OFFICIAL: Barcelona vs Villareal On Monday!

what the phuck???
if we actually win this one I'm gonna buy a Pep t-shirt.

crazy line up is crazy

Anyone in the lobby?
http://thebarcaforum.webs.com/chatlobby.htm

Barcelona 2 - 0 Villareal HT
Goals: ThiagO 25' & Fabregas 45' (assist by Messi )

After 4 official games (2 SSC, 1 ESC, 1 La Liga)

Wow. Thank you team. Ethereal football. A treat for the eyes and the heart. Is Pep trying to show that who needs defenders if you can keep the ball that well and pass it around at will? Imagine what could happen if Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and Thago take to the pitch together. Another big plus this season is that we now have so many goal scorers to see to it that dominance in possession does not go waste. Thiago - man of the match. The kid of course has immense potential. I hope we can give him enough minutes this season so that he considers himself an integral part of this team without any question. We just have to avoid playing him deeper. If we can play him as far up the pitch as possible with experienced players beside and behind him then he should be fine even in the biggest of matches.

Great game, thoroughly enjoyed it, Pep is a genius.

messixaviesta wrote:Wow. Thank you team. Ethereal football. A treat for the eyes and the heart. Is Pep trying to show that who needs defenders if you can keep the ball that well and pass it around at will? Imagine what could happen if Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and Thago take to the pitch together. Thiago - man of the match. The kid of course has immense potential. I hope we can give him enough minutes this season so that he considers himself an integral part of this team without any question. We just have to avoid playing him deeper. If we can play him as far up the pitch as possible with experienced players beside and behind him then he should be fine even in the biggest of matches.

Come to the Barca forum chat JD, we are discussing the game there....

http://thebarcaforum.webs.com/chatlobby.htm

billy_gr wrote:what the phuck???
if we actually win this one I'm gonna buy a Pep t-shirt.

crazy line up is crazy

fail on my side... Pep played 3-4-3 as we had agreed not 4-3-3

Thanks mole but I will pass. I need to get up in less than five hours and go to office.

billy_gr wrote:
fail on my side... Pep played 3-4-3 as we had agreed not 4-3-3

I knew it was a 3-4-3 or even a 3-1-3-3 the minute the lineup was declared. Actually I have never really watched a team play a three man defense with close attention. Hence it was educational for me to get to see how such a system is played.

On a side note I know Villareal wasn't too much of a threat today but Keita looked again comfortable as a DM

messixaviesta wrote:Thanks mole but I will pass. I need to get up in less than five hours and go to office.

Ok iam sorry i have to go to bed reasonably soon and get up to work after 2 weeks off

I will speak about the game tomorrow after work

Immaculate_Mole wrote:

messixaviesta wrote:Thanks mole but I will pass. I need to get up in less than five hours and go to office.

Ok iam sorry i have to go to bed reasonably soon and get up to work after 2 weeks off

I will speak about the game tomorrow after work

damn. The previous Monday was my first day at the office after a 20 day vacation.
I know how it feels :cyclops:

The Franchise wrote:I hope Pep doesnt play JDS at rightback. He isnt good there and its not surprising given he is a midfielder. Dont understand that logic at all.

I am actually very much for 3 at the back, Villareal play with 2 strikers and no wingers, this is very much a game for it.

The Franchise wrote:

I would line up like this, leads to natural pressing and makes up for the lack of defenders.

The Franchise wrote:Agree.

We shouldnt be afriad of 3 at the back, not when the opponant played with 2 strikers. With our pressing and ball possession it can really be very effective.

Valencia beat Villareal 5-0 and got an away draw by changing to 3 at the back.

I am not one for tooting my own horn, but I saw 3 at the back as something that should happen, in fact I did feel it was by far the best choice.

My midfield wasnt spot on, we have a diamond shape with Thiago instead of Xavi but the principles were the same. Glad I was able to actually get something right.

In my opinion, every team that dares play with 2 strikers needs this same treatment and get punished for it with 3 at the back.

Arrogant big head

Typical Mod

I must praise you for predicting this rep for Dani or is it The Franchise

so,alves a bench warmer from now on?

Ganso wrote:so,alves a bench warmer from now on?

LOL

I doubt they will use this formation all the time anyway unless as Dani said they face a 4-4-2 as it's easier to rape than with a 4-3-3 but 4-3-3 will be the formation used majority of the time i would guess.

This was our stardard formation for last year. So, minimal changes...



-----Villa---- Pedro
---------Messi
----Iniesta-------Alves
Abidal-------Xavi
-------Busi
Puyol-----------Pique
------ Valdes

Nah, 3 at the back wont ever be our normal formation. Never underestimate the importance of the fullbacks, especially Alves.

