In my ideal world, Henry would be the central striker, working with Messi and Krkic. He has a better first touch than Eto’o (particularly of late. Eto’o’s been cocking balls all over the place.), takes in the long ball better and has better ball retention with defenders on him. Eto’o is great at creating a bit of space and finishing, he’s also great at picking up loose change and converting it, and he has a lightning shot. He’s an awesome striker, no question.

Eto’o isn’t great at curling shots, or the kind of guile that a fast, strong, veteran striker such as Henry brings to the table.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why they don’t play well together, and watching them play together. They worked REALLY well together in the first half of the Betis match. I think that they both need to understand (can someone say coaching?) their roles in the overall scheme. They both want to do the same thing, and both are used to getting the ball, and finishing.

Henry and Eto’o work best if they understand the capabilities of each other, and how those capabilities work with those of Krkic. Henry has a much better understanding of that right now than Eto’o, who just wants to score goals. Period.

The reason Eto’o worked so well with the likes of Messi and Ronaldinho is that the latter two had moves that would draw defenders, freeing up Eto’o to do his thing. Henry and Krkic are both in-the-box specialists, which means that they all have to adapt. Krkic and Henry are. Henry is getting better and better at making passes and understanding his draw-and-dish role, rather than his past role as a pure striker. He’ll get better at that.

The question now is when Messi returns, who sits? I would argue that Henry should sit, for the simple reason that he brings an energy into the side off the bench that Eto’o doesn’t. Eto’o returns to the role that he’s so good at, and everything is good in the ‘hood. And Henry won’t pout as much about coming off the bench. But you HAVE to keep Krkic in the side at this point. He’s playing too well right now.

If I were there and he came back at home, I’d sure boo his ass. But what makes them think that sneaking him back into side for an away match means that the knowledgeable faithful won’t jeer him at the very NEXT home match?

Just asking….

The positives about this match, compared to Betis: We didn’t look as fatigued. We kept playing, and didn’t get as sloppy. Yes, the lack of interest was there. I think we’re going to have to get used to that one for a while. We were also more physical, which was very good. We’ll need that against Man U. I wouldn’t worry about the yellow cards thing. That ref was handing out yellows like candy.

That goal, like the first half against Betis, was what the lads can do when they turn it loose. It was a goal that came from interplay and movement, and one that very few teams in the world could have stopped. That gutting pass from Iniesta was extraordinary, and that it came in the run of play was even more encouraging.

And, just as Schalke could have had goals against us, Roma had many chances against Roma. They just had crappy luck/finishing, kinda like Schalke. When we play, we are the best side in the world. Period. The end.

I was reading the Live Commentary on ESPN because channelsurfing.net let me down, and reading about the ref calling for the stretcher for Bojan were some very anxious moments, Kevin, man the team cannot lose another wonder kid. The Football Gods are not that cruel.

But there’s always that faith… Forca Barca!

Isaiah is right. We score, then seem to lose interest. As I said in the preview, Schalke can’t seem to score in an empty stadium, and thank the heavens for that. We should have lost that one, but we didn’t.

It was still a tale of two halves, but at least we waited until later in the second half this time to begin the cave-in.

I saw more of my beloved “when in doubt, kick it out” from the defense, which was good. They don’t scramble well, which was bad. Schalke’s best chances came from chaos. Against almost any Liga side, those chances are capitalised upon. But it was Schalke, so we go home with an important away goal, and I can say that I was at least right about the final score, though Henry certainly should have curled that ball in. Bastard. He’s been shooting too quickly of late. But his feed to Krkic was tip-top, so at least my scorer got the assist.

And no, I didn’t like a lot of what I saw in the second half, but I also saw a lot of good in that they kept playing. There were only temporary lapses. So on we go. I’d be a lot happier with a 2-0 aggregate with two away goals going into next week’s home leg, but I just can’t see Schalke scoring. If they didn’t today, I just don’t see them doing so in our house.

And how about all the falling down from the Schalke players? It was pretty annoying in the first half, and they seemed to tone it down a lot in the second, mostly because they had been let back into the match. Argh.

But it’s all about the positivity. We won. We’ll beat Getafe this weekend, take care of Schalke on Wednesday, and get ready for Man U.

\mm/