You all know Kxevin, don't you? He always use this technique whenever he wants to say something (or choose a selection) that may sound too creative to be welcomed, So he simply says “Call me Crazy!” as a smart way to absorb the reaction of the shock he know he cause from time to time! I hope he reserved no rights for this slogan already or else I am in a big trouble because for what I will mention in this post, it’s my turn to say “Call me crazy!”
But first, let’s sneak to
In nine league games Shakhtar played so far, they won once, drew six times, and lost two. Scored nine goals and conceded nine goals as well. They are warming up the 11th spot in the league table, out of 16 premier league teams.
In Champions League, they qualified to group stage, winning 2-0 at home, and 1-3 away against Dinamo Zagreb (that’s how “Dinamo” is written as an official name for the team), They won their first group game 1-2 against
Coached by, the very experienced Romanian, Mircea Lucescu.
For me, the Croatian Darijo Srna is the driving power of the team. Jadson, Seleznyov, Adriano Luiz and Brandao are the names to deal with defensively, while Hübschman leads the defense from behind.
It’s not easy to guess Shakhtar selection for the game, because (and for those who complain that Guardiola rotates too much) in nine games, Shakhtar never used the same selection twice! But if I want to give it a shot I say, the Shakhtar selection will most probably be:
Pyatov (GK), Hübschman, Kucher Oleksandr, Shevchuk Vyacheslav, Rat Razvan Dinca, Chygrynskyy Dmytro, Fernandinho, Jadson, Srna Darijo, Seleznyov, Adriano Luiz/Brandao.
That’s an overview about “the other team”, now let the fun begin!
Barcelona won their first game in the group stage, as we all know, played a game against Espanyol, few days before Shakhtar, and will have a game against Atletico
Here I list the rest of the CL games
- Bilbao-Barcelona, Basel-Barcelona, Barcelona-Almeria
- Malaga-Barcelona, Barcelona-Basel, Barcelona-Valladolid
- Barcelona- Getafe, Sporting-Barcelona, Sevilla-Barcelona
- Barcelona-Valencia, Barcelona-Shakhtar, Barcelona-Real
Now based on that, you can have a clear idea and have your saying, do we rotate in this game or not? I still think, hell yes! With 3 points already in hand (against Sporting), and with two Basel games in two less stressful weeks, and hosting Shakhtar at home the last game of the group, I say now better than later!
But is it really a risk to rotate? Or it may even be a better chance to win? I believe
My selection:
Pinto, Sylvinho,
And when setting offense it turn to the following:
But now, knowing than Sylvinho was not called for this game, I will switch Caceres to play his role, while Puyol plays as a CB beside Marquez, again, the priority is giving Alves break!
I think this selection will serve in many ways:
- It will give players like Alves, Iniesta, Messi and Xavi a break.
- It may put some water in Shakhtar mouth so they open the game, and it may be more attainable for this selection to win against an open Shakhtar, rather than a selection of all the big guys against defensive Shakhtar.
- It will open the field wide having Sylvinho and Pedro on the flanks.
- Using Yaya as a midfielder will test how far the team can count on his passing skills - he has it - and his shooting power, he know Ukraine football and will be very useful in this game.
- The players selected will do their best to prove their worth to start games, while the big stars have it for granted.
- Unlike the big names, the selected options will not have Atletico game in mind while playing in
It will be an added value if Guardiola add some smoke to the mix, something like saying in an interview before the game: “The earlier we qualify, the more we will be relaxed, we need to make sure it happen sooner rather than later, so we also avoid unpleasant surprises”.
Saying so, will keep Mircea confused, and will end up fielding a more defensive selection and tactical structure just in case
When the game starts, Mircea will have two choices, either to keep the field closed and cause no serious threat on defense, while Barcelona opening the Ukraine defense wide through Silvinho and Pedro, or he may instruct his players to go forward so he moves forward using defensive tools, which will not be efficient enough.
In the second half, Mircea will think to substitute, and then hesitate the moment he looks to the
Guardiola will have the luxury to let Mircea do the first step! And as in chess, the last move is the one that will be the make or break!
Again, Guardiola may hold the stick from the middle, keeping some of the big guys and rotating the others, what I mostly hope, is NOT to see the following players in the selection: Alves, Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi!
Now I will leave the space for you, what’s the perfect way to approach this game?
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27 comments:
Ramzi will from now on do the match previews on this blog. If someone is interested in writing a match report, feel free to leave your mail address here as a comment or mail me at fcbtransfers[at]yahoo.com. I'll get back to you in a few days.
