Xavi Hernández

[DonAK]

I remember reading that he almost joined, but his mom forced him to stay lol

 

[CatalinR10]

I remember reading that he almost joined, but his mom forced him to stay lol

yeah , that's true

 

[Flavia]

He has spoke a lot about how he thought about joining AC Milan when he was younger and then just before Pep came in he was in talks with Bayern.

Clearly he has at least considered other possibilities.

I think that quote from "the sun" was made up.

 

[Hamzah]

we shouldn't waste money on any old replacement. wait until the right man comes along. our team is mostly young and fresh.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Once again showed he is well past his best, simple passes going off target and he just doesn't control the game at all.. Sad but true.

Huh? I haven't watched the second half yet, but Xavi was the only Barça player in the first half who completely controlled the ball under those abysmal conditions, and it was his protection of the ball when recovered in Barça's final third that launched the the counterattack for Messi's first goal.

47 of 48 passes completed in the first half (20 of 20 completed in the first 15 minutes, with Sevilla hassling Barça all over the pitch). Only miss a long forward pass down the right wing.
38 of 40 passes completed in the second half.

97% overall. Iniesta the only other Barça player with over 90%.

 

[Elite-BkD]

Huh? I haven't watched the second half yet, but Xavi was the only Barça player in the first half who controlled the ball under those abysmal conditions, and it was his protection of the ball when recovered in Barça's final third that launched the the counterattack for Messi's first goal.

47 of 48 passes completed in the first half (20 of 20 completed in the first 15 minutes, with Sevilla hassling Barça all over the pitch). Only miss a long forward pass down the right wing.
38 of 40 passes completed in the second half.

Ehmm..Iniesta.

But yeah, Xavi was immense tonight, these two are still setting the standard for midfielders so I can't for the life of me understand the criticism.

 

[footyfan]

I think that quote from "the sun" was made up.

If you're talking about Milan, I've watched an interview where he says it himself, that his dad thought it was the best move for him and that he was gonna go for it - but his mom stepped in. He talked about the Bayern move in EMD.

 

[footyfan]

Huh? I haven't watched the second half yet, but Xavi was the only Barça player in the first half who completely controlled the ball under those abysmal conditions, and it was his protection of the ball when recovered in Barça's final third that launched the the counterattack for Messi's first goal.

47 of 48 passes completed in the first half (20 of 20 completed in the first 15 minutes, with Sevilla hassling Barça all over the pitch). Only miss a long forward pass down the right wing.
38 of 40 passes completed in the second half.

97% overall. Iniesta the only other Barça player with over 90%.

Where are you getting these stats from? I am starting to doubt whoscored's stats, because apparently there were 0 throughballs attempted from Barcelona today. And I can remember atleast one successful one(Messi to Adriano).

 

[Sumlit]

Where are you getting these stats from? I am starting to doubt whoscored's stats, because apparently there were 0 throughballs attempted from Barcelona today. And I can remember atleast one successful one(Messi to Adriano).

That pass gets recorded as a Key Pass, not a through ball.

 

[footyfan]

That pass gets recorded as a Key Pass, not a through ball.

It should be recorded as both, because it fits their definition of both through ball and key pass.

 

[Sumlit]

It should be recorded as both, because it fits their definition of both through ball and key pass.

It ended up with a shot on target, that's the difference. If Adriano had crossed the ball to Pedro, then it would have been recorded as a through ball.

 

[Flavia]

If you're talking about Milan, I've watched an interview where he says it himself, that his dad thought it was the best move for him and that he was gonna go for it - but his mom stepped in. He talked about the Bayern move in EMD.

No, the one he talks about Cesc.

 

[footyfan]

It ended up with a shot on target, that's the difference. If Adriano had crossed the ball to Pedro, then it would have been recorded as a through ball.

If that's true, it makes no sense whatsoever. Why can't a pass be both a through ball and a key pass? This particular one was "an attempted/accurate pass between opposition players in their defensive line to find an onrushing teammate (running through on goal)" and "the final pass leading to a shot at goal from a teammate", making it both a through ball and a key pass.

 

[Sumlit]

Huh? I haven't watched the second half yet, but Xavi was the only Barça player in the first half who completely controlled the ball under those abysmal conditions, and it was his protection of the ball when recovered in Barça's final third that launched the the counterattack for Messi's first goal.

This is incorrect. Xavi just did a simple one touch side pass to Iniesta. It was Iniesta's control, dribble out of traffic and pass to the open man that unleashed the counter for Messi's first.

47 of 48 passes completed in the first half (20 of 20 completed in the first 15 minutes, with Sevilla hassling Barça all over the pitch). Only miss a long forward pass down the right wing.
38 of 40 passes completed in the second half.

97% overall. Iniesta the only other Barça player with over 90%.

Simple side passing with no apparent purpose might get you high pass completion percentages, but they do little else for the team.

 

[Sumlit]

If that's true, it makes no sense whatsoever. Why can't a pass be both a through ball and a key pass? This particular one was "an attempted/accurate pass between opposition players in their defensive line to find an onrushing teammate (running through on goal)" and "the final pass leading to a shot at goal from a teammate", making it both a through ball and a key pass.

Whoscored definition.

Though Ball:
-An attempted/accurate pass between opposition players in their defensive line to find an onrushing teammate (running through on goal)

Key Pass:
-The final pass leading to a shot at goal from a teammate.


Clearly Messi's pass to Adriano was a Key Pass as it lead to a shot at goal. If you argue that this pass fit both descriptions, you might have a point, but then Whoscored might argue that a play can only have one denomination, and of the two, a Key Pass fits best.