Isaiah is a co-founder and lead writer for Barcelona Football Blog. He currently lives in the greater New York City area with his wife and daughter.
89 Comments
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
You Hectored us? we should Weligton you!
jnelson
September 29, 2009
Does anybody else feel like flying to Spain, punching that ref in the face and kicking Weligton in the groin?
Boat Forever
September 29, 2009
I’m content with locking both of them in a cage with The Yaya. But yeah I wanna kick that Pepe dude, he’s just so annoying to my liking
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
INTER ARE DOWN 0-1 !!!
ooga aga
September 29, 2009
dont know if anyone mentioned this yet, but there is a very good article from phil ball on soccernet, in which he states “I’m no fan of Real Madrid, despite the frequent accusations to the contrary…”
he’s a Sociedad man.
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
just out of curiosity, tutomate, Isaiah, at what time will the CIL launch?
(i suppose this measurement should be given in “minutes before match” since everyone is in different time zones)
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
Inter level through Stankovic 1-1
🙁
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
my streams keep dying 🙁 lame.
Alex
September 29, 2009
An Inter tie would be AWESOME.
tutomate
September 29, 2009
Hey Yall, the CIL will start 30min before the Match so we can get streams going and so I can start approving people.
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
is your handle supposed to be “your tomato” in spanish?
tutomate
September 29, 2009
tomatomatutomate, so i guess a literal translation is: here here is your tomato.
It doesn’t mean anything though, I just like the way it sounds in spanish.
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
or “take, take, your tomato”, since “toma” literally = “take” or loosely = “have”
I wasn’t, but sure, Nooooorbeeeertuuuuuussssss to that as well. I was just yelling out some Norbertus love.
Eduard
September 29, 2009
haha…balotelli Red carded
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
Yes! Inter almost guaranteed to drop points! common Rubin Kazaan!
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
Official Line-Up:
Valdes
Alves-Puyol-Pique-Abidal
Xavi-Toure-Keita
Messi-Ibrahimovic-Iniesta
DUH!
Sumit
September 29, 2009
That is a hugely depleted Inter side. No Thiago Motta, no Sneijder (midfield does’t have creativity) and no Milito, Eto’s strike partner. The possession statistics are almost the same, and with a man down Rubeh have a real chance.
Miguel
September 29, 2009
no live blog for me. hopefully i can stream this match in peace–shoulda called in sick today *cough cough–otherwise i’ve gotta watch the replay @ 11pm. streaming it means barca-kiev gets my full love & attention.
Helge
September 29, 2009
Oh you lucky, lucky Inter…
They should be last of the group with 0 points and like -4 goal difference after those two really poor performances.
Nevertheless, we shall be warned over Rubin Kazan.
eklavya
September 29, 2009
WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?? ISAIAH SEEMS TO KEEP ON GETTING THE LINEUPS RIGHT! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! HAS PEP REALLY STARTED TO READ THIS BLOG OR WHAT? WTF?!?!
Boat Forever
September 29, 2009
Pep didn’t really need to sub of The Yaya, he could have instead done that with Keita or Messi bringing on Gai for him… And Busi is losing a LOT of balls, it would have made more sense had he come on for Keita. But yay! 3 points! Top of the table 🙂
ElShowDeJason
September 29, 2009
We won half-assedly
lovelymofo
September 29, 2009
But we won! I’ll take the three points. There was some good play, but the cohesiveness isn’t quite there.
Miguel
September 29, 2009
so we won? and half-assedly? awesome. can’t wait for the replay.
john
September 29, 2009
I’m surprised by how much starting time Keita has been getting this term. Sure, Henry’s been a little off, and Spf has had some hankering injuries, but still, Keita’s practically been a fixture in the starting XI. What are all your thoughts?
Jnice
September 29, 2009
He has been excellent. You can tell he has perfectly adapted, and brings us a lot in the middle. Obviously Pep has full confidence in him.
Boat Forever
September 29, 2009
Definitely would help even if Henry as expected doesn’t turn up much this time… But only as long as we sign some one in January. Against bigger oppositions, Ghostface should be paired along with Xavi. Anderlecht are currently the Belgium league table-toppers, an away fixture with them is definitely a tough match for Ajax & so Suarez will definitely be played against them. Hope he proves some of his critics wrong who say he disappears when played outside Dutch.
