₦airaland Forum

Since we've been talking about transfers today, here are my thoughts on what we should do in the summer:

No big signings. our squad is quite good as it is, with minimal additions. I'll like us to promote a few youth team players, but also sign 1 or 2 experienced squad players for depth  (same way we signed Albertini, Davids & Henrik Larsson in the past). We don't want to depend on too many youth players (like Arsenal, lol!).

Players Out:
Milito
Hleb
Ibra
Bojan (loan within Spain)
Jeffren (loan within Spain)
Victor Sanchez (renew loan)
Henrique (renew loan??)

Players In:
Caceres (from loan)
Botia (buy-back)
Fontas (promoted)
Thiago (promoted)
Nolito (promoted)
Soriano (promoted)
Keirrison (from loan)
Dani Guiza (purchase)
A 31yrs+ old defender (I don't know who yet)

So our squad will look something like this (in pecking order for each position):

Goalkeepers:
Valdes, Pinto

RB:
Alves, Adriano.

CB:
Puyol, Pique, Caceres, Botia, Fontas, 31yrs defender. (Of course, Abidal can also cover)

LB:
Abidal, Maxwell. (Adriano also)

DMF:
Busquests, Mascherano.

AMF:
Xavi, Iniesta, Afellay, Keita, Thiago.

Attackers:
Messi, Villa, Pedro, Nolito, Guiza, Keirrison, Soriano

This gives a squad of 26 players, which is 7 more than we have this season. We also have at least 2 players for each position, with a mix of youth and experience.

With Puyol & Abidal not likely to play so many matches, the old defender will provide a calm head to guide our other defenders who are all young (including Pique). He will also be someone who won't mind being on the bench & will retire in a couple of years (with Puyol, Abidal), so will not take the place of our young defenders for long.

The logic is similar for having Guiza in attack. Keirrison is young, but someone like Guiza (who has won pichichi in la Liga) can come in if Villa is injured or we need to change strategy in difficult matches.

Summer 2012:
Abidal will most likely retire & Muniesa can take his place in the 1st team.

JDS, Batra, Vazquez, Romeu, Montoya should also be ready to make the step up by then, as players like Puyol, Xavi, Villa, Keita start to play fewer matches.

Players like Jeffren, Sanchez & Bojan should have learnt on loan and also ready to stake their place in the 1st team.

All in all, I don't expect this team to make any big money moves in the next couple of years (unless we sell key 1st team players). Our B team is bursting with talent and even the Jevenil A has a number of interesting players.

NO TO FABREGAS!!!

If he really wants to come, he should force his way & either buy out his contract or beg Mr Whinger to sell him for a price Barcelona considers reasonable. Xavi will still play at the top level for a couple of years and Thiago is waiting in the wings with JDS. Yes, Fab is better than these 2, but $65 is ridiculous for a team that is already so good to spend on a player who will do little to improve this team.

Yes!!! Good news about Alves. I knew he was just stalling and using ManCity to get a better deal with us.

This is our first "summer transfer" this year.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada10-11/03/22/n110322116459.html

Good points by Ajanlekoko & medjai

I expect Milito will be sold in the summer so we need at least 1 experienced defender to come in. I'll like to see Caceres recalled (right now if possible!). We have a buy-back on Botia as medjai noted. We also have Henrique & Victor Sanchez on loan. If we'll buy any other defender, I guess it will be Van der Wiel, if Alves leaves. Hopefully Alves doesn't leave.

In attack, while I admire the Villareal duo of Rossi & Nilmar, I'm not sure we'll buy either (Rossi is the better of the two). We have Keirrison on loan. He's just the kinda player we need: he's quite tall and good in the air for Option B. He also won't expect to start ahead of MVP, so should be happy being a squad player. He's in Santos now, but I know we bought him for his exploits in Palmeiras. I don't like the idea of so many of our players on loan anyway (Victor Sanchez, Henrique, Hleb, Ibra, Keirrison). We should either sell or keep them. Moreso, most of these guys were bought for huge amounts - Pep is really, really terrible at transfers (Afellay was a very smart buy though).

medjai:
Finally, spambot let go. . .

Xavi will miss the game against Villareal. He has collected 5 Yellow cards. It is well sha.

I was wondering where you were hiding!

Yeah, I'm surprised Xavi has this interesting record. If it was Madrid, he would have got a deliberate yellow against Sevilla to avoid Getafe and be available for Villareal.

