₦airaland Forum

AjanleKoko: For once, i agree intoto with your post-game analysis. Somehow we contrived to throw that game away even when we were in the ascendancy.

Maybe we need a new coach sef.
It appears Pep did a Mourinho at the pre-game press conference and stormed off, leaving reporters in the lurch.
Looks like we might have to start a rebuilding process. It was a good run, nonetheless.

Ha! Ajanlekoko! Nooo! We don't need a new coach. Pep has learnt his lesson and I'm sure next season will be better. He should just stop these silly experiments and stick with what works, but improve it to counter these ultra defensive teams. If we need a Plan B, it is not 3-4-3, but to shoot more, draw out the opponent more, and have a few slightly tall players so we can use crosses as well.

If all teams sacked their coach after this kinda loss, Sir Alex, Mourinho, Wenger, etc would not be in their current jobs.

Maybe Pep's refusal to renew on time is what has affected our players sef. The guy should renew jare, knowing that the players will be hungry for success next season, after watching Madrid win La Liga and probably UCL.

Now you see why the team shouldn't have given up on the league - acting like the UCl was an easy competition to win. SMH.

Chelsea beat us fair and square. They were the better team over two legs, because football is as much about defending as it is attacking or passing (in our case). We scored only 2 goals and conceded 3 goals. We cannot begin to claim to have been the better team, whether Chelsea parked the bus or not.

Messi had a dreadful match. But this match showed what has plagued us this season:

1.) 3 at the back is not sensible against any world class team.

2.) We need to be able to shoot from outside the box. There were countless times when our players had the ball at the edge of the box, Chelsea didn't press because they weren't expecting a shot, and our boys did not shoot because they only know how to pass.

3.) We slowed the game to walking pace - perfect for the defending team to get back into position.

4.) We need reinforcements in defence. Interestingly, Chelsea scored not from set pieces, but from nice attacking plays that we would be proud of ourselves.

5.) Who takes out Cesc for Keita when you need to score?

At the end, we are not in the final because we have concentrated on racking up high possession stats, at the cost of scoring. I love Barcelona and I love our tiki-taka, but changes have to be made to the team. Sometimes, when I watch Dortmund or Arsenal attacking, I see an attacking pace that you rarely see with our team these days. We have become so Messi dependent that our other attackers simply won't shoot, but pass to Messi.

Pep has done a good job so far, but I hope he can learn from his huge mistakes this season. We were never consistently good this season. We had a long winning run, but you hardly felt at ease in many of those matches. We are not the force that we were and Pep needs to take the blame and make the necessary corrections.

I don't like these strange formations o! 4-3-3 for me anyday.

Anyhow, we pray for the best. It's crunch time - we just have to win!

Good comments guys!

I hope we will have something to celebrate tonight!

And thanks to the non-Barca fans who have faith in our boys: usbcable, Mr Mba, etc.

Barcelona vs Chelsea. Here is my pre-game analysis:

We all know Chelsea will come to defend to save their lives, so their game plan is pretty simple. of course, they will probably leave two players up front to potentially hit us on the counter. Chelsea's position is very good. Even if they concede 1 goal, the tie is not over for them (unlike Bayern for example). So they can have a Plan B to be executed in the event that they concede a goal.

For us, the task is clear, but not simple: Score 2 goals or more. It is clear that we have issues scoring goals right now. Fortunately, the issue isn't one of creating chances, as we manage to create in most games. This is very important as the core of our game is in midfield and therein lies the strength of the tiki-taka philosophy.

We absolutely need to score an early goal. The earlier we score, the quicker we can settle our nerves and get Chelsea to move to their Plan B. But how do we do it? The players have to be quick with the ball. The few instances when Chelsea attacks, we need to turn defence to attack very quickly (we can learn from Real this season or Barca 08-09). There's no point slowing the game to allow the opposing defenders get into shape - it's to their advantage, not ours. This is no time to be casual - they have to play like their lives depend on this match. Secondly, the attackers need to be clinical in finishing the chances that will surely come their way, no matter how few. The chances will be few tomorrow, so we need to be especially clinical. The boys need to take shots like they're fighting the net! Just fire and fire, forget whether pep likes the ball being romanced or not! Third, we need to concentrate fully at the back - no silly lapses from the defenders or Valdes. Chelsea will not attack, but when they do, they need to be stopped asap. I will like to see only Alves attacking, of the full backs. While we need bodies forward, we also cannot to be exposed when defending.

