BrettNUFC

Aye but that shouldn't have any bearing on the decision. 98% of players fake injury these days. Stonewall penalty. The only penalty that wasn't a pen was Ronaldos, so it baffles me how people though the ref was pro Barca. FWIW I think Ramos slightly clipped Neymar as well. Again, he overreacted, but it's still a pen and you'd have to say it was a clear goalscoring opportunity so the red was justified as well. I've never said he was pro Barca, just a fucking shit ref who shouldn't be allowed to ref one of those games again He made poor decisions for both teams and some of the advantages he played were terrible, then blew for free kicks when a decent advantage was there I've no complaints with Neymar pen, was clever by him to get body in front of Ramos to tease him into that. Definite pen and red card. Ronaldo's was clearly outside the box and he was a few yards behind the tackle with a clear view.

It wasn't me but it's shut a lot of people up who said the players don't care for results now or wouldn't fight for 3 points. How wrong that bunch were. If they still disagree they are trying or have the passion to get 3 points, they should just watch Anita's emotion after Cisse's miss over and over again

Watching that again and the way Iniesta is hobbling away afterwards is embarrassing

Earlier in the game when Bale was breaking away, he taps it around Busquets and gets blocked off by him yet no freekick given? Ref wasn't consistent the whole game, was terrible Played advantage bruv It ended up rolling to Xavi's feet i think once he tapped the ball around him?

Earlier in the game when Bale was breaking away, he taps it around Busquets and gets blocked off by him yet no freekick given? Ref wasn't consistent the whole game, was terrible

Someone mentioned a fallout with Laudrup.

I thought he was excellent on Saturday? My man of the match bar Cisse. Love MYM

Comparison of those quotes to the Ben Arfa ones

Could never stand Kalou for Chelsea, did better than i expected when he moved back to France though.

Like who is he mates with? You generally know which players are good friends etc... I'm not sure with Ben Arfa Seen majority of players out in town on nights out, never bumped into Hatem, i'd probably get too star struck to say anything to him though Maybe he doesn't like going out..... Your making a ridiculous amount of assumptions here. I'm not saying that. Just he's never pictured doing anything with the team, it just gives me a bit on inkling that he's not popular amongst the players and a bit of loner. Just a complete guess as like i say usually you can tell with footballers who they are close mates with, but with him i have no idea. Now Carver coming out and saying he's actually a nice lad if you talk to him, suggests even he has had his problems with him, guessing he's not the only one either. Brett on some amateur psychologist s*** tbh

Like who is he mates with? You generally know which players are good friends etc... I'm not sure with Ben Arfa Seen majority of players out in town on nights out, never bumped into Hatem, i'd probably get too star struck to say anything to him though Maybe he doesn't like going out..... Your making a ridiculous amount of assumptions here. I'm not saying that. Just he's never pictured doing anything with the team, it just gives me a bit on inkling that he's not popular amongst the players and a bit of loner. Just a complete guess as like i say usually you can tell with footballers who they are close mates with, but with him i have no idea. Now Carver coming out and saying he's actually a nice lad if you talk to him, suggests even he has had his problems with him, guessing he's not the only one either.

Like who is he mates with? You generally know which players are good friends etc... I'm not sure with Ben Arfa Seen majority of players out in town on nights out, never bumped into Hatem, i'd probably get too star struck to say anything to him though

Eh ? Like on instagram/twitter or something like that, see players pop up with a pic of them around each other houses, usually a FIFA tourney or something

Really? Or just more made up s***? You would think so but there was definitely people on here popping his name in to come here

That's me clearly joking, hence the 'big laugh' at the end. Wouldn't surprise me if he was a loner though. Rarely turns up to the training camps away, hardly ever pictured around players houses', he's either a loner or just shit on FIFA that he doesn't get an invite. Was he even at Colo's party? Yeah course it's the managers job, and it's difficult one to do with characters like Ben Arfa.

Cheaper now for those who wanted him in

Awful post Aye because it goes against the grain of Hatem is God and Newcastle have ruined him He's still easily my favourite player but i'm well aware he's no innocent angel and people need to accept he needs to take a fair share of the blame as well.

I think it's fairly clear the problem is Ben Arfa here and not every fucker else like people make out We can blame Pardew, Carver, senior players and whoever else but Ben Arfa clearly has his own issues and it's up to everyone else around him to deal with them. I've always thought for him to have some sort of split personality disorder and be a complete loner

There's a big difference to being on the road, then actually winning it. Benzema scored two yesterday but he should have had Barca out of sight on his own the chances they created for him. Basically would try that because i think Jese needs more game time to develop, his potential is huge. Ronaldo is perfectly capable of playing up top, but with them 3, they can all rotate the positions and are very flexible. I've never been a Benzema fan and never will be, they've needed a top striker for a long time, just they way Barca need a top CB.

Two you mentioned there should be two top targets and going all out. Costa/Suarez, one of those two would be the pick, although Suarez is most likely. They've got the spending power to turn their heads for starters then the money to blow the selling club out the water. Benzema is a good striker, but not good enough imo for a team of that stature. Like you say, his performances have been much improved in recent times but he's been there a long time now and has yet to pull up any trees and he never will. Instead of Benzema i wouldn't mind seeing Ronaldo up top, then Jese/Bale out wide, although if i was manager i'd make sure i found a position for Isco somewhere, just hard to see where right now.

Prepare for a N-O backlash

If he's fit enough to last the 90, i'd have him in ahead of Gouffran. I'd rather him start and get 60 mins out of him. Rather we start well instead of having to claw something back and be in desperation mode. Doesn't have to be desperation mode, just keep it tight at 0-0 and look to bring him on to give us the edge, like on Sat. If you don't get the lead with him starting, you've got nobody to lift the crowd when he's being taking off? Rather we kept it tight then released Hatem in the second half to give everyone a lift. Think it will be a close game anyways but another one we can nick like on Saturday. Certainly don't fear Everton, they've been edging their games by the odd goal difference of late as well. Would love to win this though.

I'm not denying he hasn't been playing well. They just need a world class striker, and he isn't. In that side most strikers who are good are going to get goals given the players around them but Real need to go out and buy a genuine world class striker. Benzema has his limitations, i wasn't convinced he was better than Higuain tbh but neither are the standout striker they need. I've never budged from thinking Barca are still the best in the world when they turn up. I said in the other thread when people were writing them off for Champions League that i still think they have a major chance. They can pass most teams off the park regardless of their talent, one team who is the big fear is Bayern, wasn't a true reflection last season in their meeting. Would love to see a rematch this year. Madrid gave it a very good go yesterday but down to 10 with around 30 left on the clock was always going to be a big ask. Prior to that, the game was still in the balance and could have went either way. Was damage limitation for Madrid when they were reduced to 10.

If he's fit enough to last the 90, i'd have him in ahead of Gouffran.

I'd keep team from Saturday personally. Ben Arfa on around the hour mark again. Obviously if Remy/Debuchy/Santon are fit, all three would come back in though.