The Ultimate Football Thread 2013-2014 Vol. 4 EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A etc

[Kimchi Papi]

I'm not sure if anyone following the Nike football channel on youtube. They just uploaded a new web show called Whatever It Takes featuring Nike Chance graduate Tom Rogic who now plays for Celtic FC.

 

[noskey]

I know MLS isn't as popular in here , but really happy that the NE Revolution made it into the playoffs this year. Heaps completely changed the direction of the team and we have some real talent. Fagundez, Agudelo, Sene, and Imbongo have some real skill. Truly believe we have a chance to go far in this post season

There's a few Chicago Fire fans and some closet Galaxy fans here I believe.

And at least 1 Timbers fan I can't believe the job that Porter did with the team this year. I was really uneasy about some of the changes he made, but I guess he proved that he was right with every move. Taking the team to the top of the Western Conference and becoming a serious challenger to win the league is more than anyone expected from them this year. Cant wait for the playoffs to start

 

[rck3sactown]

^you guys have the first round bye right?

 

[miketysonthekiller]

Da gods b

 

[townbidness]

Why is it that mexico always has a great youth team. But once they grow up we get the team we have now smh.

 

[ajiiiplatinum]

I know MLS isn't as popular in here , but really happy that the NE Revolution made it into the playoffs this year. Heaps completely changed the direction of the team and we have some real talent. Fagundez, Agudelo, Sene, and Imbongo have some real skill. Truly believe we have a chance to go far in this post season

Galaxy fan checking in. Was at the first rose bowl game in 96. Was at the 2002 Final at Gillete Stadium (I was going to school out there)
I dont have a specific player i like on the team right now so ive been a bit lukeworm.

 

[rck3sactown]

I know MLS isn't as popular in here , but really happy that the NE Revolution made it into the playoffs this year. Heaps completely changed the direction of the team and we have some real talent. Fagundez, Agudelo, Sene, and Imbongo have some real skill. Truly believe we have a chance to go far in this post season

Galaxy fan checking in. Was at the first rose bowl game in 96. Was at the 2002 Final at Gillete Stadium (I was going to school out there)
I dont have a specific player i like on the team right now so ive been a bit lukeworm.

Landon? Robbie? Franklin? Omar? So many players to like on the Galaxy!

Keane was one of the first players I really took a liking to back in 08ish so when he came over to the Galaxy and went to his debut game it was

 

[dlo13]

Ya'll gonna piss some people in here off with this MLS talk...

I probably watched 75% of the games this year via MLS Live, but never post on it here.
Maybe now that the playoffs have hit, we can get a little talk going.
I favor Seattle, but not any any hardcore way. Waiting for Atlanta to get its team come 2017...

 

[rck3sactown]

Ya'll gonna piss some people in here off with this MLS talk...

why is this

 

[noskey]

^you guys have the first round bye right?

We play the winner of Seattle/Colorado if I'm not mistaken. And away too smh.

Ya'll gonna piss some people in here off with this MLS talk...

why is this

Elitism.

 

[quik1987]

MLS talk > international/mexico/usmnt talk

But i'd rather not see either in here tbh

If it were up to me there should be a club football thread and a wc/international/national team football thread

 

[rck3sactown]

^you guys have the first round bye right?

We play the winner of Seattle/Colorado if I'm not mistaken. And away too smh.

Ya'll gonna piss some people in here off with this MLS talk...

why is this

Elitism.

I read a pretty good column that Alexi Lalas wrote a while back that touched on this.

 

[sfc415]

Alexi Lalas writing an article about elitism is pretty ironic

anyway I hate the MLS because of how painful it is to watch, except for the San Jose Earthquakes. They get a pass because theyre a hometown team

 

[rck3sactown]

Alexi Lalas writing an article about elitism is pretty ironic

Yikes I completely misspoke.

Rog Bennett had written a column/blog post on Lalas and other's quotes from ESPNFC on the American inferiority complex on domestic soccer.

I dunno about you guys, but I love Men In Blazers and Rog

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/relegationzone/id/1151?cc=5901

Americans' constant self-loathing obscures gains in MLS, U.S. soccer


Posted by Roger Bennett


American soccer fans are a self-critical bunch with a remarkable willingness to wallow. Though the sport is one of the fastest-growing in the nation, the domestic MLS is often stigmatized and tarnished as déclassé; a shiny aura still cloaks any player arriving from abroad (especially if he has an American military parent), and when the USMNT loses one game, the sky falls. On the occasion we actually beat a true world power, a caveat is quickly conjured to diminish the feat. (Choose one: "They played their C-team"; "The opposing players were in postseason mode"; "The heat got to them.")

This uncanny impulse to grab the dark lining within any golden cloud is worth pondering as MLS celebrates its All-Star Game on Wednesday night. The league's attendance is on a record pace. Players such as Graham Zusi, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler and Eddie Johnson have stepped up to power a U.S. squad that won the Gold Cup and is likewise acing World Cup qualifying in the Hexagonal.