P.S. If I wish Sevilla outscores Real this weekend, does it seem being too optimistic?
Achraf
September 29, 2009
Thats because keita deserves to be a fixture and if you actually watch a barca game attentively he has been in excellent form and followedf it up by another tireless performance today. One thing to be clear Keita is NO iniesta but Iniesta is NO keita
john
September 29, 2009
Actually, I’ve watched my share of Barcelona matches this season, and would agree he looks impressive. He brings a more direct approach to the game that can sometimes make the difference when tiki-taka not tick-tocking. I’m still a little surprised that he’s started all 5 Liga fixtures while the Yaya has only started 2.
And for anyone who hasn’t been watching Sevilla play this season, I think Tim Stannard might have to reconsider his evaluation of them as an ‘also ran.’ It’s early in the season, but they look HOT.
john
September 29, 2009
‘He’ meaning Keita. That was clear, right?
lovelymofo
September 29, 2009
I was reading all about how Weligton is gonna go unpunished for his assy play and ran across this bit in regards to Tito Vilanonva:
“Vilanova se negó a abandonar el túnel de vestuarios, desde donde trató de interrumpir el juego lanzando un balón al terreno de juego.”
He’s missing two matches because among other things “Villanova refused to leave the tunnel to the changing rooms, from which he tried to interrupt the match by throwing a ball onto the field.” Seems a little dramatic, but it made me laugh.
Last thing, the always hilarious AS claims that Barça won thanks to a little Messi magic, but mostly because the ref was biased. As always.
Jnice
September 29, 2009
AS’ whole “Barça is favored by the referee wherever they fucking go” claim is a little ridiculous, no? I mean damn, every fucking game we get help from the refs? Are they watching the same match? Gosh, I can’t wait till El Clasico, although if we win, they will most definitely attribute that to the refs. Fuckers.
Jnice
September 29, 2009
And suprisingly enough, Marca has been fairly positive towards Barça this season. After this win, they said, “Despite the doubts of Guardiola, the champions look ready to repeat.” They actually watch the matches, I guess.
Jnice
September 29, 2009
Oh and Marca felt that Iniesta should have had a penalty.
Check the photo: *http://estaticos01.marca.com/albumes/2009/09/29/barcadinamo/1254252634_extras_albumes_0.jpg
lovelymofo
September 29, 2009
Yeah, Marca is the better of the two. I just read AS for the laffs.
Jnice
September 29, 2009
There’s a guy on Cameroon’s U-20 team named “Banana Yaya”. Wow.
Boat Forever
September 29, 2009
Ya Ya Banana LOL
Pedro now has 3 goals for his credit to Henry’s 0. And that too when Pedro had very much less play-time compared to Henry and P! has been too inconsistent
ballbeav
September 30, 2009
Pedro > Henry
Corrine
September 29, 2009
ahaha
Helge
September 29, 2009
Hansi Müller, former German international and TV expert, after the commentators praised Messi and Ibra most profusely:
“I still admire Xavi the most. I wish a player like Xavi some day wins the World Player of the Year award. At best this year.”
jordi
September 29, 2009
Heh, BS.com at its best again.In case they didnt realise messi was our top scorer in the cl last season too, and ibra was unlucky not to score today.
i think bs.com should hold the editorials and stick to reporting their misinterpreted news….such articles are ridiculous
drew
September 29, 2009
pedro is our ukrainian killer!!
2 goals-shaktar, dynamo
PM
September 29, 2009
Busi and his headers – I’m officially scared guys.
BTW Puyol is playing out of his mind these days.
iBlau
September 29, 2009
With Dima’s arrival, El Capitan ain’t taking any chances so he has to step his game up to ensure his spot.
UAI
September 30, 2009
I don’t really consider Chyggy to be a threat to Puyol’s spot, more like an opportunity for him to be rested occasionally so he can pull off his crazy stunts for a longer time to come
eklavya
September 30, 2009
I guess Puyol does…or least his agent 🙂
fcbfan
September 29, 2009
and that bs.com is at it again… Barca not scoring enough goals, lacking sharpness, because because we sold a certain striker to Inter. and of course Ibra has yet to score a goal in Europe. and oh if not for some Messi magic we could have lost today. hmm a sloppy Messi = magic to goal? lol.
