Barcelona had arguably the best midfield in the world! The best in this era, which is not arguable! It was made up of Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi; The 'holy trinity' as they were nicknamed!

According to Ibime - Iniesta was a carry along, in movies they are called Waka pass!
According to Airmark - Busquets is useless!

It begs the question of whether it was only Xavi that made the midfield great? Ibime and Airmark?

homesteady:
Barcelona had arguably the best midfield in the world! The best in this era, which is not arguable! It was made up of Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi; The 'holy trinity' as they were nicknamed!

According to Ibime - Iniesta was a carry along, in movies they are called Waka pass!
According to Airmark - Busquets is useless!

It begs the question of whether it was only Xavi that made the midfield great? Ibime and Airmark?

According to them Xavi is yo-yo bitters nah

Met someone today who said, "I hate Barca and Messi". I asked why and he said, "they're too good. Messi is too natural, he doesn't even need to train, he'd just get on the pitch and have fun with people's career."

And he was very serious!

sebod:

I have come to believe airmak does his beefing just for fun. He's really a joker but, as regards our unproductive nigga, he's been found out. He was shocked when Raumdeuter pulled out all his past posts where he had praised Iniesta as the best in the world even before winning the world cup. His defence was that he was not as this wise then
That means in 5-7 years time from now, he would also recant what's he's said now because he would be wiser by the. He thinks he's smart, he forgot that there's always someone smarter.

Adey tellz you.

There is a reason I always avoid engaging many peeps on here. Not because they are more intelligent or wiser or even knowledgeable as the case may be, but rather a case of nit wanting to waste time convincing some folks who have already made up their minds about certain subjects.

I have come to realise that for some, it's either what they have in their head or nothing. It's either you agree to their school of thought or you guys engage in an endless battle, one that will never come to an end despite making the other see obvious reasons as to why their arguments are non-existent. These guys never get tired of doing the merry-go-rounds with their somtimes ridiculous and inconsequential arguments.

Well, me na to dey read and observe those wey dey make sense and those wey dey fóól themselves. I take what I have to from the sensible ones, and leave the insensible ones to their school of thoughts.

homesteady:
Barcelona had arguably the best midfield in the world! The best in this era, which is not arguable! It was made up of Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi; The 'holy trinity' as they were nicknamed!

According to Ibime - Iniesta was a carry along, in movies they are called Waka pass!
According to Airmark - Busquets is useless!

It begs the question of whether it was only Xavi that made the midfield great? Ibime and Airmark?

Very good question! How come it's termed HOLY when two of the trio are/were carry-alongs?

Anything tagged HOLY as used above would mean such thing is sacred, above the norm or great, whatever explanation one wants to use. Like the HOLY Trinity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit means they are all one and the same. They are great. They are unique in their greatness. They are powerful in different respects or aspects. They are fully functional. Their greatness is all and sundry.

Now back to the question... If we take cue from the Holy Trinity itself of what it means to be tagged HOLY and/or divine. That would mean the HOLY Trinity of Xaviesta and Busi was a divine combo. 3 great individual talents but greater collectively. Now, did I hear someone say 2 of em are/were carry-alongs? How come then did anyone in his right state of mind dare to tag carry-alongs as HOLY?

I will really like to get a response(s) from the aforementioned duo.

Mcleo007:
Met someone today who said, "I hate Barca and Messi". I asked why and he said, "they're too good. Messi is too natural, he doesn't even need to train, he'd just get on the pitch and have fun with people's career."

And he was very serious!

I don hear that one tire.

dmcdad:

Very good question! How come it's termed HOLY when two of the trio are/were carry-alongs?

Anything tagged HOLY as used above would mean such thing is sacred, above the norm or great, whatever explanation one wants to use. Like the HOLY Trinity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit means they are all one and the same. They are great. They are unique in their greatness. They are powerful in different respects or aspects. They are fully functional. Their greatness is all and sundry.

Now back to the question... If we take cue from the Holy Trinity itself of what it means to be tagged HOLY and/or divine. That would mean the HOLY Trinity of Xaviesta and Busi was a divine combo. 3 great individual talents but greater collectively. Now, did I hear someone say 2 of em are/were carry-alongs? How come then did anyone in his right state of mind dare to tag carry-alongs as HOLY?

I will really like to get a response(s) from the aforementioned duo.

This is qualitative info bro. I only discuss quantitative.

Someone tagging someone "Holy" is not reason for me to get excited anymore than another footballer could be tagged "El nino", "El fenomeno" or "El Matador" or even "Thunder" Balogun.

