20 - Dani Olmo

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

This was such an unnecessary transfer
................... Unless he plays like that every other week !

Definitely the best 45 minute debut I've ever seen. He was magical with everything he did and carried the team on his shoulders.

I will say this now, and people can quote me at the end of the season. There is not one facet of football that Jude Bellingham does better than Dani Olmo, bar heading. In all the main midfield criteria Olmo is completely and utterly clear. Only tackling is close.

Olmo is as superior to Jude as Messi was to Cristiano. Pure natural silk versus manufactured polyester. Both keep you warm in the winter, but in two completely different ways.

 

[MontenegrinCuler]

This was such an unnecessary transfer
................... Unless he plays like that every other week !

Definitely the best 45 minute debut I've ever seen. He was magical with everything he did and carried the team on his shoulders.

I will say this now, and people can quote me at the end of the season. There is not one facet of football that Jude Bellingham does better than Dani Olmo, bar heading. In all the main midfield criteria Olmo is completely and utterly clear. Only tackling is close.

Olmo is as superior to Jude as Messi was to Cristiano. Pure natural silk versus manufactured polyester. Both keep you warm in the winter, but in two completely different ways.

The only problem that Olmo is injury prone. If it changes, Olmo is becoming one of the best players in the world. At least the way I see it.

 

[jamrock]

He will make everyone who was down on the transfer, talking about LW, change their mind.

I wasn't over the moon initially because I wanted a DM, but after I thought about it, realized he's class and at the right age, he will do well for us.

Doesn't matter if he plays AM or LW, because he will play both, we have a lot of flexibility with him, pedri, gavi and raphinha.

He will be what de jong should have been for us, a midfielder in his prime that plays that way consistently.

Assuming he stays injury free.

 

[soul24rage]

Great goal and great debut.

 

[Masetro10]

People will come to realize Olmo unlocks more of what Barca needs than they ever thought. He is a SS/AM hybrid player. He will be Lewa's and Yamals best friend on the pitch.

Notice he gravitated more to the right side. This allowed Raphinha to have a lot of space. Pedri drifted into that open left half space as well causing havoc for Rayo.

Remember 26yrs>34 year old Gundogan even if Gundogan has more quality right now Olmo will be overall better longterm. Also let's do away with the asinine comments saying Olmo is another Ferran Torres. As if versatility is a bad thing if you produce goals.

 

[BBZ8800]

A proper AM. You can see all his touches are decisive.

Btw, bbz wins over messi983 this one.

Whenever I watched Olmo, he elevated his teams.

He was a God at Dinamo Zagreb, connecting the midfield and attack as a kid.

He was one of key players for Spain.

And he will elevate Barca's play.

When he came, I was posting some stats from European leagues which show how majority of teams left 433 and started to play 4231 with AMs in the last 2-3 years.

Among the only top teams who still use 433 were Barca, Arsenal and Liverpool.
But this season, with new coaches, even Barca and Liverpool moved to 4231 with an AM.

Football always goes in cycles.
433 is probably past it's peak, everybody has learned to close it down, and the 4th attacking man around the box (AM in 4231) is offering advantage in this moment and it is harder to defend against it in the space between the defense and midfield.
It creates more chaos than a classic 433 with 2 deeper Cms or with one Iniesta on the left.

About Olmo not pressing:
1. this was his first game
2. his pressing was more than enough for Spain to win Euros without too much sweat
3. we aren't winning a CL either way, so all we want is La Liga. And even if Olmo is lazy, he brings enough to the attack to compensate for pressing against 90% of La Liga sides

Also, you have to admire Olmo's mental strength to play like this on his debut 45 minutes.
A true winner mentality.

We finally have a domestic midfielder with a winner mentality.

 

[draconifire]

You can bash me all you want.
But I think the best Flick's Barca is with him replacing Lewa and haiving Fermin/Gavi/Pedri behind him in a midfield quad with our wingers inverted and Fullback providing width and support.

Pivot of Fdj and Pedri as we saw last game.
No team will be able to stop our crazy overlapping and one touch forward game. Lewa is a detriment there.

 

[malvolio]

Good debut. Dunno about him being lazy or not, but he had an instant impact on our attacking play.

 

[vuji_31]

Whenever I watched Olmo, he elevated his teams.

He was a God at Dinamo Zagreb, connecting the midfield and attack as a kid.

He was one of key players for Spain.

And he will elevate Barca's play.

When he came, I was posting some stats from European leagues which show how majority of teams left 433 and started to play 4231 with AMs in the last 2-3 years.

Among the only top teams who still use 433 were Barca, Arsenal and Liverpool.
But this season, with new coaches, even Barca and Liverpool moved to 4231 with an AM.

Football always goes in cycles.
433 is probably past it's peak, everybody has learned to close it down, and the 4th attacking man around the box (AM in 4231) is offering advantage in this moment and it is harder to defend against it in the space between the defense and midfield.
It creates more chaos than a classic 433 with 2 deeper Cms or with one Iniesta on the left.

