Barcelona Form

[barcahooligan]

Messi is out for 6 weeks with a torn thigh muscle, he will miss both legs of the Champions League...With a 2-1 loss from Villarreal yesterday, 8 points behind Madrid and now Villarreal are breathing down their neck only behind by 4 points. There are only 12 games left in the season and in my opinion i see no hope unless Rijkaard pulls Henry out of his magichat and he saves this season in another way...

And to think they were so goddamn close...

[Rulezzz]

It is over they dont wanna win the league they are far far too inconsistent and with Real Madrid slipping up recently they had an opportunity to really put the pressure on them, but they havent done that, so no, no chance of winning in my opinion.

[shahensha]

Times is definitely hard. Injuries have been a bane of this team's form. Add a few ill conceived decisions by the managers and the once mighty mountain of hope begins to crumble.

The game against Villareal was an atrocity to watch.

Messi’s absence in a team this talented surprisingly effected that game………there was absolutely no right winger.

Ronaldinho was chosen to be on the right, which made no sense. Putting eto’o on the right I will abide with, but switching Ronaldinho all the way to the right was ludicrous on Rijkaard’s part. Everyone thought Iniesta was the one playing on the right if not gio or bojan. He has always been the replacement for the wingers but no.

After Messi's injury Ronaldinho began to show promise of return against the Celtic in the second half. It gave a light of hope in the midst of tragedy. That game he played on the left.

Based on that I ask, why would Rijkaard put Ronaldinho, a player all fans are hoping/praying/believeing to step up in Messi's absence just Messi did for him, take him out of positon and put him on the right when he has made his living on the left?

Not once during the first half did I see Ronaldinho near the sideline starting an attack. It was mostly Zambrotta running up and down the right flank and I have never seen that man be so involved in the attack. Hell he was attacking more than defending. Ronaldinho had no clue what to do and near the end of the half he was basically playing striker alongside Eto’o.
Not saying Ronaldinho performed badly. He tried hard and made some nice crosses right to Henry’s feet from the right side but seriously, leave Ronaldinho on the left. He barely saw the ball during the first half. During the second half when he was back on the left his performance improved by a ton.

I am not gonna lie, during that game I began to believe buying Henry was a waste of money. He did not seem to have that drive anymore. He didnt really do anything spectacular this season except a few flashes of brilliance. Against villareal he was extremely lethargic. I was infuriated because he didnt show that he deserves to be taking Ronaldinho’s spot or Eto’o’s. The ball is fed to him quite alot and he just wasted it.

I felt it would have been a definite win if Rijkaard had gone with Ronaldinho on the left, Eto’o in the middle and Iniesta on the right. The way things were before this “Fantastic four” drama.

We should have seen this coming. Rijkaard has been doing this all season. Taking Messi out of position and putting him in the middle against villareal in the cup. He took Ronaldinho from the left and put him in the centre against atletico. I guess he was trying to adapt to having Henry on the team. He switched his playmakers from the wings to the centre so he can set up Henry and Eto'o who will fly in from the wings, goal on their sights.

Didnt work as planned. Thats why leave Messi on the right and Ronaldinho on the left. Stick to playmakers on the wings. Only Henry and Eto'o should share the spot for the one top striker out of the four.

Henry can also go on the left, thus Ronaldinho and Henry cant play at the same time atleast for now. Henry has absolutely no connection with Ronaldinho. Also Ronaldinho cant under perform at the expense of Henry taking his position.

However, you cant really blame Henry. Life is hard for him and depression fu**s anybody up. His best game was against Almeria and some say that coincided with a visit from his child so who knows?

Its a damn shame. Barcelona dominates possession in each game but cant convert it into goals because the front three are heavily out of position. Eto'o on the right? Are you smoking mad sh*t from motherland, Rijkaard? Damn.

Hopefully Henry overcomes this slump and Rijkaard realizes from his mistakes and doesnt fool around with the front three. The season is not over yet.

[barcahooligan]

Well Barca got knocked out of the Copa semi 3-2 to Valencia today, now the only way i see Rijkaard coming back is if they win the Champions League...

New Manager:

[Kakasgotskillz]

I like him better with the trench coat and the funny scarf.

EDIT: Barca just lost to Valencia and has been knocked out of Copa del Roy. Aggregate: 4-3, second match losing 3-2.

[Croatianblood1]

I dont understand this. How do the best teams in La Liga always get knocked out of the Copa del Rey and some piece of crap team ends up winning it?

[2brown347]

I've heard rumors that there is a chance that Henry is going back to England, something about missing his kids or something , and obviously he hasn't done well in the La Liga this year

[shahensha]

And to think these players got an extra bonus from laporta to do well in the cup. Pathetic.

Rijkaard said he was proud of the way they played in the cup today after the game. Now you wonder why the players arent really motivated.

The team needs a serious overhaul. I didnt know Messi's loss was going to affect the team this much.

[keller8]

Rijkaards smokin some serious sh*t if he's got Ronaldinho on the right. Go Iniesta there, Rona on the left, and Henry & Eto'o up front. Not hard Rijkaard!

