In my fantasy life, I’m a Barca-crazed contributor over at Barcelona Football Blog. In my real life, I’m a full-time journalist at the Chicago Tribune, based in Chicago, Illinois.
it is difficult to see anyone else as MOTM in this case. alves, henry, ibra, xavi and pique deserve honorable mention.
That was kinda my view, but a few folks were offering up Pique, who truly was a monster out there. Have to look into his contract state. Seems to me that the longer he goes unsweetened, so to speak, his price goes up. Question: Is he our besr defender right now? I know that Puyol is our Captain and soul, but the question is worth asking.
I think he is and has been since business end of last season. In addition to his defending, which is rarely dirty, i really like his forward forays. He some times drives us and is very comfortable with the ball.
The clearances of Pique are amazing. Both using his head and his feet. He is truly a class apart. The other thing is his play making ability. That too is quite exquisite.
it’s great to see how quickly he’s adapted to la seleccion too. easily the best CB of the squad (puyol second?), he’ll be one of the gems in south africa this summer for sure
He’s a very sober player, also love the fact he unexpectedly ventures forward. His forward runs often create true matchup problems for opposing teams because he doesn’t do it too often, keeping the element of surprise. Secondly, he’s physically very strong yet not too fast nor does he looks to be extremely mobile or comfortable with the ball at his feet. All these points create a certain underestimation by opponents, at least that is sometimes how I perceive them perceiving him, which in turn increases the efficiency of his runs. (what I mean is he looks tall and is deceivingly slow, so opposition thinks “hey its not Messi nor any other magician”, lets take a little brake and press only for 95%. This, in combination with his vision and timing of the forward adventures makes them even more dangerous)
Goodness from Phil Ball. We’ve all said it here before, but the affirmation from one of my fave footy scribes is a nice thing.
Kxevin, Phil Ball wonders why there isn’t a socio-cultural tension between atletico and Barca like the one with Real, maybe it’s because the enemy of your enemy is your friend? 🙂
In addition to placing behind Real Madrid so often over the years, it’s regional vs central politics, and in some sense, left vs right. Athletico are in Madrid, but they aren’t the Royalists/Francoistas that REAL Madrid are, or were, I suppose it’s safe to say now (It helps that Franco is still dead, as they used to say on SNL). Catalunya was the last to fall in the Spanish Civil War, and there is still some animosity there. Yes, Catalonians hate Real Madrid, but the Basques in Bilbao really, really hate them Real. Makes for great atmosphere for a match, though.
I would personally make a case that, even in his tender young age, Pique is one of the best CB’s in world football.
Chea!
now really!
TV for tomorrow’s game? GolTV doesnt have it listed
ESPN Deportes
Sport is saying that Pique won’t play the next match cause his ankle wasn’t feeling too great and Aguero stomped on it…Although he doesn’t have any fracture the medical staff prefers him to not play…which means….
MARQUEZ!!! YAY
Lets see the Marquez – Chiggy duo!
Should be okay, though I’d rather see Puyol/Chiggy. And I want Abidal back. Don’t think Aguero scores if our French Greyhound is in the house.
And don’t forget, everyone, which I’m sure Isaiah will make very clear in the preview coming any moment now… that Adriano (still not good enough to get a real name) is playing defense for Racing.
This is what it says:
“Gudjohnsen joined Ligue 1 club AS Monaco FC on a two year deal. Two days later when the move to Monaco was completed, came something unexpected an Icelandic TV channel Stöð 2 Sport whom worship Gudjohnsen as footballing god and brought the TV rights to France football just because of him and will only shown games when he plays.”
Wtf?
(Im not putting in a link cause then I have to wait for it to be approved but you check it out in wikipedia)
Woah “As a player, he is the best person who I have ever coached.” Guardiola said this over the improvment keita has made way to praise Keitii
keita has played more minutes this year in official games than anyone except valdes
He was caught “gesturing to fans of Young Boys”.. 😀 😛
Sport and Marca are reporting that Gabriel Milito suited up today and took part in some training. He is still not in full training, and a comeback date still isn’t set, but this is good news, right?
my vote should be fore Messi…but i clicked the wrong one
Not a problem, a lot of people miss “marking” Messi.
😀
Henry wasn’t MotM (tie between Pique and Messi), but after looking at this summary video of his last game, that was a really good performance. Better than I thought right after
it is difficult to see anyone else as MOTM in this case. alves, henry, ibra, xavi and pique deserve honorable mention.
