Got to admit i was totally wrong about this guy. Having the talent around him has freed him up so much from his Inter days. Also have to admit I was very gutted by their equaliser. I want Barca out of Europe.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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If Barca play like that again they will be out of Europe.
Worst i've seen them this season. I was actually cringing every time Xavi got on the ball (has anyone ever said that?) he used it so poorly. Iniesta wasnt much better and the best i can think of was Busquests, Toure Yaya was Aybsmal and Piques passing from the back was woeful.
Zlatan hardly got a sniff as little chances were created. Messi was well below par too but did burst to life a couple of times but it was really a toss up between Valdes, Maxwell and Busquets for Barcas best player on the night. Which says it all really.
Worst i've seen them this season. I was actually cringing every time Xavi got on the ball (has anyone ever said that?) he used it so poorly. Iniesta wasnt much better and the best i can think of was Busquests, Toure Yaya was Aybsmal and Piques passing from the back was woeful.
Zlatan hardly got a sniff as little chances were created. Messi was well below par too but did burst to life a couple of times but it was really a toss up between Valdes, Maxwell and Busquets for Barcas best player on the night. Which says it all really.
They played a lot better in the second half, and they won't play that badly again. Barca should see this out comfortably unless Stuttgart get a goal.
The streak should never have been used as an argument on its own in the first place, one goal shouldn't be the difference between him being allowed to be called the best striker in the world and not.
Not the best of Barca although they did dominate possession (as per usual). I thought Zlatan lacked a little "alertness" (for lack of a better word) last night. Still, nice goal and good result. They will cruise through to the next round.
I think that's about as well as stuttgart can play too.
They can even score first. But they are likely to still swallow 5. Only a home clean sheet could have given them some hope IMO.
Its a huge black mark.
Had he have had a really bad injury this season and been forced to retire, he'd have gone down as a great player who failed to deliver when it mattered in the competition most clubs in europe consider the most important club competition. It would have tainted his legacy and been a huge argument against how good he really was.
Obviously he was never likely to have got a career ending injury. But without that 1 goal the streak continues and until it's ended it undermined everything else he was doing. That 1 goal changes things.
Its like Bale and his run of premier league games without a win. He could play well and Spurs not win but because of the streak, his reputation went downhill fast. No doubt it probably affected his confidence and form and that may have happened with Ibrahimovic when he played in the champions league too.
Mmm I was. You have to remember though, any comment I made on Ibrahimovic was in relation to 1) people claiming he was one of the very best if not the best strikers in the world, and 2) a direct comparison to Eto'o
I've never doubted he's a very good player. I lived in Sweden for a year, it's all they banged on about! It's frankly about time he got that knockout stages goalscoring monkey off his back. Not that 1 goal in 17 games is that impressive! (Especially when in Eto'o debates, I'm citing a bloke who's scored twice in separate finals, never mind last 16 knockout matches)
What I've seen of him at Barca this season has been odd. Started like a house on fire, last couple of months he's been a bit more 'Zlatan', and yet his scoring record is still very good indeed, better than a goal every other game
Sent off at the weekend. Seemed harsh to me
No question Barca played better with ten men though! Make of that what you will
No question Barca played better with ten men though! Make of that what you will
Looks like booting out Eto'o and going away from a successful formula could cost Barca this season.
Can't believe they binned Villa for Ibra, that is a hangable offence.
Can't believe they binned Villa for Ibra, that is a hangable offence.
Somewhat of a luxury player at times, I bet Messi and co had to change their underwear when he got his marching orders.
I don't think they did mate! I just think it's incredibly hard to get Valencia to sell their stars, damn near impossible! All I know is Villa wanted to go.
Valencia wanted about another 10 million Euros or something, but Barca splashed out more on Ibra anyway
It's like turning down fillet mignon for £30 but buying a big mac for £35
Valencia wanted about another 10 million Euros or something, but Barca splashed out more on Ibra anyway
It's like turning down fillet mignon for £30 but buying a big mac for £35
Mate I bet you 90% of the reason of buying Zlatan was strictly to bring a galactico into the team, not really thinking about how the lad will affect the fluency of the team.
It was about sending shock waves all the way back to Madrid who were bringing in Galaticos almost every week. It reminds me of how Laporta promised Beckham but ended up with Ronaldinho. I think this time it has truly backfired but time will tell.
