Mike!!!
- Thread starter Fk_Pitt
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Close win. Messi was never the same after the cheap shot to the head from Smalling. Apparently broke his nose and hampered his breathing. They did keep ManU from getting a single shot on goal.
Pique was superb for Barcelona. Semedo was excellent and Alba totally dominated Ashley Young. Young lost the ball 10 times and tried 11 crosses, none of which were completed.
But, the midfield was poor. Arthur has regressed this last month; I think Rakitic is exhausted; and Busquet has been poor most of the year, but was dreadful against ManU.
I suspect Valverde will/should rest everyone on Saturday and basically concede the match with an 11 point edge in LaLiga. If he doesn’t he is crazy.
Watching Ajax again, I feel really sad they won’t be able to keep that team together. They are so good...and so young. Supposedly, Barca is going to pay them around 60M Euros for deLigt and also loan them 3 players for one year: Alena and Ricki Puig, both midfielders, and either Miranda or Oriole Busquet, both defenders. Alena and Puig should thrive there. Puig is a really exciting player and some have likened him to Xavi. The problem is that none of the last three superstars at Barca B have played well at Barca: Gerard Delefoux, Munir and Serge Samper.
Pique was superb for Barcelona. Semedo was excellent and Alba totally dominated Ashley Young. Young lost the ball 10 times and tried 11 crosses, none of which were completed.
But, the midfield was poor. Arthur has regressed this last month; I think Rakitic is exhausted; and Busquet has been poor most of the year, but was dreadful against ManU.
I suspect Valverde will/should rest everyone on Saturday and basically concede the match with an 11 point edge in LaLiga. If he doesn’t he is crazy.
Watching Ajax again, I feel really sad they won’t be able to keep that team together. They are so good...and so young. Supposedly, Barca is going to pay them around 60M Euros for deLigt and also loan them 3 players for one year: Alena and Ricki Puig, both midfielders, and either Miranda or Oriole Busquet, both defenders. Alena and Puig should thrive there. Puig is a really exciting player and some have likened him to Xavi. The problem is that none of the last three superstars at Barca B have played well at Barca: Gerard Delefoux, Munir and Serge Samper.
You guys better do something. Your rivals have Hazard coming.
Btw, I turn on Pittsburgh sports radio this week and they had a segment about Diego Costa. I couldn’t believe it. Of course he was in the news for the wrong reasons, but those guys on the radio had no idea who Costa is and that they were talking about a world class accomplished player who had won trophies.
Athletico Madrid Manager, for those who don’t know, on the Costa red card and 8 game suspension.
"I asked the referee if what he said was so bad because we have seen Barca players do the same thing, saying things right in the referee's face and they did not get sent off, they got away with it," Simeone said.
"If Costa really said what the referee claims he did, then he was correctly sent off, but we must be doing something wrong as we have had seven players sent off in 11 games."
What he said was “I sh!t on your whore mother”.
"I asked the referee if what he said was so bad because we have seen Barca players do the same thing, saying things right in the referee's face and they did not get sent off, they got away with it," Simeone said.
"If Costa really said what the referee claims he did, then he was correctly sent off, but we must be doing something wrong as we have had seven players sent off in 11 games."
What he said was “I sh!t on your whore mother”.
Shocking that saying that to a ref led to a red card and a suspension! Shocking, I say!
Actually, according to the Spanish press, it was “I shit on your whore, prostitute mother.” Not that I think the extra word made a difference. Costas’ defense was comical: I wasn’t talking about his mother. I was talking about my mother.”
Hazard isn’t going to make RM good again by himself. They have so many issues now: Bale isn’t doing anything and is a clubhouse disaster. Isco is unhappy and they are playing him out of position. Modric and Kroos both have lost a step. Ramos (when not suspended) and Varene each make at least 2 huge positional mistakes a game at CB. Ascensio, who was supposed to replace Ronaldo, has hardly scored. It turns out that he was most effective coming off the bench late in games when the other team was tired. And, they can’t decide who their goalie is. They likely will spend a fortune on transfers this year but will they have any chemistry?
I like Barca’s moves so far: De Jong I think will replace Busquet by November. If they sign De Ligt, they are set at CB for a decade. With Pique getting older, they will still have Lenglet, Umtiti and DeLigt. Three world class CBs after Pique retires. They need to sign a backup and potential replacement for Alba and for Suarez and need someone to develop into an attacking MF if Coutinho doesn’t. But, that isn’t much of a wish list compared to most teams.
Hazard isn’t going to make RM good again by himself. They have so many issues now: Bale isn’t doing anything and is a clubhouse disaster. Isco is unhappy and they are playing him out of position. Modric and Kroos both have lost a step. Ramos (when not suspended) and Varene each make at least 2 huge positional mistakes a game at CB. Ascensio, who was supposed to replace Ronaldo, has hardly scored. It turns out that he was most effective coming off the bench late in games when the other team was tired. And, they can’t decide who their goalie is. They likely will spend a fortune on transfers this year but will they have any chemistry?
I like Barca’s moves so far: De Jong I think will replace Busquet by November. If they sign De Ligt, they are set at CB for a decade. With Pique getting older, they will still have Lenglet, Umtiti and DeLigt. Three world class CBs after Pique retires. They need to sign a backup and potential replacement for Alba and for Suarez and need someone to develop into an attacking MF if Coutinho doesn’t. But, that isn’t much of a wish list compared to most teams.
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