Gerardo "Tata" Martino

[Kerrybai]

He doesn't have the skill set to be the player xavi is in terms of being a sort of roaming pivot but he does have all the playmaking abilities of 2008 xavi as evidenced by his 16 (fucking 16) assists this season. And I believe if iniesta and Busquets do their thing the three of them together can make up for the loss of xavi especially with neymar providing plenty of creativity if iniesta has to stay back at times.

Edit: And I know they have yet to play against the best teams together but every time Iniesta-Busi-Cesc is played we have a great game and win comfortably.

Yeah I hope Fab, Iniesta, Busquets will become the new holy trinity. We will need to be ruthless and not be sentimental playing Xavi beyond his years. Right now he still offers a lot but we need to move on soon.

I think Busquets is the key to our midfield future.

 

[DinhoR10]

Yeah I hope Fab, Iniesta, Busquets will become the new holy trinity. We will need to be ruthless and not be sentimental playing Xavi beyond his years. Right now he still offers a lot but we need to move on soon.

I think Busquets is the key to our midfield future.

Probably Since we have effectively reached the end of an era with Valdes/Puyol/Xavi basically out, iniesta being the only one that will be a regular next season, Tata needs to force the board to give him a good mixture of La Masia promotions (Rafinha, maybe Deulofeu, samper and Suarez), sell off the slack (Song,Tello,Cuenca,Afellay and Bojan for god's sake if they won't bring him back) and a couple of imports, a good cb and a cm or box to box player maybe (I'm looking at you kroos )

 

[Kerrybai]

Barcelona have now kept 20 Clean Sheets in 41 official games this season (48.8%) #fcblive

Last season: 17 in 60 games (28.3%)

 

[Ini8]

Barcelona have now kept 20 Clean Sheets in 41 official games this season (48.8%) #fcblive

Last season: 17 in 60 games (28.3%)

That's a big improvement already. A few of our CB's have stepped up this season, but Tata has to take some of the credit for that. He has improved our tactics in that aspect. We still need a CB though since it seems like Puyol's age has caught up with him, unfortunately.

 

[barca7788]

lot of credit goes to valdes too

 

[Alissa]

I like him, had the right approach for the game last night. His only mistake imo was not including Neymar earlier.

 

[Behrox]

I like him, had the right approach for the game last night. His only mistake imo was not including Neymar earlier.

actually I thought the sub came at the right time he made sure that City had no intention to come out and play first and then killed them by sending in Neyboy

 

[beautifulgame]

actually I thought the sub came at the right time he made sure that City had no intention to come out and play first and then killed them by sending in Neyboy

this

 

[serghei]

Gotta love City fans. They say they didn't enjoy how Barca played last night, agaist a City that defended with 9 men 75% of the time AT THEIR HOME GROUND. No shit!

 

[FCBarca]

Gotta love City fans. They say they didn't enjoy how Barca played last night, agaist a City that defended with 9 men 75% of the time AT THEIR HOME GROUND. No shit!

This is reflective of the Premiership myopia of the past, goes to show they are far from a big club yet

 

[Chainsaw]

actually I thought the sub came at the right time he made sure that City had no intention to come out and play first and then killed them by sending in Neyboy

Yep, Neymar sub's timing was spot on.

 

[serghei]

This is reflective of the Premiership myopia of the past, goes to show they are far from a big club yet

Exactly. They play the result, they don't get the result, and then go bitter. You either want a good match, a spectacle, or you want to snatch a win at all costs (i.e. letting the grass high, parking the bus etc.). It's like buying a vanilla ice-cream and complaining it doesn't taste like chocolate.

 

[Gooch]

It was a cautious approach with possession along with getting back defensively, with the attitude that a draw is good enough.

It's these last two features, willingness to defend deeper at times and settle for a draw, that differentiate this performance from what we've seen in the last couple of years.

This is good - Tata has done what's necessary, I think. But let's not get too unrealistic. It would have been very tough for Barca had City gotten the first goal.

 

[serghei]

It was a cautious approach with possession along with getting back defensively, with the attitude that a draw is good enough.

It's these last two features, willingness to defend deeper at times and settle for a draw, that differentiate this performance from what we've seen in the last couple of years.

This is good - Tata has done what's necessary, I think. But let's not get too unrealistic. It would have been very tough for Barca had City gotten the first goal.

First goal? With what? Two shots in the middle of the goal (Negredo and Silva) that Valdes caught? The clearest chance to score, besides the goals, was Alves's shot, that almost scraped the post. We controlled the match, had one goal wrongfully dissalowed and a pen. in the first half not given. I'd say we were clearly the dominant team on the night. Most of City's fans are the epitome of delusional fanatics. Some posters on Bluemoon think they played a collosal match last night, that we were lucky, helped by the ref., didn't create any chances and that we're gonna lose 5-1 on Camp Nou. Funny stuff, really.

 

[Behrox]

First goal? With what? Two shots in the middle of the goal (Negredo and Silva) that Valdes caught? The clearest chance to score, besides the goals, was Alves's shot, that almost scraped the post. We controlled the match, had one goal wrongfully dissalowed and a pen. in the first half not given. I'd say we were clearly the dominant team on the night. Most of City's fans are the epitome of delusional fanatics. Some posters on Bluemoon think they played a collosal match last night, that we were lucky, helped by the ref., didn't create any chances and that we're gonna lose 5-1 on Camp Nou. Funny stuff, really.

Thats not funny man its sad those guys really need help bad. There is one thing being optimistic but another going full retard delusional