leech said:
sam-caddick said:
We are not stronger than Barcelona.
They will have more of the ball against most sides and that is their best form of defence and their front three is definitely the best around in my opinion and can win games on their own, don't underestimate their midfield as well even if it isn't the classic Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets trio.
Lot's on here - myself included - thought Barca were on the decline last year and we went into the home tie after just beating Chelsea in the cup, we got outplayed and battered all over the park, even before the sending off.
The Malaga result aside, Barca were just one win away before that game from going on an all time record 12 league wins or something.
I wouldn't say they had us all over the park before the Demichelis sending off, we were pretty comfortable letting them keep possession and creating very little while we were breaking and Negredo was starting to get one or two chances. Demichelis got caught out by his lack of pace to catch Messi and the tie swung, Mangala won't have that problem.
On sheer quality alone, I'd combine the two teams to have:
Hart
Zabaleta - Kompany - Mangala - Alba
Busquets - Toure - (Iniesta)
(Silva) - Messi - Neymar
Aguero
To explain some choices as it may seem blue-tinted, Zabaleta is ahead of Alves as Alves is now almost 32 and doesn't have the same energy he used to, and Barcelona haven't even bothered to tie him down to a new contract yet (which expires this summer). Mangala ahead of Pique as although Mangala is more inconsistent, he also has none of Pique's weaknesses such as pace, and in the big games performs to a standard Pique couldn't dream of. It was heavily rumoured Barcelona wanted Mangala in the summer to replace Pique but decided the price was too high.
Silva is ahead of Suarez as Silva is a much more consistent performer, while Suarez was outstanding last season it was possible to shut him out, as we did a few times and as Chelsea did. If your defense has a weakness he will find it, otherwise.... Silva is effective in pretty much every game - couldn't choose between Iniesta and Silva though. Hart is goalkeeper as I don't even know if Barcelona have yet established whether they have a number one they trust following Valdes' departure.
Throw in that I trust Pellegrini far more than Enrique (it was rumoured Barcelona sniffed around him in the summer before going for Enrique), and I don't think we should go into this as underdogs (though we will as an added bonus of Barcelona's past glories).
First of all, your line up consists of 12 players. Second of all, I don't understand why did you compare Silva, who is AM, to Suarez, who is CF.
While I can't argue about the presence of Silva, Toure and Zabaleta (Alves is still superior quality wise but hasn't been himself since like 2011) in your line up, I have serious doubts about what are Kompany, Mangala and Hart doing there.
While I can't deny Mangala and Kompany are great players, I personally rate Pique and Mascherano way higher. Mangala is overpriced and overrated as hell, as he keeps proving this season he's not even worth half the money you paid for him. Kompany is an error machine and you never know what you get with him. He's most of the time solid but I wouldn't say he's a safe bet in defence. Ticking time bomb while Pique is absolutely on fire this season and comitted roughly 1 mistake the past months. On the other hand, Mascherano's tackling is probably the best in the world and maybe he lacks height but I still would take him over Mangala or Kompany any day, any time.
Honestly I never kept an eye on Hart that much but I wouldn't say any of Claudio Bravo or the young Marc-Andre ter Stegen are much inferior.
At last, I'd like to compare Suarez with Aguero. With all due respect, Luis is quite obviously the more complete player in general. He contributes to the team way better and overall he's a much better team player. Aguero is dangerous on the counter but that's pretty much it. When facing a bus, he's competely hopeless.
Now, coming to the meritum of my thought, I'd like you to present the line up I would pick (can't argue about the goalkeepers because there's not much difference, I have to kick one player out as your line up had 12 lads):
Hart or Bravo
Zabaleta - Pique - Mascherano - Alba
Toure - Busquets - Silva
Messi - Suarez - Neymar
BTW, good luck tomorrow!
