Atletico Madrid 4 Barça 3
Sunday, 01 March 09, 02:09 PM · Comments (82)
In the space of only three weeks Barça have seen their lead at the top of the table cut from twelve points to just four. In an incredible match today at the Vicente Calderon Atletico twice came from behind to deserverdly win by four goals to three, but there were so many chances for both teams the game could have produced twice as many goals. Magnificent first half goals from Thierry Henry and Leo Messi gave Barça the early advantage before Diego Forlan pulled one back with a tremendous shot from 30 yards. Kun Agüero equalised early in the second half but when Thierry Henry scored his second of the game in the 74th minute it looked like being Barça's day; however, Forlan and Agüero both scored again to give Atletico an epic victory.
The game began at a terrific pace and after just one minute Maxi Rodriguez got away from Sylvinho and sent in Agüero whose chip over Valdés went into the side netting. In the third minute we had our first good chance after a mistake from Pablo but Samuel Eto'o's shot was blocked by goalkeeper Leo Franco. Then a minute later Victor Valdés failed to hold a bullet shot from Maxi and Heitinga followed up to knock the ball in, fortunately for us the linesman flagged for offside but the replay showed that Xavi was playing Heitinga onside.
The game settled down for a while but we did not look comfortable, Messi was nowhere to be seen and Atletico were still dominating, then out of the blue in the 17th minute we took the lead. Henry played the ball in towards Eto'o who failed to control but the ball came back to Henry who hit a beautiful curling shot over the keeper from 25 yards. The goal came against the run of play but we then began to take control, Messi moved infield and began to get more involved. In the 30th minute Messi received the ball 25 yards out, he turned quickly, saw space, accelerated past a defender and slipped the ball past Leo Franco into the far corner. It was a fantastic goal and with a 0-2 advantage it seemed the luck was running our way. However, just over a minute later Forlan produced a wicked dipping shot from all of 30 yards that gave Valdés no chance to put Atletico back in the game.
In the 37th minute Agüero nearly equalised after getting past Marquez but this time Valdés made a fine save to tip the ball around the post. Atletico were pressing but then Xavi sent a great pass through to Gudjohnsen but he blazed his shot wide with just the goalkeeper to beat. Just before half time Messi made another good run and almost produced a carbon copy of his goal but this time he fired wide of the far post.
We began the second half much better and seemed to be controlling things more. In the 55th minute a great flick from Gudjohnsen gave Eto'o another chance but again his finishing was poor as he shot well wide. From a possible 1-3 we went straight to 2-2 as Toure failed with his header from Leo franco's long clearance, Marquez made a mess of his control which allowed Agüero the chance to nip in, get past Puyol and shoot low past Valdés into the far corner.
The pace of the game continued to be electric and Atletico grew as the noise of the crowd rose. In the 61st minute Forlan almost gave Atletico the lead after a good run and shot but Valdés did well to tip the ball round the post for a corner. Forlan had another great chance in the 73rd minute but he missed his header from close in. Just as Atletico had scored straight after Eto'o's earlier miss this time we made the most of Forlan's error, within a minute Eto'o sent a pass through to Gudjohnsen whose run beat the offside trap and faced with Leo Franco unselfishly squared the ball to Henry who tapped in at the far post.
A minute later we nearly made it 2-4, Gudjohnsen played in Eto'o but Leo Franco was quick to narrow the angle and the ball came out to Messi who shot the rebound wide. The game was becoming even more open and a minute later Antonio Lopez crossed from the left and Valdés had to dive low to his left to stop Agüero's header. Then in the 77th minute another cross from the left caused problems in our defence as Henry bundled into Sinama, the ref waved play on but was alerted by the linesman and changed his mind to award a penalty. Forlan smashed the ball past Valdés's dive to make it 3-3.
Such a thrilling game had to have a winning goal. In the 88th minute Agüero got away again but Valdés was quick to rush out and kick clear on the edge of the area. We were straight up the other end but Eto'o took too long when he should have shot or crossed and the defence got back to clear the danger. Then in the 89th minute Agüero got away from Alves, Puyol missed the tackle allowing Agüero the chance to shoot past Valdés to send the Atletico fans into a state of delirium. There was still time in injury time for another chance for Henry but Leo Franco managed to get his hand to the ball to save the day.
This type of game is quite frankly beyond analysis. Games with Atletico over the years have produced many crazy games and famous comebacks. Today's game will go down in history for Atletico fans as one of the greatest ever games, it was end to end stuff throughout and at the final whistle the better side on the day won. For neutral fans as well it will probably be remembered as the game of the season, it really was quite breathtaking. For Barça there is now the tremendous pressure of seeing Real Madrid charging up behind, there is still a long way to go and it will be difficult for the players not to get nervous in such a situation. Now is the time for the leaders of the team to stand up, it will take a great show of character to recover from the set-backs of the last three weeks, this team was looking to make history as one of the great teams of all time. The moment of truth is here: have we got the character?
Barça: Valdés 6.5; Alves 5, Marquez 5, Puyol 5.5, Sylvinho 5 (Caceres m78, 6); Xavi 6, Toure 6, Gudjohnsen 6; Messi 6.5, Eto'o 5, Henry 7.
Goals: m17 Henry 0-1, m30 Messi 0-2, m32 Forlan 1-2, m56 Agüero 2-2, m74 Henry 2-3, m80 Forlan (pen) 3-3, m89 Agüero 4-3.
Barça yellows m57 Alves, m93 Messi
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82 Comments · Add yours
I dont see this game as one that will go down in history - and thats not (only) because im a culé.
Neither of the teams had an exsisting defense tonight, but sure, it was great on the offense-side.
I cant seem to remember the last time i saw our defense this shaky..? even puyol was sh*t.
Im really starting to get nerveous about this season. Our team has NO confidence and RM is in the direct opposite state.
After all, we still have to believe in our players and staff!
this game really is a tough one to comment on. but i will say we didnt play very well at all. we scored goals but thanks to a brilliant shot, a brilliant run, and only the third goal was from proper team play and build up. it was sore to lose, but like i said in teh preview, it was always going to be tough.
seriously though, i think we are mentally in trouble. i dont know how pep is going to get these guys refocused. u could see the confusion and lack of belief on many. i had ugly flasbacks of last year. saying that, at mad were pretty awesome and looked up for it from the get go. this is the first game i can remember in years that we didnt control the game with possession.
etoo had a stinker, prob the worst game i have ever seen him play. it was shocking. u have to excuse him because he is human and has scored so many before. besides those 2 good runs, messi had another really quiet game, and seriously if he doesnt start hitting his form, we are in trouble.
vv is getting a bit of unfair treatment. his handling of maxi shot was poor and ill admit i thought, "its getting tougher to defend him". but he made some really good saves, lets not deny that. he took a long cross really well, came out to stop aguero once, a few other things i was proud of.
