FC Barcelona Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

LuckyLloyd · 12-09-2010 4:59pm

Hercules should have had four. Two of the chances they spurned in the second half were sitters.

Being priced 45 / 1 before the game is a testament to how retarded football fans in general are.

gimmick · 13-09-2010 12:26am

eZe^ wrote: »

Unbelievably inept performance from Barca last night. Credit to Hercules, but the team lacked so much cutting edge it was untrue. Villa was isolated too much on the wings, Bojan was anonymous, Messi and Pedro tried to do far too much. A few more performances like that and the team will need a swift kick in the balls.

Did you head into the Oak?

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

First bit of justice of the season. Going to be a good year.

What justice, or is this just trolling?

dfx- · 13-09-2010 12:43am

It must be trolling, as nobody seems to know what this justice is - or the original injustice for that matter..not even a Madrid fan I was talking to today. It's just a defeat, so

Frisbee · 13-09-2010 9:06am

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Being priced 45 / 1 before the game is a testament to how retarded football fans in general are.

It's not a reflection of how retarded football fans are, 99 times out of 100 you'd expect Barca to bumfúck Hercules up and down the pitch for 90 minutes and beat them by three or four clear goals at least, so 45/1 would seem a pretty fair price.

LuckyLloyd · 13-09-2010 9:12am

Frisbee wrote: »

It's not a reflection of how retarded football fans are, 99 times out of 100 you'd expect Barca to bumfúck Hercules up and down the pitch for 90 minutes and beat them by three or four clear goals at least, so 45/1 would seem a pretty fair price.

I imagine responding to this will be a huge waste of my time. Anyway, some hints:

- how many league games have Barcelona drawn / lost from their last 45 league games?;
- how many games can even the bottom team in La Liga be expected to draw or win over the course of a league season?;

All rationality really has left the building when it comes to the general perception of how good Barcelona are. But by all means continue to believe that 45 / 1 represents a "pretty fair price" for a team playing their football in the same league with a number of Internationals in their starting line up.

gimmick · 13-09-2010 9:20am

^ Are you going to answer the "justice question" which has been posed to you by a few people?

Last season Barca won 18 of 19 home games, scoring an average of 3 goals every game. Okay, 45/1 might have been a tad generous, but not many would have given Hercules a snowballs in the Camp Nou saturday

monkey9 wrote: »

A defeat like this so early in the season could end up being a good thing in the long run.

What worries me alot is that the annual defeat at the Calderon is this Sunday. To lose 2 of the opening 3 can never be seen as a good thing

LuckyLloyd · 13-09-2010 9:48am

gimmick wrote: »

^ Are you going to answer the "justice question" which has been posed to you by a few people?

Last season Barca won 18 of 19 home games, scoring an average of 3 goals every game. Okay, 45/1 might have been a tad generous, but not many would have given Hercules a snowballs in the Camp Nou saturday

Someone said to me on Saturday that "Barcelona losing to Hercules must be the biggest shock defeat in football history". This really bothered me. Then I took a little look into recent betting lines on Barcelona games and it bothered me a lot more. There is a level of believe in the capability of this team that transcends reality. My comment is related to that. Haters gonna hate, etc.

gimmick · 13-09-2010 10:01am

I still do not see how that is "justice"? A silly comment most certainly saying the biggest ever shock.

eZe^ · 13-09-2010 11:33am

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Haters gonna hate, etc.

The irony of it all. I've never seen so many people interested in Barcelona results as they are now. This team is arguably one of the best in the history of football, the core winning 2 CLs, a handful of La Ligas, a Euro, and a WC. Haters gon' hate indeed....

Losing to Hercules was absolutely a big shock, as the last time they lost to a newly promoted side was about 78 league games ago, away to Numancia on Guardiola's league debut.

Warper · 13-09-2010 11:56am

Watched the game the other night and Barca were basically crap. It was just one of those nights where nothing went right. Fair play to Hercules who deserved their win and could have had a couple more. No one saw this result coming and the odds of around 40-1 on Hercules winning were realistic. Barca looked world-beaters in their first La Liga game and to be beaten at home for only the second time in 4 and a half years against a newly promoted team was a massive shock. It was just one of those freak nights that happen every now and again. It might actually wake Barca up a bit. Not a bit concerned atm and have every faith in this team but again well done Hercules who were brilliant.

