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Xavi..still believes in romance in football

Phoenix

By Phoenix,
in FF - Football Forum

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Johnni Rising Star

Johnni

Posted
Posted
Can I just be the first to say I reckon he's overrated?

 

It's just that I've been reading the MF and think this will go down well...

 

I think he's overrated but only because i hear people rate him as one of the best midfielders ever yet think he is'nt but almost up there. I would put Scholes ahead of him anyway.

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Hades Grand Master

Hades

Posted
Posted
Sadly, people only look at teams through success. Now, success has validated our approach. I'm happy because, from a selfish point of view, six years ago I was extinct; footballers like me were in danger of dying out. It was all: two metres tall, powerful, in the middle, knockdowns, second balls, rebounds …

 

Great quote. It's also why I get annoyed at the flack Wenger receives. There's absolutely nothing wrong with his approach except for his aversion to experienced players. His methodology is perfect and always has been.

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Trucker Paddy Grand Master

Trucker Paddy

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Well he's about to be joined by a former Liverpool defender in the summer apparently.

 

San Jose link was just in a paper, we were linked to over 100 players in a 15 week period from October

Good player though San Jose it would be great move for him, and a great move for the purslow haters, another thing they can blame him on

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Dicko Veteran

Dicko

Posted
Posted
San Jose link was just in a paper, we were linked to over 100 players in a 15 week period from October

Good player though San Jose it would be great move for him, and a great move for the purslow haters, another thing they can blame him on

 

I detest Purslow and blame him for a lot of things.

This is not one of them.

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moof Grand Master

moof

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Great player, yes. But what gives him the right to talk so freely about fabregas, if they were talking about reina like that we'd be fucking livid. Barca act all holier than thou yet they're the fucking worst of the lot. I saw an article from 2009 where xavi says he wants cesc to join barca, they've got to be reeled in, it's a fucking piss take!

 

This barca love in really pisses me off; of course i can recognise they are the best team in the world - but where's the class? Where's the professionalism? It's fucking non existant

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Randy Marsh Veteran

Randy Marsh

Posted
Posted
Great player, yes. But what gives him the right to talk so freely about fabregas, if they were talking about reina like that we'd be fucking livid. Barca act all holier than thou yet they're the fucking worst of the lot. I saw an article from 2009 where xavi says he wants cesc to join barca, they've got to be reeled in, it's a fucking piss take!

 

This barca love in really pisses me off; of course i can recognise they are the best team in the world - but where's the class? Where's the professionalism? It's fucking non existant

 

I agree with a lot of that.

 

Slightly off topic I know, but their upcoming shirt deal is shady as fuck.

 

 

Have Barcelona sold more than their shirts to Qatar?

By Paul Kelso Football

 

 

The Qatar Foundation’s £125m five-year sponsorship of Barcelona’s shirts marks the end of a 111-year principle, and, perhaps, the start of Qatar’s payback for Catalan and Spanish assistance in their 2022 World Cup campaign.

 

How else to explain why a charitable not-for-profit foundation that focuses on education projects in the Gulf and relies apparently exclusively for funds on Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family, would want to spend millions to occupy what was hitherto a sacrosanct six square-inches of shirt?

 

Qatar’s victory in Zurich last week was achieved in part thanks to a widely-acknowledged vote-trading deal struck between the emirate’s bid and supporters of the Spain-Portugal 2018 campaign.

 

Under the deal, investigated but not proven by Fifa’s ethics commission, Qatar’s Mohamed Bin Hamamm and his allies Hani Abu Rida of Egypt and Thailand’s Worawi Makudi, agreed to support the Iberian bid for 2018.

In return Spain’s Angel Maria Villar Llona would back Qatar, along with the trio of South American voters, Ricardo Teixeira (Brazil), Nicolas Leoz (Paraguay) and Julio Grondona (Argentina).

 

It was a deal that, looking at the bare numbers of the Zurich vote, held firm. In both rounds of voting for 2018, Spain-Portugal received seven votes, not enough to stop Russia but more than enough to vanquish England.

Central to the close alliance between Spain’s supporters and Qatar was Barcelona’s president Sandro Rosell, elected earlier this year promising to bring some discipline to the club’s finances after the glorious excesses of the Joan Laporta era.

 

The Qatar Foundation’s injection of £25m each season, the largest shirt sponsorship deal in football, will certainly help him do that, for which he can thank old friends in the Gulf.

 

Rosell has long-established links with Qatar, primarily through his financial stake in the Aspire Football Dreams academy that scouts young footballers from around the world and brings them to the Gulf to develop their talent.

Through his sports marketing agency Bonus Sports Marketing, Rosell helped found the academy, which is now overseen by Josep Colomer, the man who “discovered” Lionel Messi and who retains close ties to the Nou Camp.

Prior to working with Aspire Rosell worked for Nike, and played a part in the record-breaking shirt deal with Brazil, negotiated by Brazilian federation president Teixeira.

 

Rosell’s influence played a part in persuading Pep Guardiola to become a Qatar 2022 ambassador, though the Barcelona coach also spent two seasons playing in the Gulf.

 

The Barcelona president remains a keen supporter of sports in the Gulf, and is a regular delegate to the Aspire sports conference held each autumn in the emirate.

 

Now the ties between Catalonia and Qatar are official, and the Qatar Foundation will spend the next five years appearing alongside Unicef on the shirts of the most exciting and revered club in world football.

 

For Qatar, seeking to hammer home the benefits of the World Cup, the upside is obvious. For Rossel meanwhile £25m a-year will go a long way to help maintain Barcelona’s pre-eminence.

 

There is no suggestion that the deal is improper or that Rosell has benefited personally from the arrangement. But tonight many will legitimately wonder whether Barcelona have not sold more than just their shirts.

 

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WrongIslander Proficient

WrongIslander

Posted
Posted (edited)

Always raved on the lad, remember my next door neighbour asking what shirt he should bring back from Barcelona in 2005 . I told him that Xavi was the heartbeat of that team and that everything good ran through him.

 

He didn't listen and bought the Deco shirt.

 

I went to Barcelona for a stag do (when the volcano erupted and I got stuck there for near on a week) and we booked tickets and went and watched Barca v Depor. It was amazing and neither Xavi nor Messi nor any of them dissapointed. So impressed was the "stag" by Pedro's goal from near the half way line that he got Pedro on the back of his shirt.

 

I of course got Xavi.

 

You dream of having a player like Xavi play for your club, one of the best who's ever played the game and he lives and breathes Barca.

 

Nice side note:

 

with his first pay packet he bought his ma a toaster.

Edited by WrongIslander
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TheHitman Experienced

TheHitman

Posted
Posted

Good read, the Alves description where he mentions Xavi is in the future is right. Xavi in that conversation seems to drift from humble to being pompus and then back again.

 

As much as I dislike Jose it seems extremely petty to dismiss Inters achievements last season. Although seeing as Jose is at Madrid it probably doesn't hurt to give him something to bite at.

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Red Banjo Grand Master

Red Banjo

Posted
Posted

Over rated? I remember watching la liga earlier in the season and a random stat they pulled out the bag clearly displays his input.

 

No-one in la liga has completed 100 passes in a match this season. Except Xavi. who's done it 6 times. This was after about 15 games.

 

Over-rated?

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