This evening at 8 pm bt,
Barcelona plays the fourth game of the season against Betis Sevilla.
Betis has two points out of their three previous games and weren't able to score once. They are ranked sixteenth in the Liga.Last weekend they had a scoreless draw against city rivals Sevilla, playing with Casto - Nelson, Juanito, Arzu, F. Vega - M. Aurelio, Capi (67 Rivera), Emaná, S. García - M. Glez (88 Melli), Pavone (72 José Mari). Right back defender Damià (2004-2005) and attacker Sergio García (until 2004) are former Barcelona players.
Betis visited the Camp Nou 45 times in the past and has won four times, the last time at the end of the 1997-1998 season when Barcelona had already won the league title.
Betis squad list:
Ricardo, Casto, Melli, Fernando Vega, Arzu, Sergio García, Mark González, Damiá, Capi, Monzón, Pavone, Rivera, Emaná, Mehmet Aurelio, Nelson, José Mari, Juande, Juanito
Barcelona squad list:
Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Márquez, Piqué, Puyol, Cáceres, Abidal, Xavi, Touré, Keita, Iniesta, Gudjohnsen, Busquets, Messi, Eto'o, Bojan, Henry
Before (what are your expectations, what should be the line-up,...), during and after the match, you can comment on the game here.
Posts
55 comments:
This is such a must-win. Another slip at home (with games against Espanyol and Atlético coming up!!!) would be a little disaster for the mood of players and fans.
Valdés
Alves-Marquez-Pique-Puyol
Xavi-Toure-Iniesta
Messi-Eto'o-Henry (or Pedro)
We should keep the mood up after two really good games against Lisbon and Gijon.
I would play the same team as on Sunday but replace Busquets by Touré.
Visca'l barça!
Valdés
Alves-Puyol-Pique-Abidal
Xavi-Toure-Kieta
Messi-Eto'o-Iniesta
Sub: Henry for Iniesta & Bojan for Eto'o
A must win and I think that we will win because we found a goal-scoring form
Més que un club!!!
THE GAME!
I see the game from two angles actually: The system, and the selection.
When I praised the team after two good games played, some thought I am carried away with result (though I was saying the same thing in the first two - bad results- games), I have nothing to do with results, I already said I will wait till January to evaluate results, but what I am more focused on is: THE SYSTEM.
A friend noted once (HERE ON THIS BLOG):"Ramzi I don't see any change in the system since Rijkard era"
Well thats not really the case, even though on papers its still a 4-3-3, but if he is a man, it doesn't mean he is Gandi!
Defense: no more two fullbacks running forward keeping the two central backs alone to face their destiny, instead, a system of 3 CB is now taking place to insure the depth when the team go forward, assisted by the DM in front.
Midfield: while setting offense, and instead of having a DM and 2 mid fielders playing deep, the team is switching now to a 3-1-3-3 structure, with alves on the right penetrating with the support of a- dropped deep- messi, and with kieta assisting iniesta on the left flank, the field is getting wide enough to move around that parked bus in the box rather than running straight and get crushed on it.While xavi is encouraged to go forward to the box (and to be fair, the previous management tried to push xavi to do it, but he never felt secure enough in the middle to go forward).
UPFRONT: as witnessed in last game, and hope continued, the presence of alves on the right, inspired pep to use messi as a second striker, so eto is no more isolated alone in the box, now he can run around exhausting and shaking defense and opening the space for the others to penetrate.
Iniesta on the left, getting rid of using the midfielder boots when he play on the wing, meaning, no more tic tac toc passes, playing ball backward, drop with the ball to the middle... the new iniesta know that his role is not to set up offense but to boost it forward, so we saw him opening wide, penetrating to the area, assisting, crossing, and even scoring.
When the team loose the ball:
eto - messi pressure defense, while iniesta drop back to form a croudy midfield with xavi, alves, kieta, and busquits, while the CB trio guarantee no striker left to roam alone in the area., am I the only one who noticed that the team is getting the ball back so fast?