Ibra didn’t score, but he did everything else.
OhYes
September 29, 2009
I think we all agree that Messi wasn’t at his best today?
I mean.. he did some great things, but in the 1st half he was fairly anonymous.
The Swede was the one who’s magic we relied on, and Iniesta. Those two tore it up nasty style.. Iniesta with his runs along the line, and sharp passes to Ibra. And that Swedish mofo made some of the sweetest passes I’ve ever seen; should have had more than one assist, and a goal (can you ever head away from the keeper?)
To point out that he has yet to score a goal and to say he is not as effective as Eto’o, means you lose about 100% of your credibility.
But then again, we are talking about goal.com Their credibility is in the negatives ffs.
Corrine
September 29, 2009
i assumed bs.com was as.com
both sources are laughable anyway hehe
Goal scoring rate in CL for both players: 0/2. Hmm. Who gives a hooey anyway?
Barça 4pts
Dynamo 3pts
Inter 2pts
Rubin 1pt
What was that about goalscorers?
PM
September 29, 2009
I’m more than impressed with Ibra so far. But collectively we are not performing at the high level like last year. If we had scored one goal in 20-30 minutes we would almost surely kill the opponent. I guess parking bus and not being adventurous against us are the reasons to blame. Maybe off Henry too, I don’t know.
inNYC
September 29, 2009
Messi showed some really bad touches/passes, but he also showed some brilliance. Was up out of my chair a few times when he had the ball, as the UEFA announcers said. Kind of a weird day for him. Love the Ibra/Iniesta stuff in the first half. And yeah, someone needs to have a talk with Busi.
fcbfan
September 29, 2009
Well if you want to compare with last year, we had an easier group then and no one has figured out Barca yet. I don’t think we’ll score that many this season, the main objective seems to be to win each game with minimum energy spent.
OhYes
September 29, 2009
“win each game with minimum energy spent.”
Yeah I’ve noticed that some of the more experienced players will throttle their effort depending on the score and the opponent.
Nice to see everything becoming more efficient. Although, for maximum efficiency, some of those chances have to be converted. Can’t count how many sitters have gone missing.
jnelson
September 30, 2009
Totally agree. Hmm…off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 very nice WIDE OPEN shots at goal keita has missed. If only he learned how to shoot (other than far screamers) with his feet! He’d be a total beast. That was a very sloppy game with many poor passes and bad touches for us, but heh a little magic can make all the difference.
Corrine
September 30, 2009
well even when we had an easier group, we never produced too many high scoring games. we beat sporting and shahktar in our opening 2 matches but the wins weren’t easy. i was worried that we would see lots of heavy defending against us, but other than inter we’ve been let off easy 😛
jnelson
September 30, 2009
NOOOOORBEEEERTUUUUUUSSSS!!!!!!
thats for La Liga review officials. u suck [insert Drogba clip]
jnelson
September 30, 2009
or better yet, this clip Kevin used in an earlier review: //http://www.barcelonafootballblog.com/737/gut-full-of-hate-world-cup-edition/
Tutomate
September 30, 2009
I’m sorry, what’s the Nooooooorbeeeertuuuus thing all about?
In the preview I noted that one of the linesmen was named Norbertus and then
asked everyone to yell his name whenever anything silly happened thanks to the red or linesman.
Then I just started yelling it basically for no reason cause it’s an awesome name. It was Norbertus that gave the dubious offside on Sheva in the second half that otherwise would probably have made it 2-1.
Also on the annulled goal, was it offside or a foul that was called? Either that too was dubious. Meaning, of course, that we should have won 15-2 or something.
oooooh. *goes back to check out preview with new eyes*
It was a offside I think.
