Sunday 17 May 2009

Match discussion: Mallorca

This evening at 7:00 pm bt,
Barcelona plays the 36th league game against Mallorca.





Mallorca squad list:
Moyà, Lux, Ramis, Josemi, Ayoze, Corrales, Varela, Callejón, Mario Suárez, Santana, Martí, Alberto, Arango, Jurado, Trejo, Keita, Aduriz, Webo


Barcelona squad list:
Valdés, Oier, Alves, Fontàs, Cáceres, Abidal, Sylvinho, Víctor Sánchez, Abraham, Xavi Torres, Keita, Thiago, Gudjohnsen, Jeffren, Eto'o, Bojan, Hleb, Pedro



Read a match preview here

Re-live the first round game here



!!! LIVE MATCH CHAT !!!

From two hours before until two hours after the game you can join a match chat (read more here)



Before (what are your expectations, what's your prediction, what should be the line-up,...), during and after the match, you can also comment on the game here.

40 comments:

umessi10 said...

Line up: Oier; Alves, Cáceres, Abidal, Sylvinho; Xavi Torres, Gudjohnsen, Hleb; Pedro, Eto'o, Bojan

etoto said...

Why is Abidal playing? Didn't he get a red card last game?

Anonymous said...

He missed the CDR final

LeónDragón said...

...what have we done to deserve an etoo like this...unbelievable to believe that this guy made 29 goals...there was a time he played with brain...especially in front of the goal,he was icecold by using technic,not only shoot-power...but for the last games,no words...%&?*+'#-=!$%...

etoto said...

That was horrible game from Eto'o.....
He better shake it off before the CL final...

Lasse Kongo said...

Come on, he wasn't terrible, he just couldn't get the ball in the net. As a striker that is something that will happen now and then, luckily he is still good in all other situations and really helps the team.

But yeah, let's hope he can get over this unbelievable unablility to score before the final.

LeónDragón said...

...etoo...never saw such a bad striker in all the years as barcafan...this was not bad luck,it was pure inability...he lost this game by himself...by not making one more goal of the millions of chances he got...for the three points it doesn't matter,but he alone blew one chance to break reals record of 107 goals in a season...makes me so angry...the only good thing is that i won the bet,when i said he will miss the penalty...that was no bad talk,or that i don't want him to,but just my feeling...sorry guys,but he destroyed my nice sunday evening with this disgraceful use of the chances...hope he gets back for good for the cl-final...

LeónDragón said...

...lasse kongo...it seems your heart is bigger than mine...good thing,that i fully respect...fans like you are worthy for a team...take my respect...

Hung said...

I think Thiago played well, he had some good passes. His first touches were good too. I'd love to see him in the first team next season.

It was not Eto'o's day. I hope he begins to pick up his goal-instinct again in the next games. It's definitely needed against Manchester United.

Anonymous said...

i think it's the right time to release etoo.
villa or zlatan would easily replace him for sure.
besides,bojan is similar type of striker.

Anonymous said...

Cant stand Eto'o anymore. It is too annoying. Besides, we need something different. Bring in Dzeko, we would then utilize Daniel Alves' crosses, similar to the Kanoute-Alves partnership in Sevilla.

Anonymous said...

the guy scored 29 Goals ! he can miss a few I think. I think he won't miss in the Final. you will see . :)
and beside this is his first Penalty miss of the season !!! . so Chill out People ! . I personally wouldn't like to see abra play for barca I prefer Benzema any day . and villa Is 2 short short if we buy villa forget scoring with headers. and that's a huge part of the game.

hieifcb said...

dude eto'o missed against Madrid in Camp Nou

Ba-Beka said...

Stop protecting Eto'o , if i was Pep i wouldn't let him play for Barca , never in his life , it's not one game , there are more than 10 game he scored only 2 goals out of 200 Chances are given to him , even Pedro or Jeffren could have scored more than Eto'o if they had a chance to play 60 Games for Barcelona as a central striker .

Let him go , change him with Ibra , 100% better then Eto'o in every aspect , dribbling ability to score , finish , scores from out of 18 , and more & more than Eto'o he is just shame for Barca , having 10-15 opportunities to score , and score only 1 or non for 90 minutes .

Shame on u Eto'o

andyman said...

i think you all need to calm down. all players go through a dip in form eventually. he is still the same player he was 4 months ago, his form is just suffering at the moment.
this game wasn't important anyways so quit crying.

John-Reid said...

