yawa
Well-Known Member
- Aug 9, 2005
- 12,592
- 9,417
Xerez v Getafe.
La Liga 09/10 Thread
- Thread starter donny1013
- Start date
Xerez v Getafe.
3Dnata
Well-Known Member
- Oct 5, 2008
- 5,879
- 1,345
I reckon 3-2 to Madrid. This game deserves a thread for itself.
Must be an advantage for League games not being in Europe mind you our North London squatting neighbours didn't make Barca work too hard and they will have people who were suspended in Europe back for this
Must be an advantage for League games not being in Europe mind you our North London squatting neighbours didn't make Barca work too hard and they will have people who were suspended in Europe back for this
Luka Lennon
Banned
- Jun 23, 2009
- 1,323
- 2
No Zlatan or Kaka
BringBack_leGin
Well-Known Member
- Jul 28, 2004
- 27,719
- 54,929
Xavi was immense. Not a better central midfielder anywhere. Messi was also pretty good, not his best but the fact that he left the game without a broken leg is tribute to his ability to avoid even the wildest of tackles. Pedro, Alves, Keita, even Busquets, all superb, and Puyol was his usual brilliant beastly self, while the rest of the defence and Valdes were all in complete control.
How Ramos, Gago and Alonso finished this game I know not. Thugs, the lot of them, disgusting. They were out to crock Messi tonight and they got what the deserved.
2-0 to Barca, could have been more. Best team perhaps of all time, with the best player of all time getting his 40th of the season. B E A UTIFUL!
How Ramos, Gago and Alonso finished this game I know not. Thugs, the lot of them, disgusting. They were out to crock Messi tonight and they got what the deserved.
2-0 to Barca, could have been more. Best team perhaps of all time, with the best player of all time getting his 40th of the season. B E A UTIFUL!
Michey
New Member
- May 4, 2004
- 7,888
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agree on everything :up:
spursandbarca
Well-Known Member
- Jul 18, 2008
- 3,972
- 446
and you cant buy Pep Guardiola. he threw a system at madrid that they hadnt seen before
ratings
valdes 8. 3 top saves
Puyol 8
pique 7
milito 7-solid
maxwell 7- good going forward
busquets 8- won everything. was up for it
xavi 8- quality ball for pedros goal
alves 7- did well.
Messi 9- man of the match. brilliant goal. was a threat all night.
keita 6- tracked well
ratings
valdes 8. 3 top saves
Puyol 8
pique 7
milito 7-solid
maxwell 7- good going forward
busquets 8- won everything. was up for it
xavi 8- quality ball for pedros goal
alves 7- did well.
Messi 9- man of the match. brilliant goal. was a threat all night.
keita 6- tracked well
Michey
New Member
- May 4, 2004
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yes definitely
DEFchenkOE
Well-Known Member
- Feb 13, 2006
- 10,527
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No marks for Barca's 2nd goalscorer then??
Speaking of him what do people make of Pedro, he's not particularly strong on the ball but takes up good positions and I think he is an incredible finisher with both feet. He is pretty calm in one on one's and is perfect for the wing forward position. Not sure he'd do well at all in an orthodox 4-4-2 but put him out wide high up the pitch and he tends to deliver. Considering this is his 1st full season I think he's doing really well so far.
mil1lion
This is the place to be
- May 7, 2004
- 42,613
- 78,330
He is still young and his general build up play is still lacking. But you can't ask any more from someone in their first season. He has scored in every competition this season. His finish against Real Madrid really was taken with confidence and composure.
I expect Barca to sign another striker in the summer. The form of Henry this season has put more pressure on Pedro to perform. He has handled it well though.
I expect Barca to sign another striker in the summer. The form of Henry this season has put more pressure on Pedro to perform. He has handled it well though.
DEFchenkOE
Well-Known Member
- Feb 13, 2006
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Yea I'm pretty sure they'll sign another forward, I think though that with Bojan and Pedro they have two guys that can battle it out for the left forward spot but a replacement for Henry will be needed. Someone else with a physical presence maybe for when Zlatan isn't playing.
