Champions League (matchday #6): FCBarcelona vs Bate

FCBarcelona 4 - 0 Bate FT
`Goals: Pedro (2), SergiRoberto (1), Montoya (1)
` Assists: Cuenca (2) + Cuenca won a Penalty(scored by Pedro)!
` Possession: 76%
` Passing Accuracy: 93%
` Shots (On target): 22 (9) vs 2 (0) for Bate!!

Great Great Game by Barca "B" Players!!!!! Most impressed by RAFINHA!
Deulofeu needs time alot of work ( his decision making is still bad/ when to dribble, when to pass, cross etc..) Sergi Roberto, Batra, Fontas, MONTOYA, Bartra all had very gd games.. also Muniesa came in the 2nd half & was gd!

LA MASIA ♥ Visca el Barca ♥

Pedro's first goal

our youth's tiki taka

I watched Olympiacos vs Arsenal but this should have been good.

All assists by Cuenca?? The boy seems better and better

Player's comments:

Montoya: Looked super fast as always. Had no defensive work. Shy going forward but took a good goal in one of his few penetrations down the flank. Very good link up with Cuenca.

Bartra: Was mostly invisible. Lost a dangerous ball and did a very dangerous (but spectacular) chip in our box. Rest did fine.

Fontàs: Had little defensive work but he was good and faster than usual. Good distribution.

Maxwell: Riquelme-boring.

JDS: brilliant, brilliant distribution, neat passing, long passing, control, ball keeping, even dribling. Has improved shitloads and is the best player in our B team currently (aside from Soriano and Cuenca). Knocking the door down to the first team to be Busquets sub.

Sergi Roberto: Kizz's protegee had a good match, being the most dangerous player during the first half and finally managing to score. He runed tirelessly, but also showed some nice dribling and skills in tight spaces (pass to Pedro in the box). Not a typical La Masia midfielder, but very good too. He is Keita's natural replacement in our B team, but I think JDS is better and readier for first team.

Thiago: Bossed the midfield.

Isaac Cuenca: Best player on the pitch. I was amazed by the catalan hleb today. He played with great confidence, making things happen. Created 3 of the goals.

Pedro: Scored a brilliant goal, almost scored another one from a Roberto pass, and scored the penalty. It's a pity Alexis will start at the Bernabeu. I miss him.

Rafinha: Linked up well with Thiago, showed his great passing skills in 2 through balls to Roberto in the Box. Had a good chances at the begining of the match.

Deulofeu: He was kinda bad. The guys has the biggest potential, he needs to straigthen and make it happen.

Riverola: Played better than usual with good passing and winning back balls.

Muniesa: Showed some energetic defending, but wasn't much tested.

I enjoyed the game very much. Some beatiful football, relieved : )

~Players STATS:

`Montoya:
- Passing: 104 ( 99%)
- 2 Tackles & 3 Interception
- 1 Goal
- 2 Key Passes.

`Fontas:
- Passing 82 (94%)
- 1 Tackle & 6 Interceptions!

`Thiago:
- Passing: 140 (92%)
- 18/18 Long Balls.
- 2 Kep Passes

` Cuenca:
- 2 assists + won a penalty
- 4 Key Passes.
- Passing: 68 (90%).
- 4/4 Through Balls!

Freecat, such a critic lol

What Bartra did wasnt dangerous, nobody was around. It was clear once the ball was over the guys head there was no danger.

But yeah, I generally agree with the comments still. Other then Pedro and Alexis (or Riquelme being boring lol) . Alexis deserves to start and I think Pedro off the bench would be a bigger weapon than Alexis.

I would'nt be totally against Pedro and Alexis tbh, I know Villa is a big game player and all but his form is disastrous and Pedro is atleast showing some form and Alexis has been great recently.

Pedro's form is worse than Villa's though. Villa's goalscoring form has been awful recently, but he has generally played well in more games than not. Pedro, on the other hand, has not. Of course, Pedro was injured for a month, but Villa has done more to deserve to start.