THE MENTALITY: I think everyone witnessed the hunger, and fighting spirit, with a coach who is always standing on the line, waving his fingers giving instructions, not rolling his arms wishing the best.
Well I know...we played against weaker teams (though the Portuguese are not considered weak), but again, I am talking about the tactical structure, not the result, neither the performance, I believe this is the best way for barcelona to play. and I know they will loose games, win another, so what is important is to use ur resources the best way possible.
Selection: Guard SERGIO GARCIA with ur souls! thats the slogan for the match, he is the killer of Betis, while adu is missing (luckily because he is a threat on the left where barcelona still need to set things right) assisted by Gonzalez, the ex barcelona-Zaragozza guy is the man to mute, and here come pique role.
so the defense I like is:
Alves, pique, marquez, abidal.
Y not payol?because he played all the games already and need rest, beside, knowing that pique is a must, benching marquez may sound like a result of "that" goal last week, that will give some bad impressions in the squad.
Y not caceres? again playing pique means a need for one of the experiences guys beside him payol/marquez, so if caceres will play it will be in abidal place, pep monitor him in training so he know better when he is ready.
Midfield:
I believe its Yaya game, its time to warm up his boots for whats coming next, so those who are waiting, I feel this is his game, if he is in form.
then we have Xavi and keita
in front messi iniesta and...henry! everyone is rotating so, its time for eto to do so.
I am supporting the current version of barcelona because I believe this system is what they are trying to do - I AM BEGGING FOR IT SINCE YEARS! and the result is not what I will read (win or loose) but the way u win or why u loose, thats what make the deference, because in football u will always have days up and down.
Noting that, I believe with the momentum the team gained after two wins, its unlikely that pep will stick to the radical rotation system he applied before, and start sealing results using the best available while rotating and testing through substitutes, so I cant see as much surprises as before. but we will see what he think.
The only think still to see, is how pep read the games, that need some more time to figure out, it was a weakness before with changes that cause more harm than good, we will see by time.
A goal by Kieta or alves from far will be an added value!
Again, the team need unconditional support this period, I hope u keep your whips in your closets, no matter what.
NOTE: Will the big win 6-1, put more pressure on RM not only to win (against the same team)but to match the result? will that lead to anything special? unlikely but I will smile if it happened...
The future of Barcelona's coach...:Ramzi !!
Good job ! You're talented ;).
Ramzi my friend,I agree with you on that article
I also think that Yaya should start because we are in danger of losing him if he doesnt start playing regulary
Més que un club!!!
4-3-3
Pinto
Alves-Puyol-Caceres-Abidal
Busquets
Xavi-Kieta
Messi-Eto'o-Iiesta
My friend RAMZI just got a JOB!!! nice..lol.. nice post as always RAMZI. I think when the PEPE&CO. era is over, RAMZI and KXEVIN should be installed as coach and Manager... Memo would also a good addition..lol... I love this forum
A shame that Hleb isn't there, would be good game for him to play on the left and give Iniesta a break for the tough week comin gup (Espanyol-Shakhtar-Atletico Madrid).
I hope we win 2-0 after 45 minutes, so Henry can replace Eto'o and play in the centre.
Thanx guys I appreciate it:)
And noubarca, it may happen when you take Laporta position lol
Good luck tonight;)
official!!
Valdez
alves--caceres--marquez--abidal
----xavi----toure yaya----keita
----messi----eto'o----iniesta
Toure...is your time baby!!
Finally Yaya got chance!!!
Guardiola knows what he is doing
Més que un club!!!
Anyone with an online feed?
there's the eto'o we've missed for so long!
Samuel is back.
2 in 25 minutes.
damn if Messi's pass was slightly better Eto'o would have been in again. Yaya with a crazy shot.
wait, why did betis get a free kick. the betis player handballed.
god job guys
2 attacks
2 goals for betis
Free kick aside, FCB is lucky not to conceide a penalty when Caceres tackled Betis' player.
