La Liga (Week 23): FC Barcelona Vs Valencia

Well we have to disagree, for me it wasnt a good cross at all. It was a difficult one anyway and he at least go it towards someone but it was fortunate to end next to Messi.

Anyway, I felt Pedro was okay. Sanchez gave him a good pass that he couldnt finish and its a shame he was dissallowed a goal for offside. He was rightfully the first one to come off and I really cant praise him too much. I felt he did okay.

Montoya did one great cross and then in another situation shot when he should of crossed. I am not ready to say he is a better crosser at all.

Most of the attacks came down Abidals side, Piatti didnt do anything and by the time Alba came on they were out of the game. He didnt have to defend 1 v 1 once, so I cant even say how good he is at it at this level. He also didnt have to pass out of pressure or be in a good position to clear danger.

I dont mean to be negative about him, because I actually like him in some ways, but it was his fault for the goal and I need to see more before I trust him.

Oh yeah, I didn't remember about the wrongly disallowed goal. Definitely a good game from Pedro.

On Montoya, I don't think he was the only culprit in Piatti's goal. We do zonal marking, hence, Pique is also responsible cause Piatti is moving into his zone. We don't knoe if Montoya warned him though. Finally, Valdes shouldn't have rushed like that if he can't reach it, but it can happen.

It wasnt wrong, he was offside.

Indeed, he moved into Pique's zone but it is crucial that Montoya communicates and he is responsible. He has to make sure Pique knows where Piatti is and if he doesnt signal in some way he knows (which he didnt) Montoya simply has to follow him. He was right there, he can see him, Pique cannot.

I agree, Valdes was wrong to come off his line. You simply cannot come out unless you get the ball.

The Franchise wrote:It wasnt wrong, he was offside.

Indeed, he moved into Pique's zone but it is crucial that Montoya communicates and he is responsible. He has to make sure Pique knows where Piatti is and if he doesnt signal in some way he knows (which he didnt) Montoya simply has to follow him. He was right there, he can see him, Pique cannot.

I agree, Valdes was wrong to come off his line. You simply cannot come out unless you get the ball.

In the replay, it didn't seem offside, the defender had a leg stretched backwards. Can't find the highlight.

Found this good summary, almost all opportunities are there:

First time I saw it, seemed offside.

I wish that Iniesta shot after Puyol was sort of fouled from the corner found its way into the top corner. He deserved a goal and that was a superb effort.

Amazing performance tonight by just about everyone.

The only other thing I need to say is that BUSQUETS TOOK A SHOT AT GOAL...

That's the first I've seen for a while, other than headers, and even then!

What a performance... wow. Finally, jizz football is back

The team looked incredibly sharp and focused today. The big win should help the confidence too. Everyone worked really hard and what impressed me was the off-ball movement. It really was total football as players were moving in to other players' spaces and rotating seamlessly to fill the gaps. I also felt this was a big game for Pep, as for the first time, I think it was blindly obvious why he'd signed Asexis and Sex Fabregas. Both looked part of Barca, while adding those extra dimensions they were brought in to add. Well done Pep.

I just wonder, however, if any of you picked up on Valencia's team selection tonight. When I saw it, I wondered why Emery had only chosen Albelda and Tino Costa to hold down the midfield. Both are good players and have their abilities. But neither for me is a defensive force or exceptional at keeping the ball. We've seen before that playing such attacking lineups can cost teams against Barca, and from the teamsheets I could tell we'd dominate. Then we see one of the best midfield performances this season... I just wonder how much that tactical mistake helped us. Thoughts?

Thoughts on some players and discussions:

Martin Montoya: First I'll start by saying that this game confirmed my opinion of him. He's the second best right back in the club. In some circumstances I might prefer the experience of Puyol, but I feel Montoya is mature enough now and only lacks experience alongside the other defenders of the team (something he can only get by playing with them). Adriano is safe on the right, but I think I prefer him a lot more as a left sided player.

I'd like to add to the discussion about the goal. I don't think it was Montoya's fault. I agree with Free, we employ zonal marking and Piatti exploited it well by dropping into the space. It is not Pique, Busquets or Montoya's fault individually, it is their fault as a collective. It is a defensive error mainly based on miscommunication. Can't blame this on Montoya more either. Communication is a job involving more than one player. With time, that sort of thing comes. It doesn't show Montoya up as a defender in my opinion. Besides, I thought Valdes could have come out and claimed it anyway (again, communication).