And for the gees who said I waited for Barca to start losing before I criticized Hiddeniesta, how we go do am?

When Barca were winning and I criticised him, una tell me say MSN is scoring so he doesn't need to contribute. So when MSNs poor form demanded him to take action and help his team win some games and he was still waiting for them to carry him along, why wont I point it out?

So tell me how would such a player survive in another club where forwards are incapable of scoring 120 goals a season like MSN? Thats why I called him Mr Carryalong nigga.

Ibime.

So forget the qualitative submission

What do you think about the midfield of Xavi-Iniesta and Busquets that won 2(3) CL, 1 Euro and 1 world cup

The Euro and world cup there was no MSN there to help them, the last treble there was no Xavi.

The only common denominator in all Barca success has been Busquets and Iniesta

Ibime:


This is qualitative info bro. I only discuss quantitative.

Someone tagging someone "Holy" is not reason for me to get excited anymore than another footballer could be tagged "El nino", "El fenomeno" or "El Matador" or even "Thunder" Balogun.

And for the gees who said I waited for Barca to start losing before I criticized Hiddeniesta, how we go do am?

When Barca were winning and I criticised him, una tell me say MSN is scoring so he doesn't need to contribute. So when MSNs poor form demanded him to take action and help his team win some games and he was still waiting for them to carry him along, why wont I point it out?

So tell me how would such a player survive in another club where forwards are incapable of scoring 120 goals a season like MSN? Thats why I called him Mr Carryalong nigga.

How come Iniesta is unproductive and yet Zizou was productive? Tell me...

And do me a favour, please leave out the 'Zizou played in a 4-4-2' blah blah blah. I once followed Madrid, especially in the Galactico era, so I know those guys very well and their positions.

Now tell me; what makes Zidane greater than Iniesta?

raumdeuter:
Ibime.

So forget the qualitative submission

What do you think about the midfield of Xavi-Iniesta and Busquets that won 2(3) CL, 1 Euro and 1 world cup

The Euro and world cup there was no MSN there to help them, the last treble there was no Xavi.

The only common denominator in all Barca success has been Busquets and Iniesta

Thank you!

And the above duo are unproductive according to Ibime and airmark.

raumdeuter:
Ibime.

So forget the qualitative submission

What do you think about the midfield of Xavi-Iniesta and Busquets that won 2(3) CL, 1 Euro and 1 world cup

The Euro and world cup there was no MSN there to help them, the last treble there was no Xavi.

The only common denominator in all Barca success has been Busquets and Iniesta

The common denominator pre-2014 was Xavi, the best CM of my time.

After that MSN.

Busquets is good too in controlling possession.

Iniesta is also good, no doubt, but believe me Iniesta can never be the catalyst to win anything playing for a normal team like Chelsea where midfielders are asked to contribute their quota.

Neymar needs to get his acts together,in the valencia game,he cursed at Alba openly,now reports have come out of him telling a player'I earn 10 times more than you'.His contract war has been all over the news and he is not committing to the club,He his demanding for 5x his current salary.He is no more fans favorite,he parties a lot,He is late for training a lot and most importantly,He is neither a La masia product nor spanish.If his dip in form persists with his attitude,Barça might cash in.

Ibime state very clearly if it was only Xavi that made barcelona midfield great!

Ibime:
The common denominator pre-2014 was Xavi, the best CM of my time.

After that MSN.

Busquets is good too in controlling possession.

Iniesta is also good, no doubt, but believe me Iniesta can never be the catalyst to win anything playing for a normal team like Chelsea where midfielders are asked to contribute their quota.

Pre 2014, I am sure Xavi wasnt doing it alone and one great out of 3 would make the midfield useless.

Last season MSN was able to shine because they had a solid midfield to stand on, I see you on Chelsea thread always saying the midfield is the most important and Chelsea should forget winning anything if they dont have a solid midfield

That means if you bring MSN to Mikel-Oscar midfield they would flop(according to you), So are you not giving the same Barca midfield the credit here?

Is it because Xavi has gone and the common denominator is Busquets and Iniesta who you are struggling to give any credit.

Pre 2014 who was the catalyst for Barca to win, Last season who was the catalyst to win, Euro cup 2008 & 2012 world cup 2010 who were the catalyst to win

Note: Spain won the Euro with Mainly Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta(Unproductive)- Mata(who you call a passenger), Pedro(another passenger) and Torres(less said the better)

dmcdad:

Adey tellz you.

