Xabi Alonso brings something different to the team - shooting from distance.

When they're circulating the ball so much, it's good to have a guy who can shoot it sometimes. He's a more direct player than Xavi and so he's needed. But I agree tha they shouldn't play at the same time.

Lol at the fact people could put critics on Bosque as he was a former Madrid coach, favouring Barcelona is just wierd... As a coach, he needs to find the right team for the games. I don't mind any side as long as Iniesta is in the middle with Xavi (4-3-3 tactic Im talkign about) Im fine. Alonso and Buquests can rotate I guess and maybe one of them may have to play in defense if Pique or Ramos get injuried.

does anyone else think the diffensive patnership btwn pique and ramos is going to be spain's downfall. not that they are both not talented, but i feel there is going 2 be tension, especially when things are not going to plan. I think they will be both trying 2 show whos boss at the back

I don't think it's even a question.

Pique has never been a leader.....not like Ramos.We know for a fact there's tension , Del Bosque came out and said it, at the end of the day it's up to Pique because he's the one who's going to have to listen to Ramos talk and not the other way around.

Le Samourai wrote:I don't think it's even a question.

Pique has never been a leader.....not like Ramos.We know for a fact there's tension , Del Bosque came out and said it, at the end of the day it's up to Pique because he's the one who's going to have to listen to Ramos talk and not the other way around.

so is ramos more of a leader than the likes of xavi, alonso, iniesta??. and also since pique has been more in the centre of difence 4 spain in the past, shouldn't ramos ougt to listen to pique as well?? i think pique is also a better CB than ramos.

Le Samourai wrote:I don't think it's even a question.

Pique has never been a leader.....not like Ramos.We know for a fact there's tension , Del Bosque came out and said it, at the end of the day it's up to Pique because he's the one who's going to have to listen to Ramos talk and not the other way around.

I disagree. I believe they'll ultimately sort out their differences, because they'll have to, like DB said.

Pique has never been a leader for Spain, but neither has Ramos really. Ramos is a more experienced player in the setup, but Pique is more experienced at playing the CB role. The leaders in the team are Xavi, Puyol and Casillas. Xavi and Casillas will tell these 2 young larks to pull their heads in, and they will listen to them and obey.

Well for us he is on equal footing with Alonso....I dunno about Xaviesta, Iniesta has never really been much of a leader for us.

Pique can be better but that doesn't automatically make him a leader, nor does a couple years of experience. If you watched the friendly or any Madrid game this season, Ramos is just that person who is never afraid to tell you what needs to be said.He directs our defense , Pepe and Marcelo especially are completely dependent on him.

I've never seen Pique do that...Puyol is usually the one who's in his ear all the time....just like Ramos does with Pepe and Marcelo.

The general consensus is that Pique is better than Ramos, lets just say I don't mind that statement.....but it really isn't relevant IMO.

BarcaKizz wrote:

Le Samourai wrote:I don't think it's even a question.

Pique has never been a leader.....not like Ramos.We know for a fact there's tension , Del Bosque came out and said it, at the end of the day it's up to Pique because he's the one who's going to have to listen to Ramos talk and not the other way around.

I disagree. I believe they'll ultimately sort out their differences, because they'll have to, like DB said.

Pique has never been a leader for Spain, but neither has Ramos really. Ramos is a more experienced player in the setup, but Pique is more experienced at playing the CB role. The leaders in the team are Xavi, Puyol and Casillas. Xavi and Casillas will tell these 2 young larks to pull their heads in, and they will listen to them and obey.

I mean in terms of listening to instructions though...Ramos is going to be in his ear alot , telling him where to go and what to do. Casillas doesn't do that for us , it was Puyol and it falls on Ramos because he's the one accustomed to doing it.

I think they will resolve whatever differences they have though, as long as they forget it when the game starts I'm happy.

Also I'm surprised by this news, a year ago when all hell was breaking loose they were fine...and now after relatively calm classicos they have a problem......funny...

ramos sees likes someone who just talks a lot, not necessarily a good leader. i mean when things are going wrong, thats when true leadership shows. ramos seems to lose his cool 2 many times. look at his classico tackles, when his team are losing.

shouting at pique the way he does with pepe-marcelo is gonna be interesting

Ramos is not a leader.
Since when did shouting become a sign of leadership?
I suppose trying to end players careers,disrespecting all time greats is also a sign of leadership.

alexjanosik wrote:Ramos is not a leader.
Since when did shouting become a sign of leadership?
I suppose trying to end players careers,disrespecting all time greats is also a sign of leadership.