The inherent insecurity that buffets MLS was abundantly apparent in May when Manchester City collaborated with baseball's New York Yankees to unveil their ownership of New York City Football Club as the league's 20th franchise. Though the announcement brought two of the deepest-pocketed franchises in global sport to the American game, it was met with a curiously skeptical response. Naysayers reveled in identifying every possible banana skin, from the potential branding challenges the club will face to win over New York's Manchester United fans, to woefully constructed comparisons to the languishing Chivas USA experiment.

Is it jealousy, envy, masochism or narcissism that makes us torment ourselves so? I asked ESPN broadcaster Alexi Lalas why his own entertainingly provocative "Big Head Red Head" podcast debated a litany of ways the NYCFC experiment could go pear-shaped.

"MLS was born the bastard child of self-loathing and self-doubt," Lalas admitted with a chuckle. "We are apologetic to a fault when it comes to our league. The self-loathing is legendary and in many ways a hindrance. But it's borne of a culture that always told us we could never measure up to the rest of the world when it came to soccer."

In Lalas' mind, it is no easy task to overcome that inferiority complex and learn to love ourselves. "The way we feel comes from years of challenge, false starts and leagues that boomed only to peter out. The net result is we love to kick ourselves for what we have not done and are often blind to the incredible progress we have really made."

Proof of point for Lalas is the way Americans in general and the U.S. men's national team in particular remain, in his words, "mesmerized by foreigners."

"The league has a long history of foreign imports, from Lothar Matthaus to Rafa Marquez, who have not adapted despite their résumés because the level is higher than they anticipate here," Lalas said. "It is a complete fallacy you have to go to Europe to be a better player. It may have helped Michael Bradley, but I don't believe Landon Donovan's growth and potential was stunted by staying in MLS."

Few are better positioned to discuss this than Lalas. In 1994, he became the first American to join the Italian Serie A. "I made a lot more money when I came back because I was seen as a better player," he said. "Even though I benefited from that, I know a lot of it is just perception and marketing."

Constantly playing defense

Donovan was also front of mind for MLS and USMNT player-turned-broadcaster Jimmy Conrad. "MLS suffers from soccer's global complexity," he suggested. "The NFL, NBA and MLB have all of the world's best players in them. MLS does not, and because the comparison is jarring, we have to constantly defend it and defend Donovan -- a man who actually wants to play Major League Soccer."

Based on firsthand experience, Conrad believes MLS is still recovering from the lack of credibility ingrained during its early "hashmark field" days. "We lacked our own stadia. The fields were marked for NFL play," he remembered of the days when he broke through with San Jose in 1999. "We changed out of the trunk of our cars before practice and had nowhere to shower afterwards. We called it a pro league, but it did not feel very professional on $24,000 a year.

"But David Beckham's arrival forced the league to raise their standards, and the Yankees-Manchester City franchise is only going to push that bar."

As is his wont, Conrad coins a phrase -- "the Freddy Adu-ification of talent" -- to describe a second facet undermining U.S. soccer. "We have to stop desperately crowning guys who turn out to be crap," he said with a passion. "One minute, Juan Agudelo is going to be the best thing ever, according to 'SportsCenter.' All of a sudden, he has growing pains and we are on to Teal Bunbury for a month before jumping all over Brek Shea. Instead of letting these guys develop, we place them on a pedestal too quickly, and the only way is down."

However, the third challenge Conrad identifies remains outside of MLS's power.

"The World Cup is everything here because there is nothing else to mark ourselves against, and the problem is, there is such a thin line between success and failure."

Conrad was on the 2006 team that was ranked as high as fourth in the world going into the tournament yet failed to emerge from the group stage. "Our goal was to build on the team's 2002 performance but we ended up in the Group of Death and Ghana did us in."

He still sounds like a man pained by the experience. "Everyone remembers 2002 as a great success, but in truth, we needed South Korea to score a late goal and beat Portugal so we could reach the elimination round. In both World Cups, one play changed everything and transformed the way everybody thought about the health and direction of U.S. soccer."

Hunger undermines the good

One man in a unique position to evaluate MLS is agent-turned-football sports marketer Charlie Stillitano, once the MetroStars' general manager and now the architect of the Guinness International Champions Cup, which concludes Aug. 7. The tournament features a gaggle of European giants -- including Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea -- plus the MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy, with the matches taking place in five U.S. cities.

"Americans love two things: big events and being the best. We are not the best right now and we can't stand it," Stillitano said. "The irony is, MLS is better than most leagues on earth.

"It may not compare with La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A or EPL, but the quality of play is improving, the stadia are terrific, the sponsorship has really advanced, and in places like Portland and Seattle, their fan bases have become more 'English' than in many English stadiums."

