Vibe wrote:Muriqi

It was bound to happen Hopefully, we’re not done with scoring in this match.

Who knew playing 3 left wingers at the same time wouldn't work

Mendy frustrated.

Mallorca defended well, left little space. Deserved point.

Ancelotti is an amateur

Taking off Bellingham at 88’ when we all damn well know he only starts playing at 90+2’

Well this was the worst half I have witnessed in a while. So sloppy, so slow, so disjointed.

This midfield won't last 5 games, I can bet anything on it. Modric is going to play most of the games

The subs were also very late, especially Carvajal/Vazquez, that one needed to happen 20 minutes earlier

We needed a Joselu to help occupy their CBs. It was far too easy to defend against us. Dissapointed we don't have that profile on the bench anymore

Team is more left wing than Venezuela.

No preseason for the top players (Bellingham, Vini, Carvajal, Rodgrygo, Tchouameni, etc).  So unfortunately, the first 2-3 weeks are going to look like preseason... meaning physically not quite there and looking out of sync at times.

It will come around.

Carlo's big job is to find creativity out of the midfield OR have more attacking fullbacks. Carvajal and Bellingham are safe. Valverde, Tchouameni and Mendy are not. But who do you bring in? Camavinga will be a starter over Tchouameni by the end of the season. I'd also rather play a creative player like Arda Guler or Brahim Diaz at RW rather than another striker like Rodrygo. Allows Rodrygo to play super sub too.

Rodrygo completely ruins the balance of the team. Diaz and Guler have got to start. I’ve been saying this about rodrygo for a while now. I don’t care that he scored. The bigger picture is that he has too many limitations and doesn’t offer what Brahim or Guler does

For the rodrygo goal.. all three players on the left.. rodrygo needs to either get tf on the right wing and stay there or be benched..

No Kroos is hurting the team as well. Tchou has to step it up. He has more responsibility now as a deep lying playmaker

Looool, didnt watch the second half cos was too late but never thought get outplayed by freakin Mallorca XD

Real ppl must be livid... Barca played with half a B team 2 points ahead already

So no midfield really does matter Better hope Camavinga gonna solve that otherwise Real could struggle at times?

FennecFox7 wrote:No Kroos is hurting the team as well. Tchou has to step it up. He has more responsibility now as a deep lying playmaker

Tchou is not even close to Kroos, in terms of passing ability and just in terms of the type of player he is. He will never fill Kroos' shoes tbh and come close to the german's gift of always playing the perfect pass and regulating the tempo of the game. He dictated the game for RM instead of the game being dictated for them- Bellingham can't do that either, and Fede's best trait is hogging the ball and shooting from distance

For us Gundogan and Pedri have that ability and without them it's just pure vibes and chaos in midfield too

That 3x LW setup aint gonna work either. It was interesting to see how the entire frontline was shifting to the left though (VAR - Vini, mbAppe, Rodrygo). Mbappe just isn't a CF either which is why he had kind of a falling out with Neymar as well

So gundo might actually leave, they're pushing him out to make room in the salary structure lmfao. Raphinha and FDJ were probably the other candidates to get axed but they refused to leave

| BREAKING: Gündogan has agreed to leave Barcelona. He is open to returning to Man City. [@santiovalle & @AdriaAlbets] #fcblive pic.twitter.com/Bs4YbgXRZw

— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) August 19, 2024

I think it's partly because Gundogan is extremely outspoken and the higher up in Barca's management don't like that.

Good for him though, you guys don't deserve him.

Personally think it's purely financial. They tried to push out FDJ (highest salary) and Raphinha (highest potential fee) earlier in the market, but FDJ is injured and both are unwilling to leave. Same with Ferran Torres.

After those three refused to leave, Gundogan seems to be the only one who actually wouldn't mind leaving and he has the 3rd highest salary.

Myesyats wrote:

FennecFox7 wrote:No Kroos is hurting the team as well. Tchou has to step it up. He has more responsibility now as a deep lying playmaker

Tchou is not even close to Kroos, in terms of passing ability and just in terms of the type of player he is. He will never fill Kroos' shoes tbh and come close to the german's gift of always playing the perfect pass and regulating the tempo of the game. He dictated the game for RM instead of the game being dictated for them- Bellingham can't do that either, and Fede's best trait is hogging the ball and shooting from distance

For us Gundogan and Pedri have that ability and without them it's just pure vibes and chaos in midfield too

That 3x LW setup aint gonna work either. It was interesting to see how the entire frontline was shifting to the left though (VAR - Vini, mbAppe, Rodrygo). Mbappe just isn't a CF either which is why he had kind of a falling out with Neymar as well

As Ancelotti said, there isn’t a replacement for Kroos,, they have to adapt to the players and talent they have.