I will like to see a defensive line-up of Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Puyol. Puyol to play at LB, but without pushing forward at all. In midfield, it's a no-brainer: Busquests, Xavi and Iniesta. Pep cannot afford to waste Iniesta on the wing in this match - it is abundantly clear that Iniesta plays a lot better in midfield than in attack. And Messi doesn't have to drop so deep when Ini is in the midfield. In attack, I will like to see Pedro, Messi, Sanchez. I thought of Cuenca as he provides width, but Pedro is more experienced and can also score (and boy, do we need goals!), so we will have to rely on Sanchez and Pedro providing width when they have the ball, pressing when without it and running in to the box when their teammate has the ball on the other wing. It's a lot of work, but they have to earn their money tomorrow.

Subs: Cesc for Xani/iniesta. Tello for Pedro. Keita for Alexis with 5 minutes to go and we are going through

Can we win? Absolutely! We have a better team than Chelsea. Will we win? only if we play the perfect game - pressing, shooting, passing accurately and having more luck than in recent matches.

My head says we will win 2-1 and go out narrowly on away goals.
My heart says we will win 3-1 and make the final narrowly on aggregate score.

I go with my heart...

coogar: mourinho has worked out barcelona now unless guardiola goes back to his old blueprint.
yes, the absence of david villa and abidal has made it easier for real madrid to catch up but the point still stands.
in 08/09, messi could afford to drop deep because there was etoo and henry who stayed up and got defenders worried.
if you mark henry/etoo, messi drops deep and kill ya. if you track messi down with a defender, etoo/henry wld utilize the space
left by that defender and still kill you. barcelona were much more potent then. there was a directness in their game unlike now.
as we speak, messi's responsibility has quadrupled with his false 9 position and no david villa(outstanding finisher)
to receive messi's passes!

You have hit the nail on the head Coogar. This has been our problem this season. I'm working on a write up of our stats this season and will put it up here soon (and hopefully totalbarca as well, but those guys never want to see critism sha) - it's interesting when you crunch the numbers...

mba emeka: @ ALL

The statements about Barca and guardiola are unfair and unfounded. It was just a win. LAST season Getafe beat barca there 1-0...shit does happen in football. These same Barca beat madrid 6-2, 2-0, 2-0, 3-1, 2-1 in the last seven or so odd games at BERNABEAU!. thats a whopping if you ask me.
Secondly madrid by no stretch of anybodies imagination play better than barca (both in that game and for close to eternity). They simply won the game. Kudos to them. Barca had 70% of the possession, more chances, and even more shots on goal. It took dogged defending from segio ramos and co and jadedness from messi to secure this win. I felt with the xavi chance being converted earlier on it would have been a different game entirely.

It is an act of the devil to conclude that barca is on a downhill because of the loss. In the last two games that they have lost they bossed the whole game constraining the opposition to just behind the centre half. Madrid had to counter and search for set pieces to be alive in the game. I also felt that barca concentrated on playing too well to secure the win- they looked for neat one twos, through passes et al. It wouldnt work all the time, you would need to play dirty some times.

But the Tall striker thingy is not neccessarily the solution. As AJanlekoko (sorry for misspelling it) has rightly said, all those solutions didnt work well. Barca should just play dirty, xavi and co can take shots from outside the box they mustnt always depend on Messi to deliver the goods.

The whole farce about messi not showing up when xavi and co dont is getting annoying. Messi has more assists than both xavi and iniesta this season and Ronaldo is more heavily dependent on ozeil, benzema, alonso and co than messi is on the other lads in barca. Ronaldo thrives in teams that play for him. Notwithstanding he is a very GREAT player.

I dont think chelsea can withstand the barage they would face at nou camp for two reasons: the size of the pitch and the lone goal difference! Mourinho needed the two goal advantage while at inter because at 1-0 and say extra time barca wouldve crushed inter. If barca score an early goal or not the game would have to go into extra time making chelsea to suffer longer. forget the argument that barca would get fatigued pressing for too long. This is not a muhammed ali vs forman fight in football the longer you dont have the ball the faster you get jaded. Thats why most big teams still nick it and beat the small teams in that situation.