Stillitano uses the Italian word invidioso, or envy, to describe the underlying emotion which he believes bedevils American soccer. "Ever since the 1995 Parmalat Cup -- which birthed the existence of American 'Euro snobs' by bringing over Parma, Boca Juniors and Benfica -- there has been a market here to watch the best teams in the world," Stillitano explained. "But the American spectator has wised up, and 'Messi and Friends' proves they will not be fooled -- they need a real competitive edge to their football."

Stillitano believes the Galaxy's results matter in the Guinness tournament. "We are close to a reality where MLS teams can really compete with the best, and once that affirmation comes, the love affair between Americans and American soccer will truly begin."

Conrad strikes a middle ground. "I see change happening organically," he admitted, "but we need to win the CONCACAF Champions League, beat Mexico consistently, and compete with the best teams in the world on a regular basis with no caveats to stop fans from glomming on to the negative."

Lalas believes only one factor will make that change possible: "Once MLS can compete financially, there will be a massive influx of big-name players because so many want to live in the U.S. and have an American experience. If that occurs, an American player will be able to say he wants to 'play for a big team' and really mean the L.A. Galaxy."

Lalas described this vision in an uncharacteristically slow, sad voice. "If I were to say to you that next summer we will win the World Cup, you would laugh," he rued. "We are a country where the belief that everything is possible is what has made us great. It is odd to be American and as pessimistic about something as we are about our own soccer."

 

[champcruthik]

Forster has been linked to City during Hart's troubles. Would be unfortunate if the former supplanted the latter for club and country.

Celtic supporters and Lennon have no problem letting players go for inflated transfer fees.

 

[chefnicknack]

There's a few Chicago Fire fans and some closet Galaxy fans here I believe.

Is Agudelo still headed to Stoke at the end of the season?

 

[Coupé It]

Alexi Lalas writing an article about elitism is pretty ironic

anyway I hate the MLS because of how painful it is to watch, except for the San Jose Earthquakes. They get a pass because theyre a hometown team

You're a Portchop from the west coast?

Always heard of those but never met them. Are you Azorian?

 

[demps]

about damn time FC Dallas got rid of hyndman, a couple of years late though, but he was the reason my team has look like crap the past couple of seasons...

do we finnally get an la vs new york final?

 

[Kimchi Papi]

I told myself I would watch more MLS this year & I have. I love MLS Insider & MLS 36. Both Hock Films & 441 Productions do a really great job of putting together those shows. They also tell very good stories. Truthfully, I've been watching the league for years off & on.

Having said all this, the play still has a lot to be desired. I actually prefer watching Liga MX over MLS. MLS still has a ways to go. US players just aren't as technical as the rest of thee world. The midfield play in MLS is horrible at best. There is not much creativity. Midfielders in the MLS are either extensions of the defense or back end forward/strikers.

My wife started watching football with me more over the last 2 years. She also started watching more MLS with me & even she can notice the difference in play. Last week we watched Barca play & she got into it. Later that night we watch Sporting KC play someone (can't remember who) & she turned to me & said, "wow, MLS suck compared to European soccer". I never once said anything to her about any difference in play.

As a country, we still have a ways to go in building more technical players. We glorify talent & speed over still & intelligence. I think hiring Klinnsy is a great step in the right direction for building better football in this country...

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Some of you may have seen Cesc Fabregas' recent comments about his fondness for Arsenal & the romantic notion of perhaps returning one day as a coach. Here is the full 2 part interview from The Guardian by football writer Sid Lowe.


It's a really great read for a football fan. He had very insightful comments into the differences for him in playing in the Prem & La Liga.


Part 1

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/24/cesc-fabregas-arsenal-barcelona

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Cesc Fábregas: 'Arsenal is in my heart. I'd love to go back one day'
In the first of a two-part interview, the Barcelona and Spain midfielder speaks of the club that gave him 'everything'

Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to Cesc Fábregas station?

Haha! Which station is it again? Crouch Hill? Not far from where I lived, then: Hampstead and before that Barnet and Enfield. I did see the footballers tube map; what I didn't understand at first was why they'd done it. It's nice to think I made a mark. I've always felt very welcome; there's a lot of affection, especially from Arsenal fans. I think they even understood me when I left. There was no rancour, no bitterness. They understood that I'd given everything for eight years, that I reached a point where I felt I couldn't give any more, and that I left for personal reasons: to go home, to be with my family, to play for my club, the one I'd been at as a kid. It was important for me to leave the right way.

Going back was an obvious choice, the easy option ... Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of your debut for Arsenal; you were only 16. That must have been hard.