It's a pretty basic requirement for leading a defense, not shouting but Communication on the whole...and Ramos is good at it.

He's a leader for us (Real Madrid not Spain) on equal standing with anyone else we have currently, so I label him a leader, if you believe otherwise I have no problem.

It has always been one of the attribute to a leader, but its not the only one.

imo ramos isn't either a leader.A real leader should try and calm down his teammates when its going bad for them but when its going bad for real, Ramos tends to lose it and make a stupid challange and get himself off. So while he has that attribute, he is not a real leader like Puyol, Xavi or Alonso..

Anyone who ever played football, especially defence, knows telling someone where to go and what to do is not leadership.

The guy who is deepest in a particular play would be abel to see more of the fied, and therefore he would be in the best position to organise.

So, that could be either centerback, or either fullback depending on the play.

Too much is made out of "leadership" imo.

And whatever problems individuals have, it doesnt effect communication in most moments. What do we exect to happen, Pique hates Ramos so when Ramos tells him he has time on the ball and doesnt have to clear it, Pique will ignore him anyway? No, of course not.

The only possible problem I can really think of are when one make a mistake, how does the other react to it.

Afellay vs slovakia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTBsTJ31D2E

What a miss.

he was trying to lay it off

That compilation sucked.. I heard he got MOM though. Well done, he plays his best for Holland.

free_cat wrote:What a miss.

He was offside anyway. Anyway he just misinterpreted. Apparently he is going to be playing the 'Zidane' role. And judging from his performance in that game, I would be playing him there more often. His long distance shooting needs to improve though as I find it annoying watching weak shots being flowned into he keepers hands.

Spain win 4-1 of course without the Barca and Bilbao players. It was an interesting lineup that showed 2 Madrid players in the centre of defense. The oppositon (can't think of the team now) goal was terrific and Riena had no chance. The freekick by Cazorla was ordinary though was planned out as the opposition were always jumping and it wasn't a risk trying out a new tactic of hitting along the floor for once. Torres had an alright game I guess, the goal was a fluke as it somehow managed to get it on the very back of his head an go into the top right hand corner. He needs all the confidence especially leading up to Euros as he will definately be the head man for the Chelsea attack next season with Drogba going (apparently).

The Franchise wrote:Too much is made out of "leadership" imo.

Fair to say that's a massive exaggeration

paxtonpale wrote:

free_cat wrote:What a miss.

He was offside anyway. Anyway he just misinterpreted. Apparently he is going to be playing the 'Zidane' role. And judging from his performance in that game, I would be playing him there more often. His long distance shooting needs to improve though as I find it annoying watching weak shots being flowned into he keepers hands.

He has a really good shot.. give him time he just came back from injury.

Giggity5313 wrote:

paxtonpale wrote:

free_cat wrote:What a miss.

He was offside anyway. Anyway he just misinterpreted. Apparently he is going to be playing the 'Zidane' role. And judging from his performance in that game, I would be playing him there more often. His long distance shooting needs to improve though as I find it annoying watching weak shots being flowned into he keepers hands.

He has a really good shot.. give him time he just came back from injury.

Even before injury and when he played for PSV... he has been taking these ridiculous shots.

FCBarça wrote:

The Franchise wrote:Too much is made out of "leadership" imo.

Fair to say that's a massive exaggeration

Nope, still true.

The chosen Barca players for Euro have officially gone to Spanish camp along with injuried regular players David Villa and Carles Puyol.

paxtonpale wrote:

Giggity5313 wrote:

paxtonpale wrote:

free_cat wrote:What a miss.

He was offside anyway. Anyway he just misinterpreted. Apparently he is going to be playing the 'Zidane' role. And judging from his performance in that game, I would be playing him there more often. His long distance shooting needs to improve though as I find it annoying watching weak shots being flowned into he keepers hands.

He has a really good shot.. give him time he just came back from injury.

Even before injury and when he played for PSV... he has been taking these ridiculous shots.

He's a good player for us and has shown this again in the last couple of games. Someone said he didn't like the compilation and I agree with that. He scored a lucky goal (it was touched by a defender and went in, I'm not sure if the FIFA called it an own goal but it was his shot) and he was also involved with the build up to the second goal. See the video below, 0:40 and 2:05 for the goals.



And paxtonpale, Iniesta and Xavi take these type of shots from time to time as well. I agree that it's kind of a waste of a build up, but let's not pretend he's the only one in the Barça squad who does it.

To be fair we need players who can shoot from time to time. I like that about Afellay.