Barcelona....Best team in Europe?

[AngerManagement]

I have always had a soft spot for Barca, had one of them bootleg shirts you buy on holiday to Mallorca when I was about 7 (didn't everyone get those at some point) and even this summer bought myself a real one from their store next to my hotel in Barcelona.

Plus the gave me my best non Spurs/England footballing moment when they sent Arsenal crashing in the final moments of the CL final a few seasons back. How could you fail to love them??

 

[mil1lion]

Another great performance from Barca on Saturday night. They beat Valencia at home 4-0. Henry scored a hat-trick and Alves scored the other. And Daniel Alves was excellent. He's starting to show his form from Sevilla now, its just a shame about the play acting. Xavi was great again. Messi was quiete for the first 30 mins, but started to come to life as the game went on. But Henry was the star of the show. I think he's been excellent so far this season. The Barca players have become a lot more aware of his movement, and he looks more and more comfortable on the left. He took his goals well.

Barca are now 6 points clear. And its the Classico this Saturday from 9pm. Barca vs R.Madrid. If Barca win (and i expect so) then they are pretty much clear of Real Madrid in terms of a title challenge this season. And i'd expect Schuster to be gone (they lost at home to Sevilla 3-4 last night) if that does indeed happen.

 

[Coyboy]

How awful were Madrid last night, truly terrible defending and even Iker is having a 'mare. It was a real entertaining match, Kanoute looked good as did Higuain. Robben unlucky to be sent off and they should have had a penalty. Loads of goals in La Liga.

 

[donny1013]

How awful were Madrid last night, truly terrible defending and even Iker is having a 'mare. It was a real entertaining match, Kanoute looked good as did Higuain. Robben unlucky to be sent off and they should have had a penalty. Loads of goals in La Liga.

Barca are going to want to really destroy Real at the Camp Nou next Saturday night after defeats from the last two seasons. Real were so poor last night you can see the players are not happy there. Sergio Ramos looks a shadow of his old self with absolutely no confidence. I think the commentator said Raul has been at Real for 15 years and in that time there has been 16/17? different managers. I think he is one of the big problems at that club. Don't get me wrong he has been amazing for Real, Liga and CL. BUT he basically runs the club, they could have replaced him by now and had a lethal partnership but instead he plays every game and is not the player he used to be 5 years ago. Dread to think of the players they could have brought in to replace him, someone like Aguero springs to mind or Benzema.

 

[Coyboy]

Can't agree with that, Raul's been Madrid's best player this season and if you look at his effort and scoring record it backs that up. He is part of the cure not the disease. A few years ago, 2005/06, when he had a serious injury he was becoming a bit stale but his career has been rejuvenated since then and he is an absolute legend at the club. I agree that he transcends the football aspect to an extent but at the moment his place in the team is more than on merit.

To be fair to Schuster, they have shit loads of injuries and even Huntelaar is injured but the defence remains a huge problem. Until they get the right position for Ramos, in my opinion right back, he will struggle, Pepe is too raw, Cannavaro is in the wrongm era of his career and Marcelo is just not good enough. And even Iker is looking shaky. With Raul in the side, Madrid will score goals with this defence and the absence of Diarra, they will let in as many.

Raul broke another record last night, he is not the cause of the problem at all.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Another great performance from Barca on Saturday night. They beat Valencia at home 4-0. Henry scored a hat-trick and Alves scored the other. And Daniel Alves was excellent. He's starting to show his form from Sevilla now, its just a shame about the play acting. Xavi was great again. Messi was quiete for the first 30 mins, but started to come to life as the game went on. But Henry was the star of the show. I think he's been excellent so far this season. The Barca players have become a lot more aware of his movement, and he looks more and more comfortable on the left. He took his goals well.

Barca are now 6 points clear. And its the Classico this Saturday from 9pm. Barca vs R.Madrid. If Barca win (and i expect so) then they are pretty much clear of Real Madrid in terms of a title challenge this season. And i'd expect Schuster to be gone (they lost at home to Sevilla 3-4 last night) if that does indeed happen.

Henry was given the main strikers role on Saturday with Hleb and Messi either side. He seemed much more comfortable and fired up being the main man. Makes me think that his ego has got the better of him a bit while he has been pushed out wide and Eto'o has been banging goals in left, right and centre. Will be very interesting to see what Pep does on Saturday. Quite sure Henry will be back out wide with Eto'o central but Hleb has started to show good form now and is better suited to the wide left position imo.

Hopefully Barca win whoever plays.

 

[mil1lion]

Henry was given the main strikers role on Saturday with Hleb and Messi either side. He seemed much more comfortable and fired up being the main man. Makes me think that his ego has got the better of him a bit while he has been pushed out wide and Eto'o has been banging goals in left, right and centre. Will be very interesting to see what Pep does on Saturday. Quite sure Henry will be back out wide with Eto'o central but Hleb has started to show good form now and is better suited to the wide left position imo.

Hopefully Barca win whoever plays.

Henry played wide left on saturday. Messi played in the middle and Hleb on the right. But such is the movement of the players, Henry ended up playing a similar role to the role he played at Arsenal, where he was making runs in from the left. Messi was dropping off at times and they ended up switching positions throughout. They do it so seemlessly though and thats why they're so difficult to deal with. I expect Guadiola to stick with Henry on the left, Eto'o through the middle and Messi on the right for saturday night.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Maybe you're right, everytime I saw Henry with the ball though it was mostly centrally.

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

I saw the game and Hleb was in the middle, not Messi or Henry.

I'm not joking.

 

[Bonjour]

Sounds like some kind of sordid orgy.

