leech said:
sam-caddick said:
leech said:
Genuinely don't think Barcelona are all they're cracked up to be.
For sure Messi/Neymar/Suarez is some strike force, but it has been proven to be possible to keep a clean sheet against them and it's going to cost them some defensive capability if they start all three.
The days when Xavi led one of the most selfish, ball hogging midfields in the history of the game are gone, as have the days when they could pull a Sanchez or an Henry off the bench just when the opposing team thought they had them on the ropes.
Their full backs are good, but the central defense and goalkeeper are far from mistake free and the team as a whole are no longer marshaled with the same unity and tactical prowess they had under Pep.
Overall we are stronger.
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).
I think this slightly overrates us. Based on this season, I'd say
Hart = Bravo (toss up)
Zaba = Alves (toss up) both have been mostly average with one or 2 good games and a lot of shit games.
Clichy over Alba: Clichy is actually clearly better than Alba.
Pique over Kompany. This is not even close.
Mathieu over MDM or Mangala. This is slightly closer. As none of the 3 have consistently played, but Mathieu shades it on superior performance overal
Silva over Iniesta: this too isn't close. Even though like Alba, Iniesta often gets overrated. Has been good but not stellar.
Yaya over Rakitic: Yaya is by far a better footballer, but this is quite close on this seasons performance.
Busquest over the Ferns: not close at all.
Neymar over Nasri: not close at all
Messi over Dzeko/Milner/Navas: this is a runaway. WC to average.
Aguero over Suarez: Aguero wins by a bit. Aguero is by far the better striker this season, however Suarez team play makes this closer than the stats show.
Even if you give all the ties to City I.e Hart, Zaba, and sure City will have more players in a mixed squad. But the reality is this, in every position in which City is better, with the exception of Silva over Iniesta,the City player is only slightly better. While in perhaps every position Barca is better, there is a huge gulf in difference, except for Mathieu over Demi/Mangala.
Thus, having more players in the joint 11 is a bit of a false sense of comfort. Their team is comfortably better than ours. So are Bayern, and Real Madrid.
We can beat Barca, just like inter did them a few years back, and Malaga this weekend. But let's not confuse that for us having a better squad. We don't.
For example, just coz Arsenal came here and beat us doesn't mean I think they have a better squad. It just means they beat us. Similarly when we beat Barca tmrw, I wouldn't fool myself into thinking we have a better Squad, just that we beat them.
