24/09 Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid (Matchday 5)

Jack Daniels wrote:Pretty tough schedule you have there. Makes me more frustrated on not taking this chance lmao.

But when they play you they'll be out of form and roll over ffs...

Khaledbarca wrote:

EarlyPrototype wrote:

Khaledbarca wrote:

omarish wrote:Falcao can do damage though. I could see them draw against you or win if your bad form continues

haha bad form?

its called bad luck.. We were better than both ACMilan & Valencia we deserve to win in both matches, but this is football, u can't win all matches.. u need some luck & we didn't have in these matches..

Valencia should have been 3-1 or 4-1 up at half time, but I guess that is football.

They should have scored the 3rd? we should have scored the 3rd, 4th & 5th in 2nd half.. lol

Yes they were better in 1st half.. had 3 chances scored 2 of themm..

we had about 6 chances in the match ..

for some Stats:

Valencia 6 shots (1 on target), Abidal scored an own goal!
Barca 10 shots ( 7 on target)

https://goallegacy.forumotion.com/t6061-barca-stats-2011-2012#233006

If you saw the game you would know a draw was a fair result, Pep Guardiola said it too.

Soldado missed the easiest chance of the game and he missed a another tap in later too.

BarcaKizz wrote:

Jack Daniels wrote:Pretty tough schedule you have there. Makes me more frustrated on not taking this chance lmao.

But when they play you they'll be out of form and roll over ffs...

Hahaha..

The draw was fair no doubt. Had we played rationally from the beginning (or at least from the moment it was obvious the team was struggling) it might be different

TBH I dont quite agree with the rest of you.
I dont think the 3-4-3 was a failure and nor do I think the Valencia game means we should give it up.
In the Valencia game the problem was not so much the 3-4-3 but the setup on the right of the diamond.
Xavi played on the right of the diamond and him being the player he is, constantly came into the center thereby completely exposing that flank( as Alves was further upfield).
If you watch the Osasuna game Thiago played on the right of the diamond and he stayed there.He provided cover to Alves and was very close to the touchline.
Had we played Thiago on the right as in the Osasuna game or had Xavi not left his position as much I am confident we would have won the game.In fact I am surprised Xavi didnt make the tactical adjustment himself.A player of his unmatched tactical abilities should have known.

So the 3-4-3 experiment is not over but depending on the opponent the players in the diamond need to be tweaked accordingly.

What are your Line-up/Formation Predictions?


Note: Pique is fit to play (official)

Khaledbarca wrote:What are your Line-up/Formation Predictions?


Note: Pique is fit to play (official)

Valdes - Alves - Mascherano - Puyol - Adriano - Xavi - Busquets - Thiago - Cesc - Messi - Villa

In second half bring Pique for Puyol/Masche, Maxwell for Adriano and Pedro for Villa.

Knowing Pep Keita will start If Keita plays from first minute I am drinking Jim Beam on this game.

Wouldn't mind something like this... standard 4-3-3 with Alves offering most of the width and Messi and Cesc generally both playing inside. Maybe Thiago could pull over to the right as well.

BarcaKizz wrote:

Now that's just a beast line-up there.

Cesc is benching Pedro/ Villa right now. I highly doubt both of them are going to be playing at the same time very often unless two of our attacking midfielders gets injured.

BarcaKizz wrote:Wouldn't mind something like this... standard 4-3-3 with Alves offering most of the width and Messi and Cesc generally both playing inside. Maybe Thiago could pull over to the right as well.

but technically barca do play like this on the pitch

alves plays that further forward in most games

You guys better keep an eye on Falcao. the guy just bang in goals for fun ATM.

diptiman wrote:

BarcaKizz wrote:Wouldn't mind something like this... standard 4-3-3 with Alves offering most of the width and Messi and Cesc generally both playing inside. Maybe Thiago could pull over to the right as well.

but technically barca do play like this on the pitch

alves plays that further forward in most games

Yes, but playing a forward line of Pedro-Messi-Villa is very different to playing with Messi-Cesc-Villa/Pedro. Where Pedro and Villa stay wide and come inside on the attack, Messi is allowed freedom through the middle. Cesc also likes to play with freedom, which complicates things, as while it would be good to accomodate him... Messi is the most important player and must be given freedom. Cesc has not really learnt positional discipline at Barca yet, he is everywhere. Which is great in the Messi role, and was great at Arsenal, but Villa and Pedro are extremely disciplined. Where Pedro would normally pull off to the right offering width along with Alves, in this formation, probably neither Messi or Cesc would do that regularly. Thus the gap would have to be filled by Alves even more. He's capable of doing it though.

Playing with Alves is like playing with 2 players. He literary covers the terrain of 2 positions.

Falcao vs Barca, ohhh this will be great

I think we can do it today and Barca will win 3-1

i hope our defence doesn't get *bleep* tonite

Adriano In & give Abidal some rest? maybe he needs it, cuz recently he is not @ his best!

Puyol & Pique not started lol

Valdés, Alves, Mascherano, Sergio B., Abidal, Thiago, Cesc, Xavi, Pedro, Messi y Villa

Bench: Pinto, Maxwell, Fontàs, Adriano, Keita, Puyol y Piqué

Busquets vs Falcao ugh. hopefully Godscherano can make up for busquets in defense.

It looks like Pep wants to stick to 3-4-3

Atletico are class.

Congrats barca

What a goal by messi though, wow.

Great game, Messi's hat trick was unbelievably good

Villa was class, he should score one more goal, but it is ok