 

[mil1lion]

I saw the game and Hleb was in the middle, not Messi or Henry.

I'm not joking.

You're right. Messi started in the middle and then switched with Hleb about midway through the first half because Messi wasn't getting much joy there. It seems that Guadiola wants to keep Henry out on the left though, so he gets more used to that role. Its clearly the role Guadiola wants him to play.

 

[mil1lion]

So Barca have ended the year in fine form. Another win, this time away to Villareal. The first half was pretty poor with Barca playing a bit too narrow and Villareal blocking them off. The 2nd half started with an early Villareal goal and that seemed to kick Barca into gear. They levelled with a header from Keita, and went in front through Henry. Barca then went down to 10 men, and Villareal created a few good chances, but failed to take them. It was a fairly even game to be fair, but Barca were more clinical in front of goal, and for that they deserved the victory.

It means Barca go into the winter break 10 points clear of Sevilla in 2nd place and a whopping 12 points clear of the Champions Real Madrid.

 

[Adam]

Itll be very interesting to see what line-up he goes with after the winter break which signals the return of the magnificent Iniesta, who based on the last 18 months is comfortably in the top 10 best players in the world.

I would pick him ahead of Henry in the same way i would pick Drogba over Anelka for Chelsea-you have to pick our best players and with Guardiola seeming to preffer to big guys in centre mid alongside Xavi (a ploy that i certainly agree with and will give them extra strength in the Champs League when the Englisg sides come knocking), Iniesta will almost definitely be played wide left on his return. It will be harsh on Henry who has been excellent recently, but i just dont see how he can be fitted into the eleven for the biggest games.

I only have two worries for Barca:

1) Valdes gets injured-he used to be the butt of jokes at Barca but his game has come on leaps and bounds in the last 2 or 3 years and if he gets injured Barca are fucked as Jorquera is atrocious and Pinto is well over the hill.

2) Dani Alves in big games-cast your minds back to Spurs-Man U. Remember how good Zokora was vs Ronaldo. Now imagine Zokora bombing forward everytime we got the ball and often being the highest man up the pitch in the whole team. Ronaldo would have two choices; go with him or back his defence to hold firm and then give him the ball in acres of space. Alves is the most gung-ho player ive ever seen play in any position-he is simply a nutter and has no regard for what happens if Barca lose the ball when he is upfield (that sounds like a criticism but its not-he's FANTASTIC to watch) and i fear that if he comes up against a great side with wingers like United then there is a chance that Barca could get overrun at the back, although that is relying on the United defence stopping the Barca attacks this time, something that is a totally different animal to the side that looked rather impotent last season.

I think that the treble is a real possibilty for Barca this year as long as injuries dont hamper them and it will be interesting to see how Guardiola uses Henry, rotates his squad for different competitions and tries to restrain Alves in the big European games. Get those three things right and las Ramblas will be ROCKING in May.

 

[mil1lion]

2) Dani Alves in big games-cast your minds back to Spurs-Man U. Remember how good Zokora was vs Ronaldo. Now imagine Zokora bombing forward everytime we got the ball and often being the highest man up the pitch in the whole team. Ronaldo would have two choices; go with him or back his defence to hold firm and then give him the ball in acres of space. Alves is the most gung-ho player ive ever seen play in any position-he is simply a nutter and has no regard for what happens if Barca lose the ball when he is upfield (that sounds like a criticism but its not-he's FANTASTIC to watch) and i fear that if he comes up against a great side with wingers like United then there is a chance that Barca could get overrun at the back, although that is relying on the United defence stopping the Barca attacks this time, something that is a totally different animal to the side that looked rather impotent last season.

That may be more of a concern in Europe than in La Liga, but Barca have really adapted to having him the side lately. They've now played the best 4 teams in Spain back to back, and he has looked very good in those games, without leaving that right side too exposed. Its all about their posession play, and so far they have been superior in posession to their opponents both home and away. So i dont see a problem there. It will only become a problem if Barca stop working hard when they dont have the ball, but that just wont happen under Guadiola.

Iniesta is a top top player as you say. And i'm sure you're right in expecting him to return to the first team. I like the way Guadiola is rotating players though, so i expect Henry to get plenty of action too. Luckily Barca haven't had any serious injuries to Eto'o and Messi so far like in previous seasons, so they will have plenty of options. But worst case scenario, if either of those guys get injured then Henry has shown he's now capable of stepping in.

 

[donny1013]

La Liga kicks off again tonight as Barca are playing Mallorca which i think could be a big score. Mallorca have been crap so far this season. Also the legend that is Maradona will be at the Camp Nou tonight watching the game.

 

[kcmei]

Guardiola is doing a great job and messi is just tearing any team apart. I think the entire barca team is built around messi without him barca will get many more draws

 

[donny1013]

Aduriz has just scored a beauty against the run of play

 

[mil1lion]

Excellent performance again tonight. Although it took until about midway through the first half before Barca really started to up the tempo. They got the equaliser they deserved after a good finish from Henry. They didn't really pick the tempo up again until the 2nd half but they got a well taken goal from the returning Iniesta, then Yaya Toure rounded it off at the end with a sublime bit of kill to beat 3 defenders close to him in the box. 3-1 Barca and they've started where they left off before the winter break. And without Messi in the side too. Now 13 points clear of Sevilla ahead of their game tomorrow.

 

[spartiata]

F.C. INTERNAZIONALE is the best team

 

[SpurSince57]

Sorry, old bean, but somehow I can't see Barca having to scrape a 3-3 draw against Anorthosis. Can you?