Actually, it was more difficult coming back to Barcelona at 24 than it was going to London at 16. Much more. People said I took the easy option: "Ah, he's going to play with Messi, he's going to win." But I think I took the difficult option: I have to work twice as hard to win a place. I've always been very independent, never afraid of challenges and I had nothing to lose when I first went to London: I was playing in Barcelona's youth system, in the Juvenil B, and although Barça valued me, Gerard [Piqué] and Leo [Messi] had been promoted to Juvenil A while I stayed in the Juvenil B. Arsenal offered me the chance to train with the first team, to learn English, experience another culture, another football. And I went so determined to enjoy it and learn from it that it was exciting rather than frightening. Arsenal are a fascinating club. They give you everything. It's a family, it really is. The fans support you unconditionally, too. I couldn't have gone to a better place.

Would you go back?

Arsenal is in my heart and always will be. I don't know if I'll have the opportunity to go back and play there one day, or maybe after football. It's a club that is always going to be there and will always open its doors to me. The club's like a family so even if it wasn't as a coach, I'm sure they'd give me the chance to play a role. Sol [Campbell] is there now. Arsenal help a lot with the formation of coaches. [Dennis] Bergkamp also went there two, three times a week when he was doing his coaching badges. In that sense it's a lovely club and there might be the chance to do something with them.

As a player, did you learn things at Arsenal that you wouldn't have at Barcelona?

I can't be sure of that but, look, what I do know is that at 16 I was training with Thierry Henry and Bergkamp, [Robert] Pires and [Patrick] Vieira. I'd played 50 games at 17; at 18, I'd played in a Champions League final; at 21, a European Championship final; two years later, a World Cup final. It accelerated everything. If I'd stayed at Barcelona, I'd have got there slower. It made me a more complete player in every sense. Giving me my debut when I was only 16 years old. When I was 18 they sold Vieira so that they could put me into the side. They told me to my face, they gave me responsibilities. They made me captain when I was 21 … so many things that made me feel very special in that team.

The style suited you?

In terms of the style, Arsenal's is perhapsthe team closest to Barcelona: passing, a lot of touches. Barcelona are unique and I had to relearn some concepts when I returned, but in the last few years we [Arsenal] played the most attractive football [in England], entertaining the fans. People enjoy watching them and I'm proud of that. People say: "OK, they haven't won anything but, wow, I'd pay money again to see these boys play." There are other teams that have won more – and I'm not naming names – but when they win people say: "Well they've won but that's all." I'll always have that thorn in my side, though, that sadness. I wish I'd gone with a title.

Why didn't Arsenal win?

It's difficult … it's difficult … it's difficult… [There's a long pause]. I don't know … There are lots of things; there was always something. I remember, for example, the season Eduardo had that terrible injury. That impacted upon everyone and from there we started to drop. We were competing with Manchester United right until the end but we couldn't hang on. We've always been there or thereabouts but we've always had dips. You're up there fighting, someone gets injured, or this happens or that, or you hear that someone wants to leave … I don't know…

Was there some kind of mental block?

In the end, it was a mental thing, yes. Eduardo gets injured and you lose the Carling Cup final to Birmingham, who then were relegated, and you lose it the way we lost it … Imagine it! It's hard to come back, especially when you're young. The manager gave a lot of freedom to the young players, which is why they are so good, why they play so well, because he doesn't overload them with pressure. But when things like that happen, it's difficult.

Should the manager have demanded greater responsibility, then? Should Arsène Wenger have been more interventionist?

No, it's not that. But when everyone is so young it is difficult to find someone who stands up and says: "Come on!" Also, because we were such a young team, there was always a sense of "next time", another chance. The fans kept singing and supporting too, which is great, but … If I play badly I want complaints. No one wants to be whistled but I wanted that pressure, those demands. We often had team meetings and they helped, we made sense of things, but the experience was missing. We suffered because of that. Now I think they've found a good balance. They have people there who have a lot of experience like [Per] Mertesacker and Mikel [Arteta] and [Lukas] Podolski.

Could Arsenal's time have arrived at last?

I really hope so. They've started very well. They look very strong; let's see how they last. In the Premier League you can be going well and then you lose two games and you slip away quickly. It's very sudden. A lot gets decided over Christmas: the team that hangs in there best, that can resist the best, will take the title.

Could Mathieu Flamini make a significant difference?

Yes, I think so, I really do. Arsenal have players who play very well, whose movement is good, who play a different game to Milan and Mathieu interprets that very well. He understands the role of a central midfielder and he runs something like 13km every match, an incredible amount. I'm happy [he's back].

What do you make of the Mesut Özil signing?

Spectacular. If you have the chance to sign Özil, you can't let it pass you by. He fits Arsenal perfectly. It doesn't matter if you already have seven or eight players with a similar style, because they'll understand each other perfectly. [Jack] Wilshere sees football the same way, [Aaron] Ramsey, [Santi] Cazorla, [Tomas] Rosicky … The only player who's maybe different is [Theo]Walcott, but you also need that type of player because it is true that at the end of a move, after that pass, pass, pass, you need a Pedro: someone who will get behind the opposition, who gives depth, stretches the attacks, and seeks out the space. You need a Walcott or a [Robin] Van Persie, whose movement is incredible.

Does it hurt to see Van Persie at United?