I hope we can do the business against Villareal. Villareal is in some good form now and we're notoriously poor after international breaks. Add to this our injury spell and things don't look very good. To be honest, I'll be happy to take a draw in that match.

Messi is confirmed to play against USA & Costa Rica in friendlies this weekend and next week. I can imagine the jet lag alone. I think the Argentine coach is not being fair to Messi. If Messi plays poorly at Copa America, the coach had better remember all these times that he keeps calling him up for useless friendlies when he could allow him rest and also try out other team members like Aguero, Pastore, Tevez, etc.

Johnpaul88:
My take on this issue of rotation is that Pep is somewhat, helpless on that. The idea of winning almost all matches , sadly leaves him with little options of rotating players. If u take a look at what Mourihno does at RM, u will find out that the situation is the same. The pressure to win all matches, burns the coaches out. Like yesterday, Christiano Ronaldo entered the derby match,a little unfit. He came out worse and has now been ruled out for up to 3 weeks. He is a doubt for CL first leg. Mou thought he could not win the match without him. The same happens to us as well. I guess Pep is not to blame. He simply can't help it.

Get well Abidal and Puyol.

AjanleKoko:
Fair assessment of the situation. I don't even know of any top European side where players are rotated regularly. One rotation might cost you precious points.
I hear Abidal won't play this season again, as he has been advised to take time and recuperate. Wish him all the best.

Yes. Mou doesn't rest Ronaldo much, but that doesn't mean we should copy his bad habit. Imagine if Messi is out for 3 weeks - we'll really suffer! Ronaldo got his previous injury scoring the 6th or 7th goal in a 7-0 victory. I'm sure Mou now regrets not taking him off after 4-0. Mou has been overly dependent on Ronaldo this season, but he can afford to cos he has a better bench than we do & can also change his tactics to a 4-4-2 with Benz/Ade when Ronaldo isn;t playing. We surely cannot afford a long term injury, especially to Messi cos our 4-3-3 won't work as well without him & Pep knows no other tactics.

Many big teams rotate cos they tend to have experienced squad members unlike we do this season - last season, we had players like Henry/Marquez, Yaya who were being rotated with the 1st 11. Rotation doesn't necessarily mean the whole 1st eleven resting for a game. It's as simple as Afellay starting the odd game ahead of Pedro. Or Thiago starting instead of Xavi or Masch starting instead of Busquests. Or taking Messi off for Jeffren when we're leading 4-0.

Most big teams do this and that's why you can't always get their team sheet right 100%. With Pep, you can almost predict our team sheet correctly every match.

Funny enough, Pep did a lot of rotations earlier this season. I don't know why he's suddenly gone back to his conservative shell. I know there's pressure to win, but surely 1 non-regular in the team will not lose us matches, especially in matches at home away to some of the worst teams in the league and especially before crucial champions league matches.

Recall the match away to Mallorca, when we had several absentees due to injuries. The subs came good and we won 3-0 away. But if not for injuries, you think Pep would have tried out any of those non-regulars?

As for Abidal, it was clear he wont play again tis season. You can play after a knee injury, but with an invasive procedure, there's no doctor that will allow you to even exercise for the 1st 6 weeks after the procedure, not to talk of playing competitive football. I'm not even sure he can still play at the top level for long after this.

AjanleKoko:
It only looks that way. Same reason why Barcelona always has a great run against Deportivo, but Real Madrid is never able to win, at the Riazor.
Madrid and Barcelona play two very different styles. Madrid runs a lot at defenders, while Barcelona attempt to pass through them right from the middle.

The matches against Depor are not derbies. You would expect the Madrid teams to play well in their llocal derby but they never do (and in fact play better against Barca than they do against Real). Look at Espanyol. It doesn't matter what position they are in the league, they always play well against us. The Barcelona derby is the biggest match of their season. I'll like to see A-Madrid (heard they played well last night) and Getafe take their local derby with RM more seriously.

AjanleKoko:
Any comments re the Getafe game? We played well, but were over-elaborate as we have been of recent, and went to sleep at the end.

Finally, we agree on this! I already posted my post-match comments. All Cules should note this statistic: Since the last international break, we have won only one of our seven league matches by a margin of more than 1 goal. Compare this to the period before the international break when we won 14 our of 15 matches by a margin of more than 1 goal.

