Barcelona - Deportivo Alavés, Copa Del Rey Round 32

We are playing something like:

Pinto
Alves Bartra Mascherano Montoya
Roberto Busquets Cesc
Alexis Villa Iniesta

I don't like the lineup at all and I don't understand why we aren't playing some B players instead of half the team out of position.

Machete just looked like a fool vs a second division B forward...

Nice goal from Iniesta after an Alaves player tryed to be too smart dribling in his box and Cesc stole the ball.

Alexis taps in but disallowed by offside (wrongly disallowed).

Montoya is not doing well at all as a LB. That wing is exposed most of all.

Alves missing all crosses, even a very easy pass of death. Although he is looking more intense than some games ago.

Disagreed Free, he's put in some nice ones that we couldn't capitalize on. In my opinion he's having a solid game.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Disagreed Free, he's put in some nice ones that we couldn't capitalize on. In my opinion he's having a solid game.

He's having an ok game defensively, bad in attack. Has completed 0 crosses, tried 20, missed a very easy pass of death.

Villa coming off, in spite of his excellent level he doesn't seem quite ready for 90 minutes yet. Can't wait until he is.

Borefest of second half. I don't understand why not play more youngsters in a match like this. Then the managers complain the calendar is too tight...
And I'm staying awake to watch this when I have to ake up at 4 in the morning....

goal! 0-3 fabregas heads in the goal after an Alves cross (finally). Chain of mistakes by Alaves.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Villa coming off, in spite of his excellent level he doesn't seem quite ready for 90 minutes yet. Can't wait until he is.

I cannot remember the last time Villa played a full 90 minutes maybe in his Valencia days.

Should've been 4-0, Alexis was not offside...One of many poor calls on the night from yet another joke of an officiating crew

Not a bad performance although the finishing was lacking...Villa rusty but still can score, nothing new there...What a sublime one touch curling goal from Iniesta, congrats on 10 years with the first team

Dani and Alexis both had very strong matches, had no idea Montoya could play at LB - did fine but he did get skinned on one Alaves attack...Bartra wasn't troubled at all tonight...Mascherano, did he connect on one long ball on the night?...Not having a good run of form...Thought Roberto faded in the 2nd half but was very sharp in the 1st...Captain Pinto nailed with a missile from those animals in the crowd (What kind of degenerate does that anyway?) and pulls off a great save at the end...Cesc scored with a nice one near the end and had a good first half but should've been pulled in the 2nd half I thought - he was running on fumes

I hope Tito has a training session focusing on headers

Alaves keeper had no chance on any of the goals but still managed to make a few nice saves...This tie is done & dusted

Why were B team players not playing? I was expecting Rafinha and these types.

They have a match tomorrow in Segunda it seems !

The Franchise wrote:Why were B team players not playing? I was expecting Rafinha and these types.

Pretty much my question. I got into chat and asked what the lineup was, as I came into the game about 5 mins in, and was surprised by how many starters and A team players were playing.

These games require moar B team players. These are the games I'm expecting the likes of Rafinha and JDS to be getting full or near full minutes in. Glad Sergi Roberto played though.

Agreed with BC that Montoya was not convincing at LB, I don't want him there. If he's being exposed on the left by Alaves, he should not be playing there at all. Looked like Alba back there sometimes, defensively speaking.

I think the more interesting (though not really that surprising at all) is that JDS was left on the bench in maybe his best chance to start all year.

After preseason and early games where Roberto was clearly preferred to him it should have been obvious but I did think he'd play simply because of his performance on the weekend and I thought maybe that was a reward for good training.

Clearly not much has changed though, and he's not just going to play him because he stays. Still prefers Roberto and I think he has every reason to do so.

I think Roberto has matured A LOT. Always showed ability and I was particularly impressed with him a couple of seasons ago, but last year he looked nervous when he played with the first team and it looked like he was snatching at his chances. He's clearly very comfortable with Tito though and I thought he was excellent. As FCB says, very, very sharp first half.

His dribbling in tight spaces etc. was excellent and he was ticking those passes over nicely. I think we should hold on to him because I think he is a great compliment to Thiago, they have a nice dynamic. I've said it before that he's a very complete player, and its hard to put a finger on who he's like. Sometimes reminds me of Cesc, sometimes of Xavi and sometimes of Iniesta... I like this a lot.

I can still see him growing as well. Happy that Tito trusts him.

game should ave ended 4-0. Alexis goal was perfectly legit.
Anyways. As most people said instead of a team of youngsters we saw a team of out of position regulars. Maybe Tito was experimenting on multi role starters or something.