I also would've expected Pedro to be the star of today's game given that he was the only established player, something that didn't quite happen in the first half I watched.

Problem is, Villa can have a good game without scoring. Pedro cant.

But im not unhappy whoever plays.

If its Villa, he seems to get the better of Ramos often and can play a good game without scoring. If its Pedro, he is the type of player who can take advantage of Madrid because they love to focus on Messi so much, he seems to get something going against Madrid often. If its Sanchez im happy, because he is in good form. If its Cesc im happy, because he is finding goals easy to come by.

I wouldnt be too unhappy with any combo of Messi and 2 of the 4 tbh.

Wow, great game. Our youth never ceases to amaze me. Especially the control we had. I remember under Rijkaard we used to consistently get about 60% possession and then about the same in Pep's year. I used to put a lot of it down to Xavi, but in the first half we had 75% possession... playing with mere kids. Incredible.

This truly is a golden generation in my opinion, and we must make use of it. I wouldn't be fussed if any of those players stepped up into the first team. No Oleguers or that horrible midfielder Gabi or whatever his name was (Dani, I know you remember him).

Here are my comments on players overall.

Montoya: Grows into the role more and more, every time I see him. Seemed to grow in confidence going forward and the goal will help that because he really is a great false-winger. Top player and showed why he's heir to Alves. Hold on to him!

Bartra: The flick was brilliant, disagree with both of you here. It wasn't dangerous because you could see he measured the situation perfectly, but it wasn't like there was noone around Dani. Other than that he didn't do too much of note, rarely tested.

Fontas: Impressed me. Disagree that he was promoted for his age. He deserved his promotion and he is easily better than Bartra and Muniesa for now. Superb distributor of the ball and was rock solid. Even showed his ballskill with a great dribble, if he wasn't fouled it would have been the run of the game.

Maxwell: Boring? Well he did nothing wrong either. Happy to have him as he is a good personality and doesn't ever kick up a fuss. However, with Montoya coming through its time to go.

JDS: I'm not sure why, but I don't see it Free... He was OK, but already backup for Busquets? He wasn't tested defensively at all and while he's good on the ball he's not as good as other DMs or other CMs in their roles. A good player but he's slowly drifting into the background as more talented players overtake him.

Thiago: He had a good game but didn't shine as I'd expect him too. Probably didn't feel he had as much to prove and the more experienced players bring the best out of him. Still, very good.

Sergi Roberto: Great performance and close to our most dangerous player. A shame he missed the 1v1 because he seemed to lose confidence in his finishing from there and should have backed himself a little more on a few occasions. Always said he's a great asset to the club as he is such a complete player, very fast, strong, good tackler, good finisher, good passer, good dribbler. His late runs into the box are superb and a number of times he should have been passed to or had the ball left to him. Reminds me a lot of Cesc, but his passing and movement was a lot better than Cesc's, came to the ball, linked well with Thiago and distributed. Very impressive. While I sort of understand the comparisons to Keita, its really only because of his pace, strength and energy. He's quite different really. Yes, he's not a normal La Masia player, he has all the DNA plus more.

Cuenca: Unbelievable talent. Each year Pep has brought through a youngster... Busquets, Pedro, Thiago and now its surely Cuenca's year. He's simply on fire and was the best on the field. His tricks are amazing, if you blink you miss them, but just small things he does, freestyle magic. A couple of times he made the wrong decision, but when you're in the form he's in you can't be blamed for that. 2 assists and won the penalty.

Pedro: Quiet first half, very quiet. Proves exactly what Dani is talking about. When he's not scoring... he's not a spectacular player, even Cuenca is showing him up for now. I was really worried actually, wondering what happened to the old Pedro as he seemed to be a little lost without his best mates, but then he finished gloriously (though he could also have left it for an easy Roberto finish...) and put away the penalty nicely. Scored two and that is his job, but other than his great work rate and forward-pressing, I fear for his spot. Great players get the best out of him though and he's a player born to finish of the jizz-moves of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. I'm sure he'll be back.

