Castilla - FC Barcelona

http://estaticos.sport.es/resources/jpg/3/1/luis-enrique-recupera-sus-laterales-1418481885213.jpg

Starts in about 5 minutes

playing like shit, stoke's game has more flow than barca's atm

I don't think we have a shot on target yet, Pedro's chance was especially wasteful considering he was 1.5m from the goal

On the plus side Bravo had a fantastic save

Whats with Neymar not even being on the bench? Just turned on the tv

hurt his ankle against psg

Can't wait for next season when Adama replaces Pedro

Wow I don't think I've ever seen a ref call the game during such a clear chance Refcelona

FT 0-0, I'm not too worried, game would have been completely different had Suarez and Pedro remembered how to shoot. Getafe are a tough game for us, last season they went 2-0 up in 15 minutes away and 2-2 at home.

season over. cant even see us catching RM.

I starting to think Lucho isn't a coach for this team, why the hell isn't he raising hell of the refereeing in La Liga? I mean the evidence is there, he should protect Barcelona and attack against the corrupt referees, but he chooses not to.

I would take Mourinho in a heart beat as a coach, at least he has a voice, and now he would be right every single time.

ref shouldnt even matter ffs. we were so fking wasteful in the final third today. 13 fking shots off target ffs

Good game considering the available player material in the squad. Can only blame Lucho for screwing up the transfer window. Shame.

Team was only 1 transfer away from turning into a dominant force. Just 1 which was perfectly possible as well because he was available and prefered Barcelona. Keep Fabregas, make Mascherano first choice defensive midfielder and buy Kroos. All problems solved.

Mascherano
Kroos Fabregas

Mascherano the destroyer, Kroos the game controller and Fabregas the chance creator. Perfect balance. Even the defense wouldn't be an issue, Pique and Bartra is good enough if they had a stable midfield infront of them. Instead we're in a situation where Xavi is still starting most games, Busquets and Iniesta look shadows of their former selves and Rakitic is yet to assist a goal. With a transfer ban to boot and Xavi won't even be here next season which will make it even worse. Who knows if Messi wants to stay. If I was him I would be fed up dropping into the halfway line and playing over the top passes to Xavi in the box when it should be other way around. The Rosell administration has certainly f'ed this team in the ass. Can't believe Bartomeu actually has the audacity to candidate for the next elections.

wow are people calling for Cesc?! lol

Considering the personal we had out there, we should of got a result. Some how Lucho can figure out how to break PSG but can't figure out Getafe? I mean seriously

Hector Bellerin has looked solid at RB for Arsenal, has had quite a few chances this year. He is 19, catalan, our youth player, and 5"10 with good pace.

Damn shame, he could of been our contender for the right back role next year with it looking like it's going to be a rotation between Batra/Pedro/Adama/Douglas (3 of them aren't natural right backs, and 1 is garbage. That said Bartra looked beast against PSG, but he could of been Math's partner instead at CB)

Obviously Cesc is a lot better than Rakitic. Not as a CM, not as a false 9. As an AM with suitable midfield partners. Lack of criticism for Rakitic apart from myself is actually very strange. He makes no impact and the coach doesn't even trust him anymore in big games. lol Good luck next season with the same squad 1 year older minus Xavi.

Suarez 10 games: 6 assists.
Busquets + Xavi + Iniesta + Rakitic + Mascherano combined 82 games: 7 assists.

Says it all.

Am I reading this right? Fusball wanted Cex to stay

I didn't. I'm using hindsight logic. lol And in hindsight Cesc was better than Rakitic in just about everything. He actually attempted difficult passes and created chances. All his weaknesses in terms of ball distribution from deep (expecting him to be "Xavi 2.0") would have been erased with a correct setup built around him. That means Mascherano covering his back and someone like Kroos distributing the ball from deeper positions. Anyone who tells me a midfield trio of Mascherano-Kroos-Fabregas wouldn't have worked can go f themselves. But pls don't blame me for my hindsight wisdom, I'm not paid millions to evaluate players correctly in foresight. I can only evaluate after I see it in hindsight and what I see is Rakitic ain't Barca starting material. He's something like Keita 2.0. Iniesta is in his 30s and Xavi is 35 next month. We have no creative midfield. The forwards are pulling rabbits out of their arses on their own. Which is obviously never going to win championships.

Cesc mindlessly wondering on the pitch with no space would have offered nothing extra in this game. Again this isn't about players themselves, but about refereeing, you can't expect team to win against 12 players every game.

Idk there were a lot of games in which cesc did nothing to contribute to the flow of the game but still managed to score. Not saying he shouldn't have left, but he did sometimes help make a difference. Rakitic had his best games on the right, on the left he has been mostly invisible.

