Re: Match Day Thread 20/21

[danyjr]

Griezmann

[neuro11]

Entertaining first half. Very good goal from Dembele....Like I said last time, this guy needs to shoot once he is in the box. His fantastic speed and dribbling does not end up in the net because of lack of creativity and poor decision making.
And that back pass from Pedri to Griezman (take a bow man). People in general section says we are overhyping him.....
Finally, with this backline, we are not going anywhere.....Betis is breaking us for fun.  Pique is gone and lenglet shines once in a month.
BTW, Bravo is a very good penalty stopper, it was not a wise decision to allow griezman taking it. The moment he stood for it I knew it was not going in.

[danyjr]

Messi

[BarrileteCosmico]

Griezmann is at least good for tap ins, it seems

[BarrileteCosmico]

And another one down for Penessi!

Pen was fair but red seemed a bit harsh to me

[danyjr]

Red is harsh in these situations but unfortunately rules are very strict. They should change them.

[CM Pep]

No surprise that most of the attacks and also the goals came down Roberto's side.

Thank god he's not the definitive first choice anymore, with Dest coming in.

Defense looks very vulnerable right now.

----

Pedri had a great game btw. I hope he continues this trajectory.

[alexjanosik]

No surprise that most of the attacks and also the goals came down Roberto's side.

Thank god he's not the definitive first choice anymore, with Dest coming in.

Defense looks very vulnerable right now.

----

Pedri had a great game btw. I hope he continues this trajectory.

Agree with the first part. That right side is just extremely weak. It is a triple whammy of terrible athleticism, aged players and just being poor. Roberto, Busquets and Pique. I have been defending Pique all this while as I think he is a victim of the way we play and he is still a very good defender. Today, he was just shocking as was Busquets and Roberto. For Busquets and Roberto, its par for the course. We immediately need Dest in. Granted, Dest also looked vulnerable in the last game but atleast he is a good athlete, young and very fast. We should try Araujo on that side instead of Pique especially agaisnt fast teams like Betis. Dest and Araujo instead of Pique and Roberto. Thats 10x the athleticism and pace. No solution to Busquets as he continues to be a coaches pet. Plus we dont have alternatives as Pjanic is just as slow and unathletic. If not worse imo. We have Puig who is very fast and covers ground quickly but he is in the doghouse God knows why.
One small tweak could be play FDJ on that side and Busquets on Alba's side. FDJ is much more athletic than Busquets. FDJ, Dest and Araujao makes that right side more pacy and athletic and less prone to getting cut open.

On Pedri, I thought this was probably his weakest game for us. Lots of sloppy passes and his general play was significantly worse. As compared to previous games, where his general play was elite. Still, he defended extremely well and had the genius pass to Griezmann. Plus, scored a goal. Kid is a gem.

Lastly, we really need to start pressing. You could see us trying in the first half but it was a laughable attempt. One could tell we are a team which hasnt pressed in years. 8 years to be precise. It would take us a lot of time in training to learn to press like Betis did today or almost any other team does in the modern game.

[alexjanosik]

Shoutout for Dembele again. Great first half. Couple of overhit corners and passes. But one great goal and almost scored another were it not for the handball. I count it as a goal contribution as it led to the penalty and red card.
And his pace is still there. He is starting to use it whereas first few games, he was clearly holding himself back.
Elite elite talent who has been brutally held back by injuries. Please, please, please stay fit.

[Myesyats]

I switched off after Griezmann wasted 3 sitters and missed a penalty in the 1st half alone. Glad he's scored later on though, but my god his finishing is awful. Should have had a hattrick easily.

[neuro11]

Good game in the end. Pedri needed to score too. With Fati out our midfielder needs to score. Even though we conceded both the goals on Sergio Roberto's side, he paid them back i think with his forward play and assist. but the positioning of our CBs are simply awful.

[Kebab]

Its strange people talk about the match and not the messi. Why Messi isnt the topic of discussion this time lol. Because certain moron didnt mention him and make drama.
The fact is score was 1-1 without messi and 5-2 with messi. This shows that Messi's precense alone >>> any pressing and any hard work.I dont mean he should walk and he didnt walk in imortant games this season. But saying that any hard working player can replace him and make barca a better team is nonsense. Walking messi is still better than any player. He created for Griezman and his goal was art of a high class finisher.
And defense was as bad without messi.
So open your eyes and stop blaming messi in every GK mistake, defense mistake or when Griezmann shoots the ball into sky, when Dembele falls down and gets injured. Stop being hypocrite and blame him in every nature events

[neuro11]

Its strange people talk about the match and not the messi. Why Messi isnt the topic of discussion this time lol. Because certain moron didnt mention him and make drama.
The fact is score was 1-1 without messi and 5-2 with messi. This shows that Messi's precense alone >>> any pressing and any hard work.I dont mean he should walk and he didnt walk in imortant games this season. But saying that any hard working player can replace him and make barca a better team is nonsense. Walking messi is still better than any player. He created for Griezman and his goal was art of a high class finisher.
And defense was as bad without messi.
So open your eyes and stop blaming messi in every GK mistake, defense mistake or when Griezmann shoots the ball into sky, when Dembele falls down and gets injured. Stop being hypocrite and blame him in every nature events

Just because some people are nuts and talk like stupid and blind when they are furious, can you do the same?
On Messi, we expect this from him. He is the best in the team and in the world. We expect him to bail us out week in week out. He deserves praise for that. But he had not been doing this for quite some time. He looked tired yet he was playing continuously. I think its better for all if he gives himself enough rests.