Rafinha: Impressive, I really like his strength on the ball. When he went off we missed him as we lacked a CF and his direct runs. Linked really well with his bro and other mids and deserved a goal. A stronger, less flashy and more direct Thiago.

Deulofeu: He's just too young. Simple as that. These games will do him the world of good, but Guardiola should take his performances as a pinch of salt. In the long run it will help his nerves when he does genuinely need to step up. Hope he isn't burnt out from too much football as a youngster, otherwise I'm sure he'll develop nicely. His decision-making will improve, Messi and CR7 were also keen to dribble at every chance as youngsters.

Pep should promote all of the B team! He has made this 'youth team' look liek the Barcelona XI. He is simply stunning as a young coach and I appluade him for his efforts. Fontas was very solid and his distribution was spot on, Montoya needs to get promoted as he will be the next Abidal (but on the right hand side) and Cuenca and his tricky tricks, reminds of of a younger version of Roanldinho.
Visca el Barca as Khaled says!

BarcaKizz wrote:
JDS: I'm not sure why, but I don't see it Free... He was OK, but already backup for Busquets? He wasn't tested defensively at all and while he's good on the ball he's not as good as other DMs or other CMs in their roles. A good player but he's slowly drifting into the background as more talented players overtake him.

JdS was great the 60 minutes he played. He wasn't tested defensively (nobody was except Fontas), but you can see how great he is with how he passes and controls. How neat and fast his passes are. It's amazing. Also, I wasn't only talking about this game alone: JDS has easily been the best player in Barça B this season together with Rafinha.

I know Bartra chip wasn't that dangerous, but you can't do this kind of stuff in the box, even if you are a Barça player. Some time ago, Iniesta dribled two guys (I think it was vs. Stutgart) just outside our box, and although it was brilliant and spectacular, it was dangerous, and even Cruyff criticized the move in his weekly article. It's the same with Bartra chip.

Riquelme IS the most boring player ever to exist (Maxwell rapidly chasing him).

And I disagree Pedro can't have a good game without scoring, he can and he has many times. Until today, Alexis hasn't proved to be better than Pedro at any department to be honest. I'm still waiting for "the dribling machine" that we supposedly signed.

Rather have Alexis in thereas he is 3 times quicker than Pedro. To be honest, no one dares to dribble the ball in the game except Messi. Passing is the way to get an attacking play started.

free_cat wrote:

BarcaKizz wrote:
JDS: I'm not sure why, but I don't see it Free... He was OK, but already backup for Busquets? He wasn't tested defensively at all and while he's good on the ball he's not as good as other DMs or other CMs in their roles. A good player but he's slowly drifting into the background as more talented players overtake him.

JdS was great the 60 minutes he played. He wasn't tested defensively (nobody was except Fontas), but you can see how great he is with how he passes and controls. How neat and fast his passes are. It's amazing. Also, I wasn't only talking about this game alone: JDS has easily been the best player in Barça B this season together with Rafinha.

I know Bartra chip wasn't that dangerous, but you can't do this kind of stuff in the box, even if you are a Barça player. Some time ago, Iniesta dribled two guys (I think it was vs. Stutgart) just outside our box, and although it was brilliant and spectacular, it was dangerous, and even Cruyff criticized the move in his weekly article. It's the same with Bartra chip.

Riquelme IS the most boring player ever to exist (Maxwell rapidly chasing him).

And I disagree Pedro can't have a good game without scoring, he can and he has many times. Until today, Alexis hasn't proved to be better than Pedro at any department to be honest. I'm still waiting for "the dribling machine" that we supposedly signed.

Yes, JDS had good distribution, we're all quite familiar with his passing abilities, but while I think he's a great player I can't see him being preferred to Iniesta, Thiago, Cesc and also Roberto in the future at central midfield and as I said, he'd need to improve at DM defensively to play there. Very good player, but its really hard to see him succeeding from here. Good luck to him though, I do like him. Haven't watched much of Barca B, but it doesn't surprise me he's been great because of his experience.