Congratulations to Monzon on a excellent lob.
Defense looks very shaky; wonder what happened to a whole team in 2nd half.
With Guddy entering I already feel much safer :)
I don't know if he made the right subs. But Keita/Yaya were both really poor today. Xavi also disappeared in the second half.
its almost comical
WOOOWWWW WHAT A GOAL!!!
lol I guess he did sub the right guys in.
man oh man.
3-2 gudy
Go on gudjohnson!!!!! Talk about a good sub! :)
LOOL!
Guddy scores an incredibly funny goal. Hail to a king! :)
Excellent timing; subs are also looks like a hit - attack is much more lively since Bojan is in.
Where are Guddy's critics now?
What a miss by Bojan, my dear god...
In past yeras we would be beaten if this happenened to us
Just remember the game against Betis last year
We were also leading 2:0 and then we lost 3:2 but this time it is a little different
Our guys just must to hold on now
Més que un club!!!
Did you see Pep's reaction when etoo went up to him and was so happy Guddy scored? Its so classic!!! Haha
*years
thats 'gud'. phew...another draw and it would be termed a crisis. well i gotta say guardiola knows what he is doing... forza barca!!
Well.....that was uncomfortable but i will take it. Despite the poor defence, which is clearly something that needs work, I think they fought very hard to get the win. To be honest we could have been 4 up by the half and only some great goalkeeping kept them in it. Also Pep made some brave decisions that paid off. It was good to see Yaya back on the pitch and I think he had a very good game. The first foul that led to the goal was a but harsh and that is the 2nd time that has happened to us. At least this time it didnt cost us any points.
GUD sub. I know its not enought to make folks believe is not a bad player but if he continues to get games like this, with time, he would be a contender fro starting XI
Guddy thank God u scored....give u props visca el barza!!!!!!!!!!!
We really have to have more concentration at the back. We're attacking for so long that whenever an attack comes we get crossed up.
I have to say our midfield was pretty sub-par today. Yaya lost the ball numerous times, his technique still needs to improve. I didn't even see Keita with the ball except at the end of crosses and he never looked dangerous in any of those situations.
Messi was probably the best player out there along with Eto'o. He should have had another assist on the Bojan miss. Two other plays, one where he played a 1-2 with Eto'o but left the ball too wide or Eto'o would have been in. Another play where he should have passed to Eto'o streaking in but held on to it. Overall though Messi really carried the offensive load today along with Eto'o
I wasn't convinced with Abidal last game as some people were but today he looked purposeful. Both adventurous going forward and forceful defending.
We missed Puyol as well, kind of appreciate him a little more when he's not there throwing his body in defense bravely.
bloody hell that was tense!
1st half performance was very very good, messi and etoo looked to have joined the mind reading club of xavi and iniesta. the defence looked quite assured for saying that puyol wasnt there. good to see yaya back and he had a good half with keita.
then i guess credit to betis they came out a different team but we really have some defensive problems. 3 games in la liga and betis cant score, play us they get two! i guess some people will blame abidal and valdes for the goals, as they seem to be culpable for every goal we have conceded, but that rubbish the WHOLE defence needs work. new players need to intergrate and they gotta sort out set plays.
but thats all the negatives. getting the winning goal like that (really pleased for guddy, great squad player even if he gets lots of stick) will probably do more for our confidence. as has been mentioned this happened last year but it was betis who got the winner. this is a differnet team that is starting to show signs of real quality, as is its manager. i was screaming at the telly when he made his substitutions but i guess that why he is manager and not me! great game pep, sort the defence out and we got a real chance.
The most important is that we won but Guardiola will have to work on defence quickly before we clash with Espanyol which will be very tough game but I am sure Guardiola will work it out
Cheers guys!!!
Més que un club!!!
We won, yes we did but I still dont get the point of pushing 3 youngsters with almost zero experiance on the last 15 min. and the team has just converted an unavoidable win to draw at home!!! to much of a pressure I do think that we was saved by luck.
