₦airaland Forum

Nihilist:
No doubt he put the team together, but this was mainly a team of already existing world class talent. Dayo is mentioning Hleb and Caeceres. How many games did they play?

Sebod, the talent was already on ground, the talent already knew try Barca way. Pep just happened to be there at the time.

Bar Tata, Pep's successors have been Barca insiders. One could argue that Any single one of them could have been Pep.

I mean look at Donkey Enrique, sacked from 2 clubs, all of a sudden winning back to back trophies in 2 seasons.

Come on mehn...

The talents were already on ground admittedly, now let's look at the talents on ground and analyse them.
If another coach, let's say Mou had taken over the team then;
1. Xavi( a talent) who was already on his way out would have been allowed to go.
2. Iniesta( a talent) who was always dragging a spot with Dinho, Deco, edmilson and co would probably have been let go too to pave way for a bigger player.
3. No one would have even heard of Sergio Busquest(a talent) till date.
4. Pique wouldn't have been bought and,
5. Messi(a talent) would have remained a winger producing 20-25 goals per season.
There would have been no talents to make reference to today.
With the team giving to Mou, Barca would have won some tittles with no particular style. Barca would just be there as just another club that won titles.
The fact that we now have a style the world is is praising and trying to emulate today in itself makes Pep a genius.
He already made the team and the talents strong, a foundation which other coaches built/ are building on.

afrodoc2:
Dayo by the time Barca faced us they had scored 105 goals in the league alone and you want to lie to the younglings here that they were underdogs?
Your 419 no be here

Man U were clearly the favourite as the defending champions. They had a full squad as against a Barca team that had Iniesta playing on injection, and have to improvise with Sylvinho and Puyol playing as the full backs.

Nihilist:
I think you lack basic comprehensive skills.

The point here is that Barca are a team so strong that even when their manager was dying, and they were managerless In a manner of speaking, they were still able to romp to the title.

Vilanova's successors were able to replicate Pep's success in varying degrees despite a crucial lack of winning experience.

How many managers win the Apex league of a major European country at first attempt? How many won the European trophy at first attempt? How many coaches did this with a team not called Barca?

The rest of your post is either irrelevant or hot garbage. I can see you going on about some cockroach or what not. Please don't quote me again

The point is that there wouldn't have even been a team so strong without Pep. He got a losing team that finished 3rd on the log, transformed the team, made the team strong and won it all in the process. The team he made strong became the bench mark of football.

Nihilist:
Sebod thank you, you have spoken well.

I think I already countered all those points though...

Yea, just seeing that you guys have really moved far.

Nihilist:
But what has Pep really done sef?

Like we've seen after he left, any donkey off the street can replicate his success at Barcelona.

The tiki-taka philosophy is instilled from an early age at la-masia, and most of the members of that team are la-masia including pep himself...

OK so he kept Xavi, moved Messi inside, promoted Busquets..but an argument could be made that being a la masia insider, he was more intimately acquainted with the original Barca/Cruyff philosophy than say LVG and Rijkaard, and thus in a better position to identify la masia graduates that would fit the philosophy.

With the array of world class talent at his disposal at Barca, should we even be lauding his 'achievements'? I mean Messi is clearly a freak of nature...

At Bayern, Pep once again has access to the best players in the world, but is competing in a one horse league. Can we genuinely expect anything less than domestic clean sweeps from Bayern with that squad? especially with their tendencies to cannibalise their closest competition

Why does pep keep failing in Europe when he faces competition that is either at par or slightly superior to his squad?

Is Pep really that much of a genius at all?

Compare to Jose who has won UCL TWICE in thr capacity of an underdog.

Oya Barca boys - sebod dmcdad homesteady fall in. BAYERN boys, you too.

In the 06/07 season, Barca finished 2nd on the log, crashed out of the UCL in the round of 16 with Ronaldinho being the highest goal scorer with 24 goals. Barca finished 3rd on the log in the following year, got knocked out of UCL with Henry as the highest goal scorer with 19 goals.