I wouldn't say "hurt" ...

But do you think: "Arsenal could have been so good"?

He always had bad luck with injuries. I don't think I was able to enjoy a whole uninterrupted season with him. When I left he had an incredible season, scoring 30, 35 goals. If only we had always had him right because it would have helped us.

Can Özil provide some of those goals?

I think he's going to enjoy it enormously. He's the man who has to make the difference in the final third. His last pass is brilliant, he'll get more space and with space he kills you. He's going to score more goals himself because of that space. There's no one better than him for that mediapunta role. In England opponents follow you, but if a player comes out to you it is easier to play a quick one-two and go beyond him into space. In a tactical-defensive sense, it is much more calculated in Spain; it's harder to score goals than in England.

Yet the assumption is that the Premier League is harder than La Liga ...

It's complicated, because the English league is more difficult to win but on an individual level it is much, much easier to shine in England. I always thought English football was the best to watch because there are more goals, more chances, more excitement. But now I understand why there are more goals and more chances: it's much more crazy, out of control, everyone attacking, pouring forward ...

Why?

The crowd plays a part. The crowd roar and the full-back bombs forward and then the other full-back goes forward and the crowd noise gets louder and louder. Sometimes in England it feels like you don't have time to think, but that's more a mental question; it's more about your own aggressive intuition, the atmosphere. It motivates you but it means you lose control. In Spain, teams work much more on shape; they're more tactical, more positional. If I see a game in England – I don't miss any of Arsenal's games – I enjoy it. As a spectacle there's nothing better. English football has it's things but it also has a lot, a lot, of virtues.

Was it easy for you?

I wouldn't say that. But if we're talking about someone like Özil, it's a question of space. A Spanish-style footballer, like [David] Silva or Özil, if they can find two seconds to think, will see the pass because there'll be space. You see players like Silva in England and you think: "Bloody hell, how good is he!" A second, space, and there's the pass. In Spain, you're up against a Mario Suárez or a Gabi [both at Atlético Madrid] and what a pain they are! In Spain, reducing space is worked on more. In England, it's fast but you can find that space if you are a good player.

Xabi Alonso told the Guardian that tackling is not a defining quality to aspire to. Jack Wilshere said that tackling is a key ingredient in the English game that must never be lost. Do those two positions – manifestos, even – sum up the difference?

I can see both sides. I think Xabi's not dismissing tackling but referring to it as a last resort. That's how we tend to see it in Spain: defenders don't swallow the dummies as quickly. In England the attacker goes, ping! and the defender dives in quickly, flying by, wheeee! In Spain the defender stays on his feet longer. As for Jack, I think he's talking about how the English love to see defenders fly into tackles. They love that! You do that and the supporters get right behind you and it intimidates the opposition. But there's a player who's played in both leagues and does that better than anyone: [Javier] Mascherano. Masche always dives in and he always comes away with the ball. He uses it a lot but not as a last resort, rather as a specialty. For him it's a recurso [something you have to resort to] and a cualidad [a quality, something to aspire to]. Masche is incredible, very clever: he knows when to tackle, when to stand. He's a guy who really knows how to play football.

How good can Ramsey and Wilshere be?

As good as they want. They have quality on the ball and they have the physical attributes. Ramsey's stamina is spectacular. He and Flamini are the strongest I've ever seen, covering the ground. Wilshere is a bit different to the typical English player. He's not a [Steven] Gerrard or a [Frank] Lampard, he's more of a short passer, a "tocador"; a player of association. Ramsey is one of those that you look at and think: "He doesn't stand out in any specific quality, but he does everything, everything, well." His touch is good, his movement's good, now he's scoring goals too, providing assists. He's a kid who as a team player is a beast. Above all, he now has the confidence, responsibility.

Do you see a bit of yourself in him?

Sometimes I look back and I think about being captain, about the responsibility I had, and I wonder: how did someone like Ramsey look at me? I watch the way Ramsey is playing now, how he looks so liberated, and I think maybe I blocked his way. Maybe I was an obstacle. Sometimes you need someone to leave for you to step forward and say: "I'm here." I'm saying that about Ramsey just as an example, by the way, because the poor kid had the injury too – I could say the same for Jack. It's the concept I'm talking about, the idea of stepping up. That mental unblocking is so important. Both of them have a brilliant future.

With Manchester United struggling, is this a unique opportunity for Arsenal to finally win the league?

Haha! With Manchester there is always talk about a dip … a dip, a dip, the end's coming, it's over … and they always end up right up there. You can't trust them. Ten years ago I arrived in England and for 10 years I've wondered, for 10 years people have said: "Look out, this year Manchester might collapse." But it never happens. That's one battle I gave up on long ago. Whenever anyone says to me: "Manchester won't be the same this year," I say: "No, no, no, Manchester will be up there for sure."

