Comments on: Barcelona vs. Sevilla: which is the better side?

By: Hugo Steckelmacher

Hugo Steckelmacher — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:04:04 +0000

A pat on the back, not a pack. Gotta go!

By: Hugo Steckelmacher

Hugo Steckelmacher — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:03:39 +0000

I am giving myself a mental pack on the back. Who is playing up the left? Why it’s senyor Iniesta. And who has been amongst Barca’s top players? Mr Iniesta bettered only by Abidal and Messi. Nice to see that I know vaguely what I am talking about!

The game has been very tactical, it has felt like a Chelsea-Liverpool tie with BenÃtez and Mourinho looking to outsmart each other.

Hope you are all enjoying the match and hope you saw the pre-match ceremony! (50 years of the Camp Nou on the 24th, which is Merce here in Barcelona).

By: BOB

BOB — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:53:49 +0000

i would say sevilla would win this 2-0 despite their midweek loss to arsenal there league form is great so far unlike barca
kanoute and messi up front

By: Hugo Steckelmacher

Hugo Steckelmacher — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:27:49 +0000

Deco is there instead of Xavi because Iniesta can do everything Xavi does and much more, whereas Deco can do certain things of which neither of the other two are as capable. However, thinking about it, Deco is an odd selection, I think I was swayed by my desire to please the punters by putting in big names. In all honesty I would want my central midfield to be Toure and Poulsen, both of whom are on form, and to put Iniesta on the left as his dynamism allows him to be flexible. I don’t think Navas deserves to be left out of any team and I have been impressed with his form this season.

Kanoute to me is an enigma, as he is to any Tottenham or West Ham fan. But you can’t argue with his recent record and form and he probably deserves a place more than Henry. However, everyone knows how difficult it is to leave out a player like Henry.

Can’t wait for the game now!

By: I Bet Fair

I Bet Fair — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:36:01 +0000

I think we might have a clearer picture of the composite XI after this weekend’s clash! Barcelona look equipped to make an early statement here and if they can keep Dani Alves quiet then they’ve got every chance. If I was Snr Ramos I would play him in midfield, otherwise he could be too caught up with Ronaldinho to make any attacking impact of his own.

Palop certainly looks more secure than Valdez to me. Interesting choice in Dragutinovic! Was it for balance ? I’d have gone for Escude myself – I think he makes less mistakes and his positional instics are better. Henry hasn’t proved himself worthy of this selection yet, but I think Kanoute has, I’d have him alongside Messi and drop a fading Ronaldinho to LM insteaed of Deco. Iniesta is my other CM with Poulsen. Toure has started well and is on form, but Poulsen still has the edge. Come back and shame me on Sunday morning when we’ve all had time to enjoy it!

By: Impulse

Impulse — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:40:11 +0000

Barca has the edge in the ability to diversify attack and mid field control with equally capable subs and don’t forget new hitmen gio and bojan

By: Andrei

Andrei — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:48:49 +0000

not really much in the way of comparison as far as these two teams go… and why on ewarth do you put deco there instead of xavi?

By: goonerbo

goonerbo — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:38:17 +0000

good reading… I totally agree with the midfield selections. You need balance in a team…cant just put star players in every position and expect a good result. Role players like that of Yaya is so important for a team. Take Adebayor from Arsenal or Andrew Johnson from Everton for example… not kind of strikers who scores in every games, but they hassle and run and make life very difficult for opposing defenders… and give the others more scoring chances. Just by having the best strikers doesn’t work all the time. Ask any one at the lane and they will tell ya.

By: avrv

avrv — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:36:02 +0000

If Hugo doesn’t mind too much I’ll throw in my two cents.

Barcelona have, in my opinion, far more quality on paper than does Sevilla. I would only name 2, possibly 3 positions where I feel Sevilla have a clear advantage: Keeper, Right Back, and possibly striker, in the old fashioned sense of the word, in the sense that I’ve always considered Ronaldinho and Messi to be more mediapuntas (I’m not sure of the exact translation of this to English, perhaps the best way would be to call them “#10s”), converted to do some of the work an outright winger would do, and Henry as a very different mould. In any case, the idea is to use what best suits your system, and I don’t think Kanoute would be well utilized in Barcelona, nor would any of the Barcelona attackers (save perhaps Eto’o, who is injured anyway) slot so easily into Sevilla’s system.

Barcelona have been very impotent away from home but at the Nou Camp they’ve not had much trouble scoring, and although Sevilla will always put up a fight – and maybe be even more motivated to do so after their drubbing by Arsenal – I don’t think, between the excessive games they’ve had to play, Puerta’s death, CL debut, Alves/Ramos rumors etc, that Sevilla is at it’s best moment. I expect Barcelona to win, without too much discomfort.

By: DBeech

DBeech — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:12:08 +0000

These articles work great with English teams, not so much when you try to shoe-horn a team like Barcelona into a 4-4-2 . Not much else to say other than Iniesta is a pretty sad choice for Left-Mid and you’re jumping on the Yaya Toure bandwagon a little quickly. Also this team would probably struggle for goals, much like Argentina did when they partnered Tevez and Messi up front a couple of Tuesdays ago against Australia.