SwedeBarca
September 30, 2009
Pretty solid match, Ibra is getting better and better but what the fuck is going on with Busi, as far as I am concernced he ain’t good enough for Barca. His stupid passes and headers are going to cost us at least 5 or 6 goals this season which is something that could prove costly come May given the tight race with Real that’s certainly coming up. God help us when Keita and Yaya pack their bags for Africa in January.
poipoi
September 30, 2009
when the africans leave, there will be three midfielders for three positions I believe, that is way too short:
busi-xavi-iniesta
– dm – am – am –
maybe txig or piquenbauer can play dm, but who am???!!! The list of players is kinda short for a team that hopes to win all competitions 🙁
I trust busi
poipoi
September 30, 2009
btw… I totally loved how keita stepped aside in the high skill plays FCB was doing offensively, it’s a simple thought… if you’re not going to do anything better than what the others are doing, then do do nothing 😉 He plays well, but mainly when he steps aside and lets the creative midfielders iniesta and xavi do their thing. Yesterday iniesta was all over the place, playing like a free 10+winger, he came a lot of times to the midfield to help, to take the ball up when keita didn’t and construct some plays with xavi. Keita did well filling the spaces he left.
mike in africa
September 30, 2009
busi never used to make these kinda mistakes in his debut season; but last night, AGAIN, he did something stupid.
i wudn’t mind seeing marq in the DM role since without injuries, puyol, chygryn and pique will be enough to cover the back. i hav little confidence in busi after his last 3 or 4 games; let’s hope pep fixes him, cuz i think he’s stil a very decent player when he doesn’t make stupid mistakes.
Boat Forever
September 30, 2009
Stats so far this season
Goals :
Messi 8
Ibra 5
Pedro 3
Keita 2
Bojan 2
Pique 2
Xavi 1
Alves 1
P.S. Iniesta should have claimed the assist for that wonderful through ball to messi yesterday, except for the defender’s useless deflection
Helge
September 30, 2009
Thanks a lot, Boat Forever 🙂
Should have been 9 goals Messi and 5 from Ibra actually, but it’s better to lack perfectness now than at the end of the season.
Boat Forever
September 30, 2009
you mean to say 6 from Ibra, right??
Roja-N
September 30, 2009
Marquez has played decently as DM in the 04-06 seasons on occassion and should be fine playing there during this years ACN. Busi can rotate with him as and when required leaving the central defending to a pairing of Puyol, Pique or Chygnasty. Plus guardiola is optimistic that Milito could be running out towards the end of the year.
Our problem area would be the lack of experienced backup in the AM roles where currently xavi and iniesta are the driving force. WE NEED ANOTHER AM in the Jan Window. Cesc would be ideal here. If not, JDS can be blooded and developed as an option, though considering this will be the business end of the season, im doubtful guardiola would want to experiment too much with the youngsters. Thiago is out as well which limits options further.
We must pray for another injury free season if we are to challenge on all fronts…but i remain optimistic 🙂
It seems that goal.com stands for scoring own goals. With all the massive number of attempts they make throughout numerous posts they publish on daily bases, their scoring rate is impressive, their general ranking is pathetic.
eklavya
September 30, 2009
hahaha
BTW, ramzi are your articles still coming out or what?
Ever since Pep’s place closed down for real it’s been a mess getting good info and articles (Hector’s excepted)!
Your posts aren’t really “articles”.I mean they’re previews and good and stuff but I mean the usual tactical stuff. I didn’t mention Kxevin’s reviews for the same reason…
hey isaiah i like your previews with the historical slant, you’re like philballinho. a good model to follow i say. keep working on it.
puyol was held up on the FCB official site as carrying out “an authentic display of force” against kiev. he was the player with the most balls won back (15), he rejected or broke up 19 other passes, and his passing accuracy was 68/69. AND — get this — he didnt commit one foul all game. impressive. “sign here, please!”
I was canvasing something else about this on another web log. Interesting. Your position on it is diametrically. Fought to what I understand to begin with. I am still reflecting over the various points of view, but I ‘m disposed to a. Bully extent toward yours. And disregardless, that’s what is therefore A one about modernised majority rule and the market place .of ideas on line . I will are available back once more .
You Hectored us? we should Weligton you!
Does anybody else feel like flying to Spain, punching that ref in the face and kicking Weligton in the groin?
I’m content with locking both of them in a cage with The Yaya. But yeah I wanna kick that Pepe dude, he’s just so annoying to my liking
INTER ARE DOWN 0-1 !!!
dont know if anyone mentioned this yet, but there is a very good article from phil ball on soccernet, in which he states “I’m no fan of Real Madrid, despite the frequent accusations to the contrary…”
he’s a Sociedad man.
just out of curiosity, tutomate, Isaiah, at what time will the CIL launch?
