I spoke 2 weeks ago about being overrun in midfield, about the need to play both Owen and Ronaldo to ensure that there were spaces created in front, about the need to pass the ball around and keep possession, about how we could not afford to sit in the final 3rd and let them ping passes around at speed…. And every bloody fear came true. I think we started okay but once the goal happened, the team just gave up. It made me ashamed to see such an inept, spineless performance… one of the worst since the 5-0 loss 6-7 years ago. I did not expect to win, but I at least expected to create chances, to show some heart, to show some fire. Instead for the last 60 minutes, we were taught a football lesson by a team in a different league. I think Ronaldinho confirmed that he’s probably going to win World and European player of the Year this time around. Points out of 10: - Casillas: 2.5. Good tip-over off Ronaldinho but he lost major points for the 1st goal, which changed the match. Let down by his defence but did nothing special either. - Salgado: 4.5. Most effective of the defenders. Couldn’t stop Ronaldinho but still did a better job than the rest. 1-2 good forward runs. - Pavon: 3. No big mistakes but he did struggle - Samuel: 1. Terrible foul late in the game and got drawn out of position regularly. Can’t tackle without fouling. Largely responsible for the final penalty. - RC: 1. Nothing in attack. Destroyed by Beletti in defence. Big role to play in the 1st goal. Playing ahead of Raul Bravo on reputation only. - Figo: 3. Tried but often ran into traffic. Did not release the ball early enough. - Beckham: 0. Zero contribution=Zero points. The invisible man’s speciality now seems to be the pass back or the pass to the guy on the side. Left Guti with no support, was destroyed by the opposition midfield. Lost the ball in the move that led to the 2nd goal. - Guti: 6. Tough night. Does not get a higher grade because we are talking about an absolute performance scale. But compared to the rest of the team, he was a 10, and it was fitting that the captain handed over the band to Guti. - Zidane: 3. 2 good attempts, one good pirouette. But the great man’s best days are behind him and I am certain he can no longer impose himself on a game regularly like Ronaldinho or Deco. We will see a few superb games like Albacete but the King is dead. - Ronaldo: 3. No service. And ever time he tried to do something he had 2-3 players gunning for him and no one to pass it to. But the Ronaldo of a week ago would have found a way to impose himself. The desire was there but this week it translated to frustration, not hunger to deliver. - Owen: 4. Came on too late and starved of service. But still looked better than most of his team-mates - Raul: -2. Most disappointing person all night. Did even less than Beckham and failed to provide leadership or inspiration. What a comedown from silencing the Camp Nou with a finger on his lips. Raul maybe the soul of the club but I am starting to feel that he is too nice to be captain, and we’re better off with a captain who is more forceful on the pitch.
Excellent post, anirbanblah. I could quibble with a few of the points, but I think you are hitting the nail on the head. You forgot one though: Garcia Remon: 3. Starting Pavon & Samuel was an unbelievable error. Bringing in Celades at any other time except to protect a lead is poor thinking - I would rather he gave the experience to Raul Bravo or Mejia, since we were losing any way. I am not sure what our best answers are in terms of formation or personnel, but GR started the 2nd half the same way as the first - that is unacceptable.
I could be wrong, but I thought it was Guti clattering into Eto'o that forced the penalty. Maybe they would have called it anyway but where was Pavon on that play (Eto'o was coming down Pavon's side)?
With Helguera and Woodgate out the only players he had available were Samuel, Pavon, Mejia, and Raul Bravo. But Samuel and Pavon weren't responsible for the loss. No one played well - although if I had to pick anyone I would say Salgado, who had the toughest job on the pitch trying to stop/slow Ronadhino - and did what he could against arguably the best player in the world who was on good form that night. I didn't like the introduction of Celades either. Can't recall if it was 2-0 or 3-0 at that point, but it was like he was hoping to stop the bleeding more than trying to fight back. Solari should have come on earlier as well, as Raul was ineffective.
I agree, he should have been more aware of any potential threats to a wide open net. Also, if he laid blame on Casillas, I think it demonstrates a lack of responsibility as well as leadership.
from the replay, it seemed that samuel managed to get the ball away from eto'o with a backheel, but thats when guti clattered into him. if guti hadn't arrived late like that, it doesn't seem like eto'o would have gone down, and no penalty would have been given.