About Olmo not pressing:
1. this was his first game
2. his pressing was more than enough for Spain to win Euros without too much sweat
3. we aren't winning a CL either way, so all we want is La Liga. And even if Olmo is lazy, he brings enough to the attack to compensate for pressing against 90% of La Liga sides

Also, you have to admire Olmo's mental strength to play like this on his debut 45 minutes.
A true winner mentality.

We finally have a domestic midfielder with a winner mentality.

First time seing BBZ praising some player.

 

[Kubala]

Couldn't ask for more from a debut, looked class in everything he did. And a real goal threat. I'm liking the look of the three behind Lewa,
Raphinha - Olmo - Yamal

 

[BBZ8800]

You can bash me all you want.
But I think the best Flick's Barca is with him replacing Lewa and haiving Fermin/Gavi/Pedri behind him in a midfield quad with our wingers inverted and Fullback providing width and support.

Pivot of Fdj and Pedri as we saw last game.
No team will be able to stop our crazy overlapping and one touch forward game. Lewa is a detriment there.

That sounds somewhat like a false 9 Messi from 15 years ago.

Imo, those days are over.

All of the best teams in the world currently have a good, old no. 9 like Haaland, Morata, Kane, paired with two young, mobile, technical wingers, paired with a killer AM in the centre as the 4th man around the box.

In Barca's 433, you are missing the 4th man in the box.
With a false 9, you are missing a man in the box so wingers and AM have more defenders on their back and less space.

It seems that a combo of 4 players: no9, Lw, Rw and AM are the current perfect combo which spreads the opponent's defense in all 4 directions:
1. Towards the goal/in the box, you have a No9.
1 or 2 guys need to take care of his movement.

2. while two defenders are keeping an eye on him, Lw and Rw are left alone with the opponent's fullbacks.

3. and if a Lw or Rw make a succesfull dribble, it means that either one CB or a Defensive midfielder need to step out of their zone and cover for a Lw/Rw, which then leaves AM or CF unmarked at the edge of the box.

In a mathematical way, it seems that a romb of Cf-Lw-Rw-Am stretches the defenses in the best way.

While 433 turned slightly sterile in the last few years because everyone learned how to defend against it.
Plus, it seems that 433 is more shifted towards possession and offering 100s of triangle-options in the middle of the pitch while a 4-men 4231 romb is offering more passing lanes and combinations around the box.
So, less possession and control but a more dangerous final third.

 

[Messi983]

A proper AM. You can see all his touches are decisive.

Btw, bbz wins over messi983 this one.

Let's wait for more than 45 minutes before we make conclussions but I'll be glad if BBZ is right about him. AFAIK the only player we've signed in last 10 years or so he liked was Coutinho. Better won't talk about how that ended. Not a knock on BBZ, I respect his opinion although don't always agree with him but he often brings valid points.

As for Dani never said he's not a good player or that I dislike him. Far from that actually. I just pointed out my concerns which are still there. First is ofc his injury history. And second how he'll work in other positions. I didn't like reports about club looking at him as alternative to Nico and I expected him to play mostly as a LW before Gundo left. Now situation has changed ofc and if that was the plan all along then fair enough (doubt it was though, I think we decided to let Gundo go when we had problems to register Olmo but we'll probably never know).

Club valued his versatility but he'll have to prove he can work as a "fake"/inside winger for example. We'll have to use him there in some games I think. Mainly because we shouldn't run Yamal and Cardiophinha into the ground. And a drop off between them and Ferran is gigantic. Maybe Ansu will finally stay fit and give us some good games or we can play Pau out wide if Lewy is untouchable as I was affraid will happen (tbf I'm disappointed Pau only got some cameo appearances so far after being the best player in preseason but I'll wait to see how much he'll play until October/November before starting to being upset about that).

And second reason is we have to get Fermin on the pitch. He does good things whenever he plays. Would be a shame if we wouldn't give him a chance to build on his breakout season. Yes, Olmo is a better player but we have to find a way to possibly play both of them in some games. And that probably means Olmo on the left with Fermin as a "10" and one of Yamal/Raphinha as RW while the other is rested. Season is very long so some smart rotations will be needed to keep freshness upfront where we are short on options (and I doubt we'll be able to bring a winger before end of transfer window) and Olmo's versatility will be welcomed but as said he'll still have to prove if he can play other positions at least half as good as in his best position. If he can then we're fine.

As long as he stays fit and plays primarily as AMC in Flick's system I think he'll be a good signing (we'll worry what will happen with him if/when Flick is gone and if/when next coach won't use AMC in his system if/when that will happen). Only time will tell if he'll be good enough or there will always stay doubts what would happen if we'd rather invest that money into another position. But he's here so I'm full Team Olmo now and hope he'll give us many good or hopefully even great seasons.

 

[Devils]

This guy is just world class.

Incredible player. Always was hyped about him joining us.

 

[Horatio]

I wasnt that excited about olmo cause of barcaforum opinion about him. glad barcaforum was wrong. siuu

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

In BBZ we trust 👏👏