10Rivaldo
Hoy, mañana y siempre traductor
Yes Adil you're the best fan, we get it now.
Who was the more useful/necessary/valuable purchase?
- Thread starter Raed
- Start date
Yes Adil you're the best fan, we get it now.
ammarfcb
ze special one
ledzep
New member
I love both Masch and Villa. But Masch got my vote.
most useful - no doubt Masch. He was irreplaceable in last seasons run-in to the CL and Liga. With Puyi injured and Abi out, defense looked bleek; he stepped up and saved our asses.
Not to say Villa was useless; on the opposite. but without a proper defense we would have been worse off than if we were without a good offense. in March-april we did actually have a bad patch in scoring - messi got us thru. in defense Pique would no way be able to cover the whole defense without a solid partner.
most useful - no doubt Masch. He was irreplaceable in last seasons run-in to the CL and Liga. With Puyi injured and Abi out, defense looked bleek; he stepped up and saved our asses.
Not to say Villa was useless; on the opposite. but without a proper defense we would have been worse off than if we were without a good offense. in March-april we did actually have a bad patch in scoring - messi got us thru. in defense Pique would no way be able to cover the whole defense without a solid partner.
Pepe Silvia
Active member
Been looking for a gif of masche heroic tackle on rooney but no luck 
Fourteen
Monster Masch
A lovely toughie from Raed.
Everyone knows how much I want to have Villa's babies, but Mascherano is a bloody beast. Although I knew how good he was when he came I didn't know how or where he'd fit in. Luckily he's been able to slot into center back without much difficulty and a lot of the time been better than Pique or Puyol.
Everyone knows how much I want to have Villa's babies, but Mascherano is a bloody beast. Although I knew how good he was when he came I didn't know how or where he'd fit in. Luckily he's been able to slot into center back without much difficulty and a lot of the time been better than Pique or Puyol.
Aryagorn
Improvin' Perfection!!
um you want to have Villa's babies? :eusa_think:
Blue Demon
New member
Masch. With what transpired this season, I'm glad we got him.
Zachary
New member
El Jefecito, no doubt; in spite of as much of a Villa fan that I am.
In fact, I've always been puzzled by the general lack of appreciation for Mascherano's contribution, always picking only on the bad things, which all players have during a game. Almost sounds like some may resent him as a Blaugrana. So, I'm so glad to hear that at least in this poll his versatility, durability, poise, and "last line wall" strength are appreciated. It's really nice to see his midfielder's skills at play while he plays DB. He won't dash forward as much as Pujol or Piquet, but he has a great sense of clearing the ball with a purpose, always looking at the best positioned player towards the front and connecting with precision (was Rafa Marquez similar in this respect?). I think what most were afraid of may have been his liability inside the box, but it hasn't been an issue. That penalty at Anoeta last year was absolutely Pinto's fault with his retarded ball clearing, as If Masch didn't do anything that ball was going in, anyway. I really like him as the last line man. I'm sure forwards would prefer somebody softer...
In fact, I've always been puzzled by the general lack of appreciation for Mascherano's contribution, always picking only on the bad things, which all players have during a game. Almost sounds like some may resent him as a Blaugrana. So, I'm so glad to hear that at least in this poll his versatility, durability, poise, and "last line wall" strength are appreciated. It's really nice to see his midfielder's skills at play while he plays DB. He won't dash forward as much as Pujol or Piquet, but he has a great sense of clearing the ball with a purpose, always looking at the best positioned player towards the front and connecting with precision (was Rafa Marquez similar in this respect?). I think what most were afraid of may have been his liability inside the box, but it hasn't been an issue. That penalty at Anoeta last year was absolutely Pinto's fault with his retarded ball clearing, as If Masch didn't do anything that ball was going in, anyway. I really like him as the last line man. I'm sure forwards would prefer somebody softer...
