Iniesta Confident Injury Will Not Prevent Him From Playing Champions League Final

c'mon, let's be optimistic, iniesta is undoubtedly our star player over the past two months and of course a great source of concern, but he's a strong player and i should believe he should be okay way before the cl finals in rome. happy to know that henry is reccuperating well. as for abidal, he's just a crap of s***(sorry for my language but that's just what he is). he has virtually contributed zero to our squad since joining last august. can anyone remind me of a game where abidal did something decent? doubt very much if there would be any. guardiola has been an excellent manager this season but what on earth is barring him from using martin cacares. i don't think he is that bad considering the fact that he came from a good club(villareal) so he shouldn't be considered inexperienced and of course he gave some decent performances in the games he had featured so far,at least above par. all the same, i wish pep the very best because he surpassed my expectation of any new coach. BARCA FOR TREBLE

What a fabulous news...this just made my day...I hope Henry is back fit by then as well...

and i forgot to mention...Happy birthday Iniesta...We can't give you a gift, but you have given the best gift to all of us Barca fans by this news..

first of all, good news. hopefully he gets to play some before the game too...nothing like being thrown into a championship match with no playing two weeks prior.

second, would it be crazy to sign Tevez? personally, i've not been super impressed with Eto'o's attacking as of the last season to be honest. Scoring tons, yes, but they've been gift wrapped for him. Most of his goals have been down to excellent players around him making his life easy. the argument though is that he starts our defense the right way with non-stop running. this is true and not many other players of his stature do this...but Tevez is one of them, is he not? Tevez doesn't know the meaning of taking it easy. plus, i think he's a bit pacier and more likely to produce a moment of magic. and he's familiar with playing with Messi.

and he's tall to win headers...uh, well we don't need headers...

TODAY IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY!!!
CONGRATS

and i hope he will be better soon!
campeones

@ Caleb

I personally dont rate Tevez as a world class striker and especially no where near the 30m bracket of players.

His goal scoring record is debateable, he is sometimes greedy, and is not fast enough for me. He is imo, like Eto but not as fast, in that he doesnt look up enough and can sometimes be hot headed. I would choose Eto over Tevez to be honest and 30m would be better spent on a more attacking left full back to support Henry more and a TALL CB to sort out the airial threat Barca seem unable to deal with for years.

best news i have heard today.......

@caleb.....i agree with titi86 on eto'o being better tevez...first of all tevez isn't really that tall i would be surprised if he is like 6' and Eto'o is definitely faster than tevez.......if anyone i would prefer villa over eto'o but thats a maybe


HAPPY BIRTHDAY INIESTA!!!! I LOVE YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID AND WILL DO FOR US!!!! HAPPY 25TH TO LA ILUSIONISTA LITTLE INIESTA!! (its what ray hudson said i might have typed it up wrong)

I agree with Titi186 and messiah10 about Tevez .
I saw him the first time during the 2006 World Cup . I think he is an interesting player . He is active and can be an irritant to some defences but I don't think he has the quality to be a starter in this Barça team . Quality players like Ribery , Silva or Robben could actually start for Barça but not Tevez . He is definitely not worth 30 m Pounds !!

Fernando Torres is the one who we need strong,tall ,fast,strong in the air ,runs alot has good skills and could very much help us playing against english teams.Tevz is a working horse and plays with heart but not good enougth for us

well..i think u are underestimating Tevez....I never think that we need tevez....but to be honest he is a very good player..thing i like about him is his hard working attitude..and he is also a good scorer....he has good goals..and as his first season....he scored well enough last season (15 probably)...

but anyway i don think we need him....torres would be fantastic..which is impossible now.....

torres has said plenty of times he doesn't want to come to la liga......and i doubt liverpool will sell him ...

Pheew..i was late at work today because i wanted to hear this news before i left home.. thank God is not so serious!
what do we need torres for? he's good playing counter attack, we don't play like that (ever!)..and he's good receiving long balls like liverpool usually does, but our talented midfielders plays another way. He doesn't fit to Barça altough he's a great counter attack player.
I don't usually love argentinian players, but i just love the way Tevez plays. Reminds me a little bit of Deco. But we have just one spot in our team for a player in his position, and that would be for Yaya Touré (i don't prefer Tevez over Toure). Tevez would be an excellent option in a plan-B to play teams like Chelsea..but i wouldn't pay 30m pounds for a sub and i can't see him being Xavi's or Iniesta's sub without protesting.

Tevez is a great player, but not the type of player that we need. I'd love to see Torres in our team, unfortunately that's unlikely to happen. We would definitely need a striker who is fairly strong, fairly good in the air, hardworking and a good goal scorer.