Nice article on Xavi here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/apr/12/xavi-hernandez-sid-lowe
One o'clock Saturday night, Sunday morning in the bowels of the Bernabéu and somewhere behind that mop of hair there's a look of surprise. There may even be a hint of disgust. "If you say so, mate," replies Carles Puyol, "but I don't agree. Maybe some people don't give him all the credit he deserves. Maybe you have ignored him, but we haven't. Not us. We know he's absolutely fundamental; we know that he's among the best in the world and I think everyone recognises that." Well, almost everyone. When Xavi Hernández was included in the top five at the Fifa World Player award ceremony in January 2009, alongside Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Fernando Torres, the Daily Mail's headline famously ran: "The best players of the world (and Xavi).
They could not have been more wrong, even if they frequently are. That much was again shown by the clásico on Saturday night. It was billed as a title decider and as Messi versus Ronaldo. But while the same picture – Messi, fists clenched in celebration; Ronaldo, head down, shirt drawn sadly towards his face – occupied the covers of both Madrid sports dailies, in the aftermath of the match it was Xavi that most people were raving about. "Xavi's eye decides the league," said Marca; "Xavi," added Público, "hands down the sentence." While Messi and Pedro got the goals, Xavi gave them, with two wonderful assists: the first, a beautifully clipped first-time ball; the second, a perfectly weighted through ball. It was his sixth assist in two trips to the Bernabéu. And just in case anyone missed them – the Madrid defence, for example – he reproduced both assists, only for Casillas to save from Messi.
Last season Xavi provided more assists than anyone else in La Liga; this season, only five players (Alves and Messi among them) have given more. But it is not only about assists. The clásico was no classic. It was built up as the match of the millennium but wasn't – unless the next 990 years really are going to be rubbish. The ball was in play for less than half of the 90 minutes, there was a foul every 180 seconds, and there was little of the stunning brilliance of last season's 6-2. But in its own way it was just as painful for Madrid, and in its own way Barcelona were still impressive. They might not have torn Madrid apart, but they did control them – certainly once they had ridden out the opening storm. "The best team won," said the cover of AS simply. The concern for Madrid, argued editor Alfredo Relaño, was that "Barcelona passed by the Bernabéu without even looking nervous, winning without expending energy." "Barcelona are a better team than us," shrugged Pellegrini.
This was not the Barcelona that amazes. It was, though, the Barcelona that anaesthetises. Moving the ball around, controlling the game, avoiding Madrid's lunges, frustrating them, exasperating them. This time, in short, it was as much Xavi's Barcelona as much as Messi's.
Xavi is, says the Sporting coach Manolo Preciado, "the personification of simplicity". He is also the personification of Barcelona. Even when the passes are not telling, they are fundamental. Maintaining possession, using the ball quickly and accurately, is the key: Xavi completed twice as many passes as any Madrid player. "Xavi," said El Mundo Deportivo, "was gregarious, majestic, an exhibition, his football was a recital that never ends." In Marca, Miguel Serrano described him as "an extraterrestrial": "He ordered, he played, he directed, he slowed it down a sped it up. Every time he touched the ball, the very foundations of the Bernabéu wobbled." "He read the game like no one else. He carved out space, moved cleverly, and built football," said El País. "As always."
Well, quite. Everything Barcelona do is based on possession. Even defending. Even resting. As one of Guardiola's closest collaborators says: "Barcelona are the only team that can take a break in possession." "Receive, pass, offer," is the simple message, the obsession, a badge of identity that they insist runs right through the club, driven into players from the moment they join. Xavi joined in 1991 and no one represents that obsession better than him. "I am basically a passer," he says. Guardiola calls him maquí, the machine. The late commentator Andres Montes used to call him Humphrey Bogart because, like Sam in Casablanca, he was asked to play it again. And again. And again. And again.
Last season, Xavi completed almost 100 passes at the Bernabéu. Last week, he completed more than all of Arsenal's midfielders put together. This season he has made over 400 passes more than any player in Spain; in the Champions League, he is 400 passes ahead of anyone from any other club. Even his own team-mates are 300 behind. As Alex Ferguson joked: "I'm sure I saw him give the ball away once."
"I need team-mates, people to combine with," Xavi says. "With team-mates football has no meaning. I am no one if they don't make themselves available." But it is not just that he sees the movement first, it is that he often sees the movement before it has happened, that rather than passing to the movement, he passes in such a way as to oblige the movement. He makes players' runs for them. "Xavi plays in the future," says Dani Alves. Coaches at Barcelona privately admit that sometimes he moves into areas that he should not – but that his technique is so good, his passing so precise, that ultimately it ends up looking like the right thing to do. Then there's the commitment. Xavi is a football anorak that can wax lyrical on Matt Le Tissier and Paul Scholes, he looks after himself and there's not a trace of arrogance. "When he has a day off, he goes and picks sets [mushrooms] in the countryside," reveals Guardiola, "and someone who picks mushrooms can't be a bad bloke."