BUT, the real problem was teh defense tonight. it was just shocking. diatus, for the first time i will say u may have had a point. marquez was brilliant the beginning of the year, but wow tonight did he look crap. it was ridiculous. puyol's mistake for the 4th was awful, but u cannot diss our captain. he has had many perfect games before hand.
like nic said, its quite impossible to analyze the game. but i will say u can see there are problems, and maybe pep's inexperience is showing. the fact is we do not look like the same team of months before. there must be a reason.
im so worried for the season. if we lose the league, it will be something madrid fans will never let us forget.
but i will never accept this argument of depth and fatigue. its only about 60% of the season, its their jobs to play this much football, they arent little weaklings. please name any other club with more depth? (beside inter, yet jose still plays nearly the exact team over and over) madrid play the exact same startign 11 everytime if they are all fit, u dont see them losing games. i can direct people to an artcicle showing we have rotated our team just as much as other clubs, including united.
the big difference between us and united is simple, alex ferguson. he is just special. he gets average players and old veterans to play magic consistently. it has nothing to do with amount of game time. this stuff is all mental.
@Blau
I agree with everything you said but one thing: VValdes!!!
He is truly terrible.As much as I hate to say it, there are no "ifs" "and" & "buts" about it.The guy is just bad. I bet you Pinto would have done a better job tonight.On the other hand, our defense did us in. Why wasn't Pique playing? (Am I missing something?)
This is my first post on this blog and I m really mad it had to be under such circumstances ...... I found the cite few monthes ago and I m glad I found true fans where we can talk about our passion in life Barça .
The most upsetnig couple of weeks I have had since a long time ,our goalie and defense has become a major concern in the last few weeks ,I really cannot see la liga slipping away for another seasen , we need to find a way to get back on track ............. otherwise
Hi to you all and thank you Nic for all the great job you have done so far .
Blau there are plenty of teams with more depth than us. As you mentioned there is Inter. Then; Man Utd have 29 players in their squad, Chelsea have 27, Liverpool have 32, Real MAdrid have 28 and AC Milan have 29. We on the other hand have 23 and that incl 2 reserve keepers, an injured Milito and players like Victor Sanchez and Sylvinho who are not Barca quality, simple as that. So really we have about 18 outfield players we can call upon. Add the injuries to Iniesta and Abidal and we are down to 16. We have no cover whatsoever for our full backs, which is now hurting us. I am pretty sure if we had decent cover for Abidal that we dont let 4 goals in tonight. Ever since he picked up his injury we have looked very shaky. All you Abidal haters take note.
All you have to do is look at the starting 11 in our last 5 or 6 games to see that they are overworked. Xavi, Messi, Alves, Eto'o, Henry, all the players we look to to change games are tired both physically and mentally and there is nobody in the squad good enough to help ease that burden. Guddy is ok, but hardly a game changer, Hleb and Keita have yet to show anything special and Bojan and Pedro aren't quite there yet. Busquets is great but inexperienced and cant be depended on too much.
Take todays game as en example; we started almost all the same players who played against Lyon and Espanyol the week before, most of who played the full 90 mins. Messi and Xavi both could have used a rest today, so who do you think could have filled either of their roles? Certainly not Hleb. MAybe Pep could have started Bojan instead of Messi, but it would have been a risk. Thats the big problem, its too risky to play any of our subs, they simply arent at the same level of quality as the first team. Which means that already tired players have to start all the games, or almost all of them.
I would be happy with the depth if the quality was there, but it isnt. There is still some rebuilding to do.
Hope it is not the 2006/2007 saga all over again .
months
for me both valdes and eto'o were a 4.5
However, what i will say is that we have the foundations for a truly spectacular team, because we have all seen what they are capable of. Pep has started something big here, i just dont think we are anywhere near the finished product yet. When we are though, we will win it all. Whatever we win or dont win this season come the summer there is some buying and selling to be done.
As for the VV argument, i didnt see him do too much wrong today but i have never really liked him. He is a good keeper but not world class, Barca need a world class keeper. The problem, and i think this is why we still have VV, is that there is nobody better available. There are some good young prospects out there but nobody to come in and do a better job from day one. So i think we are stuck with him for a while...
We gotta bear in mind that all coming games are gotta be so tough and hard since some clubs are struggling to get rid of that risky zone and other fight at least to scratch on La Liga history something unforgetbale whereas others'd die for the 3rd and 4th positions for next seasons Champions leagues .
So we really should have dealt with the situation in a very different way from that of the first half .
Concerning today's game , It's really ok . both clubs played well but their defence lines were shit .
Etoo was so selfish in many occasions .
Hilal, I agree with you. we dont have enough depth and there are many games remaining in the league. i truly believe we wont win the league because of this reason, i was just looking at the schedule and it looks tough, we need to play getafe away from home, which will be difficult, if we drop anymore points, all madrid needs to do is beat us in front of their own fans. i think that we only have a good chance to win the copa del rey this year, i wish we could give that up for the league, but I dont see that happening considering how many games are remaining.
The main problem is that I don't think its about regaining our form again, it all comes down to fatigue now. The players can't regain their form because they are tired. A few players already admitted that they are getting tired so nobody can say, "no, its not about fatigue, they should be fit."
I really think that we should start concentrating on the league only now. Against Mallorca on wednesday, i hope we see an entirely differently lineup, with mostly Barca B players and same thing for our 2nd game against Lyon.
We have had 3 AWFUL league games and one mediocre/bad Champions league game.
The Betis match showed for the first time in the league that Barca did not play well. I had thought at the time that this was a one-off bad game. But then against Espanyol I blamed the bad play of Barca to the rivalry of the derby, the many fouls made by the Espanyol players and the fact that Barca fell into the trap of stopping to complain for each foul they suffered. Against Olympique in the Champions League I expected Barca to start playing their usual control football and comfortably win the match because they are the better team; but again they disappointed by not playing well at all.
