Man of the Match thread

[Papabeef]

Alba

Adriano

Iniesta

 

[Trickykid]

Iniesta
Adriano
Alba

 

[Josef K]

Iniesta
Alba
Adriano

well done Bartra.

 

[PacoBJuarez]

Alba
Adriano
Bartra

 

[Jesse1509]

Alba
Adriano
Xavi

 

[Tomchin]

Is there somewhere a summary of who's leading the MOTM-charts?

 

[Trickykid]

Is there somewhere a summary of who's leading the MOTM-charts?

I actually haven't done a complete summary yet. Mostly because I still haven't figured out a system for it. We've discussed it before in here, and my main gripe with the 5-3-1 point system I use for each motm is that one single 1st spot could potentially be way too important compared to a very solid and stable player who managed to get, let's say, 4 third places. Stuff like grading the importance of each game has also been mentioned, and I really like that idea, but it won't be easy to make a fair system when we're dealing with 50+ games that all needs a value.

Anyhoo, the other reason for not doing a summary yet is that I had kind of planned on only doing a half season recap and the end of season recap.

 

[Trickykid]

The Official Barcaforum.com MoM-thread award
Champions League, Celtic, home (2-1)

1. Alba (42,6%) Alba was simply amazing. He's such an engine, just flying around the pitch all match long ~ PacoBjuarez
2. Iniesta (19,7%) Put Alexis through 1 on 1 at the beginning. Put in a perfect cross for Bartra who just missed. Chip pass for Messi's 1 on 1 header. Scored a very complicated goal ~ Ursegor
3. Adriano (18,6%) what a game he had! some of the defensive coverings were really good and saved barca in so many cases ~ xaviniesta

After 3 matches of complete Messi-domination in top spot, this weeks ChL feature against Celtic finally brings a new face to the summit of the podium. A face that has only featured once before in the top 3 to boot. Alba stands tall(ish) as he get's his first truly meaningful honores of this years The Official Barcaforum.com MoM-thread award, as his industrious performance, capped with a game winning goal, nets him 42,6% of the votes. This is the 5th match in a row that Jordi Alba scores points in the rankings (1, 11, 30, 7, 88), and he's quickly establishing himself as a favorite on the Barcaforum.com, and perhaps even a valid heir to the mighty King Abidal.

I called him out in last weeks summary, oh yes I did. He's had a somewhat mediocre season so far, and yet another injury to break his usually ever so elegant stride, but finally, after a 2 month long absence in the top 3, The Don ghosts his way to second place with around 20% of the votes - not even half as many as Alba scored. It wasn't a vintage Iniesta display, but he was still involved in most of Barcas meaningful moves, and let's not forget his drop dead gorgeous equalizer. I won't dare to call out The Don ever again, so let's all just silently agree that we want more of this... por favor.

In third spot we find another player who has been quite the stranger to the top 3. Not that anyone had been expecting Adriano to feature here regularly - especially not after being stuck in the very heart of our defense, and as RB too - but it's good to see our versatile brazilian get some plaudits from time to time. He was ever so close to bagging the silver medal, but obviously he had the decency not to truely challenge Iniesta, so he settled for 1% less votes and a mighty fine bronze medal around his neck.


Worth noting after this round of votes, is the curious fact that the top 3 combined has only managed to get a grand total of 6 podium placements, which is quite a few less than the likes of Messi and Xavi have on their own. This should probably be seen as a good thing, as we need more players to step up and take some responsibility off the shoulders of those two. Of those two, Xavi had a decent performance votes-wise, but Messi, however, failed miserably as he had his second worst The Official Barcaforum.com MoM-thread award-game of the season, as some kind soul on the forums took pity on him and awarded 1 single point as a very, very small and slightly pathetic bandaid on a huge puss-filled, gaping wound.

This weeks shoutout goes out to Marc Bartra! The youngish cb made his long sought-after season debut with the first team, and bagged a healthy 11 points after a commanding performance, where he probably wasn't tested a whole lot. Nonetheless, it was a match that gave us all a taste of what to come, and I doubt there are anyone on these forums, who won't be looking forward to seeing more of him during the season. Hopefully soon. Right Tito? Pretty please?


Tune back to this thread in a little less than a week, when we travel to the City of Evil to face Rayo Vallecano on the Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas.