(i suppose this measurement should be given in “minutes before match” since everyone is in different time zones)
Inter level through Stankovic 1-1
🙁
my streams keep dying 🙁 lame.
An Inter tie would be AWESOME.
Hey Yall, the CIL will start 30min before the Match so we can get streams going and so I can start approving people.
is your handle supposed to be “your tomato” in spanish?
tomatomatutomate, so i guess a literal translation is: here here is your tomato.
It doesn’t mean anything though, I just like the way it sounds in spanish.
or “take, take, your tomato”, since “toma” literally = “take” or loosely = “have”
true that
Iniesta hat trick today… wait for it.
That would be epic, and awesome…
Assists by Xavi, Messi and Ibra?
Tap-ins, or can we expect another Stamford Bridge Incident of 2009?
Off the top of my head, I’d say assists by Messi, Xavi, and a wild-card defenseman who just lobs one over to him, and he makes magic.
NOOOOORBEEEERTUUUUUUSSSS
Isaiah, are you refering to the Balotelli Red Card!!
I wasn’t, but sure, Nooooorbeeeertuuuuuussssss to that as well. I was just yelling out some Norbertus love.
haha…balotelli Red carded
Yes! Inter almost guaranteed to drop points! common Rubin Kazaan!
Official Line-Up:
Valdes
Alves-Puyol-Pique-Abidal
Xavi-Toure-Keita
Messi-Ibrahimovic-Iniesta
DUH!
That is a hugely depleted Inter side. No Thiago Motta, no Sneijder (midfield does’t have creativity) and no Milito, Eto’s strike partner. The possession statistics are almost the same, and with a man down Rubeh have a real chance.
no live blog for me. hopefully i can stream this match in peace–shoulda called in sick today *cough cough–otherwise i’ve gotta watch the replay @ 11pm. streaming it means barca-kiev gets my full love & attention.
Oh you lucky, lucky Inter…
They should be last of the group with 0 points and like -4 goal difference after those two really poor performances.
Nevertheless, we shall be warned over Rubin Kazan.
WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?? ISAIAH SEEMS TO KEEP ON GETTING THE LINEUPS RIGHT! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! HAS PEP REALLY STARTED TO READ THIS BLOG OR WHAT? WTF?!?!
Pep didn’t really need to sub of The Yaya, he could have instead done that with Keita or Messi bringing on Gai for him… And Busi is losing a LOT of balls, it would have made more sense had he come on for Keita. But yay! 3 points! Top of the table 🙂
We won half-assedly
But we won! I’ll take the three points. There was some good play, but the cohesiveness isn’t quite there.
so we won? and half-assedly? awesome. can’t wait for the replay.
I’m surprised by how much starting time Keita has been getting this term. Sure, Henry’s been a little off, and Spf has had some hankering injuries, but still, Keita’s practically been a fixture in the starting XI. What are all your thoughts?
He has been excellent. You can tell he has perfectly adapted, and brings us a lot in the middle. Obviously Pep has full confidence in him.
Definitely would help even if Henry as expected doesn’t turn up much this time… But only as long as we sign some one in January. Against bigger oppositions, Ghostface should be paired along with Xavi. Anderlecht are currently the Belgium league table-toppers, an away fixture with them is definitely a tough match for Ajax & so Suarez will definitely be played against them. Hope he proves some of his critics wrong who say he disappears when played outside Dutch.
P.S. If I wish Sevilla outscores Real this weekend, does it seem being too optimistic?
Thats because keita deserves to be a fixture and if you actually watch a barca game attentively he has been in excellent form and followedf it up by another tireless performance today. One thing to be clear Keita is NO iniesta but Iniesta is NO keita
Actually, I’ve watched my share of Barcelona matches this season, and would agree he looks impressive. He brings a more direct approach to the game that can sometimes make the difference when tiki-taka not tick-tocking. I’m still a little surprised that he’s started all 5 Liga fixtures while the Yaya has only started 2.
And for anyone who hasn’t been watching Sevilla play this season, I think Tim Stannard might have to reconsider his evaluation of them as an ‘also ran.’ It’s early in the season, but they look HOT.