How can anyone defend him now? I used to think he was great, but watch his last TEN GAMES. Nothing. Two goals in ten games. 2 missed penalties out of three taken (I think). When I watch his goals again, I realize he has benefited from the awesomeness of the other players. His own skill can do nothing. Without the help of the other players, he has barely any ability. He always seems to slow Barca down.
Today was his day to shine. Playing against his old club, captaining the greatest side in football, playing their champions celebration game, playing tenth placed team, and a chance to make a great tie. He failed completly. Yes , Moya was good, but a world-class striker would not miss 15 chances, including a penalty. His two headers were his only highlights, but again, he did not set them up for himself, Bojan had to help him out. Yes, it is normal for a striker to miss more than score, but I think a true striker should score 1/5 chances at least. For Eto'o, it's 1/20. And where was he against Chelsea and Real Madrid? Nowhere to be found.
Thanks Eto'o for all you have done, but it's time for Barca to get a talented striker.

andyman said...

he actually had 8 shots, 6 on target.
and take him out of the lineup and see how much harder it is to keep possession, no striker in the world helps out his midfield as much as eto'o

FC BARCA said...

Eto'o was terrible and missed many chances, but we are La Liga champions and Copa Del Champions. Lets hope that Eto'o can regain his form in time for the CL final.
Visca El Barça

Instinct said...

Overall I thought this match was highly entertaining and frustrating. This should have been an easy win for our taking and on the other hand exciting to watch some of our future Barcelona squad list playing together. I would like to see Jeffren play more with the 1st team, I wish Pep would have substituded him earlier in the match. As for the rest, in my opinion Eto, Cáceres, Hleb and Gudjohnsen played terrible, they should have brought THEM in as the subs....and let the ENTIRE youth squad start...and Eto..Well he was just doing what he always does this is nothing new we should be use to this crap by now, WTF Eto? Mallorca had 2 real chances and buried them both. He alone had 5 solid opportunities alone just in the 1st half, not to mention that WEAK ASS effort you called a PK at the last minute. He just better not show up playing in a CL final like that or he will never score. Especially god forbid we go to PK's at the end.

Also...Is it just me or is Gudjohnsen not capable of playing a full match? He just doesn't seem to be able to, personally I like his diversity, contributions, and style/technique of play. But can anyone else remember the last time Gudjohnsen even played a full 90 minutes in a match? And as far as Hleb....ah I'm not even gonna go their, the season is over anyways.
CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN BARCA FRIENDS

Anonymous said...

bring Forlan. for me he's the best striker in la liga this year, and he'll fit easily in barca's style. i don't mind if eto'o stays but i'd prefer to see Forlan next year, why?

1: he has the same quality as eto'o (fast, strong, very accurate inside the box)
2: he's better in the air than eto'o
3: he has better shots and volleys with both feet
4: he's still hungry for trophies

the only thing is that he will turn 30 on the 19th of this month but still he'll be very good for the next 2 years.

*defence in: Taiwo(LB), Henrique, Agger, Vidic, Bruno Alves (1 of the last 3 + Henrique for CB position)
*defence out: Caceres on loan if Milito gets back to his form, Marquez, Sylvinho if he doesn't accepte the new contract terms

*midfield in: Ribery, Fabregas, Hernanes, promote thiago
*midfield out: Gudjensen, Hleb

*attack in: Forlan, Trezeguet or llorente promote Gai and Jefferen
*attack out: Eto'o or Henry not both, Pedro on loan.

those are the changes that i'd like to happen next season

Barca 4 Life

LeónDragón said...

...ibrahimovic would be surely not bad,but he is also not good with the head...villa also not...just like etoo...but villa is way better scorer...he,like forlan too,score without help from xavi,iniesta,henry or messi...but...what some said here is true too...by helping to keep ball posession and open the game,etoo has his qualities...he lost his goalscoring-talent not in the last ten games,but in the last three seasons,i mean,his goals by using his intelligence and not only his power...on the other hand,the thought of a barca without etoo seems a little strange to me...like this guy,even if he makes me angry sometimes...but as long the team is successful,we should be a little regardful with him...i know about my last words here,but now,many hours after the game,think a little easier about it...let's hope he ends his critics by a good performance in cl...ONE LOVE!!!!!BARCA FOREVER!!!!!p.s. benzema has a long,long,long way to become an etoo...

LeónDragón Etoo said...

...one last thing...can't believe that there's anyone out there,anyone in the whole universe who's more angry and disappointed about etoo...then etoo himself...this season was and still is so fantastic...the whole team brought fun and respect to anyone...to themselves and to all blaugranafans...the whole team,even etoo...think everyone,any angry fan like me too,should give etoo the chances he deserves,by being also a piece of the big thing that made us campeones and called world's best...and maybe the titled world's best...

Instinct said...

He has been like that for a couple months now, but we create so many chances when the A-team is out there, that his misses are more often than not made up by Messi, Henry, etc.