SlickRic · 13-09-2010 12:01pm

people are going to take more pleasure in Barca defeats, that's just the way it is.

1) it's basically human nature to want others knocked off their pedestal.

2) their transfer behaviour will have p*ssed off a lot of people.

there's going to be an unprecedented volume of Barca hate this year, and a lot of gratification taken in any loss they suffer. you guys are just going to have to try to live with it unfortunately.

redout · 13-09-2010 1:01pm

SlickRic wrote: »

people are going to take more pleasure in Barca defeats, that's just the way it is.

1) it's basically human nature to want others knocked off their pedestal.

2) their transfer behaviour will have p*ssed off a lot of people.

there's going to be an unprecedented volume of Barca hate this year, and a lot of gratification taken in any loss they suffer. you guys are just going to have to try to live with it unfortunately.

Its what success and beating all the top english teams bar liverpool over the past few seasons brings. It has grown each year - just review la liga threads going back over the past couple of years and there was basically fcuk all interest and no hate to be seen.

Pepe LeFrits · 13-09-2010 1:21pm

redout wrote: »

Its what success and beating all the top english teams bar liverpool over the past few seasons brings. It has grown each year - just review la liga threads going back over the past couple of years and there was basically fcuk all interest and no hate to be seen.

Not for me; it's what behaving like a bunch of massive ***** over the summer brings. After Barca thumped Arsenal earlier this year (the second time in 4 years Barca have done my team) I still wished them well and said I hoped they would go on to win it. Unbelievable team and worthy of the praise they get.

Now a large part of me hopes they crash and burn. Tempered of course by the only alternative being Mourinho.

redout · 13-09-2010 1:29pm

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Not for me; it's what behaving like a bunch of massive ***** over the summer brings. After Barca thumped Arsenal earlier this year (the second time in 4 years Barca have done my team) I still wished them well and said I hoped they would go on to win it. Unbelievable team and worthy of the praise they get.

Now a large part of me hopes they crash and burn. Tempered of course by the only alternative being Mourinho.

For the majority of people it is exactly what I said. There was also hate from some Gunner fans long before the whole Cesc saga by the way. There aint a club in the world that has not acted the bollox when it comes to transfers - this one was just blown out of proportion because of the hate - it was used as another excuse to jump on the bandwagon and stoke the fire by many who already resented the club. It was already discussed on here as you know that it wasnt respectable and that Spanish clubs regularly act in this way.

LuckyLloyd · 13-09-2010 1:33pm

Yeah, I am a hater. And I feel good about it when the subject is Barcelona. I wish the club ill. No problem admitting it too. This hater is going to hate all year long.

dreamers75 · 13-09-2010 2:54pm

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yeah, I am a hater. And I feel good about it when the subject is Barcelona. I wish the club ill. No problem admitting it too. This hater is going to hate all year long.

Bandwagon haters

I have been hating for years now along come new haters.

Warper · 13-09-2010 3:40pm

Water off a ducks back

dfx- · 13-09-2010 4:06pm

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yeah, I am a hater. And I feel good about it when the subject is Barcelona. I wish the club ill. No problem admitting it too. This hater is going to hate all year long.

You'll probably have to go far to bother anyone though with the hate..from my perspective, the hate was obvious, but was just wondering why in this case.

Thanks for giving us a heads up early in the season.

LuckyLloyd · 13-09-2010 4:13pm

dfx- wrote: »

You'll probably have to go far to bother anyone though with the hate..from my perspective, the hate was obvious, but was just wondering why in this case.

Thanks for giving us a heads up early in the season.

No probs. You have to promise to ignore me when I come back in here after a bad result in a meaningful game later in the season though. You can't just shout "troll!!" at that point. I'm going to hate and you're not going to care and we'll both get on just fine!

