Ibrahim Afellay

[Silver]

He needs time. I doubt he ever will be a starter, but he is a great back up. His versability and pace makes him the perfect sub for every match or back up for injured Pedro, Villa, Xavi, Iniesta.

 

[Barcaman]

I think he's best suited to be a sub for Messi. He has the mobility, vision and possesses a decent shot.

 

[10Rivaldo]

I don't think he'll ever be good enough to be a starter but he's a great backup and with his versatility he should still get a lot of playing time. 3 million was a bargain imo.

 

[yusuf]

been below par....i wonder how hard it is for him to figure out to stop crossing the ball in the box.....like nobody is there

 

[Aryagorn]

I think he's best suited to be a sub for Messi. He has the mobility, vision and possesses a decent shot.

I concur... But he lacks a lot of Messi's stuff to do it all on his own. But he'd be excellent playing just behind a striker, ala his Dutch teammates, VdV & Sneijder

 

[Ocurrente]

he is fast

 

[dalitis8]

He just gets his head down and runs...

I haven't seen much more than that (don't tell me goal against Almeria)

Simply not Barca material.

 

[Aryagorn]

He just gets his head down and runs...

I haven't seen much more than that (don't tell me goal against Almeria)

Simply not Barca material.

You need to follow Pep more carefully... "There's nothing called 'not barca material!' in the squad. Every body playing for Barca is a barca material!!" is what Pep says

 

[Ohio Catalan]

I don't get the hate for this guy. He comes in once in a blue moon and always puts in a solid performance. He's just come over in January, remember that. David Villa was 150x worse than Afellay against Villareal and no one made a big stink about it. He's got great potential and is clearly still transitioning into a new role in a new team in a new league. Cut him some slack. The way I've heard people scrutinizing his performances, they must have some high expectations He gets down on the wing, he attacks his man, he occasionally gets in behind and plays balls across the box - he even cuts in and puts shots on goal. Barcelona as a squad were underwhelming against Villareal, not Ibrahim Afellay. From what I've seen, he's adapted very well. I cannot see any reason to doubt that he will fit into this squad, especially considering his performances have been much more consistent than the likes of Adriano, and he's seen much less time on the field.

 

[Aryagorn]

I don't get the hate for this guy. He comes in once in a blue moon and always puts in a solid performance. He's just come over in January, remember that. David Villa was 150x worse than Afellay against Villareal and no one made a big stink about it. He's got great potential and is clearly still transitioning into a new role in a new team in a new league. Cut him some slack. The way I've heard people scrutinizing his performances, they must have some high expectations He gets down on the wing, he attacks his man, he occasionally gets in behind and plays balls across the box - he even cuts in and puts shots on goal. Barcelona as a squad were underwhelming against Villareal, not Ibrahim Afellay. From what I've seen, he's adapted very well. I cannot see any reason to doubt that he will fit into this squad, especially considering his performances have been much more consistent than the likes of Adriano, and he's seen much less time on the field.

What can we say other than 'the love for porter-boys!?'

Excellent post brother... And to think if Villa had done his job well Afellay might have been lauded for providing one or two great assists!

 

[iced1776]

been below par....i wonder how hard it is for him to figure out to stop crossing the ball in the box.....like nobody is there

What you mean to say is "i wonder how hard it is for Villa to figure out that he needs to make a near post run once in awhile". I thought Affelay's crosses were fine, he hit them hard and kept them low for the rest of our mighty mouse squad, he just didn't have anybody working to get on the end of them. Iniesta could have gotten to one at the far post too but he didn't make a strong enough run.

 

[Aryagorn]

What you mean to say is "i wonder how hard it is for Villa to figure out that he needs to make a near post run once in awhile". I thought Affelay's crosses were fine, he hit them hard and kept them low for the rest of our mighty mouse squad, he just didn't have anybody working to get on the end of them. Iniesta could have gotten to one at the far post too but he didn't make a strong enough run.

Exactly... It's more Villa's failure than Afellay's who was clearly instructed to strict to limited role, that is keep the width in tact on the left hand side of the pitch. With such a great name playing in the centre he'd sure expect him to predict the right position at least once! And of course there's a clear lack of understanding!!
But we've to say Afellay has been a bit nervous too. For example, that move where he showed that incredible pace of his to reach a through ball and went into very open space, he should have shown a li!l more composure there; had he waited a second more that was a sure goal and what a classic goal it would have been too!

Having said that this whole headdownrunlikemad is getting a bit far fetched too. He did involve himself in some of the play too, he picked up a few of midfielders runs, etc. On a whole solid game, not great but solid

 

[iced1776]

His link up with the midfield and other strikers has actually been very, very good. He works hard to open up and opts for the simple pass more often than taking on the defender, yet this goes ignored despite the fact that Villa's constant offside and erratic finishing is always justified with "Oh but he fits into our system so well". Affelay has adapted very well to our passing system, and a few lost take-ons and crosses (which were only half his fault) should not put him in the doghouse.

 

[estranged]

look he's a great player and is 1000% barca material, we might not have seen anything big yet but you cant expect him to do groundbreaking shit in his first season at a team like barca, he's just gonna get better the more playing time he gets as his confidence will increase, and pep knows that better than anyone, pep didn't just wake up one morning and think about buying afellay, he's seen what this kids capable of.

 

[evilhita666]

For the three million we paid, I think he's been OK... It's way too early to write him off... Pep needs to find the position where he can get the most out of him and everything will be fine...