Why is this?

1. Our guys are tired. Pep rarely rotates except forced by injury/suspensions. Messi continues to play 90 mins in every match. Villa has no sub, so must play. Of course, the schedule is hectic with so many mid-week matches, but every big club goes through this and should have a big enough squad, with rotations.

2. Teams have found the formula to play against Barca. They defend deep when we're in their half, press us when we're passing out from the back and foul persistently to break up our rhythm. They try to take advantage of set plays and also aim to hit us on the counter. They may not win, but at least they won't ship 5 goals.

What can we do?
1. We need to take advantage of the chances we get. The good news is that we still create multiple chances in every match (though not all clear cut due to reasons above). We have to take what we get (imagine if Alves didn't take that shot & opted to pass).

2. We need to be focused at the back. Even if we don't score many, so long as we don't concede many, it's ok.

3. PEP NEEDS TO ROTATE!!!

I can't believe we were hanging on at the end. This is the Arsenal/Sevilla issue all over again: WE MUST KILL OFF OUR OPPONENTS WHEN WE HAVE THE CHANCE!!!
Imagine if Getafe equalized. That would have changed the entire dynamics of this season significantly. Pep really needs to tell the guys to kill of these matches - there's no point in 70% possession if we can't make it count.

Good goal by Bojan - he needed that for his confidence. I winder why Pep took of Bojan, rather than the ineffectual Villa. Still on Villa, I've been saying he needs to rest at least one match. I hope Pep can see it now. He's so fatigued it's affecting his decision making. I can't believe an out-and-out striker has a one-on-one with the keeper & still tried to pass. I'm tired of players always trying to pass to Messi when they can pull the trigger themselves.

In 2008-09, Messi, Etoo, Henry had a combined total of 100 goals (Messi 38, Etoo 36, Henry 26). This season, Messi has more goals than Villa & pedro combined. Is he that good or is our team play skewed? That says a lot and I hope Pep sees the issue.

I hope the mattress makers can hold RM to a draw. Unfortunately I'm very sleepy & wont be able to stay up for that match. Anyone who watches should please analyze for us.

medjai:
Getafe have of ours in their ranks - Victor Sanchez. I think he's out on loan. I wonder why and how they are allowed to feature against their parent club.

Yes, Sanchez is on loan at Getafe. I don't know why Barca allows it's loanees to play against it (same thing Caceres for Sevilla last week - he was the best defender for them sef!). I think it's pretty dumb. I don't know any other major team that allows this.

Another point to note: why do Madrid-based teams always play their best against Barca, but always lie down to be whipped by Madrid? A-Madrid was our bogey club till this season, but they hardly ruffle RM in their "Madrid derby". Let's see if they can prove me wrong later tonight.

Half  time at Nou Camp. Barca 1-0 Getafe

1st, I was impressed by the Nou Camp fans who clapped for 1 minute at 22 mins in solidarity for Abidal (our no 22, for those who don't know). It was also good to see both the Barca & Getafe players with shirts wishing Abidal good recovery.

I was surprised (but not disappointed) that Pep started with Masch. Finally, Pep has read a book on rotation, lol! The non-regulars (Milito, Masch, Adriano & Bojan) have looked good so far. However, Adriano has been more quiet than I expected, while Milito (along with Pique) was poorly positioned when Getafe had that golden chance (on 30 mins or so) to equalize.

Messi has been impressive as usual and it's good to see he has overcome his injury. He has had a few good chances though, but I'm sure he'll still score in this match.

Getafe have obviously watched many Barca videos. They're pressing very well and defending deep once we approach their box. They've also forced us to take long corner kicks, rather than the short ones our guys prefer (I prefer long ones. You never know Pique or Milito can get the header). Anyway, one of those long corners led to our goal.

What a wonder strike that was from Alves. It was a truly sensational goal. This is why I've always complained that our guys don't shoot enough. We have players like Keita, Alves, Iniesta, Xavi, pedro & Villa who can shoot, but we always try to walk the ball in.

The only player I'm worried about is Villa. He has missed opportunities to shoot at goal. His gmae play is still not as sharp as can be. I feel he needs to be rested in 1 match to just freshen up. Still on Villa, I dont support the yellow card he was given. The fact that the referee din't think the touch was strong enough to be a penalty doesn't automatically make it a yellow card for diving ( I don't know why referees always give either the penalty or a dive - there are many instance where the defender hits the attacker but still would be too harsh to give a penalty).

