₦airaland Forum

I also hope we win the treble. Why? Just so this great team can go into the history books as not just an entertaining team, but a team that won loads of championships too. I'll also like Barcelona to be the 1st team to win the champions league back to back.

6 Reasons for pep to Use Team B against Madrid on Saturday:

1. It will make Mou look stuupid. He comes with his mega stars only to see Barcelona come with a biunch of kids.

2. Madrid will be so pissed off they may actually lose their heads, especially if the B team starts to boss the midfield.

3. It will give the non-regulars the experience of playing in such a high-stakes match.

4. Mou will not be able to use this match to fine-tune his strategy for the all-important champions league semi finals.

5. Even if Madrid win, they will not be able to celebrate cos they will look stuupid celebrating a win against a B team.

6. Of course, it will give our main team a chance to rest in preparation for the copa final.

But I know it's just a wish. Pep will most likely just rest a couple of stars, as I wrote in my previous post.

AjanleKoko:
Sorry guys.
Just saw the lineup. Pep fielded his strongest side. Obviously he's not ruling out a Shaktar upset, which is smart.
He can always de-emphasize Real Madrid on Saturday by fielding a second string side, and playing Fontas.

I agree with this. I suspect he will field a slightly weakened side, but not exactly Team B. I expect Xavi, Villa, Mach to miss Classico, while Pep plays Valdes, Alves-Pique-Milito-Maxwell, Keita-Busquests-Iniesta, Afellay-Messi-Pedro. I would have loved Messi to sit the classico out too, but the guy never wants to rest & Pep never forces him to.

For the Copa, our best available squad will be used.

I was hoping to see Fontas or Milito start tonight, but pep was conservative once again, going only with the players he is most comfortable with - these are the kind of matches you can take a few risks with. We all know Shaktar wont score 4 unreplied against Barca.

As for today's game, it was impressive. The main positives for me:

We broke our away game winless run in the UCL knock-out stages.

Afellay was very impressive - he is gelling more with the team.

Masch was fantastic once again as the holding midfielder.

Adriano is becoming a big asset - he will bench Maxwell for a long time.

overall, the boys didn't have to stress themselves too much, which is good.

You guys have said it all about Messi - we can only thank God for the opportunity to watch Leo play.

medjai:
Meanwhile, Villa's goal drought continues. The last time he scored was against Arsenal at The Emirates. . .

Reminds me of Ibra last season - he scored 2 against Arsenal & he stopped scoring after that. Let's hope this wont be the case with Villa.

AjanleKoko:
Remember that we were looking for the opener at that stage. We always have the centre backs up for corners these days. Abidal has been in a thousand such situations this year, and was still able to force the player wide, or cut out the cross. Milito was caught completely flat-footed,

Fontas is a right-sided player, isn't he? Good thing we are buying Albert Botia back at the end of the season, or so the gist goes. I sure hope Abidal and Puyi return next season. Even with their ages, they're players I would not want to see leave Barca in a hurry.

Expect a testy tie against Madrid. We can't afford to drop points against them. I even expect Mou to sacrifice the game since he's a sucker for Europe, he needs the CL to negotiate his next club. The CL semis are the games he'll want to win. The Cup game is a wildcard, anyone can take that one. We need that clasico game to shape up anyway. Mou is also experimenting, he tried the flanks the last time, now since we have weaknesses in central defence, he will want to play maybe Oezil and Kaka, Alonso and either Diarra or Khedira, most likely Diarra. I can almost bet Di Maria won't start that game. Ronaldo is certain to start on the right.

I'd play a 4-1-3-2 against Madrid in the first Clasico. Busi and Keita, Iniesta, and Xavi, and leave Messi and either Villa or Pedro up front.
I'd pair Fontas with Pique in CB in that game. Fontas is a cule and should be able to hold the ball up effectively. Busi can play just in front of him.
I see this game looking like the December 2009 clasico, a tight game.

CBs always go up for CKs, but other people (usually Masch & the FBs) will stay back to prevent a break-away. Milito was against 2 men, couldn't do that much.

Fontas is a CB not a RB. Batra sometimes plays RB for the B team & Muniesa LB, but all three can play as CBs.

I agree with you that we still need Puyi & Abidal next season. I also heard the gist about Botia - hope it's true.