About Shakhtar. A guy to watch (if he plays) could be Willian, the winger who was said to have an agreement with Barcelona back in June. It was most probably agent talk, but still... Read the story here;
http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.com/2008/06/deal-with-shakhtar-donetsk-winger.html
good breakdown. when the draw was made i thought this could be the toughest game as shaktar seem to be a team on the rise and playing in the ukraine is notoriusly difficult. althought i agree with most of what ramzi said, looking at those three games including shaktar at home, we want to have qualification in FIRST place safe by then, so that that game becomes a nothing game, then play the team suggested above, hoping madrid and valencia are still fighting for their places.
i agree with resting those players especially messi. with his busy summer he is going to have to be wrapped in cotton wool for the early part of the season at least. xavi and iniesta also need to be rested, just not sure whether both at the same time. i think alves should play as he seems to finding his feet with each game and getting to know his role.
although i agree and really like pep's rotation policy i think the above team could be seen as a sign of disrespect to shaktar, which can be dangerous (ask ferguson about the copenhagen game a few years ago). excellent point about yaya's experience so i think he is a must, i guess a mixture of automatic and squad players for this one, also thinking towards the basle matches are both ones we should win comfortably with respect to them, and probably dont call for first team players throughout. this one could be more difficult, again a good point about drawing them out but teams just dont play that way against us (i think only arsenal would)
team something along these lines:
valdes
alves, pique, marquez, caceres
busquets
gudi, yaya
pedro, henry, bojan
Now confirmed that sylvinho is out, meaning that Caceres is my man for LB, while payol/abidal play as a CB.
Noting that I am not rying to predict Guardiola moves, who most likely will try to get a result in the first half then rest players, but trying to start a discussion about the best way to approach the game the way we see it, so this is going to be more like a Coffee break Chat, warming up for the game, rather than hit and run;)
Pep your guy will be a killer in counter attacks "IF" fit to start, not guaranteed yet.
First I should say that I don't think it's normal that Barcelona has to play on Saturday against Atletico when they've played in Ukraine on Wednesday. The Spanish football federation shouldn't allow this. Although it's early in the season and we cannot use it as an excuse (also because Atletico will play mid-week).
I'm not fond of drastic rotations. We should win this game, period. Not only because of the CL, but just to keep the winning mood. If we don't get the three points, the press will be there with their negative comments and we just don't need that.
Nice preview, Ramzi!
I would say: Pedro for Messi is my big change. the rest is up to discusiion but you can't play without Xavi and Iniesta, Ramzi, that's suicide. You can't expect Touré to act as playmaker, that's too much pressure on his shoulders. So (you asked for it) I call you crazy!
A shame that Hleb is out, this was really a game for him!
HoHOoo!! I got my first crazy call! :))
we are used to have him as a DM (Toure) but believe it or not he is more a midfielder with the attributes he have, I don't know when it was the last time I saw someone taking the ball from him without a foul, he cover the ball like hell! he have the Vision for the pass, he dribble, he have strong shots, and against a team playing 10 in the box, when he is a midfielder then its easier for him to run into the box and meet the crosses with headings, getting advantage of his physics (the way the team missed since the beginning of the season), You are right, its more than just "crazy" to play without both Xavi and Iniesta ... so now you know why I look like that in that photo ;)
At Monaco, Touré actually played as number ten (playmaker), Ramzi, but that role in Monaco is so different with that role in Barcelonan where you have to get down a wall of ten man. You just must have a guy who is used to that role, with Xavi being my choice.
i agree that henry will get another chance tonight,i think eto will be rested for the ahead difficult matches,also bojan and pedro should both play and give a rest to xavi by playing guddy or iniesta there.
thats all.
i think we will win with no problems
When Pep is rotating like hell i dont see the point in playing our "B-squad". I would continue down the same path and change at most 4 players from the last match. Toure, Keita, Caceres and Bojan/Pedro should start the match.
Pinto
Puyol-Marques-Pique-Caceres
Busquets
Toure-Keita
Pedro-Eto´o-Iniesta
And then change Eto´o and Iniesta for Bojan and Henry in second half. A draw would be fine in this match. It´s not easy to play in Ukraine.