Not a vintage Barca performance so far, but I expect 2 more goals from us in the 2nd half (as Getafe tire from their constant pressing).

We face Getafe at 8PM naija time tonight.

Pedro & Maxwell are not in the squad.

I'm pretty sure Pep's starting line-up will be:

Valdes

Alves-Pique-Milito-Adriano

Xavi-Busquests-Iniesta

Bojan-Messi-Villa

Personally, I'd rather have Afellay over Bojan and hopefully Thiago can come in for Xavi/Iniesta. I'd rather not even start with Messi and bring him in if the need arises.

Anyhow, I expect us to win comfortably (no disrespect to Getafe though)

Guys

Instead of signing an emergency defender, Barca has decided to promote Fontas for the remainder of this season to cover for Abidal. That's good. I've been asking to see Fontas (or Batra/Muniesa) in our 1st team since Puyol got injured & Pique got suspended for UCL.

I hope Fontas steps up to make the cut. He has looked good in the few matches I've seen him play. I would have liked Batra to come in as well so they can both fight each other for a shirt.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada10-11/03/17/n110317116346.html

So we can expect to see Pique-Milito with Fontas as the sub. I heard Puyol may be back in time for Villareal (in 2 weeks). I hope it's true cos that will be a big boost to the squad. All other injuries are short term.

Abidal's operation went well yesterday. We wish him a quick & full recovery.

AjanleKoko:
Abidal's operation was successful, and there seem to be no post-op issues. Check Totalbarca.

As per the draw . . . well, we face Shakhtar in the last eight. Madrid in the semis. So we get our wish for 5 Classicos this year but we have to get past Eduardo's team first. They have improved greatly since Arsenal thumped them at the Emirates.
It will be great. I can't wait to see Mou's face.

True that. Remember they beat Arsenal in the return leg and eventually won that group.

AjanleKoko:
I don't like that o.
Would have preferred to do the away business first. Generally, that's how our ties go. If we get a result away (draw), our opponents will have to come and try to play us at the Camp Nou. We all know how that usually ends.
If we start at home, the blighters will come here and park the bus, hoping to escape and do the business later. Anyways, whichever. We are Barca.

I agree! It's always better to play away first (except you're Inter Milan). That way, you can make mistakes in the 1st leg and still qualify. It's more difficult if you make a mistake in the 1st leg at home (eg AC Milan) and you need a result in the away leg.

AjanleKoko:
Cool then.
We have to do the job. One thing that I've not enjoyed this season is us being referred to as a brilliant team with a weak underbelly. They see us as a brilliant team, but not physical enough. Even Barca must learn to win ugly, or we won't be relevant in the new era of footie.

I feel even when we're not scoring as much as we could, we really need to keep a tight ship at the back. If we conceded no goals against Arsenal, we would have gone into the 2nd leg 1-0 up and 1-0 at Nou Camp would have been good enough. We haven't kept enough clean sheets lately (sure, we're missing Puyi)

medjai:
^^I would have preferred it that way too but It depends on how you qualify. Shaktar defeated Roma home and away while we lost to Arsenal away and so they're given the advantage.

No medjai. The home or away at this stage is simply the luck of the draw. If Shaktar was drawn first, they would have played the 1st leg at home. The teams that are playing at home 1st were just the teams that happened to be pulled out of the collection first.

In any case, while I would have preferred Schalke (who wouldn't after they sacked their coach!), I'm happy with the draw. We can beat Shaktar in Nou Camp and end it there. Hopefully we would have ridden our injury crisis by then.

It's interesting that there'll be a classico in the UCL if both Barca & RM beat Shaktar & Spurs respectively. That will be a tough one.

Very nice gesture from Real madrid & Lyon. I was very impressed.

medjai:
I think Milan vs Deportivo in 2004 would also go down as one of the greatest CL comebacks. Milan had won the 1st leg at the San Siro 4-1. Depor stunned the defending champions 4-0 at the Riazor to qualify for the S/finals where they lost to eventual champions, Porto 1-0 on aggregate. That was a great Depor side with Juan Carlos Valeron at his prime(still plays for Depor), Diego Tristan, Walter Pandiani, Albert Luque et al. Depor were great in the CL back then, whatever happened to them now

I remember that one! Crazy Milan! Was it 2004? Thought it was earlier! Anyhow, I wanted Milan to win & well after 4-1, I was cocksure of a Milan victory. But Super Depor stunned Milan big time. It's a shame how some of the former greats in La Liga have sunk: Depor, Ath Madrid (remember them winning a double in the 90s), Valencia (twice UCl finalists!), Villareal, even Sociedad who were 1 match away from winning the title.