On players, Montoya was invisible, Roberto was really good, Tello should work his finishing, Bartra should get some more la Liga time (he deserves it) and Villa is a born goalscorer.

BarcaKizz wrote:I think the more interesting (though not really that surprising at all) is that JDS was left on the bench in maybe his best chance to start all year.

Tito took the match seriously so JDS was never going to start, he got his 10 mins once the match was done & dusted...Again a shame he didn't go out on loan, he has quality but needs minutes and is never going to see much of that with this current squad...Not sure if Mallorca would've been good for him but Sevilla would've been a nice option, IMO

BarcaKizz wrote:After preseason and early games where Roberto was clearly preferred to him it should have been obvious but I did think he'd play simply because of his performance on the weekend and I thought maybe that was a reward for good training.

Roberto is impressing and has heeded advice from the coaching staff, even willing to play with the B team despite being up for promotion...Thought he looked sharp, again...I used to think he was just a system player but I keep seeing more out of his game with each chance with the 1st team - He has a chance with the first team perhaps...Mascherano recently commented that the youth team player he's most impressed with is Roberto

BarcaKizz wrote:Clearly not much has changed though, and he's not just going to play him because he stays. Still prefers Roberto and I think he has every reason to do so.

I think Roberto has matured A LOT. Always showed ability and I was particularly impressed with him a couple of seasons ago, but last year he looked nervous when he played with the first team and it looked like he was snatching at his chances. He's clearly very comfortable with Tito though and I thought he was excellent. As FCB says, very, very sharp first half.

His dribbling in tight spaces etc. was excellent and he was ticking those passes over nicely. I think we should hold on to him because I think he is a great compliment to Thiago, they have a nice dynamic. I've said it before that he's a very complete player, and its hard to put a finger on who he's like. Sometimes reminds me of Cesc, sometimes of Xavi and sometimes of Iniesta... I like this a lot.

I remember a training session in Nyon during the U19 tourney and I was going back & forth between Roberto & Deulofeu and was really impressed with Sergio's work ethic...A very serious footballer in terms of his craft, seems to work hard on all aspects and does indeed have terrific touch...Every now & then he shows a little bit of Iniesta or Xavi but I can't tell at all what sort of ceiling he has, in truth...Definitely worth holding onto

BarcaKizz wrote:I can still see him growing as well. Happy that Tito trusts him.

Agreed

Bartra certainly has earned more minutes but he still hasn't really been tested as a defender and that's where we'll see what sort of character he has...As Cruyff says, let's see how one handles adversity

There's an aspect of him that still is very raw or immature but he does tick all the right boxes for a CB for Barcelona...Love the pace he has over say Piqué and he plays very confidently

Gotta commend Montoya for being able to play that left side, didn't even know he could play there...I love this player...What a cantera this club has

Thought Tello should've come on sooner and exploited that left flank more than Villa was...Finishing was off but he's also not seen many minutes in weeks, rather see him get into scoring position like he did and go for goal rather than freeze up

Interesting ur comment on Mascherano about Roberto, because Xavi said the exact same thing 1-2 years ago.

That's very high praise. Everyone knows Xavi is the brain/football maniac of the team and everyone expects him to be a future manager, but other personnel have been saying Masch is the other one they most expect to go into it.

So in many ways Roberto couldn't be getting praise from 2 better players. This should point to something.

And I was worried the club was in danger of losing Roberto as he didn't have to accept B team since he's been with them 3 years already...His contract calls for promotion and when Premiership clubs supposedly came calling, he rebuffed all advances...The cantera kids love the club and the club loves them

He seems to have a really good head on his shoulders too, has been carrying himself like a mature professional since I saw him when he was 15...La Masia success

Barca B are playing today right? I guess thats why we didnt see Rafinha and co.

BarcaKizz wrote:Interesting ur comment on Mascherano about Roberto, because Xavi said the exact same thing 1-2 years ago.

That's very high praise. Everyone knows Xavi is the brain/football maniac of the team and everyone expects him to be a future manager, but other personnel have been saying Masch is the other one they most expect to go into it.

So in many ways Roberto couldn't be getting praise from 2 better players. This should point to something.

He has also gotten praise from Pep.So when everyone from Pep to Xavi is praising him,kid must be a special player.But I have never been impressed.
I think its because he is a direct player,a bit like Cesc,likes to play off the ball.Its also why I prefer JDS to him.JDS is the kind of midfielder I like,always coming towards the ball and willing to dictate play.