NB: I am an ARSENAL FAN.

First, I think you're the first Arsenal fan I've seen on this thread who has come to say something positive. Thanks for that!

I agree with many of your points, but I disagree with the ff:

But the Tall striker thingy is not neccessarily the solution. As AJanlekoko (sorry for misspelling it) has rightly said, all those solutions didnt work well.

Ibra didn't work out, but Etoo & Henry worked out very well. Ibra didn't work out for several reasons, but that doesn't mean we cannot have a tall striker...or for that matter ANY striker so long as they can shoot & score, not the pass-to-Messi attackers we currently have! It's like saying we shouldn't buy creative midfielders because Hleb didn't work out or we shouldn't buy big defenders because Chygrynsky didn't work out. Or we should only buy DMF as CBs because Mascherano turned out great.

Barca should just play dirty

I don't quite understand what you mean by this. Do you mean we should concentrate less on playing the perfect passing game (in which case I agree with you) or you mean we should foul more, dive more (a la Drogba), etc (in which case, I totally disagree)?

[b][/b]

AjanleKoko: Stealthy, if you have followed the team in the last 4 years, you'd notice that Pep has tried everything you've suggested. And they have largely not worked. Ibra, Chgrynskiy, Maxwell . . . a host of signings that haven't delivered, for a simple reason. The Barcelona team is trained to play a certain way since the early 70s. And it has largely worked for us, I mean, 13 of a possible 16 titles. I have no complaint. Besides, putting Ibra in a a team with 6, 7 other ball-players, what do you expect?

For me, I support Barcelona because they play a different system, and don't change their style every time a new coach shows up, like some of these EPL teams. Which is also why I respect Manchester United. They have their style and stay true to it. After all, United was knocked out of UCL and Europa. Are Basle and Bilbao better teams than United? It's just one year, one cup. We can't possibly win all titles every year.

Let's not take these games too much to heart. So what if we lost to Chelsea, and are 4 points behind Madrid? The boys still have a chance, and I'll support them to the end, and beyond. They got here by playing the way they do, and I don't expect them to change. If we had put in 2 or 3 of those 6 or 7 chances we had against Chelsea, we'd be here popping champagne. I'd like to see Chelsea come and park the bus at the Camp Nou. It will be very difficult, all it takes is a goal from us, and I know our boys will spend the 90 minutes knocking on the door. It's just a one goal lead, we can overturn this deficit.

AJ, my comment is not that the team should change their style - far from it! But we need to tweak things to counter these park the bus teams. You said Pep has tried the things I wrote, but I still don't see our team shoot when we face park the bus teams, I don't see the players being clinical with the chances they get (eg Xavi against Real Madrid).

You wrote that Pep bought Maxwell & Chygrynsky, but that has nothing to do with what I wrote. What I'll like to see is 1 proper striker who can give us 25 goals+ a season. Even Villa now scores less than he ever did in his career. Of the other forwards (other than Messi of course), none can even get close to 20 goals a season. So who will score for us? Only Messi?

Your statement that "If we had put in 2 or 3 of those 6 or 7 chances we had against Chelsea, we'd be here popping champagne" just shows what is wrong. Will we be clinical on Tuesday? Have we been clinical this season? Yes, but not consistently. Even our wins have been a lot more laborious. Chelsea will come to park the bus knowing that if they concede 1 goal, the match is not yet over for them and then they can start their Plan B. that's the beauty of the 1-0 lead they have.

I will always support the team - if I could support the team in the Van Gaal era (when we used to throw away 3-0 leads), surely there's even more to celebrate now. But I will also criticize when necessary.

I see a lot of haters are crawling out of the woods to come and comment on the Barca thread...it's all good.

USBCABLE:
Congrats to you guys. I've said it often that you will likely win the league this season and I've maintained that so long as there's no guard of honour in Nou Camp and you don't officially win the league in Nou Camp, I'm ok. So I'm not too worried right now. As for your request that I analyze the match, I can only do so for the 1st half as I had to travel last night, so could only watch the 1st half before running to the airport.