‘He’ meaning Keita. That was clear, right?
I was reading all about how Weligton is gonna go unpunished for his assy play and ran across this bit in regards to Tito Vilanonva:
“Vilanova se negó a abandonar el túnel de vestuarios, desde donde trató de interrumpir el juego lanzando un balón al terreno de juego.”
He’s missing two matches because among other things “Villanova refused to leave the tunnel to the changing rooms, from which he tried to interrupt the match by throwing a ball onto the field.” Seems a little dramatic, but it made me laugh.
Last thing, the always hilarious AS claims that Barça won thanks to a little Messi magic, but mostly because the ref was biased. As always.
AS’ whole “Barça is favored by the referee wherever they fucking go” claim is a little ridiculous, no? I mean damn, every fucking game we get help from the refs? Are they watching the same match? Gosh, I can’t wait till El Clasico, although if we win, they will most definitely attribute that to the refs. Fuckers.
And suprisingly enough, Marca has been fairly positive towards Barça this season. After this win, they said, “Despite the doubts of Guardiola, the champions look ready to repeat.” They actually watch the matches, I guess.
Oh and Marca felt that Iniesta should have had a penalty.
Check the photo: *http://estaticos01.marca.com/albumes/2009/09/29/barcadinamo/1254252634_extras_albumes_0.jpg
Yeah, Marca is the better of the two. I just read AS for the laffs.
There’s a guy on Cameroon’s U-20 team named “Banana Yaya”. Wow.
Ya Ya Banana LOL
Pedro now has 3 goals for his credit to Henry’s 0. And that too when Pedro had very much less play-time compared to Henry and P! has been too inconsistent
Pedro > Henry
ahaha
Hansi Müller, former German international and TV expert, after the commentators praised Messi and Ibra most profusely:
“I still admire Xavi the most. I wish a player like Xavi some day wins the World Player of the Year award. At best this year.”
Heh, BS.com at its best again.In case they didnt realise messi was our top scorer in the cl last season too, and ibra was unlucky not to score today.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2009/09/29/1531189/champions-league-debate-are-barcelona-lacking-the-finishing
i think bs.com should hold the editorials and stick to reporting their misinterpreted news….such articles are ridiculous
pedro is our ukrainian killer!!
2 goals-shaktar, dynamo
Busi and his headers – I’m officially scared guys.
BTW Puyol is playing out of his mind these days.
With Dima’s arrival, El Capitan ain’t taking any chances so he has to step his game up to ensure his spot.
I don’t really consider Chyggy to be a threat to Puyol’s spot, more like an opportunity for him to be rested occasionally so he can pull off his crazy stunts for a longer time to come
I guess Puyol does…or least his agent 🙂
and that bs.com is at it again… Barca not scoring enough goals, lacking sharpness, because because we sold a certain striker to Inter. and of course Ibra has yet to score a goal in Europe. and oh if not for some Messi magic we could have lost today. hmm a sloppy Messi = magic to goal? lol.
Ibra didn’t score, but he did everything else.
I think we all agree that Messi wasn’t at his best today?
I mean.. he did some great things, but in the 1st half he was fairly anonymous.
The Swede was the one who’s magic we relied on, and Iniesta. Those two tore it up nasty style.. Iniesta with his runs along the line, and sharp passes to Ibra. And that Swedish mofo made some of the sweetest passes I’ve ever seen; should have had more than one assist, and a goal (can you ever head away from the keeper?)
To point out that he has yet to score a goal and to say he is not as effective as Eto’o, means you lose about 100% of your credibility.
But then again, we are talking about goal.com Their credibility is in the negatives ffs.
i assumed bs.com was as.com
both sources are laughable anyway hehe
Goal scoring rate in CL for both players: 0/2. Hmm. Who gives a hooey anyway?
Barça 4pts
Dynamo 3pts
Inter 2pts
Rubin 1pt
What was that about goalscorers?
I’m more than impressed with Ibra so far. But collectively we are not performing at the high level like last year. If we had scored one goal in 20-30 minutes we would almost surely kill the opponent. I guess parking bus and not being adventurous against us are the reasons to blame. Maybe off Henry too, I don’t know.
