Comments on: Preview: Barça – Valencia; Saturday 4pmEST, GolTV

By: OhYes

OhYes — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:45:58 +0000

@ Johnnie Walker

Hey I can completely understand your hatred for a team. There’s no need to apologize. Rivalries, smack talk, and hatred are basically a part of the game.

By: Colin

Colin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:14:08 +0000

Kevin must be in heaven after watching that great match. His man gets a hattie and plays fantastic, and the first even came on a long ball. Kevin was calling for more of that all last spring.

That was about as total a match against a very good team that I’ve seen. Everyone was excellent for Barca.

By: eklavya

eklavya — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:08:22 +0000

Dani Alves, Carles Puyol, Rafa Márquez, Touré Yaya, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Thierry Henry and Víctor Valdés…those are all the people who wont play against shaktar.

By: Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:34:14 +0000

@ Justin
of course, and i absolutely do not deny how good your team is. Fact is i don’t have good experiences with the city, people and province of Catalunya and therefore i have some good reasons not to like it, plus the club and i don’t go well together either so i can be unsulting at times With this post i got carried away a bit, and i apologized in the following posts. Anyway in the end we like football together, and so i can also have some fun here, until the germans invade again

By: Krish

Krish — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:10:45 +0000

hate is too strong a word…we have too much hate in this world as it is..and this comes from a guy who lives in a country where terrorists strikes are commonplace now-a-days..

dislike is ok…open hatred is not…
tone it down a wee bit fellas…
the world will better off for it

coming back to the match…

i thought Valdes was cool in ensuring Villa didn’t get a shot away in the 2nd half…[8/10]

Abidal is a rock…man did we miss him…He absolutely owned Joaquin..[9/10]

El Capitan and Rafa marked Villa out of the game reducing him to taking shots outside the box..[8/10 for both]

Alves isn’t human…i swear..that guys a robot..keep running Dani..*touchwood*[9.5/10] (the 0.5 off for rolling on the floor)

Xavi had an ok game by his standards…but the momnet he was subbed we could see the difference it made…the passing wasn’t there anymore[8/10]

Guddy didn’t put a foot wrong cause basically he had not much to do to tell the truth[7/10]

Yaya Toure…MonsToureous…their midfield didnt have a prayer…scrumptous lob to set up Henry for his forst goal and did his overall job of crushing the opposition splendidly…[10/10]

Hleb…score godddamnit…nice link up play…nice set up fro Henry but still not match fit…gave the ball away a few times and once to Villa who was then instantly beaten up by Marquez,Puyol,Toure and Abidal…
but at leats he registered a shot on target..*phew*
[7/10] and get some meat on your bones

Messi..blew hot, blew cold and sometime frustrated me…pass the ball Messi-ah…wreaked havoc nonetheless..tracked back and fouled guys…that was badass…our little boy is fast becoming a nasty mo-fo and i love it…[7.5/10]

Henry…a complete virtuoso performance by Titi…faded a bit into the 2nd half but finished strongly…the first two goals were so typically Thierry Henry goals that i gasped…beautiful game for the Frenchman…[10/10]

subs
Bojan..[8/10]..this is the role i like for him…kick the teams that are down by toying with their defence

Pedro..Private Pandemonium had not much to do..[6/10]

Keita…one header off target and generally scrappy play..[6/10]

By: Eedreezvilla

Eedreezvilla — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:27:26 +0000

Well said JW it’s not just in it anymore. I hate barca than satan. Their fans( here in Nigeria) are way too loquacious. Let me get it straight BARCA SUCKS. Valencianista. Amunt.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:05:16 +0000

Ciaran, you’re right. I was actually surprised when Hleb took a shot. It seems like it only happens once in a blue moon and it’s something he should definitely work on. When I watch him play, it somewhat becomes predictable in a sense that I know that he’s looking for that pass. But nonetheless, what he does, he does well but he should add another dimension.

Johnniewalker, I don’t care if you hate all things Barca. It’s just that reasonable die-hard fans are a minority in football. I hate the way certain fans tend to close their minds towards other teams by insulting, discriminating, singing racist chants, and their refusal to accept that on that ONE occasion, the opponent is the better team. It’s like praising the other team is such a mortal sin.They forget that in the end, we’re all fans of not just the team, but also the sport iself. Know what I mean?

By: Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:16:08 +0000

@ The german,
post the rest of the entire posts as well than! Like i said before, i dislike everything coming from Catalunya (read VCF-thread for reasons), i only have respect for Eto’o, Xavi, Laporta, Guardiola, the rest i dislike in the most expressed form of the word. Basically everything coming from the streets of Catalunya. And i didnt not say otherwise at any moment!

But, as i stated here before as well, that doesnt mean that i can not congratulate you guys with a deserved win hehe and some great football, im a realistic in your position. But that doesnt affect any of my hatred towards the Catalan arrogance infecting the beautiful sunny Valencian land. Guess having a nice discussion with the enemy isnt in it these days anymore, times change. AMUNT!!

By: Ciaran

Ciaran — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:12:35 +0000

I think people’s main problem with Hleb is that he is absolutely zero goal threat. Even when he went 1-on-1 I didn’t have any thoughts that he would actually score. His function is pretty much to try to open up the opposition with passing and movement but I’d rather see Victor Valdes going through on a 1-on-1.

On the ratings…
Valdes – 8 – Didn’t have a great deal to do because his defense was all business
Alves – 8 – Great energy and a fantastic run for the goal but too much feigning injury for my liking
Marquez – 9 – Great match from Rafa. The ultimate sweeper performance
Puyol – 9 – Owned Villa all match. Enough said
Abidal – 9 – Defensively awesome against Joaquin & Miguel
Yaya – 10 – Dominant as per usual from our no.1 DM. Do you have to ask him for possession?
Xavi – 9 – Everything goes through him and didn’t put a foot wrong. Unlucky not to score
Gudjohnsen – 7 – Didn’t do anything wrong but nothing quite went his way
Hleb – 8 – Was ‘involved’ in 2 goals and didn’t do anything else spectacular
Messi – 7 – Couldda, Wouldda, Shouldda from the Messiah. Nearly but not quite his day
Henry – 10 – Great game from Titi. Scored 3, worked his heart out and deserved his hat-trick

Bojan – 8 – Fantastic setup for the goal. The extra touch taking Albiol out of the game was awesome.
Pedro & Keita didn’t really do anything of note.

The 8 for Dani could’ve been a 10 but I hate his playacting and he was rolling around all match.
Puyol & Marquez really proved that they are still the first choice partnership. And with Yaya infront and Abidal alongside, they look like a brick wall, reinforced by steel and with a force field infront of it.

Yaya showed Keita & Busquets who is boss from the sidelines. He was a one man wrecking crew. Albelda, Baraja & Fernandes were well and truly in his pocket every time they crossed the half way line. Henry will grab the headlines but Yaya is my man of the match.

By: andrew

andrew — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:52:59 +0000

twat