CULES:
This match (along with the UCL match against Chelsea) was symptomatic of our issues this season:
1. Pep's absurd idea of using 3 defenders at the back has cost us too many points this season - yet he continues to do it, in important matches no less. Even when we play 4-3-3, our defence is not exactly the rock of gibraltar - you wonder why he then goes for 3 at the back. Also, some weird player selections - why start Tello in the El Classico and use Alves as an attacker when we don't even have enough defenders?)

2. All the scoring load is on Messi - the other attackers will be looking for Messi rather than take a shot.

3. Our squad is simply not deep enough. Chelsea was able to rest 8 players who played againsgt us on Wed, in their match against Arsenal. Pep could only rest 2 players (fab and Sanchez).

4. Talking more about rest, Messi is once again looking slightly jaded. You cannot expect the man to play so many minutes in a season. We are over dependent on him now. We can't even play Getafe at home without Messi!

4. We need some height in the team. The 2009 team had Henry, Yaya Toure, etc who could head the ball. Messi & Puyol are the best headers in this team!

On to el classico - I don't care too much if we win or draw tonight. We should just be in top shape for Tuesday. Madrid will come to defend and hold out for a draw. Even if we win, our league run in is tougher than Madrid's so the league is still a long shot. I feel the league was lost when Pep played a crazy formation against Villareal and followed that by resting too many starters against Osasuna, because he was too worried about Bayer Leverkusen, of all inconsistent teams.

Cules abeg, I have a little issue:

I'll be travelling tonight (silly me, I didn't remember el classico when booking the ticket ). Where can I watch the match in the international wing of MMIA? I hope I no go watch classico go miss my flight!

I don't like to be a doubter but I now feel that we won't make it into the UCL final. Chelsea will come to Noun Camp to defend and counter. If we're as ineffectual in goal as we have been most of this season, who can guarantee that we will score 2 or more goals? Especially if Messi is triple marked?

When we lose the 1st leg away, most Cules always feel that we will simply score the necessary goals at home. But look at what happened against inter in 2010. Even last season, we barely overcame Arsenal (1 goal and we would have been out). The trick is to not attack naively when playing away & risk counter attacks. 0-0 is better than 1-0 loss. If the full backs refrain from goin forward its difficult for anyone to score against us. when they go forward and a counter attack is on, the CBs get pulled out of position and we are opened up.

We need to have a better strategy for playing against park-the-bus teams. We can call it anti-football but the truth is that almost every team that has succeeded (or nearly succeeded almost) against Barca in the last few years has emploed this same tactic.

The onus is on Pep to find a solution against such teams other than pass, pass, rack up high possession stats, but no goals.

1. We need to be clinical with the few chances we get. We have the best midfield in the world and they will always create chances for the attackers. But will they take those chances?

2. We need to shoot more from outside the box. When teams are parking the bus, they make it harder for their keeper to see incoming shots, plus there's always a chance of deflections.

3. We do need a proper out and out striker, possibly a tall one of the Ibra mould. While the Ibra move didn't turn out well (he was way too expensive; Pep wasn't as patient with him as he would with the Catalan/La masia boys; he didn't exactly fit into the team), it doesn't change the fact that we need proper scorers who can also head in a cross.

On to the Chelsea match: I feel that Chelsea will set up to play counter-attacks against us. They've seen almost every team that has beaten Barca in the Pep era do this. I expect it will be Drogba (for strength) & Torres (for speed) starting, with Mata/ Lampard behind them and everyone else basically defending. I expect Sturridge will be brought in as a sub, also to stretch opur defence with his speed.

So what should Pep do? First, Alves and Adriano must not go forward (until we score). This reduces our effectiveness upfront a bit, but Messi and co can score without so much help from the fullbacks. Alves & Adriano are both fast, so can neuttralize the Chelsea counter-attacks. In CB, I expect to see Pique (for height) and Masch (for speed/intelligence), with Puyol coming on as a sub (he exerted himself over the weekend against Levante & we also need him against Madrid).

Midfield will be Busi-Xavi-Iniesta, as expected.

