gdp's Comments

totalBarca : The Front: El Mundo Deportivo (19.02.2012)

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:50:30 +0000

His doubts are abt his team, abt motivating them. He doesnt want to go public abt it, but he sees the normal cycle of players not feeling "upto" it anymore with Pep-talk after 4 yrs of winning everything. And that is not Pep's fault alone - it is part of human nature. Having said that he believes in this team and he expects the team to put on performances that motivate him to stay and continue. He just doesnt say it openly, coz that is Pep's style - he believes in ppl realising it on their own. Lets see if our players can lift themselves up this next 3 months - esp our defense needs to work a lot on closing down. Forget abt not scoring, we should stop conceding.

totalBarca : Live Match Chat: Supercup Finals Leg 1: Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 18:02:31 +0000

Not that we shouldnt discuss the match here, but football fans are welcome to join the tiki-taka forum as well: http://www.thelatewinner.com/forums/ As long as trolling is not the only intention. :)

totalBarca : Guardiola: "Madrid has to be the favourite"

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:18:56 +0000

We may see another football lover like him as a coach, but no coach I have seen, who can just speak the right words at the right time, almost everytime, and having the courage to maintain his humility all the while. Maybe Busi or Xavi can turn into a Pep...we have to wait and see. The sharp intelligence of Pep is in full show here: He knows exactly what he is saying! “Someday I will lose against them, and it could be with Barca or it could be with another team.” OR is the operative word there :) "Neither I nor him have done anything that each of us had not done before at one time or another.” Again, maybe Mou can learn some subtlety from Pep - its not the first time Mou has disrespected the press. This has been done before :) Including himself in the sentence is the wit of the man, the sugar coating in his arrow. Just Brilliant.

totalBarca : Michel: "They have already ordered the trophy"

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 18:15:18 +0000

Chasing a league is always easy - there is no pressure, u have nothing to lose. Staying on top is the toughest, with everybody calling u favorites, and when u r expected to win. Thats why its so difficult for Barca players and Pep to achieve what they are doing when the whole world calls them favorites. And they should also know the press and public love a story, and there is no better story when the favorite stumbles. So caution cules - step by step, inch by inch, match by match! dont look too far ahead - we didnt in 2008-09, so stay the same, dont be spoilt by all our accomplishments and praise. Every match is a new match, and it starts 0-0.

totalBarca : Busquets: "We can’t wait for the match to start"

Tue, 8 Mar 2011 18:05:29 +0000

Mate - CL and cup competitions have lot of luck involved. So stop worrying about winning the title....Barca has probably the highest number of semi-finals under its belt in European competitions along with RM. So that tells u that a lot of things need to go right, to go on and win a title. Forget abt the end-result, just hope that Pep's men try and play as well as they can, keeping in mind the opposition's quality. The end-result is just incidental.

totalBarca : Xavi: "I’m a romantic"

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:35:16 +0000

You cant get a better ambassador of the beautiful game - absolutely honest, clear, romantic and a philosopher! Grande Xavi - the maestro, he should join the coaching dept once he retires, and hopefully as an understudy to the "Big Daddy Cool"!

totalBarca : Xavi: A man who could be his own religion, and probably should be

Fri, 7 Jan 2011 14:16:56 +0000

This piece is worthy of Xavi - thats the highest compliment I can give you mate. No coaching manual will be complete without Xavi. He can almost fool you into believing football is easy. His level appeals, appears attainable, yet, is just as elusive for most footballers (including highly technical ones) as his 20-yard slide rule pass is for the scrambling defender to catch. Maestro.

totalBarca : Pinto receives two match ban

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:29:50 +0000

It doesnt take away the fact that UEFA have set a dangerous precedent - whats this sudden retrospective punishment??! "Gross unsporting conduct?" What if a player now complains a fan in the stadium whistled and distracted him from a goal-scoring opportunity - evict the fan? And what is sporting conduct in diving, conning refs for freekicks, throw-ins, corners, penalties, yellow cards, etc?? Will they retrospectively punish?? I always found Barca to be sort of a soft target esp given the Spanish media dont have the guile to raise a ruckus before the decision is handed out like the english media do! And barca didnt help either by neither Guardiola or Rossell speaking out harshly or defending their player - I guess that shows Pep for what a gentleman he is, but we all know if u lie down and stay silent, people always treat u as weak. No point just letting ur football do the talking!! Thats unfortunately how this world and their wums are! I will be curious to watch what other retrospective punishments they give??! How about abusing players, is that sporting conduct??!