There is a reason I always avoid engaging many peeps on here. Not because they are more intelligent or wiser or even knowledgeable as the case may be, but rather a case of nit wanting to waste time convincing some folks who have already made up their minds about certain subjects.

I have come to realise that for some, it's either what they have in their head or nothing. It's either you agree to their school of thought or you guys engage in an endless battle, one that will never come to an end despite making the other see obvious reasons as to why their arguments are non-existent. These guys never get tired of doing the merry-go-rounds with their somtimes ridiculous and inconsequential arguments.

Well, me na to dey read and observe those wey dey make sense and those wey dey fóól themselves. I take what I have to from the sensible ones, and leave the insensible ones to their school of thoughts.

You have said it all bro!
When someone tries to give his varied opinion, they quickly resort to insults and name calling. Some even cry 'f**k of my mention' forgetting that you lose your privacy once you log on to social media. They avoid obvious questions and would say just anything to paint their points no matter how irrelevant it is. Na to just dey observe jere.

homesteady:
Ibime state very clearly if it was only Xavi that made barcelona midfield great!

I break every team down into 3 simple aspects - Defence, Possession and Goals.

Thats the view of football I've developed over the last few years.

1st: Who organises the defence or which DM protects the defence best? That person(s) is the most important for defence.

2nd: Who runs the possession game. That's the most important player for that aspect. In Barca, the possession game by order of expertise is Xavi, then Busquets then Iniesta.

3rd: Goals - who scores and makes goals.


I posit that Iniesta is the least important possession player of the midfield, and the least contributor of goals from those who can be expected to contribute, and I have no doubt that if you replace Iniesta with any decent AM at Barca over the years, the show goes on, and you even get added bonus.

Xavi and Bousquets will never be outpossessed in their life. Iniesta joining them makes no difference to possession, so what can he add to goals tally is my question.

There was one time we played Barca and Nateevs commented that he wish Chelsea had a player that can pass like Seydou Keita. I said Seydou Keita? Yet there he was dominating Chelsea in possession. And then I said any decent midfielder who joins Xavi and co in midfield would look good in possession.

So it doesn't matter if you take out Iniesta, Barca possession game cannot fail.

Case in point, my Liverpool friends wanted to chase out Mascherano from Liverpool. He could not pass the ball. I said whats the difference, they said Alonso made him look good but since Alonso left, this guy can't pass to save his life. True true, he came to Barca and once again he is looking good in possession.

Another time, we said Lampard is not a possession King. Until Ancelotti came to the club with Deco. The way Lampard looked so seamless in possession that season while we were dominating games with 75% possession made me realise that you only need one or two ninjas to run a possesion game. Every other professional footballer will fall in line. And Lampard still popped 47+ goals and assists while playing neat possession game with Deco and Ballack.

Same at Juve. Only Pirlo is the possession maestro, yet they dominate. I watched Bayern live one day. Alonso and Rode were playing. Rode is an average passer, yet Bayern dominated possession to shege, all based on Alonso dropping deep to take the ball off the defence.

So I realised through these that anyone who told me an AM is there to keep possession is lying to me. I know for fact that possession football starts and ends with your no4 and the deep lying midfielders.

So my question then for any AM is how many goals did you contribute since I know you are not needed for possession game. What have you done to help us win the game. Simples.

And this is where Iniesta falls short for me, and why I wont buy the line that he is there to add to possession game. I want to see his contribution to my final criteria - GOALS.

So I posit that if you take Iniesta out the Barca team, the possession game goes on, and you get more goals and maybe win even more.

Ibime,

When Xavi your greatest midfielder was taken out of Barca they won the treble.

The possession went on and they won more.

With Xavi they didnt win the CL in 2013, 13, 14 and without they won in 15

Can we say Xavi was a passenger and a hand-luggage?

This is not based on hypotheticals its what has happened. Xavi leaves even Messi dipped in form Barca continues to dominate possesion and win games even set an unbeaten record

Nice submission, but I can't counter it cos I still dey train.

This brilliant analysis explains exactly what it is that Iniesta does:
http://www.haugstadfootball.net/2013/04/21/barca-tactics-how-iniesta-creates-space/

It even makes reference to Frank Lampard and the how they differ in the way they create space

https://tompaynefootball./2014/09/23/analysis-of-guardiolas-barcelona-part-1/

Here's another resource.

Both are extremely detailed with pictures, formations, diagrams, gifs and chart that break down each aspect of of Barcelona's midfield play by player - Busquets, Xavi and then Iniesta.