We CAN AFFORD TO DROP POINTS against Madrid. That is the beauty of our 8-points lead & Madrid's difficult run-in to end the season. [b]Do you honestly think we can win all 5 games against Madrid in one season? [/b]I dont think so. Better to disrupt Mou's plans by fielding the team he doesn't expect in the league classico and play our best in the Copa & UCL matches.

So long as we dont lose the league classico by 5-0, we'll still have a 5-point lead plus a better head-to-head with just a few matches left to go in the league.

If we play our best team in the league classico, we'll end up with a tired squad for the copa final. Also, this gives Mou the opportunity to fine tune his strategy against us for the UCL semis. There's no point winning the league classico & losing the UCL ones.

I bet pep will do as I've been saying. He's been saying that the league is the most important cup, which should lead Mou to field his best team against us in the league, while pep just kills him off in the copa final.

elowa:
comfortably there but seriously, something needs to be done to this poor performance constantly exhibited at the back

Our defence has been managing without Puyol & with Abidal also missing, it has become a gaping hole for attackers to run into. I dont know which option is the best Pique-Busi, Pique-Milito or Pique-Fontas. I dont like the idea of playing Busi in CB, so for me that's a no-no. Milito has been bad, but can improve (he has always played well for Argentina). I'll like to see Pep try Fontas against Shaktar in midweek, with 2 DMF (Masch & Busi) just to make sure he's not too exposed.

A tough win at the end - the scoreline makes it look like an easy match but we all know it was far from easy. La Liga is more difficult than the league table suggests - both Barca & RM can testify. The easiest teams to face now are mid-table teams which are neither facing relegation nor fighting for Europe.

Also, it looks like the boys coudn't psyche themselves up for a game at home against the bottom team in the league. Sometimes, these things happen. So long as we keep winning (whether 1-0 or 5-0), it's ok.

I liked Thiago's play - surely the board cannot still be considering buying Fabregas.

As soon as Pep pulled out Milito, it was obvious: Milito will not play any important match for us again this season (although Milito wasn't totally at fault for the goal - we had too many people forward for the CK). It's now gonna be either Busi or Fontas as CB. I guess pep will try Fontas soon, maybe in the league classico, which we dont need to win.

I hope Pep uses a semi-weak team against Shaktar, just to complete that tie. I'll like to see our B team against madrid in the league classico. Going by the law of averages, we cannot win all 5 encounters against RM this season. We should not bother trying to beat Madrid in the league classico & focus our energies on the copa & CL classicos.

Nice stuff guys. Sorry I was too busy to post today.

I'm also concerned about the defence - it was dreadful last night & only Shaktar's poor finishing (plus our excellent attack) saved us. I'll like to see either Milito or Fontas play rather than Busi. I guess Pep will use one of them this weekend against Almeria & also in the 2nd leg against Shaktar next week.

We can rest a few players (but not too many) for the 2nd leg in Ukraine. Iniesta has already booked himself a rest.

I'm watching Villareal vs Twente. I'll like Barca to win UCL & Villareal to win the Europa league - they're such a joy to watch. If they were more consistent in the league, they'd be just behind RM.

It's been long since we saw a manita and there's no better time for this to come.

Excellent stuff by the boys. We can have a relaxed 2nd leg now. All this with our injury problems!

Keita should please play like this every match.

Masch has made it very difficult for Pep to bench him (I guess this is why we see Busi in CB so often, to accommodate both of them).

What a goal by Keita! I take back every bad thing I've said about him!

Messi is naasty.

Busi is a mess at the back

The early goal was the perfect start. And the goal by Alves has calmed the game in our favour.

But there have been too many heart stopping moments sha! I still maintain that Busi is no CB: the Shaktar strikers keep out-running him easily.

Messi has been amazing (hope Pep sees what a little rest can do!). Villa is still struggling to impress but I'm sure he'll come good.

Abeg make we score 2 more in the 2nd half & end this tie here.

I cant believe Pep is playing Busi in CB again! Hasn't he seen enough of his disastrous displays in that position? Milito should be starting IMHO, while Busi provides cover for the 2 CBs. I also cant believe Keita is starting. Keita + Masch in MF also doesnt work. I'll like to see Masch play DMF in the away leg, not this one.

