Villarreal (r) Moves and News

[in da soup]

i watched the man utd versus villarreal game last night, which they showed in england live on a national station. villarreal had five argentines starting the game even though riquelme was injured.

the game finished 0-0. villarreal had no real offensive game, they were happy to come for the draw and they did this pretty comfortably. there were 2 big plus points...

the goalkeeper. barbosa. i hadn't heard of him before. he made a great save from rooney in the first few minutes, other than that he only had 2 dangerous crosses to deal with. the first he did well, the second not so well but he got away with it. apparently he was second-choice for villarreal at the start of the season, then the first-choice got injured, barbosa came in (maybe 7 games ago) and since then villarreal haven't conceded a goal. maybe he is a solution to argentina's goalkeeping problem?

gonzalo. i had never seen him play before, just like i have never seen milito play, and i was keeping a special eye out for him. he was easily the man of the match. towards the end of the game, the english commentators couldn't stop talking about him. they said that they had never seen ruud van nistelrooy kept so quiet. they also said that they expect one of europe's major clubs to buy him soon if he keeps playing so well. on that performance i would say that he has to travel to germany for the world cup. i would put him straight in the team, especially as the rest of the defence is getting older. it is great for him that he is playing champs league, as he is gaining valuable big-game experience, and putting himself against the top strikers.

if i was ayala or samuel i would be worried.

the other three players were sorin, arruabarrena and figueroa, none of whom really caught the eye.

[argentine soccer fan]

Yes, Gonzalo played a good match. I think he is a great defensive talent, a player with pace and strength, and I believe he should be not just in the WC list but a starter in central defense.

Of course, Villareal is a different team when they have Riquelme.

[cabanes]

I only saw Barbosa play in games for Banfield and from what I saw I thought he was really good. Villarreal has two really good goalies

[Futballer]

Gonzalo played great, and Sorin played alright.... Lucho diddn't do much though..

[cabanes]

i bet lucho is a nice guy and all, but I hope he doesn't make the world cup squad because i am not at all impressed with him

[Godinho10]

Pensaba que figueroa era mexicano?

[locoxriver]

Pensaba que figueroa era mexicano?
Who said that? =\
He came out of Rosario Central (ARG) and then went to the Mexican soccer league.
Plus, he did play for Argentina's National Team several times.

[Moishe]

i bet lucho is a nice guy and all, but I hope he doesn't make the world cup squad because i am not at all impressed with him

I've been saying he's crap all along. He was a good player in Mexico, arguably better than good. In the EPL he was way outclassed and at Villareal he hasn't done a thing. I think as far as making the roster for WC06, I just don't know. Look at the guys we have infront of him and I'm just not sold that he has a shot at making the roster. Of course this is all IMHO.

[argentine soccer fan]

I've been saying he's crap all along. He was a good player in Mexico, arguably better than good. In the EPL he was way outclassed and at Villareal he hasn't done a thing. I think as far as making the roster for WC06, I just don't know. Look at the guys we have infront of him and I'm just not sold that he has a shot at making the roster. Of course this is all IMHO.

It wasn't just that he was good in Mexico. He was good in Rosario, and he did well at Copa America. He also had that one good match in Confederaciones. But his performance at Villarreal has to be dissapointing. If you're the centerforward, your team has Riquelme, and you cannot score, something is wrong.

[smd9]

I've been saying he's crap all along. He was a good player in Mexico, arguably better than good. In the EPL he was way outclassed and at Villareal he hasn't done a thing. I think as far as making the roster for WC06, I just don't know. Look at the guys we have infront of him and I'm just not sold that he has a shot at making the roster. Of course this is all IMHO.

Lucho nor cambiasso should be on the national team for the world cup. :mad:

[Aguante Bielsa]

Figueroa's situation is a bit worrying. I've been watching some Villarreal games recently, and the guy had many chances he just couldn't capitalize on. Yet, we must not forget all of his great performances with the Argentine NT (2 goals against Uruguay during the WCQ, 3 goals against Australia, a great performance during Copa América, and I think he's the second goal scorer with Pekerman). He's just having a tough season now, just like Crespo was playing like crap at the beginning of the year.

[in da soup]

Lucho nor cambiasso should be on the national team for the world cup. :mad:

i got a feeling cambiasso is a big hit with the inter fans, and they see him play every week. although personally, for the little i've seen of him, i haven't been overly impressed.

[Futballer]

Cambiasso is good

[vipnerd]

When Vollareal sold Reina to Liverpool, they bought Barbosa. He played the CL QR3 against Everton, Villareal won both games but Barbosa seemed nervous.

Right after ... Pellegrini decided he needed another goalie ... and got Viera from Uruguay. Viera got injured a few weeks back and Barbosa was back in action for Vllareal, this time with solid performances. This past weekend thou, VIera was back on goal for Villareal.

As to Gonzalo ... he has been a part of the latest Argentina NT. Both him and Milito I see as the future of the Argentinian defense. Hopefully he will keep up his good form and adding experience ... the final squad for the WC will be defined based on the level at which players arrive in April/May.


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[BigSoccer Bot]

09:36 | Pasó la revisación médica y llega para reemplazar a Luciano Figueroa, transferido a River

Link To Original Article (http://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportiva/nota.asp?nota_id=773294&origen=rss)

[BigSoccer Bot]

14:57 | Con dos goles de Riquelme -ambos de penal-, el Submarino Amarillo venció por 2-1 a Osasuna

Link To Original Article (http://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportiva/nota.asp?nota_id=774438&origen=rss)

[efernandez9]

como va el partido? 0-0

el de highbury park...hoy

[smd9]

HT
Villarreal 0-1 Arsenal :(

[Leon12]

Clear penalty to Villarreal not given as well, I'm afraid Jose Marie's well earned reputation for diving counted against him in that incident.

To be honest I think Villarreal would be happy to take a 1-0 defeat, but a bit of Riquelme magic to get an equaliser would be handy. ;)

[elciclon]

yeah but i heard that henry's offside wasnt so. if that's true then the penalty that wasnt called just makes us even,.