I was dying to see poyol on the bench but after the second goal,HELL NOOOO, he'd never let it get to the attacker.
we missed good chances, 2 free kicks , and a good one by bojan.
and by the way why is every team is so good in scoring from a free kick when it comes to Barca???!!
Abidal again was great, Alves better than last game, Caceres saved some good balls,the same for Valdes.
Tore' didn't play up to his standards.
Eto'o is the lion.
Messi played his bes 15min at the end of the game.
Inista, Xavi, as stable as expected.
what i liked the most is the fighting for the 3rd goal.
what i hated the most is the lacid begining of the 2nd half, in an attempt to kill the match we almost killed ourselves!! we still cant offer to pull the offending team into our own half because we still fragile at the back.
the same priod of loseness appeard against Gijon but thay was unable to score.
Sorry i meant pushing 2 youngesters at the last 15 min and one to start the game with
Hey all:)
Well in brief the forward set up was perfect, the problem was simply switching back to use Classical left back, beside right back, instead of sticking to 3 CB as it happened in the last 2 games. what made it more fragile was using caceres for pique . instead of using Abidal as a CB shifting to left, Marquez as a CB and pique shift to right to cover alves, we played with abidal as LB drifting wide, Marquez and left footed Caceres as CB and Alves Right forward acting as a winger, that obviously shake the defense specially that Yaya didn't catch the season rhythm of the season.
Its an attempt by pep to try something, lessons will be learned for sure.
The question is why its not Alves who take the free kicks around the box? I kind of felt surprised about that.
Offensively the team was perfect, kieta, Xavi, iniesta, eto and messi did the job with no doubts.
Caceres still need time, too early to count on him as the game proved.
Substitutes? hm...they scored...
in general, wasn't a bad game, but again. lessons should be learned.
I´m waiting for a comment from Guddy´s critics, where are you guys hiding?!
Guddy's contribution was not only the goal he did much more he added more stability and strength to the midfeild so no one can complain.
and Ramzi, your pre match analysis was superb, you was right about Poyol, and you was right about caceres and piquet,
good thoughts Ramzi,
well done
I do think if barcelona kept pressing and closing the midfield even if doing so without attacking, the result would be 4-1 at least.
Finally,
good-job-sen has come!
no, god-job-sen may be lol.
good spirit .
did anyone see the look on pepe face when eto wanted to celebrate with him? what the hell was that ?
Wow.. an unexpected thriller! Well i cant complain much cuz we got the 3 points. However i was very impressed with Caceres. The best defender on the pitch in my opinion. He was simply amazing. But like most of you i would like to know where the team was for most of the second half.
Since i am guessing im the only one here that thinks toure isnt that great, it would be easy for me to critisize his horrible performance in the second half. He held up good in the 1st half, but perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that he rarely sees 1st team action. So for now ill go easy on him and congratulate him on a good 1st half performance.
But moving on from that i think our players showed some great composure torwards the end of the match, especially the subs. Bojan gave the team a much needed spark when he came in. I thought Guardiola would sacrifise a defender for Bojan not Eto'o. But it worked out. Either Gudi or Busquets shouldve came in sooner. Not necesarily both, but at least one to balance out our broken mid.
Valdes was not at fault for either goal, and he almost saved the 2nd one, just didnt get enough on it. Marquez and Abidal were both out of place, considering that it was a Betis throw-in in Barca territory.
Alves is geting beter with every game, and like i said Caceres was amazing. Wouldnt be surprised if he cracked some more 1st team action soon.
Our mid was great in the 1st, dissapeared int he second. I liked Keitas attacking mentality. Alves almost picked him out for some good header opportunities, but their chemistry needs a little fine tuning. Considering they know each other from sevilla it shouldnt be long before they team up for one or more.
Messi was my pick for man of the match. He did carry our offense today which was good to see. He really shouldve finished with about 5 assists. Eto'o was Eto'o! Brilliant.
