Re: La Liga: Barça vs. Sporting

by JAY-Z Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:30 am

Iniesta made the difference.

by FennecFox7 Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:06 pm

Keita has decieved Free_cat :vagi:

by Yeezus Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:04 pm

Ray Hudson commentary

by BarcaLearning Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:36 pm

OMG WHAT A PERFORMANCE!

And I hope those who say Barca rely on Messi watch this game Very Happy

We got top class players in every position! Cool

WOOOO HOOOOO~!!

And this is why Keita deserves more credit, hes a top midfielder, very underrated. And Im not saying that becos of his goal, hes always played well. OBviously hes not iniesta or Busquets, but still, hes top quality. What a goal anyway! Very Happy

And Xavi Iniesta are gods omg! :mental: They just ruled the game. They played Messi's role too in his absence almost, and 10 men vs 11, them 2 alone basically owned the Gijon midfield of 4 :lol!:

Adriano I hope continues to do well, hes better attacking than defending though. Sanchez chows his class once he came on, I hope his injury isnt bad. Cesc and the others did well too. Macherano had a top game too.

As for the ref, absolutely awful at times. How can Tello be offside when the ball is deflected like that off the defender? And the arguable red. Keita gets a yellow despite pulling his legs back and barely touching the guy, etc....

BTW, we went to a back 3 after the sending off, and Pep never brought on defender until we got the goal, credit to him. And shows that our work at back 3 still deserves credit, the exp. must have helped in this situation Cool

Great result and performance under the circumstances, I love this team~!! cheers

WOOO~!

:dance:

by BarcaLearning Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:45 pm

CBarca wrote:Iniesta

That's a 9 or 10 out of 10 performance.

Out of this world today.

Keita goal what the hell man, but it made me so happy. It was beautiful too.

Hete BLKSM wrote:Build up an finnishing of the last goal was world class. Keita's goal was epic as well. Referee was bad once again. But what ever, we won. Anyone know what's up with Sánchez? I feel sad for the guy, yet another injury. Could well be another 4-6 weeks from the looks of it.

Again I say Keita deserves more regonistion from us Barca fans drinking

And Iniesta for this game 10/10, considering we had 10 men too and Gijon really went for it, he and Xavi turned it on and owned it.

Was that Messi's parents beside him during the game? The guy on the right must be his relative at least eco smile

Forgot to mention Pedro. I thought he did ok, played 1-2s, drags defenders etc, but hes clearly lacking in confidence still...

by alexjanosik Sun Mar 04, 2012 4:52 pm

Terrific performance especially after the equalizer.Tremendous character from the team.We are the only team in the history of the game that can dominate possession 75-25 even after going down to 10.And that too for an entire half.hell we were dominating possession with 9 on the field.And thats mostly due to the 2 little magicians on the field,Xavi and Iniesta.
On the others Adriano had a so so game.Set up the goal but partially at fault for the equalizer.
Masch lost the ball in midfield and Gijon scored.Alves was excellent.
Keita was brilliant.He has unfairly gotten criticism from a lot of Barca fans.
He put in a great shift and scored a peach of a goal.
Xavi and Iniesta ran the show as mentioned.
Cesc Fabregas,another poor performance.Pedro rivalled him for the worst Barca player on the pitch.Pedro really needs to step up.He plays like this, he is going to lose his place in the squad.

by BarcaLearning Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:15 pm

The possession was certainly crazy for 10 men team...

Clemente must have been furious and helpless at the side lines Laughing

Know sthat the entire half will be 11 vs 10 and just equalised, and then sees his team get owned in the next 45 mins Laughing

by The Sanchez Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:40 pm

Another woeful performance from Fabregas and the only reason was because he is playing in the forward position where he doesn't fo any damage. He has played brilliantly in the midfield regardless whether he wasn't Xavi or not. He needs to be placed in the midfield where he belongs.

by BarcaKizz Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:01 pm

paxtonpale wrote:Another woeful performance from Fabregas and the only reason was because he is playing in the forward position where he doesn't fo any damage. He has played brilliantly in the midfield regardless whether he wasn't Xavi or not. He needs to be placed in the midfield where he belongs.

Yeah. I give up on the Cesc as a forward thing. He just screws up our game a little there and all he offers is the odd goal, when he's not scoring he's a problem. He's been much more impressive in midfield, and he should stay there.

I think we should start trying Alexis as a false 9 when Messi is injured. I saw his ability to play there in the Valencia game where he moved into that position quite a bit.

by free_cat Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:25 pm

What a performance from Iniesta! I hope JD watched it, it was one of the best Iniesta performances ever. He carried us forward! Dribling, defending, assisting, scoring, everything! Hope he stays injury free until the end of the season.