[Myesyats]

We actually looked very good without Messi and created a multitude of chances.

If Griezmann had finished his chances, the game would have and should have been 3-0 or 4-0 at HT.

Of course Messi brings that extra ingredient but I would much rather prefer a well-rounded team where everyone puts in the work instead of relying on 33 year old Messi to produce a moment of magic. The rebuilding of our team has been long overdue thanks to agent Bartomeu.

[danyjr]

Yes Messi needs some rests. He's 33 and has been playing week in week out for club and country ever since he was 20. I don't know any player in the world who has gone without rests as long as he has.

As for the team, its shortcomings especially in the defensive side were completely exposed in the first half even when Messi was not playing. For most of the first half Barcelona were playing behind the ball as they did afterwards. Messi is not the common denominator, Busquets and Roberto are.

[danyjr]

We actually looked very good without Messi and created a multitude of chances.

If Griezmann had finished his chances, the game would have and should have been 3-0 or 4-0 at HT.

Of course Messi brings that extra ingredient but I would much rather prefer a well-rounded team where everyone puts in the work instead of relying on 33 year old Messi to produce a moment of magic. The rebuilding of our team has been long overdue thanks to agent Bartomeu.

How can you be 3-0 up when you conceded a goal and had your post shaken? Could have easily been 0-4 to Betis.

[Kebab]

4 chances in 1st half, 8 chances in 2nd half including goals.
So 2nd half>>1st half

[BarrileteCosmico]

The 2nd half was played for 30 mins without a player, it's not proof of anything

Messi made an immediate impact, as we all knew he would, but the team also played well without him and it's important for barca to be able to play well without Messi. I don't understand how this has become and either/or thing.

[Kebab]

After 3-1 they played with 10 men but it doesnt matter when you park the bus, they always had 7 players around the box.

Of course Barca should play good without messi, its a team game. They are still barca without him, and can win against most teams. they are not automatically a betis level team without 1 player. its only 1 player out of 11

[neuro11]

We actually looked very good without Messi and created a multitude of chances.

If Griezmann had finished his chances, the game would have and should have been 3-0 or 4-0 at HT.

Of course Messi brings that extra ingredient but I would much rather prefer a well-rounded team where everyone puts in the work instead of relying on 33 year old Messi to produce a moment of magic. The rebuilding of our team has been long overdue thanks to agent Bartomeu.

How can you be 3-0 up when you conceded a goal and had your post shaken? Could have easily been 0-4 to Betis.

Exactly.......

As much I say myself that we are in a transition period I don't like to see my team lurking in the mid-table. The so-called bag of talents is not yet good enough. One is already gone for the entire season after showing some glimpse. Another has thus far no record of finishing an entire season staying fit. We have the same old defence line. Pedri is the only new addition to the mid who regularly starts. The rebuilding is not gonna happen, not at this season at least. We are still relying on our old resources. We better maximize it.

Glad that Koeman managed Messi to take rests. I hope he will do that in future.

[Myesyats]

Piqué could be sidelined from anywhere between 4 to 9 months. [cat radio]


Will probably retire after this.

[BarcaLearning]

Holy shit, it was just the opponent player half falling onto his leg, geez, what bad luck. Definitely hope he will be back, unless its that serious and he just cbf anymore... Come on Pique, we need u

[BarcaLearning]

Now thinking about the lineup going forward after the injuries, Dest at RB is good. De Jong at CB meaning Pjanic and Busquets in the pivot, that is so lol, the two slowest players in modern top football, just loooool! Together with Messi, its gonna be the slowest midfield or so to watch, wont be fun watching younger oppositions running around them all game looool.

For financial side of things, we offloaded so many players including the young back up defenders, and now Im sure we will be forced to overpay for a temp crappy replacement again at CB in Jan.

Looking like my prediction of good to make top 4 this season is pretty accurate atm loooool....

[BarrileteCosmico]

Worst Barca starting team in the CL since the Gaspart era? Maybe even further back?

[Myesyats]

I've heard that new CB was great....Mingueza

We will not miss Pique, who only looks quality on paper, same as Busquets. Roberto was never barca-quality. Big names but zero substance.

[FennecFox7]

Funny enough that “worst line up” put a good performance. Dump the two snails in the midfield and drop that loser griezmann and play messi and you have a team

Also, I was right about braithwaite

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