Re: Match Day Thread

by Thimmy Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:28 pm

Anyone watching the match against Huesca? Dembele has looked pretty toothless going forward, so far. Then again, I suppose he just returned from another injury. Huesca are a poor team, but they've been doing alright recently. They seem to be good at salvaging draws Razz

by Myesyats Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:53 pm

Coutinho is an absolute trash bag. Unreal how bad he is. 150m ffs

I once thought there was hope for him but it appears he's braindead.

by danyjr Sat Apr 13, 2019 5:18 pm

@Thimmy he's young and he just came back from injury. He'll be good some day, maybe in 2025 or so. With some luck he could even reach Iñaki Williams level.

by alexjanosik Sat Apr 13, 2019 5:26 pm

Happy that the entire first team got a rest and the fringe players got a chance. Not reading too much into the performance. Played 3 at the back. Best players were probably Vidal and Wague.
Dont get the Dembele criticism. He had multiple great runs and we created danger whenever he was on the ball.

On the youngsters, very impressed with Wague and Todibo. Wague showed that he is clearly too good for the 3rd division. Should be playing first division football, whether for us or at any other club. Todibo got turned once but again looked promising. He is highly rated by Abidal and also Valverde going by reports. We should carefully evaluate him and only spend the money on MDL if Todibo is not deemed good enough. I would much rather save the cash for a CF replacement for Suarez.

Puig had some nice moments and one great pass. I just dont see where he can play as long as Messi is here. We are playing 4-4-2 as long as Messi is here. Puig cant play the middle two. That leaves the flanks. Doubt he can play on the right since he is a LCM and that is where Messi operates. So that leaves LCM. But that is a spot occupied by Coutinho and Dembele.
Alena had a poor game. I get that it is difficult to shine in such a makeshift lineup but still expected much more.

by Thimmy Sat Apr 13, 2019 5:38 pm

Dembele was good (created a lot of danger, apparently), the youngsters were good, Alena was poor. Sounds like you should've bagged a comfortable victory in this match, yet almighty Huesca salvaged another draw hmm

by alexjanosik Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:43 pm

Thimmy wrote:Dembele was good (created a lot of danger, apparently), the youngsters were good, Alena was poor. Sounds like you should've bagged a comfortable victory in this match, yet almighty Huesca salvaged another draw

Pipe down. We are the champions. Hows the third place trophy? Enjoy winning it again.
if you are so eager for thrashings, wait till we meet you again. Although it has become so routine that I am not looking forward to it.

by Thimmy Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:57 pm

Calm down, "badass" Laughing

Your praising of certain players just doesn't add up, based on what I watched today. I'm getting too old to pick on Barca for no reason.

by Kebab Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:48 am

Absence of 3 improtant players cant make barca look so average. so i guess Huesca defended in world class level

by neuro11 Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:59 pm

Kebab wrote:Absence of 3 improtant players cant make barca look so average. so i guess Huesca defended in world class level

did you not even care to read the squad list by some googling....

Personally, i thought both Barca and Huesca were pathetic to watch. Huesca never created any threats. Knowing that they were playing against a 2nd team, they could go for an all-out attack. I did not see anything interesting from Barca B players either. They were certainly good at passing the ball around than creating anything.

by Myesyats Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:28 pm

Barca is always pathetic. I'm not sure where the Valverde praise comes from, everything always comes down to Messi and Suarez at the end of the day. We can barely go past any midfield including Huesca's- it's embarrasing.

We will probably scrap past Man Utd and get trashed by Liverpool. Easy money to bet as Jiopsi would say.

by BarcaLearning Sun Apr 14, 2019 4:13 pm

Certainly expected much more even if this was our complete B team. No one took control, and physcially we actually struggled to compete, bar Vidal, Umtiti and a couple of others. Puig needs to bulk up otherwise not sure if he can progress into the top level? Alena tried but couldnt quite dominate. There was clearly almost zero chemistry from the team.... Dembele looked like the only one who could have made a difference.