Pep took over in 07/08 season as a young untested coach. He declared the brains behind the team( Dinho, Deco and Eto) surplus to requirements to the chagrin of many. Dinho and Deco departed while Eto stayed, many players were also sold to accommodate the new ones.
Xavi had almost signed for Milan, Pep talked him to staying. Pique, who was sparingly used at United was bought back, Busquest was promoted, Iniesta was handed a full role by the departure of Dinho,Deco, Edmilson and Mota.
Pep assembled his team, made an inexperience Busquest his fulcrum, committed the midfield to Xavi and Iniesta and reshuffled them upfront.
Many queried his decisions, but asked to be judged at the end of the season. He played the best kind of football, the team became the talking point in the world of football, he had no other way of playing beside playing beautifully.
He got to the UCL finals where many thought his team(affected with injury) would be destroyed by Man U that had a super star in CR7. He showed the world how footie should be played and won the great sir Alex team. He went on to win the treble (the 1st in the history of La Liga), later won the sextuple ( a feat that has never been achieved). His team became the benchmark and every coach started thinking of how to stop him.
He won his 2nd UCL in 3 years and became the most sought after coach in the world.
Call him over rated, but I will say he packaged himself so greatly that even the so called great coaches are envious of him.
It's so easy now to allude every success the team has made from from 2008 to the brilliance of the team(even though majority of the players are termed average) and claim anybody can coach Barca, but trust me, without the work Pep did on the team, the team would have won some trophies but definitely not in the way and manner at which they have won and nobody today would be talking about the team that defined an era.
What has Pep done? He took over a team that was not winning, transformed the team and won everything there is in the world of football albeit with style and grandeur.
As regards Mou winning same UCL with smaller teams, yes, he won 2 UCL, but we all know whose team is the envy of all coaches, players, fans and even rivals. We know whose team gave many coaches headache on how to face, we all know whose team every other club wanted to avoid then.

airmark:
You are a very unserious person.

airmark:
He failed woefully ? but none of the goals was his fault. Failing woefully must have got a new meaning.

I saw the game, all I saw was a DM that lost possession, exposed his back line, gave ill timed passes, lost control of the game, miss-calculated tackles and the funniest was mopping the grass in the box when he should be standing firm in marking out his tormentor. And, at that pointed, I just shook my head and said 'airmak must be a joker' and guess what? Wifey asked 'who is airmark'

homesteady:
I don't want to even talk about the krychowiak exploits during their match against Sporting Gijon!
I'm sure this airhead didn't watch it or border to see the highlights! There is a high probability that he didn't even know about the match! Because he would have stopped disturbing us with his name by now!

I wouldn't know if he's really a great player, but, if what I saw him play last night is anything to go by, I'll prefer our Song playing in front of my defence.

dmcdad:
Na true jare. Besides, na we dey allow them do gra gra for our side, honestly.

I concur!

airmark:
Ollah01 was blaming krychowiak for the first goal, only speak for yourself.



Can you please quote where i ever stated a dm should stop opposition no matter where the ball was being kicked? Don't try to play tricks, valencia's goal against barca technically was busket's fault as he did unneccessary hard work contributing to an already populated area leaving his position for an opposing midfielder to have enough time to drag pique out and made the final pass that led to goal. No one is omnipresent except God but when a sluggish player like busquets does that he lacks the skills to cover up like great dms would do. I never blamed busquets for all goals barca conceded, i always brought those he caused technically which none of you could disprove.

Well, let me say again that my post was never about Busi as any opinion you hold about him does not move me a bit.
But, the perfect DM you have been preaching all season failed woefully last night and I kept wondering if he was still injured.

airmark:
Only idio.ts would blame krychowiak for a long pass from near central circle to an unmarked striker or a ball across from the flank into the box which was nicked in. Some barca fans are just stvpid, if you ramuzaki wanted to jin them to nail the [b]BEST DM [/b]in laliga 2015/2016 with yesterday's goals, it's DOA. Try next time.




