Espanyol V Barcelona

brophs · 27th September 2008, 21:28

1-0 to Espanyol so far.

The usual comedy defending from Barca, albeit with Pique added to their ranks.

PS. Puyol is not good at football. Not good at all. His best attributes seem to be snarling, and fouling players who are nowehere near the ball. And snarling.

PPS. Victor Valdes? They pay £30m or so for a full back(who can't defend), and won't buy a new keeper? Ridiculous.

x42bn6 · 27th September 2008, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by brophs

1-0 to Espanyol so far.

The usual comedy defending from Barca, albeit with Pique added to their ranks.

PS. Puyol is not good at football. Not good at all. His best attributes seem to be snarling, and fouling players who are nowehere near the ball. And snarling.

PPS. Victor Valdes? They pay £30m or so for a full back(who can't defend), and won't buy a new keeper? Ridiculous.

Valdés is an awesome goalkeeper.

Don't jump to conclusions based on one game (i.e. Rooney's suddenly better than Tévez now).

brophs · 27th September 2008, 21:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by x42bn6

Valdés is an awesome goalkeeper.

Don't jump to conclusions based on one game (i.e. Rooney's suddenly better than Tévez now).

I've watched an awful lot of Valdes down the years, and he's a poor keeper at this level. He has no presence in the box, and he punches everything. He's a weak link.

x42bn6 · 27th September 2008, 21:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by brophs

I've watched an awful lot of Valdes down the years, and he's a poor keeper at this level. He has no presence in the box, and he punches everything. He's a weak link.

Not really. Valdés is a good goalkeeper, but not as good as Casillas (or Palop of Sevilla), which is hardly a crime.

The weakest link has always been centre-back for Barcelona, and Abidal's been awful for them so that doesn't help either.

kouroux · 27th September 2008, 21:45

Valdes has no awesomeness about him , he just came through the barca ranks that's it. He makes far too many mistakes

BAMSOLA · 27th September 2008, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by x42bn6

Valdés is an awesome goalkeeper.

Don't jump to conclusions based on one game (i.e. Rooney's suddenly better than Tévez now).

Actually even under Rijkard he was their achilles heel and should have been replaced ages ago. Good shot stopper but can't command a defense with authority and prone to mistakes. Also terrible in the air and on corners.

brophs · 27th September 2008, 21:48

Ridiculous sending off. It seems you have to jump with your arms by your side. The Barcelona player jumped up into his outstretched arm.

x42bn6 · 27th September 2008, 21:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by kouroux

Valdes has no awesomeness about him , he just came through the barca ranks that's it. He makes far too many mistakes

I was going to retract "awesome", actually...

Nevertheless, still one of the better goalkeepers in Spain, and heck, there's not exactly that many good available goalkeepers around.

KSA - ManUtd · 27th September 2008, 21:58

Valdes and Puyol are rubbish. The club and fans know that, the two being Barca through and through is whats keeping them there.

I kind of respect them for that, one of the things that distinguish them from their rivals Real Madrid. Remember Hierro ?

brophs · 27th September 2008, 22:30

Jaysus, bit of crowd trouble now. Game is being held up at the moment. They just showed the replay, the Barca fans threw a flare into the Espanyol fans' end.

Now they've been taken off the pitch.

Crazy.

Justin · 27th September 2008, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by x42bn6

I was going to retract "awesome", actually...

Nevertheless, still one of the better goalkeepers in Spain, and heck, there's not exactly that many good available goalkeepers around.

In Spain, keepers get away with not commanding their area. The fact that he has made so many error over the years and got punished for them shows exactly how he poor is at that part of the game. If he wasn't a Barca product, he wouldn't have been first choice them for so long.

brophs · 27th September 2008, 23:03

Peno for Barca in the 13th minute of injury time, looked a bit dodgy too.

Messi scores, Barca win 2-1.

Great game, to be fair.

Kelvin · 27th September 2008, 23:06

not convinced thats a penalty

RedKaos · 27th September 2008, 23:15

Get in!

Dumpstar · 27th September 2008, 23:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by x42bn6

Valdés is an awesome goalkeeper.

I was watching Barcelona v LFC in Spain two years ago when Riise and Bellamy scored past him. All the Barcelona fans around me were telling me how lucky we were with Reina because Valdes was a weak link for them.

