FC Barcelona Thread

drekkard said:
Did I say I hate Bojan? That kid will never be a good player, he just lacks technichal and tactical skills. He's just a poacher.
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drekkard, why don't we wait a few years before you write him off completely? Don't you think it's a little too early to be judging a player who is only 20? He still has much room to improve, and I think Pep is keeping him in the squad for the day he does step it up.
 
Yes, I know it sounds too harsh on a young player, but it's a clear case of lacking the right skills. I watch him play live and I tell you there's a huge gap between him and the rest of players, both in skill and tactical awareness.

When a player reaches this age (20) and still lacks the most fundamental skills to play our style:
- first touch (he's horrible, he's never able to control the ball in a single touch. I'd say I was much better than him at his age, jesus!
- Skill to evade tackling and retain possession: being a small player, he will be outmuscled all th etime, so you need the skills Xavi and Iniesta have (and Thiago) to get out of difficult situations with skill, retaining possession.
- Vision and accurate short passing: Being quick into finding paths to pass the ball, doing the right pass with the right strength and accuracy is absolutely vital here at Barcelona, and this boy is not good enough at this.
- Positional play: he lacks the vision to move where the teem needs him to be, he's weak at defending and he doesn't choose too well his actions.

He's improving, but not at a rate that he would solve all that even in 5 years. To play at barcelona, you need to have at least half of those points mastered at 20 years old. If you think of other players like Busquets and Pedro, they clearly have many (if not all) of these abilities.

Besides, Bojan plays as a striker, and he won't perform in any other position. His best skills are shooting to goal, the ability to get poaching goals (it's not sarcasm, it's one of the key abilities of strikers, like the great Raul) and offensive awareness. But this isn't enough to play here. There are literally a hundred players with the same skills he have, and maybe even stronger or faster.

It's just that I don't see a clear progression that would make him a great player. He would be great for Atletico, Sevilla or Valencia, but not for us.

If future proves me wrong, I'll admit it. It wouldn't be the first time I'm completely wrong.
 
Abidal usually gets underestimated. He may not score goals, but he's as good defending as Pique or Alves and has a great technique (more skill than Puyol, for instance). Add to this he's the fastes player in the team and never gets tired. He's a great piece for the team and we miss him qhen he's not fit. His muscles are the only reason he never gets full seasons at the top level.
 
Another great victory yesterday in a tough match against Deportivo. 4-0, but wit was much harder than it seems.

Messi continues to be a even better everyday. This guy is just amazing, I have no words to describe him. Usually in the history of football players have been great scorers or great passers. This guys just ignores history. More than 20 goals this season AND 17 assists... and we're only in the middle of the season and he has missed 5 matches...

I'm just incredibly lucky to watch this fella play every week. Trying to compare him to anyone else is disrespectful.
 
I think it would be unfair if Iniesta wins it. Xavi, Messi, Robben, Snejder, Julio Cesar and Maicon did a much better season.

I don't like how the goal in the wolrd cup final is a make-up for the poor season that Iniesta did last year with Barcelona, when he underperformed many months and was injured the rest.

If the award had to go to the best player, I have no doubts about who should win it every year: Messi. Even Xavi and Iniesta say they are nothing compared to the argentinian.

But out of those 3, I would prefer to have Xavi as a winner, as he's been instrumental in everything and is the type of player you only see once.

By the way, even if it's a bit unfair considering mostly Snejder and Robben, it's historical!!! First time the 3 nominees are from the same club, but most important, they are all products of the youth accademy! We won't see that for a long long time...
 
I would like Xavi to win it...but i agree with drekkard: Messi should win it every year.

Besides that, it's absurd to give an individual award in a team sport like football. Messi is great, but he can shine because his team mates work for him...players like Puyol are zseriously underrated nowadays.
 
drekkard said:
I think it would be unfair if Iniesta wins it. Xavi, Messi, Robben, Snejder, Julio Cesar and Maicon did a much better season.

I don't like how the goal in the wolrd cup final is a make-up for the poor season that Iniesta did last year with Barcelona, when he underperformed many months and was injured the rest.

If the award had to go to the best player, I have no doubts about who should win it every year: Messi. Even Xavi and Iniesta say they are nothing compared to the argentinian.

But out of those 3, I would prefer to have Xavi as a winner, as he's been instrumental in everything and is the type of player you only see once.

