Barcelona v Atletico Madrid

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Wasn't about us getting past anyone. They wouldn't let us play with the football.

We had plenty of the ball, we just didnt do £#%&! all with it.

we should have given Pique more chances to cement his place.

its rare to get foreign players like Pique that'd be happy to sit in the reserves for all that time.

and as soon as he left us he walked straight into the Barca first team.

brilliant player, we need more of the same.

Originally Posted by History

We had plenty of the ball, we just didnt do £#%&! all with it.

From what i remember (and bear in mind i've never watched any replays of it) they passed us to death and then we'd get the ball back and proceed to give it straight back to them. This went on for pretty much 70 mins of the football match.

I'd rather have Evans tbh.

He is a fantastic young defender.

Originally Posted by Tronics

we should have given Pique more chances to cement his place.

its rare to get foreign players like Pique that'd be happy to sit in the reserves for all that time.

and as soon as he left us he walked straight into the Barca first team.

brilliant player, we need more of the same.

tbf if our defenders were Puyol, Marquez and Milito he'd walk straight into ours.

It turns out we have the two best centre backs on the planet

Originally Posted by Sparky***

From what i remember (and bear in mind i've never watched any replays of it) they passed us to death and then we'd get the ball back and proceed to give it straight back to them. This went on for pretty much 70 mins of the football match.

I thought that, but when i got home i watched it again just so i didnt throw any Knee jerk sissy fit like people love to do on here. We had alot of the ball (Well considering that i thought we didnt touch the ball for the whole match) We spent alot of time passing it back and forth between Rio and Vidic then to carrick back Vidic long ball cut out, and then they would have a spell in our half of around the same time we would have passing it around the back four.

They did have more possession but it wasnt 70-30 or anything like that.

Originally Posted by History

Not having that, Ronaldo skinned him like 3 times in the first 10 minutes, he was there for the taking. We just couldnt get at him, due to us not getting past barca's midfield.

Our early success was coming largely from long cross balls out to Rooney on the left, we started very fast and there were nerves in that defence, the fact that they were missing key defenders That was what made the Etoo goal so frustrating, we started so well, looked very composed and focused, that goal goes in and suddenly the whole game is on Barca terms.

Perhaps he struggled early, but as soon as they scored Pique was very important in how they controlled the game through the tempo and use of the ball.

Barcelona employ one of the most impressive defensive systems i've seen. They way they agressively press the ball all over the park really is something else. As soon as the opposition get the ball they are immediately closed down by at least 2 players, thus forcing the other team to give the ball away.

pique has impressed with his development but i think evans is the superior defender overall - quicker, a little stronger in the tackle and more aggressive. evans is just unfortunate that he has probably two of the top few centre backs in the world in the prime of their careers ahead of him. pique arrived back at barca at the perfect time, really, giving him something of a jump on evans in terms of experience at the top level. even so, evans' development, considering his lack of regular football and the fact that he tends to play with a different partner every time, is at least as impressive. i've said before now in the next year i believe he'll be pushing vidic very hard for a starting place, good as vidic is.

Originally Posted by borsuk

pique has impressed with his development but i think evans is the superior defender overall - quicker, a little stronger in the tackle and more aggressive. evans is just unfortunate that he has probably two of the top few centre backs in the world in the prime of their careers ahead of him. pique arrived back at barca at the perfect time, really, giving him something of a jump on evans in terms of experience at the top level. even so, evans' development, considering his lack of regular football and the fact that he tends to play with a different partner every time, is at least as impressive. i've said before now in the next year i believe he'll be pushing vidic very hard for a starting place, good as vidic is.

I'd agree there. I think Evans is a potential future captain of the club.

Also played through injury for a large part of the past year. Hopefully, it won't be detrimental in the long run.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Barcelona employ one of the most impressive defensive systems i've seen. They way they agressively press the ball all over the park really is something else. As soon as the opposition get the ball they are immediately closed down by at least 2 players, thus forcing the other team to give the ball away.

Except for the actual conceding of goals and chances, obviously.

Should be 4-4 this, easy.

Originally Posted by dunk

Except for the actual conceding of goals and chances, obviously.

Should be 4-4 this, easy.

Don't be glib, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Don't be glib, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

You mean...'I like the way they press the ball'.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Don't be glib, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Originally Posted by Coracao

You mean...'I like the way they press the ball'.

Originally Posted by Coracao

You mean...'I like the way they press the ball'.

yes, yes that's the one.

i'd also not read too much into pique's performance in the final. he was good, of course, there's no denying it, but he was playing a team which had a truly terrible off day and which he knew very well - tactics, personnel, management etc. in the semi at stamford bridge, for example, he was given the mother of all goings-over by drogba, whose pace and strength he just couldn't cope with. i think he's a very good defender, don't get me wrong, but i rate evans higher.


agree on evans as a future captain. very impressive, the way he carries himself. hard to believe he's so young tbh.

That last goal, £#%&!ing hell.

Originally Posted by borsuk

pique has impressed with his development but i think evans is the superior defender overall - quicker, a little stronger in the tackle and more aggressive. evans is just unfortunate that he has probably two of the top few centre backs in the world in the prime of their careers ahead of him. pique arrived back at barca at the perfect time, really, giving him something of a jump on evans in terms of experience at the top level. even so, evans' development, considering his lack of regular football and the fact that he tends to play with a different partner every time, is at least as impressive. i've said before now in the next year i believe he'll be pushing vidic very hard for a starting place, good as vidic is.

Has to be said if you are a ball playing centre back then Barca is the perfect fit. You are correct to state that the centre back positions were open than at Utd but the way he has established himself in the Barca and the Spain(best club and National team in the world) team in such a short period is still very impressive

Time will tell, Evans needs to sort out his injury then oust Vidic or Ferdinand, not an easy task, but with Utd normally playing 50+ games a season he is always likely to play at least 20. There was no room for both Pique and Evans, and although we may have tried to keep him it seemed that Fergie always believed Evans was the better prospect.

Given how Vidic has started the season, a non surgery requiring Evans and a fit Ferdinand might have had a chance to become a settled partnership.

Evans is better suited to playing in England, at least that's been my opinion since they both emerged at United, mostly due to Pique's slight lack of acceleration and agility, and is likely even a better defender than Pique overall, although Pique has clearly improved in this aspect as he's gained experience at Barca; however, Pique really has been superb for Barca and, lately, for Spain. I'm honestly not sure if there's a centre back in world football with better ball distribution than him and there certainly aren't any in his age group. Given the paucity of ball playing defenders these days it's very refreshing and it makes him a real pleasure to watch.

Must be said though that Barca do look a bit vulnerable to quick strikers with the Pique and Chygrynskiy pairing. They're both intelligent, strong and technically very good, but neither is particularly rapid. If you're going to play a high defensive line like Barca then ideally I think you'd want at least one of your centre backs to be quick enough to recover if a striker can beat his marker or gets played in with the pass in depth.

Having said that, Marquez isn't exactly quick either, yet managed to shut down the likes of Benzema last year despite Barca defending from the halfway line, due to his anticipation and ability to read the game.

Pique > Evans