Eric Abidal: Just thought I'd bring up the recent discussion we had where some bonehead said he offers nothing in attack. He offers plenty, great cross, supported Pedro and Tello and yet a rock at the back.

Busi: World's most underrated player strikes again. What a game, the comparison to the old Xavi is so correct. I don't think he can exactly become like Xavi, he does have different skills, but its interesting that because he plays so deep and keeps it simple nobody notices him. Well the keen eye can notice him. Brilliant, and what an assist and a shot to show that he does have ability further up...

Iniesta: Words can't describe. There are only three players in this team, and maybe only a handful more in the world that have this attribute. When Iniesta plays well, Barca play well, Barca win. Can play without Xavi and... well we all know who he is. He's a genius.

Cesc: Best performance of the season. Don't care that he didn't score, as we've said all along, its super nice he's been scoring, but we'd rather see 'Cesc, one of the best CMs in the world'. We saw it today I feel. I wonder if he benefited from Emery's 2 man midfield, but either way he balanced his role nicely. Passed the ball well, great link up play, and those dribbles... damn... great to watch. Almost scored an incredible overhead after the Don put through a ball of amazing quality, then missed a sitter in the 63rd minute. He gets into so many scoring positions though. We've seen his finishing, add the two together, on another day he could have had 2 or 3. Got tired late on, but I feel this performance demands a bow from Alex.

Alexis 'No Dribble' Sanchez: Bloody hell... What a first half. The Maravilla was everywhere and showed everything for me, passing, creativity, dropping into midfield, raw pace in behind and dribbling! He was dribbling so much there was drool everywhere he went. I agree a few times you could tell he was still new. Fired in a few crosses that Pedro and Messi didn't quite read and get to, and that one through ball Messi didn't read, but that will come. Very exciting to see the Udinese Sanchez who could play centrally and create, play wide and create + the Barca '#9' Sanchez who goes in behind. The rotation of him coming central and Messi going wide is something I always eventually expected and I think we saw a taste of something to come. Beautiful stuff. Should probably have scored, but Diegod Alves was insane tonight. He tired and faded a bit, but nothing to worry about, could have been subbed if needed, but better to protect Pedro and Iniesta.

Pedro: For me, the best thing is he played and although he wasn't brilliant, I felt we played better because he was there. He stretches the play and nobody understands his role better. Still a bit rusty, a few touches weren't as razor sharp as he can be, but he's getting into better positions and a run of games should help him. I agree, not a wonderful cross, a bit lucky, but overall I felt he was sharper and while he wasn't a star, I feel the fact that we had the right 3 players up front helped our game a lot.

Messi: Meh, no need to talk about how good he is. Has looked lethargic... but its as if he's been injected with energy. As noted he tracked back a lot tonight which showed he was full of energy and had his eye on the prize. He looked so determined to keep scoring goals. Some of his dribbling and linking with Iniesta was unbelievable.

Cristian 'The Flash' Tello: Bit of a one trick pony for now, yes, but damn his one trick is effective. He is the perfect player to unleash on a tired defence. We should keep using him for this purpose and later in the season he will get more chances as well. Should have definitely put away his chance which just went over, but his shot later on assisted Messi. Very effective, very handy player to have.

About time to put in a good performance, as long as we keep this up the CL is ours

Great post Kizz, I almost 100% agree.

Do I think Valencia's midfield selection helped us? Probably, just like I thought not starting Alba at leftback. However, I think it was one of those performances we do where it literally doesnt matter who it is, the team was clicking too well.

I agree Montoya is the 2nd best rightback we have, however I still insist he wasnt tested defensively 1 v 1 in any fashion. Also, yes, we do zonal marking but it seemed very clear he was ball watching and not following Piatti. We couldnt play offside in that position and Pique took up a normal position. Montoya has to make Pique aware of the danger behind because Pique cannot watch the ball, watch to see if anyone is going to run across him and see whats behind him all at the same time in such a quick sequence. Montoya simply has to tell him in good time or the safer option, follow him yourself because we cant play offside from that position. I felt it was a lack of awareness and he just fell asleep.

Nothing much else to add because I agree, I thought it was Cesc's best performance too and it was nice to see he can dribble a bit too. He dribble and right foot shot was excellent, unlucky Alves is so good.

I agree about Pedro, I was happy we played 3 forwards and happy he was there to make the correct movements. But his play on the ball was not good but I expect him to improve aslong as he stays injury free.