I said all season long the only way we can do anything in CL is if Messi carries us and performs magic. He did that against Chelsea but didn't against Roma.
If he doesn't produce we're fucked.
10 - Lionel Messi - v5
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
I said all season long the only way we can do anything in CL is if Messi carries us and performs magic. He did that against Chelsea but didn't against Roma.
If he doesn't produce we're fucked.
raskolnikov
Well-known member
We need a strong midfield and a team that doesnt depend on Messi. We are still suffering for Xavi never being properly replaced and Thiago leaving. Also need a coach with balls to rest messi every now and then so he is in god modus come april instead of dead tired for the fourth year in a row.
RMU ReBorn
New member
Could have had three assists yesterday one to Denis then to Iniesta and Suarez wide on Rw . Didn't go all guns blazing because of the mid week fixture and CDR final three days later . Job well done . Celta away and CDR final is far important than Valencia at Camp Nou .Glory hunters can keep on moaning about his lack of desire or whatever shit . We don't have any other choice against even a half decent opponents . He runs the show and sets the tempo for 90 minutes . Madrid can rest Ronaldo even against top quality teams and isco will run riots along with Vasquez and Asensio .
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Messi could have ended the game with 3 Assists and 3 Goals (don't forget the header which was quite powerful and not far off). Bad luck that he ended up with zero. Also had 2 good attempts against Roma, unfortunately both into the arms of the GK.
Given Iniesta's ability and fighting spirit, it still annoys me that EV took him off (for Gomes!) at the end of the match, thereby reducing Barça chance to score a decisive goal. Roma were tired at the end and ready to concede.
Given Iniesta's ability and fighting spirit, it still annoys me that EV took him off (for Gomes!) at the end of the match, thereby reducing Barça chance to score a decisive goal. Roma were tired at the end and ready to concede.
bodi16
New member
Agreed, but, on the other hand, Roma outplayed us like they were clear CL contenders. Maybe we would have eliminated them if Dembele would have started, but just imagine us being trashed even worse in the SF against Liverpool, Bayern or Madrid. When Roma were leading us 2-0, i was thinking that not going to the SF wouldn't be that much of a disaster, considering how bad we were playing against an average opponent. I feared this would happen at this point of the season just by looking at how unconvincingly our display was. It's better it happened against Roma, because other teams would have battered us.
If we want to win the CL we need better players and a better coach. Simple as that.
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
Definitely. Griezmann as a Villa style inside forward, but with a much better work rate and Dembele on the other side as a pure winger and we could look much better. Then we just need to sign the right piece in the midfield alongside Coutinho as an AM. Even a B2B midfielder that's dynamic could be interesting if we cannot find a CM, but it got to be someone that's good enough attacking-wise with great work rate, movement and decent pace.
Suarez can enjoy his time on the bench.
What's going to happen:
Griezmann at RM in place of Dembele/Paulinho and the same system with Suarez and Messi up top.......
serghei
Senior Member
Bring back midfield interplay also. It's not named a trio simply because there are 3 players in it. Midfield trio means exactly that, a trio of rectangles based on movement exploiting pockets of space with each move being complemented by a team reaction as to maintain shape and provide quick passing options. This is the only way to destabilize opponents who will mark our players with more zealousness as we move up the ladder in key competitions. But if we move, and if we are quick, we can find a way forward even while outnumbered. Because if we move and pass well enough, we'll find that 2-3 players from the other team are marking thin air more and more as they become unable to track our movements. All hope is lost though if we look dead slow and unable to do anything to get off marking.
Last game when we actually had a midfield trio in the truest sense was the 4-0 with Milan 5 years ago. Or you could make a case for the 4-3 win on Bernabeu with Martino (Xavi). Basically when Xavi was gone so was our midfield fluidity, which makes me think that maybe he was even more influential than the managers post Pep, because we kept components from Pep's game years after he left through Xavi.
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FCBfan22
Senior Member
No. We need a midfield.
Pedro
La Masia
How many more midfielders do you want? People going crazy about Coutinho when he was at liverpool, we got him for 100mil and now still wanting more midfielders.....i'm hearing griezman, ffs wake up
FCBfan22
Senior Member
We need to ditch the dross that are Denis, Gomes and Vidal. Iniesta is probably gone. That leaves us with Rakitić, Busquets, Coutinho, Paulinho and maybe Roberto for some games. 4 midfielders.
So, if we don't invest, our midfield will be shit next season. We need another player that can play in a RCM in the midfield. Arthur probably won't be integrated soon enough and we will have 0 alternatives for Coutinho.
fergus90
Senior Member
Our midfield is currently a quantity over quality matter. In reality only Busquets and Iniesta (occasionally) are up to the standard to be a true world class starting midfielder for Barca.
Rakitic is decent but not real world class level. We are lacking real creativity in midfield. I’m confident Coutinho will keep improving but we need one more apart from him.
Plus we’ve got some dead wood to get rid of too.
Rakitic is decent but not real world class level. We are lacking real creativity in midfield. I’m confident Coutinho will keep improving but we need one more apart from him.
Plus we’ve got some dead wood to get rid of too.
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