Article: Could we play the Barcelona formation and would it affect where we need to strengthen? | Football, Tottenham

He might sometimes but not like a traditional forward where he is on the shoulder of a CB and looking to make runs beyond them all the time. What he does is he leaves the CB's alone and drops deep to play in the middle with Xavi and Iniesta. Rooney changes his role every 6 months it seems. The last time i checked he was playing off the little Pea.

 

When did i say that? I said Messi is the false 9 which means he starts from the middle.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/oct/27/the-question-false-nines-jonathan-wilson

Please read. It explains this new term.

 

Is Tevez also a false number 9?
What about Suarez, when he was playing for Liverpool and Carroll was injured?

Barcelona's 'unique' formation appears to be quite common, doesn't it?

 

If you are talking about where he lines up on the team sheet, then they put him in the middle.

 

Perhaps all these experts on the way Barca play should offer their services to the inumerable coaches and managers, who have tried, without success, to find a way of stopping Barca.

 

Who said it was 'unique'? I am just saying what Barca do.

 

This is why Barca are great. They start topics and debates and people talk for ages about what they do and how you stop them, but stopping them is another thing. As ugly as it is i think the way Jose tries to do it is the way forward.

 

Barca aren't great because they line up in some special fashion, they're great because they have a lot of extremely skilful players who also have high workrates and good fitness levels.
That's virtually unheard of.

 

No. Me and PNP where talking about the false 9 role. I never said that was unique. What is unique about Barcelona is their pressing which is unreal and no team can keep the ball against them because of it.

 

I didn't say that you'd suggested that the false 9 role was unique, SSN8.

 

Well i never said Barca's formation was unique, did i? Should have gone into detail about why i said they where unique when i said it was but it was about the pressing of Barcelona.

 

I think the one thing we can mostly agree on, is that Barca are an extraordinary team. Opinions on the main reasons for that seem to vary slightly, but not by much. They have an unrivalled combination of individual skill, tactical awareness, fitness, etc,etc.
Mourinho is the only one who has had a modicum of success in stopping them - his last effort failed spectacularly, though.

There is no other team in the world who could defeat Barca without resorting to negative tactics. Virtually no other team in the world would even dare try to take them on at their own game. Surely that tells you all you need to know about just how special they are.

 

I was responding to PNP.

 

Oh for ****'s sake. It's the same two who always miss the point, post totally inaccurate garbage and piss everyone off.

1. Villa started last season in the middle, see: goals this season, look at his starting position in most of them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8SoSaXWIk

2. The "false number 9" role is not unique to Messi. It doesn't even exist it's just a term that football journalists have started using and when knobheads want to sound like they know football, they use it. Keep throwinfg around terms like "false number 9", "inside forward" and "en gauche winger" and you'll look like a twat.

3. From the fact that I had to even write no. 1 I can assume SSN8 did not watch most of Barca's games last season so stop lying.

4. SSN8 you're so obviously confusing enjoying watching Barca for supporting them. Watching Barca slowly and clinically pick apart clearly sub-standard oppositiob im La Liga the same way everytime IS boring to watch after awhile. I'd far rather watch a fast paced, end to end 2-2 draw in the Premiership any day. The only people that should be really enjoying it are Barca fans. You're not a Barca fan so stop trying to be one.

5. Luke, you claim to no longer be a WUM yet you consistently take the opposite view of Spurs fans and rile them up with a chronic cas of MissingThePointItis. It's every bit as tedious as anyother WUM so please explain to me how you are not one.

 

Obviously not, Ensil. They have a unique group of players at this moment in time. Clearly, as time passes, these players will either retire, or their ability will wane. As I said earlier, Barca will obviously look for replacements - as they are doing now. What degree of success they will have remains to be seen.
What is clear to me, however, is that, at the moment, they are by some considerable margin, the best team in the world - I don't forsee that dominance being challenged just yet.
As you alluded to, stopping Crouch is one thing - stopping Barca, however, is an altogether different proposition.

 

1. Villa started last season in the middle, see: goals this season, look at his starting position in most of them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8SoSaXWIk

Rubbish. Messi moved to the middle in the end of the 09/10 season and has stayed there since. I have already shown you an article where a Barca fan anayses Villa's role at Barca. He started from the left at the start of the season.

http://www.barcablaugranes.com/2011/...ew-david-villa

An analysis from a Barca fan on what Villa does for Barca.

'Throughout his career Villa played as a striker but Guardiola moved him to the wing, usually on the left side but he was often found on the other flank as well. Despite the change of playing position Villa had a good start to the season. Several non-La Masia graduates have struggled in the past to get on the same page with Lionel Messi, but David didn't have the same problems. With Pedro on the other wing the MVP line looked destined to break all kinds of records'

2. Never said it was unique to Messi. I call him a false 9 because that is what he does. The Wilson article goes into more details on that.

3. I watched every Barca game last season. Villa started from the left. I can write an article on a Barca forum and ask them if you want.

4.Supporting them? No. But i do love to watch them play. This is without a doubt the greatest side i have seen in my lifetime. Barca can play just as fast tempo as anyone in England and they combine it with their type of passing which is very special. Why the hell should only Barca fans enjoy watching them? Therefore only Ac Milan fans enjoyed the football they played in the 80s/90s. I am a football fan also. So you are talking utter rubbish.

 

I agree with the bolded statement. However I'm going to stick my neck out and say that Barcelona will not beat Real Madrid next season if Mourinho remains their manager, they had a huge amount of upheaval last season and now that Mourinho, Di Maria, Carvalho, Kheidira, Arbeloa, Ozil and Albiol have a season under their belt I think we will see a difference. I will add that I won't be too surprised if I am wrong.

 

Thats a figurative of speech. He basically means Villa has the technical ability to link up with Messi.

 

According to who?