Tooj Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Do you think there's a chance of him coaching one day? As he seems a total footballing geek and I really can't just see him stepping away from the game altogether. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 That would be cool. If he stepped up to work with Vilanova. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Heard this quote for the first time today as well when they were talking about Scholes on Goals on Sunday. Messi: “At La Masia (Barcelona’s Academy) his name was mentioned a lot. He’s a teacher.” Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 That would be cool. If he stepped up to work with Vilanova. You can see where I'm coming from though aye? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Fabregas can't fill Xavi's void, he just isnt that type of player he never has been and never will be. Thiago is the only one in the squad right now who can fill that role as far as like for like style and technique goes. Also Iniesta in Xavi's role is a waste of his talent. Sergi Samper might be able to fill the role in the long term too but he is years away at this stage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiresias Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 By the sounds of things Xavi could well go into managing, he'll manage barca one day I'm sure Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 It's not like the burden is solely on him. You still have Iniesta, Fabregas and Busquets with years left of their career. Whether somebody steps up to directly replace Xavi's role in the team might not even matter with that quality there. Yeah, you're right. After all nobody directly replaced Cronaldo at ManU and they kept being successful as Rooney took a bigger role, for example... but we've developed a certain romanticism for our playmaker. Since Cruyff's era our playmaker has always been seen as the carrier of the torch, the standard bearer for the way we play. Cruyff gave the role to a 19-year-old Guardiola, Guardiola then passed it on to Xavi... I suppose it's a bit like your #9? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiresias Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 It's not like the burden is solely on him. You still have Iniesta, Fabregas and Busquets with years left of their career. Whether somebody steps up to directly replace Xavi's role in the team might not even matter with that quality there. Yeah, you're right. After all nobody directly replaced Cronaldo at ManU and they kept being successful as Rooney took a bigger role, for example... but we've developed a certain romanticism for our playmaker. Since Cruyff's era our playmaker has always been seen as the carrier of the torch, the standard bearer for the way we play. Cruyff gave the role to a 19-year-old Guardiola, Guardiola then passed it on to Xavi... I suppose it's a bit like your #9? Well if Xavi is Shearer then hope you don't stumble around for ages to find someone to fill the boots properly (too early to tell for Cisse and dunno how long he'll stick around) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Do you rate Montoya highly? I've always felt he should be given more of a chance at right back, rather than playing players out of position or switching to a back 3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 By the sounds of things Xavi could well go into managing, he'll manage barca one day I'm sure I'm pretty certain he will. And when you read all the interviews he comes across as very articulate in his understanding of the game. You can't never be sure that a great player will become a great manager, but I would just if we came full circle and Guardiola's successor also became a Barça manager. Regarding Scholes, Xavi has always said he's an admirer of him. Lot of Barça players seem to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Do you rate Montoya highly? I've always felt he should be given more of a chance at right back, rather than playing players out of position or switching to a back 3. Montoya's only problem is called Daniel Alves. I think he's got the qualities - particularly the athleticism - to succeed in that position. But he needs the games and has got a guy in front of him that's one of the best in that position and can play 50 games a season without breaking a sweat. But he got his first start last week, we'll see what's Vilanova's policy in breeding youth. For all his accomplishments in that department, Guardiola was very very reluctant to play youngsters in defence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiresias Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 By the sounds of things Xavi could well go into managing, he'll manage barca one day I'm sure I'm pretty certain he will. And when you read all the interviews he comes across as very articulate in his understanding of the game. You can't never be sure that a great player will become a great manager, but I would just if we came full circle and Guardiola's successor also became a Barça manager. Regarding Scholes, Xavi has always said he's an admirer of him. Lot of Barça players seem to. The scholes thing all rather reeks of a bit of watching highlights reels and some revisionism. Scholes is now built up to be the english Xavi for years but think that's taking how important the passing game is now and reading back that Scholes was that important. Don't get me wrong Scholes is/was great but that's forgetting all the ridiculous tackles etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Not so sure about Paul Scholes only being admired in recent times. It might be the different footballing culture we have over here, but when I was a kid Scholes was considered one of the best players in the PL. Keane for example had a lesser consideration and to an extent he's massively underrated over here ("typical British football thug"). To us Scholes was the second biggest player at ManU after Cantona. