Electronic Arts UK Community - Blogs - Matieo10 http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/ The home of Electronic Arts Community en Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:00:47 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/images/ea_images_main/misc/rss.jpg Electronic Arts UK Community - Blogs - Matieo10 http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/ Barcelona 08/09; team of the decade? http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/859-barcelona-08-09-team-decade.html Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:12:47 GMT Team being the keyword here. We all know that on paper, Barcelona have an exceptional squad with depth in nearly every spot of the pitch. The star... Team being the keyword here. We all know that on paper, Barcelona have an exceptional squad with depth in nearly every spot of the pitch. The star players like Messi, Henry, Eto'o and Xavi don't do the headlines justice, because it's very much players like Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Dani Alves, Marquez, etc. who make up the real value of such club. They've amassed a total of 72 points in 29 matches, with a possible 99 points in total before the seasons end. They have also scored a total of 85 goals with 24 conceded, a 60+ goal differential which is a feet in itself.

As we look back on the past decade, and pick out teams like the treble winning side of Manchester in '99, the glimpse of the galacticos in Madrid of '02, the surprise package that was Porto in '04, the mighty Chelsea side of '05, and even Barcelona that same year who won the champions league led by a special player by the name of Ronaldinho; does Barcelona of 2008-2009 surpass these great teams? Let's see how each team stacks up =)

1999 Manchester United

Dwight Yorke - Andy Cole

Ryan Giggs - Paul Scholes - Roy Keane - David Beckham

Dennis Irwin - Jaap Stam - Ronny Johnsen - Gary Neville

Peter Schmeichel

2002 Real Madrid

Fernando Morientes - Raul Gonzalez

Zinedine Zidane

Santiago Solari - Luis Figo

Claude Makelele

Roberto Carlos - Ivan Helguera - Fernando Hierro - Michel Salgado

Iker Casillas

2003 Porto

Derlei

Dmitri Alenichev - Deco - Nuno Capucho

Maniche - Costinha

Nuno Valente - Ricardo Carvalho - Jorge Costa - Paulo Ferreira

Vitor Baia

2004 Arsenal

Thierry Henry - Dennis Bergkamp

Robert Pires - Ray Parlour - Patrick Viera - Freddy Ljungberg

Ashley Cole - Kolo Toure - Sol Campbell - Lauren

Jens Lehmann

2005 Chelsea

Didier Drogba

Damien Duff - Eidur Gudjohnsen - Joe Cole

Claude Makelele - Frank Lampard

William Gallas - John Terry - Ricardo Carvalho - Paulo Ferreira

Petr Cech

2006 Barcelona

Ronaldinho - Samuel Eto'o - Ludovic Guily

Mark van Bommel - Deco

Edmilson

G. van Bronckhorst - Carles Puyol - Rafael Marquez - Oleguer

Victor Valdes


These teams did alot. They won domestic titles, continental titles, international titles, broke records from total points, goal difference, undefeated season, they created comebacks, and were special in their each own - they were superb sides that were invincible on their day.

But how does the current Barca side stack up on paper? Let's have a look:

2009 Barcelona

Thierry Henry - Samuel Eto'o - Lionel Messi

Iniesta - Xavi Hernandez

Yaya Toure

Eric Abidal - Rafael Marquez - Carles Puyol - Dani Alves

Victor Valdes


Before I go in-depth, I want to hear what y'all have to say so hit this blog back and tell me what you think :) ]]> Matieo10 http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/859-barcelona-08-09-team-decade.html 10,000th Post = EA Veteran Status http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/297-10-000th-post-ea-veteran-status.html Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:36:02 GMT *FINALLY!!! MATIEO10 HAS BEEEE-COME.... AN EA...VETERAN!!!* FINALLY!!!



MATIEO10 HAS BEEEE-COME....



AN EA...VETERAN!!!





Feels good, been a long time comin' (that's what she said :|) for me...and I couldn't have done it without you guys :cry: *sigh* oh geez, I promised Ronnie I wouldn't cry *sniffle* I love ya guys =D BOOOOM!!! let's party!!! :yippee: ]]> Matieo10 http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/297-10-000th-post-ea-veteran-status.html The Media effect on Players: Cristiano Ronaldo http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/261-media-effect-players-cristiano-ronaldo.html Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:44:23 GMT I'll start with my opening statement of :|, followed by a f*** off to any punk coming in here trolling with his flame-bait :) good, now I'll proceed.

How do great players handle the media? How does any professional athlete handle the public in such a mainstream era the world is in for nearly every aspect of their lives? Can players overcome not only the personal events of their life but the criticism of their peers, fans, and haters alike.

It's an interesting story soo far for Cristiano Ronaldo. Growing up in the humble city of Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira a boy who just wanted to play futebol...to now being referred to as a 'narcissistic c***' amung many other words, by some of the Man Utd faithful and ever so caring haters. How did this happen? seems like just overnight he was a young hero for Portugal, to public enemy number one in England.

Ronaldo was 18 when he joined United from Sporting. He didn't ask for it, but he was given the number 7 anyways previously worn by Man Utd legends such as George Best, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham who before him was suffering from a love/hate relationship with the club...quite the large order the young Portuguese had taken. The Media for the next year had a field days with Ronaldo, praising his skill on the ball and potential, while criticizing his poor defensive game and occasional situations where he had dived. It seemed that the EPL fans were 50/50 on the matter, aswell as the media...Ronaldo wasn't doing much damage to the top teams in the league and was still young so the antics hadn't much effect overall.