I get what you mean with Bartra, and I think thats a problem for him. He's very talented, but lacks the steel and mentality of a real CB.

LoL Riquelme... I'm sure many people will disagree with you. Sure Maxwell is boring, but he's a backup left back... His job isn't to entertain you. His job is to step in and not be noticed for making mistakes.

I think you're very biased towards Pedro still. He provides different options to Alexis, but so far this season Alexis has been better than Pedro in almost every way. You've got to pick the in form player. Sure Pedro can be good without scoring but he hasn't been of late. Alexis has done some great dribbles, many more than Pedro if thats what you are asking. I dunno, while I like Pedro, I like Alexis too. Just because he's new, there's no need to hate on him.

I don't hate Alexis, I just like Pedro much more.

And well, Riquelme IS boring. I can't understand any Barça fan who has anything positive to say about the guy. He is the icon of the worst Barça ever. A synonym of apathy, loserism and boredom. Ri-quel-me.

free_cat wrote:I don't hate Alexis, I just like Pedro much more.

And well, Riquelme IS boring. I can't understand any Barça fan who has anything positive to say about the guy. He is the icon of the worst Barça ever. A synonym of apathy, loserism and boredom. Ri-quel-me.

Well I've never been Pedro's biggest fan thats all. I'll admit it, I've never given him the credit he probably deserves. I like him, but I like the potential of Alexis more, I think he can become a great player.

Yeah, at Barca Riquelme sucked. In fact I can't even remember him in our jersey he was such a nothing player. He was always overrated, but I'm sure there are more boring players overall.

Riquelme was very good in the WC 06. It was great to watch that Argentina in action.

It is always great to see the young guns do well. Even more satisfying is that they did this in the CL. We have got some amazing players waiting to be promoted to the team.

As far as i can see, we are not going to face a lot of trouble with respect to continuity once guys like Xavi, Abidal retire. Although Puyol will still be super hard to replace.

I don't understand how anyone can say that riqulme was boring. Yes he was awful at barca, but on his other teams he was a joy to watch.






Maybe it was because he is lazy that you find him boring?

Who cares of what Boringquelme did at other teams.

free_cat wrote:Who cares of what Boringquelme did at other teams.

Lol.. when you are harsh, you are really mean free_cat!

kiranr wrote:

free_cat wrote:Who cares of what Boringquelme did at other teams.

Lol.. when you are harsh, you are really mean free_cat!

I just realised, that's quite a nice nickname I created there Bo-Ringquelme.

Why is Muniesa playing midfield? Why no Grimaldo.?

Anyway pretty great performance from the Barca youngsters..........I long for the day when Madrid youngsters are allowed to get playing time as a collective unit in the CL.

ragbirjosh wrote:Why is Muniesa playing midfield? Why no Grimaldo.?

Anyway pretty great performance from the Barca youngsters..........I long for the day when Madrid youngsters are allowed to get playing time as a collective unit in the CL.

I am a little confused Ragbir, you support Liverpool too, right?

I support Real Madrid and Liverpool only.I also support Spain.

Muniesa and Grimaldo are therfore a point of interest for me.I am a big fan of Muniesa particularly although I would prefer him playing in defence either at LB or CB.

ragbirjosh wrote:I support Real Madrid and Liverpool only.I also support Spain.

Muniesa and Grimaldo are therfore a point of interest for me.I am a big fan of Muniesa particularly although I would prefer him playing in defence either at LB or CB.

At first, i thought you are a Madrid fan, then you were posting about Liverpool and i thought i must be mistaken and that you are a Liverpool fan, but now again i see you posting about Madrid, so i figured you supported both. Just wanted to clear my confusion!

But you really rate Muniesa eh? That is interesting because i have not seen anyone outside the barca fans showing any interest in them! But great to see you follow them closely.