Even Cesc could not be any more happier seeing such a praise from people wanted him out. But in anycase, its that easy to change the mood in the forum in after every games and saying we were 1 transfer away to be perfect and pique and bartra are good enough.....its sounds as funny as foolish....for months people were wanting Cesc out and many calling his final passes as Hollywood pass :lol:should not change the mood so fast. some people need to hold the breath for moments.......
vsGetafe was a tough game and the weather did not help as well. and Ref. well what could we do about that....2 more points lost will not come back with the calling ref out..But i wished Pedro with all the balls he got on through in the box, could try taking some shots on goal rather than useless crosses in the flooded box.
And the kudos to Getafe manager saying before game He fears nothing but Death i knew at the time he fears at least one more thing....trying to score vs us...

I got totally deceived by entire GL regarding Rakitic. If you want to see why no one in here actually has a single clue about football read this thread from start to finish: http://www.goallegacy.net/t33018-ivan-rakitic-appreciation-thread

And now compare with the player who is currently wearing the #4 at Barca with the heavy touch, overhitting long balls, playing ping-pong passes under pressure and showing 0 creativity.

That's exactly why doing it in a midtable team and in the Europa League doesn't necessarily mean you can do it for a big team. Hopefully everyone learned his lesson.

Why are you guys giving up on Rakitic? He's different than Cesc but that doesn't mean he's shit. He's only been at the club for 4 months

Luis Enrique believes that Barcelona's draw against Getafe doesn't reflect what happened out on the pitch, and that his side deserved to get more from the encounter.
"We all know that it's much harder early on, especially if you don't make the most of your chances. We were by far the superior team. We didn't let up for a minute", he said.
Real Madrid have opened up a gap: "There's still a long way to go. We were top of the table with a four-point advantage, and now things are the other way around. We need to analyse our displays and improve".
Barcelona kept trying till the bitter end: "We had a lot of successful runs on the wings, especially on the left, and we also had a lot of crosses and hit the bar. It's also true that our accuracy could have been better. I would like us to have created hundreds more chances, but I'm happy with my players. We had a lot of chances to score, and I'm not disappointed with the performance. Towards the end we took risks, which is something I see as logical and normal as the game develops. We didn't allow Getafe to dominate us for a single minute".
On the return to a 4-3-3 set-up he was forthright: "We've played the same system all season".
The 'Blaugranas' manager, who didn't want to discuss the absence of Neymar, said that his players created enough openings to take the lead, especially in the second half: "As is always the case, everyone interprets the match in their own way. If we had scored from the chances that we had then we'd be talking about having played a good game".


Read more: "I'm not disappointed with the performance" Luis Enrique says - MARCA.com (English version)

Fußball wrote:I got totally deceived by entire GL regarding Rakitic. If you want to see why no one in here actually has a single clue about football read this thread from start to finish: http://www.goallegacy.net/t33018-ivan-rakitic-appreciation-thread

And now compare with the player who is currently wearing the #4 at Barca with the heavy touch, overhitting long balls, playing ping-pong passes under pressure and showing 0 creativity.

That's exactly why doing it in a midtable team and in the Europa League doesn't necessarily mean you can do it for a big team. Hopefully everyone learned his lesson.

Why are you comparing the performances of last season with this season. He was the CAM in a counter attacking team last season with Sevilla. Now he's playing as a CM in a team that faces parked buses every game.

Casciavit wrote:

Fußball wrote:I got totally deceived by entire GL regarding Rakitic. If you want to see why no one in here actually has a single clue about football read this thread from start to finish: http://www.goallegacy.net/t33018-ivan-rakitic-appreciation-thread

And now compare with the player who is currently wearing the #4 at Barca with the heavy touch, overhitting long balls, playing ping-pong passes under pressure and showing 0 creativity.

That's exactly why doing it in a midtable team and in the Europa League doesn't necessarily mean you can do it for a big team. Hopefully everyone learned his lesson.

Why are you comparing the performances of last season with this season. He was the CAM in a counter attacking team last season with Sevilla. Now he's playing as a CM in a team that faces parked buses every game.

He played as the furthest forward midfielder many times, especially in recent times whenever he started alongside Xavi with Iniesta injured. He doesn't really play in a deep position which should severally hamper his game. The lack of quality is apparant regardless of position. He overhits long balls, doesn't attempt throughballs and simply offers no creativity. If he was MUCH better than what I'm seeing at Barca and it's only down to change from a counterattacking system to a possession based system which in other words means he needs oceans of space to operate at a class level it just further proves that he's even more unsuitable to Barca than Cesc whose creativity wasn't hampered by congested defenses despite his other flaws.