Slight concern about Xabi!

[carrsim]

his radar was a bit off, but he still worked his nuts off and got stuck in to a few meaty challenges.

he's not the most dynamic in terms of engine, but he gets around the pitch with his almost unique vision and awareness.

he'll never lose his ability to pass the ball, just seems he needs a few games to click into top gear.

the only thing i am worried about when it comes to xabi is that i love him in ways that aren't natural

[FowlerLeftFoot]

Yes his performance has been piss poor this pre season but once he regains his match fitness, he will be as good as ever

[Rosco]

These posts never cease to amaze me. Do people really think Xabi had a bad game against Haifa because a couple of long passes went astray and he mi**** one freekick ? He put in a good performance against them.

As for yesterday, well he's not really a player that's used to coming off the bench is he ? Nothing to worry about IMO.

[LFCman]

I just finished watching the game again and to be honest Xabi only had 2 poor passes. The rest were ok and he played 2 brilliant crossfield passes.

[Bellamy34]

I wish people would stop over reacting every time Xabi misplaces a few passes. The standards he has set are incredibly high, yes, but he's allowed a bad game every now and then.

[Parm]

I thought he has been very much below his usual high standard. To be honest I'd put it down to him coming back to training a bit later than the others. He should be ok in a few weeks time

[Rohan]

I thought he has been very much below his usual high standard. To be honest I'd put it down to him coming back to training a bit later than the others. He should be ok in a few weeks time

Wasn't he also like this in last seasons pre-season games? I.e. missed passes etc.

Then look how he came on form

R

[red g]

form is temporary, class is permanent.

tell that to morientes

[Infadel]

These posts never cease to amaze me.

Oh dear!

[Diego]

I just finished watching the game again and to be honest Xabi only had 2 poor passes. The rest were ok and he played 2 brilliant crossfield passes.

well those two passes are not what's bothering me, he seems distant, like something was bothering him, saw it in the hafia game and again yesterday, it was like he was pissed of...

he's usually realy calm and calculated, but he was throwing tackles aroung like i havent seen before, passing not on form, and seemed to get pissed of by players from the other team like never before...

there is a plus to this as well, in the last couple of games it's like he has toughen up, more hard tackles and he just doesn't look afraid of anyone, hope he goes back to his calmness but with a touch of robocop though...

[LFCman]

well those two passes are not what's bothering me, he seems distant, like something was bothering him, saw it in the hafia game and again yesterday, it was like he was pissed of...

he's usually realy calm and calculated, but he was throwing tackles aroung like i havent seen before, passing not on form, and seemed to get pissed of by players from the other team like never before...

there is a plus to this as well, in the last couple of games it's like he has toughen up, more hard tackles and he just doesn't look afraid of anyone, hope he goes back to his calmness but with a touch of robocop though...

A bit of agro never hurt anyone.

Seems ok to me, the whole team was poor to be fair v Haifa and I didn't think he was that bad yesterday. He played some other nice passes with those 2 crossfield ones in particular. 2 poor passes and that's about it. His tackling seemed ok to me, he got the ball clearly for his booking. He came off the bench and hasn't played that many pre-season games so may be a little off the pace in terms of fitness.

[Diego]

A bit of agro never hurt anyone.

Seems ok to me, the whole team was poor to be fair v Haifa and I didn't think he was that bad yesterday. He played some other nice passes with those 2 crossfield ones in particular. 2 poor passes and that's about it. His tackling seemed ok to me, he got the ball clearly for his booking. He came off the bench and hasn't played that many pre-season games so may be a little off the pace in terms of fitness.

i agree with most of what you said, i didn't think he was very bad yesterday, he just seemed alittle of, that tackle was no yellow but it was extreamly hardcore tackle for him though, he hade the most tackles in the premier league last season but most of them were challenges where he won the ball not so many sliding tackles, he just seem overly agressive in the last couple of games, but having said that he's a class player and even at not his best level he can deliver wonderfull passes, thats the difference bewteen worldclass and just being good imo playing well or decent at your worst(not saying he was at his worst though)