Peyton Manning · 13-09-2010 4:18pm

I dont know what was 45/1 - a Hercules win, or a scorecast, but from a gambling perspective and putting aside his dislike of Barcelona, Lloyd is absolutely spot on.

Just because they are bookies, it doesn't mean big establishments like PP, Bet365 etc. are exempt from making mistakes.

No matter how clear favourites a team are, odds of 45/1 in a one off matchup between two teams competing in the same league should never be given. Especially given Barcelona's circumstances (players away on duty) and Hercules' mentality at the start of a new season as underdogs. They are absolutely ludicrous odds. Even as heavy underdogs, a team should never be more than 12/1 or 15/1 at the very most imo.

redout · 13-09-2010 4:22pm

Looks like Puyo will be playing tomorrow night

Players all got a dressing down from Pep about cant be living on the 8 trophies of the past two seasons or what not.

LuckyLloyd · 13-09-2010 4:27pm

Archimedes wrote: »

I dont know what was 45/1 - a Hercules win, or a scorecast, but from a gambling perspective and putting aside his dislike of Barcelona, Lloyd is absolutely spot on.

Just because they are bookies, it doesn't mean big establishments like PP, Bet365 etc. are exempt from making mistakes.

No matter how clear favourites a team are, odds of 45/1 in a one off matchup between two teams competing in the same league should never be given. Especially given Barcelona's circumstances (players away on duty) and Hercules' mentality at the start of a new season as underdogs. They are absolutely ludicrous odds. Even as heavy underdogs, a team should never be more than 12/1 or 15/1 at the very most imo.

Thing is though, the bookies were able to offer such a price because the volume of trading on Barcelona to win (or Barcelona as part of accumulators) is so significant at ludicrous prices on the other end of the scale (seriously, Betfair prices on Barcelona are beyond real) that their liabilities are easily covered even at such an outlandish range. It is punters that are committing mass value suicide, not the bookies!!

Dolph Starbeam · 13-09-2010 4:27pm

redout wrote: »

Looks like Puyo will be playing tomorrow night

Players all got a dressing down from Pep about cant be living on the 8 trophies of the past two seasons or what not.

Ye i heard that, too right though, some of them need a wake up call and right at the start of the new season is the perfect time for it. Hopefully they will improve a lot for the visit of Panathinaikos tomorrow night. Should be a good one to watch. 3-0 to Barca.

dfx- · 13-09-2010 5:06pm

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

You have to promise to ignore me when I come back in here after a bad result in a meaningful game later in the season though. You can't just shout "troll!!" at that point. I'm going to hate and you're not going to care and we'll both get on just fine!

That's not fair...

You have to be called out for the bias if you're allowed to hate. I promise not to react..

redout · 13-09-2010 5:08pm

MOG7 wrote: »

Ye i heard that, too right though, some of them need a wake up call and right at the start of the new season is the perfect time for it. Hopefully they will improve a lot for the visit of Panathinaikos tomorrow night. Should be a good one to watch. 3-0 to Barca.

Dunno about 3 - 0 but hopefully with Puyo, Busi, Xavi and Alves back in the lineup we should definitely see an improvement. Would like to see Pedro come in on the left and Villa in the middle as Bojan looked well out of it on saturday.

Warper · 13-09-2010 5:40pm

Archimedes wrote: »

I dont know what was 45/1 - a Hercules win, or a scorecast, but from a gambling perspective and putting aside his dislike of Barcelona, Lloyd is absolutely spot on.

Just because they are bookies, it doesn't mean big establishments like PP, Bet365 etc. are exempt from making mistakes.

No matter how clear favourites a team are, odds of 45/1 in a one off matchup between two teams competing in the same league should never be given. Especially given Barcelona's circumstances (players away on duty) and Hercules' mentality at the start of a new season as underdogs. They are absolutely ludicrous odds. Even as heavy underdogs, a team should never be more than 12/1 or 15/1 at the very most imo.