And tonight against Atletico Madrid I knew there was a lot of pressure because Real Madrid had won the night before and Barca were required to win at all costs, but what I didn't expect was that once again Barca lacked their control football in midfield. Xavi was terrible he could not do his usual passing and looked tired. Gudjohnsen tried his best but he is not a creative player. We are sorely missing INIESTA, I can't wait for him to come back. All the players looked very nervous and looked very tired, they are NOT playing their usual fast game with one-touch football. The forwards and midfielders are no longer pressing when the rival team starts to attack. Up front Eto'o didn't do anything at all, Henry was the best forward this time and Messi could have done much more. But the player that has contributed the most to the loss of points in the last three games, including the Champions League, has been Valdes. I have always defended him, but no more he is absolutely awful. He could have prevented at least two of the goals tonight. Against Espanyol it was his fault when he gave the ball to the opposing team and they scored the first goal. And against Olympique even though Juninho is a great player, especially firing free-kicks, he could have stopped the shot.
Anyway, lets hope we win Mallorca this week
Do we have the mental strength? honestly I don't think we have at this stage. I'm also again singing the praises for a better keeper than VV. But anyways - I'm with BB here. The argument of lack of depth, fatigue etc...I DO NOT BUY IT FOR ONE SECOND. WE NEED TO SORT THIS OUT NOW OTHERWISE WE WILL WIN NOTHING...AGAIN.
Dissapointing.
Xavi was tighting alone in the midfield besides Torye .
Xavi is really suffering from fatigue .
I think it is a bit unfair to blame Valdés for today's defeat. Yes, he looked shaky early on and was at fault with the disallowed goal, but I don't think any of the goals were down to him, Forlan's first was unstoppable. He later went on to make at least four good saves which is why he got the 6.5 rating. However, I am worried about his current form, the goal against Espanyol was his fault and he should have done more with Juninho's free kick in midweek, though it was certainly not easy to save. I still think we should cut him some slack, last year there were comments on this blog calling for Kameni who since has had a lot of criticism at Espanyol. Even the best (Cech, Casillas) make mistakes sometimes, it has to do with the modern ball which swerves all over the place and also with the back pass rule which means they have to be good at kicking too. I think in the modern game goalkeeping errors are inevitable and Valdés has done a pretty good job this season, and let's not forget he won us the Champions League with his saves against Arsenal in Paris. It is the easiest thing to criticise and say someone else (Asenjo for example) would do a better job. Personally, I don't think Asenjo would be any better
I wonder why Etoo didn't pass the ball twice to Messi who was in a good position to score ?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We still believe in our team abilities .But the staff gotta do something for spirits and morale.
Visca Barça
Nic - Are we tough enough mentally to get over this stupid loss of form?? I'm honestly deeply concerned now. I know the games havn't been easy & I know we will drop points, but to do it back to back to back - it alarms me, & I wonder how Pep will try to get the players mentally back to what we saw early on in the season. At this stage, we will struggle to make the CL semi finals.
it's been tumultuous past few weeks...GOd, I still can't believe that we lost today...We were playin some vintage football thruout the whole game...Even a draw woulda been unfair...loss is just heart wrenching....No doubts abt it...our defence cost us the game today...and of course, Valdes was one of the culprits once again....That first goal by Forlan was a speculative shot..i agree...but he shoulda at least tried...he just stood there like a freakin statue...and this clown wants a better contract?? HELLL NO...This guy deserves to be shown the door...We need a new goalie next season...We can't rely on Valdes anymore...
and also, I m not pointin fingers at Etoo, but he shoulda buried at least one of his chances...It was so unlike Etoo...and apart from couple of moments of magic, MEssi wasn't that effective at all...He has been pretty subdued in the past few games..I hope he rediscovers his magic soon..Otherwise, we will suffer...Henry was the best forward out there today...It's unlucky for him that he gave away the penalty, but overall, I was impressed with his play...
alrite..so now it's 4 games without a win..but it's not what worries me...what worries me is the psychological impact it might have on the players...I hope they will be fine...NOthing is lost yet...We are still 4 points ahead of them...and VIVA BARCA FOREVER!!!!!
I think that Victor Valdes deserves everything he is getting at this point. He is poor on crosses, poor on cutting angles, poor on corners, poor on directing his line and lacks awareness of play. Forlan was some 40 odd yards out and still managed to beat him. You've got to be kidding me!!!Well Casillas and Cech goal tend with the same "new" Fifa ball.It is frankly just an "excuse" to say that the ball is the reason. What scares me the most is that he didn't even make an attempt to save the ball.ring a bell? YES, the goal Maxi rodriguez scored on him on the first leg or the one Juninho put in the net, on and on and on. At this level, you at least, have to try to make a save, instead of "giving up". HE GAVE UP and HE HAS BEEN GIVING UP!!!
Why do we need to extend this guy's contract?
Winterhunt, asked a great question last year and I will pose it again.
CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME VV MADE A GAME WINNING SAVE, A SAVE THE KEPT WON US A GAME OR KEPT US IN IT? AN IMPORTANT ONE?
Although i personally dont like Valdes, he did save us against real betis, when oliveria was one on one against him.
But i see your point, he is definately the weakest link in the team, and as long as we have him there, opposition will be tempted to pressure him when he has the ball at his feet, coz he cant really kick, pressure him on corners, coz he flaps, and his position on corners can really expose the defense. Finally long range, any goalie that gets beaten from around 35 yards without even making an attempt (forlan and juninho) is giving confidence to the opposition.
so although i admire his short one on one game, where he needs to make reflex saves, his general keeping leaves much to be desired.
Just in general we need to increase the number of players we have, and have good solid fringe players, nothing fancy and nothing unreliable.
Btw although Henry's tackle in the box was not a penalty, marquez rash challenge in kun a few minutes before that was, so they did deserve a penalty
shit, who could have thought this was possible 3 weeks ago...thats football, little things here and there can cause anything.
about the game, i believe the defence/defending system needs some overhauling especially in games like this when we cant defend by having much possession...considering our style of play, i understand our defence would be bare but the goals conceded today were really bizarre.... i saw xavi and gudjohnsen strolling back when opposition players were taking up positions directly outside our box, this was as early as the 10minute, from then on, i knew we would have serious defensive struggles...
the importance of sensible defenders in modern football esp in a team like barca cannot be emphasized. marquez I.Q. is just to low to cope with attacks one on one, defenders like him need to be hidden in a tight defensive teams.
there is nothing more to say about valdes, if we can get a better keeper, we should bid immediately.
eto had a terrible game but we still scored 3goals which should be enough to win a match if we are really good enough to be called champions
i dont know where we headed from here now, all depends now on pep, and i back any of his decisions
BARCA FOR LIFE!!!!
