CL | Round 3: Barca - Inter 2-0

serghei

serghei

Senior Member
El Trencaxarxes said:
Very happy with our overall performance, which makes me relatively optimistic ahead of El Clásico. Inter is not a bad team and Spalletti is definitely not a bad manager. Some points about the match:

Arthur is a gift from the footballing gods. His technique isn't on par with that of Busquets, Xavi or Iniesta but his confidence and composure on the ball is right up there. He wants the ball and is constantly making himself available. Arthur definitely looks like the future of our midfield. He took control brilliantly yesterday along with Busquets, and on several occasions, he made a good decision to reverse the direction of play to retain possession comfortably instead of passing the ball into a difficult and crowded area. He's cool and composed and that's the very most important thing against a team that presses like Inter did yesterday.

Lenglet is rock solid defensively. His marking is on point and he barely gave Icardi an inch of space yesterday. Whenever Icardi got a bit too far from him, he did the smart thing and committed the tactical foul. He's cynical and that's important. Right along the lines of how Puyi and Mascherano used to play. Of course, try to win the ball but if you fail, make sure that you stop the attack, fall back and reorganize. At this point, I almost feel like we should just buy players exclusively from Sevilla. They just always do great here.

Rafinha should be getting a lot of minutes in the next couple of weeks. He's such a dynamic and talented player. He's a very different kind of player than Dembélé, obviously, but his attacking prowess has never been in question. He's a natural.

Alba is head and shoulders above any other left back in the world. It's outright criminal that Lucho keeps overlooking him, even if it's good for us.

I still think Messi's absence will be an issue in the upcoming weeks, but hopefully, players like Rafinha will get some chances and deliver some hungry performances.
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Alba is comfortably the 2nd best LB of his generation after Marcelo.
 
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PhilS

Active member
Well played by the entire squad. When you have players on the field who have been in the Barca system since childhood, like Rafinha, Roberto and Arthur (Arthur obviously attended La Masia via the internet), everything fits together, team play is maximized.
 
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El Trencaxarxes

Member
serghei said:
Alba is comfortably the 2nd best LB of his generation after Marcelo.
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I would pick Alba ahead of Marcelo any day of the week. Alba is much less of a liability defensively. Maybe Marcelo is flashier offensively and more of a direct goal threat, but in my opinion Alba's passing ability and runs off the ball are unparalleled in his generation.
 
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Stoichkov1

New member
El Trencaxarxes said:
I would pick Alba ahead of Marcelo any day of the week. Alba is much less of a liability defensively. Maybe Marcelo is flashier offensively and more of a direct goal threat, but in my opinion Alba's passing ability and runs off the ball are unparalleled in his generation.
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Alba's passing ability and crossing is nowhere near Marcelo.
 
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El Trencaxarxes

Member
Stoichkov1 said:
Alba's passing ability and crossing is nowhere near Marcelo.
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About passing ability, I don't agree. I think Alba's vision is great. Some of his passes to Suárez within the past couple of years have been ridiculous, and his cutbacks at the touchline are often hit with incredible precision. His crossing I won't judge. Marcelo has had Benzema, Bale and Ronaldo to aim for, compared to usually just Messi and Suárez for Alba. It's impossible to compare that.

I think offensively Marcelo has a bit of an edge, but I don't think it's as outspoken as you seem to think. Defensively, however, I think Alba is head and shoulders above Marcelo who is often a liability when defending. For me, that gives Alba the edge overall.
 
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