La Liga Jornada 5

What a great team performance this has been, Henry back defending.

Messi needs to show this time of form in the CL for my fantasy team

Still can;t get it even if I do ignore the virus! It then closes itself! f@ck it, I'll watch the delayed coverage on Sky.

kas wrote:What a great team performance this has been, Henry back defending.

he has to do something, he's been shite attacking so far today

Iniesta also on fire tonight, he even took a long range shot there! And a great header won by Toure at the halfway line just before that - exactly what we missed last season.

Forlan makes it 2-0 for Atletico.

4-1 HT

Marquez heads it in after a Deco free kick.

I haven't seen a Barcelona performance like this since the Liga/CL season of 05-06. The defensive unit is working brilliantly, each of the midfielders is doing a good job (even Xavi from deep), and Iniesta and Messi have just been surreal. 11/10 for the two of them. Henry is the only one putting in a bad performance, should have scored with his chances, and doesn't make the right runs yet.

This is the best i have seen barca play in a long long time.

Messi - what a player! best player in the world at the moment?

Things are not just going for Henry at the moment. He's got two chances so far and both have been saved by the keeper. I think he should have shot earlier for the second chance instead of checking his man before shooting, his 1st chance was just good work from th keeper.

Can somebody kill that irish guy on goal tv, please? He's such an idiot.

Effenberg wrote:Can somebody kill that irish guy on goal tv, please? He's such an idiot.

He made one of his alltime best comments earlier - "more lively than an Alka Seltzer in a glass of Newcastle Brown Ale". But yeah, the guy is an idiot

Looks like the Marca commentator needed to purge all the Barça praising he was doing in the first half:

Velasco Carballo perdona la expulsión a Touré. El marfileño hace una entrada brutal a Matuzalem que merecía más que la roja.

He got the ball, you buffoon.

Passing getting sloppy now. Just keep the ball, keep it simple. Then go crazy again when Giovani and Bojan come on. Take Iniesta off, he needs to be protected because these tackles are ridiculous.

Deco off for Dos Santos

Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!! That's 4, yes FOUR, chances Henry has missed (straight at the keeper)

This game could easily be 8-1 had Eto'o played in this game. Henry got all kinds of service all day, yet still managed to miss every single one of them.

He was a huge flop in Serie A, and so far looks horrible in La Liga. Back to the EPL so he can score against the Fulhams, Wigans, Sunderlands, Derbys, Crystal Palace?

i would very much like for bojan to go in the center and henry on the left when ever he comes on.

OH MY GOSH! Henry missing a wide open shot, only the goalie to beat, and he shoots straight to him.

What a performance. This is Barça. My ratings will be in the Barcelona thread soon.

henry will get there.

finishiing is all about confidence and sharpness. one of them missing you'll find yourself missing the easiest of chances.

his generally play has improved since his 1st game for barca. we saw him coming deep skining players and creating chances for himself towards the end of the match which is a big positive.

was a very good match, enjoyed watching it. the only negative was matuzalem going off injured. hope it's nothing serious for him.

marquez - has he got the best long pass for a defender in the world? he played two unbelivable passes today and i still remember that pass from him to etoó for the winner at stamford bridge

MOTM-Deco/the Son of god(iniesta)
Abidal is the prefect LB
Marquez and Milito-have the same brain, if puyol can improve our defense then we might have one of the best defenses ever.
Toure-just what the doctor order.
henry-needs work
Xavi-get back to his old self
Messi-as laporta said the essence of football, the best player in the world since he came back from his injury
Ole-good
Valdez-was their when needed

Agooner wrote:henry will get there.

finishiing is all about confidence and sharpness. one of them missing you'll find yourself missing the easiest of chances.

his generally play has improved since his 1st game for barca. we saw him coming deep skining players and creating chances for himself towards the end of the match which is a big positive.

was a very good match, enjoyed watching it. the only negative was matuzalem going off injured. hope it's nothing serious for him.

marquez - has he got the best long pass for a defender in the world? he played two unbelivable passes today and i still remember that pass from him to etoó for the winner at stamford bridge

I will give Henry the whole season, and like you said, he'll get it

Marquez does mess up a few, but there's no doubting that his distribution from the back is superb. With Zambrotta's injury (I'm predicting 2-3 weeks) we may see Puyol make his return at RB on Saturday. Good match to play him too, Levante are the worst team in the league.

Deportivo La Coruna 0 - 2 Recreativo Huelva
Real Mallorca 4 - 2 Real Valladolid
Osasuna 4 - 1 Levante
Racing Santander 0 - 2 Villarreal
Real Murcia 0 - 1 Almeria
Valencia 2 - 1 Getafe
Athletic Bilbao 0 - 2 Atletico Madrid

seriously though, i asked this question earlier: is messi the best player in the world?

Agooner wrote:seriously though, i asked this question earlier: is messi the best player in the world?

On current form only, it's close with Cesc. In terms of future ability, probably yes, even from a neutral viewpoint (provided he adds other aspects to his game like more passing, a right foot, etc.). In terms of a combination of all factors, no, not yet.

But he's given himself a bloody good chance of the Balon d'Or with these performances.

any football critic or fan with with the less amount of sense would say yes

btw, this is the first time ever in Villarreal's history that they are top of the league

Madrid-Betis tomorrow, should be an easy win for the home side unfortunately...but Drenthe, Salgado (damn ) and van Nistelrooy will not play.

kas wrote:

Agooner wrote:seriously though, i asked this question earlier: is messi the best player in the world?

On current form only, it's close with Cesc. In terms of future ability, probably yes, even from a neutral viewpoint (provided he adds other aspects to his game like more passing, a right foot, etc.). In terms of a combination of all factors, no, not yet.

But he's given himself a bloody good chance of the Balon d'Or with these performances.

Wouldn't surprise me if he does go on to win the Balon d'Or .. he is humble and unlike *some* football is always on his mind.

Yeah Messi can still improve some aspect of his game, but he's still amzingly good though. Bloody hell! it's scary to think how good he'll be when he reaches his peak.