Barcelona hitman Samuel Eto`o is currently on fire in La Liga with 17 goals for his club . With his involvement in the Nations Cup coming up , how will this affect Barcelona and can they cope without him .

I think that the maximum number of games that Barça won't have Eto'o is 9. Five of them are Copa games and four are Liga games. For me the Copa isn't very important. And in La Liga I think that there are complicated games like against Atletico de Madrid. In my opinion, Eto'o is the best striker nowadays and Barça need him. I hope that Larsson and Maxi Lopez play well. But we have quite points of distance to the best teams (Valencia, Madrid, Villarreal) and still Barça lose 1 or 2 of these games, it won't be a problem. I only hope that Eto'o doesn't injury because we need him against Chelsea.

I don't think that they will be affected in a huge way, if Ronaldinho keeps performing the way he is and get's the assist's in then im sure Larsson will be able to cover for Eto'o whilst he is on AFNC duty!

Yea they ahve class back up and with the midfueld Barca has they should be fine.

yeah i agree they'll be fine Larssons good enough

Eto'o is the most scorer because He has Ronaldinho there. He's a nice striker, but not the best (by far!) IMO.

Haha, Raul When are you gonna accept Eto'o?
You do agree, he is the best striker in the Ligua Espanol, right?

Sour grapes. He is a top class striker.....I wonder what it is that's clouding your judgement....

lol, leave Raul alone, i know what its like to be the only supporter of a certain tea mon here.

Nah, nah. There are better strikers in La Liga. If Ronaldo wouldn't injure himself so easily...

i also dont think that Eto'o is the best in the world....IMO adriano is the best at this moment ...followed by ibrahimovich and sheva....barca will be ok without him....if ronaldinho goes down ....then they have huge problems

I agree with forev he is a top class striker
a goal scoring machine
aidos

Maybe somebody agrees with me in this moment...

Yeah, he isn't the best. Drogba is better.

When fit, Eto'o is better than Drogba.

Fact.

When fit(which is rare) Ronaldo is better than both of them.

Ronaldo up to a few years ago maybe. Ronaldo in his prrime, definitely. 2007 Ronaldo is still great when fit, but not better than Eto'o/Drogba. And i say that as a huge Ronaldo fan.

I disagree.

Drogba last season was better than Eto'o has ever been. And if you go by their individual attributes, Drogba wins hands down. He has pace, strength, height, balance (when he wants it ), composure, heading ability, and the ability to score from distance. Eto'o doesn't have half of the attributes i just listed.

If Eto'o didn't have half those attributes, like you say, then he would be playing for a small team in possibly a crap league, not for Barca in La Liga!

You make it sound like Eto'o is a bad striker, when i'm only saying Drogba is simply not as good (imo). Which do you think is closer to the truth?

Of course, i should have expected you (a Real fan) to avoid praising Eto'o. After all, you had him and you let him go.

Apart from the physical characteristic that is height (and i wouldn't really call Eto'o short or anything), how can you say he lacks all those other things. You might be right in thinking that Drogba is better at some of them, but how can you say Eto'o "lacks" those qualities?!

And Eto'o was possibly the best striker in the world in 2004/05 and 2005/06. He scored 50 goals in La Liga matches alone and 10 goals in the CL (with 4 assists) in those 2 seasons.

Plus he won lots of stuff those years.

So how you can be so SURE that Drogba's last season was better than any season Eto'o has had is beyond me.

Whoa man, i'm not saying Eto'o is bad. Eto'o is pure class, and i agree that in 04/05 and 05/06 he was possibly the best striker in the world. I remember at the time saying he was better than Henry, so i'm not underrating him. He was the man i wanted Liverpool to sign more than any other striker in the summer!

I do think Drogba reached heights greater than Eto'o has ever reached last season though. Drogba was unbelievable, and offered so much more than just goals, unlike Eto'o (which certainly isn't a criticism as that is his job). Drogba also scored all sorts of goals, and was a danger from any position.

If we compare the main stats, i think Drogba is a clear winner. Obviously that doesn't tell the whole story though.

Pace - about even
Strength - Drogba
Acceleration - Eto'o
Control - Eto'o
Aerial ability - Drogba
Finishing- about even
Set pieces - Drogba
Power - Drogba
Balance - Drogba
Composure - about even
Tackling - Drogba
Passing - about even
Positioning - about even


A couple of years ago i would've said Eto'o was a better finisher, and more composed in front of goal, but in my opinion that is no longer the case. Drogba is incredibly clinical now. The only weakness he had was his control, but that's also improved a hell of a lot. He is probably now the most complete striker around.

I'm sure you'll disagree with my assesment, so let's hear what you have to say.

Oh but by the way, i'm a big fan of Eto'o. He is one of my favourite Barca players. I like to see African players take the world by storm, and in 04/05 and 05/06 he certainly did that.

Well Its hard to judge the 2007 Ronaldo becuase we've only seen him play a few times. He's still a better finisher & has better technique just not as fast anymore.

So, in my eyes, Eto'o is the winner. It's obvious we won't agree on this.

Well i think Drogba is better even end of a set piece. I would agree that Eto'o is slightly better positionally, but they are quite even - even enough for it to be unfair to give it to Eto'o in my comparison. I suppose you could say that about balance though, but i feel Drogba's strength and size gives him a huge advantage in that area, so his balance is better (even though if you were to test balance alone, in a vacuum let's say, then it would be about even).

As for finishing, you keep referring to Drogba's previous seasons, when it wasn't as good. I know Eto'o was a better finisher then, but Drogba last season, and this season is every bit as good at finishing as Eto'o. It wasn't just a flash in the pan. He is a world class finisher now. At the moment, i feel more confident Drogba is going to score in a one-on-one than Eto'o.

There can be no denying Drogba has better individual attributes. Even after you tried your hardest to swing them Eto'o's way (by referring to previous seasons to edge composure and finishing the way of the Sammy), he still didn't beat Drogba overall in the attributes department.

There's also something else that is important, but can't really be included in attributes, or judged conclusively. That's the ability to not be shut out of games. Drogba is also a clear winner in this department.

Eto'o likes the ball on the floor, and doesn't have the strength to match defenders, which makes it easier to shut him out of games. Drogba likes any scrap the midfield throw at him, whether it be in the area, on the floor, inside the box, outside the box, behind the defence, in front of the defence, it doesn't matter, Drogba can take those chances and score from almost anywhere. That's what makes him so deadly, and the defenders task of stopping him so difficult. He scored against all of the big teams he came up against last season - even the top centre backs in world football couldn't stop him. Never has Eto'o been so unstoppable against the best.

Eto'o doesn't have the height, strength, and power in his shot to be deadly from all areas of the pitch - unlike the Drog.

Can you see the point i'm making?