I have to admit that Keita was also great, even aside from the goal, he had a very good match, also contributing in the first goal. This doesn't change my opinion though, he has also had very good matches in the past, like in the Cup final vs Bilbao or some other games. He sometimes plays very well, but he is not Barça level and is a big liability when they press us.

Alexis only has a minor muscle tearing, and will be away only 10-15 days luckily! What's up with Alexis, wa he always this fragile before?

by The Franchise Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:59 am

C Barcelona's win against Sporting Gijon (3-1) threw up some interesting stats:

- Xavi Hernandez has now broken his own personal league scoring record. His goal against Sporting was his eighth so far, his best total since scoring seven in the 2007-08 season.

- Xavi tops the ranking in the major European leagues for completed passes in the opposing half 1,553. Messi is second and Alves, fourth.

- Barça has the widest spread of goal scorers in La Liga – 14 different players from the senior squad plus Tello from the reserves.

- Andrés Iniesta has extended his unbeaten league run to 48 matches. Only Butragueño with 50 has gone more consecutive league matches without losing.

- Javier Mascherano regained possession 12 times during match – more than any other player.

- Gerard Piqué is the first Barça player to be sent off in the Camp Nou since February 2010.

by harhar11 Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:27 am

free_cat wrote:What a performance from Iniesta! I hope JD watched it, it was one of the best Iniesta performances ever. He carried us forward! Dribling, defending, assisting, scoring, everything! Hope he stays injury free until the end of the season.

I have to admit that Keita was also great, even aside from the goal, he had a very good match, also contributing in the first goal. This doesn't change my opinion though, he has also had very good matches in the past, like in the Cup final vs Bilbao or some other games. He sometimes plays very well, but he is not Barça level and is a big liability when they press us.

Alexis only has a minor muscle tearing, and will be away only 10-15 days luckily! What's up with Alexis, wa he always this fragile before?

As I recall, yes.

by shinigami99 Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:28 am

Mascherano :bow:

by alexjanosik Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:09 am

BarcaKizz wrote:
paxtonpale wrote:Another woeful performance from Fabregas and the only reason was because he is playing in the forward position where he doesn't fo any damage. He has played brilliantly in the midfield regardless whether he wasn't Xavi or not. He needs to be placed in the midfield where he belongs.

Yeah. I give up on the Cesc as a forward thing. He just screws up our game a little there and all he offers is the odd goal, when he's not scoring he's a problem. He's been much more impressive in midfield, and he should stay there.

I think we should start trying Alexis as a false 9 when Messi is injured. I saw his ability to play there in the Valencia game where he moved into that position quite a bit.

Cesc is even worse in midfield.Atleast upfront he doesnt look as lost.

by free_cat Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:44 am

Undeserved criticism. He has been improving a lot the last matches. I would even go as far as saying that in the last 5 games he played as CM he was better than the last 5 Xavi games.

by free_cat Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:45 am

The Franchise wrote:

- Xavi tops the ranking in the major European leagues for completed passes in the opposing half 1,553. Messi is second and Alves, fourth.

Would be interesting to know who is the third. Ozil?

by The Franchise Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:46 am

No idea, was on the Barca website. I think Ozil is as likely as anyone though yes.

by matpol Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:35 am

free_cat wrote:
The Franchise wrote:

- Xavi tops the ranking in the major European leagues for completed passes in the opposing half 1,553. Messi is second and Alves, fourth.

Would be interesting to know who is the third. Ozil?

Third Xabi Alonso (1271), fourth Dani Alves (1215), fifth Mikel Arteta (1207). Source fcbarcelona.cat

by The Sanchez Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:46 pm

alexjanosik wrote:
BarcaKizz wrote:
paxtonpale wrote:Another woeful performance from Fabregas and the only reason was because he is playing in the forward position where he doesn't fo any damage. He has played brilliantly in the midfield regardless whether he wasn't Xavi or not. He needs to be placed in the midfield where he belongs.

Yeah. I give up on the Cesc as a forward thing. He just screws up our game a little there and all he offers is the odd goal, when he's not scoring he's a problem. He's been much more impressive in midfield, and he should stay there.

I think we should start trying Alexis as a false 9 when Messi is injured. I saw his ability to play there in the Valencia game where he moved into that position quite a bit.

Cesc is even worse in midfield.Atleast upfront he doesnt look as lost.