Like everyone else, I wish Abidal a safe operation and a quick recovery. God be with him & his family at this time.

I guess it's safe to say his season is over. He has been our best defender this season and I appreciate his contribution to the team.

Now we have a real problem at the back. Pique & Milito are the only fit senior team CBs (and Milito isn't exactly rock-solid right now). I guess Pep will now have to play Fontas?muniesa/Batra once in a while. I've said it several times - letting go of BOTH Marquez & Chyg was a dumb idea. Is it possible to recall Caceres from his loan deal mid-season?

AjanleKoko:
Congrats to Inter. I have not seen a European night, such as the one we saw yesterday, in years!

It was a splendid performance. It was reminiscent of two such games in my memory, Athletico Madrid against Ajax at the Vicente Calderon, where our own Tijani Babangida won the night for Ajax with his very late extra time strike, finishing the game at 3-2. Also the Juventus-United semi final at Turin in 1999, where Juve went 2-0 up before the break, after coming into the match with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford. Scholesy and Giggs turned the game around in the second half, and United finished the night 3-2 up, eliminating Juve on away goals.

The 1st leg ended 1-1 and most people expected Juve to qualify. Also, the goals were from Yorke & Cole, not scholes & Giggs.

Van Gaal has the honour of being the 1st coach to lose at home & still qualify in a UCL knock-out tie. I remember the goals scored against Pana by one of my all time favourites: Jari Litmanen.

Van Gaal now has the honour of also being the 2nd coach to lose the tie after winning the 1st leg away.

Bayern were wasteful last night & should have wrapped up the match by half time. I guess they were a bit complacent in the knowledge that a draw would still take them thro. it aint over till it's over baby! Also, they lost steam after Robben went off. Inter mwhile were their usual selves: tenacious & gritty. Etoo was my man of the match (don't we all wish the idiotic transfer of the century never took place?!) - he carried the team and never kept running.

I'm sure all teams will be praying to draw Schalke after they sacked magath. What a dumb decision! It's not like any new coach can rescue them from their poor legue position. They should have kept Magath, hoped to make UCL semis (depending on the draw) and try to win the German cup to ensure a Europa League slot next season.

Good stuff guys, good stuff.

We may not always agree but we're all passionate Cules.

Nice analysis holydante.

Juan Antonio Alcala, the columnist who made the allegations, said on Monday: "Maybe I have been naive about this. I was given to believe that this information came from Real Madrid. If I have to apologise and go down on my knees then I will do so

The mumu should be sued. We all know this came from Real Madrid, with their dirty antics. Nonsense!

Two interesting articles I found about our game against Sevilla:

http://www.totalbarca.com/2011/opinion-pieces/small-cautious-and-wasteful/#more-70944

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/03/14/sevilla-1-1-barcelona-tactics/

medjai:
As per tactics, Manzano hit a birdie with his last night. He started with a 4-2-3-1 formation. He played 2 DM's - Medel and Zokora. The gameplan was to contain and stifle our fluidity but it didn't work as we had Sevilla on the backfoot for major parts of the 1st half and had gone a goal up. In the 2nd half, he brought on Kanoute for Zokora and played a 4-4-2. This allowed Negredo to be able to drift and link up well with Navas. At this point, they took the game to us and they got a goal. Then we came back pressing and pressing and he took off Negredo and brought on Romaric to once again shore up the midfield and make things tight.
Despite all these, we still created chances and could have won.

Agree. His subs were really smart. I still wonder how this team managed to lose home & away to Braga. I actually watched both matches & Sevilla were really disappointing. They're now out of Europa League (once again losing at home, this time to porto). Very disappointing for a team of this stature.

medjai:
This was my comment before the game.

I think Adriano was just there, he wasn't so great. He lost the ball a couple of times and at times found it hard containing Negredo and Navas linking up. Again, Negredo's cross from which Navas scored came from his wing.

