André Gomes

[michelco]

Saddened to see the state he's found himself in. But it was clear as day light that it'll never work for him at Barca. You guys can't blame him personally, he probably does his best but it's not his fault he's so unfit for a passing team like Barca. He was never that kind of player, and never will be.

For Valencia he excelled in a counter attacking system, playing direct football which let him have the most freedom in the midfield trio to run with the ball and often he'd drift wide to the left. Infact some of his best games was when he play as a left attacker in the front trio. How a professional scouting team thought he'd be a good fit to go from one extreme to another in terms of playing style, I don't know.

I honestly don't see him succeeding in a possession system even. He needs the space to operate which is never given to a Barcelona midfield.

 

[Messi983]

I don't think it's a coincidence the team found form after he was left out... Sadly he doesn't fit.

Or maybe we are playing better because Iniesta is also not in the lineup? Or just because we've changed the formation that currently works well but that formation also wasn't proven successful against a top team yet (yes, we won at Calderon but we didn't really play good), so we'll see how we'll do against PSG. Emery will now also have a few games to study our new formation and of course he has a lot better players than Sporting or Celta.

I know people here are disliking Gomes but most are treating him like he's the biggest culprit we've been shit before Lucho changed the formation (I'll give him a credit for that but he should've done that before debacle against PSG). I still believe in Gomes and think he deserves another season under new coach/system.

 

[FlaFCB]

Or maybe we are playing better because Iniesta is also not in the lineup? Or just because we've changed the formation that currently works well but that formation also wasn't proven successful against a top team yet (yes, we won at Calderon but we didn't really play good), so we'll see how we'll do against PSG. Emery will now also have a few games to study our new formation and of course he has a lot better players than Sporting or Celta.

I know people here are disliking Gomes but most are treating him like he's the biggest culprit we've been shit before Lucho changed the formation (I'll give him a credit for that but he should've done that before debacle against PSG). I still believe in Gomes and think he deserves another season under new coach/system.

Iniesta has been injured a lot this season. He has 672 minutes in the league, vs 1053 for Gomes. When on form, Iniesta is still himself. Some players just don't fit in Barça. It doesn't mean they're bad players. I've said several times here Gomes would be great for a team like Juve. Like Cesc, who wasn't brilliant here, but now is good with chelsea. I think it'd take a change in tactics for Gomes to fit, and I don't know if that will ever happen.

 

[Jombi]

It would shock me if Gomes had a great spell in another big team. I simply fail to see what people in here see in Gomes. He just screams mediocre.

 

[JamDav1982]

Iniesta has been injured a lot this season. He has 672 minutes in the league, vs 1053 for Gomes. When on form, Iniesta is still himself. Some players just don't fit in Barça. It doesn't mean they're bad players. I've said several times here Gomes would be great for a team like Juve. Like Cesc, who wasn't brilliant here, but now is good with chelsea. I think it'd take a change in tactics for Gomes to fit, and I don't know if that will ever happen.

Iniesta is not the player he was and his legs have gone a bit. Can notice when he is defending that just cant get back and chase.

Gomes has been poor but the biggest reason for the change has been the 3-4-3 to help get numbers in midfield and move Messi more centrally to allow him to get in bettre positions and cover for him not protecting right hand side.

The biggest issue with Gomes seems to he his mentality and not got the arrogance to play in a Barca midfield. Too often passes the ball back the way he is facing as seems to want to try and get by without making a fuck up rather than having the confidence to go and try to influence game positively.

There is a player in there and he would suit this formation more but if he is too timid on the ball nothing will really change.

 

[ATLBarcaFan]

Played our best game of the year last weekend and yet Gomes did not see the field, strange

 

[JamDav1982]

Played our best game of the year last weekend and yet Gomes did not see the field, strange

Not really.

It is down to the change in formation and players looking happier in it more than anything.

Otherwise there would have been dramatic improvements in any game he hadnt played before now and there wasnt.

Gomes has not been good enough but the way he is trying to be made a scapegoat for the season is a farce. Lucho and just about all the players have been at fault as well fo parts of the season.

 

[FlaFCB]

Iniesta is not the player he was and his legs have gone a bit. Can notice when he is defending that just cant get back and chase.

After the injuries, he hasn't regained form. Before he was still doing his usual. He surely can't be counted on throughout a season anymore, but there's no substitute for him. Neither gomes nor denis are good enough for that.