Our squad lack depth ........ it is just too bloody obvious . A big question has to be asked about the club policy in signing new players .
GIVE ME A BREAK .
Apart from Alves and maybe Pique the others have failed to deliver anything so far .
Keita,Caceres and Hleb have cost us a fortune and for what ?????? to worm up the bench ?
Keita was brought to replace Deco and Hleb instead of R10...
What was the idea behind bringing Hleb anyway ...... dont get me wrong I have nothing against the guy but he plays as a LW,RW and he NEVER and I do mean Never shoot ....... he is not reliable at all so is Caceres , It is a fact and even Pep knows it .
So where were Laporta,Begiristain and the rest of the board last summer ? should not they have acted better and brought players that they actually play ?
Pinto was brought to the club so he would compete with VV for the first keeper position ....... so why not give him a chance in a league game an let Valdes understand that he could lose his position if he maintain the silly performance .
I know that all keepers in the world make mistakes but he is too shaky and that really affect the other players specially defenders .
We surely miss Iniesta, It is just so different without him .
AC Milan:
1. Marek Jankulovski 21
2. Clarence Seedorf 21
3. Gianluca Zambrotta 21
4. Paolo Maldini 19
5. Kaká 19
6. Pato 18
7. Massimo Ambrosini 16
8. Ronaldinho 16
9. Daniele Bonera 14
10. Andrea Pirlo 13
11. Giuseppe Favalli 12
12. Ivan Gennaro Gattuso 11
13. Mathieu Flamini 11
14. Kakha Kaladze 10
15. David Beckham 8
16. Marco Borriello 6
17. Filippo Inzaghi 4
18. Emerson 3
19. Luca Antonini 3
20. Andriy Shevchenko 2
21. Philippe Senderos 2
Liverpool:
1. Jamie Carragher 27
2. Dirk Kuyt 25
3. Steven Gerrard 22
4. Álvaro Arbeloa 21
5. Xabi Alonso 19
6. Alberto Riera 18
7. Javier Mascherano 17
8. Fabio Aurelio 13
9. Yossi Benayoun 13
10. Martin Skrtel 13
11. Sami Hyypia 11
12. Andrea Dossena 11
13. Fernando Torres 11
14. Daniel Agger 10
15. Lucas 8
16. Ryan Babel 6
17. Emiliano Insua 4
18. Nabil El Zhar 1
19. David Ngog 1
20. Damien Plessis 1
And Keane was there.
Chelsea:
1. Frank Lampard 27
2. José Bosingwa 26
3. John Mikel Obi 25
4. John Terry 24
5. Nicolas Anelka 24
6. Ashley Cole 23
7. Michael Ballack 17
8. Deco 16
9. Florent Malouda 15
10. Alex 15
11. Joe Cole 14
12. Salomon Kalou 13
13. Ricardo Carvalho 9
14. Didier Drogba 6
15. Branislav Ivanovic 6
16. Juliano Belletti 2
17. Michael Essien 2
18. Ricardo Quaresma 1
19. Paulo Ferreira 1
20. Michael Mancienne 1
Real Madrid:
1. Raúl 22
2. Gonzalo Higuaín 22
3. Sergio Ramos 21
4. Pepe 20
5. Fabio Cannavaro 19
6. Gabriel Heinze 17
7. Fernando Gago 17
8. Arjen Robben 15
9. Wesley Sneijder 14
10. Marcelo 14
11. Rafael Van der Vaart 10
12. Guti 10
13. Lassana Diarra 9
14. Mahamadou Diarra 7 (out season)
15. Ruud van Nistelrooy 6 (out)
16. Míchel Salgado 5
17. Rubén De la Red 5 (out, maybe forever)
18. Royston Drenthe 5
19. Klass Jan Huntelaar 4
20. Christoph Metzelder 3
21. Miguel Torres Gómez 3
22. Javier Saviola 1
23. Javi Garcia 1
Man United:
1. Nemanja Vidic 24
2. Dimitar Berbatov 22
3. Cristiano Ronaldo 22
4. Rio Ferdinand 20
5. Patrice Evra 18
6. Michael Carrick 17
7. Darren Fletcher 17
8. Wayne Rooney 17
9. Ji-Sung Park 15
10. Carlos Tevez 13
11. John O'Shea 12
12. Ryan Giggs 9
13. Paul Scholes 9
14. Gary Neville 9
15. Rafael 9
16. Jonathan Evans 8
17. Anderson 8
18. Wes Brown 5
19. Nani 4
20. Owen Hargreaves 1 (out season)
21. Fraizer Campbell 1 (loan to Spurs)
Finally:
1. Xavi 23
2. Samuel Eto'o 22
3. Daniel Alves 22
4. Eric Abidal 19
5. Carles Puyol 19
6. Thierry Henry 18
7. Lionel Messi 18
8. Gerard Pique 16
9. Gnegneri Yaya Toure 16
10. Rafael Márquez 15
11. Andrés Iniesta 12
12. Seydou Keita 11
13. Sergi Busquets 11
14. Eidur Gudjohnsen 6
15. Alexander Hleb 5
16. Martín Cáceres 3
17. Víctor Sánchez 2
18. Sylvinho 1
19. Bojan Krkic 1
20. Pedrito 1
ok, so here are so stats. there are no opinions in numbers. the relevant numbers are the ones on the left and the right (the number of games started). what just numbers tell us, is that our squad is just as deep in QUANtity as anyone else give or take a few. ever team had more players listed, but they were youth system boys that never get a chance, and we can similarly quote more players from our athletic. i only put on the relevant players that have actually featured.
ac milan top 5 have played us much as ours, and that include players of the ages 33 and even one of 40. liverpool its clear only their top 12 or so actually get significant playing time. chelsea suprised me at how little they change their system.
now, i didnt do this to prove anyone right or wrong, especially not my good friend hilal who is one of the persons's opinions i value. i actually did this for every one, including myself, because I was interestd to see if depth really is the issue.
and on the numbers alone, that isnt the case. inter have more depth, and real madrid do too. other than that, we are really in the same boat as anyone else.