All those who have been long enough in this boards know Ive always been able to recognize when my team lost, I've even been able to post in here and congratulate your team and although it seems a couple of our fans get too carried away too easy but im still disappointed with your behaviour (with the possible exception of anir and illuminatus) no one recognize we won fair and square.
Find one quote of someone complaining about us getting cheated or the ref making bad calls that changed the game. I haven't seen any, and I think everyone pretty much agrees that we lost because we didn't play as well as we should have and needed to.
Believe me, Mario, we recognize it. Being that I can speak only for myself, I respect the forums of other teams and do not post in them, ever. Even if I did, at times like this, I'm far too busy sulking to do much else.
has anyone trolled save for neo? and all neo really did was defy the laws that we used to know to be true. since there is alrdy a bad name ot the barca fans, is this why you closed the avatar bet thread sinko? afraid your whole forum would be full of barca signs?
no one recognised barcelona won fair and square? i dont really think thats fair, to be honest. i dont see anyone here claim real wasnt outplayed at the nou camp, we were cheated, or anything like that. it was simply the better team that won, but that doesnt make it any easier to accept, especially because it didnt seem to be much of a contest, to be honest. i had actually thought of congratulating the team in your forum, but the mood there made me think i'd just be setting myself up for a flamefest. still, it was an impressive display.
We were definitely outplayed, you guys won fair and square. The only thing cheezzy about the whole game was the sign the said "CATALUNYA IS NOT SPAIN" although I do not have a problem of the meaning of it, I thought that the Barca fans had a lot of pride in their culture; I really fail to see why they did it in English instead of their Catalonian language, other than that the atmosphere was great (at least for you guys) We shall meet again soon for our sweet revenge.
i agree, I myself didnt like the banter, however I respect others' POV im looking forward for the next encounter, we shall see
I think Sinko is asking Barca fans to leave. Clearly, antagonizing us is not really doing anything for anyone, unless you enjoy it. But go to the Barca forum and check how many posts Real fans have made regarding the last five seasons, and Barca's various comedic mishaps and failings -- none. Unlike some team's forums, I think we have a pretty good level of conversation -- on topic, informative, etc. Sinko closed your little bet thread because it served no purpose in terms of discussing soccer; it would only lead to immature bickering like you continue to post in this thread instead.
I'm actually all for Barcelona fans, or any fans, who would come here and give an informed and informative opinion on player or team performances. But i hate idiots who go to other people's forums and gloat. But losers like Neo da One should have each and every one of his posts edited because they are almost 100% guaranteed to be crap. Nice to see him keeping up the trend of neg repping me for pointing out that he is a rep digging lamer. Pity i couldn't be arsed returning the favour.
Totally agree. And while I think Casillas has the primary responsibility, I was very dismayed to see Roberto Carlos' comments. He showed very little loyalty to his teammate there.
Well, if RM fails to win La Liga, then I would like to see Barcelona take it. Barcelona is playing very well & even the bad luck with injuries is being overcome. On the other hand, RM has only won something like once in Barcelona during the last 20 visits - so the result is hardly a shock. I can't believe the comment about how we are mostly talking about RM's poor play in the RM forum rather than how great Barcelona played. Give me a break. That is what the Barcelona forum is for.
ahh bs, over the last few weeks ive given out webstreams to you guys and helped with pbp (a fair one at that) and sinko still abuses his powers and closes threads for no reason. the bet thread was all in good fun and iirc myself nor the RM posters bickered in that thread, but sinko had to come along and cry. everyone has already discussed what was wrong in this match; ronnie was too good for salgado samuel can only foul guti had a pretty good game beckham was useless ronaldo didnt have enough help zizou is past it figo surprisingly (no sarcasm) had a bad game pavon is pavon, although he didnt do anything bad by his standards rc and casillas had a misunderstanding, i blame both of them rc is becoming worse and worse. the fact is real needs a major overhaul, and lucky enough for them they have the money to do it. if barca could suffer for 5 yrs i believe, then real can for a much shorter time.
