Let's have 'em.....the Barca build up thread

[Red_Polo]

WTF....they gonna wheel him on or something?

I did say 'Hopefully...'

Ideally he would play, have absolutely no idea when he's going to be back though. We need him asap, especially with poor Luis being out

[AFII]

-----------------Reina
Arbeloa------Carra----Agger---Aurelio
---------Alonso-----Gerrard
Finnan-------------------------Riise
----------Kuyt------Crouch


Crouch will be one of our most important players IMO. Barca have one big weakness and that's in the air. I know that Crouch isn't that good in the air but he will win more or less everything in the air anyway against Barca.

[Red_Polo]

You've seen Arbeloa play then or what?

[AFII]

You've seen Arbeloa play then or what?

Yes. I watch a lot of football.

[Red_Polo]

Yes. I watch a lot of football.

I haven't seen him play at all. You must think he's an excellent player to want to throw him in there against the European Champions. Especially since Finnan has been such a brilliant part of our defensive unit. If he is as good as that suggests I'll be ****ing chuffed to bits.

[AFII]

I only have in the team because he is used to play against spanish teams and I don't think Sissoko will be match fit enough to play and that means Alonso and Gerrard in the middle instead of Gerrard on the right.

Pennant isn't good enough to take care of Ronaldinho so Finnan plays there instead.

[AFII]

The key will be to stop Barca on the wings. Their pitch is very big so we will need good defensive players on both wings.

[Armchairkopite]

------Reina------
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Aurellio
Pennant--SG---XA----Gonzalez
Kuyt-Crouch

Imo this team is well balanced and nicely set up for counter attacking with Crouch the target man and Pennant and Gonzo flying down the wings. Kuyt gets the nod up front for his excellent workrate will be important putting the barca defenders and midfielders under pressure.

If Momo was available i would play him and drop Kuyt and stick Stevie behind behind Crouchie.

[Armchairkopite]

The key will be to stop Barca on the wings. Their pitch is very big so we will need good defensive players on both wings.

They do have excellent wide players but imo they come inside alot of the time, with that in mind maybe a 5-4-1 Finnan-Carra-Hyp-Agger-Aurellio
as a flat back five could be an option.

[Matt]

Back when the draw was made I thought that Gonzalez would be a decent bet for a starting role.

As for AFII's point, I can't see Finnan playing right-mid, he's half the player he is when he plays there. Surely if Barca have a big pitch with loads of pace then a couple of pacy wingers would be useful.

I also can't see Crouch getting left out. He always seems to play in European games and seems to have a knack of scoring too.

I guess it might come down to whether Momo is fit enough to play. If he's not then you can go for SG and XA in the middle with a couple of wingers but if he can play then SG might be pushed wide.

Whatever happens there's no shortage of systems available for us to play and we have enough variety in our squad to do them justice.

[Johnny]

I did say 'Hopefully...'

Ideally he would play, have absolutely no idea when he's going to be back though. We need him asap, especially with poor Luis being out

Kewell!!!!!
Hope he has a great game.It will boost his sell on price.Bye Harry and don`t let the door hit you.......


How much have we paid him in wages since he came,WASTER!!!!
I mean gout,gout FFS!!!!!

[Laddsy]

Kewell!!!!!
Hope he has a great game.It will boost his sell on price.Bye Harry and don`t let the door hit you.......

How much have we paid him in wages since he came,WASTER!!!!
I mean gout,gout FFS!!!!!

:bird:

[Icon]

We ARE going to **** the Barcs in BOTH legs.

BELIEVE!

No. 19 maybe out of reach but no. 6 will be alongside no.5 real soon.
If you take my meaning.....

[5aq1b]

We're playing against one of the most feared frontlines in world Football . . . Messi, Ronaldinho, Eto'o etc etc BUT . . . won't they be thinking that they're playing against the meanest defence around AND the form team in the Premiership?

We're perfectly capable of scoring over there whoever we chose to have up front. Wether it be Bellamy, Kuyt and/or Crouch, they all pose a threat against that shaky defence.

How many times has Ronaldinho ran riot in big/crucial games? Could count that on one hand.

Nothing to fear in the Nou Camp - get stuck in you Red Men

YNWA

[AFII]

Barcelona ace Eto'o: I think about my knee 24-7
tribalfooball.com - February 09, 2007

Barcelona's comeback king Samuel Eto'o makes no apologies for being obsessed by his knee rehab.

Eto'o, who admits his knee won't be back to it's best for another 12 months, said: "I think about it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"People might say I'm obsessed. But so what? I'm obsessed with returning to play as I did before this happened. My knee still isn't the same. I also must get used to the pace of games again. Before all this, I could wake up at anytime during the day and play a full 90 minutes.

"I do have fears. I fear injuring the knee again, or that it doesn't respond to the treatment I'm having.

"I've said I won't be 100 per cent for a year - but that doesn't mean I can't play well. All I was saying was that I won't have the same muscle definition for another 12 months. Just look at Xavi and what he did six months after he injured his knee."