Then the Euro 2004 came along. Ronaldo playing for Portugal in Portugal, and having himself a brilliant tournament against some of the best nations in the world, his potential was showing off...until, Portugal faced England. Ronaldo being practically our only highlight player from the EPL playing against England, demolishing Ashley Cole and furthering the amount of fuel being tossed into the pit of fire that was to come, he put in a crucial penalty that in the end sent the English hopeful and their country home. Ronaldo was young, making it to the final of a European Championship with his country, playing in his countries capital, and not to mention coming from a small island where hopes and dreams were only spoken of in story-books...losing in the final must've broken his heart as he was one of Portugal's key attacking players in the tournament and final itself, his portrait was to be used as inspiration and as comical relief to follow.

From that point on, Ronaldo got the full force of the English Media. He could've scored two goals in one game, but if he dived that would be the topic of debate for the week to come. Cristiano continued doing what he was asked to do, attack the wings with pace, skill, flair, and trickery, put in a ball and carry on. He did just that while having 50 thousand people from the stands booing him every time he touched the ball or when his name was called, every time he played.

05/06 was when Ronaldo emerged as a great winger and one of the best players in the EPL. Instrumental in United's League Cup win over Wigan and putting in a MOTM performance, probably the pinnacle of his EPL season he also put in the goal of the year against Portsmouth. It wasn't all glamour for Cristiano as early on in the year he is accused of Sexual rape and taken to jail, being released by police bail shortly after. This was one story which fueled even more controversy and for the majority, dis-like, towards Ronaldo. Later that year, at the age of 21 Ronaldo loses his father...this would be the turning point of his form leading upto the World Cup and also resulted in Ruud van Nistelrooy's Man Utd departure after insults towards Cristiano's father.

The World Cup; stepping stone for any player's career. Ronaldo led Portugal through qualifying with some excellent performances in the latter part finishing as the second best nation in qualifying. Coming in, they had a relatively easy group...winning all 3 games against Angola, Iran, and Mexico, Portugal now faced the Dutch in the round of 16. The Dutch seemed to have one target, Ronaldo was recieving alot of pressure from their players...Khalid Bouldahrouz gave the Portuguese a major blow when he came leaping in with his studs up sinking his cleats into Cristiano's inner thigh, it was the end of the night (maybe the tournament?) for Ronaldo soon after. In one of the most controversial matches in decades, Portugal came out on top thanx to catalyst Maniche.

Portugal versus England. Was this an era where these two countries were building a fierce rivalry on the international stage? Ronaldo recovered his knock from the last game and came out flying in this match, the media had targeted him as being a whiner from the last game and the boo's were coming in full force from the English faithful in this match...Ronaldo was once again put on the spot, and that would be where he'd finish off the match: On the Spot. Rooney had come in with a challenge on Ricardo Carvalho after he stripped the ball from the English powerhouse, Wayne then took it upon himself to stomp on Carvalho's groin area which the referee had missed. Ronaldo rushed into the argument, saying only God knows what, Rooney shoved his Man Utd team mate out of the way in rage; He was sent off and Ronaldo gave the media one of the biggest stories of the summer..."the Wink".



Ronaldo put away the match in the penalty shoot-out as Portugal went on to face the team that they can never seem to beat, France. As for the match, Ronaldo was pretty much the best player on the pitch, he was a force and despite all of Portugal's trials, France came away in the end with a Zidane Penalty in the 33rd minute. The World Cup journey had ended for the young phenom and his country...4th place was the best the small Iberian nation could do.

A New season, one that would set up Ronaldo to be one of the best players in the world. His skills had clearly been sharpened over the past year, his tactical awareness had been instrumented perfectly, and his conifdence had been higher than ever...he was ready to take the world. In a season that saw him go 20+ goals and assists for the first time, he became United's guiding force in attack and their top scorer. The boo's and crowds rage were at their pinacle at this time for Ronaldo, he ousted England two consecutive times in International competition and he was running rampant in the EPL overtaking the dominant Thierry Henry as the leagues best player, competition came from players like Drogba & newcomer Berbatov, but it did little to unrattle the prolific winger. It seemed that he gained from the fan's negativity, he fed on it and got plump. Many a time being a match winner for United during the course of the season, he had taken United to their once previous high of winning the EPL title, the Champions league was what remained...not for this season, as they had been taken out by a brilliant AC Milan and Ricardo Kaka in the semi-finals.

The season to follow, Ronaldo would become the best player in the world. He would score 42 goals in 48 appearances for Man Utd, Win the Premier League Title and be named Player of the Season for a second consecutive season, Win the UEFA Champions League and put all the critics to bed by scoring from open play against the only team has yet to in England, while dominating top teams in the EPL and Europe...he had no mercy for those who had cruel claims of his ability. The Euro was the final test, and despite being a part of nearly every Portugal goal...the Luistana gave out in the quarter-finals. He accomplished all this from a Right Wing position and is the most prolific Winger in the history of the modern game during this past season. The Media and fans went as far as saying he bottles in big games, he only scores tap-ins, he still dives...but I say, only God can judge this player because no one is higher than him right now.


From being harrassed as a 19 year old by millions of fans, to being accused of Sexual rape, to having his own teammates disrespect his father's passing to calling him out in the media, to having one of the biggest transfer speculations between the two biggest clubs in the world this summer...he continues to become better and better on the pitch as a player, no one can deny him that.

Judge the man on the pitch...his personal life is meant to be personal for a reason ]]> Matieo10 http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/blogs/242266-matieo10/261-media-effect-players-cristiano-ronaldo.html