I expect a rout in our favor.

Expecting squad rotation due to Arsenal matchup. Godberto, turan and munir should start.

Not sure what to think about this one actually

The league is almost won. Should rest players wisely in this game. I would rest one of Neymar or Suarez.

Just saw Sevilla's away form

Easy win

I hate it when we play against Emery teams. Always tough games and close affairs which could go either way. I dont think we have ever had an easy win against him. This game was no different. They deserved a draw. He is a fantastic coach and deserves a better gig.

Vidal was very poor and they targeted him all the time he was on the pitch. Alves is quite simply much better.
And I still dont get the obsession with Roberto. He is a scrub who has zero impact on games and should be nowhere near the team. He is a good hustler and that is it. West Ham or Aston Villa are his level.

Before he picked up the injury he was a definitely deserving of his play. Harsh to judge him on this match, same goes for Vidal who has been fine.

Typical Alex, jumping on individuals after one subpar game.

Vidal hasn't really gotten into the team yet and Roberto is getting on well.

What matters is another 3 points and that the unbeaten streak rolls on.

I think Vidal was ok. He wasn't good in Sevilla's goal, but it wasn't his fault either. He had a great, great pass to Suarez. Had it been Alves who made it, we wouldn't hear the end of it from Alex.

Roberto was also ok and better than Turan, so you can't really complain either. Average game from us, yet we won again. We've been doing this for a while now, but you can't expect every game to be a masterpiece.

Impacting in big games is difficult. I think they should not get criticism for this. Even big players suffer. Its like saying Ozil is flop because he didnt have impact against Barcelona

nazimali12 wrote:Impacting in big games is difficult. I think they should not get criticism for this. Even big players suffer. Its like saying Ozil is flop because he didnt have impact against Barcelona

Agreed, also, Roberto had an impact. He gave solidity to our midfield, was more involved tan Arda, and would have scored a goal if it wasn't for Suarez being sloppily in the middle of his header. Right Alex?

Suarez should have scored twice himself.but he is always in harry and sometimes shoots even before the ball reaches him.should calm down a little bit

Maybe in a parallel game taking place in a parallel universe, Roberto was better than Arda. But in this game taking place in this universe, Arda was the much superior player. Roberto was competing with Vidal for the worst player on the pitch.
Arda had another impressive game and is quite simply the much better player than Roberto,who is just not Barca quality. Even Keita was of more use.

Arda an impressive game....? Really?

For some reason he was subbed befor Roberto.

Arda didnt put a foot wrong. He is positionally disciplined(Roberto is all over the place), covers the FB( Roberto is all over the place), drifts wide when Neymar comes in, always offers himself for a pass(Roberto is worse than Fabregas and is never available for a pass) and even has the final pass(Roberto is the worst passer on our team even including our defenders).
Arda showed all of that yesterday. I cant believe who but there was an excellent throughball he made and the chance was messed up.
Roberto was bang average,looked clueless and kept exposing Vidal.
Was he an expensive and needless signing?Yes
Has he played well so far?Unequivocally yes
Is he a much better player than Roberto?Yes

@Free Cat
I have been reading about your thread "big in ur face" but cannot find it. Any chance you got the link? If so pls post it. Thnx in advance

As a Madrid fan who watched the game, Alex are you smoking when you watch dude? Roberto covered his fullback, did not stop hounding other players, ran and passed the ball well and should've had a goal. I forgot turan was on the pitch. Man up and admit you were wrong. Also, aleix was good as well.

Agreed.

I didn't think Vidal was that bad. Still new to the team too, I think he's been a good pick up so far. I also agree that Roberto wasn't really too bad either.

Roberto did the job that he can do. He's not a good enough player that he should be starting games for us--I expect about that quality from him and that's what he gives us. He's given us some good games though and even though it wasn't really down to him, his performance in the Clasico will justify occasional tagging as "Godberto".

I can't say I'm ecstatic about the performance but I can't argue with the result. Messi is out of this world, and that second goal was great team play from Barca. We could have scored more and we could have conceded more--it reminded me of the Arsenal game in that way. Over all, we looked a bit sluggish, and I can't really fault the team for that, especially after a midweek CL game.

Neither Barça nor Sevilla have been able to keep a clean sheet in their last 9 encounters

ffs

Legit the most entertaining matchup in club football.

Lucifer wrote:@Free Cat
I have been reading about your thread "big in ur face" but cannot find it. Any chance you got the link? If so pls post it. Thnx in advance

Where did you read about this thread?
That was in 2009 after winning the treble. It was still in the goal.com forum. I checked at archive.org but they don't have any capture of goal.com forums, a pity, so all is lost.

Believe it or not, going into the 2009 CL final we were not the favourites and most goal.com members made comments belittling our chances and bigging up United and Ronaldo. My thread was a collection of quotes roasting the user just after the final. (I went to Rome to the final, and made the thread before going to bed around 3 pm and drunk, so it had it's share of banter and bad ortography too).

A legendary thread, definitely. What a win that one was. With Busquets playing, Yaya in defense and puyol at RB 4 billion year old sylvinho too!