At the Under-20 World Cup, the Spanish Football Federation presented a formal complaint after Seydou Keita was named the tournament's best player ahead of Xavi. But, despite having made his debut under Louis van Gaal in 1998, he has not always had such a telling impact on Barcelona's game. So much so that he admits to thinking about walking away, with Manchester United, Milan and Madrid among those that approached him. The arrival of Frank Rijkaard and Edgar Davids in 2003 changed his future, giving him protection, a competitive colleague and freedom to step forward – away from the deep lying midfield position. It was a liberation. A revelation.
It is no coincidence that Xavi is the man imposing the style on both the finest national team and arguably the finest club side Spain has ever had. When Xabi Alonso returned from training with Spain for the first time, he could not get over his midfield namesake. At Euro 2008, Xavi was named player of the tournament (although, personally, this column would have been tempted to go for Marcos Senna), completed over 100 passes in the semi-final when Russia didn't even see the ball and provided the assist to Torres in the final.
When the inevitable question is asked about why Messi has not played as well for Argentina over the past year as he has for Barcelona, it is tempting to give a one word answer: Xavi. The last week has reinforced the belief that Barcelona are the best side in the world and that Messi is the best player on the planet. Without Xavi, they might not be.
Nice article on Xavi here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/apr/12/xavi-hernandez-sid-lowe
One o'clock Saturday night, Sunday morning in the bowels of the Bernabéu and somewhere behind that mop of hair there's a look of surprise. There may even be a hint of disgust. "If you say so, mate," replies Carles Puyol, "but I don't agree. Maybe some people don't give him all the credit he deserves. Maybe you have ignored him, but we haven't. Not us. We know he's absolutely fundamental; we know that he's among the best in the world and I think everyone recognises that." Well, almost everyone. When Xavi Hernández was included in the top five at the Fifa World Player award ceremony in January 2009, alongside Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Fernando Torres, the Daily Mail's headline famously ran: "The best players of the world (and Xavi).
They could not have been more wrong, even if they frequently are. That much was again shown by the clásico on Saturday night. It was billed as a title decider and as Messi versus Ronaldo. But while the same picture – Messi, fists clenched in celebration; Ronaldo, head down, shirt drawn sadly towards his face – occupied the covers of both Madrid sports dailies, in the aftermath of the match it was Xavi that most people were raving about. "Xavi's eye decides the league," said Marca; "Xavi," added Público, "hands down the sentence." While Messi and Pedro got the goals, Xavi gave them, with two wonderful assists: the first, a beautifully clipped first-time ball; the second, a perfectly weighted through ball. It was his sixth assist in two trips to the Bernabéu. And just in case anyone missed them – the Madrid defence, for example – he reproduced both assists, only for Casillas to save from Messi.
Last season Xavi provided more assists than anyone else in La Liga; this season, only five players (Alves and Messi among them) have given more. But it is not only about assists. The clásico was no classic. It was built up as the match of the millennium but wasn't – unless the next 990 years really are going to be rubbish. The ball was in play for less than half of the 90 minutes, there was a foul every 180 seconds, and there was little of the stunning brilliance of last season's 6-2. But in its own way it was just as painful for Madrid, and in its own way Barcelona were still impressive. They might not have torn Madrid apart, but they did control them – certainly once they had ridden out the opening storm. "The best team won," said the cover of AS simply. The concern for Madrid, argued editor Alfredo Relaño, was that "Barcelona passed by the Bernabéu without even looking nervous, winning without expending energy." "Barcelona are a better team than us," shrugged Pellegrini.
This was not the Barcelona that amazes. It was, though, the Barcelona that anaesthetises. Moving the ball around, controlling the game, avoiding Madrid's lunges, frustrating them, exasperating them. This time, in short, it was as much Xavi's Barcelona as much as Messi's.