JO(Man City on loan to Everton) anybody??
Guiza former Mallorca striker??
What happened to Maxi Lopez?
Why was he sold?Was he that bad? He pretty much fits the bill on my opinion.

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC???

Mario Gomez??

guys we should not buy these big name strikers like you guys are talking about..too much money for back ups ....IBRA IS A DEFINITE NO IMO....HE HAS NEVER SCORED IN KNOCK OUT STAGE OF C.LEAGUE.....

i persoonally don like Ibra....i have seen many important matches where his contribution is poor....not only in CL...look at the latest match against Juventus...at times he is like...useless...i wonder why he is so famous...he is good player but not one of the best i think...

how wonder y some peeps have started losing repect for eto, there's prob no better striker in the world

comments like eto looking good bcos of the talent aroud him make me laff, torres is better? being at the head of barca's incredible force definitely makes u lazy as a striker, u would see d diff in torres style at liverpool and if he plays for barca....eto has been doing dis bizness for long if some peeps cannot remeba.At mallora, with a less impressive supporting cast than torres had at athletico he led them to the spanish cup, then he used to dribble from the halfway point and scored tons of tons of incredible goals, u can youtube him, there's no need for all that in barca and he recognizes that, some players being mentioned here are not even up to half of him

tevez to replace eto, laporta would really laff had at that

speculate all u want, ETO 4EVA!!!!

yeah, i'm not dead-set on Tevez...but he does have the hussle factor going for him. just seems like an interesting concept to me.

but, in regards to Eto'o, he's not the same player he used to be (imho). he used to be far more explosive. granted he's done amazing stuff in the past. and he still puts in a lot of goals. but this season (and last season) i think his level has dropped. i think he's lost some speed. maybe the knee injuries took a toll...

i have to say i think David Villa gives him more than a run for his money...but it is true that not too many players seem to fit perfectly into our system and are for sale and would be had at a reasonable price.

hopefully bojan will just step up and we won't have to buy anyone from the outside...not unlikely if you ask me...

I anderstand that you like the player I like him too but we need someone stronger for CL since we do have a little problem compiting with english teams. Also when he was in mallorca he was 4 years younger and he had to prove himself.

Responding to layibiyi

The only two strikers who can replace Etoo at the moment are Torres and Ibra and they will definitely fit into our system in no time , well Torres seems so happy in England and I m sure Liverpool will not even consider selling him....... Ibra is a good option.... the man is a great finisher,excellent in the air and he does not lack pace or skills, what really makes him underestimated is the team is playing for .come on guys with Inter and Morhinio there is no way a striker is going to shine.....
At inter Ibra is 100% isolaed in attack , the team dont even have one decent playmaker (Stanković ,Figo ,Crespo ...etc) who the hell is gonna provide him with chances.........??????? and he still manages an average of 20 a season .
Etoo on the other hand missed a lot more than he scored this year and yes it is the brilliance of players around him what makes his job so easy ,Any striker who plays for Barça can score 20 to 25 a year,I mean even Bojan has 9 so far and the lad hardly played .
To make a long story short we dont have problems creating chances but our number 9 has been losing his great form along with his final touch .
If Etoo wants to leave,Ibra will be the best replacement with Messi,Xavi,Iniesta and propebly Ribery behind him ...... can you imagine .
The guy is a great player,otherwise Madrid wouldnt have offered Higuain plus 40 mil just to get him.
he has to work a lot on his attitude though

@layibiyi ...Eto was a great striker no doubt about that....but remember "was"......he has really dropped off his top level last 2 seasons.....its true as some people here said...most of the goals are just for the strongest line he got behind him...i can remember some of the mid season matches when messi and xavi both rested and iniesta was injured...and eto looked very shaky...because of lack of proper support...moreover barca play like switching player continously...eto proved useless on left or right.,...
i have full respect to him and what he has done so far...i don say leave him...but i also cant agree if u say he is one of the best striker now....torres and villa are way better and cool finisher than him right at the moment....

guyz follow valdez....great said...

LINK

Samuel Eto'o has been and is still one of if not the best strikers in the game. His goal-scoring record among current La Liga forwards is perhaps comparable only to Villa and Forlan and Eto'o has been playing above/near the 30 goal mark per season since 2001-02 which is even better than both Villa and Forlan. So there's no question about his ability to deliver.

However some people reckon that with his contract extension uncertainty, tempramental nature and his lack of effort at times when we are down means we should offload him at a good price in the summer rather than risk losing him for free at the end of next season.

First of all I don't think Tevez and Eto'o should be compared. They are differnt type of players with Tevez more of a support striker and Eto'o an out and out striker. While I respect Tevez I don't think he can bring anything substantial to this team. He lacks the physical presence that somebody like Drogba and Ibrahimovic possess, he isn't as clinical as Villa or Torres and he doesn't have the pace of Ronaldo or Rooney.We need somebody who can hold the ball up at the front and can take the chances created by our talented midfield and forward line. Somebody tall and good in the air would be a bonus because Henry has never been known for his heading and Messi for all his football wizardry can't do much with headers either.