Looks like they had Iniesta very well marked. They mustve put in some OT in watching his tapes because that portuguese defender had his number for most of the match. Until Bojan came in. Looks like they spent all their time studying Iniesta they forgot about our little Bojan! He was so close to getting his first goal, that was a shame!
What can i say about Gudjohnsen? He was great! He picked up where Keita left off. The Alves-Keita connection turned into the Alves-Gudi finisher! Really awesome game to watch again if you recorder it!
Visca el Barça!
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/la-liga/2008-2009/barcelona-betis-242074.html
check out the player statistics very intresting to see that yaya had only 1 bad pass and from the statistics alves had 42 good pass Zero bad and 1 Assists and 3 tackles Alves is the man of the match i like his statistics more than anyone .
http://bbs.hoopchina.com/attachment/Mon_0809/140_507489_4d04fa8bcc06125.gif
lol
PEP incident with eto!!!!!!!!!
Thats what I like mostly in this game, that show a change I like!
its a goal!!! excited eto run to hug rijkard, may be carry him! take his neck between eto arms and spoil his hair style! and u never know may be pulling down the coach pants! opps!! for a moment he forgot, this is a new coach so KEEP A DISTANCE! its no more players coach, u r the coach players! then pep gave eto that hug that seemed like "congratulation my son"!! piece of art! Still...
NO...This one wasn't right, good that pep tried it now.
Till the moment Gudi got blessed by Godi, I was wondering what will I comment, because with a draw, everyone would have been criticizing everything like hell, and I didn't want to be a part of it, but after the goal, it seems everyone is cheering up, so even though I am the most dedicated supporter for pep, still it wasn't his day.
After the sporting match, I gave pep a rating of 12, AGAIN, not based on the result, but the system, and before this match i explained what I mean when I say "system", in this game pep missed up with the defensive set up of that system (now he has the right to do so, because its still the trial period till January, but at least we need to say that, no, this one will not work).
After the 3 CB defense structure worked like a watch, pep decided to try bouncing back to the same old days, using abidal as (almost) a classical left back, playing on the line, while alves is more a winger than a full back, so what we saw in previous games, abidal playing close to the 2 CB creating depth, turned to a defense with highways, it was so open to be secure.
Now if pique would have been there, he would be able to limit the damage, because what he have and Caceres don't (yet) is that he position himself perfectly to cover most of the space between the middle and the right, the problem was obvious in the first half, I wasn't home or else I would have commented here "there is a problem in defense, lets see how pep will deal with it" pep didn't, betis coach did, and thats actually what made the deference in the second half, no one slept and no one woke up, still the same two teams, but betis simply changed their style.
Now again, I noted something before about reading the game, this one wasn't a pep day:)
The substitutions may be PERFECT, he know better, but I still don't understand it, its easy after you see the impact of the substitutions to try to explain, that will turn to be explaining the impact, not the substitutions itself, I wonder if Gudi was not the scorer how the evaluation would have been:) so to keep myself in safe place, and keep pep in front I say, I simply didn't understand.
I knew kieta will go out (after he did his job) but I thought he will be out, iniesta will take his role and henry will take a place forward, but when you are seeking a goal, to play gudi (who haven't been used since...since...hm...) and leave henry out, again Pep probably had a good reason to do so, a reason that I still don't understand.
Gudi goal wasn't luck, he worked for that luck, meaning he simply positioned himself well in the box and made the right move (slide), being a striker long time ago still there inside him, it seems lucky because it went to hit the far post and get in, but thats unlucky because normally it go directly to the net closer to the near post, it was a cross, and the typical slide they teach in youth academies (my little ball I will slide so bounce on me), that was football, not luck.
