CL | Round 4: Manchester City - FC Barcelona 3-1

[klc123]

Just gotta say Busi is our biggest concern at the moment. It seems he is taking an extra second to pass it and his positioning seems way more sloppy than previous years. I never used to worry building from the back through the middle but now it's a turn over most of the time against well coached teams.

Because he is surrounded by a terrible defence and we are missing our best midfielder.

 

[gasgas]

Because he is surrounded by a terrible defence and we are missing our best midfielder.

All our defenders are playing better than him
And he is the weakest in ur midfield trio

 

[kilian]

Losing to Pep`s City isn`t the end of the world, but when you put it in perspective, it`s just another proof that the team is in bad form at the moment. No disrespect to KdB, Aguero and the rest of City squad, but our squad is a level above them. No one can tell me that Fernandinho, Gundogan etc. are that much better than Rakitic, Gomes, Busquets etc. The only difference was that they played in a well balanced system that worked, and our system this year is totally chaotic and out of balance. Ffs, with all the world class players, we shit our pants when an average team press us upfield. Our build-up is pure shit, everything is based on individual quality. I know we are spoilt by Xaviesta midfield, but the current players should be able to play good football too.

We are starting to look like Real Madrid, squad full of stars without cohesion and balanced system. I really dislike that. The Barca magic of recent years is slowly dissapearing.

 

[rixxer]

Losing to Pep`s City isn`t the end of the world, but when you put it in perspective, it`s just another proof that the team is in bad form at the moment. No disrespect to KdB, Aguero and the rest of City squad, but our squad is a level above them. No one can tell me that Fernandinho, Gundogan etc. are that much better than Rakitic, Gomes, Busquets etc. The only difference was that they played in a well balanced system that worked, and our system this year is totally chaotic and out of balance. Ffs, with all the world class players, we shit our pants when an average team press us upfield. Our build-up is pure shit, everything is based on individual quality. I know we are spoilt by Xaviesta midfield, but the current players should be able to play good football too.

We are starting to look like Real Madrid, squad full of stars without cohesion and balanced system. I really dislike that. The Barca magic of recent years is slowly dissapearing.

We by-passed this "superb" pressing with relative ease after scoring the first goal. No problems of controlling the game either at that moment, possession being at 72 % and we created more chances by far, City was really crumbling and their press was actually ineffectual. Then suddenly- one stupid mistake-and what makes it especially bad just before the break. Then the team can not put couple of passes together; there is no confidence whatsoever, bad tackles and even worse distribution of the ball. So, yeah, there was no system in the end, but we really cannot say that there was not cohesion, plan and balanced system before that fatal mistake.

I firmly believe, it was more psychological than tactical loss, after the break it was like ship that is taking water in and everybody just panicked or just let it happen in indifference. And even after that we had 100 % chance to take a draw. So, to sum up, it's not just abandon the ship and shoot the captain; even Pep actually acknowledged that Barca was better than in Camp Nou in the first half, but then in one mistake and it all just collapsed like house of cards. Just keep calm and correct the mistakes. No panic.

 

[Science Kid]

Losing to Pep`s City isn`t the end of the world, but when you put it in perspective, it`s just another proof that the team is in bad form at the moment. No disrespect to KdB, Aguero and the rest of City squad, but our squad is a level above them. No one can tell me that Fernandinho, Gundogan etc. are that much better than Rakitic, Gomes, Busquets etc. The only difference was that they played in a well balanced system that worked, and our system this year is totally chaotic and out of balance. Ffs, with all the world class players, we shit our pants when an average team press us upfield. Our build-up is pure shit, everything is based on individual quality. I know we are spoilt by Xaviesta midfield, but the current players should be able to play good football too.

We are starting to look like Real Madrid, squad full of stars without cohesion and balanced system. I really dislike that. The Barca magic of recent years is slowly dissapearing.

Gundogan's level in 2011/12 and 2012/13 was far and above any level Rakitic has had in his career. So yes, healthy Gundogan is a better player than past his prime Busquets, Rakitic and Gomes.

Ter Stegen, Gomes, Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, Digne, Arda, out of form Rakitic and Busquets are not World class players. All we have right now is an attacking trio that's out of sync and has no midfield to create anything for them, a leaky defense and an average goal keeper.

Just because you wear a Barca jersey you don't automatically become World class.

 

[Hardy]

right now we have many world class player only on the paper. Another embarassing thing is that one of the our most expensive transfer played zero fucking minutes between Valencia and yesterday, basically we have this guy only for garbage time, good for 40 mil

 

[kilian]

Gundogan's level in 2011/12 and 2012/13 was far and above any level Rakitic has had in his career. So yes, healthy Gundogan is a better player than past his prime Busquets, Rakitic and Gomes.

Ter Stegen, Gomes, Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, Digne, Arda, out of form Rakitic and Busquets are not World class players. All we have right now is an attacking trio that's out of sync and has no midfield to create anything for them, a leaky defense and an average goal keeper.

Just because you wear a Barca jersey you don't automatically become World class.

I agree that Gundogan is individually better than Rakitic. But their midfield as a whole isn`t that much better than ours so they can dominate like this. Not long ago Tottenham destroyed them, they are not aliens. It`s just Guardiola adjusting the play, while Enrique looks clueless.