Pt 2.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/25/cesc-fabregas-manchester-united-barcelona

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

You talk fondly of your time in England and this summer there was an opportunity to return. Were you tempted to go to Manchester United or would you only go back to play for Arsenal? I don't know. But I never planned to go back this summer. It's not something I was even thinking about. I was always clear in my mind that I want to succeed at Barcelona and I'd give everything to triumph here. I said openly: I haven't even thought about leaving, I'm not going. I heard about it when I was in Ibiza with friends. A friend read it in the paper and told me, then I read it …

Did you call the club and say: "Hey, what's going on?" No, no, no. When I heard, I contacted Darren [Dein, my agent] and he confirmed that it had come out officially. He said: "Yes, it's true." He said: "What do you want to do?" I didn't know anything about it [until then]. If a club comes in for you and you tell your representative that you want to go, then you go. I spoke to [Josep Maria] Bartomeu, the vice-president, and he told me: "You're not going anywhere; we have complete confidence in you." Then I spoke to the president. I was very relaxed about the whole thing because that's what they transmitted to me. It's true that they had offers, and they told me that, but the only thing in my head was staying at Barcelona.

How do you explain the fact that United seemed so convinced? That conviction must have come from somewhere. At no time did I say that I wanted to go and I stayed out of it. I was surprised. I didn't encourage them at all.

Has your decision to stay been vindicated? Only Gerard Piqué has started more league games and you've had an impressive start, playing probably your best football since returning in 2011. The season's started brilliantly. This coach [Tata Martino] lets me play the way that suits my qualities and I'm very comfortable, very happy. I'm feel better all the time, more and more central. The coach is giving me more opportunities, more status, more leadership. On the first day – well, not the first day, but maybe the third or fourth, early on – he called me over and told me: "I want you to be the player you were at Arsenal." And I thought: "Wow!", because I'd always felt so good at Arsenal, so important. I'm not the No10 exactly because things aren't so clearly defined positionally as they with Pep [Guardiola] and Tito [Vilanova], who were very focused on that. When we attack, Tata likes things to be a little more anarchic – just a little – which means that with the ball you can move away from a set position without any problems.

Do you feel liberated? Because I didn't want to affect the system last season, I would sometimes think: "Hostia [bloody hell], if I move from here, we lose the ball and I leave someone free, I'll get a rollicking." Now I have the assurance that the manager wants me to make those runs. What could be a problem isn't. But it's also down to continuity ...

There was an assumption in England that you'd return because you weren't playing, even though you made more league appearances than anyone else last season. But it is true that you shifted position a lot and when the big games came, you weren't always included ... If you play one game and then the next, and the next, and the next, but then comes the game away to Bayern Munich and you're losing 4-0 and you're sitting on the bench, then you can't help but let it get to you. You think: "Hostia, I'm not even warming up and they're beating us 4-0." That has an impact. It surprises you, it affects you mentally, because you feel good and then suddenly: bang! If you're winning, providing assists, playing well, scoring, everything happens naturally. If you feel truly important and then you miss the occasional game, if you're rotated, you take it differently. But if it's like that, the big games, it's harder. It's more mental than anything else.

Did you feel that you needed greater support, more trust? I know what I can do but you need others too. You think: "The coach trusts me, he believes in me, I'm playing, I'm important." And that makes a real difference. Even more so here because you know Xavi is very important and Andrés [Iniesta] is very important, and [Lionel] Messi, and you can end up thinking: "Maybe I'm not at that level.' I can't spend my life saying "Well, it's Xavi and Iniesta; no problem" because that becomes an excuse for not being ambitious. But sometimes that can happen. I want to show that I'm at that level; the difference this year is that I'm able to. If everything continues like this, through this season and into next, I'll feel increasingly important.

The fundamental problem remains though, doesn't it? The men you have to compete with for your three most natural positions are Xavi, Iniesta and Messi … that's some competition. Yes, but it's the continuity that helped make Xavi the player he is and Iniesta the player he is; that helped make them so good. The same goes for Messi. I've sometimes fallen somewhere between the three. But what I like about Tata is that the player in the best form plays. I try to be at my best so I can play. That's what we all want and I've been able to show that. That's what the manager wants: when he has seen a player who's tired, he doesn't care [who it is, he changes them anyway] …

You're still getting moved about a bit, though. Do you have a preference when it comes to position or are you happy just to play? Hombre, ahora si. [Right now, yes.] I want to play. But in the long run every player wants a regular place, to be able to say: "This is my position."

And what position is that? I enjoy all three positions, which is lucky. Imagine, for example, if I could only play on the left of the front three, I have an obstacle there [Neymar] that's ... wow! I started as a holding midfielder in a 3-4-3 with Piqué and Messi in the under-13s, at the base of the midfield diamond – Guardiola's position – and I've moved forward as time's gone on.

