Another episode of The Ronaldinho Show next week!

We must take the 3 points and take advantage of the Real - Osasuna matchup.

 

I'm sure we'll win this one. With Ronaldinho like this, noone can stop us.

 

Great, I didn't know Osasuna and Madrid are playing eachother next weekend

 

It seems strange to bring something like this up when our club has been on such a role. It don't want to rain on everyone else's parade.

However, based on the last two games I am worried about our team's ability to play at the highest level without Xavi. We have been lucky in my opinion to win our last two games. Maybe not lucky, but the wins have been of a different sort that I have become used to (perhaps I am spoiled). We still dominate in terms of posession, but we struggle to create decent chances consistently and rely on moments of brilliance or luck.

We play possesion football, we cannot win unless we have the ability to turn that possesion into chances to score. Xavi is simply one of the best in the world at doing this. We have replacements that can do the job against lesser teams but I wonder what will happen against teams like Juve and Chelsea. Iniesta just did not seem up to it last game (he is not active enough), and Van Bommel is unproven in our system

Worse, against high quality defending it because that much harder for someone like Ronaldinho, or Eto'o or Messi to turn a game with a moment of individual brilliance.

I know this wasn't really related to Cadiz specificaly, but thoughts?

 

Against Udinese we played without R.E.M, and against Sevilla we played without half of our midfield.

When we have Deco and van Bommel back I don't think we'll miss Xavi that much.

 

I don't think it's such a big issue. I'm sure Iniesta will perform better if he plays alongside Deco. We'll have clearer ideas in this game even if it's against a weak opponent.

Probable line-up for the game:

-----------------Valdes----------------
-Oleguer------Puyol----Marquez----Sylvinho
-------------------Motta-----------
------------Iniesta---------Deco-------
------Messi---------------------Ronaldinho--
-------------------Eto'o-----------

If Motta is not match fit Edmilson can replace him.

 

Against Udinese we played without R.E.M, and against Sevilla we played without half of our midfield.

When we have Deco and van Bommel back I don't think we'll miss Xavi that much.

And away at Villarreal we had to contain Riquelme :scared:

Which we did, and very good at that.

 

Deco - Motta - Van Bommel

wow, thats a tough cookie to crack. Physical strenght + Technique

 

FCBFAN from newyork your fears are well understood and rightly so but last game was an exception because we were missing ALL our starting midfield so it was pretty much a lineup that has never been tested. Injesta and Gabri in midfield alongside edmilson to hold is unsuccesful particularly against this season's best defense (sevilla) so far.

with Deco and Rafa back things should be better, i wouldn't rush into VanBommel once he's back because he's not nearly as dynamic as xavi.. Deco still seems like the better option. In any case next match should see deco and injesta in the midfield though who will take xavi's spot is still to be seen.. i personally prefer deco because Injesta is more of an AM than a CM let alone a DM.

once Motta is back he should get the nod with deco ahead of injesta in away games... while i prefer injesta to partner Deco in the home games.

 

Deco - Motta - Van Bommel

wow, thats a tough cookie to crack. Physical strenght + Technique

I agree. :thumbsup: Let's just hope these guys stay injuryfree.

 

It seems strange to bring something like this up when our club has been on such a role. It don't want to rain on everyone else's parade.

However, based on the last two games I am worried about our team's ability to play at the highest level without Xavi. We have been lucky in my opinion to win our last two games. Maybe not lucky, but the wins have been of a different sort that I have become used to (perhaps I am spoiled). We still dominate in terms of posession, but we struggle to create decent chances consistently and rely on moments of brilliance or luck.

We play possesion football, we cannot win unless we have the ability to turn that possesion into chances to score. Xavi is simply one of the best in the world at doing this. We have replacements that can do the job against lesser teams but I wonder what will happen against teams like Juve and Chelsea. Iniesta just did not seem up to it last game (he is not active enough), and Van Bommel is unproven in our system

Worse, against high quality defending it because that much harder for someone like Ronaldinho, or Eto'o or Messi to turn a game with a moment of individual brilliance.

I know this wasn't really related to Cadiz specificaly, but thoughts?

Let's not forget that our opponents have to do a lot with our performance. We just played two of the top teams in la liga in Villareal and Sevilla and got two wins. Of course its not always going to be easy and much less when losing so many players so I would say there is not so much cause for concern but surely things that should be noted and worked on.