If you read this with genuine intentions, there is absolutely no way you will have doubts about Iniesta's position.

I have several videos and articles on Barca's play bookmarked on my laptop at home. Maybe when I get home I will post them

raumdeuter:
Ibime,

When Xavi your greatest midfielder was taken out of Barca they won the treble.

The possession went on and they won more.

With Xavi they didnt win the CL in 2013, 13, 14 and without they won in 15

Can we say Xavi was a passenger and a hand-luggage?

This is not based on hypotheticals its what has happened. Xavi leaves even Messi dipped in form Barca continues to dominate possesion and win games even set an unbeaten record

They still have Bousquet (and Iniesta and Rakitic to a lesser extent) to dominate possession without Xavi and MSN to score goals so the critical success factors are still in place for success - Possession and Goals.

I posit that if Iniesta breaks his leg today and Sergi Roberto replaces him, Bousqets and Rakitic will not stop dominating possession and MSN will not stop scoring, and Barca will keep on winning.

Iniesta is the least important player to the critical success factors that I believe wins games - Possession and Goals.

Xavi is my favourite midfielder but even before Xavi established himself in 2006, once Possession (Deco) and goals (Ronaldinho, Eto) are on deck, success won't be far behind.

Ibime:


They still have Bousquet (and Iniesta and Rakitic to a lesser extent) to dominate possession without Xavi and MSN to score goals so the critical success factors are still in place for success - Possession and Goals.

I posit that if Iniesta breaks his leg today and Sergi Roberto replaces him, Bousqets and Rakitic will not stop dominating possession and MSN will not stop scoring, and Barca will keep on winning.

Iniesta is the least important player to the critical success factors that I believe wins games - Possession and Goals.

Xavi is my favourite midfielder but even before Xavi established himself in 2006, once Possession (Deco) and goals (Ronaldinho, Eto) are on deck, success won't be far behind.

Do you agree that Xavi was a passenger then because they replaced him with Rakitic and still dominated possesion, broke unbeaten records and won trebles

So this is evidence that Xavi was a mere hand bag in the whole Barca system

Suarez: "What did I do to start scoring again? All players have their fixations. I changed my boots."

Bad guy!

raumdeuter:


Do you agree that Xavi was a passenger then because they replaced him with Rakitic and still dominated possesion, broke unbeaten records and won trebles

So this is evidence that Xavi was a mere hand bag in the whole Barca system

No, Xavi was the key cog in the critical success factor of possession.

Where Barca failed over the last few years was goals. Pedro dried up and Messi was suboptimal and Suarez hadn't arrived. . . and Iniesta did not contribute to goals which falls within his remit.

They never were outpossessed with Xavi in the midfield, so he did his part. It was others who failed.

The real argument why they failed in the last few weeks was GOALS also. They are slating Neymar for it. Messi and Suarez are faultless given what they contributed earlier. . . but do they know that PRODUCTION OF GOALS also falls within Iniestas remit?

I demonstrated with Seydou Keita, Rode, Mascherano and co that possession game does not suffer unduly if you introduce an average passer into the midfield so long as your no4 is on point. Pep knows this from Seydou Keita times, which is why he bought Arturo Vidal this summer. Arturo Vidal is an average passer. He cannot run possession game if you put 3 of his clones in the midfield. . . yet Bayern have outpossessed every team this season because Pep knows Vidals possession will be fine if he has Alonso, Tiago or even Lahm with him.

That has always been the background of my view on Iniesta. He is not there to run possession game. That is already sorted. It would be more profitable to Barca if he contributes more to GOALS column.

Do I think for example that Valencia or Atleti would outpossess Barca if I put Lampard in Iniestas place over the last month? Hell no. Not even 3% change in possession.

Do I think Lampard would have scored or assisted one or two goals in those 5 games to grab a couple of wins or draws. Hell Yeah. He scores or assists every 2 games on average.

So by my view, Iniesta is not critical to any of the factors that I consider vital for success. . .

homesteady:
Barcelona had arguably the best midfield in the world! The best in this era, which is not arguable! It was made up of Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi; The 'holy trinity' as they were nicknamed!

According to Ibime - Iniesta was a carry along, in movies they are called Waka pass!
According to Airmark - Busquets is useless!

It begs the question of whether it was only Xavi that made the midfield great? Ibime and Airmark?

