Off to London
By: Isaiah | July 21st, 2009FC Barcelona’s preseason is about to kick off, so the squad is traveling to London, where they’ll play Tottenham on Friday (July 24) and Al-Ahly on Sunday (July 26). So here is the list of players going aaalll the way over to Merry Old Blighty or whatever: Valdés, Pinto, Jorquera, Martín Cáceres, Víctor Sánchez, Henrique, Maxwell, Márquez, Abidal, Keita, The Yaya, Gudjohnsen, Hleb, Bojan, Henry, Messi, Pedro!, Oriol, Dalmau, Montoya, Fontàs, Muniesa, Espasandín, Rueda, Jonny Dos Santos, Jeffren, Rochina, Gai. Note that the last 11 of those (from Oriol on) are B teamers.
The first team players that are missing: Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Piqué, Busquets, Alves, Milito, and Eto’o. So we’re missing our outfield captains, which will mean Valdés will wear the armband and then, when he’s not on, uh, someone else will…Messi? Also note that Henry, Maxwell, and Márquez are all recovering from injury (or at least are not 100%), but have made the trip anyway.
It’s good to be back to talking about actual games, eh?
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Me 3 on that zlatan freekick…
Thing is, dude has quality beyond belief. I welcome him into the side if that’s what the powers that be (Txiki and Pep) want. I just hope he isn’t as expensive as they’re saying.
Also, Inter sucks at, you know, defending.
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United States
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GOOD NIGHT!! i’ve never heard a final whistle blow at this time of night i guess there’s a first time for everything
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Hey look, Drogba not swearing in a camera.
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How underwhelming. On a positive and completely unrelated note… Comic Con starts tommorrow (well, Preview night for the 4-dayers…)
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United States -
Jason, I once bought a comic in Mexico because on the back was featured my ex gf’s aunt and uncle (they’re married, she and I are still good friends). It was a great comic-con find 10 years after the fact.
And that’s from someone who has read approx 3 comics in his life.
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Inter’s midfield was horrific. so much so that Quaresma, when he came on, actually brightened it up considerably. i don’t think you can judge too much from Ibra on this game: he’ll have a different role, infinitely better players around him, and different (read: existent) motivation. it seems as though Inter need Hleb more than they need Eto’o, as Eto’o starved of the ball is every bit as good as D. Milito starved of the ball… i.e. worthless. they really need to snap up a playmaker or 2 to facilitate some attacks through a stifling defense like Chelsea’s. i really think this Inter team is going to fall apart when Ibra leaves, which frankly i couldn’t care less about.
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United States -
Inter’s midfield WAS horrific for most of the time. And there’s no underestimating the lack of caring. Chelsea scored by dominating a meaningless game and by converting a deflected shot (that I still think would have gone in) and a penalty. It’s not like they totally blew Inter out of the water, though they did make them look like babies.
Santon, etc will become better and better while Chslea’s corps will get worse and worse…
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For me, Ibrahimovic was about little moments: the touch and control, the turn with the ball, the free kick, the movement across the box to make himself available as Mancini held the ball….and held the ball….and held the ball. There was one point where he took a pass, controlled, turned and looked for all the world like a giant Xavi as he passed then moved forward. And the free kick.
Imagine what kind of incentive he will have to increase his work rate, playing with the kinds of players we have on offer to him. And passes that, rather than the receiver turning and playing the ball backward, will flow, always flowing forward. I was just imagining him, flanked by Henry and Iniesta on one side and Messi and Alves on the other, with Xavi at the controls.
Are you kidding me?
Is this deal done yet?
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And sorry Isaiah, but all Ibra has to do is collect, control and bury. I call dat one a gimme, young man. But that’s okay. Strikers all miss gimmes. He made it more difficult than it had to be.
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I agree with those little moments, Kevin. His game is “tight”
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Isaiah, there’s more then 1 Charlie here? I thought I was the only one! (though I don’t post too often anymore, I try to keep up with the massive amounts of replies)
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some mention of Keirrison in Sport. the club is looking for a team to loan him.
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I didn’t see the match between Inter and Chelski, but it seems like Eto’o will not have an easy season next year. And certainly, Inter won’t play a role in the Champions League.
If I read Chelsea scored by dominating, something’s gotta be wrong. Since when is Chelsea even able to play the ball at all?
Actually, considering both philosophies and Inter’s complete lack of form,I suppose this game must / should have been rather moderate. Zlatan might just have found the right time to leave.
Be that as is may, I’m looking forward to some real football on friday with a lot of our Atlètic players being given a chance to show their skills (i.e. Gai, Jeffren, Santos and Muniesa).
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Isaiah, i don’t read comics. Comic-Con stopped being ONLY about comics a long time ago. I’m all about movies.
Anywho… you cannot blame the Inter players for the stinkfest… Mourinho played a midfield consisting of: three Defensive Mids, one 35ish year old wing back and some kid i have never heard of. and to top that off, a teen-age striker.
But yeah, they are in desperate need of a playmaker. Attacking Wingers who hold on to the ball too long are not the answer they are looking for. I don’t think Hleb will help them much. He isn’t very different from Quaresma or Mancini, other than a lack of flash.
But who cares what Inter need. Barcelona need them some Ibra!
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Oh, by the way, did John Terry play?
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yes he did
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John Terry played. And Chelsea is deeeeep. They’ve got starters and backups ready to start. On an Inter forum they were complaining about Chelsea playing their first team and Inter playing their B team. Chelsea itself was missing quite a few first choice guys, Bosingwa, Anelka, Alex, Ballack, Joe Cole were all missing from the starting line up. I wish we had that kind of depth.
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Canada -
I am starting to like Manchester City, they are doing Barcelona many favors really, first signing Tevez making sure that Manchester United chances at the CL next year are more or less equal to zero, now in the news they are ready to outbid Madrid offer for Alonso, and just like if that was not enough they are unsettling Chelsea’s best defender. we can’t really ask for more. they even gave Arsenal £25m for Adebayor(I like Arsenal).
and I almost forgot about Robinho’s deal last year.Posted from
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seems that Eto’o has finally agreed, according to goal it is reported in sky sports although I can’t find it there.
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A funny thing about the Inter deal with Eto’o (if it’s true), taken from goal.com:
“Eto’o has apparently demanded a €2 million bonus for any trophy won by Inter over the next five years. This will come on top of his wages of €10m-per-season.”So, in the beginning Eto’o asked for 12m and now Inter offers him 10m + 2m for any trophy??? Either Inter managers are really bad in mathematics or they expect their team to win less than 5 trophies in the next 5 years – which is everything but trust in your own work^^
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Sport.es reports that Zlatan has injured his hand after a knock in the last minutes of the match against Chelsea and x-ray scannings are to follow soon
Let’s hope it’s no fracture.
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I have to agree with nfljerseys’s post
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Ireland -
Ciaran you are making fun of it, but I’d like to inform you that this post is the decisive factor in the swap deal.
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Sorry about that folks, some spam creeps through every now and again.
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Damn now I want to know what that spam was…
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United States
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