I like Adriano's energy, but his decision-making is very suspect. he passes when he should shoot & shoots when he should pass. He's also not as good as Maxwell & Abidal at defending. He's very useful against unintelligent but pacey players like Walcott, but against people like Navas & Capel, he'll always be exposed.

AjanleKoko:
hey cules,
I was in transit yesterday so i could not really post. But I managed to see the game. All in a good game, Sevilla made a go at it, and could have snatched a victory. Barcelona were a bit unlucky, as they had a goal denied for no reason, and two attempts hitting the crossbar. Still, a draw is better than a loss, I think.

We might want to consider keeping Martin Cacares as a spare defender next season. He seems to have improved, and was quite solid for Sevilla. Kanoute, as I have always said, is a key player for Sevilla. He really takes the ball brilliantly in the middle, uses his height and build very well, and holds up the play long enough to see Negredo and Navas get into position. I guess his age is what's keeping him on the bench, but he always comes on to good impact.

I[b] think we're being unfair to these boys. [/b]Firstly, the boys are human, and can have an off day. Second, we seem to think we're going to win every game, home and away. That's not possible, and not complimentary to the opponent. I think we played well, got tired after a while, and had to chase the game. We were a bit unlucky to not see Sevilla off, and were denied in the closing minutes. We had a must-win, psychologically-draining CL qualifier during the week, and I think it played some part in the proceedings. As per the overplaying, I think the boys only know how to play in a certain way, and it has worked for them thus far. Is that not why we support them?

Though I agree that Afellay should have gotten some game time. Though I think the Keita substitution was to strengthen the middle, as Kanoute was winning balls off Xavi easily. Villa wasn't really in the game so he had to go off. Bojan . . . well, he played with heart, but he seems a little match-rusty these days. Still I think he filled in all right for Pedro.

All in, I think it was a good game. 5 points, 7 points, makes not much difference to me. We need games like this so we can improve as we prepare for the reverse clasico. I think that's where the season will be won or lost, most likely. Remember we went into the the first clasico as underdogs. I would rather we go in needing to get a result, rather than feeling comfortable. In any case, I'm sure the guys know what the task ahead is.

I agree 100% with keeping Caceres. He has really improved since leaving us. His games at the world cup were superb and I thought he'd come back when we let go of Chyg & Marquez. I wonder though why the Barca board allows loaned players to play against Barca. RM's loaned players NEVER play against RM.

My issue isn't with the boys - it's with the manager who knows the resources at his disposal and should make optimum use of those resources. Playing Messi 90 mins the whole season isn't a smart use of resources. Keeping players so long on the bench that they can't gel when called upon isn't a smart use of resources. Sure you won't play all your subs against a team like Sevilla, but at the same time there's room for some rotation.

We don't always over-play. I've seen many matches where we were brutal to the opponent & tore them to pieces. Only after we went 2 or 3 goals up did we start to try for the perfect goal. This was a match where we could have put Sevilla to the sword in the 1st half, not because we expect to win every match, but because we were so dominant in the 1st half but didn't kill the opponent off. It could very easily have turned out to be a loss like the match against Arsenal in london, if Sevilla took some of their chances. A draw was the fair result at the end of the day, but if we went 3-0 up 1st half, Manzano's subs would have been too little, too late.

Unfortunately for us, Sevilla decided to play one of their better games this season against us. RM will also visit later in the season and I hope they make life difficult for RM too. Like I said earlier, I like Sevilla - they're one of the most entertaining teams in the league and I hope they can qualify for Europa League at least.

usbcable:
objection my Lord. I move a motion to strike out completely the crossed sentence.

Lol! Funny guy!

Johnpaul88:
The match was very exciting to me. I have never seen a team create chances againast us, as has sevilla this night. They were really good at the counter.
I'm not very bothered about losing 2 pionts- at least that was part of the reason why a 7 - piont shock absorber was built in the first place, albeit we should not rest in our oars. The struggle must continue, until it is over.

Guys, i read in another sports site, soccer.opera.com , that all our Argentine players-messi, mecsh,milito are in Baptista friendly squad. This contradicts my earlier post in that regard. I read it from goal.com. It is left to be seen which site is telling the truth

Thank u Jesus, in all situation!