Odds of around 40-1 were fair enough. That was Barca's second league home defeat in 4 and a half years i.e. in 45 matches. Considering it was against a newly promoted team 40-1 is fair. Plus Barca were just after killing Racing Santander 3-0 away from home and Hercules were off the back of 1-0 home defeat to Bilbao. If they replayed the match 50 times Barca would not be beaten more than once. They mightn't win it 49 times as a draw is also an option. Its very easy coming on after a match going oh look that was a great price. I bet the bookies made an absolute killing off that result purely because it was a freakish result.

Blackpool are 25-1 to beat Chelsea this weekend so why dont you put money where your mouth is and back Blackpool - post up a screenshot as proof or are you just a spoofer.

Dolph Starbeam · 13-09-2010 6:10pm

redout wrote: »

Dunno about 3 - 0 but hopefully with Puyo, Busi, Xavi and Alves back in the lineup we should definitely see an improvement. Would like to see Pedro come in on the left and Villa in the middle as Bojan looked well out of it on saturday.

Just looking through the Panathinaikos team they have some decent players, Boumsong, Djibril Cisse, Govou, Luis Garcia, Gilberto Silva and Damien Plessis, i don't really know many of the Greek players but the players above definatley have the experience to cause problems. How did Plessis end up over there, i was sure before he signed for Livepool he was heading for big things.

Maybe 3-0 is a bit much but i do think, well i hope, that Barca go out to prove some people wrong and show what they can do.

Zapp Brannigan · 13-09-2010 8:03pm

Don't worry about Plessis, he's muck.

flahavaj · 13-09-2010 9:55pm

Warper wrote: »

Blackpool are 25-1 to beat Chelsea this weekend so why dont you put money where your mouth is and back Blackpool - post up a screenshot as proof or are you just a spoofer.

That wasn't the point he was making at all and him backing Blackpool would prove nothing. Jesus like, read what he posted.

redout · 14-09-2010 9:47pm

A mighty performance - just what was called for.

Messi could have had at least five but 2 goals and 2 assists aint bad

Great preparation for the Atleti game - Visca Barça!

#15 · 14-09-2010 11:08pm

redout wrote: »

A mighty performance - just what was called for.

Messi could have had at least five but 2 goals and 2 assists aint bad

Great preparation for the Atleti game - Visca Barça!

First two Messi goals were excellent. That pass from Xavi was perfect.

Dolph Starbeam · 14-09-2010 11:47pm

#15 wrote: »

First two Messi goals were excellent. That pass from Xavi was perfect.

Ye Xavi's ball through was perfect, it seemed to take a weird last bounce but Messi controlled the finish perfectly.

His second goal was just as good as it gets, great play in such a tight area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNXRtjeddg4

Hopefully they can carry this form through to the weekend against table toppers Madrid, Atletico madrid that is :pac:

gimmick · 15-09-2010 9:15am

Good to see Pedro off the mark as well for the season, even if it was probably the easiest goal he will ever score.

Sunday is a big one. I wonder will Puyol get the nod? Thought he was quite poor when asked upon last night. If he does play and has the same lapses Forlan and Aguero will make mince meat of him.

pickarooney · 15-09-2010 9:15am

I only saw the second one-two on the last replay; I couldn't figure out how he'd got past the last defenders. Anyone got a clip of the missed penalty?

redout · 15-09-2010 9:56am

gimmick wrote: »

Good to see Pedro off the mark as well for the season, even if it was probably the easiest goal he will ever score.

Sunday is a big one. I wonder will Puyol get the nod? Thought he was quite poor when asked upon last night. If he does play and has the same lapses Forlan and Aguero will make mince meat of him.

I wouldnt be too harsh on him - was his first appearance for Barca this season because of injury. He needs games under his belt.

gimmick · 15-09-2010 10:16am

Oh, I am not being harsh, I am a Puyol fan boy ffs. Its just that if he is as much off the pace Sunday as last night, there will be trouble on Sunday.

redout · 15-09-2010 12:07pm

gimmick wrote: »

Oh, I am not being harsh, I am a Puyol fan boy ffs. Its just that if he is as much off the pace Sunday as last night, there will be trouble on Sunday.

