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I hope Alves stays. He played well in the important matches last season. Yes he is past his peak, but so are most of the Barca core. Barca's main problem last year was scoring goals in big matches. Alves was part of the problem but a small part.

Argentina has to go the way of Chile, Spain, and to some extent Mexico. They have to boss the ball and leverage their ball-playing and dribbling. They don't have the athletes (unlike the big Euro teams) to defend a lot or play on the counter. Tata seems like a good coach for such a project.

It doesn't matter for me who the 'greatest' is, whatever that means. I hope it doesn't matter to Messi, either. For me, I enjoyed watching Maradona and I enjoy watching Messi. Both have wonderful aesthetic qualities, Maradona a bit more artistic and streetwise, and Messi with the amazing...

+++++ I only watch Barca because I enjoy the way they play and they promote from within, which leads to better aesthetics than mercenary football. If this changes, then I won't enjoy watching them play so I won't!! I haven't watched a Bundesliga match in decades because it's just not my style...

Di Maria, Aguero, and Messi injured. Slow and not particularly good on the ball defenders. Good right back, so-so left back. Masch was great, but Biglio and Perez are middle of the road. All in all, they did the best they could. They couldn't press and run a high line because their defense was...

It'll be difficult to bring changes to such an entrenched hierarchy, including clubs. They might need another World Cup humiliation for spur changes.

You're not the only one. Clearly Messi was not fit. For those of you who like stats, just look at his distance run. I think he vomited in this match, too. From afar, I think Messi's health needs a good evaluation. I think eight or so years of constant work without significant rest and...

Guys, don't compare Masc's passing and decision making with Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, etc. These guys are flirting with perfection. Masc is only one level below, making him better almost everybody else out there. Masc is better defensively than Busquets - he reads just as well but has more speed...

I don't have the stats, but I believe Brazil and Holland have committed the most fouls per match. Holland was particularly nasty against the smallish teams - Chile and Mexico. The deliberate persistent fouling and intimidation was clear. So this is not just about 2010; this Dutch team is the...

Oh, that was perfect. The perfect ending for a brutish Dutch team - suffering in penalty kicks. Let's hope this is the end of the ugly football that has taken over the Dutch national team over the past few years. Of course Argentina did play a conservative, fearful, boring match, but this was...

Ohhhh, that was perfect. That was emphatic enough for Brazilian football to do some soul searching and hopefully get back to beautiful football. When they do, I'll be back cheering for them as I did for Zico and company. Until then, viva Spain, viva Chile, viva Argentina! Oh, and viva Barcelona.

Hope Argentina beat the Dutch bullies. Argentina-Germany would be a good match with good football. Lots of players good on the ball. It would be entertaining. Brazil-Holland will be kickfest. I wouldn't watch it - not my kind of thing.

I hope Germany beats them badly and Brazil's 30 year love affair with football forca comes to an end.

Now that's a player Barca should buy. Him, Iniesta, and Messi together would be fun to watch.

You'll see Ronaldo marked out of the game by Atletico or Chelsea, who'll sit back and shut the door.

Just a reminder that some of us enjoy watching beautiful football even if our team loses. If I'm interested in winning only, I'll hire Mourinho, who is the best I've seen at implementing the negative tactics that maximize the chances of winning. Is there a 'balance'? Not as much as you think...

Hope he leaves Bayern. It was audacious of him to think that he could take tiki taka to Germany! Just him, a single coach, could change how a whole nation played!! His only choice is to go back home to Spain or to forget his ideologies and coach to win like most other coaches. Hope he choses the...

Right on. Tiki taka is not something a that can just travel with a coach! Barca had the perfect players and the perfect mentality and the football cultural background for tiki taka. I don't care which coach you take to Bayern or Man U, you're not going to get Germans or English to play that...

Just FIY, Alves was not the first to eat the banana. There is at least one case I can remember - a few years ago an African player in Sweden picked up a banana and ate it. Love beats hate anytime, and IMHO giving a 'racist' a hug is often better than getting the cops to pick him up and throw...

Pep has no choice but to be too clever. How else can he differentiate his Bayern from Heynckes'? Heynckes' team was superior because they played the way Germans are bred to play - pragmatically and physically. Pep has tried to add tiki taka to the mix, and though, credit to him, it did not harm...