9 - Luis Suárez - v1

[Irish_Cules]

we don't have "midfield problems". We have players unsuited for modern football.

Nonsense. Same was said of Xavi years ago when players like Essien were in fashion. All types of players are suited to modern football if they do what they do well enough. The problem is that we aren't doing what they're good at well enough Xavi-Iniesta in their prime would dominate any midfield in modern football. A midfield that is functioning well will get the better of a midfield that isn't functioning well, regardless of style.

 

[eye-switcher]

we are still one of the best sides in the world, how are our players unsuited to modern football?

hm we are sliding , further and further down that list...not top 3 anymore

 

[SeloBarca]

Thats due to age. Prime Xavi and Iniesta would still boss todays football. But they have declined very fast. Well, actually they haev delined since Peps last year, along with some other players.

 

[Alarcón]

hm we are sliding , further and further down that list...not top 3 anymore

who is top 3 then? Dortmund? the only teams you could argue are better than Barça are Bayern, RM and maybe Chelsea

 

[SeloBarca]

Dunno, we could loose against more teams then that now. ManC, PSG can also beat us. AM is also a danger.

 

[ebc_99]

Bayern & Real are the only teams better than us right now. We have huge room for improvement and I believe we can do that this season, we have the forwards and midfielders to beat any team, they just have to play better. Our defence has looked good but we have conceded 6 against PSG & Real so work has to be done there. But to right us off is silly, Chelsea did not look great today and Real are vunerable in defence just as we are.

If Lucho has time to build the team he wants then I think it will work but he needs more than 12 games. Everyone knew that coming into this season so I don't understand the complaints, it will take time yet we are still top of the table that bodes well for the future. Look at Real last year, they struggled early on and fell well behind and couldn't catch it back up and finished 3rd even though they were the strongest team. This year with our struggles we are still top and when everything clicks into gear we will be as strong as any other team.

 

[Alarcón]

They can beat us, but we can also beat them. Sociedad can also beat RM, doesn't mean they're better.

 

[Truthist]

Bayern & Real are the only teams better than us right now. We have huge room for improvement and I believe we can do that this season, we have the forwards and midfielders to beat any team, they just have to play better. Our defence has looked good but we have conceded 6 against PSG & Real so work has to be done there. But to right us off is silly, Chelsea did not look great today and Real are vunerable in defence just as we are.

If Lucho has time to build the team he wants then I think it will work but he needs more than 12 games. Everyone knew that coming into this season so I don't understand the complaints, it will take time yet we are still top of the table that bodes well for the future. Look at Real last year, they struggled early on and fell well behind and couldn't catch it back up and finished 3rd even though they were the strongest team. This year with our struggles we are still top and when everything clicks into gear we will be as strong as any other team.

The complaints are things like saying Mascherano will play in the midfield and then almost exclusively carries on playing him centre half. We are so weak against set pieces that all it requires is an half decent delivery and we are in serious trouble. We are so easy to bypass in the middle of the park, no mobility or athleticism to track runners. We have Alves virtually playing right forward sending crosses in for the keeper to catch yet can't be bothered (although he was committed last night) to track back.

Our weaknesses unlike most other top teams are too glaring and because we have not sought to address our weaknesses too many teams have figured out how to play against us. We need also need to reinvent our tiki-taka. There is no footballing rule book that says we have to allow the opposition to get their shape back before we attack - counter attacks can be deadly as we should know.

We are top and I hope it stays that way of course, but, as soon as we come across teams that are very good we will struggle due to our glaring weaknesses, IMO. We will rely too much on individual brilliance and the way teams line up against us or should I say how we let them settle against us we could be in trouble.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Bayern & Real are the only teams better than us right now. We have huge room for improvement and I believe we can do that this season, we have the forwards and midfielders to beat any team, they just have to play better. Our defence has looked good but we have conceded 6 against PSG & Real so work has to be done there. But to right us off is silly, Chelsea did not look great today and Real are vunerable in defence just as we are.