Sergio Busquets' position, you mean? Yes, exactly, Busi. At Arsenal, I played in the two in front of the defence, then sometimes [Arsène] Wenger would play me wide right because there's less pressure there, more freedom. Then in my last two or three years at Arsenal, as mediapunta behind the striker. Now I sometimes even play as the striker or on the left ... I could end up back at No4 but I think physically I have a good few years playing further forward, hahaha! But, yeah, why not? Plenty of creative players have headed backwards later in their careers.

At Arsenal you took on a huge amount of responsibility very young: they made you captain and gave you Patrick Vieira's shirt, and you grew into it. Will that happen at Barcelona now? As the captain, someone who'd been there for a long time, at Arsenal I felt like I had to motivate the players and drive the team. I had that responsibility. But I've only been here two years and I still feel on the margins, a little removed from that, because there are other players who have that role.

I don't hold back if I have to make my presence felt, that's in my nature, but I do feel a change from Arsenal, where I felt like people looked to me. You take a step forward and the team takes a step forward. I enjoyed that responsibility but at Barcelona it hasn't happened. It's not something you look for, it finds you. It'll happen naturally like it did at Arsenal. Suddenly you find yourself in a situation where you feel that responsibility, you sense it. At Barça, there's Xavi and [Víctor] Valdés, [Carles] Puyol and Messi, who have that role. The rest of us push from behind.

Your return to Barcelona hasn't been easy. This is a different environment ... It's difficult to explain but at a club like Barcelona or Real Madrid, there's so much pressure that it's not always good for young players. When everything's going well this is the best club in the world but when things go badly you hardly leave the house, whereas in London if you lose the fans still sing your name. In England you have that extra mental freedom: you know that if you misplace a pass the fans will support you, they're always on your side. The media spotlight is greater in Spain too, the pressure. Developing as a player at Arsenal was good for me.

And now that you're back? My case was different because the supporters saw me as someone who'd been here as a kid, who'd left and who the club had to pay a lot of money for. Without that, I would have been viewed differently. I had the added responsibility, demands, and there were difficult moments. But overall, and especially now, people [at Barcelona] have been brilliant.

Is Barcelona really so different? When you go back, you realise what Barça really is. It's not just about winning trophies, it's a model. Recently, we played against Rayo Vallecano. We won 4-0 and people weren't happy because they had slightly more possession than us. And, suddenly, a debate arises from nothing. It's incredible: it was one game in five years, the first time we'd had under 50% of the ball, and we won 4-0! It wasn't as if we won 1-0. But that's why this club is so special. No one plays quite like Barça. In England there's a lack of control but people don't want it any other way. You watch a game where the passes are being pinged about – pam, pam, pum – and you think: "Hostia, they're playing well," but the crowd want something else. Someone plays a pass backwards and the fans roar them forward: you have to attack, attack, attack. Sometimes at the Camp Nou it's the opposite – you drive forward and the pressure is to be patient. You can pass the ball around for a minute or so and the crowd enjoy it. They want it.

Barcelona won the 2012-13 league title but the season was greeted as a disappointment. The 7-0 aggregate defeat against Bayern Munich weighed heavily and so did the illness to Tito Vilanova, who you've known since you were 12 or 13. It was so important to win the league and dedicate it to Tito and [Eric] Abidal. What I'd say [to the critics] is that if you have the kind of season we had at any other club it would go down as a brilliant season. You win the league with 100 points, 15 points clear of Real Madrid, which are records. You lose in the cup against Madrid, something that can happen – it's Madrid! And you reach the Champions League semi-final with Xavi not fit, Messi not fit, with Tito back but having been away for three or four months with illness. We weren't right physically. And you lose. That's still a good season. At any other club it would be a very good season, especially with what happened to Tito ...

That must have had an effect on the team ... A profound effect. You arrive at training one morning and they tell you, and for days it's all you can think about. You ask: Why? Why always here? It's horrible, very, very hard. But as a team we overcame … we overcame … we overcame … and then Bayern come out, like motorbikes, and they're a very, very good team. It was their time to win the tournament: they'd reached three semis and lost two finals. They had a right to win it, bloody hell. You can't always win but that shows the demands at Barcelona.

Do we forget the human element, the pressure? Some people have the brains to understand, to appreciate that Bayern are a good team, that we got 100 points, that you can't always win … Others are more fanatical and only complain, complaint after complaint, always going on. And there are a lot of them, eh! But, look, you need that level of expectation to ensure the club keeps growing. I'm glad we have that. It can't be criticism for criticism's sake, though.

Speaking of Bayern, are they favourites again? I saw them against City and that was the best they've played. You're curious to see how they'll play because of Pep. He hadn't changed much at first and what he changed didn't turn out well in the German Super Cup. He went back to playing with a fixed centre-forward, like last year, but against City I saw changes again with the false nine, pressing high, [Philipp] Lahm in midfield …

So is it a Pep team now? Against City yes. Si, si, si, si. The movements they were making were the same ones he asked us to make, the pressing. It was a great game to watch as a spectator.

