Eric Abidal

Barcafan 2304

Barcafan 2304

New member
Yip, he has had poor games but shown in others his worth. For instance, in the supercup, crap at the Bernabeu but immense at the Camp Nou
 
E

estranged

Guest
LaMessiah said:
we played it in the second half, to great success while almost turning the game around. and, if i'm not mistaken, that was against valencia
Click to expand...

yea but Valencia sat back a lot more during the 2nd half since they were quite tired from all that pressing and were more interested in preserving their lead rather than adding to it, if that game went on for another 5 minutes we would have grabbed the winner, it was obvious they couldn't keep that intensity up for 90 minutes. last year we played a 4 man defense and even then it was a similar story because that is the nature of valencia's game. but they created way way more chances last year than this game, mainly because of our 3 man defense/dani not tracking back.
 
Last edited:
LaMessiah

LaMessiah

New member
estranged said:
yea but Valencia sat back a lot more during the 2nd half since they were quite tired from all that pressing and were more interested in preserving their lead rather than adding to it, if that game went on for another 5 minutes we would have grabbed the winner, it was obvious they couldn't keep that intensity up for 90 minutes. last year we played a 4 man defense and even then it was a similar story because that is the nature of valencia's game. but they created way way more chances last year than this game, mainly because of our 3 man defense/dani not tracking back.
Click to expand...
very true

but in my opinion we could've had similar success in the first half with some personnel changes. like keita off for thiago and mascherano and puyol switching. i think it had more to do with where the players were playing, not the formation
 
Co0ter

Co0ter

Senior Member
Pep made two mistakes that game.

1) Playing a 3 man defense against Valencia. I LOVE the idea of a 3 man defense, but against the hottest team in La Liga and only in the 4th round? No, it was a mistake. Playing a 3 man defense is new to us and Pep should of kept testing/perfecting it against weaker teams like Osasuna before using it against a top 5, counter-attacking team like Valencia.

2) Keita + Sergio in the midfield has never worked and will never work. Everytime he's started them together in the midfield...we've looked unorganized and extremely slow on the ball. Keita doesn't have the footballing brain to pass quickly and Sergio is famous for his lazy touches and taking too long on the ball in bad positions.

Everyone jumps on a players back when they underperform, but to me Pep has been the main reason behind us struggling this season. He's made some very poor decisions line-up and substitute wise. The sad thing is point 1) could of been easily avoided and 2) is something I've caught onto since last season...why hasn't he? :(
 
LaMessiah

LaMessiah

New member
Co0ter said:
Pep made two mistakes that game.

1) Playing a 3 man defense against Valencia. I LOVE the idea of a 3 man defense, but against the hottest team in La Liga and only in the 4th round? No, it was a mistake. Playing a 3 man defense is new to us and Pep should of kept testing/perfecting it against weaker teams like Osasuna before using it against a top 5, counter-attacking team like Valencia.
Click to expand...
personally i think there's more to be gained by playing it against a team like Valencia early in the year. We could probably beat Osasuna with a 2-man defense but you try something new against a good, in form team and the results are more indicative of if it will work as a lasting formation. I agree he made mistakes but, imo, it wasn't the formation it was the personnel playing that formation.

2) Keita + Sergio in the midfield has never worked and will never work. Everytime he's started them together in the midfield...we've looked unorganized and extremely slow on the ball. Keita doesn't have the footballing brain to pass quickly and Sergio is famous for his lazy touches and taking too long on the ball in bad positions.

Everyone jumps on a players back when they underperform, but to me Pep has been the main reason behind us struggling this season. He's made some very poor decisions line-up and substitute wise. The sad thing is point 1) could of been easily avoided and 2) is something I've caught onto since last season...why hasn't he? :(
Click to expand...
I don't agree with this point at all. Almost every game Keita plays, he's playing it in the midfield with Sergio, so what you're basically saying is 90% of the games he's played in it has 'never worked?' that's crazy talk. when keita's in the game, no matter who's at DM, the passing and flow of the team is going to suffer, no doubt about it. but he has his role and use in the team. And, plenty of people have been blaming pep for what happened the other night.
 
FCBarca

FCBarca

Mike the Knife
ZeeMessi said:
I think he has still got his pace for his age is fantastic!
Click to expand...

Absolutely, it's remarkable really...And he's oozing confidence going forward...Such a departure from his early time with the club where he was absolutely timid going forward...Truth is, I think he's got another gear & aspect to his game he could still take his game to
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Home of Barca Fans

Top