Attack should be Cuenca (to provide width in the absence of the full backs attacking), Messi (of course) and Alexis (for pressing)

Subs: Cesc for Xavi/Iniesta, Puyol for Masch, Tello/Pedro for Cuenca

AjanleKoko: Okay, let me do the Stealthy bit

Lol! I didn't manage to watch all of the match and cannot give fair analysis, so you chose a good time to step in lol!

AjanleKoko: Now at least we are sure of one thing: Whatever eventually happens, there will be no guard of honour at the Nou Camp

Yes, that's a big relief. Somehow, I still think Madrid will win the league. But there will be no guard of honour and they also cannot win the league in Nou Camp. I'm pretty sure Mou will set up for a draw, since he doesn't need to win the classico to win the league. Besides, he (like us) also has UCL to worry about and has the luxury of a 4-point lead in the league.

The Madrid derby was a superb end to end match, until Athletico ran out of steam after 75 mins and Real gladly wiped the floor with them.

If Real win against Sporting Gijon, as expected, on Saturday, then we will be 7 points behind going to Levante.

There's still hope sha!

We can reduce the deficit to 1 point by winning the Classico...we need to be 100% the rest of this season! Tough ask for the team, but if any team can do it, this team can.

It was a very good win that saw Alexis from outside the box (finally! not playing for the perfect goal) and a couple of rare Headers.

Hopefully Athletico make life hard for Real.

I hope Pep can do a bit of rotation away to Levante so people like Xavi can be fresh for Cheski.

I wish Pep would rest Messi tonight in view of the tough matches coming up next week (UCL, Classico) and the tricky trip to Valencia to play Levante this weekend. Messi needs to rest to be at his most lethal against Cheski & Madrid. Unfortunately, it's not likely Messi will be rested, even if we're winning 5-0.

Ok, I just woke up from my wishful thinking to see Pep with a 3-4-3 formation. I hope for the best.

Eyoniggar, thumbs up to you for having hope all through, when some of us thought the league was truly gone.

This was a difficult match, in spite of the 4-1 final score. I wonder why Pep would choose to rest his entire starting midfield trio in an away match, against a team that has played well in recent weeks, despite being in the relegation zone. We were very lucky to win 4-1 eventually. If we had some bad luck, coupled with dodgy refereeing, this match could easily have gone the way of the 0-0 with Villareal or 3-2 loss against Osasuna.

The key highlights for me are:
1. Dani Alves should stop taking freekicks! I don't recall seeing him score any - his freekicks are so lame! If Xavi isn't playing, Fabregas, Villa or even Thiago should have a shot at the right-footed freekicks instead.

2. Pedro, Alexis and Fab need to start shooting when they get the ball in/around the 18-yard box. It's frustrating to see them looking to pass to Messi when they can use Messi as a decoy to fool defenders and pull the trigger themselves.

3. I hope Dani Alves' injury is nothing serious.

4. Masch has been brilliant all season, but he was at fault for the goal we conceded. He allowed his man to get goal-side of him, when he rushed out to try to play him offside. However, he was still very good in this match, making crucial tackes and making surging runs forward and using his excellent long range passing to open up the play.

5. It was good to see Pedro score at last. I hope this will help his confidence and he can start to terrorize defences once more.

6. Keita. I've been trying to avoid writing this, but why does Pep play Keita? When Keita plays DMF, we don't control the game as he doesn't have a good passing ability. Keita is not a particularly good tackler and gives away a lot of fouls. He also gives the ball away more than Busquests and you notice that one of the AMF usually has to drop deeper than normal when Keita is DMF (it was Thiago today). When he plays AMF, our potency in attack reduces significantly since Keita is not a good creative midfielder (eg against AC Milan in San Siro). He plays supposedly for his strength and aerial ability, but I can't remember the last time Keita scored for us from a set piece; neither does he win many headers when we concede set pieces. I know he has a terrific long shot, but we don't see those like when he was in Sevilla. So I ask again: why does Pep play Keita? I like the man, but I think his inclusion usually reduces the team's effectiveness.

We were lucky to win (thank God). Hopefully, Valencia can hold Madrid to a draw to make the league possible for us. We have another few weeks of mid-week matches ahead and I hope no one gets injured, especially Messi and the defenders.

