SuperCup Postgame aka: 1 down 5 to go

By: Iggy | August 23rd, 2009

3-0 win, one trophy in the bag and it doesn’t really feel like we struggled for it (no offense to Athletic obviously).

Pep rolled out a starting XI of:
————–Valdes————-
Alves–ElCapitan–Piquenbauer–MaxwellHouse
—–Xavi—BigYa—Keita——-
–Messi—Ibracadabra—Henry

Our lineup of starters came out and proved why they start and the Gamper was just a result of playing the B-team. We dominated from the very first moment and Xavi and Yaya quickly became the lords of the tempo of play. Maxwell and Alves gave the team width and Messi had all the time that he could have hoped for with the ball at his feet. Considering all of this was happening it might seem strange that our first goal didn’t come until the 50th minute.

The first half was great (if you’re one of us) and rather painful if you were an Athletic fan (see Paul at the Athletic Offside). With the ball careening around their box/keeper/goal we had a chance to see what we can expect in the future from our new point man.

Messi played a perfectly weighted ball to Ibra who lifted the ball with his chest around the PK spot and contorted himself to perform the first (maybe only) bicycle kick (fine it was a half bike) of the season. The fact that Iraizoz caught it and we didn’t score takes away from it a little bit, but the fact that Ibra had the steel plated brass balls to try it should give him some credit. Henry played well on his wing and showed that he communicates well with Maxwell who was also outstanding on his side.

One of the few downsides to this half was the physical play exhibited by a few of the Athletic defenders (Etxebarria) yellow in the 16′, and our own players subsequent reactions Puyol and Toure were booked at 21′ and 34′ respectively although Etxebarria could certainly have deserved a second yellow for a few of his challenges. The other is the lack of goals, we unloaded during the second half but we need to be more efficient once La Liga actually starts, hitting the post (Puyol) was as close as we got.

The second half brought no changes in the lineup but a great change in our results. About frigging time. Messi scored one with a clinical finish past Iraizoz after a very good combination with Ibra. Athletic and their faithful saw the ball sail into the net and the wind in their sails sagged before coming to a dead stop. We kept thundering on and it really became a question of how many in the 40 minutes left?

Goal #2 came from a good run on the right with Messi and Alves sharing the ball like they do so well and Alves deciding that “Fair Play” can suck it. He dove in the box and gave us a penalty. I would have liked to see Ibra take it but Messi did, and from a consistency standpoint it makes sense, he took them last year and if it ain’t broke Pep won’t try to fix it. And then we saw subs.

Bojan, Pedro, and Busquets came in for Ibra, Pique, and Henry respectively (Toure ended up playing CB). Pique got a knock on his knee that doesn’t seem serious but was still iced when he got to the bench. And for those of us who had noticed that Bojan seemed a little slower, a little clumsier, a little less sure of himself in the past two games, Bojan got himself some. A foolish (read “FOOLISH“) mistake from an Athletic defender left Bojan alone in front of Iraizoz and after dribbling the keeper he calmly walked the ball into the net. Success.

The monologue went on, but there wasn’t really anything else worth mentioning.

Player Rankings:

Valdes 7 bored The fact that he gets paid to do nothing makes me envy him…a lot. Athletic never made him break a sweat.

Alves 6.5 fit The man could run a marathon and he shows it every game. His crossing has been a little off ever since the Miracle of Stamford Bridge. He played to a higher score but if 7 is passing I refuse to give him a passing score for diving.

ElCapitan 7.5 everywhere Showed up all over the field and performed well everywhere. Headed the ball into the crossbar, shut down Athletic’s forwards, gave good passes. He’s not in the Starting XI, he IS the Starting XI

Piquenbauer 7 smart Realized that Puyol was running things and played the role of stay-at-home CB until he pushed up well in the second half. Another excellent game.

MaxwellHouse 8 smooth Abiwho? Maxwell has more than successfully covered the LB position and is earning his “Alves of the left” title game by game. And he fits like he’s been here his whole career.

Xavi 7 control Another game another solid performance. He didn’t command in the midfield as much as other times, but he knew exactly what he had to do. We’re lucky to have him

Toure 7.5 rock Athletic didn’t do anything in midfield and credit for that has to go to Toure (others too, but that’s his role). He put his seal of strength/badassery on every touch he had.

Keita 7 typical Never too much never too little. Had an injury scare during the first half but never looked back. A solid game.

Henry 7.5 communicator Had a few good runs and a few missed chances, but he helped let Ibra know when he was out of place and kept the width of play. Those details are important.

Ibra 6.5 adjusting He’s almost there, still not as dynamic as he should be and unlucky in front of goal (he should’ve had 2). But you can tell he understands where he is and where he has to be compared to the rest.

Messi 8 best He was the best on the field for our team just like we need him to be. Scored the first goal and opened the Athletic defense.

Also Played:
Bojan 7 lucky He was lucky that the defense screwed up like they did, but he finished his chance well and showed his poise. Once he gets his confidence back we’ll see him in La Liga, until then, it’s the Cup for the Kid.

Busquets 7 magnet Kept the midfield going, didn’t have the hardest time in the world, but got the job done.

Pedro inc Came onto the field. but didn’t have a chance to participate.