Also, 90% of teams in La Liga play 4231...playing 3 at the back against that is terrible tactically.

The wings will get owned and we will have 3 centerbacks marking 1 striker.

As said, 3 at the back should only be used against 2 strikers, but it should be used near enough every time.

meh,i think this formation was just used due the complete lack of defenders,Alves is much more important than Cesc imo

(sorry if this was obvious lol)

The Franchise wrote:
I am not one for tooting my own horn, but I saw 3 at the back as something that should happen, in fact I did feel it was by far the best choice.

My midfield wasnt spot on, we have a diamond shape with Thiago instead of Xavi but the principles were the same. Glad I was able to actually get something right.

In my opinion, every team that dares play with 2 strikers needs this same treatment and get punished for it with 3 at the back.

I had the same thought that your formation and tactics were nearly spot on with just two players different. The minute you suggested them I expected that would indeed be the way of approaching this match. I somehow don't think Pep still has enough confidence in Fontas. Hence three at the back seemed quite likely to me.

Just one minor doubt. I felt Keita was at the base of the diamond and Thiago at it's apex. Iniesta was on the left and Fabregas was on the right. They interchanged at times but most of the times it played out this way. Did you see it in some other way?

The Franchise wrote:Nah, 3 at the back wont ever be our normal formation. Never underestimate the importance of the fullbacks, especially Alves.

Also, 90% of teams in La Liga play 4231...playing 3 at the back against that is terrible tactically.

The wings will get owned and we will have 3 centerbacks marking 1 striker.

As said, 3 at the back should only be used against 2 strikers, but it should be used near enough every time.

Once again a wonderful explanation. I suppose you are saying two strikers with no wingers. Against a conventional 4-4-2 with wingers, four at the back might still be the best.

Here's a wonderful quote by Guillem Ballague.

How do you beat this amazing FCB? Mourinho feels it's not enough with on the pitch solutions.Btw, explaining his methods isnt defending them

My comments on this game:

1. Did Villareal have a tactic in this game? Looked like they tried to park the bus then when we scored they gave up. Really disappointing. I thought this game would be very close but they were horrible.

2. Villareal won't even make the top 6 this year at this rate. Unless they can make some great signings or something, Villareal are going to be left behind this year. Valencia, Sevilla, Atletico, Bilbao all consolidated in my opinion. I think Cazorla's role in that team was horribly underrated, as was Capdevila. When I watched them last year Capdevila was similar to Alves, safe at the back, but also one of their most important attackers. Borja Valero's nowhere near as good as that Borja fanboy makes him out to be, Senna's past it and while Cani and Bruno are pretty good players... they aren't stars and need a Cazorla type player.

3. Wtf is Zapata doing?? Great season last year, and actually wasn't too bad today. So why did he move almost sideways to Villareal? Did they promise him they'd further improve? They haven't. Moreover, he's moved to a team which already has plenty of decent CBs, he's a bit wasted at RB.

4. We played great, particularly in the 2nd half, but that was because Villareal put up the white flag. So much creativity.... It was fantastic to see all of Thiago, Cesc and Alexis on the field, even better to see them all score. The 3-4-3 stolen straight out of Cruyff's handbook was very effective and who says we can't use it again if absolutely needed? We lacked width which Alves and Adriano give us, but if we don't have them, this is a pretty good option. Great to see Pep seems to be considering tactical flexibility and rotation this year.

5. We will score a lot of goals this year... and a lot of players will score them. I wouldn't be surprised if Ronaldo wins Pichichi again, but Barca will score loads of goals AS A TEAM. We now have more goalscorers in our team. Fab and Thiago are both excellent goalscorers from midfield and with Alexis there too there could be as many as 6 players with more than 10 goals this year.

6. Thiago is an absolute joy to watch, is he not? His dribbling style makes me want to jizz... I know he plays for Spain, but the kid is so Brazilian its not funny. Beautiful samba in his hips as he dances around players like Ronaldinho and Deco used to do. Really cool how he makes me reminisce about these two players. While he may not be battle-hardened and experienced enough for a Clasico or a big UCL game, he's ready for anything else. An absolute gem, we have 3 new signings... not 2!

Yes kizz I share your thoughts on Villarreal. Cazorla would be missed I knew straight away but nice reminder about Capdevila. I do think like you that while the others have strengthened, Villarreal have weakened.

Another quote - this time from Ten Action.

Question to Carlton Palmer - Why didn't Mourinho splash the cash this summer to try harder to bridge the quality gap with Barcelona?

Answer from Carlton Palmer - Mourinho knows that no matter how much money he gets to spend he cannot buy Messi, Xavi or Iniesta.