That first goal, can you please analyse how krychowiak caused it. I want to learn new things, may be krychowiak was supposed to be marking the passer of the ball or he was supposed to be marking the striker, that long pass was played to and scored. I want to know, before i call you a goat. Thanks

Calm down bro nobody is blaming any player.
You have told us a DM should always be present to avert any trouble for his defence. I only wanted to know why they have to concede 2 goals in the 1st half since he should be stopping every threat.
By the way, I saw him play last night, and I must confess there's nothing special he played. Shakhtar should have scored over 4 goals if they took their chances well.
This has nothing to do with Busi, trust me, because I really don't care about your opinion as regards him. But, it's about trying to see the perfect DM airmak has been recommending to us all season. I wanted to see a DM that that was strong, agile, fast, un movable, able to read and intercept passes even before they are made, stop every counter, never expose his defence to danger, runs to tackle every pass while still maintaining his position, prevents opposition from scoring no matter where the ball is being kicked, I mean I was craving for perfection. But, I discovered the word perfection does not exist in the world of football.

dmcdad:
Coded01 go like that one wella!

Suárez will have tomorrow to increase his tally and thereby take it out of Ronaldo's reach since Ronaldo will certainly not be available for their Anoeta game. And hopefully too they drop points.

I only need 2 goals from my boy Luisito.
As regards Madrid dropping points, I really wish they do, but I doubt if Sociedad will be up to the task. Na Barça dem dey always do strong head to.

dmcdad:
You ehn... Ahswear, you no be better person.

No be my fault jor, our Song would have done better last night.
By the way, you needed to see how my neighbour who happened to be a Liverpool fan was shouting Denis Suarez this morning. When I told him his my boy, he was shocked. His next statement got me laughing; " why not sell Neymar and call him back, he's very good" he said.
I just smiled and told him we are having him back without selling Ney. (for my mind, I be like if Dmcdad catch you )

raumdeuter:
airmark care to explain?

He will surely have something to put up.

ollah1:
U dey mind that didirin. U need to check out the first goal. You would wonder where Krychowiak was. Its stalemate at the moment tho

I saw the match, expecting to see a DM that epitomises perfection, all I saw was a DM whose defence was exposed severely. I guess he's still playing with injury.

ollah1:
Sevilla is 1 up courtesy of Vitolo. They so much know how to play this competition..

It should be renamed to Sevilla League

They eventually did not play well as Shakhtar could have scored more than two goals were they clinical enough. By the way, is Krychowiak still playing with injury? Why would his team concede two goals in the 1st half?

Emaprince:
Chameleons all up in.

In champions league, you are surporting a German team to knock out a team from your own league, then in Europa, you are supporting sevilla. Which kind fans be these?

Devil go punish all of una barca fans when athletico progresses to the finals.

Nobody is against Athletico progressing, some may just support Bayern because of Pep while many are having a mixed feelings about the two teams. But, one thing all have in common is that Madrid must not win.

dmcdad:
Might abi? But for now at least, my money is on Madrid.

You know say no be say I want make Madrid win, but na the reality wey go happen I dey talk about.

Let's have our fingers crossed. I hope you don't win this time as you won when they played Wolfsburg.

philfearon:
Nah... Neither of them is winning it, and I believe Athletico won't qualify!

Athletico might and might not qualify, but, I think they stand a better chance of qualifying than City. As much as I wish City can qaulify at the expense of Madrid, I honestly don't see them winning Madrid in Spain.
Well.... this is football where anything is possible. may the best team win!

dmcdad:
I honestly don't see Bayern winning it. Even if they get past Atletico, they won't beat Real in the final. Not like Real arw great themselves, but they better than Bayern at the moment.

If Bayern get past Athletico, anything can happen between now and when the final would be played. They might have gotten back their mojo.

philfearon:
Man City will win the Champions League!

I think the winner is between Athletico and Bayern.

pelvicky:
sebod...your head is there

navas has been saving the yansh of Madrid since,

there are some matches Madrid won that the score line won't reflect what happen e.g against Bilbao ,they won 3-1 or so..Bilbao should have kill them if not for navas


he save some penalties at the start of season self

@ nonsoroyalty....I don't think you have a point

I think Nonso has a point really, but seems not getting the basis of the argument.

.

nonsoroyalty:
the madrid defence is not as bad as u make it seem abeg, ours is worser than theirs but bravo still has more cleansheet than navas what does that tell u? Bravo is also benefiting from something too, anyways i'll be here when a stray epl fan will make a point like urs only this time it will be against barca.

