5 - Carles Puyol

[Antimadridista1]

Pretty well ? Are you kidding me ? lol
They didn't have to defend because our midfielders had the ball in their feets most of the time but in the end when the score was 3-0 and that Milan had to score a goal, we saw how our defense was weak (when jordi alba saved us, piqué too ; and at the last second or it was a goal)... This is the kind of moment when our staff had to put two defensive midfielders : Song associated with Busqui instead of subs Mascherano for Puyol or Alexis in Pedro's place because our defense is TOO weak.
I mean even comentators said it...

 

[Maria]

No worries with our great depth in that position. Time for to shine.

Not to mention Bartra, Adriano and Muniesa..or Abidal who will be back soon. Great depth indeed.

 

[spark]

I cant believe it was 4 years ago that we bought Chygrynskiy and there was talk of using Puyi more sparingly to prolong his career. Because that experiment failed, it seems they are scared of buying actual defenders. But then that doesn't explain the reluctance to even try Bartra. Puyol dominated Depor but now missed our most important game from the start and the next 3 weeks as well. That planning

 

[darthvader7888]

We should give Bartra some playing time.

 

[Flavia]

Not to mention Bartra, Adriano and Muniesa..or Abidal who will be back soon. Great depth indeed.

Bartra is behind Song on the picking order, and Abidal won't be back until the end of the season, to play 20 minutes tops... And I doubt Muniesa will see first team action this season again.

 

[Cule4life]

Not playing Bartra has come to bite us in the ass. And the sad thing is he will still not be given play time and Song will be preferred. A guy who got outclassed by Negredo will be tasked to deal with Lucas Moura and Lavezzi.

 

[Maria]

Bartra is behind Song on the picking order, and Abidal won't be back until the end of the season, to play 20 minutes tops... And I doubt Muniesa will see first team action this season again.

I should have used a facepalm after what I wrote..and I imagine that's what Zubi thinks right now.

 

[darthvader7888]

We should be able to get past PSG, and IMO we'll be able to win the CL with Puyol and Pique. We'll definitely need a new CB next season though. Masch, Bartra, Muniesa and Puyol as backups should be good enough, though if we buy a rotation player (doubt we will, but who knows) it should definitely be another CB (though 5 backup CBs is excessive, maybe loan Muniesa out if we get a backup CB). We have plenty of depth everywhere else.

Montoya and Bartra should be given more playing time IMO. Maybe give Montoya (or Adriano) a start against PSG, he'll make us more secure defensively. Though Alves and Alba together can work, as we saw on Tuesday.

 

[Yugi]

he could be out for whole season, this is tragic
either Pique gets slapped by someone or we just start conceding left and right

 

[darthvader7888]

he could be out for whole season, this is tragic
either Pique gets slapped by someone or we just start conceding left and right

It's 3-4 weeks according to most sources.
Hope he makes an early comeback again Can't count on it though.
I can see a back 4 of Montoya-Pique-Masch-Alba or Alves-Pique-Masch-Adriano working. Especially with good pressing.

 

[DonAndres]

If our wingers and midfielders press hard along with Alves and Masch staying positionally disciplined, the only thing that could screw us over is Pique getting blazed in a 1v1

 

[darthvader7888]

If our wingers and midfielders press hard along with Alves and Masch staying positionally disciplined, the only thing that could screw us over is Pique getting blazed in a 1v1

Yeah. Basically, if we play against PSG similarly to the way we played on Tuesday, we shouldn't have too much trouble.

 

[Garrus]

And who says pique wouldn't also get injured somehow, This can turn ugly very quickly, And an identical situation already happened in the start of this season.
Bartra should start getting minutes NOW!

 

[Antimadridista1]

If our wingers and midfielders press hard along with Alves and Masch staying positionally disciplined, the only thing that could screw us over is Pique getting blazed in a 1v1

This !!! He has to progress and not to be so vulnerable in 1v1 (I specially think to Cristiano or El Shaarawy during the last matchs).
Bartra definitely has to play & Song too.

 

[DonAndres]

Puyol, who is having knee surgery, will certainly be out for one month and a half, and maybe for the rest of the season. #fcblive [sport md]