Comments on: Barcelona – Racing Santander: Sunday 3pm EST

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:08:37 +0000

Oh, and as someone sage once said, there are lies, damned lies, and AS.

1. Ronaldinho to Inter or AC. (Ronnie might go, but it won’t be to Italy. He’s not that washed up yet.)

2. Drogba here for big bucks and Eto’o. (Too absurd to even comment on.)

Not in AS, Rijkaard said that he is very happy with Ronaldinho. This last one is funniest of all, and probably the biggest lie of the batch.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:48:49 +0000

Heck yeah! The way he grabs the ball after each goal cracks me up. Unfortunately, the way Cote D’Ivoire is going, we won’t be seeing Yaya for a while.

By: Isaiah

Isaiah — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:11:50 +0000

Kevin, Eto’o also scored twice and is now tied for 2nd all time in scoring at the African Nations Cup (12). I’m sure he’ll break the record (13) soon.

Let’s hope he returns fit and on form

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:23:07 +0000

Cameroon got spanked by Egypt. (Yay!) I know they’ll still qualify for the later rounds, but wouldn’t it be nice if we got Eto’o back early?

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:06:33 +0000

I know that it’s wrong of me to expect Dos Santos to show some humility and try to fit in, as Krkic is doing. But this is the third match where he’s been selfish, taking shots that have no way in hell of even getting past defenders, much less troubling the keeper. It’s like he still has memories of that goal he scored in the Gamper Trophy match against Inter (a humdinger, to be sure), and spends all his time trying to replicate that.

Henry is leading by example. He’s passing, getting back on defense, doing everything he can to make everyone around him better. When he does that loping, fading thing that he does, it’s deliberately to draw defenders so that he can make the pass.

Dos Santos, no matter how many times he sees it, doesn’t learn. It was insufferable enough with Ronaldinho dribbling into three defenders. Now we have the kid doing it? Ay, yi, yi….

But, unless Casillas becomes human, none of this is going to matter. He can’t stay that good the entire season, can he? I still think there are a lot of points out there, and the Evil Empire is going to drop some. Hopefully, we can capitalize when they do. I’m already planning on the three points in May, when we win at the Bernabeu, so we just need to find four points between now and then.

Hopefully, once we get everyone back (healthy, I hope), we can get back to dominating. I think that Eto’o/Henry thing will be a regular fixture, and with Messi raising heck, and Deco back on form, it will be great. I’m not counting on Ronaldinho doing anything except playing for his next contract.

By: john

john — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:46:52 +0000

Okay, so seeing Messi enter onto the pitch, and watching how the game almost instantly changed: was frightening. I’d almost forgotten just how scary that kid is.

By: Ciaran

Ciaran — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:48:25 +0000

Dont really mind Henry’s celebration, so long as we see more of them. I would also love if Bojan went on a scoring run like he has the capability to do.
Also I think that Giovani should be given more of a chance. He’s 18 for god sake. Its his first season with the first team and he’s been thrown in head first. Messi’s first season he only played a handful of games from the bench. I dont think its fair to compare Giovani in his first season to Messi.
Giovani is playing in a team without confidence and that are not in a good run. Messi came through with Ronnie, Etoo and Deco as the best players in the world. As soon as he can learn from a Messi who is fully fit and the best player in the world then we can start to judge. He’ll learn

By: jake

jake — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:29:44 +0000

Yeah Henry’s latest celebrations could be better, couldn’t they? Messi’s appearance showed how much we miss him. He can change the game in an instant. With the hype about Gio and Bojan being so young, I keep forgetting that Leo is only 20. That is crazy for a 20 year old to be the best player in La Liga and arguably the world (2nd best, officially).

Gio pissed me off that game. He was incredibly selfish. Bojan on the other hand showed that he was 10 times more mature than his age would make it seem.

I am so happy to be seeing alot more Henry. Sure it was a scrappy goal, but his positional play during that game was phenomenal. With Samu gone, and Ronnie not in his prime, he needs to step up, and I think he’s doing it.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 11:11:30 +0000

Couldn’t have said it better myself, Isaiah. Like ass, indeed. And boring, dare I say. Atletico rolled over like dogs for the Evil Empire. That very early goal seemed to take the stuffing out of them.

We dwelled on the ball too long, making it easy for Racing’s defenders. Does Dos Santos even know how to pass, or is shooting his only mental option when he has the ball? He really has become Ronaldinho lite, only without the passes and free kick capability, but adding diving. Ugh.

Henry’s goal celebration was kinda perplexing. Garbage goal, garbage win, but we’ll take ‘em both. The key is not to lose ground at this point.

And a brief NFL note: It was as cold where I am in Chicago (-4 degrees F) as it was in Green Bay for the NFC Championship. I can’t imagine playing American football the way those guys were dressed. I’d have been wearing a North Face parka over my pads.

By: Isaiah

Isaiah — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 02:00:43 +0000

Jay, I had trouble throughout the entire first half and most of the second half, then the stream cleared up and was fine for the last 20 or so minutes.

From what I could tell, we played like ass. I mean, what the hell was that starting lineup? Messi’s appearance changed a lot, I think, and it’ll be great to have him out there from start to finish against Villarreal.

More later, when I have a chance to digest everything and the NFL stops…