This weekend is the clásico. How do you think Gareth Bale will do in Spain? Will the lack of space you've described be a problem for him? That's the question, one of the things he'll most have to get used to. A lot depends on how Madrid want to play. If Madrid want the ball, he'll find it more difficult because he won't have the space in front of him; the opposition will close up defensively and sit deep. But if they're not going to have so much possession and they break well, as they did with [José] Mourinho, it'll suit him. Over the last few years, Madrid's opponents have thought: "We've got the ball," they grow in confidence, they move up the pitch and, bang, a counterattack and it's a goal. Bale will enjoy that.

That suggests that, stylistically, the best opponents for Madrid are … Barcelona. You make it "easier" for them. Yes. Recently, Madrid haven't liked opponents ceding them possession and waiting. Cristiano [Ronaldo] finds himself with two lines of four in front of him; Bale would too. [Karim] Benzema's alone. What they like is teams like Rayo; what they like is for the opposition to come forward with the ball and then lose it. In two passes, Madrid are at the other end. They have such powerful players going forward. In the last few clásicos they've done that very well against us, to their great credit. They've won possession, been aggressive and made life difficult for us, mostly on the counterattack.

The bottom line is that you want to win so there's an obvious conclusion: Barcelona should change style, shouldn't they? At least against Madrid.

It would be an option but Barça have to play like Barça. If we lose we have to lose playing like Barça and when we win we win like Barça. That's something I've learnt since returning. At Barça no one likes to lose. If you play well and lose or you play badly and lose, either way you've lost. But here people do appreciate that we do things a certain way, our way. Now we have another coach and sometimes he has other ideas, so let's see. But, in theory, we'll be the same Barcelona we always are.

 

[chippedtoothsmile]

Welp since we talkin mls I'll get this out...

Western conference champs!

Our first year in playoffs I can't wait to see how we do. And you already know jeld-wen is gonna be poppin! I hope we get seattle

 

[mastamind89]

Some tough fixtures coming up. For tommorrow, I think:
Fab
Jenkinson-Per-TV5-Monreal
Hayden/Frimpong-Wilshere
Gnabry-Rosicky-Santi
Bendter aka TGSE

Ryo will be used as a sub, Wenger said so

 

[sfc415]

You're a Portchop from the west coast?

Always heard of those but never met them. Are you Azorian?

I'm half. Dad's family is from Lisbon.

there's a lot of Portuguese descendants in the Central Valley of California, where a lot of farmers from Portugal moved back in the day. 99% of the Portuguese descendants I've met here in the Bay Area are Portuguese only by last name and dark skin/hair alone. Can't speak a single word, don't know any history, don't know any cuisine , etc (I've taken advantage of this by impressing Portchop girls with my extremely mediocre language skills so I can't hate too much) They've pretty much become generic American white people honestly all the "real" ones I know personally in the US were foreign grad students I met while I was at UCSB.

 

[ajiiiplatinum]

I'm half. Dad's family is from Lisbon.

there's a lot of Portuguese descendants in the Central Valley of California, where a lot of farmers from Portugal moved back in the day. 99% of the Portuguese descendants I've met here in the Bay Area are Portuguese only by last name and dark skin/hair alone. Can't speak a single word, don't know any history, don't know any cuisine , etc (I've taken advantage of this by impressing Portchop girls with my extremely mediocre language skills so I can't hate too much) They've pretty much become generic American white people honestly all the "real" ones I know personally in the US were foreign grad students I met while I was at UCSB.

Yeah im suprised how many portuguese people there is here. I met a few in AlumRock (San Jose).

With that said go GaLAxy!!

 

[luisfigo]

I'm half. Dad's family is from Lisbon.

there's a lot of Portuguese descendants in the Central Valley of California, where a lot of farmers from Portugal moved back in the day. 99% of the Portuguese descendants I've met here in the Bay Area are Portuguese only by last name and dark skin/hair alone. Can't speak a single word, don't know any history, don't know any cuisine , etc (I've taken advantage of this by impressing Portchop girls with my extremely mediocre language skills so I can't hate too much) They've pretty much become generic American white people honestly all the "real" ones I know personally in the US were foreign grad students I met while I was at UCSB.

That's me. Portuguese by last name. Hell, I don't even look portuguese but I'm damn proud of my heritage. Finally went to portugal to visit my aunt earlier this year and I can't wait to go back again. Parents are from macau but my grandfathers from both sides of my family were from lisbon. I'm the only one in my family, on both sides, that doesn't know how to speak portuguese except for the common phrases my mom would use to yell at me like eat your chicken, shut your mouth, and wash your hands. Some in our family look full portuguese, some look half, others like me look Chinese more than anything. But everyone single one of us has full portuguese names.

If you see a random Chinese guy walking around San Francisco wearing a portugal kit with the flag draped over my shoulders whenever they play in the World Cup or euro, it will be me.