QUALity is another point. but here is my major problem, it only seems the quality is a problem NOW. it wasnt an issue a few months ago when we were killing everyone. nobody was worried about it when the season started. i remember people writing off madrd, saying how bad they were, and I was one of the only ones to note how actually talented their squad is. nobody seemed to mind hleb or keita before hand.
honestly, looking through the other teams, i dont see us as inferior. ac milan is full of big names, but those guys are all 32+. liverpool, please, nowhere close. chelsea also is full of old stars like ballack and deco. united, like i said, ferguson is just special. he has players we would never want (fletcher, park, oshea) and old men (giggs/scholes), but makes them play like stars. he is a special case, u cannot compare.
LINK
) whereas Eto'o missed sitters. Also, was it just me or did anyone else see the black spot under Messi's eye? Fatigue anyone?? 
Please tell me if this was actually stoppable? I don't think so. It was impossible. It was fast, dipping and PERFECT. People still whining about it is, well, awful.
I admit I didn't watch the entire game today, but, when I did watch it, VV didn't have that bad a game. Really wasn't. I mean, all the goals were pretty direct. Do you actually think any, ANY keeper in the world could save the Forlan shot? Nope, there are some shots the keeper just can't save. Hell, I can actually count a few Casillas or Cech would just look on when Ronnaldinho scored! Ring a bell. Not all of them are unstoppable. NOPE. Forlan's was just one of them. Him trying or not has nothing to do with it, though it does give you guys a reason to point a finger at him. I saw a lot of comments and all of them seem to be stemmed at Valdes. How many of the goals were his fault? NONE!! 0, cero, null, ling! Geez, the lot of you think they were all his fault. OK, he made a mistake in the espanyol game, who doesn't? Live with it. However, what everyone seemingly seems to ignore is the fact that the defense was not there to bail him out.
Remember the most important rule about football, its the word teamwork. VV alone cannot be blamed so much for the goal (which was disallowed btw.......lol), whereas there were more players worth shouldering the blame. Henry had a brilliant game, (where the hell is Titi??
So, yes, down to 4 points. As a Madridista, all I can say is, stop counting chickens before they hatch.
"Not all of them are unstoppable" error: the line was supposed to be: Not all of them are stoppable
but opinions can come and debate quality. frankly i dont see a major problem in ours, and if there is, there is one person to blame. guardiola. he brought in hleb, keita, and caceres for big bucks and has barely used them or they have been average with their chances, he has choosen to keep bojan out, he chose to keep on gudi, those were his decisions.
seriously, this fatigue debate grates me. its such a nuvo-age discussion. we are making these players even more pre-madonnas then they are. so can players not play like 40 matches anymore? i dont buy it.
this is a mental issue now. we were invinsible and now are not. the players must be thinking "how has this happened", "why are teams not able to stop us". teh more games we stutter like this, the worse the doubts get. the other half of the double-edged sword is that other teams are going to gain encouragement. madrid must be about to explode in belief and excitement. it appears to them their pressure has gotten the best of us. 4 points, with a trip to madrid, it really is one again. plus other teams are going to look at us as mortal again. our perception has been altered, and perception is one of the most valueable things.
we may be in for some tough weeks. i really feel the situation needs to be reversed as soon as possible. pep is inexperienced, and it may just show now.
honestly, football in general is so vastly complicated, you cannot put it properly into words. this issue is the same.
but i really do not feel that squad depth is the issue. if our players were properly motivated and prepared, the amount of games they have played thus far (no more than 23 for anyone!!!!) DOES NOT merit this exhaustion talk.
Altough I think Morzzan is an idiot and should mind his own business at the Mandril pages, ESPECIALLY, if he is only going to come over here whenever we lose.
But about Valdes I actually agree with him. VV was not at fault at all yesterday. Blame it on the offence who failed to put descisive goal scoring chances away, missing sitters witch led to a goal for the opposition about a minute later.
And Diatus, come on man, when was the last time VV kept us in the game? You want an important one? How about arguably THE most important one? The Madrid game about 2 months ago? Ring a bell?
we need cheerleaders on the pitch, not sexy girls but burly men in bondage suits with a whip in hand......if you lose then its a long night
that should keep the fellas motivated, especially eto'o who will score sitters and valdes who will atleast attempt to save a shot that is impossible to save.
I think everyone is missing the biggest point. In the last three games we are losing the midfield battle. Our passing is not precise. Our midfield is not dominating proceeding because of that our full backs come in deep trouble. What Espanyol, Lyon and A.Madrid did is simple - They won the midfield battle and then distribute the ball to left or right from where they could organise effective attack. Eventhough Xavi played some great through balls he was not at all wining the midfield. So does Toure. Let's hope Iniesta comes back soon and thing change.
But for me the biggest culprit for this performance is Pep. First of all he shud have chosen Caceres ahead of Sylvinho. Second what was he thinking holding back his suustitution. Eto was pathetic and I was expecting him to be replaced by Bojan/Pedro. But nothing happened. We were losing the midfield battle and he still didn't bring busquets, busquets would have made it difficult for the Atletico midfield. May be even if brough in these guys nothing might have changed, but still he could have tried.
josep...its pretty harsh calling someone idiot for a brilliant post..i think everyone is welcomed here...right nic!?
shahenshah...nice one there..!! ahahah
It is the same story all over again,great attacking ability and poor defense just reminds of Rijkaard's last coule of years , to score 3 away goals is always a big achievement no matter how the opposition was, yah Eto'o had his worse performance so far but the other two managed to get on the score sheet for 3 times, It really was our defense how cost us the game yesterday.
the second goal was marquez error, the forth was simply between Puyol and Alves , and we still blame strikers, I bet Pep was not looking for more than 3 away goals yesterday specially in this current situation .
Pep's major improuvent this year was bringing displine and confi
evreyone said Pep's major improvement this year was bringing discipline to the team, the one we missed under Frank and cost us the league twice .
Where was that in the last 4 games ( Lyon's game included ).
Taking the lead twice 0-2 and 2-3 and still lose ???? oh, that is so much last seasen .
As you people said this is the moment of truth and a lot of work has to be done on mentality. let us see what Pep is capable of.
Hope the lads will get over it soon.
@Blau,
I hope you are right my friend, i really do because if it is physical fatigue then we are in trouble. If it is something else then maybe we can overcome it. I can understand all your points regarding the argument of fatigue and i do think it is a bit strange that they would be so tired so soon. However i dont see any other logical reason for such a sudden and noticeable drop in form other than fatigue. A drop in confidence doesnt accoutn for the noticeable drop in energy levels among most of the players. I dont think it is a coincidence that Guddy was one of the better players yesterday, he was well rested.