It was indeed very interesting end-to-end stuff. Sevilla is one of the best teams in the league and really shouldn't be where they are in the league. I hope all those EPL guys saw this match - it was far more interesting than any ManU-Arsenal or Chelsea-Liverpool match. This shows that teams can match Barca & RM if they set themselves up properly.

I hope Sevilla qualifies for Europe this season.

We thank Jesus in all situations like you said, we still have 5 points over RM.

We suffered from 4 things in this match:
1. Pep's decision not to rest players
2. Our over-playing/over-passing the ball and not killing off the opponent.
3. Pep's sentimental choices
4. Lack of real squad depth

1. Villa should not have played this match at all - he contributed almost nothing all through. My suggested line-up had Afellay with Pedro & Messi for attack in this match.

Also, most of the players started to look tired after about 70 mins. But by then Sevilla had equalized and Pep couldn't take anyone out.

2. This is the 3rd match in recent times when we could have buried the opponent in the 1st half, but we allowed them a leg back in. The other 2 instances were in the 2 legs against Arsenal. Just as we did on Tuesday, we dominated the 1st half, but kept trying to look for the perfect goal, only to allow the opponent to score early in the 2nd half. I would have expected Pep to notice these issues and rectified them.

If our boys had been shooting the way they were in the last 15 mins all match, we would have tested Sevilla more. We even started to cross the ball late in the game - is there any rule against doing that before things become desperate?

3. I don't know why Pep is so sentimental to La Masia boys. This season, it's clear that Bojan should not be ahead of Afellay & Nolito, but he gets more chances than those two combined since he's a la Masia product. His ball-control is atrocious. However, Pep keeps using him. This match, it was like we were one attacker down.

It was the same with Busquests last season. Yaya was clearly better, but Pep kept him on the bench because he wanted Busi to make the Spanish WC squad (of cos Busi has grown tremendously since then).

4. We don't have real game changers on our bench. Look at the subs Manzano made - those were tactical subs, which changed the game completely. We have players who could be potential game changers (Thiago, Afellay, Nolito, even Soriano). however, these guys play too infrequently to give us the explosive effect when called upon. I hope Pep has learnt his lessons now. These guys need more game time to have the confidence to come into a match and change things.

Our 2 subs (other than the forced sub for pedro) were like-for-like in Maxwell for Adriano and Keita for Villa. How on earth does Pep expect the team to score when he takes out Villa for Keita? Wasn't Afellay on the bench?

This is good news for Madrid and they now have a good chance to catch us in the league. If we drop 2 more points away to Villareal, the difference could be only 3 points going into the next Classico. Fortunately, RM also have some tough away trips and we hope they can drop points away to Bilbao, the derby with Atletico and Valencia.

Sorry guys - my laptop froze as I was trying to send in my half time analysis. Full game analysis in a few minuts

Thanks Holydante & Medjai

Halftime in Seville, it's Sevilla 0-1 Barcelona

The ref has had 2 moderately controversial calls: The disallowed goal for Messi. Busquests was not interfering with play and the goal should have been allowed. On the other hand, Sevilla had a good call for a penalty when Alves tripped Zokora. Anyways, we're not Arsenal & don't find excuses.

Sevilla came out guns blazing (as I expected), but our boys have been outstanding. The goal was good, though I feel Bojan mis-controlled as usual - luckily, the ball trickled into the net. The boy really needs to go out on loan to a small club where he can mature.

I hope Messi's injury isn't serious. Abeg, make pep rest the boy in the 2nd half. Let's not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs goals o!

The only negative point with our boys so far is that they're so scared of shooting! Xavi, Pedro, Bojan, Iniesta all have had the ball in good positions to shoot, but everyone keeps looking for Messi. Abeg, they should fire the trigger jare!

I like Sevilla, but today, we must beat them. If only the silly team could be consistent, they should be challenging for 3rd place at least and they would still be in UCL if they didn't lose stupidly to Braga.

usbcable:
God bless that half that wants us to qualify, as for the other half I reserve my comment.

and concerning platini UEFA they will arrange the 4 classico. Its not only Africans that rig lotteries and elections. even though most pips dont agree that all humans are samepurple white or brown black or mulato. The difference is in the degree of exhibiting certain traits openly.

Lol! I agree with you.

By the way, I know you're a closet Barca fan  . I bet you've watched more barca matches than some "official" Barca fans, good to have you on this thread.

