A few years ago, I made a comment about a soccer player. It was about a player from Barcelona that I felt was one of the best players in soccer. A little midfielder. I’m sure everyone was assuming I was talking about Xavi. But it was the other midfielder that hasn’t been in the limelight until recently: Andres Iniesta. Continue reading Iniesta
Tag: Iniesta
Barcelona/Manchester United Passing Graph
Now here’s something interesting to look at. It’s a passing and touches graph for the Barcelona/Manchester United game on Saturday.
If you’re curious to what this is… The bigger the circle, the more times the individual touched the ball. The bigger the arrow, the more passes made from the origin of the arrow to the direction of the arrow. Note that the two people that touched the ball the most in the game are Iniesta and Xavi and the passing circle between Xavi, Iniesta and Messi.
As for the most passes made by Manchester United, it’s a close call between Van Der Sar and Rooney (long balls anyone?) and Rio Ferdinand and Vidic. Little passing made between the Man United midfielders, which shows the dominance of Barcelona pressing plus their midfield dominance.
Oranje vs. La Furia Roja
After 62 games played and 30 teams eliminated, we’re down to the last two teams remaining in the tournament: The Netherlands (Oranje) and Spain (La Furia Roja). To be honest, I think this is the match-up for the football purists. Two very solid squads with great passing abilities, great attacking options, and solid teamwork. Did I mention the fact that neither of these teams have won the World Cup either?
So it begs the questions: Who do you think is going to win it all?