Well, this debate is not about the best keeper in La Liga this season, but it's about individual preference.
As regards Barca and Madrid defence, let me state here unequivocally that Navas has saved Madrid from embarrassment more than Bravo has saved Barca this season.
Like I have stated before, Oblak's inclusion as the keeper of the season in the league( worthy candidate) can never be questioned or debated, but when it comes to individual's choice, I'll go with Navas.
Please pay attention to the emboldened.

nonsoroyalty:
stop this benefiting from defence talk all teams benefit 4rm smething even barca, oblak has also made super saves too not my fault u don't watch all their matches, i ask again if their defence were perfect why didn't he get the zamora last season
You and i know our defence is always our weak spot but our possesion footie against small teams always cover the truth if i can agree with u on oblak i can also agree pique is not that great because he hardly gets exposed by midtable teams thanks to the possesion masters iniesta xavi busi messi.

You obviously didn't get my point.
Oblak is a very good stopper, very intelligent and brave, a worthy candidate for the Zamora trophy.
My point: while Athletico can boast of having a great keeper, they can as well boast of a solid defence, the best in Europe to me. Madrid in the other way cant boast of a solid defence as they have been exposed times and times again this season, only for Navas to come to their rescue.
While Athletico will have their defence to thank on many occasions this season, Madrid can only thank Navas for saving them severally.
Pelvicky never gave a supposed La liga team of the season which of course would have Oblak as the shot stopper, but his personal team of the season. And, I must say I admit with him on his choice of Navas over Oblak.

nonsoroyalty:
oblak has the highest cleansheet followed by bravo oblak for me navas ko cavas ni

I will take Navas over Oblak. I can't count how many times Navas has saved Madrid this season while Oblak has benefited greatly from a solid and compact defence, not taking away anything from him though. Navas is just like David degea of Man U, they have saved their teams more than the teams have saved them.

dmcdad:
Mehn... Atletico no know home or away ooooo. If you like carry them go inside your pot, them go defend with their life. I see them going through though.

I dey tell you.

sweet7oyin:
cause parking the bus does not stop a barca team...ts physicality dat does

Yet, guys still cry foul when their physicality works against them. And besides, the likes of Celta and Sevilla were able to stop Barca without parking the bus nor being physical.

Chelseafan1:
Azzzin!!! dem be confirm weyrey
You can say that again.

Weyrey na understatement bro, dem be confirm amugbo.
I am sure Pep is used to it, and will find a way of breaking them down in the return fixture. But, the weyreys must not score 1st.

Chelseafan1:
Well, I was talking about yesterday's match.

Yea, we are also on same issue.
They played yesterday's match the same way they have been playing Barca only that they did not add their animal nature to the game. And nobody ever condemned them but rather castigate us when they get penalised.
The truth is that they tend to play the 'park the bus style' against any superior opposition. They have their defence well organised with the full support of their forwards. They can be so annoying and frustrating to play against once they have the score line in their favour.

Chelseafan1:
I have never heard anybody criticise Simeon for parking the bus, if it were to be Mou and Chelsea, ds thread, cfc thread for don full with criticism of that style of play, but una still dey hail Simeone,dts what I'm saying.

I beg to disagree sir!
Simeone and his team do not only park the bus against Barca, but also turn animals and kick the he'll out of our players. Something we have lamented over times without number only for your guys to still call us names whenever they are penalised for their negative way.
I saw Athletico play last night parking the bus without playing dirty, and I wondered why they always behave like animals against Barca.

bigkesh:
The most annoying part of this season isn't our performances but the form of the players we sold!!

See me See Torres oooo......Fernando Torres ooo,hahahah I repeat,Torres...
Luiz that every winger destroyed on the wings suddenly becomes Wall of China
Cuadrado? Salah? Lukaku? KDB?



We are suffering in all directions.....

BTW,can someone please provide Statistics of Guardiola UCL knockout away games with Bayern........ That tactically clueless bald fraud must have a poor stat

I don't know what Simeone has injected into Tores. He playes for Athletico with passion, commitment, energy and resilience. He scores, runs and defends well. He almost scored a nice goal tonight.

dmcdad:
E sure for am say next season na our turn again.

I dey tell you.