Oops sorry about the stats blunder. I was looking at the wrong column.....

But he's been averaging almost 20 goals in the league (barring the 2006-2008 period where he was injured for a long time and the infighting within the Barca squad at the time) since 2003-04 season which is pretty good.

u need to get somebody stronger?

thats what teams always say when they are heading for destruction, always looking to replace, never content.....i bet after getting torres, next bone of contention is that he isnt fast enough,we need walcott... not tall enough, weneed ibra

and madrid offerin 40 mil + higuain dosent mean anyone is excellent, that is madrid for christ sake, thats what they do....i'm not really sure u watch inter's games well otherwise u will knw ibra misses the easiest of easiest chances while scoring the hardest f hardest

nyways, everybody will always hav their opinion so i can undastand, i'm done with this argument.....this is certainly not the time

layi,

i think you're right about this not being the time...sorry for bringing it up. also, there is a danger in always trying to replace players with what seems more ideal, only to find that there are other drawbacks that may be even worse. and sometimes consistency is more important in a team that talent alone.

that being said, it doesn't really matter what we say here. we'll see what sort of moves Barça actually makes in the off season, but before that we'll have to endure the press...

I'm not suggesting we replace Eto'o, like I said he's one of if not the best strikers around at the moment.

No player is bigger than the team and Pep and Laporta know that, what happened last summer proved my point .
Eto'o is a great striker and we all love him and respect him for what he has done, but unless he returned his efficacy in front of goal,I wont be surprised if he lose his place next season .

let cut this crap of who to buy. let focus on winning the cl first. i bet it with you if we continue to play the way we play any striker we do just fine. even our own bojan can replace eto without any serious problem. just give the lad chance he will mature.

c'mon guys..don't start doubtin etoo just cuz he is goin thru rough patch right now...give him some more time...He is definitely one of the best if not the best striker in the world today...He plays with his heart out every game...He may not score but his workrate is just phenomenal...The only person I would want if we were to sell Etoo is Villa...but having said that, I would not wanna sell Etoo...

OH MY GOD!!!

Why so much rage against Eto'o?

This is the guy almost everyone wanted to trade last summer. He swallows his pride, sticks around and proves to the world his true worth yet there are still doubters????!!!

I am at a loss for words guys.

Defensively:

Without Eto'o we wouldn't be where we are today in the league and CL. This is the guy who has set the tone defensively for the team this entire season. Yaya Toure, Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta have been able to frustate opponents as much as they have this year, thus recuperate as many balls as they have in our opponents' defensive third, because Eto'o puts centerbacks and defenders in general in uncomfortable situations by pressuring play EVERY SINGLE TIME.This is the guy who sacrificed himself by truly playing for the team, by doing the "little" things right wwhen Madrid took a drubbing at the Bernabeu (I saw it with my own eyes). He wanted his own goal but refused to give up on Pep's gameplan by accepting to slide all the way out to the right to open the middle so that Messi could run, ball at feet, at the slower Madrid central defense. For any other player of his caliber, chasing a pichichi, to score 0 goals when your team has scored 6 would be unthinkable and unacceptable YET not once did I detect an ounce of sadness on his face. As a matter of fact, he was the happiest of the bunch, granted he had his reasons (former Madrid player who is greatly disliked there now), but to me that speaks volume as to his undertanding of what it means to PLAY FOR THE TEAM.

Offensively:

28 goals!!! Has any of the possible replacements done anything even close. Remember, this is the guy who scored 4 goals in one half. Who are we going to replace him with?
1-Torres? he sucked at Atletico Madrid, what makes you think that he would hack with Barcelona.Remember, English football is very different from Spanish football.
2-Ibra? Can't step up when it counts, is weak on the ball (granted has great field placement) and does not defend.
3-Villa? a stricker who is always offside, never defends with his team and is often caught daydreaming out of position. Yes, he can score goals but so can Eto'o and he has scored more than he has.

This is not rocket science, rather,it is a simple addition.Who scored more goals this season of all 20 teams in the league, of all 489 players in the league: SAMUEL ETO'O!!!

Thus we keep Samuel Eto'o. point final.