Good win by the boys. We were a bit complacent though, allowing Milan back with that goal. And we were lucky with the 2nd penalty (most refs won't give that). If went to half time at 1-1, the match would have been much harder.

I was impressed that Pep played Cuenca for 90 mins - imagine the confidence boost it gives him: at 20 years, in your first season with the senior team, playing 90 mins in a crucial UCL QF match against Milan!

As for the other players:
Messi was his usual irrepressible self. I hope some dude like Pele says something like "Messi doesn't score against Chelsea", just so he can demolish the blues too.
Masch was solid at the back once again, though he played Nocerino onside for the goal.
Pique was also solid and I hope his injury is minor.
Don Iniesta, Xavi, Busquests, Alves...all really played well.

medjai: We've had many Basque players play for us - Txiki Begristain, Zubizareta, Goikoetxea, etc. Cruyff's Dream Team had quite a lot of them.

Great then - I'll rather splash money on Muniain than Neymar who could either be brilliant or bust.

medjai: Iniesta in ultra ghost-mode. If Pep ever plays him on the wings again, ehn. . . I'd go find him in Barcelona

Agree 100%

AjanleKoko: It just occurred to me that CR7 is on 37 goals, and Messi on 36. These two boys will smash CR7's last season's newly-set record it seems. let's just pray that things stay tight for another month, so they can keep chasing each other.

It's crazy now. They're both too good to be true!

Meanwhile, can we buy Muniain? Has any Basque player ever played with us? But seriously, it would be a shame to see him play for Madrid or one of the EPL teams. If he has to leave Bilbao, we really should get him and send Cuenca on loan

This was a very good performance by our team against a worthy opponent. The passing was crisp and we attacked at pace, unlike the game in Milan where we attacked at walking pace. The presence of 2 creative players was clearly effective as Don Iniesta & Thiago carved Bilbao time and again. Also, tonight, players were bold to take shots from outside the box, which we tend not to do against the park-the-bus teams, interestingly.

The defence was solid once again & the darting runs forward by Pique & Masch were impressive. It was nice to see Pique perform well again...no need to talk about Masch, our most consistent defender this season. Playing with a true LB also worked as Adriano made a lot of good runs and pinned back Iraola.

The match was relatively clean with no persistent fouling by Bilbao (unlike most of our opponents). The referee was also ok (for once!) and allowed the game to flow freely...Bilbao could even feel aggrieved not to get the penalty off Pique.

On the not-so-positive side:
Tello is clearly effective as an impact sub, as he can use his good pace against tired defenders. Today, he was anonymous most of the game, though he got the penalty.

Around the 65th minute, Iniesta had a very good chance to shoot at goal, yet he chose to pass to Thiago. This is something that, to me, has happened too often this season: players get in a good position to score, yet attempt to pass to make the perfect goal. I hope Pep works on this - we really need to be more clinical in and around the box.

Madrid just wiped the floor with Osasuna, in Pamplona! Madrid were simply clinical in their finishing - in addition, they turn defence to attack really quickly, while our slow build up makes it easy for park-the-bus teams to defend. We have had bad refereeing decisions and sometimes hard luck in some matches this season, but I feel the biggest reason we're behind Madrid is that our attackers are simply not converting the many chances the Barca midfield creates. I will try to get some stats on Barcelona's goal-to-chance ratio compared to Madrid, but I'm pretty confident that the Madrid converts more effectively.

We all don't like Madrid (to put it mildly) so I'm not here to glorify Mou & his boys, but this is something the Barca technical team can review and improve upon.

medjai: Fourth place seems to be out of reach, Malaga seem to have got that on lock and they'd be playing in Europe next season anyway since they reached the copa final so EL represents their only chance of winning a trophy.

Actually, Bilbao have a chance to win 2 trophies, since they're also in the copa final. Of course, we all hope that the copa victory is Barca's.

^^^^
Pep never takes Messi off, so no chance Sanchez will come in for him.

I agree with most of what you said, esp about Bilbao focusing on EL since they don't need the league position to re-appear in that tournament next season. In addition, Bilbao only played on Thur, so they've had very little rest in preparation for tonight's game.