If Lucho has time to build the team he wants then I think it will work but he needs more than 12 games. Everyone knew that coming into this season so I don't understand the complaints, it will take time yet we are still top of the table that bodes well for the future. Look at Real last year, they struggled early on and fell well behind and couldn't catch it back up and finished 3rd even though they were the strongest team. This year with our struggles we are still top and when everything clicks into gear we will be as strong as any other team.

We don't have the midfielders to beat any team, period. Both Xavi and Iniesta are way past it, Busquets is deteriorating even though he is still young, Rakitic is great defensively but that is pretty much it, Rafinha is too raw, Sergio Roberto is too bland. Who else?

When everything clicks? That is a HUGE if. Our defeat is not the result of temporary bad form, it is a structural one that involves personnel, tactics as well as our overall approach to the game. I don't see any short-term fixes.

 

[Devils]

Iniesta and Busi aren't past it! FFS! Barcaforum takes doom and gloom to a whole new level.

Every team has a bad year once in awhile, it does not mean the players are past it!

Look at the previous 3 CL winners and look at their 1-2 seasons before they won the CL (Chelsea, Bayern and Real), they were utter shit before their rebuilding process yet they never abandoned players that were the core of their teams that were still capable of quality performances. If we used this forums logic, Bayern should have gave up on Robben and Ribery between 2010-2012 because of poor results over 1-2 years.

FFS as of yesterday Iniesta and Busi past it according to this forum, if they manage a few months of quality performances, which they are more than capable of, this forum will be all over them again.

Sorry, I realize this is the Suarez thread but FFS it has to be said.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Iniesta and Busi aren't past it! FFS! Barcaforum takes doom and gloom to a whole new level.

Every team has a bad year once in awhile, it does not mean the players are past it!

Look at the previous 3 CL winners and look at their 1-2 seasons before they won the CL (Chelsea, Bayern and Real), they were utter shit before their rebuilding process yet they never abandoned players that were the core of their teams that were still capable of quality performances.

FFS as of yesterday Iniesta and Busi past it according to this forum, if they manage a few months of quality performances, which they are more than capable of, this forum will be all over them again.

Sorry, I realize this is the Suarez thread but FFS it has to be said.

Not saying Busquets is past it, I am saying Xavi and Iniesta are past it. Do you think they are not? Not that I want to get rid if them, not at all, but the rebuilding of our midfield must not be centered around these two.

 

[Devils]

Not saying Busquets is past it, I am saying Xavi and Iniesta are past it. Do you think they are not? Not that I want to get rid if them, not at all, but the rebuilding of our midfield must not be centered around these two.

Iniesta is absolutely NOT past it.

You put him on the market, every top team in the world will go for him and he will bench any player on whatever team he goes to and he would destroy us if he were to play against us, same could be said about Busi. They may be out of form, but he is absolutely not past his physical capabilities as footballers.

Robben was shit and bottled every big game from 2010-2012, he was absolutely not past it.
Terry and Lampard were horrid the season before and the season during which Chelsea won the CL, they were not past it.
The core of Bayern (also the spine of Germany) were destroyed by Dortmund for 2 years, outclassed multiple times on the national stage, yet neither Germany or Bayern ever gave up on the likes of Schweinsteiger, Muller, Lahm etc... and look where they are now.

Iniesta and Busi aren't finished/deteriorating, that's not even debatable, it's 100% fact. They and the rest of our team is going through a bad spell, but they are still world class footballers.

 

[KingMessi]

Iniesta and Busi aren't finished/deteriorating, that's not even debatable, it's 100% fact. They and the rest of our team is going through a bad spell, but they are still world class footballers.

It's more so that Lucho's system which focuses on the wings, doesn't really play to Iniesta and Busquets' strengths.

 

[Devils]

It's more so that Lucho's system which focuses on the wings, doesn't really play to Iniesta and Busquets' strengths.

It's hard to reach this sort of conclusion so early on in the season.

We haven't even integrated Suarez, one of the top 3 players on the planet, into our squad yet. So there is definitely room for big changes to occur to our play.

 

[KingMessi]

It's hard to reach this sort of conclusion so early on in the season.

I'm just commenting on what we've seen so far. Xavi/Rakitic and Iniesta don't have as much freedom and are playing too far apart because of Alba and Alves being pushed too far forward. Hopefully this changes.