KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
Because on current form Marquinhos is better than T Silva, but T Silva if fit will start next time. Also Ibra slows their entire game down, which is more suited to us.
Because on current form Marquinhos is better than T Silva, but T Silva if fit will start next time. Also Ibra slows their entire game down, which is more suited to us.
spark
New member
That would would be so if we had just the one defensive weakness. Unfortunately if they cant punish us with counters, the could just score a couple headers from set pieces. Cant really say anything suits us when one long ball over Mascherano's head is all it takes for mayhem to ensue.
F
Flavia
Guest
I watched enrique's press conference, and it wasn't good.
I think he will field this team: MAtS; Alves, Pique, Masch, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Xavi; MSN.
Maybe Douglas for Alves(lol), or Rafinha for Xavi, and the team will keep playing as they have been. Midfielders protecting the fullbacks, no control, chaos, yada, yada.
I think he will field this team: MAtS; Alves, Pique, Masch, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Xavi; MSN.
Maybe Douglas for Alves(lol), or Rafinha for Xavi, and the team will keep playing as they have been. Midfielders protecting the fullbacks, no control, chaos, yada, yada.
Neymessi
Active member
Unlike most of the people on this forum,I expect a win.Messi neymar suarez will all start and 2 defeats is just too much for barca and everyone will give their all to end this bad time.I just hope that all 3 of our forwards click perfectly tomorrow because we have really difficult la liga fixtures ahead of us and we need all 3 of them to be at their best.Real don't look like dropping points right now against any team and we can't afford to let the difference between us and real get even more.
A new begining has to start vs ajax.
A new begining has to start vs ajax.
Kasperroed
New member
It is so freaking fustrating to watch the same mistakes over and over again...
Heisenberg is cooking
New member
If he starts douglas,if enrique does that, then I have nothing more to say. Exept for a desperate "sack him" of course.
We can only wish that the PSG players who missed out the first game will play this time round.
Ibra is so slow that even Pique will be able to deal with him and the hype over T.Silva has been unjustified for ages and especially now.
I agree that Douglas is a bit shit, but we have to be able to win a few matches even with Douglas. That being said, the game being an absolute must-win and away from home, Alves should be starting.
Pepe Silvia
Active member
I think we will probably win decisively but in the grand scheme of things I also think this team is in serious trouble.
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Flavia
Guest
i_bleed_blaugrana
Senior Member
Part of the reason why I am so worried about this game is specifically Frank de Boer. Right after it was announced that Tata was being released, I made a case for him being the best possible coach for what we need now and its due to his tactical acumen. Lucho is in a very vulnerable position right now, and based on statements like "we want to control the game but also want to be unpredictable" showcase that he isn't going to change much of anything, which is not personally what I want to be hearing from him.
If Lucho fields a similar setup against Ajax that he used against Celta, we will have problems again. With how deep Busquets drops and the lack of cohesive movement of the team with the position of the ball, he simply cannot play as the lone DM anymore since he is virtually a CB anyway. He simply doesn't have the pace or physicality, as any time he pushes forward with the attack and we lose the ball, the opposition has too much space to attack with too many of our players caught forward. Another problem is his insistence on trying to make Alves work in this team. What allowed Alves to play the way he does and be the best RB in the world was his pace and hustle that allowed him to recover any time he was caught forward, that and he was much better on the ball. Alves has lost a step and a half in pace, his decision making is suspect and he leaves the right too exposed for the lack of productivity he provides going forward which is why I want either Bartra, Pedro or Montoya to start taking over his role. I've argued before that Bartra as our right sided Abidal would do us a world of good but if Lucho wants that attacking overlap, Pedro would do much better in the situations Alves finds himself in and since Pedro will rarely, if ever, start over our front three, repositioning him would do a lot of good to this squad.
I still have a lot of worries over what Ajax can do to us. They are not a push over team, much stronger than Celta, and de Boer will have them well prepared to exploit and capitalize on any weaknesses we show. They have a lot of pace on the wings and can counter attack well.
