I didn't see the City game so I can't comment on it.
Barca can be a bit Arsenal-esque, in that they pass and pass and pass without actually creating much, but at the same time they do come up against teams who play four-five-one, with the four never moving from the box, three of the five being holding players who never moved from 5 yards outside the box and the other two midfielders barely moving much beyond that. From that point of view the passing without creating much may actually be a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. They are simply moving the opposition midfield 10 yards every time and over the course of 90 mins virtually no team can continue to close down all the angles therefore eventually they find a way through.
Teams set up shop to deny them space and to counter that Barca make teams work sideways to run them into the ground so they can't get into position to close the space down.
I still think on their day they are the best team I've seen. Possibly the Ajax side of the early 90's push them close, but my memory of them is probably clouded by 20 years of watching Liverpool murder the game!
I agree Arsenal looked good in patches against Bayern, but in the 10 minutes before Bayern scored and Szcezny got sent off Bayern had been camped just outside Arsenal's box. It's all "ifs" and "buts" really. "If" Gibbs had stayed on or "if" Monreal knew what a FB was meant to do, Bayern wouldn't have won that penalty and Szecny would have stayed on. "If" Ozil could kick a ball harder than a six year old girl..........
"But" they didnt.
Saying that, Barca and Bayern are two of the best three teams in Europe. No shame in losing to them. I still don't think the PL is the "best" league in the world though. Unless by "best" you mean "most entertaining", and if you do..........why not say "most entertaining"? lol
PS I know it's tabloid BS. But in all serious, can ANYONE tell me why the hell Tony Kroos would want to leave that Bayern team to sign for Utd?
Leave one of the best teams in the Europe/the world, who are strolling to another league title and possibly cup double, where you are surrounded by world class players and have one of Europe's brightest young managers, to go a team currently seventh in the EPL, with two world class players and a manager who looks horribly horribly out of his depth!?
Ok, Utd are better than their league position suggests, and yes they are a massive club globally. But my point on their lack of world class players and shite manager are still valid.
For the record I don't think Kroos is exactly underpaid by Bayern, he wants £250k a week, roughly what Rooney is on ATM, so for him to come to Utd they r looking at paying him at least that.
Ohh and my definition of "world class player" is one who any team in Europe would want in their match day squad. For Utd that is RVP and I've been generous and given you one from Rooney/Mata. Though Rooney is the definition of a form player. On his day unplayable, not his day, cart horse. As for Mata, if he was that good (ie world class) he'd have more caps for Spain and he wouldn't have spent years at Valencia with Barca and Real able to see what he can do every week.
Both very very good players, just not sure they are (what I call) "world class"