Why are they not pressing the ball like they used to? why are the forwards not making runs? or the midfielders trakcing back to help defenders? It cannot be because they are lazy or not motivated!! They have not anything yet to show this attitude, i cannot believe that this is the problem. The only thing that makes sense to me is that they are physically tired. Maybe they are mentally tired too but that also comes down to a depth issue. We dont have the right cover in the right places and a few key players are under too much pressure. Namely Alves, Xavi and Messi. We dont have adequate cover for any of these players. We may have depth, but not in the right places. We didnt have quality cover for Abidal and now we are scrwed at LB. We dont have cover for Alves either so now he is not going to get any rest, or very little rest. We have to play somebody like VicSanch in his place. We need a playmaker in the Xavi mold as well because Iniesta is not really that player, he can do it if he has to, but he is not natural cover for Xavi. Maybe depth is not the only reason for this drop in form, but it certainly plays a part. If we had more cover, if we had a decent LB to replace abidal or a good attacking mid so we could rest Xavi. These problems would be much less.
nic i value your opinion ......but i am sorry i have to disagree most of the goals atletico had were horrible angles....not only did he not stop it he didnt even try for it and that worries me very much.
but other than that i hope the boys have a great game against mallorca....it'll atleast lift their confidence a little.......
BARCA FOR LIFE!!!
i'm with blaugranaboy on this, i dont feel the problem is fatigue
and hilal, the forwards were definitely making runs yesterday
I also agree with BB and others on the fatigue nonsense. These guys are pro athletes. They may tire toward the end of a game which is acceptable but to say fatigue is the cause of the problems, I don't buy it. If they need a rest they should be telling Pep. There are plenty of players who would like to play.
Regarding the weekend game it was an all out brawl and you could see the players were getting tired toward the latter stages. It seemed that every time a Barca player got the ball there was an Atletico player on him. I think Pep should have subbed some of the tired legs. Definately think Bojan should have came in.
@ Josep,
I have been in this blog for quite some time and was there to congratulate the team when they played beautiful football, and also there when they didn't. It was unfair of you to say that.
Anyways, blaugranaboy had some wonderful points regarding the players health and I agree 100% with everything he has mentioned. If you remember well, Madrid had a similar phase last season when they lost a few games in January/February. But it was just a matter of time before they started winning again. Then again, had Barcelona kept up the pressure on Madrid, Schuster definitely didn't have the balls or the brains to stop a resurgent Barcelona. However, I do feel that Pep is different, a lot better than Schuster (I am actually insulting Pep by comparing him to that oaf) and he will have some kind of a card up his sleeve. So, being honest, I'd be disappointed if Barcelona don't win the league. Nope, Im not trying to be a kiss ass, but the way they played, I believe in getting what one deserves. And after what Madrid went through, and hoping that the new incoming President not sack Ramos, I think everyone will be a winner.
I saw the game, and i have to say i confirmed something i didn't want to confirm: this is not about players in poor form, this is not lack of confidence (maybe on VV, he was more nervous than usual, but he is so not the one to blame) or fatigue..this is an ATTITUDE problem. And that's the worst escenario we could face right now. I just summ that up on the last play of the game. Eto'o misses it and nobody was able to fight for the ball (it wasn't that hard), then aguero takes it and that's it.. When they DID care (i mean, Xavi, Messi and Henry) Atletico had problems and we could have scored a couple of times more. The problem was that this winning attitude lasted about twenty minutes.
I do believe the problem is quite difficult to solve now. I wouldn't know what to do if I were Pep. I really don't know what to expect anymore. It's painful to reckon that i've seen this before, so many times, and doesn't end good.
I think that overanalyzing the tactical issues of this game is useless. I hope Pep realises about that.
Fatigue is a physical thing, and attitude is mental. I don't believe we are going trough a physical problem here. Unfortunately.
Well i REALLY hope all you guys are right about the issue of fatigue and depth. Lets see what happens and if we can turn it around now....
what a shame. I hope that real madrid win the cup....it's the best team ever..... but this game was awsome
When I mentioned Xavi's issue, I meant the midfield that seems recently shaky and absent since it's a strong point in Barça play . since Iniesta's injury, Xavi alone can't handle the situation alone esp after the decreasing of Busquets' performance.
Xavi won't lift the white flag simply and say :
"Oh!!!! guys . I'm tired"
But He really needs some rest otherwise " May Allah forgive" we may lose him .
Anyway, this is not the point since the current situation doesn't allow for such assumtions.
Some white hens seem to get " WIDE OPEN MOUTHS" these days .
It's not yet over !!! we not fairyweather fans as well as I heard before here but we critisize ourselves .
At least, we still play on three facets.
Barcelona is pretty good
Finally he said that himself .Terassan boy, Xavi, Mentioned in an interview that the number of games they play everyweek and the absence of Iniesta and Abidal had bad effects on th eperformance of the club .
Besides, he demanded from the fans to support and be quiet in order not to commit the same fualts we did last seasons.
In fact, the club need support from true fans in thse hard times .
I don't buy the "fatigue" argument. I think it is depth and quality in depth period. We need 3 more defenders (1 quality centerback and to backs), 1 more attacking midfielder and a forward.
BlaugranaBoy made an attempt an argument but I disagree on the premise of it all. They are professionals and we've only played a good 30 games maybe and you're telling me they are already tired..."bullshit".
They don't look tired to me.Rather, they lacked focus in the last few games and who knows what the real reason is.
i also agree the midfield has been losing their battles of recent
Diatus:
we surely need a decent full back. That's why I thought selling Belleti was a big mistake. Why do we need another CB? Milito would be back soon and we already have Pique and Caceres. They both may look pretty bad. But CB improve drastically with age and time. I think we need some one like ribery - whom we can put in midfield or forward and who will instill decent pace. But not using two substitution was unpardonable for me.
See how crucial Abidal is? I assure you if he was fit the scoreline would be different.
Same old Barca though, they always choke near the end, I really believe are defense is the weakest point.
