Anybody have any recommendations on where to find some good Barça discussions? I’d love to get this thread ramped up but it seems kinda dead. Speaking of which, that Eibar match....
dominating possession, but chelsea is more than happy to sit back. got to be very careful on their counters
Just not a game fit for Paulinho. We all knew Chelsea was going to box it in. He’s no use in games like that
Certainly not in the role he was employed at. No idea how to even line up for next game. We’re clearly not going to break them down at all through the middle, so it’s time to let fly down the sides. I suppose start the same, less Paulinho: Messi Suarez Vidal Iniesta Busquets Rakitic Alba Umtiti Pique Roberto Vidal over Paulinho puts more speed on the field and provides true width. Paulinho looks to pinch in way too much and it clogged things up in the middle. I’ve said it in the past, but I’m a big fan of Vidal and Roberto interchanging roles down the right side. Also, flip the roles that Busquets and Rakitic had going on. Without looking at heat maps or anything, it looked like Busquets was more at the point, which he looked awful at, with Rakitic more of the true holding mid. No idea what the reasoning was in that tactical switch, and it’s the worst I’ve seen Busquets play in years. If we end up chasing goals: Suarez Messi Alcacer Dembélé (assuming he shows signs of life in upcoming league games) Iniesta Paulinho Roberto Alba Umtiti Vidal I’m very tempted to throw Mina in for Pique. Pique just looks like he’s running with cinder blocks on his feet these days, and it’s amplified with his banged up knee. Chelsea are going to be countering all day and he’s not cut out for keeping up with that.
This would have been the perfect spot for Dembele but all the injuries this year just don’t have him ready. I can’t get into the Vidal piece. I get the thought on the width, but against teams like this you need some ingenuity. He doesn’t have that. I think we advance rather comfortably. Chelsea was playing for a 0-0 draw or 1-0 win. They didn’t get it. They aren’t coming into the Nou Camp and beating us with the lot they just rolled out
Agreed. Games like this are why I was wanting a target man last summer. We have the crossers, but it's hard for any of our attacking players to win headers in the box. I know all tactics/teams have weaknesses, but it drives me nuts seeing us get beat when teams pack it in and hit on the counter, glad Messi got one yesterday. I thought Paulinho needed to inject himself into the game more as he could match the physicality of Chelsea, but he fell flat. Hopefully Dembele can get some time before the next tie and team up with Jordi on the left, letting Messi create more from the middle of the field. I like Rakitic covering for Sergi on the right and Iniesta/Alba/Dembele on the left with Busquets playing his traditional role.
Yay “Sergi Roberto turned down more lucrative offers to remain at Barcelona, extending his contract with the club until 2022. Roberto, 25, signed his new deal at Camp Nou on Thursday alongside president Josep Maria Bartomeu, with his buyout clause rising to €500 million.” Really need to get a new deal done for Umtiti. He’s on a best CB in the game trajectory. Don’t want oil wages prying him away.
Did you watch the start? His give away is what caused the early goal. He finally looks to have settled in, but his first ten minutes or so I don’t think he hit a single pass. I’m saying all of this as someone that thinks he’s been the mvp this year.
Dembélé makes such a huge difference for our attack. For the love of god please start Semedo & Dembele against Chelsea.
Despite his speed, I worry about semedo getting too far out of position on the counter against Chelsea.
Semedo for Sergi would be a huge mistake imo, but I also have a rather large man crush on #20 and think he’s among the best RBs in the world
Ehhhhh I love Sergi as well, but he’s very much a square peg in a round hole at RB, at least in Barca terms. Our MF is too damn crowded to allow him to play where he’d be best utilized. Every time I’m like “why do we need Rakitic, anyways?” he turns in a god damn gem like he did today and then it’s “oh yeah. That.” Sergi is always going to be the Swiss Army knife for the team. It’s a bit of a shame, but I love him for being able to provide that. It’s kind of like the Mascherano at CB thing, which also made me love them hell out of him as well.
Very poor from Valverde today. It’s frustrating seeing the same mistakes being made over and over again.
Well that was a very important win. Not surprisingly, we were pretty poor in the second half without Iniesta. Huge win nonetheless. Really need Iniesta to be fit for Chelsea or that becomes a much scarier game.
Agreed on Iniesta. By some miracle hopefully Semedo is fit so we can slot Roberto into midfield. Starting Gomes or Paulinho is less than ideal.
lolol... I didn’t get a chance to watch the game but I can’t imagine it was enjoyable considering the score line and starting lineup. Sucks Denis got injured.