Eric Abidal

[dalitis8]

I don't think it would have been as disastrous if Piqué had been at CB. a big problem was Puyol was way too slow to get around on the cover, but still tried to do so and always ended up in no man's land helping nothing. so if Mathieu got by Mascherano, he basically had free-reign to cross. and in the middle, because Puyol had shifted, Abidal had 2 players to concern himself with.

definite tactical win for Emery tonight. Pep should have known that Puyi would be too slow on the cover and stuck with 433.

The best team in the world cannot rely on any CB to be fast enough in order to provide cover. The formation was all wrong. It should be totally scraped. As one poster said, why should we care about a formation that cannot be used against tough opponents? Imagine what would have happened if we were facing United tonight?

But why did Pep wait until half-time to shift Alves at RB? It cost us a second goal, and was it not for Soldado's excellent defensive work, we would have conceded a 3rd and game over.

 

[Yaya]

He is having a poor season defensively.

Shaky against RM, huge mistake against Porto which didn't cost Barcelona, Milan, Valencia....

 

[Phatroonaldo]

I don't understand why people are having a go at him. It was Pep's fault that caused a 4 vs 3 situation for the goals and Abidal had to mark 2 valencia players by himself, which is not possible.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

The way I see it Abidal has to confront something he has pushed to the back of his mind: the cancer. It seems as though he has been strong on the exterior to show that he has been strong and to not worry others who surround him. In doing that, he may be doing himself an injustice and carrying something he has no business carrying. He definitely needs to talk and release his feelings on this so he can move on, because something is obviously bothering him. I'm sure he'll be fine come mid season and we'll see the normal King Eric Abidal that we love. Excellent read btw FCBarca.

 

[coolasif]

The way I see it Abidal has to confront something he has pushed to the back of his mind: the cancer. It seems as though he has been strong on the exterior to show that he has been strong and to not worry others who surround him. In doing that, he may be doing himself an injustice and carrying something he has no business carrying. He definitely needs to talk and release his feelings on this so he can move on, because something is obviously bothering him. I'm sure he'll be fine come mid season and we'll see the normal King Eric Abidal that we love. Excellent read btw FCBarca.

Is he still suffering from cancer? I thought he was cured completely

 

[Galning]

Is he still suffering from cancer? I thought he was cured completely

He means emotionally.

 

[Barcafan 2304]

The way I see it Abidal has to confront something he has pushed to the back of his mind: the cancer. It seems as though he has been strong on the exterior to show that he has been strong and to not worry others who surround him. In doing that, he may be doing himself an injustice and carrying something he has no business carrying. He definitely needs to talk and release his feelings on this so he can move on, because something is obviously bothering him. I'm sure he'll be fine come mid season and we'll see the normal King Eric Abidal that we love. Excellent read btw FCBarca.

Agreed. What he ahs been through is tough, the stress it put him and his family under must be have been something we cannot comprehend unless having been through something akin to it ourselves. Impossible to know what is going on privately but i hope he seeks and gains support if that is the case.

 

[Co0ter]

Both those goals weren't Abidal's fault, they were Guardiola's. Why would you play a 3 man defense against the hottest team in the league? Stupidity. Dani-Masch-Puyol-Abidal would of done wonders. Now that Puyol is back he has no excuse for making bad decisions about our line-up or the defense in general. He has plenty of options and he picked the obvious wrong one.

 

[desoe]

Looking back at the way he totally bossed and owned Real Madrid during the 3-2 win on Camp Nou, it didn't look like something is bothering him at all.

Of course, he'll always carry with him the emotional burden of what happened, but at the end of the day it could be just one bad night and nothing more. It happens and just like Co0ter said - the 3-4-3 didn't help at all. I think he's fine.

 

[LaMessiah]

don't understand why the 3-4-3 is getting so much hate.. we all liked what was going on in the second half after the 60th minute mark and that was with a 3-man defense. it can and will work but the kinks have to be worked out. we are the team that imposes itself, not the other way around.
abidal made two huge blunders and we paid dearly for them. doesn't mean he's emotional about his tumor or that he's past his prime. he's been our most consistent defensive player this year so far.

 

[evilhita666]

In my opinion he's been on and off, alternating huge performances with crappy ones... He needs his consistency back, if he is consistently good then awesome and if he's consistently crap then Adriano and Maxwell will rejoice, so yeah, we got LB covered... I trust he will come good...

 

[Barcafan 2304]

Both those goals weren't Abidal's fault, they were Guardiola's. Why would you play a 3 man defense against the hottest team in the league? Stupidity. Dani-Masch-Puyol-Abidal would of done wonders. Now that Puyol is back he has no excuse for making bad decisions about our line-up or the defense in general. He has plenty of options and he picked the obvious wrong one.

This. Pep is fantastic but let's be honest here, he got it wrong Tuesday and needs to ditch this 3 man defence idea

 

[estranged]

don't understand why the 3-4-3 is getting so much hate..

simple because it will get tormented by any solid team who knows how to counter attack, i.e. Valencia.

 

[Barcafan 2304]

Put it this way, i will cack my pants if it was employed in El Clasico!

 

[coolasif]

In my opinion he's been on and off, alternating huge performances with crappy ones... He needs his consistency back, if he is consistently good then awesome and if he's consistently crap then Adriano and Maxwell will rejoice, so yeah, we got LB covered... I trust he will come good...

You have summarized it perfectly.Abidal needs his consistency back.If he is still shuttered due to his cancer ridden last season he should consult a psychologist.We need top notch from both Abidal and Puyol to win something this season.