Anyone who sits back, and hits them on the break. i.e not Arsenal. There is a very specific way to beat Barca. We were the only British team that seemed to be able to master it. Its just not in Arsenals DNA to play that way at all, hence while they will continuously lose to Barca every time.
haha not simple no. But there is a way to do it. If you play them at their own style then you may aswell just go home, because that aint gonna happen. Its the football equivalent of Muhammed Ali's rope a dope. Sit back, let them pass the ball into oblivion, wait for an opportunity to nick possession then launch the ball up front to a big forward (Drogba in the day, Costa now) who will hold up the ball for two pacey attackers/wingers (Duff and Robben in the day, Hazard and Willian now) who will tear into the box and smash it into the net. Not simple no, because it is reliant on stalwart defending and positioning at the back, and great timing from your attackers, but thats the way to beat a hoity toity team like Bartheyluna!
I don't think I'd seen them play this season before last night's game and to be honest I was disappointed. Messi is a genius but he seems to have lost that explosive acceleration, Neymar has incredibly quick feet but chooses the wrong option too often and Suraez is obviously a very good player but any suggestion that he's up there with the best in the world is laughable. There have been better Barca teams and I think Bayern could beat them. Only Bayern though.
Exactly, Arsenal can essentially only play one way. That's why time and time again they have lost big matches in the P.L and Europe because Wenger is simply not adaptable enough. There is something to be said about trusting the way you play most weeks, trusting your players etc but it means 9/10 times they will lose games like last night. Fun to watch though It's like Groundhog day with Arsenal.
The amount of goals the 3 of them have scored in the last couple of years would suggest they are all that. They are a very very good side and up there with anything I've seen; maybe with the exception of Pep's Barca at it's peak with xavi, Inniesta, Messi etc.
Yup, Wenger is an overrated talent scout. He is great at identifying potential in youngsters and bleeding them into first XI's, but as a tactician....he is ****.
I agree. We played them in 2 CL finals at a time when we were the dominant force in English football and having just won the EC and we didn't get a sniff in either game.
That was when Tikky Tokky was at it's best they did the same to a very good Bayern side I remember Inesta and Xavi toying with Schweinsteiger and I'm sure they had a cheeky grin as they tapped the ball back and fore as he chased it like a rabid dog.
We matched them in 2009 and took them down in 2012 when they had won 15 games in a row. Only Chelsea and Jose stopped them becoming the greatest club side ever in 2012. They were on course for an even better season than 2010/11 when Chelsea took them out!!!
To be fair even you have to admit that your result against them in 2012 was a freak, the second luckiest result in football after the 2012 CL final result! You lost to them in 2009 and blamed the ref.
That game was disgraceful. Was definitely the refs fault. And I aint one to normally blame refs. But we had atleast 2 stonewall penalties in that game that we weren't awarded. And at least 2-3 50/50's too. Only time I have ever been livid at a referee. Our games against them in 2005 were awesome. We were the best team in Europe that year imo.
2009 was hands down the worst ref performance I've ever seen. As Bod said 2 stonewall penalties (I'd say 3) and 1 or 2 50/50's....and he gave none. It was amazing (in a bad way) to watch the sheer incompetence and/or fear of that performance. He also sent off a Barca player which was also a bad decision. Refs may get 1 bad call wrong every few games but to get 4-5 on the same night in such a massive game, absolutely shocking. He deserved never to ref again at that level. We were absolutely robbed that night. May have cost United a much better chance of winning another E.C as well as our game would have a been a 50/50 rather than a 80/20 in Barca's favour. As for 2012, possibly the greatest team defensive performance in C.L history, you can't knock that!