I totally agree with Diatus. What's the point of starting to think in other forwards while all Europe admires our forward line? Eto'o is by several KM better than both torres and ibrahimovic. If it's not for his scoring record, then for his attitude and help in defense. HE IS the 1st defender..have any of you ever seen ibrahimovic run for something? (other that a better contract every year) or win a ball that he has lost?
I also agree on Villa. Teams play the offside line to us every time, what would he do with that?. And to be such a great player, he hasn't really made a huge impact in valencia, has he? (have we see them in copa del rey finals, or fighting for the 2nd place in la liga?)
Both him & torres are great at counter attack. We don't play like that. We need forwards to be talented, not just shoot when they have the chance. They should be able to play with Iniesta, Messi and Xavi, not expect them to give them balls with 100% of scoring odds, with they do in their teams.
And walcott? pff.. this english players new generation is quite lost. I think he plays at arsenal because they don't have too many options.
If we were owned by an arab jeque, then yes, we could sign everyone from everywhere.
But i don't know if you guys, who think we shoud buy everyone because apparently our current state of form doesn't satisfy you, actually understand what Barça is and our history. We are not, by the way, Chelsea, Man City or Tottenham, teams that only have money as background. Our current team are the heirs of Cruyff. That should say enough.

I find it difficult to understand why any of our regular players can be questioned so much, especially after the season we have had. I suppose it just goes to show that Barça fans are the most demanding in the world. I would keep Eto'o, Valdés, Abidal and Marquez. In fact the only player in the squad who I would happily sell would be Hleb. Sylvinho will need to leave I suppose but I wouldn't complain if we gave him another season. After that a better back-up for Valdés is needed so Jorquera could go, and then possibly Gudjohnsen who seems to want more football.

I agree with Diatus too . True Eto'o is going through a mini slump but he is still one of the best CF in the world . Barça would be better off with him than without him . Let's just keep a positive attitude and hope for at least two titles then we can discuss trades and player evaluation later !!

@Diatus As mentined before ...i don have any problem at all with Eto.....and i no want him to go......But i cant agree some of your coments...

Just like u mentioned "
Without Eto'o we wouldn't be where we are today in the league and CL."...i disagree strongly....ofcourse he got strong help from mid trio which made his life very easy..scoring more goals....and ya...as soemone said ...with that help any good striker can score near that tally....(it never mean he dos not hav contribution to our superiority...don misunderstand me)
secondly i don know whether u r a villa hater...because ur comment about villa simply indicates that...otherwise u cant say "a stricker who is always offside, never defends with his team and is often caught daydreaming out of position"...i watch his game..i am not a villa fan but to be honest he is a clinical finisher and to me the best in la liga...don know about other....forget past and future ...right now villa is way better finisher than Eto...(with all respect to him)
i say again i don mind eto staying....but he is best i cant agree to that argument ....

@ neuro11,
While I agree with Diatus about the importance of Eto'o to the club's success I tend to believe that David Villa is the best CF in La Liga . He is technically better than Eto'o and just as good as a finisher . If Eto'o were to leave Barça though Villa would be my choice to replace him . As Diatus mentioned , Torres is basicaly a physical counter attacker with the tendency to fall to the ground at the slightest of contacts ( a diver ) . He was very average when he played for Atletico . He is NOT a Barça quality , nor is Benzema , Gomez , Trezeguet , Adebayour or Ibra the zebra for that matter !!

@Neuro 11

You make an interesting point on technical ability in your compaarison of Eto'o and David Villa.

I agree with you that Villa is a bit more skilled than Eto'o BUT Eto'o has proven than in our system of play, the center forward is not necessary required to be as skilled on the ball as Zinedine Zidane. Rather, he is simply required to have the following:
1-Great positioning offensively
2-Great work ethic off the ball
3-Serve as first defender and track every ball coming out of the back...Eto'o himself said it "voy a correr como un negro para vivir como un blanco"(for those racially sensitive, keep in mind I am black too and the word "negro" in spanish simply means "black man" and the quote translates as follows:"I am going to run like a black man in order to live like a white man")
4-Be able to hold defenses to allow for other players to play off him on 1-2 passes. In other words, he needs physical strength.
5-Capitalize on what's given to him in front of goal.

David Villa just does not a complete package to replace Eto'o in ALL of his duties.

I would be happy to see him added to the squad but to trade Eto'o for him is just not very smart and I don't think such a move would be very smart with the fans. Eto'o bleeds blaugrana just as much as all the local boys.

He has in him things that you don't see in many players. He is one trackminded (goals,goals,goals), passionate for the club and his teammates, and he is loved for it. He has just as great a claim on everything we "might" accomplish this year.He worked hard remained healthy and poured his ALL into it. I am starting to sound like a broken record, so I will simply stop by saying that he doesn't even deserve to be the subject of this debate. The Villa for Eto'o proposition lacks value for the club and is not a good idea.I respect your opinion but this is mine and I don't think that you can change it.
6-

diatus, thank you very much

i just understand why nic always says barca fans are ever demanding(i've forgot what i was demanding for when nic also indirectly told me), but w have to be realistic at times, nothing can ever be perfect