It bothers me that all of a sudden Kroos is being considered a god! Granted he had a great year, probably the best of his career, but just a year ago, most were highly critical of him. Just like Casemiro, he getting huge praise as if his entire career was like that. People loose sign of the poorer performances.

About last night’s game. The entire team was off (and unbalanced) as Carlo said. Most of the starters have only returned to the field a week or two ago. It will take time for them to be in game shape yet alone adapting to each other. In the bigger scheme of things, a tie or loss early in the season won’t affect us.

And Myesyats, if you loose Gündogan, you will be relying on Pedro, Olmo, Gavi and de Jong, 2 of them injury prone and 2 out injured. I think you should worry more about your team than ours!

Hope its not true... if so then WE ARE DOOMED XD Signing a overrated scrub in Olmo for 60M n then realizes we can register him due to the fact we paying Gundogan decent wages so we sell him whos 10x the players? XD No I wont be surprised but I still hope its just dumb rumours? XD

Yeah that seems like a huge mistake. There's no planning whatsoever at this club, Gundo had 14 assists last season- the most of any midfielder, it's gonna be a big loss even if he is turning 34 soon.

Its a panic move once they realized they can't fit everyone within the salary structure. But how do you not plan in June with that already in mind? Board deserves to be sacked as a whole. Bartomeu was incompetent, but wow, there might not be a single competent person at this club. Sucks for Gundo to be pushed out like that.

halamadrid2 wrote:
Same shit different season

Soto Grado no ha pitado ni falta, tremendo. pic.twitter.com/gHJ29KOe86

— Zona Blaugrana (@Zona_Blaugrana) August 18, 2024

Vinícius agrede, provoca y protesta, la impunidad de siempre.pic.twitter.com/qai6vBNS3Y

— Zona Blaugrana (@Zona_Blaugrana) August 18, 2024

Kroos' absence is felt more because Tchouameni and Valverde are not great technically + in a 433 you have one less midfielder lol.  When Real Madrid played a 433 with Benzema... it was Casemiro and Modric with Kroos.  Right now, RM have Tchouameni, Valverde and Jude.  Not the same technical level other than Jude.

Also, Benzema was very good at helping buildup.  None of the current forwards are Benzema.  So it was easier to play a 433 with Benzema.

Finally, there's a reason that Valverde and Vasquez tended to play a lot at RW in the 433.  They were asked to defend and help to recover the ball.  You cannot expect Vini, Mbappe or Rodrygo to defend well.  They will try...  but that's just not what they do.

Reminds me a bit of PSG with Mbappe, Neymar and Messi.  The team was cut in half.  Now, I do expect for Carlo to find a solution.  To me, Rodrygo will end up getting sacrificed.  But for now (until Camavinga is out), Carlo will play the 433 assuming the results are ok.  Why?  Not enough midfielders to play a 442 actually.

I knew this was gonna be the case pretty much when I was thinking if Ancelotti does put out 4-3-3, its a sacrifice for fielding the front 3 + Bellingham which is great entertainment So I hope it continues. Real were always gonna change their game style this season so everyone will get used to it... no need for midfield control, just pump the ball up to the front 3 n the occasional Bellingham magic is enough But vs the top teams Im sure it will be 4-4-2 for more safety? Camavinga needs to start over Tchou or Fede... better player by miles... them 2 are basically just extra defenders now

Myesyats wrote:

halamadrid2 wrote:
Same shit different season

Soto Grado no ha pitado ni falta, tremendo. pic.twitter.com/gHJ29KOe86

— Zona Blaugrana (@Zona_Blaugrana) August 18, 2024

Vinícius agrede, provoca y protesta, la impunidad de siempre.pic.twitter.com/qai6vBNS3Y

— Zona Blaugrana (@Zona_Blaugrana) August 18, 2024

The defender moved his head towards Mendy and not the other way round. That push by Vini is at beat a talking to not more. You want to see all the decisions against us you can watch the compilation by RMTV

Imagine if BarcaTV was doing comps like that. You'd all call us a mickey mouse club. This is influencing the refs by the official club channel, incredible.

halamadrid2 wrote:The defender moved his head towards Mendy and not the other way round. That push by Vini is at beat a talking to not more. You want to see all the decisions against us you can watch the compilation by RMTV

Im amazed to what lengths you will go to defend Vinicius. He is the most provocative and dirtiest player in the League. Starting from the very first fixture, you should be proud

I thought hala just hated Bellingham, but it was actually the notion that Bellingham was better than Vini that triggered him.