I would be more concerned with Abidal - the way he has been thus far I would rather Maxwell. For the goal last night he was actually ahead of Govou when the ball was played. Should have done better.

Dolph Starbeam · 15-09-2010 12:21pm

pickarooney wrote: »

I only saw the second one-two on the last replay; I couldn't figure out how he'd got past the last defenders. Anyone got a clip of the missed penalty?

ye same here, i couldn't figure out how he got the ball through, you couldn't se the little pass from the first angle it showed, great skill.

Missed penalt, poor penalty, i think he was trying to send the keeper the other way, i think we can afford to let him away with 1 mistake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DSCV7IPb0c

Warper · 15-09-2010 12:38pm

Have Messi backed for CL top-scorer @ 7-1 so even though he missed a peno and hit the post, he did score twice so a nice start for that. He really is something else, has he ever gone on a sustained poor run of form. I cant really recall it, really separates him from the likes of Rooney and Torres when you see how bad they have been for months now. He is worth more than the 2 of them combined. Plus he is actually getting better.

eZe^ · 15-09-2010 2:07pm

Warper wrote: »

Have Messi backed for CL top-scorer @ 7-1 so even though he missed a peno and hit the post, he did score twice so a nice start for that. He really is something else, has he ever gone on a sustained poor run of form. I cant really recall it, really separates him from the likes of Rooney and Torres when you see how bad they have been for months now. He is worth more than the 2 of them combined. Plus he is actually getting better.

Not since he matured into the goal scorer. Back in the Rijkaard era when he was developing he'd go through very frustrating periods because he tried to do too many things at once. His decision making now is much better. Loving the gold boots too, Ronaldinhoesque. Taking up his mantle and raising the standards.

Mgoraf · 15-09-2010 4:42pm

Messi about to come on for some schoolboy team in England now. It's on SSN.

eZe^ · 16-09-2010 1:37pm

Mgoraf wrote: »

Messi about to come on for some schoolboy team in England now. It's on SSN.

Ya, it was this weird adidas campaign where Messi played in an 11 a side, and 5 a side game in random places around London. There was also a secret location where you could bring your old football boots and trade them in free for a brand new pair of adidas ones. Bit gimmicky, but meh.

People haven't praised Messi's second goal enough, holy fcuking sh*t, it was like something from a Fifa game tbh, two beautiful one-twos in the tightest of spaces and a little pass into the corner of the goal. One of the goals of the season imo. His first was just a top class finish, he's turning into a ruthless finisher, overtaking Eto'os goal tally of 130 at the club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpqmovSYmoM

redout · 16-09-2010 2:01pm

eZe^ wrote: »

His first was just a top class finish, he's turning into a ruthless finisher, overtaking Eto'os goal tally of 130 at the club.

He overtook Rivaldo on tuesday night as the clubs leading goalscorer in the champions league also.

eZe^ · 16-09-2010 2:06pm

You're good with these kinds of stats redout, is that Messi's first ever penalty miss? If memory serves me correctly it is.

redout · 16-09-2010 2:12pm

eZe^ wrote: »

You're good with these kinds of stats redout, is that Messi's first ever penalty miss? If memory serves me correctly it is.

Recreativo in 2009 - he missed.

Messi's penalty miss is the first in the Champions league by a Barca player for over four years (Ronaldinho in April 2006).

redout · 16-09-2010 10:32pm

Gotta say fair play to World Cup winner Busquets for offering to turn out for La Selección u21's.

Not many would expect an established World cup winner of all people to offer himself up for something like that.

Good man Sergio.

redout · 17-09-2010 9:08am

Today marks a decade since the Messiah arrived at Camp Nou

mess2016%20(13).jpg

gimmick · 17-09-2010 9:43am

^ Nice little collage that

eZe^ · 17-09-2010 1:14pm

Fantastic, and it'll be amazing if he wins any more individual awards this year.

eZe^ · 18-09-2010 9:21pm

Sid Lowe just tweeted that when Matt Le Tissier heard that Xavi idolised him back in the day he thought about getting a t-shirt saying 'Xavi loves me' on it. Gave me a chuckle!

FC Barcelona Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

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