Ramzi why did you put on henry out wide? You know he hates it and we have seen that playmakers like iniesta make better left wingers. Shame that Hleb is out but we need someone like iniesta or hleb. mmmmmmm maybe victor sanchez? we still havent gotten to see just to what extent his "polyvalency" reaches.
barca aficionado I am not putting henry wide on the left, but actually where he love to be, cutting to the box from the left. What he hate is playing as a winger while setting offense, and this is not the case here ,as you notice in the second pic (set offense), but when the team lose the ball, u need the forwards to reposition to help getting back the ball, henry is better than bojan bouncing back to help the midfielders getting back the ball.
They are calling me crazy without putting victor sanchez in my selection :)
...too much talk for a game like this...if barca has the ambition to win the cl they should be able to win against shajkthar with the b-team...but that's purely hypothetical...for me,every game of gudjohnsen is one too much...pedro could also not impress me...this is the second game and it could be negligent or just dumb to give our best players a break when our first team is even not in a good mood too to impress more in la liga and struggles to score goals and takes advantage from their dominance and chances...in theory everything sounds good but reality showed us the truth...again,for me,experiment-time should be over...now it's time to improve and win games to stabilize team-spirit...and to win and get best,you need the best...ONE LOVE...BARCA FOREVER!!!!!
My Friends, I am not saying this is the perfect selection Barcelona have, but I consider it good enough to play this game, and save energy for Atletico game after 3 days.
If you are comparing this selection to the best Barcelona can have, then of course it is not exciting, but comparing it to Shakhtar, this selection can do the job, is it guaranteed? well, will you guarantee a better selection will win? (hm...numancia...)
we all like Xavi, messi, iniesta, Alves... but we like them to be fit for the whole season, not sucking all their energy so they get injured for 3 months.
For a team like barcelona, with all the changes happened this summer, I will be less emotional and more practical and say, the team need time to hit the peak, it will not be easy for barcelona to win the CL this season, the only thing that may help them to achieve that is saving their boosting energy for the last phase of the season!
Now regarding the league, aside of the typical competitors, don't forget Valencia! they will be completely focused on the league, and their squad is too strong for one objective, that will be a challenge to take seriously, if Barcelona don't use each and every player they have in this season, then I guarantee an unpleasant end...
I am aware Guardiola will not go that far, but i want to promote the rotation message;)
Ramzi.. you are VERY crazy..... it is too early in the season to be resting so many players.... I am sorry we have barely played ten games and they need a break already? MAYBE xavi and iniesta..MAYBE.. and messi you could make an argument for because they had long summers...but eto'o? ...keita ? this team has ZERO chemistry at the back.. thats why we keep letting in silly goals and you and pep propose to change the defense around every game. Oh and this is not the position that henry likes .. you need to swap him for bojan in your formation.. true he likes to drift left but I think he plays better when he starts in the middle and is given freedom to drift as he pleases which is usually to the left.. I know this is a lot of freedom but he is used to playing by himself... thats the kind of player he is.. and it was stupid of us to buy a thirty year old forward who doesnt fit our system and then force him to play there. Also gudjonsen.. really.. that deep ?!!?! I dont know dude... too many changes... chemistry... we need chemistry... the only way u get this is if everyone can play together as much as possible.. when you make 3-4 changes every game ( even changing positions) it hurts our team
Good points Marc, there are two schools in the game when it come to that, and u r defending one of them really good, so keep it going;)
If you believe messi, xavi, iniesta are ok to be rotated, i wonder why not alves, knowing that he may be the player who have almost no cover and played as much.
aside of that, i only rotated eto :)
But I believe guardiola will not rotate all that at once, still its good to be "crazy " sometimes to take the best out of people, if I didn't tease you, you wouldn't have shown your best defending the opposite;)
Still I believe in this selection that it will work, and regarding chemistry, don't have that much concerns, with time (till January) you will have all the chemistry u need between 22 players, which is better than 11 ;)
I will like-------- valdes
caceres -----marquez------pique------sylvinho
toure
busquets iniesta
pedro henry bojan
if sylvinho out for shure then its abidal..... i think maybe the only ones resting r going to be puyol,messi, xavi.
ramzi if you are going to use toure that far up then you should make him a second striker or one that comes from behind but you can not use him as a number 10 becouse he will die on the field :) let him move in the spaces that eto'o or henry make and use a formation like 3-5-2 like this
dc dc dc
cdm
lm cm cm rm
toure
st
puyol pigue caceres
marques
alves xavi iniesta messi
toure
eto'o / henry
i think is very unlikly PEP using this formation but it may work
i like this formation but it would be a lot better if it was
puyol pigue caceres
marques
alves xavi keita iniesta
messi
eto'o / henry
or even
puyol pigue caceres
toure
alves xavi iniesta messi
henry
eto'o
my all time best would be
puyol pigue caceres
toure
alves xavi iniesta
messi
eto'o henry
i do not see any reason that we should change any thing in our fomation but i think that alves should not start this game just to be fresh!!