On the other hand, our squad is very thin and I'm not as confident about Tue as some other people are. I'm sure we'll qualify, but it will be tough. Milan know that they need to score only 1 goal to potentially go through, so they will be patient and will try to frustrate our attackers as they did on Wed.

It's a difficult job for Pep to rest players for Tue, while trying to keep the pressure on Madrid in the league.

Our key to winning on Tue is to be clinical with our chances. No matter how defensive the team is, we create chances. The difference this season is that most of the scoring burden has been on Messi, with all our other attackers (other than Tello) having poor scoring ratios.

The key highlights from this match for me:

1. I can't believe Keita played 90 mins when we had Cesc & Thiago on the bench.

2. We didn't dominate the midfield as we normally would. The supply to the forwards was not as good as normal. We really should have taken advantage of this Milan team, decimated by injuries.

3. We slowed the game to walking pace too often (at times, I even thought the referee had blown his whistle or something). This allowed Milan to get back to defend in numbers.

4. Messi is looking tired again. Not surprising, with the midweek matches piling up again. I still (and will always) question the wisdom of playing him (or any other outfield player) 90 mins, every single game.

5. Tello is a great talent; however, against a team of wise old men like Milan, you cannot expect him to be a game changer.

6. Milan achieved their objective not to concede. We did not achieve our objective to score an away goal. Milan have a small victory here...hopefully we can hammer them in Nou Camp.

7. Pep really needs to tell the boys to shoot when they can. The intricate 1-2 passes are nice, but once in a while, when the passing isn't working, how about some shots instead of trying the next flick to Messi? I can't believe we had only 5 shots on goal in this match!

8. Why don't referees ever call penalties in Barcelona's favour? Alexis was clearly fouled, while Puyol's shirt was clearly pulled in the 2nd half. Still, we get no penalties.

9. I am worried because we play Bilbao this weekend, then Milan next week, then away to Zaragoza who are fighting for Liga survival...can we win all these matches?

I'm a bit skeptical about the news coverage from our local media. First, I was surprised that the news is not on GE's website - which publicly quoted company signs a $10bn deal and wont have the news on their website? Even a company of GE's size would publicize it to boost their share price.

Secondly, foreign websites are stating that the GE MoU is only a portion of the $10bn being quoted here. See AFP and Wall Street Journal links below. Anyhow, it is still good news. We just need some more clarity on what exactly was signed.

AFP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gkB4p-RCYJt6v9DfWzKgWwPv01dg?docId=CNG.240293873839341d8564887ab0292813.211
LAGOS — Nigeria and US giant General Electric have signed a deal aimed at sharply boosting power generation in Africa's most populous country where electricity blackouts occur daily, GE said Monday.
The five-year memorandum of understanding signed on Friday between Nigeria's power ministry and the company seeks to promote private investment in power projects, according to GE.
Details remain to be worked out but the deal includes "the potential for GE and the government to take minority equity positions in viable projects, where GE would supply power generation technology and services.
"The government of Nigeria has publicly set a goal of $10 billion in new power infrastructure projects," a statement from GE said.
"However, the MOU does not outline investment amounts or commitments. GE will potentially invest 10 percent to 15 percent in individual projects."
Nigeria's government has laid out a plan to privatise electricity production and distribution in order to address power shortages in Africa's largest oil producer.
It aims to do so in large part through the construction of new power plants, particularly those fired by natural gas.
The country's electricity infrastructure is woeful despite its oil wealth, with businesses and wealthy residents investing in large and expensive generators to supply power.
Nigeria, with its 160 million population and substantial deposits of oil and natural gas, has long been seen as having huge potential but has been held back by deeply rooted corruption and mismanagement.


Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/APf45a17462f174201bb59dd124e59deaf.html
LAGOS, Nigeria — General Electric Corp. said Monday it signed an agreement with Nigeria's government to potentially build and operate power plants in the electricity-starved nation amid a push to privatize the failing state-run power company.

GE said the five-year deal is part of the oil-rich nation's ambitious plans to sell off its Power Holding Company of Nigeria PLC. Citizens widely joke the company name stands for "Please Have Candles Nearby" in a nation where businesses and the wealthy rely on gasoline and diesel generators.

