The end of our era(or not?)

As JD has said before within three matches, our league and CL hopes were completely destroyed. Within all of this was a 2-1 defeat by Madrid on our very own homeground. Everyone looked lost, we created chances but weren't clinical enough. Taking chances separates the Great teams from the Best team in the world. Maybe we have lost our edge, or maybe teams have found a way to play against us(which was inevitable) or maybe both of them.

Messi probably is not going to win Ballon D'Or though I still would not be surprised if he does. We still have half a year to go.

I had a bad feeling about this Chelsea game from since our Madrid game(though I did not say anything) and I felt that we would really struggle. And we did. After 4 years, we still cannot successfully break down a parked bus with a resolute defence. On the other hand, we can take pride in the fact that teams such as Chelsea and Madrid have to park the bus against us in order to get any sort of result.

Which leads me to my next point: Do I think our era is over? Personally, I would have to wait one more season to say definitively. We have had too many injuries and distractions this year. However, at this point in time, we are NOT the best team in the world(IMO). We have become too overreliant on one player to be clinical such that whenever he doesn't show up, the team lacks penetration and finishing to the point where it has cost us dearly this season. Personally, I think we need a poacher type center forward who can get goals out of absolutely nothing. Having Messi play behind that kind of player will be interesting to watch.

This was a trashy season, no doubt. Our away form has destroyed our league hopes, coupled with Madrid's efficiency.

But we will get back up

Visca el Barca.

I agree with you. It really depends on the next season. If we come back and win the league then we're back, otherwise the cycle is over.

It should be mentioned though that even the Milan of the late 80s and early 90s had dry years, so the dry season (if we don't count the intercontinental cup, which I hold in higher esteem than the Copa del Rey) is not indicative of anything.

Arrigo Sacchi 1986 - 1991
League: 87/88
EC: 88/89, 89/90

Fabio Capello 1991 - 1996
League: 91/92, 92/93, 93/94, 95/96
EC: 93/94

I agree.
Ecstatic as a Madrid fan... and naturally, the best pat of it is that we don't have to face you if we make the final...
So, you still evoke fear and will never be far behind best in the world.

teamanarchy wrote:I agree.
Ecstatic as a Madrid fan... and naturally, the best pat of it is that we don't have to face you if we make the final...
So, you still evoke fear and will never be far behind best in the world.

teamanarchy wrote:I agree.
Ecstatic as a CR fan... and naturally, the best pat of it is that we don't have to face you if we make the final...
So, you still evoke fear and will never be far behind second best in the world.

best in the world now? You appear when CR has good days actually

ahh the butthurt if madrid lose to bayern tomorrow

Perfect music for a moment like this.

09-10?? Remember they lost in the semis?? Doesn't mean we are bad. We will win next season... Can't you see the pattern? Win 07, Loss 08, Win 09, Loss 10, Win 11, Loss 12, Win 13.

Le samourai.....the gymnopedia is such a great piece, I used to play it years ago

I always thought the inception soundtrack was good

Great post man

Well, I want CR7 to be recognized ad the very best and I "hate" Barca, BUT, I would not be dismissive of them, as it pertains to immediate future. Clearly, however, the "east west" passing thing has been somewhat exposed, therefore, a subtle change in tactics may be warranted.

It depends... If we come back next year and win things and start going on a winning streak again under Guardiola, people will still remember it as the Guardiola era. One season of failure doesn't mean it all comes crashing down.

Now is our big test. We have to come back. Guardiola's been on top all a long. Now is a new test. I'm excited about next season.

Certainly it depends on Pep's renewal as well. Not saying that we wouldn't continue winning, the end of the guardiola era would be sad to see in itself.

let's hope he surprises us and announces that he's signed a contract extension in the near future to help boost morale!

Even though Barca is the second team that I support behind MIlan, I was happy that they have lost the last 3 matches and this is only to drive glory hunters off the club. However, I believe that Barca's era can continue if Guardiola can make a few changes to the system.