Caceres rate is going to be a great name, but in that game, his positioning was bad, his nonsense clearance was too much even when the team needed to slow down the tempo, he was sending back the ball to betis too fast, and caused a penalty(simply playing the style that work when u play with recreativo), Meaning still need time to cutomize his style to fit playing for barcelona, where defence build up the game, not only clear the ball far enough trying to resque a point (again, recreativo style), another defernce is that in lower teans you deffend with lot of "your duds" arround, helping u, closing spaces making it crowdy, while in barcelona u have to cover a space left by the crazy guys (your mates) pushing forward, the first step to succeed doing that, is to know where to stand before you start your move to defend, choosing the spot that keep you almost close to every where in your defense territory, pique know it, Caceres need it, and it will come, he is fast, strong, and he has the "it" to turn great, so i guess patience needed, I mean Fans patience :)
Valdes has nothing to do with the goals, before the free kick he was yelling like hell on the wall, i think it was too noisy for them to listen to the new captain, I suggest for next time that he put some stones near the post, he can use it, in case he really needed someone to respond.
Alves was better, but still need to improve, specialy his defence, because unlike the majority, there is where i care more about alves performance, do me the good deffence (asd a defender) then fly on the flank as needed, dont forget defense, it is happening sometimes, but in general he was good (again I evaluate based on potentials, if it would have been oliguer performing like that I would HAIL!HAIL!HAIL!!!).
Marquez was ok, deserve no medal but nothing to complain about, again, the defense structure in that game make it hard to blame anyone, so as abidal he was ok but now we know the 3CB structure fit him more, no wonder.
Toure, you can say he is not good, you can say he seemd not able to handle the pressure of competetion for places, you can say a lot after a "not a typical yaya performance), I say simply this is his first game in the season, and the player need to catch the tempo before starting to enjoy the party, thats exactly why before the game i was confident he will start it, if pep wana use him later in more complicated game, he need to warm him up first, in this game we saw how important it was to play him, so no one regret using him, that was the best to be done.
Kieta opened on the left with iniesta, making a good flank, opening betis defense and taking their consentration from the typical right wing threat of barca, he penetrated to the box more often, he didnt score but doing that means he will sooner or later, again, he played a role based on "that system" and that makes me happy.
Xavi was also good, not as good as the last two games, but hey, no one keep the same level for a whole season, whats good about xavi is that he is either good or perfect.
Iniesta, again did what needed on the left, in the second half he, little bit, felt he miss midfield old days, so was not opening enough, i think mentaly he still have the feeling that when the team is under pressure he (as a midfielder) have to bounce back deep to help even if that mean living the left flank and "hell who care!!!I will go and get that damn ball no matter where it go on the field!!" so I kind of understand what he was doing in the second half, and again he didn't disappoint me.
Eto, what a goal! is working perfectly since messi started to assist him in the box and around it, he is not a man in the box, not tall enough for that, so he need someone to work with or else he feel too lonely to shine, more to come from the couple, he run like hell, and he is working for the team, its too obvious, and too good and true!
I Understand that here, based on the design of the blog its better not to write long comments, hm.. I mean LONGER comments :) so I apologize I took more space than appropriate in this comment already, so I will leave it here:)
Messi...
In my country a basketball team bought an american player once to help them (his name is tony madisson) and that tony can score 3 points even if he kick the ball to the basket (well not literally :P) can dribble everyone and break to the basket, everyone praised that, but still everyone considered him too selfish, after 3 seasons he fed up and in an interview he draw out some papers pointing out that in each season he did more assists than the sum of the following three players of best assists did in three seasons, got the hint?
I wish if you can also count the assists that the strikers miss to score, like the bojan one for example? I am so glad he started to adapt to his new role -with barcelona, I knew its coming.
For pep credit, its not easy to get gudi in and keep henry out, whether we like this substitute or not, it show personality. And he transmitted his welling mentality to the guys, they kept fighting to the end and it was a deserved win, 3 more points in the basket and...lets move forward.
ramzi man i seriously enjoy reading ur posts..after every match i specifically visit the blog to read ur views...ur going a great job.. keep it up!!
Selvin, sorry man, pepe pasted my post to another discussion board so i was following up there, now U saw ur comment here:)
Thanx I appreciate it:)
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