Arthur

IvanAtanasov

IvanAtanasov

Member
serghei said:
Imagine having a player of this caliber and benching him in the biggest match of the year, on Anfield, while needing midfielders who keep the ball well.

Serious candidate for the managerial failure of the decade. Could've very well been the difference between 5 Champions Leagues, and 6.
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exactly, this is still hunting me
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
IvanAtanasov said:
exactly, this is still hunting me
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Me too. I can't believe how we let that one slip. Near perfect conditions all the way through. La Liga in the bag early, plenty of rotation and rest, easy opponent awaiting us in the final, bad season from the other European powerhouses, easy draws (Lyon and United are Europa League level teams today) in the last 16 and quarters, huge advantage in the first leg even if lucky, Liverpool fighting a hard battle in PL and dealing with tiredness and key injuries, Messi playing great and being decisive after two off seasons in CL.

Like, literally, the only two things that didn't align ideally, were having an incompetent manager and playing the return leg in the semifinal away from home on a very tough stadium. And despite everything else being hugely in our favor, these two 'details' were enough to blow up our CL season.
 
Lapi

Lapi

Member
serghei said:
Like, literally, the only two things that didn't align ideally, were having an incompetent manager and playing the return leg in the semifinal away from home on a very tough stadium. And despite everything else being hugely in our favor, these two 'details' were enough to blow up our CL season.
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Surely.
As Valverde has no tactics whatsoever, his only surprise he can force on an opponent is NOT to play a formation which is good, hence simply hoping for a gnomish formation to perform good, just because thinks an unexpected starting 11 is a surprise in itself. He is right, it is but in the negative sense.
 
M

Marshall D Teach

Well-known member
serghei said:
Me too. I can't believe how we let that one slip. Near perfect conditions all the way through. La Liga in the bag early, plenty of rotation and rest, easy opponent awaiting us in the final, bad season from the other European powerhouses, easy draws (Lyon and United are Europa League level teams today) in the last 16 and quarters, huge advantage in the first leg even if lucky, Liverpool fighting a hard battle in PL and dealing with tiredness and key injuries, Messi playing great and being decisive after two off seasons in CL.

Like, literally, the only two things that didn't align ideally, were having an incompetent manager and playing the return leg in the semifinal away from home on a very tough stadium. And despite everything else being hugely in our favor, these two 'details' were enough to blow up our CL season.
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Exactly. Valverde is the reason we don't have 6 CLs right now and people still defend him.
 
Vilarrubi

Vilarrubi

New member
Genuinely excited to see him (and Frenkie) playing tonight. Haven't thought that about a Barca midfield in 4/5 years.
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
He just made good performances look ordinary. Now people expect extraordinary things every game. Solid, but unspectacular performance for him. One of the best in the team as per usual. Some beautiful passes which connected with Messi in very nice positions. If Frenkie and Arthur can find Messi and Messi doesn't have to drop too much for this to happen, other teams will suffer.

I'd say him and Arthur are equally good and near world class level. Which is impressive at 22-23 years of age.
 
Vilarrubi

Vilarrubi

New member
serghei said:
He just made good performances look ordinary. Now people expect extraordinary things every game. Solid, but unspectacular performance for him. One of the best in the team as per usual. Some beautiful passes which connected with Messi in very nice positions. If Frenkie and Arthur can find Messi and Messi doesn't have to drop too much for this to happen, other teams will suffer.

I'd say him and Arthur are equally good and near world class level. Which is impressive at 22-23 years of age.
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His and Frenkie's awareness of who is around them (our players and opposition) is world class too. No more backpasses when opposition are within 5 metres.. now they just need more time together on the pitch.
 
EdmondDantes

EdmondDantes

New member
Sofascore rating: 7.3


129 touches
100 accurate passes
5 (4) long balls
Dribble attempts (succ.) 5 (4) - dribbling machine at it again
-

Not Arthur at his best but still boss and another 90' under his belt.
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
I feel Messi, Arthur and De Jong need to develop a strong bond. Messi doesn't need to be dropping as much as in the past because with these two in midfield, even with the poor movement of Ernie-Barca, Messi will be found with good passes more often than in the past. And it was visible vs Inter, because for a player who's just came back from injury, Messi was very involved. And a good reason for why Messi was very involved are the midfielders, Arthur, Vidal, and De Jong, who were all very good.
 
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