Xavi is, says the Sporting coach Manolo Preciado, "the personification of simplicity". He is also the personification of Barcelona. Even when the passes are not telling, they are fundamental. Maintaining possession, using the ball quickly and accurately, is the key: Xavi completed twice as many passes as any Madrid player. "Xavi," said El Mundo Deportivo, "was gregarious, majestic, an exhibition, his football was a recital that never ends." In Marca, Miguel Serrano described him as "an extraterrestrial": "He ordered, he played, he directed, he slowed it down a sped it up. Every time he touched the ball, the very foundations of the Bernabéu wobbled." "He read the game like no one else. He carved out space, moved cleverly, and built football," said El País. "As always."
Well, quite. Everything Barcelona do is based on possession. Even defending. Even resting. As one of Guardiola's closest collaborators says: "Barcelona are the only team that can take a break in possession." "Receive, pass, offer," is the simple message, the obsession, a badge of identity that they insist runs right through the club, driven into players from the moment they join. Xavi joined in 1991 and no one represents that obsession better than him. "I am basically a passer," he says. Guardiola calls him maquí, the machine. The late commentator Andres Montes used to call him Humphrey Bogart because, like Sam in Casablanca, he was asked to play it again. And again. And again. And again.
Last season, Xavi completed almost 100 passes at the Bernabéu. Last week, he completed more than all of Arsenal's midfielders put together. This season he has made over 400 passes more than any player in Spain; in the Champions League, he is 400 passes ahead of anyone from any other club. Even his own team-mates are 300 behind. As Alex Ferguson joked: "I'm sure I saw him give the ball away once."
"I need team-mates, people to combine with," Xavi says. "With team-mates football has no meaning. I am no one if they don't make themselves available." But it is not just that he sees the movement first, it is that he often sees the movement before it has happened, that rather than passing to the movement, he passes in such a way as to oblige the movement. He makes players' runs for them. "Xavi plays in the future," says Dani Alves. Coaches at Barcelona privately admit that sometimes he moves into areas that he should not – but that his technique is so good, his passing so precise, that ultimately it ends up looking like the right thing to do. Then there's the commitment. Xavi is a football anorak that can wax lyrical on Matt Le Tissier and Paul Scholes, he looks after himself and there's not a trace of arrogance. "When he has a day off, he goes and picks sets [mushrooms] in the countryside," reveals Guardiola, "and someone who picks mushrooms can't be a bad bloke."
At the Under-20 World Cup, the Spanish Football Federation presented a formal complaint after Seydou Keita was named the tournament's best player ahead of Xavi. But, despite having made his debut under Louis van Gaal in 1998, he has not always had such a telling impact on Barcelona's game. So much so that he admits to thinking about walking away, with Manchester United, Milan and Madrid among those that approached him. The arrival of Frank Rijkaard and Edgar Davids in 2003 changed his future, giving him protection, a competitive colleague and freedom to step forward – away from the deep lying midfield position. It was a liberation. A revelation.
It is no coincidence that Xavi is the man imposing the style on both the finest national team and arguably the finest club side Spain has ever had. When Xabi Alonso returned from training with Spain for the first time, he could not get over his midfield namesake. At Euro 2008, Xavi was named player of the tournament (although, personally, this column would have been tempted to go for Marcos Senna), completed over 100 passes in the semi-final when Russia didn't even see the ball and provided the assist to Torres in the final.
When the inevitable question is asked about why Messi has not played as well for Argentina over the past year as he has for Barcelona, it is tempting to give a one word answer: Xavi. The last week has reinforced the belief that Barcelona are the best side in the world and that Messi is the best player on the planet. Without Xavi, they might not be.
BringBack_leGin
Well-Known Member
- Jul 28, 2004
- 27,719
- 54,929
Not sure about the questioning of pedro on the ball. If you mean his passing needs work, perhaps but it's already quite good, and his dribbling is pretty fantastic so I hope that is not what is being questioned.
Adam
Active Member
- Feb 23, 2004
- 2,556
- 82
Sid Lowe has done some brilliant stuff this season.
Cant wait for Revista tonight-Bolton and Balague have been such wankers this year with their anti-Barca ramblings, its going to be a treat having to hear them finally afford Barca some credit at the expense of their love-children in Madrid.
Cant wait for Revista tonight-Bolton and Balague have been such wankers this year with their anti-Barca ramblings, its going to be a treat having to hear them finally afford Barca some credit at the expense of their love-children in Madrid.
DEFchenkOE
Well-Known Member
- Feb 13, 2006
- 10,527
- 8,052
Yea I listen too Marty, he was really annoying me this week. What's more annoying is when we screw up and allow these people to revel in our failures.