Nothing's changed.

DiaboliQue · 27th September 2008, 23:20

Valdes is a rubbish keeper, possibly the worst keeper playing for a big club. Anyone who claims otherwise is blind.

And that pen was very dodgy, the replay shows the Espanyol player getting all ball. Can't really fault the ref though, looked odds on a pen in the first view.

RedKaos · 27th September 2008, 23:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiaboliQue

Valdes is a rubbish keeper, possibly the worst keeper playing for a big club. Anyone who claims otherwise is blind.

He's not particularly great, but I do still think he's better than Dida, thats if you even count Milan as a big club anymore.

DiaboliQue · 28th September 2008, 00:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedKaos

He's not particularly great, but I do still think he's better than Dida, thats if you even count Milan as a big club anymore.

Nah, Dida has been shite for a few years and doesn't even get picked these days, but 2002-2005 he was generally very good.

The only one who comes close to Valdes in terms of being shite at goalkeeping was Lehmann, the crazy bastard. He even had a blunder today in the Dortmund-Stuttgart match (although might've been fouled).

loki · 28th September 2008, 00:12

Was at the game (on holidays in Barca and managed to get tickets to this game and the Betis one vs Barca in midweek) and there was crowd trouble with flares and missiles thrown right where I was, I even had my camera on hand and me and my friends have videos of it from right where it was happening.

27th September 2008, 21:28	#1 (permalink)
brophs Reserve Team Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dublin. Posts: 4,565	Espanyol V Barcelona 1-0 to Espanyol so far. The usual comedy defending from Barca, albeit with Pique added to their ranks. PS. Puyol is not good at football. Not good at all. His best attributes seem to be snarling, and fouling players who are nowehere near the ball. And snarling. PPS. Victor Valdes? They pay £30m or so for a full back(who can't defend), and won't buy a new keeper? Ridiculous.

27th September 2008, 21:45	#5 (permalink)
kouroux Reserve Team Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Poitiers (France) Posts: 4,842	Valdes has no awesomeness about him , he just came through the barca ranks that's it. He makes far too many mistakes

27th September 2008, 21:48	#7 (permalink)
brophs Reserve Team Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dublin. Posts: 4,565	Ridiculous sending off. It seems you have to jump with your arms by your side. The Barcelona player jumped up into his outstretched arm.

27th September 2008, 21:58	#9 (permalink)
KSA - ManUtd Youth Team Player Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 331	Valdes and Puyol are rubbish. The club and fans know that, the two being Barca through and through is whats keeping them there. I kind of respect them for that, one of the things that distinguish them from their rivals Real Madrid. Remember Hierro ?

27th September 2008, 22:30	#10 (permalink)
brophs Reserve Team Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dublin. Posts: 4,565	Jaysus, bit of crowd trouble now. Game is being held up at the moment. They just showed the replay, the Barca fans threw a flare into the Espanyol fans' end. Now they've been taken off the pitch. Crazy.

27th September 2008, 23:03	#12 (permalink)
brophs Reserve Team Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dublin. Posts: 4,565	Peno for Barca in the 13th minute of injury time, looked a bit dodgy too. Messi scores, Barca win 2-1. Great game, to be fair.

27th September 2008, 23:06	#13 (permalink)
Kelvin First Team Regular Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 10,345	not convinced thats a penalty

27th September 2008, 23:15	#14 (permalink)
RedKaos Reserve Team Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: South East Posts: 4,576	Get in!

27th September 2008, 23:20	#16 (permalink)
DiaboliQue Reserve Team Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: I always tell the truth, even when I lie Posts: 1,665	Valdes is a rubbish keeper, possibly the worst keeper playing for a big club. Anyone who claims otherwise is blind. And that pen was very dodgy, the replay shows the Espanyol player getting all ball. Can't really fault the ref though, looked odds on a pen in the first view.

28th September 2008, 00:12	#19 (permalink)
loki Reserve Team Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gonna be real pissed if I get banned..........again Posts: 884	Was at the game (on holidays in Barca and managed to get tickets to this game and the Betis one vs Barca in midweek) and there was crowd trouble with flares and missiles thrown right where I was, I even had my camera on hand and me and my friends have videos of it from right where it was happening.