ogazi007: the boy need to start getting some minutes for the sake of his confidence.

ogazi007: Why is Batra not playing in this kind of game?i know its a CL game but we are going to qualify regardless of the outcome of this game.the boy need to start getting some minutes for the sake of his confidence.i hope Iniesta and Puyol both comes in the second half,we need puyol healthy against Madrid.

Mcleo007:

Tito knws best! I personally believe he's not ready for such game mentally. There's more to these games than meets the eye. He's up in the task for CDR games nonetheless.
And our club legend, Ronald Koeman in the news. He feels Penaldo should be awarded the Balon D'or simply because Messi has won it thrice. How silly!
It's seems everyone is now pleading on behalf of
Ronaldo. What's does Koeman really mean with this
comment, i can't imagine the comment comes out for so many reasons.
1. Because no one has won it 4times in a row?
2. Because past football legends don't want messi to go top of them?
3. Because they want to consulate Ronaldo?
4. Maybe the passion to do more won't be there
anymore for Ronaldo?
5. Because Messi will win all awards in Barca and not with any other club?
All these are not a Ǧ☺☺ϑ reason to deny Messi the
award for the 4th time.. So i think it's best other show more on the pitch. It would have been more better for Ronaldo if the award is base on collective
performance.. But it's individual award so Messi
deserve it once more sorry....

usbcable: this is to wish Puyol a quick recovery from his injury.

I didnt see the match. was at the office through out.

hope he gets well soon.


and now to those wanting Batra to play your wish and prayers have forcefully been granted albeit at a great cost.

so watch what you wish for.

AjanleKoko: Thought someone had locked this thread.[i][/i]

A great game, well beyond expectations. Sad to see Puyol dislocating his shoulder like that. He will most likely be out for a while.
Busquets also got sent off for nothing. Which means we have no choice but to play Bartra in the next game against Celtic, and Song in the holding position. Though Pique should be fit for that one.

Mascherano + Song is the confirmed pairing for Sunday. Madrid will be fancying this one for sure.

Stealthy: I didn't manage to contribute to the debate about whether a selfish Messi is good for the team or not.

For ma, I prefer the Messi of this season - he's playing deeper and is less selfish than last season. Pedro and Alexis now seem to have realized that they are also there to provide goals, not just pass to Messi. If they look around themselves and can't see Messi, they don't have a choice but to shoot.

Last season, a "selfish" broke all scoring records, but the team ended up having the worst season in the Pep era. Ok, I know Messi also had loads of assists, so it's difficult to say he's selfish. This season, Messi has scored slightly fewer goals, but the team has a 100% record in La Liga and UCL.

So, let's have a less selfish Messi and let the other players pick up some of the scoring responsibility. It makes the team less predictable and increases our chances of winning against teams like Chelsea.

ddippset: last season barca won the super cups, the club world cup and the spanish fa cup(copa del rey). i do not agree that it was a 'worst' season or it was even a bad season. i think it was a good season. if barca loses the title to a the richest club in world football with great superstars like casilas, ronaldo, marcelo, pepe, ramos, higuain, benzema, de maria, ozil, kaka, alonso, khedira, and co, after dominating for 3 seasons, i dont think it was a failure. also if barca failed to retain the uefa champions league after making the semis for 5 straight seasons, it's not a bad season at all. it's either the bar had been raised to high or the detractors are being mischievous. so i think barca had a good season and messi had the greatest individual season in world football. i also hink that something needs to be done very fast about the defence. i have a gut feeling that soon that makeshift defence is going to boomerang. i hope abidal, pique and puyol come back 100% soon.

Stealthy: I didn't manage to contribute to the debate about whether a selfish Messi is good for the team or not.

For ma, I prefer the Messi of this season - he's playing deeper and is less selfish than last season. Pedro and Alexis now seem to have realized that they are also there to provide goals, not just pass to Messi. If they look around themselves and can't see Messi, they don't have a choice but to shoot.

Last season, a "selfish" broke all scoring records, but the team ended up having the worst season in the Pep era. Ok, I know Messi also had loads of assists, so it's difficult to say he's selfish. This season, Messi has scored slightly fewer goals, but the team has a 100% record in La Liga and UCL.

So, let's have a less selfish Messi and let the other players pick up some of the scoring responsibility. It makes the team less predictable and increases our chances of winning against teams like Chelsea.

AjanleKoko:

The truth is, Messi doesn't have to score a billion goals to win the Ballon D'Or. It is more important if he wins trophies for FCB and his national side. If he wins the Champions League again, wins La Liga, and manages to win the World Cup with Argentina (that looks almost impossible with the current generation), the Messi vs Ronaldo debates will die. How many goals did Maradona or Zidane score?

yourangel: [/b]

I agree completely with you, bro. The fact that Messi can score loads of goals and also create loads of scoring opportunities make him one of the most complete players ever. His close rivals in the game are merely goal scoring machines. They are not as creative (be it Falcao, Ronaldo, just name it). This is what makes Messi 'extra-terrestrial' according to Jorge Jesus, coach of Benfica, at the post-match press conference on Tuesday night.

I am not a good football analyst, please cules, what do you guys think of a line up like this for Sunday's classico?

Valdes

Alves Mascherano Bartra Alba
i think iam with you 100% especially with the bartra and song inclusions. but i have reservations about villa. maybe pedro instead. he's quick and has a good record against madrid.

Song

Busquets


Xavi Iniesta


Messi Villa

Song is there to give cover to the rookie (Bartra) so as to solidify the defense. Villa plays as a lone striker whilst Busquets, Xavi, Messi and Iniesta form the core of the attacking midfield. If we are leading in the second half, Song or Bartra could be substituted by bringing in Pedro or Fabregas to consolidate our attack.