[Rulezzz]

Rijkaards smokin some serious sh*t if he's got Ronaldinho on the right. Go Iniesta there, Rona on the left, and Henry & Eto'o up front. Not hard Rijkaard!

In my opinion Iniesta isnt as effective when he plays up front as when he plays in midfield, far better as one of the 3 central midfield players, dont have a clue why he had gudjohnsen there instead, when he could have moved iniesta into midfield and player Henry up front against Valencia, stupid really.

Some serious changes do need to be made to Barca at the end of the season, Ronaldinho is a bad influence on the team and needs to be sold IMO. Henry needs to play far more often, he isnt using a great player to his best effect, players they dont need such as Edmilson, Gudjohnsen and possibly either Marquez or Thuram should be sold. The back line looks good for Barca but they need to have a settled front 3 without Ronaldinho interfering, he is a lazy luxury type player and a bad influence on the team IMO.

[barcahooligan]

I've heard rumors that there is a chance that Henry is going back to England, something about missing his kids or something , and obviously he hasn't done well in the La Liga this year

I read the same thing on espnsoccernet, his kids live in England because his ex wife has them...I could have guessed his barca run would be short lived

[Davidson9]

I've heard rumors that there is a chance that Henry is going back to England, something about missing his kids or something , and obviously he hasn't done well in the La Liga this year

I read the same thing on espnsoccernet, his kids live in England because his ex wife has them...I could have guessed his barca run would be short lived

i would cry in happines if he came back to arsenal, that would be awesome, anyway HAPPY BIRTHDAY RONNIE

[shahensha]

Rijkaards smokin some serious sh*t if he's got Ronaldinho on the right. Go Iniesta there, Rona on the left, and Henry & Eto'o up front. Not hard Rijkaard!

In my opinion Iniesta isnt as effective when he plays up front as when he plays in midfield, far better as one of the 3 central midfield players, dont have a clue why he had gudjohnsen there instead, when he could have moved iniesta into midfield and player Henry up front against Valencia, stupid really.

Some serious changes do need to be made to Barca at the end of the season, Ronaldinho is a bad influence on the team and needs to be sold IMO. Henry needs to play far more often, he isnt using a great player to his best effect, players they dont need such as Edmilson, Gudjohnsen and possibly either Marquez or Thuram should be sold. The back line looks good for Barca but they need to have a settled front 3 without Ronaldinho interfering, he is a lazy luxury type player and a bad influence on the team IMO.

Thats because Gudjohnsen cant play on the wing at all. He is more suitable in the middle.

I'd like to see Henry play to his full effect cause so far he hasnt done sh*t to impress anyone. Putting the blame on missing your child is just woeful. Other players live far away from their families too. Should have thought about that before leaving the team that worshiped you.

Everyone played sh*t in the game against Valencia. What a piss off.

Honestly, none of the barca players wanted the win. Who is to blame? The players or Rijkaard? I dont know. I dont give a sh*t. All I know is something is wrong with the team.

Bojan cannot play on the right. He was stopped everytime he got the ball. However when he was moved to the middle he looked so much better. Second half his gameplay improved by a ton.

Henry basically gave up before he even got on. Limitless throughballs and crosses to him and he didnt even make an effort. He just jogs around, dribbles a bit and falls over. He only started trying after he scored his goal………or perhaps after valencia came back and shut barca’s hopes down in under a minute. Its not like he doesnt have his speed. He totally outran arizmendi all the way back to the his box to snatch the ball away. He has the speed but he is too lazy to use it.

Toure should not have played. I admire and respect his commitment but he was no where near his usual self. Its pretty difficult to play with an injured back even if you take some pain killing injections. Ronaldinho should take a page from Toure's book.

I have never seen Barcelona perform so sh*t offensively. No one was making any runs to create space. You cant beat a tightly marked defence by just standing there posing for esquire magazine.

No one is motivated. Laporta tried to motivate them by giving them a bonus but that did nothing. Many are blaming Rijkaard but he shouldnt be the only one getting the blame. Its up to players to show their maturity. The coach tells the team his ideas in the locker and its upto the players to execute these plans on the field to perfection.

These guys are not preschoolers who need someone to hold their hand and breast feed them all the way. Rijkaard is to blame but its not just his head that should come under the guillotine.

No one wanted the victory until the last 15 minutes when it was too late.

[ScottyBoy]

it just shows Rijkaards inability as a manager
no messi no ronaldinho youve got etoo and henry yet he sticks to his 4-3-3 that just doesnt work without the right players
bojan is a kid. he's too young and too focused on being a centre forward(im not saying thats bad) im saying he cant be thrown in there out of position at the highest level.
barca were screaming out for a different formation last night with etoo and henry up top with iniesta supporting them
barca had some amazing players on show last night so blaming injuries on the way they played isnt an option
this season they have shown how confloct within a club can afffect a season (valencia even more although they seen to be destined to win the cup)

[shahensha]

Rijkaard is dutch and the 4-3-3 formation is basically in their footballing pedigree. He is prolly not going to change the formation.

Even Koeman plays with a 4-3-3 except he has Silva, a play maker playing a bit behind Joaquin and Villa. Rijkaard tried that when he put Ronaldinho and Messi in the middle but it didnt work out as planned.