PS I know people don't like to give Henry credit but he was beautiful against Athletico Madrid,
Eto'o had 1 excellent chance so did Gudjhonson and near the end Eto'o cost us by not passing the ball.
eto would have to refocus himself again, has he even scored since the interview he gave ...he really has a problem in the mental department, always speaking at the wrong time
Perhaps it is time for a REALITY CHECK: our squad is short on QUALITY in key positions. Our DEFENSE is NOT that good.Valdes is NOT good at all.We have no LW .Guardiola is a first year coach; he makes mistakes in strategy and substitutions. Some of our defenders tend to have a BRAIN FREEZE in certain situations.It seems that everytime Marquez or Pique lose positions they do what comes natural; they grab or hack the opponent down regardless of where on the pitch resulting in stupid free kicks,stupid penalties and stupid yellow cards.Our forwards waste too many easy scoring opportunities. Last game Messi, Gudjohnsen and Etoó could not capitalize and thus let Atletico back in the game.There is NO collective killer instinct. We like to cruise and pass the ball around when we are ahead INSTEAD of trying to score more goals and put the game out of reach.It was a great start to the season but things look shaky now. There is a possibility that we will get things straight and end the season with a title or two.I doubt if we have any realstic chance of winning the CL.You need some LUCK and solid defense and goalkeeper to keep us in games when our midfield or/and offense struggle.Shaky defense and an average at best goalkeeper don't help.There is also the possibility that we will win NOTHING at all.We just have to wait and see !!
Yeh !! It's obvious that Barça style takes place mostly in midfield by dominating the ball.So, after the absence of Iniesta, Xavi cn't do all alone esp when Busquets and Kieta cound't sub Iniesat .Therefore, this affected the defence negatively and the goalkeeper indirectly.
@Varughese
We need ansother CB to cover for Pique and Milito (if he comes back) because Caceres is NOT a CB. I have been singing that song for a long time now. I agree, we need a Ribery type player in the middle and another forward to back out 3 aces (Eto'o,Henry and Messi).
@Missa
Please,Please,Please leave Laporta and Txikki out of this one:THEY HAVE DONE A FANTASTIC JOB BRINGING US THE TEAM WE HAVE THIS YEAR CONSIDERING EVERYTHING THAT TPPK PLACE OVER THE SUMMER WITH THE BALLOT INITIATIVE and yes I am "yelling" because I get very annoyed when people to escape-goat executives.The responsibility for this lack of form squarrely rests on the coach and the players Not Laporta or Txikki. As fans, we have to learn to be honest with ourselves and respectful of the work Laporta and Txikki have done. They have my 200% support and "heck", I would renew Laporta's mandate at its end if it were up to me. Pep and the players should truly talk to the "men in the mirror", take responsibility and move forward with more determination, more focus, more hunger, more "disdain for Real Madrid" because they "hate us" and a better "work ethic" on the field.
The psychological impact of losing this league title on Barcelona as an Institution would be felt for years to come.In other words, we just can't allow it. The Barcelona we know today will not survive the loss of the league to Real Madrid this year. I would rather win the league and lose both the CL and Copa than the other way around.
Remember, this has turned into a 1 point race since Real Madrid has already added 3 points to their win tally because they "assume" that we will lose at the Bernabeu on the return leg of the Classico. Well, this means that we can't make any more mistakes:We have to win every game from here on out. Real Madrid is unlikely to lose since their defense has been the "BEST" in the league in the last 10 games.They have greatly tightened up their lines and Casillas has regained his "saintly" abilities.The worst that could happen for them would be 3 draws and MAYBE a loss in Sevilla, should Fabiano return from Injury soon enough and regain his scoring form.
Diatus,
I agree. Caceres is NOT a CB material.For that position all you need is a thug with the skill and the talent of a donkey.Someone like Rio Ferdinand or John Terry.Effective in heading the ball or kicking it away . No football skills required.These guys are also good dirty tricksters who don't get caught doing stupid thigs like Marquez or Pique !!
Obviously we are in the lead, but the analysis for the rest of the season is actually counter-intuitive since they are "more likely than not" to a better outcome than us.WHY?
1-Determination:after the rukkus they went through on the onset of the season and the change of coaching and presidency, things have turned for them and they are not looking back.
2-Underdogs:They are relating to themselves, their fans, the entire world as "underdogs" and that is a great position to attack from. History has shown that teams "on a mission" can do serious damage against anyone.
3-Coaching:Juande Ramos is a SMART coach and very conservative in his approach to futball. I respect and appreciate the fact that he is clear on his game plan. The said game plan is clearly centered around an solid defense and a midfield that perculates around 2 ideas:Harrass and pass quickly.Again, this combined with their offensive quality can be deadly to any opponent.
4-OUR DEFENSE IS WEAK(including keeper): we will allow more goals...like it or not! because we just are not there yet defensively speaking and this argument has been beaten to the ground.So, I won't say much more than this. Last case in point out of form ATletico bagged 4 on us.
5-ONE MISSION: Real Madrid is likely to be out of the CL when they visit Liverpool next week and they are already out of the Copa thus this is their only attainable objective this year.This plays against us on many fronts:less games for their players, less fatigue,better focus, less injuries and better team synergy.
In my Preview of the league, I accurately predicted the season we've had so far but also warned about our defense and Victor Valdes (feel free to check it out on my profile and nothing's been edited).I also, accurately predicted the challenges Real Madrid's woes this year.What I underestimated was the "power of CHANGE".
Real Madrid troubleshot and adapted by adopting in new direction for their club and its attitude towards the league. They understand now that the league is never a "given" and should be earned. it is very easy to "assume" that they will win the league after 2 seasons with back to back titles. Now, they are working hard for it and Barcelona's cage has been rattled. My question at this point is the following: Are we going to fold and go home and cry to mommy? or are we going to stare them squarrely in the eyes and give them the middle finger and fight like junkyard dogs for what should be ours this year?
I am waiting for the response and I hope and pray they will not let us down yet AGAIN this year!!!
FCB Holland
Just look at Cannavaro and Pepe...now these are CB not MArtin Caceres!!!
Diatus,
I would take Cannavaro,Pepe,Terry or Ferdinand over what we have anyday of the week. Attractive football is nice to watch but DEFENCE wins championships !!
I would Keep Puyol and Pique though...they have both had great seasons so far. I would also keep Milito based on what we saw at zaraggoza and the few games he played with us.
Puyol is fine with me but I'm not too crazy about either Pique or Marquez. Hopefully when Milito comes back things will improve a bit. Henrique could be a nice addition to our defence from the little I saw of him !!
FCB Holland...where are you? Holland?
I am in Rotterdam !!
