Andrés Iniesta

[Juan03]

 

[fareast]

Oh my god....
He looked much better against Mallorca than he has been lately.

Hopefully he will be available for Arsenal home match and most importantly El Classico

 

[mike2334a]

we going miss u Iniesta.... he should be back for el classico but doubt the 2nd leg for CL

 

[Gnegneri]

He'll play in the return. Not the whole game, but he'll play.

 

[Cal-FCB]

I thought he was excellent yesterday, probs his best game for some time. Really annoying he's now injured again. Hopefully he'll be back for the return leg. Luckily Xavi is back now so at least one of them is fit.

 

[Gnegneri]

as he is injured let me face you with a dilemma:


There is a world Cup this year and he has a serious chance of getting the title with Spain. But there is also a second consecutive CL final at the Bernabeu ... which would he choose? Would he go for the CL final again and blowing himself up like last year, ir would he pass that and go for the WC?


Well OK, not really a dilemma as he goes for the WC obviously but still, would be interesting to see it in reality (without wishing him injuries etc, you know what I mean)

 

[Aasim]

I think he would honestly go for the CL final..

But unlike last year, his injury was early on in the season (i think it was jan/feb). This year it's start of April and he'll be abck for the run in more refreshed so hopefull no injury in mid May.

 

[G.J]

as he is injured let me face you with a dilemma:


There is a world Cup this year and he has a serious chance of getting the title with Spain. But there is also a second consecutive CL final at the Bernabeu ... which would he choose? Would he go for the CL final again and blowing himself up like last year, ir would he pass that and go for the WC?


Well OK, not really a dilemma as he goes for the WC obviously but still, would be interesting to see it in reality (without wishing him injuries etc, you know what I mean)

WC no doubt. He has 2 medals in that "other" competition.

 

[fareast]

I think he would honestly go for the CL final..

But unlike last year, his injury was early on in the season (i think it was jan/feb). This year it's start of April and he'll be abck for the run in more refreshed so hopefull no injury in mid May.

I believe he would chose for the World Cup, let alone if he still struggled with injury, there are enough good player in Barca midfield, that able to contain our final rival candidate, like Muenchen or MU

 

[Gnegneri]

He would have made our midfield presence versus Arsenal even more ridiculous.

 

[desoe]

Yes,

and just imagine that he's coming back for the second leg and C(unt)esc is out for Arsenal. That's what I call ridiculous, knowing what happened last night.

 

[Aasim]

Is there a chance he might miss it? or will he be back for Bilbao?

 

[Barcaman]

I disagree. Iniesta has been out of form and I don't think it's a coincidence that we looked so dominating without him. Keita and Sergi were essential in our high pressure game and complemented Xavi perfectly.
Iniesta never really recovered to his old self after that injury in May and missed pre-season.

 

[Aasim]

Yeah he never had a preseason which is vital. Kind of ruined his year..

But i do think that Arsenal played in a way which would have suited him. Its immpossible to know if he had played well against Arsenal or if we would have scored more (or less) with him on the pitch but he can create something from nothing.

He also intimidates opponents before the game starts. Imagine Arsenal hearing Xavi and Iniesta playing in the 2nd leg after what happened when only Xavi was playing.. not nice.

 

[Metaphysical]

I disagree. Iniesta has been out of form and I don't think it's a coincidence that we looked so dominating without him. Keita and Sergi were essential in our high pressure game and complemented Xavi perfectly.
Iniesta never really recovered to his old self after that injury in May and missed pre-season.

while I agree, iniesta does pressure opponents and more importantly is a better player than keita so would amplify our attacking threat (especially on the left, which would lessen the need for our LB to get so far forward, which decreases the threat of walcott).

plus the way the lil' man, even when off-form, can glide away from markers and keep the ball when massively outnumbered helps to create so many chances. watch a youtube video of zlatan's goals for us so far, I did a few days ago and was surprised to see iniesta featuring in a lot of the moves.