He was trying too hard, he looked tired, plus it was against his old club. If there was still a title race, I would've really blasted him, but there isn't, so, yeah i'm overreacting. I'd rather Eto'o miss all his chances now, so he can score in Rome.
CHEERS

HouseMD said...

I didn't watch the whole match. It's not OK to spit at Eto'o and all he has done the whole season. He had an excellent (and hard) season and he contributed a lot. BTW, guys, he's still the best goalscorer in La Liga and we must respect it. And all this stuff about who was playing good or not, you can't expect a lot from Caceres, he didn't have right chances to show what's he able to do. Guardiola forced Pique and I think he isn't that better than Caceres. Hleb and Gudjohnsen should be sold and they both confirmed their departure.
The season is almost over. Let's hope it'll be treble next week.

Marc4barca said...

forlan?? fab?? trezeguet?? lol i don't think so. forlan maybe good in la liga but why replace eto for someone older and has far less cl experience. fabregas can't return yet cause he definitely won't be starting and i don't see him accepting bench role, trequet is a a has been. all others signing i would accept although i prefer vargas instead of taiwo.

SimonP said...

I wouldn't mind a new striker, Eto'o misses far too many clear goals. A better striker could have scored 40+ in the liga alone. Villa would be a good option.

If we keep Eto'o then I think another option in tough games is in order. Dzeko, Adebayor or another striker like that would be nice against stern opposition.

Anonymous said...

Please sell Eto'o already.For weeks he has been wasting absolute sitters.Everybody can go through a bad spell but even Adebayor would've found the net.Totally ruined my day.Sell him and buy Benzema.On another note Bojan did well on the left wing.Maybe we don't need to buy a left winger after all.

Louis said...

shame on you guys, not eto'o. how can you be speaking about him like that, selling him and all that crap after all he has done for this club, tonight was just one of those nights that every striker has every once in a while, he hit the post, the bar, it happens. and don't forget the goal which was pure class. you're talking about a ruined day because of a game which was totally irrelevant for us. and about selling eto'o because he missed some chances in this totally irrelevant game. show some respect, whoever talks like this about a man like eto'o can't be a true cule, that's for sure..

Anonymous said...

Personally, I really think Etoo should receive those critics. Its only fair. What if a defender makes a mistake and let in a goal? The whole world comes down to him. A striker of his quality should really put down those chances.

fcbee said...

Don't be so hysterical and negative, guys. Eto'o got us in pole position during the first half of the season, so give the guy some credit. Why do Barca fans always want to burn down the players who made them big.

And as if other strikers don't miss chances, but as you don't watch entire matches (just summaries) of Atlético or Inter, you only see the goals Forlan or Ibra score not their misses.

kamikaze kontiki said...

Eto'o really should be putting away those chances, it seems like the whole team was working to create opportunities for him. But people with longer memories will recall that almost every striker goes through a phase where he just cant seem to score. This seems more glaringly obvious with Barça becouse we create so many more opportunities hence the reaction of many people is venomous but IMO not entirely justified.

How stupid is it to sell the Pichichi winner because of a lapse in form? Remember that Eto'o's game suits our style of play and the origin of this loss of goal-scoring touch could be ascribed to Guardiola moving him to right or left where he doesn't get many goal scoring chances. Remember the goal against Betis?

A more worrying observation from the game was Caceres' poor positioning. And whats worse, Sylvinho who has got back to his frustrating self where he gets beaten easily by the right winger and the Centre back has to constantly move out of position to cover for him. He seems to work best when he is under clear instructions to focus on defense. Comparing Caceres and Pique is a joke, Pique's positioning was excellent, in one instance, Caceres stood watching the ball while it was lobbed over his shoulder from the right. It looked like he was ball-watching or looking at the LM while there were 2 other players covering him.

I thought Gudjohnsen was very impressive, especially in the first half. Hleb was useless. Pedro was good and Bojan keeps disappearing for spells. Xavi Torres wasn't too great with his distribution but he certainly knows what is expected of him when it comes to assisting the defence.

Anonymous said...

STOP HATING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ET0'0.

YOU CALL YOUR SELF BARCELONA FANS ! ? ? ? ? ? ? most of you are obliviously uneducated in football. unless it's your first year to start watching football. Eto'o is the man. The guy knows what it is needed and he is a running engine. he is probably. the one & only player that doesn't rest. Like a Lion stalking his prey.its very normal for a player to lose his touch. for sometime.but yet he keeps hunting for it. and then as a striker it comes back again. I hope it come's back in the CL game.their ETO'O WILL KILL HIS PREY. and we Will win the Champions League. Just like he did in 2006 remember his GOAL ???? remember how tight was the angle of his Shot. their is Only Few Player's that Can shoot with that precision in A BIG GAME UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE. The next few games are useless Anyway. We Won ! The league and The Cup. those are Free to watch practice Games.. loll I hope you understand that... :) until then Relax and enjoy The summer with the league and the cup. and watch THE GREAT PEP GURADIOLA PLANS FOR NEXT SEASON. WATCH REMEMBER HE BUILT . THIS SQUAD ! . THANK YOU.