AjanleKoko:
Cules,
Apparently Messi is just a yellow short of suspension, likewise Mascherano.
I hope Pep won't succumb to his Pichichi dreams and play him next week against Almeria, a game we can easily win with the guys who played last night. We need him against Madrid.

I dont think Pep will play Messi against Almeria. We play at home against Shaktar midweek, then Almeria, then away to Shaktar, then away RM for El Classico, then Copa final, then home to osasuna, then UCL semis,

We will play midweek matches throughout April. I'm sure Pep has already seen that his decision to use his 1st eleven all through March almost cost the team a place in UCL q-finals and gave RM a glimmer of hope in the league. Messi needs to sit out the Almeria game or come in as a sub.

With Busquests already suspended, I'm sure Masch will play against Almeria & sit out classico. Valdes is also out, so Pinto is in. Pep will definitely field a relatively weak side against Almeria in order to ensure the team gets through to UCL semis. Players like Thiago, Afellay, Keita, Masch, Bojan will definitely get another chance in the Almeria game. However, we need to be cautious and avoid complacency - these guys are fighting for La Liga survival so will not lie low.

We have a fresh Xavi for the Shaktar game, as well as Pedro, hopefully.

I hope Pep stops using Busquests as a CB - Milito & Fontas can do a decent shift there and Busquests has been excellent in his DMF role so he should play where we need him more.

Valdes is definitely our man of the match! Great saves galore in this match.

Pep is a crazy coach o! After not using his fringe players all season, all of a sudden, he uses all of them in a match at Villareal, the no 3 team in the league (before today) and one of the toughest venues in the league. Yes injuries & suspensions forced his hand a bit, but still using a player like JDS was a luxurious move. And not using senior players like Messi, Villa, Keita for 90 mins showed a lot of confidence.

Lol! Busquests & Valdes just picked up deliberate yellow cards! They'll both miss our next match against Levante & most importantly be available for El Classico. We've learnt a few things from Mou Lol - this is what Xavi should have done a few weeks ago!

Bojan for Villa. That's a surprising one so early. Looks like pep wants to go for the kill in UCL (I agree with him). The sub I'm still expecting though is Milito for Masch or Thiago. Busquests is no CB & the dangerous Nilmar is now on.

Lovely goal by Mr. Waka-waka. This is why I prefer direct corner kicks to our usual short corner-kicks: anything can happen, even an own goal.

The game has changed since Messi came in & Iniesta moved to midfield.

Half time at El Madrigal: Villareal 0- 0 Barcelona

We have Valdes to thank for the scoreline above. He has made 2 absolutely crucial saves. He's been our best player so far.

Busquests IS NOT A CB! I don't know how long it will take Pep to realize this. Pique has also not looked very good and conceding a yellow card in the centre circle was a pretty dumb thing to do.

Masch has been impressive so far in breaking up Villareal's play.

Afellay & Villa have been largely isolated. This is because we are not dominating the midfield. Neither Keita nor Masch is a good distributor of the ball. I feel Pep should never use both of them at the same time cos in every match they've played together, we've struggled to create.

Not surprisingly, Thiago has been vey good - the boy is extremely confident for his age.

Here are the subs I feel Pep needs to make in the 2nd half:

Fontas/Milito for Keita: I want this sub immediately. This will allow Busquests to play in a more comfortable position in the midfield - I'll prefer him to play as an attacking MF since he's so good at creating play, while Masch continues to break up Villareal's attack. Also, with a more traditional partner in CB, maybe Pique will be a bit more comfortable.

Messi for Thiago: This can come about 20-25 mins to the end. It will allow Iniesta to play in his more comfortable role of AMF, rather than an attacker. Once this sub is done, I'll expect us to go on to win this match and put one hand on the league title tonight.

Bojan for Afellay: Afellay has looked a bit tired (he played both matches for Holland in the intl break). He can also come off about 10 or 15 mins to the end.

I love our staring line up against Villareal. We're not under pressure to win this match - a draw would still extend our lead in the league. Good to see Thiago and Afellay get a league start. And for once, Pep is resting Messi. We need him fresh for Shaktar mid-week.