Man you gotta be joking. He was literally invisible in that game except the one two that ended up as a disallowed goal. He has been the best midfielder in the English Premier League so he obviously means that he can bring some inspiration when he does play there as he has proven at times when placed there.

by BarcaKizz Mon Mar 05, 2012 4:18 pm

matpol wrote:
free_cat wrote:
The Franchise wrote:

- Xavi tops the ranking in the major European leagues for completed passes in the opposing half 1,553. Messi is second and Alves, fourth.

Would be interesting to know who is the third. Ozil?

Third Xabi Alonso (1271), fourth Dani Alves (1215), fifth Mikel Arteta (1207). Source fcbarcelona.cat

Where is Iniesta? Weird...

Alex. I disagree. When he was doing his 'lost puppy dog', as you call it, he was playing either at the top of the diamond as a #10 (and hence believed his job was just attack) or in a front 3. His best performances have been recently. In these games he's played in the midfield as a normal CM. He looked to have adapted better and learnt the role. I think he can learn the CAM position more, but he needs to apply what he's learnt from playing CM, because his natural style and tendency to make late runs will come through anyway.

by The Franchise Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:44 pm

Iniesta missed too many games I would guess.

by alexjanosik Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:50 am

free_cat wrote:Undeserved criticism. He has been improving a lot the last matches. I would even go as far as saying that in the last 5 games he played as CM he was better than the last 5 Xavi games.

Dont agree one bit.I can just see us dominating possession 75-25 and the game for an entire half being a man down with Cesc 'The Lost Lamb' Fabregas in there instead of Xavi.He had one good game against Valencia.Else he has been average in midfield.

by danyjr Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:12 am

Fábregas for me is more of a counterattacking, quick midfielder than Xavi's patient and possession play.

Xavi is good at bringing the ball from the back. His control and composure on the ball is second to none.

Fábregas is good at none of the above. He loses the ball too often and his ball control is not up to Barcelona standards. What he doesn't have though, he makes up for with other things. His eye for a through ball, his lobbed passes are inch perfect and he runs so much on the pitch, from making forward runs to general midfield movements.

I always thought both Özil and Fábregas would have gained more if they played for their rivals instead. The German's playstyle is fit for Barcelona's tiki-taka (as he stated before joining Madrid, his favourite club is in fact FC Barcelona) and Cesc's eye for a pass is a dream come true for Madrid's fast running forwards, and more importantly Mourinho's quick tactics.

by The Franchise Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:16 am

I hate that phrase.

"What he lacks in X, he makes up for with Y"...99% of the time, its untrue, as it is here.

I agree Ozil is more suited to Barca and Cesc Madrid though.

by DuringTheWar Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:43 am

danyjr wrote:Fábregas for me is more of a counterattacking, quick midfielder than Xavi's patient and possession play.

Xavi is good at bringing the ball from the back. His control and composure on the ball is second to none.

Fábregas is good at none of the above. He loses the ball too often and his ball control is not up to Barcelona standards. What he doesn't have though, he makes up for with other things. His eye for a through ball, his lobbed passes are inch perfect and he runs so much on the pitch, from making forward runs to general midfield movements.

I always thought both Özil and Fábregas would have gained more if they played for their rivals instead. The German's playstyle is fit for Barcelona's tiki-taka (as he stated before joining Madrid, his favourite club is in fact FC Barcelona) and Cesc's eye for a pass is a dream come true for Madrid's fast running forwards, and more importantly Mourinho's quick tactics.

Maybe barca should stick cesc on the wing where the less talented players get to play? since cesc "the striker" failed, might as well try cesc "the winger", if that fails why not try cesc "the right back", or better yet try him in goal, playmaker goalkeeper? or maybe they shouldnt have wasted 30 million to just cause damage to their own team as well as arsenals. Stupid, should have just promoted thiago and let cesc continue to thrive and develop in england. Just another barca transfer mess to go along with eto'o/ibra embarrassment, barcelona must have thrown nearly a 100mil down the drain so far

by BarrileteCosmico Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:47 am

Diego Armando Maradona wrote:Maybe barca should stick cesc on the wing where the less talented players get to play? since cesc "the striker" failed, might as well try cesc "the winger", if that fails why not try cesc "the right back", or better yet try him in goal, playmaker goalkeeper? or maybe they shouldnt have wasted 30 million to just cause damage to their own team as well as arsenals. Stupid, should have just promoted thiago and let cesc continue to thrive and develop in england. Just another barca transfer mess to go along with eto'o/ibra embarrassment, barcelona must have thrown nearly a 100mil down the drain so far

The ironic thing is that the exact same sentiment has been echoed by many of our own posters...

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