Leo10 said...

Pep, when will barcelona be presented with the La Liga trophy?

lawrenzo said...

eto'o has lost it and must go,aahhh what manner of striker can miss this chances,guys i told you Hleb is good.

NouBarca said...

hmm after readin all the posts, I think Barca fans are very qucik to forget. This guys was called "best ever" in the 1st half of the season. Now hes is "useless". compare the freshness or Messi, ALves, Xavi in the 1st half to the 2nd half. Its not the same. People get tired and lose form. You cant play at 100% truout the season. Imagine him reading all you posts? I agree with critisism, but it has to be CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM. This guy was shown the door but he stcuk around proved himself yet you all now hate him.. Wheres the loyalty? Yet we blame him for not being loyal. I dont mind Eto for another 2 years. He knows our style. Dont be so sure every striker would "settle" into Barca. Who ever believed Hleb would turn out this bad/unlcuky? He was one of the top 5 dribblers in the world before he came here, yet he is struggling. And please if you love BARCA DONT ever mention Ade and BARCA in the same breathe; PLEASE. I know you are all showing "passion" but its a bit over the top. We have won the league and ETOP played a MAJOR MAJOR ROLE in acheving this.

Long Live Barca

Anonymous said...

I for one didnt think eto was the best ever in the first half of season. I think he has lost something over the past three seasons, (touch/composure?). I still am grateful for his goals, as a fan, but thinking about it objectively, pep should give someone else a chance. There are plenty of other strikers who would love the opportunity eto is in. Should give them a chance at silverware, Eto has won plenty already.

Anonymous said...

i rarely comment on this blog because for the most part people dont know their shit and its obvious they are 1-3 yr supporters. and after today its clearer than ever.

you all should be embarrassed with yourself. etoo is useless, has lost it, this and that, are u all idiots? etoo is 2nd in the EUROPEAN golden boot competition, let alone pichihi. you want to sell and blast a player integral to our success because of 10 poorish games!!!!!, WOW, that is the single most short sighted retarded shit ive ever heard of.

name other strikers that get a consistent near 20 league goals a yr?!!!??? look at his stats (league only) at barca, 04/5 37:25 (games,goal), 05/6 35:26, 06-8 two seasons with serious injury 18:11 and 18:16, this yr 33:28. honestly, read those stats (.75 goals a game!!!!) and feel guilty because ur commments are just stupid.

that doesnt even take into consideration his crazy work etic, starting defense from the front, and love and dedication to the club. it was ETOO that stood up aginst the drunken and lazy roni and deco, thats the kind of committment he has.

if u have issues regarding his role in the system etc... thats a different kettle of fish, but the comment he has gotten are just pathetic and uneducated.

blaugranaboy

NouBarca said...

hmmm love the "blast" blaugranaboy. I understand what you mean and I am in the same boat as u on this. But we all try to discourage calling people names.

Still I agree with most of your FACTS!!

Anonymous said...

noubarca (and others if offended):

yeah, after i posted it i thought my language was a bit strong. but i wont back down in saying that some of the comments made were idiotic and moronic (but not calling those people actual idiots or morons). i mean to say etoo has lost his ability to finish is just complete nonsense. ur judging that in a few games!!!! completely forgetting his career. when u think etoo u think goals, finishes. just look at the stats. thats his thing. others like berba and zlatan u think technique and skills, but not goals.

i just cannot stand such shortsightness. that sort of thing sees people jump teams every few seasons and nothing grates my soul more.

like i said, if people want to think about tactics of the 4-3-3 and getting a bigger target man, etc.. that a different story.

but if etoo is being blasted for being a top FINISHER and GOAL SCORER. that like saying the sky isnt blue.

and plz show me another other striker with anywhere near as good a goal to game ratio as etoo. zlatan? lol. forlan? that one almost made me fall of my chair.

RUMS said...

Im sure as hell any team wouldnt mind having a misfiring strikers that score like 30 goals a season.

He scored when we need him and its obvious that he done his job when we are 1 match from creating history and we basically outscored everyone by 50%.

As for selling him, why would we do that? He can obviously still do the job judging from the fact that hes like the 2nd top scorer in europe? Pointless really... Never change a winning team. Just add on to it really

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