We need to control this game, this is a game where we need to stifle them with possession and force them to chase and tire out. I've said it before and I will repeat: we need to end as soon as possible, playing a 4-3-3 with two attacking fullbacks, since Pep never did it and it does to much damage tactically by forcing the MF to cover for the fullbacks instead of focusing on controlling possession and creating chances for the front three. With this is mind, this would be my line-up:
Soccer formations made easy with this11.com
I want either Rafinha or Samper in with Busi and Xavi with no Raki or Masch because those right now are the best players we have who can control possession. I disagree with Flavia's pessimism around Rafinha, as I thought he had a strong match against Celta and showed some good things on the ball. But Samper would be more defensive and would allow Xavi to play further forward and with Bartra providing extra defensive cover on the right, it would cause a lot less headaches to our midfield defensively.
Thoughts?
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KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
If you look at it in a positive light, do you want Lucho to tell the press how he's going to set up against Ajax either? We'll know if Lucho has learned or not when we watch the game tomorrow, not from his pressers.
F
Flavia
Guest
Part of the reason why I am so worried about this game is specifically Frank de Boer. Right after it was announced that Tata was being released, I made a case for him being the best possible coach for what we need now and its due to his tactical acumen. Lucho is in a very vulnerable position right now, and based on statements like "we want to control the game but also want to be unpredictable" showcase that he isn't going to change much of anything, which is not personally what I want to be hearing from him.
If Lucho fields a similar setup against Ajax that he used against Celta, we will have problems again. With how deep Busquets drops and the lack of cohesive movement of the team with the position of the ball, he simply cannot play as the lone DM anymore since he is virtually a CB anyway. He simply doesn't have the pace or physicality, as any time he pushes forward with the attack and we lose the ball, the opposition has too much space to attack with too many of our players caught forward. Another problem is his insistence on trying to make Alves work in this team. What allowed Alves to play the way he does and be the best RB in the world was his pace and hustle that allowed him to recover any time he was caught forward, that and he was much better on the ball. Alves has lost a step and a half in pace, his decision making is suspect and he leaves the right too exposed for the lack of productivity he provides going forward which is why I want either Bartra, Pedro or Montoya to start taking over his role. I've argued before that Bartra as our right sided Abidal would do us a world of good but if Lucho wants that attacking overlap, Pedro would do much better in the situations Alves finds himself in and since Pedro will rarely, if ever, start over our front three, repositioning him would do a lot of good to this squad.
I still have a lot of worries over what Ajax can do to us. They are not a push over team, much stronger than Celta, and de Boer will have them well prepared to exploit and capitalize on any weaknesses we show. They have a lot of pace on the wings and can counter attack well.
We need to control this game, this is a game where we need to stifle them with possession and force them to chase and tire out. I've said it before and I will repeat: we need to end as soon as possible, playing a 4-3-3 with two attacking fullbacks, since Pep never did it and it does to much damage tactically by forcing the MF to cover for the fullbacks instead of focusing on controlling possession and creating chances for the front three. With this is mind, this would be my line-up:
Soccer formations made easy with this11.com
I want either Rafinha or Samper in with Busi and Xavi with no Raki or Masch because those right now are the best players we have who can control possession. I disagree with Flavia's pessimism around Rafinha, as I thought he had a strong match against Celta and showed some good things on the ball. But Samper would be more defensive and would allow Xavi to play further forward and with Bartra providing extra defensive cover on the right, it would cause a lot less headaches to our midfield defensively.
Thoughts?
Mathieu is injured. And we won't see Bartra as rb. I don't even think that thought occurred to Lucho. He will keep using the fullbacks to attack, and the cms to cover for them. Lucho thinks we lost to celta for bad finishing/luck, so he thinks we're on the right track. Let's see.
What pessimism around Rafinha, from me, btw?
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