Actually I agree with most of your comments. But what you are not getting is that even Puyol, as good as he is, wasn't having to stop Figo or Ronaldo with the ball, one-on-one, play after play. RM's defense is so sorry that Salgado did have to pick up Ronaldhino one-on-one, play after play. And the fact that Ronalhlino got some crosses off and went by Salgado once doesn't mean that Salgado didn't have a big game. As I recall Figo did get by Puyol too one-on-one but the other central defender came over & cleared it.
The thing that frustrates me so much is the complete disrepect given to Morientes. Granted I was cheering against you guys but it baffles me how so far this season RM has given him no chance to play, to the point that it threatens his place in the Spanish national squad. He did an amazing job with Monaco last year and such a big deal was made of his return to Madrid at the begining of the year only for them to let him sit the bench. I do applaud him for his attitude towards the club, he shows a lot of patience with the situation while most players would complain about not being give a chance. I tried to give constructive criticism.
Per usual, Phil Ball's comments are interesting. Here is the link: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=317228&cc=5739 And here is the meat: On the Sunday the newspapers, relieved to be talking about something other than racism, were unanimous in their praise for Barcelona and dismissive of Real Madrid in equal measure. It takes a lot for Marca, often seen as Real's unofficial mouthpiece, to admit to a thrashing, but they went even further than that. 'The beginning of the end' screamed the front page, with a photo of Roberto Carlos and Iker Casillas watching in stupefaction as Samuel Eto'o rolled the opening goal into an empty net. Up to that point, in all truth, Madrid had been playing decently, but the home side had always looked dangerous. Once they were in front, there was no turning back. Roberto Carlos' mistake in allowing Eto'o to nip between himself and Casillas may go down in history as the turning point of a 'cycle', as Marca went on to explain. Madrid are no longer the galácticos, the editorial insisted. Raúl, Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo and Beckham have retired to behind the curtain, whilst Ronaldinho, Deco, Eto'o, Xavi et al have walked on stage to receive the plaudits. As the Pérez empire crumbles, the phoenix to the east is rising. Still - it might be as well not to get too carried away, as Frank Rijkaard himself advised after the game. At this same time last year, Real Madrid were similarly exuberant, and look what happened to them. Then again, they weren't really playing with anything like the style and solidity of Barça this year, and they certainly aren't now. One of the most interesting aspects of the game in the Camp Nou was that although the focus was inevitably on Ronaldinho, Eto'o and the sheer variety of Barça's offensive repertoire, the basis of the victory was in their defensive strategy. Marquez, Puyol, Gio and Oleguer pushed up on Madrid's forward players, and simply suffocated them. The tackling was hard but fair, and Madrid's midfield was gradually hustled and bustled out of the game. Raúl was anonymous, Beckham seemed unsure of what he was supposed to be doing, Figo kept running down blind alleys and only Guti emerged with some credit. Zidane looked his graceful self at times, but there was no-one to play with. By contrast, every time Barça won the ball back, the advanced positioning of their midfield allowed them to supply the danger men rapidly and frequently with the ball. Defending in the last third, Madrid were eventually pummelled into submission by the relentlessness of Barça's vertical approach. Salgado is a good defender, but he must have been having nightmares on Saturday evening about Ronaldinho. It's difficult to cope with him at the best of times, but when you have no cover from midfield (where was Beckham?) it's an impossible job. If you're one on one with him, you might as well just let him go past. He will anyway. Nevertheless, I still wouldn't write Madrid off, because a week is a long time in football and confidence is a many fragile thing. Barça are yet to experience a slump, and when it comes - as it surely will - then their rivals, whoever they are, will need to knuckle down and aim for a spell of consistency that at least keeps this season's title race alive.
The acmilan_barcelona guy, njonkers, fbotiga, but who's counting? Well I am apparantly. Hell, I'd almost rate Mario as one, with his nonsense post that nobody here recognized Barça won "fair and square" when as far as I've seen everybody did just that. Dissapointed with our behaviour? Well, I'm dissapointed with his too. So it's all good in Hollywood.