I guess everyone just thought who cares if we drop two points we still 9 ahead... but still would have wanted the players to try harder, especially the backup players, disappointing but I guess just acceptable under the circumstances. Pretty sure most other top clubs B team would have done better than....

by futbol Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:23 pm

What is exactly going on here? We literally rested all the 10 outfield starting players and played a completely new 3-man-backline formation on top of that. You expected something?

by neuro11 Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:23 am

Yes, the strength of the reserve team which clearly is 0
Dont forget Coutinho and Alba came later. With that 6 players from starting eleven played the game and it was just Huesca who did not even park the bus

by futbol Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:52 am

neuro11 wrote:Yes, the strength of the reserve team which clearly is 0
Dont forget Coutinho and Alba came later. With that 6 players from starting eleven played the game and it was just Huesca who did not even park the bus

Huesca are fighting relegation and they weren't a threat at all on their home turf against our 3rd division B team players. You think just because Alba came on for 20 minutes we should have scored 3 goals? Laughing

by neuro11 Tue Apr 16, 2019 1:56 pm

Stop hyping those 3rd Division kids then...

by futbol Wed Apr 17, 2019 3:38 am

Arthur needs to improve his decision making. He is very good at keeping the ball and recycling it but needs to be more penetrative. Example: Right before half time we have a counter chance where Alba bombs forward like a maniac and it's a really easy pass to make for Alba to chase but Arthur hesitates, turns and passes back.

by danyjr Wed Apr 17, 2019 10:45 am

He's too scared to make a wrong pass, that's why.

by neuro11 Wed Apr 17, 2019 11:30 am

danyjr wrote:He's too scared to make a wrong pass, that's why.

Agree....its just confidence issue and opting for safer options. I noticed it a few more times, not sure if it was Arthur.

by futbol Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:07 pm

The good thing is: He sees the options, it's not a lack of vision. But he hesitates.

by BarcaLearning Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:31 pm

Yea Arthur is very good, but if he can improve on those areas he can really become something great like the next Xavi sort of, he certainly has the potential. One thing thats really impressive about him apart from the obvious is his workrate and ball winning. Who knows hes still young and settled quickly, if he continues to improve he can become the great midfielder for us for many years to come, which we will need with Busquets and Rakitic aging.

by BarcaLearning Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:51 am

This is going on very nicely for us now Very Happy

Think all of our players are well rotated and rested, the league is basically wrapped up. We got good prep time for the CL semis. We really need to win this treble to cement our legacy for this era, and we should have won more CL during this time, especially considering Real won so many, despite their luck and all.

As for the match, I think the opposition manager is out past player and his teams never troubles us much iirc Razz

But its good to see our players all given playing time and rest where needed. I think Dembele needs to improve still, I hope he hasnt reached his potential yet, whereas for Coutinho u feel he has reached his ceiling.

As for Roberto and Semedo playing on the left, so ineffective, it really shows how good Alba is for us, and ideally we should have a proper LB as cover for him which we dont anymore I think.

by danyjr Wed Apr 24, 2019 10:11 am

Cover LB has been something you have needed for a long time, it is just Barcelona have been very lucky that Alba doesn't get injured and also can play so many games. But he is 30 now and will start to deteriorate rapidly. So not only you need a backup LB, you need a LB who can start replacing Alba in a year or two.

Aleñá I thought was really good again. For me he should start over Farthur, period. He is far better technically, more intelligent, more aware, and far more creative.

Dembélé was poor again, he just isn't good enough to play for a big team. The sooner you sell him and find a proper winger the more you've done yourself good.

by Harmonica Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:35 pm

Alena had his best game in Barca shirt, really worked from the beginning to when he was subbed out. He's much more suspectible to pressure than Arthur though, which is why he can't start in bigger games yet. Arthur is doing fine too, he was amazing before the injury just like Coutinho, and is taking time to get back to that level. Dembele is another of the trifecta of recovering from injury, and I think he'll be on his level when we need him. I thought Coutinho was good and confident against Alaves too, although got tired at the end. Hopefully Valencia will do us a solid today.

by futbol Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:41 pm

Harmonica wrote:Alena had his best game in Barca shirt, really worked from the beginning to when he was subbed out. He's much more suspectible to pressure than Arthur though, which is why he can't start in bigger games yet. Arthur is doing fine too, he was amazing before the injury just like Coutinho, and is taking time to get back to that level. Dembele is another of the trifecta of recovering from injury, and I think he'll be on his level when we need him. I thought Coutinho was good and confident against Alaves too, although got tired at the end. Hopefully Valencia will do us a solid today.

Pretty much agree with everything.

by danyjr Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:18 pm

Harmonica wrote:Alena had his best game in Barca shirt, really worked from the beginning to when he was subbed out. He's much more suspectible to pressure than Arthur though, which is why he can't start in bigger games yet. Arthur is doing fine too, he was amazing before the injury just like Coutinho, and is taking time to get back to that level. Dembele is another of the trifecta of recovering from injury, and I think he'll be on his level when we need him. I thought Coutinho was good and confident against Alaves too, although got tired at the end. Hopefully Valencia will do us a solid today.