I love Gijon! I thought Barca would be the team to destroy Mou's record, but we didn't even have to wait that long! Little Gijon did it for us. I'll like to see all those prem-faces now. Mou's first season in la Liga is turning out to be a disaster for him. I don't think RM can win in Bilbao next week, so we have a good chance to seal up the league before the next classico. In fact, if I'm Pep, I'll use a weakened side in the league classico and rest key players for the Copa classico.

AjanleKoko:
^^
He's always said that.
I think it's just the usual sensationalist journalism. He said he can't consider speaking to other clubs until his contract ends in 2012. That's all he said.
I think it should just be ignored.

I agree. Pep always says stuff like this. I think he says these things to motivate himself and his team. I dont see him just walking away anytime soon. Of course, like he said, he has to go one day and whenever he does, I think we'll all owe him a very big thanks.

Happy election day! Hopefully no violence as we try to change our country,

We face Villareal later today. It's one of the matches that I've been scared of this season, especially since we're just coming from an international break. The only matches that I've been apprehensive in the last year about were the CL 2nd leg against Inter & 2nd leg against Arsenal cos we went into both in a disadvantageous position.

Anyway, it is looking likely that Messi will start so I'll change my starting line-up to:

Valdes

Alves-Pique-Fontas-Adriano

Keita-Busquests-Iniesta

Afellay-Messi-Villa

Furtunately, Villareal also had a no of players on international duty so they should just be as affected.

If we win this match, then the league is as good as ours - we will be able to go into the Classico with a healthy lead and Madrid will have to attack.

But Mou will try to protect his unbeaten home record (in league play) more than he will try to win (he is that selfish) so Madrid will be quite confused on that day. The coach will be trying to "not lose" while the players will be trying to win. We should just take advantage and destroy Mou's home league record & RM's title hopes in one fell swoop,

medjai:
Jonathan Soriano is the highest goal scorer in the segunda division. 20 goals in 25 games. I hope he gets a look in from Pep now that we have a depleted side.

I agree. both he and Nolito should be getting chances for the 1st team, rather than Bojan & Jeffren who should have spent a little more time playing for the team B. Soriano & Nolito are relatively old for the B team and these experienced guys add a lot to the B-team. I feel Pep should reward them by giving them opportunities to break into the 1st team. They're both not La Masia products & unfortunately, this will work against them as we all know Pep heavily favours La Masia boys.

eyoniggar:
I am almost in a hibernating mode ever since the international friendlies and qualifiers commenced.
A numb state of mind is what I can classify my other feeling to be as regards this our lovely
football club called FC APANIYAN, FCB toh Badt, aka "Més Que Un Club"

Cules I cant yarn much, amidst all our predicaments and accrued disadvantages that could faulter
us in winning important trophies this season such as the LALIGA, Copa and CL,I believe we'll overcome. Ooops!! Those are the 3
available trophies this season huh? Oh well na so the thing go. God will see us through.

Thumbs up to all the cules keeping it real, Ogazi, Johnpaul, Holydante, dippset,Khayne,scantee,Honeric, Stealthy,Kokonets,
Ajanle, Krayola, Medjai , and myself eyonigger omo oro. It aint easy to support this wonderful club, its a cocaine feeling, always high off
FCB.

Thanks man. one love.

Johnpaul88:
It has been confirmed from the club's official website that Leo Messi has suffered no muscle injury, though his availability for the Villareal clash will depend on a physiotherapy that will be carried out on him until saturday. By and large, he will be fit to play. It is such a good news.

Information available from totalbarca.com claims that Puyol will be fit to play in 9 days time. How i wish this is true.

I expect Pep to use Messi as an impact sub against villareal. I'm not sure it's wise to play him 90 mins with the jet lag, travel distance & this slight injury.

It looks like Bojan has also recovered, earlier than expected.

As for Puyol, there's still no definite news. Looks like the medical team doesn't want to rush him back, since he suffered a relapse after being rushed back to training earlier in the year. We'll all have to be patient this time. Hopefully, Milito and Fontas will not be too over-awed by the responsibility they have for now.

Reading thro the comments, I'm amazed by the way some NLers think! Aggression without comprehension or investigation.

Of cos, it's not likely to be a scam - what would be the purpose of that?