But confusion already surrounds the deal. Local press quoted Power Minister Bart Nnaji as saying the GE agreement would be a $10 billion deal. GE denied that, saying they would only be one company potentially taking part in the effort.

GE would help build and operate the power plants, taking a 10 to 15 percent interest in the business, the company said in a statement given to The Associated Press on Monday.

"This will go a long way towards boosting energy supply for Nigeria," the statement quoted Jay Wileman, president and CEO for GE Energy in Africa, as saying.

Revamping the state-run power company will take billions of dollars and many years in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with more than 160 million people. President Goodluck Jonathan made fixing power problems as a major goal of his administration.

However, the effort to find companies and set up the privatization process has been repeatedly delayed. That has led some to worry the effort could end up as a failure like a push to privatize the former state-run telephone company. After delays and bidding breakdowns, the government announced it would simply liquidate the firm's assets.

We managed to win a very difficult match. I'm surprised some of you guys thought we would beat Mallorca easily away. At the end though, our determination paid off and we've put some pressure on Madrid. My highlights:

1.
3-4-3: I don't like it when we play 3-4-3 away. The defence looked jittery again in the 1st half and we were lucky not to concede in the early Mallorca onslaught. I prefer to play the 3-4-3 at home, when we're more in control.

Pedro: He seemed to have improved his form in the last few matches, but was almost anonymous today. It may have something to do with the 3-4-3. Hopefully he will deliver when it matters most.

Messi's right foot; Did anyone notice that Messi played a good long range shot with his right foot, as well as a lovely cross for Montoya? Lionel is obviously working to improve one of the few deficient areas of his game - the quality of his weaker foot.

Referee: I still don't understand why every handball in la Liga is a yellow card. It's the most absurd thing! Referees in this league need to go take lessons from their counterparts in Germany & England!

Pique: He played well today & even scored. Hope he can keep his concentration for the rest of the season.

Milan: I hope our exertions in this match and especially playing for so long with 10 men, wont affect our fitness midweek against Milan. Fortunately, Alves & Puyol will be fresh for that match. I'll like to see Tello run against the Milan defence in the 2nd half.

Memorable night for Messi to become our all time record scorer, and in some style too, scoring a hattrick.

However, there were a few negatives too:
1. This match showed just what has been wrong with our team all season. We were playing Granada, at home and went up 2-0. Barcelona of last season (and Real Madrid of this season) would have gone ahead to finish the match 5-0. However, we were complacent and allowed Granada to equalize. This is very worrying.
2. Dani Alves giving away 2 penalties cheaply. Neither of the two occasions was a last-ditch effort to save an imminent goal. And now that we're short of defenders, is the worst time to lose such an important player. Hopefully, Montoya can produce some good performance in Dani's absence, assuming Pep doesn't go trying out his 3-4-3 again, or playing Busquests as CB, with Keita as DMF!

The important thing is that the points are in the bag and we can put some pressure on Madrid.

Why does every hand ball in La Liga merit a yellow card? Refereeing in this league is perplexing (and it's not only against Barca).

usbcable:
see all of them

bloody sissies.
only and i repeat only eyoniggar had liver that the title was still open when the gap opened to 10 points some weeks back.

its now eight some faithless reactionary analyst now sees the simil;arity with a united or shitty. even one toothless soothsayer never saw the possibility then but also joined the bandwagon of throwing in the towel with loads of games still to play.

like i have said before sports analyst will always say something obvious after the obvious had happened.

enu won yo bi ila.

abegi wey eyoniggar make he come talk jare all of una no soppose talk now. bloody sissies.

Chill man!

I just predicted that you guys would drop points this month (after I looked at the fixture list). Doesn't mean my opinion of us losing the league is gone.

I have no issues with you guys winning the league so long as we keep the race tight. I don't want to see a guard of honour in April, neither do I want you guys to win the league in the Camp Nou...

It's still 8 points and with the tough fixtures, I expect you guys to drop a few more points, but when you've built up a good lead, you can afford to drop a few points.

And if you guys are generous enough to hand the league back to us, I won't be complaining either

Stealthy: I'm confident Madrid will draw/lose at least one match this month. The question is: Can we take advantage?

Stealthy the soothsayer