8 - Pedri

[Morten]

Xavi was the player who created the most chances and most 'through balls' at that World Cup. You just making shit up to try the 'Barca'Spain were boring' angle?

Why would anyone be 'haunted' by that WC?

Cool, so he did something with the ball after all, whatever.

Im not making shit up, Spain were boring in 2010, its just how it is, they spent 95% of the game passing it sideways and backwards.
Sorry if i dont find endless pass-sequences all that entertaining.

 

[Bobo32]

Aaye, but we must put some perspective. What if we changed Pedri and De Jong for a 18 year old Iniesta and 23 year old Xavi.

I think it would no doubt be the same with young Xavi and Iniesta, with Busquets behind.
I think it could be similar with Puig and Roberto (or much rather Thiago but alas). Puig and Ilaix played a 70/30 game yesterday, admittedly not against Sevilla, but still.

---
Here is one of the first longer compilations I found with Xavis best passes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Tjz_weKOY
Keep in mind it's over a ~20 year period playing mostly in dominant teams, often against opponents that have given up.
Of course a lot of the passes are great, some are genious (Xavi was a genious), but most of the more spectacular passes are from Qatar...
Most passes go in a straight line into a started run where he finds the foot. He makes most of these passes after being free on the midfield, advancing calmly with his head up. Even with these passes he was maybe 90% sure they would succeed, most of them. And watching the compilation, the timing and direction of the passes are easy to spot before they are made.

 

[serghei]

Cool, so he did something with the ball after all, whatever.

Im not making shit up, Spain were boring in 2010, its just how it is, they spent 95% of the game passing it sideways and backwards.
Sorry if i dont find endless pass-sequences all that entertaining.

Maybe if the other teams wouldn't have parked the bus being scared of that Spain/Barca core... we could have seen more spectacular games. Spain received 0 goals in the knockout games, this tells you everything you need to know about how feared they were by the other teams. Everyone was scared to open themselves up because it was a possibility that Spain would trash them with the players they had at the time.

 

[vegitot]

I think it would no doubt be the same with young Xavi and Iniesta, with Busquets behind.
I think it could be similar with Puig and Roberto (or much rather Thiago but alas). Puig and Ilaix played a 70/30 game yesterday, admittedly not against Sevilla, but still.

---
Here is one of the first longer compilations I found with Xavis best passes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Tjz_weKOY
Keep in mind it's over a ~20 year period playing mostly in dominant teams, often against opponents that have given up.
Of course a lot of the passes are great, some are genious (Xavi was a genious), but most of the more spectacular passes are from Qatar...
Most passes go in a straight line into a started run where he finds the foot. He makes most of these passes after being free on the midfield, advancing calmly with his head up. Even with these passes he was maybe 90% sure they would succeed, most of them. And watching the compilation, the timing and direction of the passes are easy to spot before they are made.

" Saving the best for last, Xavi assisted the 73rd-minute semi-final winner against Germany ? a match in which he created seven chances to Germany?s three while completing 105 of his 113 passes. His 30 chances created were a tournament best regardless of whether you measure it by total or per 90, and he created 10 more than next-best Mesut ?zil. Xavi accounted for 20 of Spain?s through balls, also a tournament best ahead of ?zil?s 17.

And then there?s everything about Xavi that made Spain Spain at their peak: There have been 18 players to complete at least 400 passes in a single World Cup. Xavi completed 599 in 2010, which is the most ever, and it came with a 91.2% success rate, which trails only Busquets in 2010 (92.1) and Isco in 2018 (91.4) among non-defenders in that 400-plus group. His 84.2% passing accuracy ending in the final third is unmatched among all players in that group. And for anyone clinging exclusively to this midfield being great at looking good while struggling to do much with it, Xavi was a part of a tournament-best 65 sequences ending in a shot. At a per-90 rate, his 9.2 trailed only Messi and Brazil?s Dani Alves and Felipe Melo.

Spain managed 17.2 such sequences per match, and for the sake of comparison, Busquets (4.1) and Iniesta (6.1) barely add up to more sequences ending in shots per 90 than Xavi.