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I remember when we were kids and they started showing the PL over here, and when we played 5-a-side we'd pretend to be English players. It was always like this: 1) Shearer 2) Cantona 3) Gascoigne 4) Scholes 5) Schmeichel (Gazza was my pick, Shearer my brother's) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Do you rate Montoya highly? I've always felt he should be given more of a chance at right back, rather than playing players out of position or switching to a back 3. Montoya's only problem is called Daniel Alves. I think he's got the qualities - particularly the athleticism - to succeed in that position. But he needs the games and has got a guy in front of him that's one of the best in that position and can play 50 games a season without breaking a sweat. But he got his first start last week, we'll see what's Vilanova's policy in breeding youth. For all his accomplishments in that department, Guardiola was very very reluctant to play youngsters in defence. What's up with Adriano and Alba rotating? Is it just a case of Alba being new so is being eased in? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I know he's just suffered a really bad injury but how highly rated is Muniesa? Seems to me you could do with another centre half coming through. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Muniesa has always been highly rated, but he's certainly stagnated somewhat and that injury won't help. Bartra looks good though. I love his athleticism. Regarding Alba, there's the fact that he's new and that playing with two attacking fullbacks (Alba/Alves) can amount to suicide against some sides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiresias Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Bleh maybe i've just been driven a bit up the wall by man u fanboyism in the media, he's a great player, just wouldn't have compared him to xavi really at any point, never seemed that much like that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 As feared, Valencia's deal with Spanish bank Bankia to sell Mestalla has been called off due to the precarious state of the bank, which was nationalised last week. That's very worrying news for Valencia, which won't be able to restart work on their new stadium and reduce their €250m debt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattypnufc Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Nightmare. Just when they thought they were on an even keel after selling their best players for the last few years, this buggers them up again. On a plus side, I'm all booked for Mestella to see then vs Lille on October 2nd. Can't wait. Parents moved out there 5 years ago and every time I've been to visit, Los Che have never been at home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 The thing about Scholes is he can play however you like it and more importantly however he likes it. A Michael Carrick needs a slower game to be able to control it. Scholes can control any game and play it at his pace. That's why I think he's so popular abroad. Need a goal, Scholes can finish. You won't out battle Scholes. A game can be slow or frantic and Scholes will control. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 A game can be slow or frantic and Scholes will control. Great point, must be incredible to play alongside with his metronomic consistency no matter who he's playing with or against Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Valencia's board has just called an emergency meeting after the Mestalla sale fell through. According to the press their €250m debt comes due this December, and Mestalla's ground is the collateral. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Idiot Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Today it was Barça's general assembly, and besides approving the club's accounts (which look a bit too good), the assembly has decided to hold a referendum regarding Camp Nou's future. a) Modernize and expand it b) Sell it and build a new one, with a view of moving in 2020. I'll probably be voting B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I'm starting to think Barca are having a bit of an identity crisis. Seems daft despite the excellent start, but bare with me. You don't seem anywhere near as considered in possession as you were under Guardiola. There seems to be far more forcing the ball forward quickly, and also a lot more crosses from wide positions, trying to overlap the fullbacks and stretch the play. I even saw a lot of long balls straight from the goalkeeper/defence. It's as if Vilanova is trying to mix things up with direct play a lot more in response to games like the Chelsea one last year where you ran out of ideas - but I don't think it's working all that well and is sacrificing the measured domination that you normally have. Maybe I'm just being daft, but I'm yet to be completely impressed by Barca this season and you seem sloppier with the ball than usual. Worrying considering the current CB partnership. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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