Der Kaiser
New member
Masche for me. From a financial standpoint, he costed us less and will in all probability serve us longer. From a sporting standpoint, his adaption to the centre back role helped us out massively last season and this season as well.
While Villa was a very solid contributor last season, he was mostly off-form this season, now of course injured which is very unfortunate. But was he worth the money we paid for him? IMO not really.
While Villa was a very solid contributor last season, he was mostly off-form this season, now of course injured which is very unfortunate. But was he worth the money we paid for him? IMO not really.
Metaphysical
Bomb Dropper
I love Mascherano.
I was probably the only person 100% sold on him playing for us. and I saw immediately that he could perform at CB when Pep put him there (he needed work, but I saw how he fit the role so well) and I remain convinced he will save us having to spend untold millions on a short-term replacement for Puyol.
but it's Villa.
it absolutely positively is David Villa.
the word "swagger" has been overused to the point of parody about him, but it started from a very true point: Villa gave us our swagger back. he had the skills and the goals and the balls (Bojan only had 2 of those) to make the trident a brutal weapon again playing out on the left, and that was key in us breaking back to our free-flowing best after the 99-point grindathon. also, as he's such a funny and well-liked guy, he was/is great for squad harmony and morale - which is an underappreciated part of our success.
plus without us signing him, he'd have been unsettled all summer in 2010, and when he's unsettled he doesn't play well and without his goals Spain would have never won the World Cup. and lemme tell you, winning the World Cup was great for our boys. and it helped expedite Cesc's return. AND it gave Casillas, Xabi & Ramos the kind of status that made it hard for Mourinho to truly play God over in Madrid.
ultimately, tho, Villa was/is the brilliant goalscoring sidekick for Messi that we all wished Eto'o was happy to be/Henry was capable of being.
I just hope the injury hasn't taken too much out of him.
I was probably the only person 100% sold on him playing for us. and I saw immediately that he could perform at CB when Pep put him there (he needed work, but I saw how he fit the role so well) and I remain convinced he will save us having to spend untold millions on a short-term replacement for Puyol.
but it's Villa.
it absolutely positively is David Villa.
the word "swagger" has been overused to the point of parody about him, but it started from a very true point: Villa gave us our swagger back. he had the skills and the goals and the balls (Bojan only had 2 of those) to make the trident a brutal weapon again playing out on the left, and that was key in us breaking back to our free-flowing best after the 99-point grindathon. also, as he's such a funny and well-liked guy, he was/is great for squad harmony and morale - which is an underappreciated part of our success.
plus without us signing him, he'd have been unsettled all summer in 2010, and when he's unsettled he doesn't play well and without his goals Spain would have never won the World Cup. and lemme tell you, winning the World Cup was great for our boys. and it helped expedite Cesc's return. AND it gave Casillas, Xabi & Ramos the kind of status that made it hard for Mourinho to truly play God over in Madrid.
ultimately, tho, Villa was/is the brilliant goalscoring sidekick for Messi that we all wished Eto'o was happy to be/Henry was capable of being.
I just hope the injury hasn't taken too much out of him.
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E
estranged
Guest
Both have been great signings and while I can see the reasoning behind the argument for villa posted above, but IMO it was Masch. No doubt Villa helped us so much in attack, keeping width and doing a great job of keeping our attack fluid, we've definitely missed him but IMO masch was the better signing. Reasons for Masch: he's the definitive team player, is an awesome center back, brilliant character, has been more consistent than Villa, cost 1/2 of what Villa did and we would be absolutely fucked if he didn't turn out to be such a beats at CB given the Puyol/Abidal injuries and Pique suspensions. But this is a pretty much redundant argument, I mean we probably wouldn't have been so successful last season if it wasn't for Villa's goals particularly at the beginning of the season, nor for Masch doing such a brilliant job of covering our defense during that defensive crisis with Puyi's injury and Abidal's tumor. Both have been awesome but for me Masch was a flawless signing.
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