AjanleKoko:
I absolutely do not wish for a Madrid QF. Especially now that Valencia went out. I was hoping for a return of the late 90s/early 2000s when Spanish teams did well in the Champions League.

Well, Fabiano has not really come to the party for Sevilla this season. It's amazing how badly Brazilians are doing in Europe these days. Asides defenders, Brazilian players don't seem to be having fun in Europe any more.

If Madrid go through, I suspect we'll meet in the semis - UEFA will arrange that for the revenues they can get from filling both stadia,

Half of me wants Madrid to lose out to Lyon. That way, Mou will be embarrased seriously.

The other half of me wants Madrid to progress both for la Liga's reputation & UEFA coefficients, as well as the need for Madrid to also have punishing midweek matches as we do.

Johnpaul88:
We 'll have a little reprieve about this international break.
Sergio Baptista, Argentine coach, have decided to use homebased player for their friendly. It therefore means that our Lionel will not feature, neither will Meschareno and Milito. They were not named in the squad. So no international virus this time, prior to UCL QF. We must agree that with Messi poor and less agile, our general performance suffers.
I hope the Spanish coach learns from him.

That's good news from Argentina.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2011/03/11/2390513/official-sao-paulo-sign-luis-fabiano-from-sevilla-on-four

Well, I guess this is Sevilla's idea of preparing for Barca!

I find it really stragne that Sevilla is selling Fabiano for such a small fee. I recall Milan & Marseille trying to buy him recently and Sevilla dug in, trying to get about $25m. Now, they sell him for a fraction of that.

In spite of Fabiano's exit I still expect us to have a tough test at Sevilla - they're the kind of inconsistent team that can lose at home to Osasuna but beat RM or Barca the next day. This season has been one of their worst in recent times, but we still need to be wary.

I expect Pep to start to do some rotations in the team. If I was in his shoes, I'd put in one non-regular in each match - surely, we can't lose so much potency with just one starter missing.

So, in this match, I'll recommend Villa to be on the bench (he's been looking jaded lately). Milito can also start ahead of Abidal.

Here's my line-up:

Valdes

Alves-Pique-Milito-Maxwell

Xavi-Busquests-Inesta

Pedro-Messi-Afellay

Against Getafe next weekend, I expect Pep to rest Messi and most of the starting 11. There will unfortunately be another international break after that and once club play resumes, we're away to Villareal, then UCL midweek, then home to Almeria, then UCL midweek, then away to Madrid, then CDR final (in Mestalla against Madrid). It's going to be another tasking period and Pep had better get the subs to start playing as part of the main team more regularly.

I don't like UEFA's timetable though - in the earlier rounds, there're several weeks between matches, but in the later stages, where the matches are tougher, there's only one week between matches. That's pretty dumb IMO.

Imagine if we draw Madrid in the UCL QF! There will be 4 classicos in 4 weeks! I'm sure UEFA will love that!

I hope our players are able to excuse themselves from the international matches as much as possible. I won't like a repeat of the situation where Messi played 90 mins in a useless match, while the Spaniards also played large parts for Spain, only for us to go lose a UCL match because our boys were too fatigued after 60 mins.

I hope we face Schalke in the QF. We love to play German teams!

medjai:
Villa spurned a number of chances but his flick to set up Xavi after Iniesta's dribbling run for the second goal was just priceless.

Yes that goal by Xavi was a masterpiece. Messi's was also great. Arsenal have the honour of chopping 2 of the best goals in this CL so far.

AjanleKoko:
We should have gotten more goals. Villa was absolutely not in it, I think he's fatigued. He's not been impressive in the last few games.

Villa has been off colour lately. He's obviously tired. I guess thats why Pep keeps taking him out of matches.

Positives:
The Camp Nou supporters were marvellous.

We were very calm at 0-0 and after Arsenal equalized. our boys did not panic at all.

Masch really covered very well. He even made a few lovely long passes. Busquests is still a better passer though.

Messi dribbled often and got defenders out of position. He also attracted many fouls.

Negatives:
We still over-elaborated at times. Arsenal (not a defensive team) had 2 banks of defenders at times. We won't find it so easy against teams like Chelsea, Inter, Shaktar.

We still didn't put men on the line. A man on the line may have been able to prevent the og from Busi. Once you a get a header goalwards and to the side of Valdes, you're almost sure to score against Barca from cornerkicks.