totalBarca : K League-Barça Anecdotes from 'Sport'

Wed, 4 Aug 2010 18:06:09 +0000

Feel bad for Hleb - what did he do that Pep doesnt give him a second chance?

totalBarca : Fabregas says he might stay at Arsenal

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 15:14:39 +0000

I see very little humility and will to improve/learn from this guy. He always keeps saying he is not used to being on the bench. I dont see Reina, Valdes, Iniesta, Silva or any of the regular club starters say the same (as if they dont like to play). The problem is this boy has started believing his hype (he was whining even at the Euros!!) and already thinks he has done all his learning, thanks to the English media machinery. IMO he wont be a gud squad player for Barca. Period.

totalBarca : Fabregas says he might stay at Arsenal

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 13:52:34 +0000

One of the best news for Barca, Cesc, Arsenal and football fans this season. If he is a true cule, I wud like to see him wanting to come when things are not so well in Barca (hope we dont see that situation though in the near term).

totalBarca : Breaking news: Guardiola in last ditch bid to convince Toure to stay!

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 00:05:56 +0000

Toure has already become a percentage player, compared to his 1st 2 seasons. So definitely he needs to earn his place if he wants a starting spot as DM. However I see a lot of utility for Toure, as a CM/AM. Its a pity Pep hasnt made more use of him in those positions. Of course he is no Xavi. However, I believe Xavi is one of the main reasons why opposition teams park defences. In such instances, I wud like Pep to pull out Xavi and try Toure instead. With Toure, we have less control of the midfield, which means the oppositon venture out of their bus parking zone more often and then suddenly we now have more space for the forward line when we attack. On top of it, Toure has his physical strength to aid the defence, which we are not going to get from Xavi. Toure has a direct and simpler style of attacking as a CM/AM that I think will be valuable as a Plan B against bus parkings. However my main question is is Pep courageous and intelligent enuff to sub Xavi when he needs to? Else if he is only planning on using Yaya as a DM and a possible CB cover, then screw it. Yaya shud go elsewhere to make better use of his potential.

totalBarca : Barca confirm Henry and Toure exits

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:10:03 +0000

Guys dont keep staying bitter about our treatment of Yaya. Instead the reality is we wanted to keep him, he wanted to leave. And his agent hasnt helped either. Barca respects the players and the squad harmony a lot, coz that was the biggest lesson we learnt from 07-08. So I have turned the page on yaya, who IMHO didnt give his best this year unlike last year. So I am not complaining at all about Pep's decision to play Busi. Now we need to find a good squad sub for Busi or maybe a competitor who really is better than Busi in all respects. And please Masch is not that one - he has poor ball skills to play the Barca DM. Trust all other cules also are thankful about yaya's contribution so far and move on. Please stop being bitter. The club did the best for the club and player. Respect.

totalBarca : Busquets: "The defensive midfielder is very important in football"

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:01:10 +0000

Exemplary Maturity!

totalBarca : Live: Greece vs. Argentina

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:30:10 +0000

Pastore-Messi will be a deadly combo to watch. Does anyone have a video of Pastore's 15 mins today? Finally he did wat Veron-Maxi were struggling to do - creating space for Messi. He does tend to overdo his exquisite passing at times at Palermo, however, IMHO in the national setup, he and Messi shud talk thru the ball a lot more.

totalBarca : Live: Spain vs. Honduras

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:41:49 +0000

Gud game to get confidence bak - loads of chances, however they need to get more lethal. Navas does add a right wing option due to his functionality, but has poor intelligence in his passing. So its a trade-off between having a wide option and an unintelligent, or rather inconsistent option. Xavi doesnt enjoy the AM much, however Alonso I must say, contrary to what many think, hits fantastic diagonal balls, and if we play thru the wide channels, like we did today, playing Alonso is an advantage. I hope those who were clamouring for Cesc instead of Busi (!!) in the 1st game do realise that with Cesc (for Busi), we lose even more control of the midfield. He is like Gerrard in the sense that he is too keen to take a striking role and hardly controls possession, which wud have been suicidal. IMO, Cesc still has a limited role in this team. He can take up an AM role in place of Xavi if we are chasing a game, like against Switzerland. Else, he needs to shut up and learn to improve his playmaking, rather than sulk at being in the bench. Overhyped still! Of course Xavi with Alonso and Busi is not the best use of Xavi either. However the metronome will be in his elements when we need to thread thru a midfield, and when his tiki-taka buddies like Iniesta or Silva are on. I am more confident of Spain beating Chile, coz Chile has one of the most honest attacking philosophies in world football right now. So we will see open football and technical football. And there is none to compete with Spain in that aspect. However they do need to get lethal, and yes I wud luv to see Iniesta back. For me the biggest weakness in Spain remains Capdevilla. How overweight is he, and how often is he caught out of position or short of pace. Busi and Alonso have a tuff job protecting both flanks. And Chile play with 3 forwards always. So it will be end-to-end stuff.