The holy trinity has been used to describe a lot of things even in football especially the forwards making up a team's triumvirate (most popular being United's trinity which included Best, Law and Charlton) but i'm not exactly sure it was used to describe Barcelona's midfield trio of Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi and it seems you are making this up. Your current forwards comprising of Neymar-Suarez-Messi are more of one actually.

Ibime how did the goals dry up?

La Liga goals alone

2011/2012 - 114 goal scored
2012/2013 - 115 goal scored
2013/2014 - 100 goals scored
2014/2015(Treble winning season) - 110 goals scored
2015/2016(Current season with 4 games to go) - 96 goals

So where is the evidence that the goals dried up before MSN

Post Xavi they were never outpossesed in midfield. He was replaced by Rakitic and they did not miss a beat

This proves that Xavi is the hand bag because he has gone and Barca havent missed a beat from when he was there

we sha go get to one destination--- kontinu

This Ibime sef nor dey tire! , Abeg Cules, how we spose take handle this sporting team, they are currently sitting @ da bottom of the table @ da 18th position. We all know they'll give their all to @least cop a point, But the all whole three points we have and we need to take.

Mcleo007:
Met someone today who said, "I hate Barca and Messi". I asked why and he said, "they're too good. Messi is too natural, he doesn't even need to train, he'd just get on the pitch and have fun with people's career."

And he was very serious!

dmcdad:

Thank you!

And the above duo are unproductive according to Ibime and airmark.

Not only to me, to the football world governing body and spanish la liga board, busquets is unproductive. Next?

sebod:

I have come to believe airmak does his beefing just for fun. He's really a joker but, as regards our unproductive nigga, he's been found out. He was shocked when

After your birthday razzmattazz, what you could do is to start fidgeting in delusion of grandeur. Anytime i joke you will see me adding smilies. I brought out video evidence highlighting how annoyingly sluggish and lazy busquets was and is, yet you are calling them jokes, well let me just stop here. I just pray he moves next summer to epl or join a mid table team in la liga and see how every muniru and ambali will be taking him for a ride in the middle.

dmcdad:
Abi... But seriously, his obsession with Iniesta, like the obsession your right-hand man airmark has with Busi, is nothing short of ridiculous.

I am not obsessed with that ''na my daddy do am'' player, if busquets thrills you with his annoying play then you have n't seen great defensive midfielders in action before.

dmcdad:

Adey tellz you.

There is a reason I always avoid engaging many peeps on here. Not because they are more intelligent or wiser or even knowledgeable as the case may be, but rather a case of nit wanting to waste time convincing some folks who have already made up their minds about certain subjects.

I have come to realise that for some, it's either what they have in their head or nothing. It's either you agree to their school of thought or you guys engage in an endless battle, one that will never come to an end despite making the other see obvious reasons as to why their arguments are non-existent. These guys never get tired of doing the merry-go-rounds with their somtimes ridiculous and inconsequential arguments.

Well, me na to dey read and observe those wey dey make sense and those wey dey fóól themselves. I take what I have to from the sensible ones, and leave the insensible ones to their school of thoughts.

You forgot to put that some are jokers...


Airmark is one of them...


I must say I respect dayo... Although he is stubborn...

coded01:


You forgot to put that some are jokers...


Airmark is one of them...


I must say I respect dayo... Although he is stubborn...

Dayo is a reasonable thug, not a joker like the rest of um!

jstbeinhonest:
Neymar needs to get his acts together,in the valencia game,he cursed at Alba openly,now reports have come out of him telling a player'I earn 10 times more than you'.His contract war has been all over the news and he is not committing to the club,He his demanding for 5x his current salary.He is no more fans favorite,he parties a lot,He is late for training a lot and most importantly,He is neither a La masia product nor spanish.If his dip in form persists with his attitude,Barça might cash in.

More reason I dislike him... Yes I do... He is too childish for my liking...


Imagine cursing a fellow player...


Imagine talking about how better your salary is to an opponent...


Imagine slapping an opponent who was rejoicing with his fellow players after a game...


His confrontational style is annoying...


Imagine he is killing Alba's game everyday...

That's something I noticed no barca fan is saying... Immediately Neymar came to barca... Alba's offensive runs have been wasteful & limited... There have been so many times I watched Alba run forward aimlessly as Neymar would prefer to dribble every player including the Ref than to pass to a quick-countering Alba ready to pounce with a cross or shot at goal... But a boy that wants to be seen as the number 1... Isn't close to number 2...

eyoniggar:


Dayo is a reasonable thug, not a joker like the rest of um!

Maybe a warrior is better...