Why didn't she change on her wy to the venue? because she knew she was already late! She probably reasoned that the only way the examiners would believe her (that she was coming from HER OWN WEDDING) was if she went in the wedding dress - this is a simple psychological strategy: appeal to their emotions or even their sense of humour. Either way, it worked, she was allowed to do the test.

Why did she even get married on that day? because the wedding date was very likely fixed far ahead with the church & families. She prob got the test invitation much later (and prob shouted "Yepa! Why must this test be on my wedding day?!". Of course, with the wedding activities, it's not surprising that she got to the test venue later than the cut-off time.

Was it worth it? That's for her (and her husband) to judge.

scantee:
The following are the games to be played this summer (Pre-Season)

► 21 and 22 July: Audi Cup matches (Munich)
► 25 July: Friendly (Split)
► 30 July: Manchester United v FC Barcelona (Washington)
► 3 August: AC Milan v FC Barcelona (Miami)
► 6 August: America of Mexico v FC Barcelona (Dallas)

Man Vs Fcb game to watch

Hmmm, so no Asian tour? I would have liked for an Asian tour to boost the club's popularity in that part of the world (EPL already has such a strong footing there). The matches against ManU & Milan will be must-watch matches.

I see Messi coming in as a sub against Villareal. Even if he has recovered from his slight injury, he'll still be recovering from jet lag by then and surely Pep won't expect him to play 90mins - same applies for Milito & Masch.

I expect us to line up like this:

Valdes

Alves-Pique-Fontas-Adriano

Keita-Busquests-Iniesta

Afellay-Villa-Jeffren/Nolito

Or pep may wish to play both Busquests & Masch together in MF and push Iniesta forward, instead of Jeffren/Nolito.

Like everyone else, I'll take a 1-0 with both hands. The boys can do it.

I'm watching Afellay play for Holland right now and I still find it hard to believe that Pep only uses him for 5 mins at the end of matches. This guy is very good & confident. I hope Pep watched both Holland vs Hungary matches.

Guys, good analyses from you all so far.

I agree 100% with JP88 & medjai: I don't know why the silly Argentine coach wants to use Messi for 90mins in all their useless friendlies. Isn't this the time for him to try out other players/formations (risk-free)? That way, he can even have a Plan B to use in case Messi is injured, suspended or otherwise unavailable for a Copa match.

Also, I think Pep and the Barca board need to cultivate a good relationship with the national FAs of the team's players. You see players opting out of friendlies, players left out of friendlies (like the England team has done) etc. If Barca makes a case to Argentina, I'm sure Argentina could let Messi off a few of these friendlies, especially this one against Costa Rica.

Bojan's injury is an opportunity for Afellay and/or Nolito to get minutes, so I'm not very worried about that.

Neymar and Ganso are both geniuses. but at this age, it's hard to predict how they'll turn out (remember the hype about Robinho & Diego a few years ago). Neymar especially is such a showboat! I've seen him do the paneka penalty a no of times - for a 19yo, that's some crazy nerve. He'll definitely be an interesting buy for Barcelona, since whoever buys him now (before Copa) will pay a relatively low price and can sell him in a few years for a profit. The problem with Brazilians is always the indiscipline.

I like the Brazilian left back - he looked quite good.

Like I've said several times though, we don't need any expensive buys this summer, just minor reinforcements which can be achieved by promoting some players, recalling some from loans and buying 1 or 2.

aribisala0:
there is a book called :the singapore story from third world to first world by their former leader,LEE. in it he tells the story of a conference , i think the commonwealth, an african leader came with a jet which was parked visibly outside the venue for several days. at this conference ,he made impassioned pleas for financial assistance. lee had gone by commercial flights and could not help reflecting how much the aircraft would have earned for the duratiion of the conference. it is noteworthy that at independence we were ahead of singapore economically.
i guess just as it is with pigs who must wallow in the mud so it is with black men and our values; someone here said do you want him to travel by ARIK? the simple answer is
a .he should not travel at all if we can't afford it
b. if he must travel abroad charter an aircraft. carlos slim the richest man in the world does not have a plane and no one has jailed him for this
c. repair the roads in nigeria and travel by road
d. with my income i could afford to travel first class if i don't pay my children's school fees etc. but this is common among many black people- marry several wives have many children and leave the rest to THE LORD. the family analogy is no different from the national analogy another example is this practice of nigeria having embassies all over the place even richer countries don't do this. underlying all of this is a misguided and delusional idea about our status and how this should manifest. we really need to learn what most nations think of us. few respect nigeria or nigerians. our display of ostentation only makes us look absurd.
if nigeria has more aircrafts in its presidential fleet than britain,india and south africa combined something is wrong

GBAM!