totalBarca : WC ‘Blaugrana’ Report: Spain vs. Switzerland

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:56:59 +0000

Guys keep the faith - no point tinkering with the lineup. The starting 11 is how Del Bosque has envisioned his team to go fwd given Torres is still short of fitness. And thats the team that has got them here - with no real wingers, but with intricate play thru the middle between Xavi, Iniesta and Silva. Its gud that Switzerland has given the Spanish something to think about right from the first game. So they will only be sharper in the coming matches. Think about it, inspite of their best defensive setup, they still cudnt prevent Spain from carving about 4-5 solid goal-scoring chances - thats how gud this team is. On ANOTHER DAY, Spain wud have won this same match comfortably. So dont go knee-jerk. Just be with the team all the way. Now is when they need u more than ever!

totalBarca : WC 'Blaugrana' Report: Argentina vs Nigeria

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:18:50 +0000

I agree Messi is more dangerous near the box, but for that he needs to be provided the ball. Veron and Masch are not exactly ball-holders. And Veron alone for creativity isnt enuff to find Messi. When Argentina have other potent strikers as well, it is imperative Messi sees more of the ball and creates. And I think the role he played today is both great and important for Argentina. I think as a floating front 3, Aguero fits the bill better for movement and ball-holding then Higuain.

totalBarca : The Front: El Mundo Deportivo (10.06.2010)

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:33:50 +0000

I wud be happy if Cesc doesnt come. He is overkill and IMO he has started believing in his hype. If at all we want a Barca DNA player, Silva over Cesc mates! Silva can provide ample cover for Iniesta, who I am afraid is injury-prone. And moreover lets get over this obsession with Cesc - we dont want the club losing its image and being held to ransom over a 'promising' player. Cesc, tbh, is yet to prove that he can hold his own against the big boys. Cesc IMO didnt do enuff to want to come to Barca, so why shud Barca bend over backwards for the player.

totalBarca : Dimitri Seluk expects Yaya Toure to join Arsenal

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 22:31:37 +0000

Guys relax. First - It was not Pep who shoved Eto off as if Eto was dying to stay here. Eto held the club to ransom over wage increase for a year clearly trying to force his hand. Just bcoz Pep had the balls to tell Eto that we wud rather part ways publicly, doesnt mean it was done against Eto's wishes. Every fu*king player has a price. Just like we wont pay 100M just to get Cesc. The club is more important than the player - ALWAYS. So get over this senseless rant over Pep. And u know Pep went for an even more technical player like Villa. And only when it failed, we had to bring in our 2nd choice. Thats acting sensibly and responsibly IMO as a club. Also remember Pep sees players day in and day out. We dont. So none of us can claim to know Eto better than Pep. 2) On Yaya, again dont bring in a Yaya vs Busi argument. They both play in the same position, but both have different characteristics and hence interpret their roles in their own ways. Now Pep believes the #4 to be like him in his playing days. And in his eyes Busi interprets that better than Yaya. And I can see that. I am sure u will see that as well. Yaya interprets it differently and more along what we generally expect of regular DMs. So u cannot really blame Pep for Yaya not interpreting the ball passing as well as Busi. But what u can complain about, which I will sympathize with, is the fact that yaya is versatile and offers a physical "alternative". So he is crucial for the balance of the squad. And he can play CB, DM, CM, AM and maybe even wingback or a forward!! Such versatility has no price. And I think Pep can do a better job of finding more minutes for someone like Yaya. So therein is the issue. It has nothing to do with Busi being worse than Yaya or vice-versa. So stop with the Busi hate and make more reasonable observations about Yaya's utility. I personally dont see Cesc adding anything to our squad. So he can enjoy being a king among mortals at Arsenal. He still has a gud amount of learning left to be Barca's CM. Why not we have a fan campaign like the "remontada" one to persuade Yaya/Pep to convince the beast to stay. He deserves Barca!!