Messi showed some really bad touches/passes, but he also showed some brilliance. Was up out of my chair a few times when he had the ball, as the UEFA announcers said. Kind of a weird day for him. Love the Ibra/Iniesta stuff in the first half. And yeah, someone needs to have a talk with Busi.
Well if you want to compare with last year, we had an easier group then and no one has figured out Barca yet. I don’t think we’ll score that many this season, the main objective seems to be to win each game with minimum energy spent.
“win each game with minimum energy spent.”
Yeah I’ve noticed that some of the more experienced players will throttle their effort depending on the score and the opponent.
Nice to see everything becoming more efficient. Although, for maximum efficiency, some of those chances have to be converted. Can’t count how many sitters have gone missing.
Totally agree. Hmm…off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 very nice WIDE OPEN shots at goal keita has missed. If only he learned how to shoot (other than far screamers) with his feet! He’d be a total beast. That was a very sloppy game with many poor passes and bad touches for us, but heh a little magic can make all the difference.
well even when we had an easier group, we never produced too many high scoring games. we beat sporting and shahktar in our opening 2 matches but the wins weren’t easy. i was worried that we would see lots of heavy defending against us, but other than inter we’ve been let off easy 😛
NOOOOORBEEEERTUUUUUUSSSS!!!!!!
thats for La Liga review officials. u suck [insert Drogba clip]
or better yet, this clip Kevin used in an earlier review: //http://www.barcelonafootballblog.com/737/gut-full-of-hate-world-cup-edition/
I’m sorry, what’s the Nooooooorbeeeertuuuus thing all about?
I don’t understand either.
In the preview I noted that one of the linesmen was named Norbertus and then
asked everyone to yell his name whenever anything silly happened thanks to the red or linesman.
Then I just started yelling it basically for no reason cause it’s an awesome name. It was Norbertus that gave the dubious offside on Sheva in the second half that otherwise would probably have made it 2-1.
Also on the annulled goal, was it offside or a foul that was called? Either that too was dubious. Meaning, of course, that we should have won 15-2 or something.
*ref not red.
oooooh. *goes back to check out preview with new eyes*
It was a offside I think.
Pretty solid match, Ibra is getting better and better but what the fuck is going on with Busi, as far as I am concernced he ain’t good enough for Barca. His stupid passes and headers are going to cost us at least 5 or 6 goals this season which is something that could prove costly come May given the tight race with Real that’s certainly coming up. God help us when Keita and Yaya pack their bags for Africa in January.
when the africans leave, there will be three midfielders for three positions I believe, that is way too short:
busi-xavi-iniesta
– dm – am – am –
maybe txig or piquenbauer can play dm, but who am???!!! The list of players is kinda short for a team that hopes to win all competitions 🙁
I trust busi
btw… I totally loved how keita stepped aside in the high skill plays FCB was doing offensively, it’s a simple thought… if you’re not going to do anything better than what the others are doing, then do do nothing 😉 He plays well, but mainly when he steps aside and lets the creative midfielders iniesta and xavi do their thing. Yesterday iniesta was all over the place, playing like a free 10+winger, he came a lot of times to the midfield to help, to take the ball up when keita didn’t and construct some plays with xavi. Keita did well filling the spaces he left.
busi never used to make these kinda mistakes in his debut season; but last night, AGAIN, he did something stupid.
i wudn’t mind seeing marq in the DM role since without injuries, puyol, chygryn and pique will be enough to cover the back. i hav little confidence in busi after his last 3 or 4 games; let’s hope pep fixes him, cuz i think he’s stil a very decent player when he doesn’t make stupid mistakes.
Stats so far this season
Goals :
Messi 8
Ibra 5
Pedro 3
Keita 2
Bojan 2
Pique 2
Xavi 1
Alves 1
Assists :
Messi 4
Xavi 4
Alves 4
Ibra 4
Pedro 1
Keita 1
Busquets 1
P.S. Iniesta should have claimed the assist for that wonderful through ball to messi yesterday, except for the defender’s useless deflection
Thanks a lot, Boat Forever 🙂
Should have been 9 goals Messi and 5 from Ibra actually, but it’s better to lack perfectness now than at the end of the season.
you mean to say 6 from Ibra, right??
