MON's comments earlier today. Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has outlined his ambition to have a team that plays with the style of Barcelona, though admitted "pragmatism has to be the order of the day" for the struggling Wearsiders at the moment. European champions Barca have been described by some as the best side ever to have played the game and Pep Guardiola's charges have unquestionably set a benchmark in the modern era with their devastating tiki-taka approach. The Catalans have won many admirers and can count O'Neill among them, with the Northern Irishman keen to create a team in the future capable of emulating Lionel Messi and his team-mates. However, O'Neill recognises that his lofty ambitions are a world away from life at the Stadium of Light at present, his new side currently sitting precariously close to the Premier League relegation zone. "I always come back to the way Barcelona play and I think teams look to that," O'Neill said. "It's a long way in the future but you'd love to keep that in the back of your mind and think you could eventually have a team that could play like that. "Over the course of time, people will probably throw that back at me. But we need to win some football matches and at the moment pragmatism has to be the order of the day. "When I was at Aston Villa we seemed to have a reputation for being a counter-attacking side and when you have the likes of [James] Milner, [Ashley] Young, [Stewart] Downing and [Gabriel] Agbonlahor in the side, that's probably quite true. "There was a lot of pace in the side so it was almost natural to play that way. I don't think, from the first look here, that we have that same kind of pace at the moment, so you'd have to adjust accordingly." I hope he does.
so did Bruce with his infamous 4-6-0 formation, hopefully in 2-3 years we may have the players for it, problem is, now we dont but Bruce thought we did.
Barcelona don't have the best players in the world in every position. What they do have is the best TEAM in the world. Watch any Barcelona match and the running off the ball is phenomenal. Messi is a total one off. Yet works really hard off the ball to help his team. That's what they all do, work hard so as not to leave any individual isolated. From front to back, there's no passing the ball and thinking that's my job done and losing interest. They look to see where they could move, to receive the ball back in case of trouble.
Not arguing with that really but for me. We don't have the pace to close players down, or to get a yard or 2 space to receive the ball. We don`t have the patience for it. We don`t have the skill for it. We don`t have a Messi (no one else does either, but just a forward who knows where the goal is, bit of pace and trickery about him) Like MR said its a team ethic thats drilled into them, but they do have the best players in the world in a few positions Messi/Xavi/Iniesta/Villa I am not saying it would not be nice, of course it would, problem is Bruce tried it now, at least MON is saying, it could take awhile.
You don't need skill to work hard mate. You also don't need pace to step away from a player to make yourself available. It's much easier to be passed to if you aren't the wrong side of the defender in the first place. Totally agree about it being a team ethic, Liverpool had it in the 70s 80s, ManU have had it until recently.
I think the main thing Barcelona have to encourage that sense of "team" is they develop through their youth team....even to the extent that they can get Fabregas back into "the fold"...as the one that got away.....I`d love to think O Neill might create a club where youngsters would stay here....That to me is what we should learn from that team....There may be a difference between the athleticism/speed etc of now and teams in the past but MON s former team Celtic won the European Cup with a similar ethos...I hated it when Quinn and Bruce talked about the inevitability of Henderson going..... Hes not going to do it in 3 Years tho!!!!
i meant pace/acceleration over the first 5 yards, welbeck has it, campbell used to have it (time will tell if he still does) sess has it, but other than that, cant think of anyone else in our setup that has it. when they havnt got the ball they work hard, when they do have hit they are very skillful in manipulating what they want to do with the ball (1 touch - 10 yard passing to feet) i cant see colback/cattermole doing that much.
The current Barcelona team is the best team I've ever seen, absolutely incredible the way they close teams down when they haven't got the ball and a joy to watch when they have it, I wonder if we could build a stadium big enough (us or mags) if we were as good as them
The special one at this moment is proving if you out graft them it works. Great first half of footy. Good break by Messi for the pass for the equaliser, but over all Madrid have nullified him. And I hate that little **** Alvez dirty little player and cheat.
i whouldnt want to be like barca... it never works unless you have money and the right type of players
Personally I find Barcelona a little on the boring side. Don't get me wrong, they're fantastic. I also can't stand the lack of sportsmanship, because they absolutely don't need to carry on like they do.