We still have the same players as the last couple of years. Just a few of these players have reached their peak and will need to be replaced over the coming years (Puyi, Abidal, Xavi and Villa). Xavi should be ok for now. Villa is a guess for us all. I hope he will come back as the player we know. And Puyi, well he really should be rested more often from now on. This brings us back to the real necessity of players for the defesive line. IMO, we need two top class players. Both strong in the air, preferably fast and the LB obviously has to fit into our playing style... I'm still really torn up by these recent events. I put all my hopes in this second game against Chelsea and now we *bleep* it up there is obviously this bitterness which is not overcome easily.

I love this team and I followed them in every incarnation, from Dutch colony to Ronnie magic, to tiki-taka “’midgets”.
I am excited to what the future brings, because in all honest I want to see something different.
No doubt we can reach the top once more.

It’s easy to support the best. The hard thing is to stand for what your heart feels right even in the downfall

It was all about keeping the bar raised from the CL final with Manchester United. We couold raise the strandards biut most importantly we had to keep the bar raised not lowered. We didn't do this season and well lets hope we can acheive what we did in 2010/11 or even better

billy_gr wrote:I love this team and I followed them in every incarnation, from Dutch colony to Ronnie magic, to tiki-taka “’midgets”.
I am excited to what the future brings, because in all honest I want to see something different.
No doubt we can reach the top once more.

It’s easy to support the best. The hard thing is to stand for what your heart feels right even in the downfall

I know, right? Everytime I think of Ronnie, I do think about what could of been if he would've had more discipline. It woul've been crazy, current Messi and disciplined Ronnie side by side. Xaviesta behind them. It would've been even more epic than the past couple of years have been.

I feel you. However what affected the club the most IMO was the Eto,o – Ibra swap.
First we lost the best FW in the world at the time, then we got a great player who was nothing like we needed and Villa’s transfer was delayed a year.
Any way it is clear that with the current model, the team is over-reliant to Messi and unfortunately Pep doesn’t seem to have a way to rejuvenate off form players.

Lol Ronnie-Eto-Messi, Xavinestiabusi brilliant! Must say brilliant!

#lol

We will be back.

You cant win every season, we didnt do much wrong yesturday at all.

I wouldnt trade the core group of these players for any others, a couple adjustments here and there and we will be good.

Well every great team has to decline at some point. I agree with previous posters that the next season will show this. I really had high hopes to reach the final. La liga loss was not a surprise for me as we were bad in away games, and when RM got 10 pt lead i knew we cannot win it. This game and RM loss was bad to witness. I hope we pick ourself up and destroy Atletic just for the sake of playing in Supercup against RM. We will get an indication at the start of the season if we want to win so bad.

Massive overreaction going on here.
I log in and see a dozen bumped threads most of which deal with us declining and transfers and what not.
People need to realize that over the 2 legs we were far and away the better team and completely and utterly outplayed Chelsea.Just needed some luck.
I mean we were 2-0 up with Chelsea a man down.The game was done and dusted but we had to concede a silly goal.Similarly Messi again had the chance to put the game to bed but missed his penalty.
These things happen.As far as I am concerned we are still the best team on the planet.
Our era is not coming to an end.We will come back stronger than ever next season.
Most importantly Messi is a wounded tiger right now.The player he is I am sure he feels responsible for the loss.he is going to be better next season and will have a mission on his mind.

Yes guys Messi of course will be back. So will some other players. Will Pep renew? After last night I think he will because of what he said in terms of we have to think of next season. The 'we' here was very important. What however I need to wonder is Xavi is now more than 32 years old. How long can he continue day in and day out? If he has to be rested at times then do we need to change the midfield dynamics to some extent? And even more what about Puyol? I respect him immensely but it would make sense if next season were his last. No point carrying on beyond time and sullying your good name. So leave alone what we have even in the world it's hard to find anyone to replace Tarzan. That's why I am saying not that we won't be good but it's hard to be at the level we used to be. Some new dynamics need to be built even though I am not saying that a full new team needs to be built.

Dude luck has nothing to do with this. I buy the luck theory once, maybe twice. I do not buy it for three games in the row. Our finishing has been shit this season, and our defense lost focus in more than one game. All season we conceded stupid goals and missed opportunities. I just hope Vila returns to his old self, so does Pedro.