He wasn?t just a key part of sequences leading to attempts on goal. He was also reliable with the ball while repeatedly receiving it in advanced and contested positions, which was absolutely key for Spain sustaining threat and limiting counters. His 568 passes received in 2010 are the most by a player in a single World Cup. Now, that doesn?t mean much if he?s constantly receiving the ball in harmless positions. But Xavi was one of six players in the tournament with an average sequence starting location at least 52 metres from goal, yet he was dispossessed 14 times. That works out to 40.6 passes received per dispossession. The other five ? Messi, Sneijder, Landon Donovan, Diego Forl?n and Simone Pepe ? had a combined average of less than half that (19.9)."

https://www.statsperform.com/resource/5966-touches-eight-goals-the-numbers-beneath-spains-polarizing-2010-world-cup/

Message back when Puig can do it in World cup level. It will never happen

 

[JamDav1982]

Cool, so he did something with the ball after all, whatever.

Im not making shit up, Spain were boring in 2010, its just how it is, they spent 95% of the game passing it sideways and backwards.
Sorry if i dont find endless pass-sequences all that entertaining.

You are making shit up if claim Xavi was a side pass merchant in 2010 when he in fact created more chances and made more through balls than any other player at tournament.

Comes down to you being stained by that Barca/Spain team and its dominance to point try and change history to justify it.

 

[vegitot]

You are making shit up if claim Xavi was a side pass merchant in 2010 when he in fact created more chances and made more through balls than any other player at tournament.

Comes down to you being stained by that Barca/Spain team and its dominance to point try and change history to justify it.

Spain only had a healthy David Villa as a striker. Torres started to decline and every teams parked the bus.

 

[Morten]

You are making shit up if claim Xavi was a side pass merchant in 2010 when he in fact created more chances and made more through balls than any other player at tournament.

Comes down to you being stained by that Barca/Spain team and its dominance to point try and change history to justify it.

Not at all, i enjoyed watching Spain 08 and 12 for the most part, i, and many others, found Spain 2010 boring to watch though, its that simple.

 

[vegitot]

Not at all, i enjoyed watching Spain 08 and 12 for the most part, i, and many others, found Spain 2010 boring to watch though, its that simple.

Funny that 2010 is considered the peak of Spain's tikitaka.

 

[mc_lovin]

I remember Spain being much more sterile in 2012 than 2010 (apart from the final). 2012 was virtually just Iniesta and Alba doing stuff.

 

[Morten]

Funny that 2010 is considered the peak of Spain's tikitaka.

Sure you aren't talking about club level? 2010 or so is certainly considered peak tikitaka at Barcelona.

Perhaps Spain as well, though that certainly didnt have the same attacking quality.

 

[Bobo32]

Not at all, i enjoyed watching Spain 08 and 12 for the most part, i, and many others, found Spain 2010 boring to watch though, its that simple.

I enjoyed all three tournaments, no doubt were Spain lucky some games (as winners always are) but I thought they showed great control in 2010 most of the time. I enjoy that kind of play, maybe they could've looked more 'free' if Xabi was benched and they played Barcelonas midfield full out, but at the time I thought Del Bosque played the right team (too much patience/trust in Torres though IIRC)

Are you a Madrid fan posting on this forum, btw?

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

I remember Spain being much more sterile in 2012 than 2010 (apart from the final). 2012 was virtually just Iniesta and Alba doing stuff.

yeah i remember when people in em 2012 said that Spain's time is over. Even though they won we didnt see the Tiki taka magic beside the final.

 

[vegitot]

Sure you aren't talking about club level? 2010 or so is certainly considered peak tikitaka at Barcelona.

Perhaps Spain as well, though that certainly didnt have the same attacking quality.

Yeah, Spain as well. Germany could not even see the ball in the semifinal. Spain in 2008 had better fowards because of peak Torres and Villa but Spain in 2010 had better midfield.

 

[Bobo32]

Here is Pedris game yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OCWThrLdFQ
This video lacks at least one mistake from him, a missed pass near the benches.

 

[FCBarca]

I counted 2 clear ones early but no biggie, he is an excellent interior for us and always looking for Messi