That was kinda my view, but a few folks were offering up Pique, who truly was a monster out there. Have to look into his contract state. Seems to me that the longer he goes unsweetened, so to speak, his price goes up. Question: Is he our besr defender right now? I know that Puyol is our Captain and soul, but the question is worth asking.
I think he is and has been since business end of last season. In addition to his defending, which is rarely dirty, i really like his forward forays. He some times drives us and is very comfortable with the ball.
The clearances of Pique are amazing. Both using his head and his feet. He is truly a class apart. The other thing is his play making ability. That too is quite exquisite.
it’s great to see how quickly he’s adapted to la seleccion too. easily the best CB of the squad (puyol second?), he’ll be one of the gems in south africa this summer for sure
He’s a very sober player, also love the fact he unexpectedly ventures forward. His forward runs often create true matchup problems for opposing teams because he doesn’t do it too often, keeping the element of surprise. Secondly, he’s physically very strong yet not too fast nor does he looks to be extremely mobile or comfortable with the ball at his feet. All these points create a certain underestimation by opponents, at least that is sometimes how I perceive them perceiving him, which in turn increases the efficiency of his runs. (what I mean is he looks tall and is deceivingly slow, so opposition thinks “hey its not Messi nor any other magician”, lets take a little brake and press only for 95%. This, in combination with his vision and timing of the forward adventures makes them even more dangerous)
Goodness from Phil Ball. We’ve all said it here before, but the affirmation from one of my fave footy scribes is a nice thing.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=678246&sec=europe&root=europe&cc=5901
Kxevin, Phil Ball wonders why there isn’t a socio-cultural tension between atletico and Barca like the one with Real, maybe it’s because the enemy of your enemy is your friend? 🙂
In addition to placing behind Real Madrid so often over the years, it’s regional vs central politics, and in some sense, left vs right. Athletico are in Madrid, but they aren’t the Royalists/Francoistas that REAL Madrid are, or were, I suppose it’s safe to say now (It helps that Franco is still dead, as they used to say on SNL). Catalunya was the last to fall in the Spanish Civil War, and there is still some animosity there. Yes, Catalonians hate Real Madrid, but the Basques in Bilbao really, really hate them Real. Makes for great atmosphere for a match, though.
I would personally make a case that, even in his tender young age, Pique is one of the best CB’s in world football.
Chea!
now really!
TV for tomorrow’s game? GolTV doesnt have it listed
ESPN Deportes
Sport is saying that Pique won’t play the next match cause his ankle wasn’t feeling too great and Aguero stomped on it…Although he doesn’t have any fracture the medical staff prefers him to not play…which means….
MARQUEZ!!! YAY
Lets see the Marquez – Chiggy duo!
Should be okay, though I’d rather see Puyol/Chiggy. And I want Abidal back. Don’t think Aguero scores if our French Greyhound is in the house.
And don’t forget, everyone, which I’m sure Isaiah will make very clear in the preview coming any moment now… that Adriano (still not good enough to get a real name) is playing defense for Racing.
OH GOD HOW MANY TIMES WILL LAPORTA SAY THE SAME THING?
http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2009/09/21/1514681/barcelona-president-joan-laporta-believes-lionel-messi-is
LOL Has anyone read Gudjohnsen’s wikipedia page?
This is what it says:
“Gudjohnsen joined Ligue 1 club AS Monaco FC on a two year deal. Two days later when the move to Monaco was completed, came something unexpected an Icelandic TV channel Stöð 2 Sport whom worship Gudjohnsen as footballing god and brought the TV rights to France football just because of him and will only shown games when he plays.”
Wtf?
(Im not putting in a link cause then I have to wait for it to be approved but you check it out in wikipedia)
Woah “As a player, he is the best person who I have ever coached.” Guardiola said this over the improvment keita has made way to praise Keitii
keita has played more minutes this year in official games than anyone except valdes
Wow.. Pep looks like he’s on YAYA mode..
//http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/gif/20090921/pepruedal2.jpg
Eye Candy Busacca banned for three matches..
//http://www.goal.com/en/news/1863/world-cup-2010/2009/09/21/1514737/swiss-referee-massimo-busacca-gets-three-match-ban
He was caught “gesturing to fans of Young Boys”.. 😀 😛
Sport and Marca are reporting that Gabriel Milito suited up today and took part in some training. He is still not in full training, and a comeback date still isn’t set, but this is good news, right?
my vote should be fore Messi…but i clicked the wrong one
Not a problem, a lot of people miss “marking” Messi.
😀
Henry wasn’t MotM (tie between Pique and Messi), but after looking at this summary video of his last game, that was a really good performance. Better than I thought right after
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qRwHvil41o