Marquez has played decently as DM in the 04-06 seasons on occassion and should be fine playing there during this years ACN. Busi can rotate with him as and when required leaving the central defending to a pairing of Puyol, Pique or Chygnasty. Plus guardiola is optimistic that Milito could be running out towards the end of the year.
Our problem area would be the lack of experienced backup in the AM roles where currently xavi and iniesta are the driving force. WE NEED ANOTHER AM in the Jan Window. Cesc would be ideal here. If not, JDS can be blooded and developed as an option, though considering this will be the business end of the season, im doubtful guardiola would want to experiment too much with the youngsters. Thiago is out as well which limits options further.
We must pray for another injury free season if we are to challenge on all fronts…but i remain optimistic 🙂
Hmmm, check out this article:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2009/09/30/1532377/spanish-inquisition-a-spy-in-the-house-of-barcelona
It seems that goal.com stands for scoring own goals. With all the massive number of attempts they make throughout numerous posts they publish on daily bases, their scoring rate is impressive, their general ranking is pathetic.
hahaha
BTW, ramzi are your articles still coming out or what?
Ever since Pep’s place closed down for real it’s been a mess getting good info and articles (Hector’s excepted)!
Hey now, what about my posts?
…jerk…
Your posts aren’t really “articles”.I mean they’re previews and good and stuff but I mean the usual tactical stuff. I didn’t mention Kxevin’s reviews for the same reason…
HD 720P torrent of the match
http://www.mininova.org/tor/3000914
or if you have rapidshare, megaupload, mediafire, zshare, or deposit files
1st half: http://www.multiupload.com/38O6UI5N0I
http://www.multiupload.com/L2GOFZQUZF
http://www.multiupload.com/8KGNJV8Y8U
http://www.multiupload.com/T28BT6DAM7
http://www.multiupload.com/7GHUMA03E8
http://www.multiupload.com/IHLL25VQH5
http://www.multiupload.com/XAX1PCSYG8
http://www.multiupload.com/9ZWG9YJ9BV
http://www.multiupload.com/GM4SLANG5U
http://www.multiupload.com/I0CUWHALKI
http://www.multiupload.com/DTVFOH9LW4
http://www.multiupload.com/T83TJTQG5E
2nd half: http://www.multiupload.com/3HOC00OS73
http://www.multiupload.com/18W19LCD9L
http://www.multiupload.com/D1H8RRWYOQ
http://www.multiupload.com/86DG9PME0X
http://www.multiupload.com/RFIM1IHD0S
http://www.multiupload.com/I6QL56VU64
http://www.multiupload.com/RCG8N6WYOI
http://www.multiupload.com/7DRUN44Y4V
http://www.multiupload.com/AH7W0RK8D5
http://www.multiupload.com/8HOFQZVMP7
http://www.multiupload.com/J7189OQ6IF
http://www.multiupload.com/HWP903TK2B
Links are interchangeable
New Revista de la Liga
*http://rapidshare.com/files/286756669/Revista_De_La_Liga_-_29-09-09.part1.rar
*http://rapidshare.com/files/286756671/Revista_De_La_Liga_-_29-09-09.part2.rar
*http://rapidshare.com/files/286749167/Revista_De_La_Liga_-_29-09-09.part3.rar
*http://rapidshare.com/files/286749168/Revista_De_La_Liga_-_29-09-09.part4.rar
or Mediafire
*http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=083f4a63779b1018ab1eab3e9fa335ca059c532a90f84380
interesting article about EE’s unsustainable spending spree and finances and the pressure it puts them under
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/29/sports/sports-uk-soccer-spain-finances.html
hey isaiah i like your previews with the historical slant, you’re like philballinho. a good model to follow i say. keep working on it.
puyol was held up on the FCB official site as carrying out “an authentic display of force” against kiev. he was the player with the most balls won back (15), he rejected or broke up 19 other passes, and his passing accuracy was 68/69. AND — get this — he didnt commit one foul all game. impressive. “sign here, please!”
I was canvasing something else about this on another web log. Interesting. Your position on it is diametrically. Fought to what I understand to begin with. I am still reflecting over the various points of view, but I ‘m disposed to a. Bully extent toward yours. And disregardless, that’s what is therefore A one about modernised majority rule and the market place .of ideas on line . I will are available back once more .