 

[JamDav1982]

After the injuries, he hasn't regained form. Before he was still doing his usual. He surely can't be counted on throughout a season anymore, but there's no substitute for him. Neither gomes nor denis are good enough for that.

He still has some good moments on the ball but he his legs have not been the same for a couple years now. He is nowhere near the player he was. Gone from one of the greatest midfielders ever to not even close to one of the best in world currently.

In the 3-4-3 there is an argument for the legs of Roberto and Rakitic ahead of Iniesta at moment.

Still can have some magical moments no doubt but all round performance with team already covering Messi lack of defending is a lot to cover.

 

[God Serena]

Even with a new manager I don't see a point in trying to force this Gomes experiment to work. He lacks very many qualities that can't be blamed on Lucho's system. When we have players like Alena and Samper who are at worst just as good as him for 0 times the price it doesn't make sense to resist selling him and trying something new. Every single midfielder we have save Busquets is not quality enough to be a starter here and that's really alarming.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

Not really.

It is down to the change in formation and players looking happier in it more than anything.

Otherwise there would have been dramatic improvements in any game he hadnt played before now and there wasnt.

Gomes has not been good enough but the way he is trying to be made a scapegoat for the season is a farce. Lucho and just about all the players have been at fault as well fo parts of the season.

Exactly. Some people give Gomes way more attention than he deserves. If you read some posts in here one could think we played bad because of Gomes.

At least he deserves some games now in these new formation with much more motivated players around him to prove what he can be worth. I think Rafinha's 'role' could fit him.

 

[FlaFCB]

Exactly. Some people give Gomes way more attention than he deserves. If you read some posts in here one could think we played bad because of Gomes.

At least he deserves some games now in these new formation with much more motivated players around him to prove what he can be worth. I think Rafinha's 'role' could fit him.

Gomes as the rw? How would that fit him? He's not a forward. Rafinha has a history of playing both rw and rcm, and he is faster than gomes is.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

Gomes as the rw? How would that fit him? He's not a forward. Rafinha has a history of playing both rw and rcm, and he is faster than gomes is.

Does Rafinha play RW in the new formation? I would clearly say NO. We had just one winger in the last 3 games and that was Neymar. Rafinha and Bob are covering more or less the same room, trying to reduce the damage defensively.

Gomes is a player who needs room to unfold his strenghts and allowing him the offensive role of that what I call Bob-Rafinha pair could do wonders. He is not that kind of tiki-taka player, but the guy who runs 30m with the ball at his feet. In my opinion he is good at it. Neither Rafinha nor Gomes will finish top10 in our squad when it comes to pace.

It is hard for me to explain these tactical things in English.

 

[Ghostmaster]

Exactly. Some people give Gomes way more attention than he deserves. If you read some posts in here one could think we played bad because of Gomes.

At least he deserves some games now in these new formation with much more motivated players around him to prove what he can be worth. I think Rafinha's 'role' could fit him.

Yes, we played badly because of the tactics, but we were even worse with Gomes, we lost a total of 9 points in La Liga when Gomes was a starter and we lost 1-3 to City and 0-4 to PSG and in all these games there was the same story, opponents sliced through midfield like through warm butter, there were no defensive stability in midfield. At least Rakitic runs like crazy and tries to protect RB, Gomes just jogs in hopes that others will clean up the mess or he doesn't know how to position himself and that is on top of the fact that he doesn't have the skills to bring the ball forward to front three.

 

[FlaFCB]

Does Rafinha play RW in the new formation? I would clearly say NO. We had just one winger in the last 3 games and that was Neymar. Rafinha and Bob are covering more or less the same room, trying to reduce the damage defensively.

Gomes is a player who needs room to unfold his strenghts and allowing him the offensive role of that what I call Bob-Rafinha pair could do wonders. He is not that kind of tiki-taka player, but the guy who runs 30m with the ball at his feet. In my opinion he is good at it. Neither Rafinha nor Gomes will finish top10 in our squad when it comes to pace.

It is hard for me to explain these tactical things in English.

Yes, Rafinha plays a hybrid rw/rcm in the 343, while Bob is the rcm/rb. Rafa attacks the open space in rw a lot, while Messi goes to center. Gomes has no chance to be good there.