and downs, because I alreadt decided not to evaluate the over all project till january, till then i will carry their flag when they win and be their shield when they loose, they need that unquestionable support to be calm enough to set and customize the new project, this way i gain my right to judge the project after giving them a fair time to prove their point.
when the team won the CL in 2006, i wrote the following comment on one of the popular football sited:
" We won because lady luck smiled for us, and been unfair with arsenal, and mainly henry, now lets celebrate the title for the whole week, but after that we need to wonder if skillfull players will be enough for the team to pick another title, it is obvious for me that we need a coach of better quality, but I know the board cant make a change now after this win, i hope it happen at the end of next season"
U can imagine how many people made fun of me for saying so, but I hated being right then, we spent two years spoiling the talents we have, and boosting the image of our rivals giving them a chance after a chance to win titles.
The more i hate being right then, I will love to be right now, I believe in what I see, and I will keep rubbing my hands with pleasure no matter what, so if in January the team proved they are on the right track, I will not regret spoiling my time with concerns and missing some pleasure, and if things went badly by then, at least i will feel i earned the excitement of hope.
enjoy the season, you support the most attractive team on the planet, regardless of the results.
You have many good points Ramzi but I didn't see a big difference in the "system" compared to how Rijkaards Barcelona played. The biggest difference compared to the Racing game was that we got an early goal. The team still is very unflexible and have a hard time to change the picture of the game if it goes against them. The team seems to be more motivated compared to last season and I guess that the departure of Deco, Ronaldinho and Zambrotta have a lot do with it.
What is worrying is the bad performances from Dani Alves. I wonder what his pass percentage was because from my point of view it wasn't very good, espacially in the first half. He were really sloppy, espacially with the passes when he were in a defensive position.
We still lack a big striker for the big games (PL teams) and teams like Racing. What was really positive is that Pep seems to have found his left winger in Iniesta.
i dont know why everyone is unhappy with the way dani alves played
i dont think that he really had a bad game, he just didnt show up as much, there is a big difference between those
but obviously he wasnt the wrecking machine he usually is
but after 5 games now i think everyone can agree that he was the best transfer for this year
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