 

Win, win, WIN!

There's no doubt, we absolutely MUST win the next 2 games. With Deco and Marquez back, the midfield will be back to near full strength, and we'll play better. And with all due respect, Cadiz are NOT as good as Sevilla.

 

We still dominate in terms of posession, but we struggle to create decent chances consistently and rely on moments of brilliance or luck.

OK, but you should also be aware that we've been playing Villarreal who didn't concede a single goal in November and Sevilla who condeded the least number of goals in the whole competition so far. Apparently it's not easy to create chances against those teams and yet we managed to create enough to gain two victories one of which was away from Camp Nou.

Of course it looks different without Xavi, he was the brain of this team, but I think our backup is good enough and with time it can only get better. Also, what's important, we weren't missing only Xavi against Sevilla, so with Deco, Marquez and (van Bommel some time later) coming back it should improve even more.

I'm pretty confident about the win in Cadiz and then hopefully another one against Celta to have a merry Christmas

 

We have to win here, because it's probably one of the easiest visits that we'll have to do. In any case, respect for Cadiz, this teams play with heart this kind of games and their crowd is quite hot, compared to others in Spain.

At least, we'll recover some players. Aside the record, which is more an anecdote (that year we didn't win anything... so a record means nothing many times), it'd be great to reach X-mas with the 6 points gap. Real Madrid got an easy schedule in December with 3 games at home and an easy one away and they really believe that they can cut points now. Let's destroy their hopes like last year.

 

I hate to say this , but after the display that Messi showed on the last game, i think he need to be benched.

not as a punishment but more of a " RECHARGING" of his motivation.....

and if Giuly didnt have a chance now..... when will he have a chance to start?

 

I hate to say this , but after the display that Messi showed on the last game, i think he need to be benched.

not as a punishment but more of a " RECHARGING" of his motivation.....

and if Giuly didnt have a chance now..... when will he have a chance to start?

I agree, Giuly has to start. Or Ezquerro.

 

How fickle you all are.

 

I hate to say this , but after the display that Messi showed on the last game, i think he need to be benched.

not as a punishment but more of a " RECHARGING" of his motivation.....

and if Giuly didnt have a chance now..... when will he have a chance to start?

I agree, Giuly has to start. Or Ezquerro.

You sure know how to destroy a kid's confidence

Ronaldinho and Eto'o have their off days as well. I don't see why Messi has to be an exception :lala:

 

I hope this becomes so easy and make another win

 

You sure know how to destroy a kid's confidence

Ronaldinho and Eto'o have their off days as well. I don't see why Messi has to be an exception :lala:

On the other hand I thought Giuly had a good game against Udinese, so that's actually a real incentive to let him start in this one.

 

You sure know how to destroy a kid's confidence

Ronaldinho and Eto'o have their off days as well. I don't see why Messi has to be an exception :lala:

Ronaldinho and Eto'o will probably destroy Cadiz, the two teams just simply are not on the same level.

 

I don't see Messi's ineffectiveness being because of a lack of execution on his part. It was a mix of strong defense by Sevilla who always marked him and the rest of the front line with one man backed by a second defender. Add to that the fact that the midfield did such a bad job of circulating posession that there was no occasion that he picked up the ball in a real dangerous zone. I agree he should have been better but there are root causes for this performance. Don't think he wasn't motivated.

 

You sure know how to destroy a kid's confidence

I knew some of you will get this attitude. :glasses:

I Love the kid. but lets be real, he is playing for BARCA :strong: he must learn that he is young and its GIFT to play with us at this age.

Ronaldinho and Eto'o have their off days as well. I don't see why Messi has to be an exception :lala:

exactly, remember Ronaldinho before we the Betis game.


so please, all of you dont play the rule of Messi's lawyer.
Put BARCA before anything/one else

 

Messi should start, no doubt. Giuly has played lots of bad games and still started the games after. Messi should play, and he'll show why on saturday!

 

Messi was not as bad as Eto in my opinion. Actually Eto was as bad as everybody else except Olegure and Ronnie in the second goal. He scored a goal half meter from the net and he had to hit it twice! Only Ronaldinho who showed a flash of brilliance in the second goal.