"Attractive football is nice to watch but DEFENCE wins championships !! "
Well then your supporting the wrong team my friend. You should support Liverpool or Chelsea. Barca is about attacking, it always has been and it always will be. It is the philosophy of the club. We will never have defenders like Terry or Ferdinand because they cannot distribute the ball from the back like Marquez can and that is where our attack starts. Even Puyol, who is closer to the Terry/Ferdinand/Vidic mould is not great at distributing the ball, hence why we have Marquez and why Pep was so keen on keeping him. What he lacks in defensive ability he makes up for in ability to keep and distribute the ball quickly and effectively, starting our attacks. Our defenders need to be able to defend AND attack; all the defenders you mentioned can defend for sure, but ask them to distribute the ball with the same effectiveness and precision and they will fail. You cannot have it both ways and i would much rather stick to the Barca style and try to win playing beautiful football and attacking. It might not always work, but when it does it is better than anything any other team in the world can produce.
I am all for offensive minded football but you need to have some defence in order to win titles. At least if our defenders,especially Pique and Marquez, are not so prone to committing the most bone-head mistakes at the wrong time, I would not be complaining.What is the use of playing great attacking football if your defence and goalkeeper keep making costly dumb mistakes game after game ? All I'm saying is that we need to get better defensively in order to complement our offence !!
@FCB-Holland
Fair enough, but blaming one or two players is the easy way out. We are failing collectively, as a team. When we were winning games nobody was complaining about the defense. When we were controlling the ball and dictating the play nobody was worried about the defenders. We are in a slump and everybody is suffering, only it is the defenders who get the blame because they are seen as the last line. Where are all the midfielders who should be tracking back and helping out the defenders? Why arent they being criticized for failing their defensive duties. I blame the attackers more than the defenders for our loss against Athletico. That game should have been put to bed long before they managed to score their second goal. Guddy and Eto'o in particular cocked up big time.
We are an attacking team so our attack is always always going to be better than our defense, its as simple as that. When we play well collectively, as a team, we are fine defensively. We played all four top teams in LA Liga without conceding a single goal, all with the same defenders. We won the league twice with Puyol and Marquez at the core of our defense. The defenders are not to blame. This is a collective failure.
@Hilal
I agree that the midfielders and attackers share some of the blame. Messi,Etoó and Gudjohnsen all had their chances to kill the game but failed to capitalize.True too that our attackers hardly help defensively and the midfielders had more than their share of mistakes and lack of support for our defence.It is perhaps a difference in philosophy between us and other clubs,ie; Manchester United,Liverpool,Inter Milan and Chelsea.Their midfielders and attackers are obliged to retreat and help defensively.I fear if we face one of these clubs in the next round,if we get by Lyon,they will basically play 4-5-1 and if they manage to score they believe they can shut us out.Manchester United did it last year and Liverpool the year before.We outplayed both clubs but they both managed to advance and win the CL title !!
Sorry,Liverpool did NOT win the CL final that year.AC Milan did !!
I dont think it is necessarily a difference in philosophy, because a month ago everybody was defending when we lost the ball. Midfielders and attackers were all tracking back. I can picture Henry now racing down the field and stealing the ball, same with Eto'o. They were all working together and for each other and thats how we won practically every game. The level of energy and determination has dropped. Now whether that is due to fatigue, pressure, mentality or attitude i dont know. What i do know is that the way we pressed teams, the way we worked for each other, the level of aggression in our play, its all gone. If we can get it back i dont care who we draw in the CL we will win, if we dont get it back then same as above but we will lose.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see. It could be ALL or NOTHING. Let's hope for the best !!
by now, i thought you guys would have understood barca's system inside out, whether you put 2 monsters as your defenders in front of the keeper, so far there is no 2nd level of protection for the monsters from the midfield, they'll be overun...i'm not excusing the dumb marquez though who makes silly mistake but with barca's style, i bet vidic and terry n co would have been red carded in the 1st half
about caceres, i still support him and believes he needs games and time, he's just unlucky barca cant afford that at the moment, geesh!!!!the absolute lack of patience in modern football, not everyone can start performing fantastically immediately.
fcb-holland, take it easy, we couldnt have gotten in this position with all the faults u listed in ur reality check, its like we are totally clueless according to your post and you've totally lost hope
laibiyi,
I only emphasized the reoccuring mistakes that cost us some valuable points. However, I still have hope and I think we can turn things around if we increase our intensity and keep our mistakes to a minimum !!
pep:
Guardiola does not accept that it was only the defence to blame for the defeat by Atletico de Madrid at the weekend. He has hinted that he has been working on all areas of the squad to stop these mistakes.
"We need aggression, ambition and to play with the same intensity as before," he continued.
"It is not just a about the defence. We know that we let [Atletico] reach our goal too easily and they caused us problems because of that."
goal.com's lucas brown:
"Without Iniesta, the Blaugrana do not have the option of a player coming from deep to meet crosses and through-balls since Xavi has been restrained from pushing up as much this term."
"The defence has been blamed for its inability to keep Los Colchoneros out, but while three goals may look impressive at the other end it was the midfield and forwards who were unable to keep the ball and keep their opponents away from Victor Valdes.
Xavi had no outlet to find Gudjohnsen who was not finding as much space or stretching Atletico like he should, while Samuel Eto'o and Messi only performed for the first 45 minutes."
fcb-holland: ok
please, enough with the fatigue excuse. Professional players getting tired and lazy is just pathetic.....didnt we lambast the fitness staff last season for our players looking lazy and dull during their games? Same story again? Ofcourse not.
What we are lacking at the moment is focus and tenacity, the kind that ripped teams to shred and made everyone else quiver in fear.
The players need to realize the silverware wont walk into their laps. They will have to fight for it instead, sweating each and every ounce of liquid from their body.
Fatigue is not an issue. When I see players holding their heads in agony, or bent over barely breathing or passed out on the ground then and only then will I accept that the players are tired.
Perhaps the players started to get over-confident with absolute assurance that the league is over. I cant blame them. After playing that kind of football and scoring that many goals, who wouldnt?
I know I got over-confident. I was always modest and never bragged about this team's achievements and performances so far this season mostly because I was worried my arrogance can cost me dearly.
However one day when some fellow brought up Real Madrid, I replied "Barcelona will win the league, its game over."...........the next day was Barcelona vs Betis........alright lord, four games are enough to teach me a lesson. My bad.
But I havent lost faith in this team and if the lord wills, our players will regain their morale and desire to fight till the last drop as we witness an improved and stronger barcelona
shahenshah, i just knew it was a bragging fan that brought this upon us
i hope this has nothing to do with bigheads in the team.....i hope its not a dressing room problem. if there's no togetherness,,,,there's nothing left.