Why is Alonso always a starter against Barca?

With Sahin's arrival and Alonso's inability to playmake against Farca ( he can't keep the ball or pass under Farca like pressure), there is no need to start him against them. Khedira+Sahin+Lass/Pepe can definiatly win the midfield battle or at least ensure that we get more ball possession. All three of them are comfortable on the ball, can win it by tackling and constantly pressurung the opponent.The missing link was Sahin, he can go up to support the attackers. Starting Alonso against them would be a liability.

Discuss!

each and everytime, u sound a bit less like that babun i once knew..

Mamad wrote:Because he is too good for bench. he can defend, tackle, press and run. playmaking is just one of his abilities.

if he failed to playmake in one match its not mean he was bad. his duties against Barca are different.

I mean exactly the match-up against Farca. he could start all other games, I'm not against it but vs. them we have to use any advantage we could gain...

The Madrid One wrote:each and everytime, u sound a bit less like that babun i once knew..

Don't worry, I'm still myself son

Cmon guys everytime we play good against barca xabi is no part of it, when we play bad its mostly because we place too much emphasis on him.

In the camp nou last year kaka was the one doing everything, creating space, bringing up the ball and all that. This year in the liga game, we subbed him out and we scored. We had a khedira pepe midfield. In the copa game Khedira and Pepe were doing everything and we won. CL = No Pepe, No Khedira.

Xabi-Lass = Fail

Xabi-Khedira =Fail

Maybe its not about his partner but about him.

Yuri Yukuv wrote:Cmon guys everytime we play good against barca xabi is no part of it, when we play bad its mostly because we place too much emphasis on him.

In the camp nou last year kaka was the one doing everything, creating space, bringing up the ball and all that. This year in the liga game, we subbed him out and we scored. We had a khedira pepe midfield. In the copa game Khedira and Pepe were doing everything and we won. CL = No Pepe, No Khedira.

Xabi-Lass = Fail

Xabi-Khedira =Fail

Maybe its not about his partner but about him.

Exactly my sentiments, but I would restrict it to Farca only. Other teams don't press so fiercely like them in midfield...
Where is mtfootball? He know this stuff the most...

i love how many regard new player (sahin) and new player to be (aguero) as our saviours againts barca, i personally would like to see them played for us first before doing such

alex mahone wrote:i love how many regard new player (sahin) and new player to be (aguero) as our saviours againts barca, i personally would like to see them played for us first before doing such

you think our forwards are looking so good against barca right now? and alonso as well?

he played like 7 clasicos now, he was never "Great"

alex mahone wrote:i love how many regard new player (sahin) and new player to be (aguero) as our saviours againts barca, i personally would like to see them played for us first before doing such

It can only get better. Our midfield was handicapped all the time. He played like 6-7 clasicos...

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:

alex mahone wrote:i love how many regard new player (sahin) and new player to be (aguero) as our saviours againts barca, i personally would like to see them played for us first before doing such

you think our forwards are looking so good against barca right now? and alonso as well?

he played like 7 clasicos now, he was never "Great"

no, in the recent past we indeed as a team were not looking so good againts barca, and alonso was never great againts them
but as i said i would like to see these new players play for us first before doing: start sahin, drop alonso, etc

babun1024 wrote:

alex mahone wrote:i love how many regard new player (sahin) and new player to be (aguero) as our saviours againts barca, i personally would like to see them played for us first before doing such

It can only get better. Our midfield was handicapped all the time. He played like 6-7 clasicos...

we hope that it get better, but we wouldn't know for sure, especially now when we even haven't seen them played for us

Yuri you get a +1 on your rep because of that avatar

The thing with Alonso is he's too slow to be able to playmake under Barca's pressure, thus making him pretty much useless because he is our main central playmaker. Ozil would probably be on either wing or too high up. So if we do get the ball we weren't have anyone to get it to the forwards because Alonso isn't a box to box playmaker either.

This is where Sahin comes in.

Thanks Hrealmadri

El Pipita wrote:I've got a feeling that huntsman has robbed babun's account.

Huntsman was a poor man's babun to begin with. He had only one plan and after it wore up, he disappeared

mtfootball wrote:The thing with Alonso is he's too slow to be able to playmake under Barca's pressure, thus making him pretty much useless because he is our main central playmaker. Ozil would probably be on either wing or too high up. So if we do get the ball we weren't have anyone to get it to the forwards because Alonso isn't a box to box playmaker either.

This is where Sahin comes in.

You summed it up pretty nicely. I like your posts, it's like reading math books. No ballast material, content only.

Why Alonso is a starter?, so u can have something to ask about

i am disappointed by some of these posts..

first of all, sahins arrival does NOT mean that he will magically do better against barcelona than alonso.

alonso has been one of our best and most consistent players this year, he has more than earned the right to play in the most important matches.

ronaldo has barely scored or been effective against barca up until the cdr final. are we calling for his head next? no. people calm down.

Benching your teams core is a pretty effective way of digging your own grave.

PLaying against Barcelona has more to do with having the required skillset than being a "great" player.

That's why players like Banega destroyed xaviniesta when valencia plays Barca, and that's why Wilshere had such a great game against them as well.

It doesnt tell the whole story of course, but are Banega or wilshere as good as Alonso? the answer is no, yet they play better than Alonso against barcelona.

And he played 7 clasicos with us if i recall, and he never looked "great". It's a sad truth but it's reality

imo anyone would be hard pressed to find anyone in our lineup that has looked great in the past 7 most recent clasicos.

certainly none that have preformed great in all 7.. and only a few that have played well in a couple.

having a little more faith in the players that have been consistent with us (not just against barca) can go a long way because it was my thoughts that we are building a team capable of playing against any team, not just an ANTIbarca.

What does it mean to play as a team exactly?

Im gonna bust your balls on it, but it seems to me that we usually play a very 'collective' game, no?