By the way, even if it's a bit unfair considering mostly Snejder and Robben, it's historical!!! First time the 3 nominees are from the same club, but most important, they are all products of the youth accademy! We won't see that for a long long time...
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nothing but an info I want to show. ;)
fifa-ballon-dor-special-comparing-milan-1989-to-barcelona
 
gerd said:
I would like Xavi to win it...but i agree with drekkard: Messi should win it every year.

Besides that, it's absurd to give an individual award in a team sport like football. Messi is great, but he can shine because his team mates work for him...players like Puyol are zseriously underrated nowadays.
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And the other way round, Barcelona is a very strong unit which only works 100%ly if all 11 starting players are on the field.
 
Das ist das! said:
nothing but an info I want to show. ;)
fifa-ballon-dor-special-comparing-milan-1989-to-barcelona
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Oh yes! Milan had 2 years in a row three nominated, I wanted to say that it's the first time the 3 of them are from the youth accademy and playing in the same club they were risen at!

Though the 3 dutch were from Ajax's accademy, isn't it? I miss Ajax in the Champions League, it's unfair that the best youth accademy ever can't compete due to the unfair share of money. Here at Barcelona we owe it all to them, we're followers, they were the ones that started it all.
 
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Gullit wasn't from Ajax' youth academy, i think he came from the youth of Haarlem and afterwards played for PSV.

But i agree with your point drekkard.
 
Actually in 1988 it was the 3 dutch but in 1989 it was Van Basten, Rijkaard, and Baresi. But yeah the academy thing is unmatchable by Barcelona.

About Ajax, I was watching the 1995 final with Milan before their recent CL clash and it was awesome the number of world class academy players. Even now a days, imagine Sneijder, van der vaart, de Jong, Babel, Van der wiel, and Vermaelen are still there. Surely a top CL team.
 
Yep, I hope he wins 3 or 4 more in his career and he stays away from serious injuries.

Congrats to Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Pique and Villa for being there in the FIFA's best eleven!
 
I think Xavi or Iniesta deserved it more because of their contribution in the national team and domestically.

I was personally hoping for Xavi to win it cuz Messi and Iniesta can always win it again. This might have been Xavi's last realistic chance considering his age. Given Messi's amazing ability, I'd already bet my house that he'd be one of the three candidates next season.
 
Yeah I would've liked to see Xavi win it to be honest. If he didn't deserve this one then I don't know when he will.... he'll never win it now. :(

But whatever... Messi is the world's greatest and at the rate he's going, I wouldn't bet against him becoming the world's greatest player EVER! He's just something else....
 
Xavi should have at least finished in 2nd place. Iniesta had a good World Cup but I doubt he'd have been voted so generously if he hadn't scored the winning goal in the final.

He had an injury hit and below standard season for Barca whereas Xavi was the ever-present orchestrator for both club and country.

I don't know how he's managed to play 60 games a season consistently at such a high level since that knee injury in 2005. He must on something, seriously!
 
It seems there is outrage in Spain that Messi won the Ballon D'Or...
Is this general or only the Madrid papers?

I've read that even Pique has spoken out against Messi's win...if that is true, that's not very intelligent.All those individual trophies are plain stupidity. It would not be the first time that a great team breaks up because of individual trophies.
 
That's just bullshit from Madrid press. People here recognizes Messi as the greatest ever and we didn't care who was going to win it. Sure, the fan favorite was Xavi because he will never win it, but everybody knows who is the best, and by far. Xavi has always said that Messi is much much better than him and Iniesta together.

No problems other than a brainwashed press all around.
 
Messi deserved it because he was the best player in 2010, problem is he's so "obvious" compared to other players like Xavi and Sneijder who had sensational years also.
 
wow! betis is playing surprisingly good. (even awesome comparing La Liga teams) let's see if they can manage to keep doing the right moves.

p.s. betis gk is on fire! :D

p.s. 2 ballon d'or has done it again and again. :SMOKIN:

p.s. 3 iniesta, are you kiddin me?! :BLINK:
 
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Well, Messi showed again why he's the best. Betis was playing amazingly well, maybe the best team I've seen this year here alongside Villarreal and Valencia.

But then Messi awakes, scores 3 consecutive goals (and could have scored more) and Pedro makes the 4th. The Iniesta ssist in the 5th goal by Keita is amazing.

A little unfair, Betis deserved a little more, maybe one or 2 goals. Congrats to them for playing brave, attacking football. Arsenal fans, take notice of how Betis played, because that's the way. Only thing is, you have to last for 90 minutes, and Betis went KO with the 2nd goal.
I hope they come to 1st division next year, they deserve it.
 
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