I'm not an expert though, but I just want us to win Madrid 'any which way we go fit take do am'. I want us to widen that gap from 8 to 11 points and win the league as soon as possible so that we could give 100% concentration to the champions league. This is our year (every other year; 2008, 2010, 2012). Visca el Barca

yourangel: [/b]

I agree completely with you, bro. The fact that Messi can score loads of goals and also create loads of scoring opportunities make him one of the most complete players ever. His close rivals in the game are merely goal scoring machines. They are not as creative (be it Falcao, Ronaldo, just name it). This is what makes Messi 'extra-terrestrial' according to Jorge Jesus, coach of Benfica, at the post-match press conference on Tuesday night.

I am not a good football analyst, please cules, what do you guys think of a line up like this for Sunday's classico?

Valdes

Alves Mascherano Bartra Alba


Song

Busquets


Xavi Iniesta


Messi Villa

Song is there to give cover to the rookie (Bartra) so as to solidify the defense. Villa plays as a lone striker whilst Busquets, Xavi, Messi and Iniesta form the core of the attacking midfield. If we are leading in the second half, Song or Bartra could be substituted by bringing in Pedro or Fabregas to consolidate our attack.

I'm not an expert though, but I just want us to win Madrid 'any which way we go fit take do am'. I want us to widen that gap from 8 to 11 points and win the league as soon as possible so that we could give 100% concentration to the champions league. This is our year (every other year; 2008, 2010, 2012). Visca el Barca

ddippset: i think iam with you 100% on this, esp with the bartra and song inclusions. but i do have my reservations about villa. pedro is fitter and quicker for now and he has a very good record against madrid.

yourangel: [b][/b]

Thanks bro! At least I'm not alone....lol. I absolutely agree with you that Pedro is fitter and quicker than Villa for now. So, I will now modify the original post and put Pedro in place of Villa. It's said that the first design is not always the best or final design. One keeps improving an original design by continuous modification until one gets to the perfect design. That's what Engineering entails. One love bro!

yourangel: [b][/b]

I have modified it Sir. At times, our coaches (Guardiola and Tito) take too much/unnecessary risks. We currently have no defence at all. We only have defensive midfield, central midfield and attack. Our so-called full-backs are 'full-attackers' (lol). Madrid need the 3 points more than we do, so why should we go out and attack agressivly when we are defenceless? We should be more defence minded than attack. Even if the game is drawn, Barca are still the winner. Since we are not desperate for a win, we should solidify our defence and midfield. Stop them from scoring us by having a solid defense and keeping possession. It would get them frustrated and once they open up space in their defence, we strike them immediately.

Towards the end of the game, our attack could be rejuvenated by removing Bartra and bringing in Villa or Fabregas. This time, Madrid would be tired because they have been starved of possession. Though I'm a novice, but I don't think this thing is rocket science. Our coaches are so obsessed with attacking football, that they don't care about our defence; and that's always our undoing.

How come Chelsea 'parked the bus' against us last season, yet they scored three goals against us both home and away? Simply because we were so carried away in our attacking football that we forgot to take care of our defence.

yourangel: [b][/b]

I have modified it Sir. At times, our coaches (Guardiola and Tito) take too much/unnecessary risks. We currently have no defence at all. We only have defensive midfield, central midfield and attack. Our so-called full-backs are 'full-attackers' (lol). Madrid need the 3 points more than we do, so why should we go out and attack agressivly when we are defenceless? We should be more defence minded than attack. Even if the game is drawn, Barca are still the winner. Since we are not desperate for a win, we should solidify our defence and midfield. Stop them from scoring us by having a solid defense and keeping possession. It would get them frustrated and once they open up space in their defence, we strike them immediately.

Towards the end of the game, our attack could be rejuvenated by removing Bartra and bringing in Villa or Fabregas. This time, Madrid would be tired because they have been starved of possession. Though I'm a novice, but I don't think this thing is rocket science. Our coaches are so obsessed with attacking football, that they don't care about our defence; and that's always our undoing.

How come Chelsea 'parked the bus' against us last season, yet they scored three goals against us both home and away? Simply because we were so carried away in our attacking football that we forgot to take care of our defence.

logica: Barcelona can actually play the same line-up that beat Benfica against Real Madrid. Only thing is the full-backs (Dani Alves and Jordi Alba) will have to do less of attacking and more of defending. This will of course take off a lot of attacking edge they provide; but they will be needed to provide cover for the center-backs as well as double-teaming the likes of Benzema, Higuain and C. Ronaldo. None of those 3 can beat Dani or Jordi for pace; which they can with Mascherano and Song. So I believe the outcome of the match will hinge on how well Dani and Jordi can provide cover. Also the pace of Pedro, Alexis and Tello (if he plays) should not only be put to use in attack; they will be crucial in defending as well (in providing cover for Dani and Jordi). In summary, it will take a huge team effort and synergy to win this game.

I will also like to mention that Barca will need to manufacture and finish counter-attack moves; Barca is just as deadly on the counter as Madrid is. But the problem (believe it or not) is Xavi who slows down the play most times; and I have seen him pass up through passes that would have led to fast counter-attacks. And this is one area of passing in which Messi beats Xavi hands down. Messi is in my opinion the best you can find on this planet on the through-pass-on-the-counter. You might want to check this, but the very few times Barca scored from counter-attacks, Xavi was most likely not involved in the build-up.

And as for the preference Barca has for mid-fielders over "natural" defenders; the concept is simple. The Barca philosophy is to keep the ball and build an attack right from the defense; and who else "naturally" knows how to keep the ball than a "natural" mid-fielder? And who can send a precise defense splitting pass all the way from the last line of defense than a mid-fielder? And here is the kicker - even Puyol did not start out playing as a center-back for Barca; he was a full-back/mid-fielder.