So many posters on NL are either ignorant or prejudiced. People don't bother to do a little research to gain better insight into issues.

The link you posted earlier (while not 100% updated) shows that even far richer countries do not necessarily maintain a presidential fleet, much less one as large as ours.

If things were working better, I'm sure people wont object as much to having presidential jets (in our usual largesse culture). However, with the country in the situation it is right now, it is only sensible for our leaders to be more prudent.

Amazingly, the led, whose taxes are being siphoned off by these thieves, actually come here to post that as president, GEJ should be allowed to spend our money as he wishes on luxuries. Maybe some of you guys are students or something. If you had a job, pay the correct tax & have to run your own utilities, you'll probably understand more.

medjai:
Thiago will be promoted to the first team next season and there's still Afellay. Good player nonetheless but we won't be needing him. Besides, the tomfoolery called 'Operation Fabregas must return to the Nou Camp' has been rested. I'm pretty sure we won't be signing him, at least, not this summer.

I hope it really has. While most fans obviously don't support the move, I have a nasty feeling that the decision makers may still try to go for him, especially if he comes out and publicly states his intention to join Barca next season. Also, I still see players saying something or the other about Fab in the press. I think when asked by journalists, they should just refuse to comment on Fab, simple.

holydante:
Hi Guys,

Good observations by all.

Stealthy, if you have time on your hands, you may take up a blogging position with Total Barca, Am aware they advertised sometime ago for guys who can do online analysis etc, you never can tell, you may catch the eye of the board and join the likes of Jesús Carrillo, Edgar Fornós and Roger Bogunyà et al on the reverred Barca site after all we are Nija men and impossible is nuthing

AjanleKoko:
^^
Seconded.
I was considering it myself, will see how it goes. But go for it, I think it will be great to see Naija men out there talking sports.

Thanks guys. I'll look that one up and when I get rich, I won't forget you guys

medjai:
It would be great if we could sign Guiza. He ticks all the boxes. He's not so high profile at the moment and with Pep ever reluctant to rotate the squad, he won't complain when he isn't get alot of minutes. Also, he's a big man and would bring the much needed physical presence to our attack. He has La Liga experience; was pichichi winner when he was at Mallorca and he's also a La Masia product. I think he's just the kind of person we need up front. He's the kind of player we can bring in from the bench and can change the course of a match. I hope Pep is thinking in this line.
With Caceres and Botia likely to return, I don't think we need any defensive reinforcements.

Thanks for your analysis man.

AjanleKoko:
^^
I like your squad proposal, and I agree that Fabregas shouldn't be bought on a whim. But I know Catalans to some extent. I am a socio, registered club member, and have participated in the voting for some years now. Unless Rosell specifically says no, or Arsenal insists on the GBP50m, it's likely that the senior players will pressurize the club to buy him out of sentiment, which effectively means Thiago might still be sold or sent out on loan.

As per defenders, I would even prefer we splash a little cash to bring a quality defender to the Camp Nou. I'd prefer a young defender rather than an old one, just someone that has played at the highest stages. Boateng is not bad, but the array of defensive talent at City has sort of confined him to the bench. I think the club should look at him, even if under a loan arrangement.

I heard a while ago that Gregory Van Der Wiel is being tracked by Barca scouts. I'm always disposed favourably towards Dutch talent, and he is seasoned, so he might be able to adapt. I pray they have the good sense to recall Caceres and buy Botia back; sometimes Pep cuts a Svengali figure with the way he approaches these things. He's not been pragmatic at all in the transfer market, let's hope he's learnt his lessons.

I agree with you on Van Der Wiel, though he was being tracked in case Alves didn't sign - I don't know if they'll still try to sign him.

You're a socio? Wow! That's impressive! Unfortunately, with Rossell's new rules, people like me can't join the club anymore.