Here we can see Mascherano awful positioning, 15 meters too deep, in the play that ended in a malaga post.

He wasn't well positioned in the header towards the end, but that was a collective blunder as Pique and Song also missed to follow the malaga forward.

The Franchise wrote:Agree. Yesturday might of been a good chance to move Alexis to the middle and play Tello wide.

I think Cesc did a better job in the middle than Alexis would ever do tbh.

Yeah probably but it doesnt matter.

Cesc cant play that position full time and he has to be able to play consistently well as a midfield or get out.

Last season at the beginning of season Messi was not injured. This is the difference

could not watch the game...glad that we won.......saw an extended highlights...liked Alexis game and Neymar's freekick....he has the ability to curl and be on target, but with both xavi and messi on the pitch he might not get so many chances to take.... but its good that now our freekick goals might increase...
i wonder why we become so clueless even in a simple cross taken far from the defense. had been watching cardiff and man city game yesterday and even the cardiff city defenders had been dealing so fantastically with far better crosses from silva and zabaleta and others....we have something wrong in very basic thing.....is it lack of confidence or what i don know but our defenders just move like wanderers while dealing these....

The Franchise wrote:Think there's a little too much negativity because we didnt walk over this team like we did Levante.

I dont think the attack was that bad. Alexis had a pretty good game and Iniesta was good in parts also. Pedro was invisible, but at least unlike Tito he wasnt kept on for 80 minutes while clearly doing nothing.

Defensively it was pretty decent untill the last 20 minutes I felt and many of the problems we caused ourselves by slack passing from the defence.

For example defensively, Mascherano again had a very good game before his passing errors at the end.

dani, I agree with you but we were playing a team who have lost almost each and every one of their key players of last season and they still almost got a draw against us. As fans we are bound to be concerned. I do completely stress that it's too early to start criticizing Tata. Some of our players look like they are just about reaching match fitness now. Xavi is being overworked. For a certain duration of the second half he was as if not on the pitch. I think he must have been so tired that he couldn't even walk and still he was not substituted in spite of the super cup second leg coming up. I am trying very hard to find some sense in this with little success.

messixaviesta wrote:

The Franchise wrote:Think there's a little too much negativity because we didnt walk over this team like we did Levante.

I dont think the attack was that bad. Alexis had a pretty good game and Iniesta was good in parts also. Pedro was invisible, but at least unlike Tito he wasnt kept on for 80 minutes while clearly doing nothing.

Defensively it was pretty decent untill the last 20 minutes I felt and many of the problems we caused ourselves by slack passing from the defence.

For example defensively, Mascherano again had a very good game before his passing errors at the end.

dani, I agree with you but we were playing a team who have lost almost each and every one of their key players of last season and they still almost got a draw against us. As fans we are bound to be concerned. I do completely stress that it's too early to start criticizing Tata. Some of our players look like they are just about reaching match fitness now. Xavi is being overworked. For a certain duration of the second half he was as if not on the pitch. I think he must have been so tired that he couldn't even walk and still he was not substituted in spite of the super cup second leg coming up. I am trying very hard to find some sense in this with little success.

True but as I also said many times before, people make too big a deal about what individuals each team have and whatever else.

Malaga have teamwork, it trumps whatever fancy names we can talk about.

Especially in terms of a defensive performance which is what they put on.

A few quick notes:

– People crack me up with the Song “positional awareness” stuff. He had a very good match today. Some crucial and very good interceptions, kept the ball moving, played it forward more than Busquets would. They are different players, and people should stop applying the Busquets template to Song. It isn’t going to work. Did he have some positional errors? Yep. About a tenth as many as Alba, who people aren’t saying isn’t Barça quality.

– Speaking of, Jordi Alba isn’t good enough for me. Not even close. It isn’t that he’s a poor defender, it’s that he isn’t a defender. He will make an interception or clearance every now and again, but teams are targeting him for a reason. He is easily caught out of position, and when scrambling back, overruns the play a LOT. And don’t get me started on his tantrums.

– Iniesta is in a purple patch. Hope he comes out of it soon.

– Xavi needs rest/rotation, like now.

– We have three players who the only way to stop is to foul them: Messi, Iniesta and Neymar. Free kicks and set pieces from dead balls, if they aren’t being worked on like crazy, should be. There will be lots of them this year.

– Neymar, when he learns to play with this club, is going to be fun to watch.

– Sanchez is just extraordinary this season so far. He is another one that people are just fouling.

– This wasn’t a match for Pedro. Unfortunately, the matches for Pedro are going to become increasingly few. He needs space and people to draw attention away from him so that he can make runs and shots, because he can’t beat a defender straight up. Period. If Tello begins to develop at all, Martino’s decision making selections will be interesting.

– Speaking of Martino, we still aren’t sure what kind of a coach he is, but he is definitely a boss. When questioned about the Bale comments and the Ancelotti response, he simply said that he believes what he believes, but this kind of crap shouldn’t be a press hooraw. Done. He also said that they are working with Neymar on not reacting stuff as much, and just playing football. Awesome.

– Mascherano. Lordy.

– Valdes. Double lordy with sprinkles on top.

– Two matches, two wins, two clean sheets. Yes, for one we can thank the stars that a 17-yaer-old kid got the yips, and a square goalpost. But ya know what? History doesn’t record HOW, only that it happened.

– Adriano. If he could complete an extended stretch of matches without breaking, Alba would be watching from the bench more often. Not sure how serious his hamstring is yet. At present, the club has said “discomfort.” Sometimes that means a week, other times an amputation is required.

– Fabregas is glorious and vexing. He reads a match so well, and is always in the right spot at the right time, usually with the ball. Then it still seems like that takes so much brain power from him, that he then makes a poor decision with the ball sometimes. Gaaah! Still, playing brilliantly this season.

Is 'Lordy' a positive or negative statement?

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Is 'Lordy' a positive or negative statement?

Positive of course I would be a fool if otherwise as both had brilliant games!

I liked Iniesta on Sunday. At least he was taking some initiatives.

Does anyone have stats on turnovers/lost balls? I heard something like "we lost more balls in the first half than Barca usually does in entire games" and was wondering whether that was true or just pundit talk.

No idea, but I do know Barcelona had a 90% passing accuracy for the entire game which is higher than even we expect.

Past years its been around 85 iirc.

Lol, eelir u had to say it, maybe we need to start some jinx n reverse jinx Always loved Adriano, not surprised by his goal again. Team looked good without being great, but im happy so far. Cesc n Alexis really on form n pleasure to watch.

BarcaLearning wrote:Lol, eelir u had to say it, maybe we need to start some jinx n reverse jinx :DAlways loved Adriano, not surprised by his goal again. Team looked good without being great, but im happy so far. Cesc n Alexis really on form n pleasure to watch.

No matter what we say, you can't jinx or unjinx Adrianos injury prone fate. It is written in the stars for him.