No, buying Ibrahimovic was more about signing one of the - if not the - best striker on the planet.
And, apart from a few bedding in problems (which is funny, since half of the people claming that Berbatov should be given time to settle are the same people writing off Ibrahimovic) he's done bloody well.
Barcelona don't need to buy galacticos like Madrid. They make them.
And, apart from a few bedding in problems (which is funny, since half of the people claming that Berbatov should be given time to settle are the same people writing off Ibrahimovic) he's done bloody well.
Barcelona don't need to buy galacticos like Madrid. They make them.
I reckon Inter and Barcelona, Laporta and Moratti should get together, admit theyve been utter tards and reverse the transfer, suits all parties.
Aye, I thought the same at the time. It was almost as if they needed a shock deal to take the headlines away from Madrid in a summer they were supposed to soak up all the glory of a treble.
It was more a case of Guardiola wanting rid of Eto'o and Ibrahimovic being the only big named top striker they could realistically prize away from a team.
I said at the start it was a lose lose situation for Ibrahimovic. Barca cant match what they did last season and him being the major change will get the stick for that. He's not in good form at the moment but he's a good enough player to turn his fortunes around.
if Barca don't win the league would I be right in saying that it would have been the first time in several seasons that ibrahimovic hasn't won the league?
He was at Juventus during the matchfixing scandal make of that what you will
Hehehe
And this is what gets peoples backs up, and leads to threads like this reaching 30 odd pages
Indeed.
Buying a player for 50Mil Euros and giving out an excellent striker like Eto'o in addition to that will count as buying a galacticos. Barcelona have been quite heavy spenders themselves in the past 2-3 years.
Quotes from Villa go as far as to say that the club had told Villa what their asking price for him was before he went on his holidays in the summer. He said he thought the club were going to sell him. Then when he came back things had changed at Valencia and they wanted to keep him.
Suffice to say that the Zlatan money could have bought David Villa during that window when the club had decided how much they wanted for him. But perhaps after the change of president and the work to secure money through other means, Villa wasnt going to be allowed to leave after he had come back and they'd told him they wanted to keep him.
So was Capello. Make of that what you will.
You make of it that for those two seasons (2005 & 2006), he wasn't at a club that won the Italian title, because they were found to have cheated and stripped of their achievements
So he's been a league winner the last three consecutive seasons with Inter. Bearing in mind the ramifications of calciopoli, at least the first of those titles is 'tainted' in that it didn't come against full strength competition. Inters dismal performance in Europe over the same period puts into perspective the standard of Italian football over those years
A part of me is really starting to think this is true, why would Pep rest him when he's suspended in LaLiga? Maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Allegedly:
Barcelona Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic Sad And Disappointed - Agent - Goal.com
feck his agent. All Zlatan is going through is settling in blues. The Agent is making a mountain out of mole hills.
True, it does seem a bit early for him to push the Panic button like this.
I'm guessing Pep just didn't like Eto'o. Apparenly in this clip he told Eto to switch position and he didn't want to and when he scored he's telling Pep "I told you" for Pep to tell him to hurry back because they can score again.
I'm not one to be reading into all this, but body language tells a whole story during this celebration!
I'm not one to be reading into all this, but body language tells a whole story during this celebration!
Egg on face for many, eh?
Eat your hearts out haters
It's not quite the reaction I'd have given how many he missed first half. Must be a strikers dream to play up front for Barca when they're in that kind of form. Finally scores against an English club and it was an accomplished finish - have to say an absolute gift from Almunia thoughI'd say the Zlatan performance so far still poses as many question marks as before personally
Now, on the other hand...
People like me who'd seen him for years knew exactly what the fuss was all about.
been watching him since he was 18
No About, many who have brought up perfectly valid criticisms have seen him for years too
The problem is the debate on him gets swayed, because it always starts from someone claiming he's the very best striker in the world. When he blatantly wasn't
It's a great night for him tonight though, finally he's answering some of his critics perhaps? He could have had 5 tonight
The problem is the debate on him gets swayed, because it always starts from someone claiming he's the very best striker in the world. When he blatantly wasn't
It's a great night for him tonight though, finally he's answering some of his critics perhaps? He could have had 5 tonight
Don't be so pathetic, it's one game. He's been completely anonymous in any other game against English opposition, and had a poor first half here. That's like saying Berbatov is one of the best players on our team after Bolton at the weekend.
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