Edit: Snap, I forgot to add the quotes!

 

[Flavia]

I actually haven't done a complete summary yet. Mostly because I still haven't figured out a system for it. We've discussed it before in here, and my main gripe with the 5-3-1 point system I use for each motm is that one single 1st spot could potentially be way too important compared to a very solid and stable player who managed to get, let's say, 4 third places. Stuff like grading the importance of each game has also been mentioned, and I really like that idea, but it won't be easy to make a fair system when we're dealing with 50+ games that all needs a value.

Anyhoo, the other reason for not doing a summary yet is that I had kind of planned on only doing a half season recap and the end of season recap.

What about giving 3-2-1 points, then? The official site counts like that, though it's flawed as you can vote even for players that didn't play the match.

 

[Trickykid]

What about giving 3-2-1 points, then? The official site counts like that, though it's flawed as you can vote even for players that didn't play the match.

Yeah, I actually believe I proposed doing so when we discussed it back when the season began. That combined with some sort of multiplier in accordance to match-importance, seems like the best way to go.

 

[Tomchin]

Yeah, I actually believe I proposed doing so when we discussed it back when the season began. That combined with some sort of multiplier in accordance to match-importance, seems like the best way to go.

I do the MOTM-calculations on another Barca-forum, and there I also use a 3-2-1 system indeed. I don't really agree with adding a multiplier in accordance to match-importance though, 'cause 3 points against Rayo Vallecano have as much worth as 3 points against Valencia or Sevilla or even RM. Maybe for the early stages of the CDR less points should be awarded, but imho such a system is quite difficult to implement.

 

[Trickykid]

I do the MOTM-calculations on another Barca-forum, and there I also use a 3-2-1 system indeed. I don't really agree with adding a multiplier in accordance to match-importance though, 'cause 3 points against Rayo Vallecano have as much worth as 3 points against Valencia or Sevilla or even RM. Maybe for the early stages of the CDR less points should be awarded, but imho such a system is quite difficult to implement.

Yeah, I don't completely disagree with you, however I still believe matches such as ChL quarters, semis and of course finals and perhaps clásicos should weigh more than, as you mentioned, Copa del Rey, and perhaps even certain LL games. But yeah, as you said yourself, it will be difficult to implement, which is also why I'm still a bit iffy about the whole idea.

 

[Barcaman]

Worth noting after this round of votes, is the curious fact that the top 3 combined has only managed to get a grand total of 6 podium placements, which is quite a few less than the likes of Messi and Xavi have on their own. This should probably be seen as a good thing, as we need more players to step up and take some responsibility off the shoulders of those two.

Very much agreed. So happy to see unsuspecting heroes take the plaudits. Both Adriano and Alba worked their asses off on those flanks and it was a becoming that they should be involved in Barca's winning goal.

Nice updated all around Tricky!

 

[xaviniesta]

Yeah, I don't completely disagree with you, however I still believe matches such as ChL quarters, semis and of course finals and perhaps clásicos should weigh more than, as you mentioned, Copa del Rey, and perhaps even certain LL games. But yeah, as you said yourself, it will be difficult to implement, which is also why I'm still a bit iffy about the whole idea.

it would be really hard to pull off this system. maybe there should be just some bonus points for important games. like when there's el clasic, there should be 3pts for first + lets say 3 extra points. 2+2 for second and 1+1 for third. same with finals. but then again there would be a lot of drama which games are important and which ones less so- like i said it would be really hard to do that.


one thing you can already do is that you can show which players are most consistent by showing how many times they have featured in top3 places. would be nice IMO.

 

[PacoBJuarez]

1. Alba (42,6%) Alba was simply amazing. He's such an engine, just flying around the pitch all match long ~ PacoBjuarez

Holy crap! This is the first time I've ever participated in the MotM thread (I'm pretty sure) and you quoted me! Awesome! Definitely doing it from now on. Thanks for doing all this work!

This weeks shoutout goes out to Marc Bartra! The youngish cb made his long sought-after season debut with the first team, and bagged a healthy 11 points after a commanding performance, where he probably wasn't tested a whole lot. Nonetheless, it was a match that gave us all a taste of what to come, and I doubt there are anyone on these forums, who won't be looking forward to seeing more of him during the season. Hopefully soon. Right Tito? Pretty please?

Couldn't agree more. Great write-up!