Xavi Hernández

[Galning]

That was brilliant though, he slipps and nearly has the most awesome ballcontrol of all time
Awesome how he nearly managed to still get that one.

 

[alex 10]

very good he got 90mnts today

 

[Bionicman]

Somebody needs to tell Xavi to re-evaluate how he plays at home against weak Liga teams that park the bus. His over-cautiousness / desire to maintain possession at all costs means that in these games, he ends up playing endless sideways passes 25-35 yards in front of goal without trying through balls, dribbles, or anything else that might lead to a goal. When Barcelona has 70-80% of the possession yet has trouble scoring, the team needs to take more chances, and it starts with Xavi.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Somebody needs to tell Xavi to re-evaluate how he plays at home against weak Liga teams that park the bus. His over-cautiousness / desire to maintain possession at all costs means that in these games, he ends up playing endless sideways passes 25-35 yards in front of goal without trying through balls, dribbles, or anything else that might lead to a goal. When Barcelona has 70-80% of the possession yet has trouble scoring, the team needs to take more chances, and it starts with Xavi.

Hmmm....first, possession is defense. You take more chances, you are giving the opposition more chances on the counter, which is what they want. If you get a 1-0 result against a parked defense, that's not bad at all. Barça had 23 shots, 12 shots on goal, 14 crosses, 13 corners. Zaragoza had 3 shots, only 1 on goal.

Game stats:
http://sports.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/liga/boxscore.asp?gamecode=2011030510157&show=tstats&ref=

I don't think Xavi is the problem. If other players make the openings, Xavi will see them. Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Pedro- these are the guys to make the runs and penetrate on the dribble. Alves should work on his shooting and take more shots, so he's more of a threat, since he certainly can dribble in well enough from the wing.

 

[gingerless]

the only thing that annoys me is when he takes a shot that has decent placement but has no power. or when it has power but no placement

 

[Richard.H]

the only thing that annoys me is when he takes a shot that has decent placement but has no power. or when it has power but no placement

I know I'm not a pro but it's incredibly difficult to hit a shot hard and with good placement when a ball is coming at you horizontally at a relatively fast pace.

 

[gingerless]

I know I'm not a pro but it's incredibly difficult to hit a shot hard and with good placement when a ball is coming at you horizontally at a relatively fast pace.

messi can do it

 

[Ode to Django]

Xavi played full 90 mins against Valencia and Zaragoza and will have to play against arsenal in a couple of days, i think he definately should've been rested against Zaragoza

 

[Peerd]

Xavi played full 90 mins against Valencia and Zaragoza and will have to play against arsenal in a couple of days, i think he definately should've been rested against Zaragoza

Come on. Then they will train a bit less. This is a men's sport He should be able to do that easily.

 

[dalitis8]

Xavi played full 90 mins against Valencia and Zaragoza and will have to play against arsenal in a couple of days, i think he definately should've been rested against Zaragoza

Indeed, this is not great news for Xavi. I hope he still has 90(great)mns left in the tank.

 

[gingerless]

he is just about due a good performance, not that he hasn't been good... i mean xavi standard good. alves seems to be fine too, so a xavi on form will be devastating for arsenal

 

[alex 10]

im sure he has a 90mint game against arsenal because if he didnt pep would have taken him off

 

[Daemul]

He'll be amazing on Tuesday.

 

[Juan03]

bossed the midfield. those balls to Dani Alves were abijhfdiauhfisaf terrific.

 

[Silver]

Xavi the leader encouraged the team to qualification!