Aleñá is more susceptible to pressure because he tries to move the ball forward and make something happen, whereas with Farthur it is always safety first (or rather, relieving himself of blunders but not necessarily his team mates). Hell Farthur has easy passing options forward and he still chooses not to play them. Where you have Busquets you don't need another passback merchant because football isn't about keeping possession for the sake of it. Especially when Messi isn't playing and carrying the attacking burden, you need players who can drive the ball forward and create danger up the field. Not to mention Aleñá is fitter and better defensively (Farthur usually hits fatigue at the 75 minute mark). Stats-wise Carles has also done better than the Brazilian but I don't care much for numbers.

The biggest difference between the two boils down to awareness. Aleñá knows where all the players are before he receives the ball and this gives him the advantage to dictate attacking play. This is not the case with Arthur. He always receives the ball then has a look, much unlike the oft-compared Xavi. Another thing I have seen Farthur do a lot is passing back to the defence in tight paces and putting them under pressure to either clear the ball or try to find a risky pass. In a slow build-up, possession-based team, one of the central midfielder's most important tasks is for the under-pressure defenders to pass to him with confidence, knowing he is agile and skilful enough to get out of tight spaces without losing the ball. Look at Modrić, he is a player who doesn't lose the ball easily and is good under pressure but he seldom passes back to an under-pressure defender unless he has no other choice. With Fartman, it is often the opposite.

Regarding Dembélé I've said what I've said and I don't want to repeat them again. Half of the season he is injured and the other half he is "getting up to speed". Which to me they are excuses. The kid has more turnovers than Demarcus Cousins, while does his fair share of tracking back he is not aggressive enough to win balls, and I suspect he has (judging by his poor touch) a below-average 'eye limb coordination'. He almost never wins aerial battles and his control of long balls is dog shite poor.

by futbol Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:27 pm

danyjr wrote:
Harmonica wrote:Alena had his best game in Barca shirt, really worked from the beginning to when he was subbed out. He's much more suspectible to pressure than Arthur though, which is why he can't start in bigger games yet. Arthur is doing fine too, he was amazing before the injury just like Coutinho, and is taking time to get back to that level. Dembele is another of the trifecta of recovering from injury, and I think he'll be on his level when we need him. I thought Coutinho was good and confident against Alaves too, although got tired at the end. Hopefully Valencia will do us a solid today.
Aleñá is more susceptible to pressure because he tries to move the ball forward and make something happen, whereas with Farthur it is always safety first (or rather, relieving himself of blunders but not necessarily his team mates). Hell Farthur has easy passing options forward and he still chooses not to play them. Where you have Busquets you don't need another passback merchant because football isn't about keeping possession for the sake of it. Especially when Messi isn't playing and carrying the attacking burden, you need players who can drive the ball forward and create danger up the field. Not to mention Aleñá is fitter and better defensively (Farthur usually hits fatigue at the 75 minute mark). Stats-wise Carles has also done better than the Brazilian but I don't care much for numbers.

The biggest difference between the two boils down to awareness. Aleñá knows where all the players are before he receives the ball and this gives him the advantage to dictate attacking play. This is not the case with Arthur. He always receives the ball then has a look, much unlike the oft-compared Xavi. Another thing I have seen Farthur do a lot is passing back to the defence in tight paces and putting them under pressure to either clear the ball or try to find a risky pass. In a slow build-up, possession-based team, one of the central midfielder's most important tasks is for the under-pressure defenders to pass to him with confidence, knowing he is agile and skilful enough to get out of tight spaces without losing the ball. Look at Modrić, he is a player who doesn't lose the ball easily and is good under pressure but he seldom passes back to an under-pressure defender unless he has no other choice. With Fartman, it is often the opposite.

Regarding Dembélé I've said what I've said and I don't want to repeat them again. Half of the season he is injured and the other half he is "getting up to speed". Which to me they are excuses. The kid has more turnovers than Demarcus Cousins, while does his fair share of tracking back he is not aggressive enough to win balls, and I suspect he has (judging by his poor touch) a below-average 'eye limb coordination'. He almost never wins aerial battles and his control of long balls is dog shite poor.

Pretty much disagree with everything.

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