LéonDrágon shakxtar will not stay back and deffend like the liga teams do.. if they try this a will be fine with it becouse they can not deffend in ther half they like to be in attacing position.. somthing i think we should let them try just to check a thing or two in our team.. i think that it would be a nice fast game that will check our work rate.. and i would like to see our reaction to all that.. if we dominate the midfield ones more then that will always be our styl in home and away regardless the opponent!!
Yet again fantastic job Pep and Ramzi!
About the game. I really like the Ramzi selection. Altough I don`t know how well Caceres will fit to the Sylvinho/Abidal role?! Rotating players is a must, as we don`t wanna see our key players injured, like in so many times in resent years. (messi, etoo etc...)
It`s true that it is early in the season, but for some, having played in the olympics or Euro 08, there hasn`t been that much rest. Espesially the dynamic duo from midfield Iniesta and Xavi. They are playing 90minutes both in spanish NT and in blaugrana. they need their rest. Also we need to know how will the team work if both of them are out. And as for the other players, don`t they deserve a chance? Likes on Bojan, Toure, Caceres, Pedro, Pinto, they all need starts and minutes. This is the perfect game for that.
Pinto to goal is a must. Having Valdes f"#k up so often resently, I would throw in Pinto, even to the Atletico game as well.
I would like to see Caceres play 90 minutes.
My MD would be Busquets, Touré, Keita. The reason for this is that Im fed up with Gudjohnsen. IMO our attacks slow down every time guddy gets the ball. He`s not very creative and tends to use easy passes with no value to the team what so ever. ( I mean that his passing desisions are poor and uninventive. Feel free to disagree).
Bojan has to start, and as a center forward. Thats his position, and this is the guy for the future. I like Henry, and its a pitty that he doesn`t get to play were he would like, but our priority should be Bojan. "Ramzis crazy-eleven" suits this porpuse fine.
Lets hope Guardiola contingues his succesful selections and tactics.
Yes,I agree that this should be the rotation game because the Athletico game is much more important.
Més que un club!!!
yes i agree with this ur selection ramzi. but what i think is that of the back,i thouhgt pique should pair maquez and not caceres.why caceres should be played on either the left or right flank.for sylvinho i think he should be used cos he'v missed so many first team match.and he would be usefull for croosing.whereby yaya would be playing as a playmaker and he would be there in the box to nood when sylvinho is croosing.the forward selection is ok.i prefer henry on the wing than in the middle of the box.and pedro is a messi type.i bet it with u.that guy is our next messi.and bojan is very good in the box cos he is sharp in scoring goals(thou as a kid he still lake some football sense)but he is good than henry in the box i think.
on the issue of toure,i thinkl he is good in that possition and he is more used to the game of ukrain,and besides he got the skill,strenght and passing ability to play as a play maker.and he is tall to compete for the ball in the box when been crosed.
...no I won't call you crazy...but Henry will call you worse names if he starts on the left! I know your diagram fixes this...but that's still 1 striker too many for Henry (we want Bojan and Titi to remain friends!)
Man that midfield is blowing my mind. It's "Monumental" in all kinds of ways. Not sure about Yaya upfront...like using a vacuum cleaner to set the table.
But overall, congrats on an exciting preview, Ramzi, the diagrams are great....especially Pinto pushing up on Offense! :)
Icemel, regarding henry, he is actually playing as a striker, in the box beside Bojan:)
but when you plot him this way on the "standard tactical structure" means that when the team lose the ball, bojan is the guy who stay up front, while henry bounce back to help getting back the ball...
Regarding pinto, when the team play high defense, the goal keeper need to position himself in his bock so that he don't get lobed, but at the same time he has to be ready to play the "libero" role when needed.
My Last comment here:)
pep almost selected a first class team
- the best scenario the team win, moral up, and still win the game against Atletico.
- the worst scenario, the team lose today, go back to spain with low moral and pay the fitness tax against atletico.
A rotated team:
- best scenario they win and the team will have a fresh squad for atletico game.
worst scenario, the selection lose, but have nothing to do with moral , knowing that the best players saved their batteries for the next game.
Time will tell, on the long term, What was the right option.
Enjoy the game, good luck:)
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