 

[blastandburn]

I have expected that Man City will try to bounce back but what made it worse is Barca players were not in good shape.

http://blog.sbobet.com/revenge-sweet-pep-super-city/

 

[PhilS]

Just gotta say Busi is our biggest concern at the moment. It seems he is taking an extra second to pass it and his positioning seems way more sloppy than previous years. I never used to worry building from the back through the middle but now it's a turn over most of the time against well coached teams.

He's the biggest concern in the first 11, but I think he worst problem is how slow his first step is now. His teammates lead him with passes, and he does not get there.

He was not the only concern yesterday. I still can't say that Gomes has shown the quality needed for someone playing for Barca in games like this: he's not bad, but where is the spark? City failed to exploit Digne's inability to mark man-on-man in the first game, but they sure exploited him this time. And when Barca was bringing the ball upfield, City was intentionally leaving Digne open, so that he could turn the ball over. I think Digne should be playing a different position, he looks so much better closer to the goal. I just have not seen that Ter Stegen is as good as Bravo or Valdes were.

We are seeing the quality of backup play needed at CB. Arda has been excellent during his few chances at forward. After this game, I've got to say again that Rafinha has to be first choice to back up both Iniesta and Rak: Rafinha buries that shot that Gomes smashed against the crossbar.

 

[Raketa10]

Because he is surrounded by a terrible defence and we are missing our best midfielder.

Our defence is not bed. In modern footbal you attack and defend with entire team. You can't expect from Masche, Umtiti and others to fix everything. With our current tactics they are basically on their own.

 

[Raketa10]

He's the biggest concern in the first 11, but I think he worst problem is how slow his first step is now. His teammates lead him with passes, and he does not get there.

He was not the only concern yesterday. I still can't say that Gomes has shown the quality needed for someone playing for Barca in games like this: he's not bad, but where is the spark? City failed to exploit Digne's inability to mark man-on-man in the first game, but they sure exploited him this time. And when Barca was bringing the ball upfield, City was intentionally leaving Digne open, so that he could turn the ball over. I think Digne should be playing a different position, he looks so much better closer to the goal. I just have not seen that Ter Stegen is as good as Bravo or Valdes were.

We are seeing the quality of backup play needed at CB. Arda has been excellent during his few chances at forward. After this game, I've got to say again that Rafinha has to be first choice to back up both Iniesta and Rak: Rafinha buries that shot that Gomes smashed against the crossbar.

Valdes was better than Ter Stegen? hmmm...NO.

Some people here forgot how many mistakes he did. Bravo made a bunch of mistakes already in Premiership and against us he made a HUGE mistake. Basically they lost because of that. Mats is good but we are constantly putting him under pressure with non stop passing. We didn't do that with Valdes and Bravo at least not so much.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Valdes was better than Ter Stegen? hmmm...NO.

Some people here forgot how many mistakes he did. Bravo made a bunch of mistakes already in Premiership and against us he made a HUGE mistake. Basically they lost because of that. Mats is good but we are constantly putting him under pressure with non stop passing. We didn't do that with Valdes and Bravo at least not so much.

1000% agree with this. With Valdes we had Xavi and Iniesta controlling the game, not the defence and goalkeeper passing it for most of the game, mistakes are bound to happen.

 

[Messi983]

Drop in form for majority of team, but man...that midfield....how we miss Xaviesta there...we didn.t have the control all match in midfield, except some moments.

We had total control until City's first goal.

Give it time. Gomes is not that slow as it's made out to be here. This is relatively new, and in the first half it did a really good job dominating City on their home ground. There's room to grow and potential to be seen.

I wouldn't be surprise to see us beating Sevilla in the weekend. Personal mistakes have to be eliminated, you won't win anything if you just gift your opposition chances to score.

You know optimism is not allowed here?

Looking at the groups, maybe we need to finish 2nd. Finishing 1st might mean one of Bayern, Dortmund, PSG or Juventus at this point. Finishing 2nd might mean no Real, no Atletico, so, probably Leicester, Arsenal, and the winners from some easier groups. I think finishing 2nd gets us easier opponents the way groups are shaping up.

Could be true but in any case we'll get the toughest possible opponent whether we finish 1st or 2nd. I just want 2nd leg at Camp Nou and that's why I want us to win the group.

We by-passed this "superb" pressing with relative ease after scoring the first goal. No problems of controlling the game either at that moment, possession being at 72 % and we created more chances by far, City was really crumbling and their press was actually ineffectual. Then suddenly- one stupid mistake-and what makes it especially bad just before the break. Then the team can not put couple of passes together; there is no confidence whatsoever, bad tackles and even worse distribution of the ball. So, yeah, there was no system in the end, but we really cannot say that there was not cohesion, plan and balanced system before that fatal mistake.

I firmly believe, it was more psychological than tactical loss, after the break it was like ship that is taking water in and everybody just panicked or just let it happen in indifference. And even after that we had 100 % chance to take a draw. So, to sum up, it's not just abandon the ship and shoot the captain; even Pep actually acknowledged that Barca was better than in Camp Nou in the first half, but then in one mistake and it all just collapsed like house of cards. Just keep calm and correct the mistakes. No panic.

It's a bit worrying that a team with that much experience and quality reacted that way after conceding the goal but absolutely agree there is no need for panic. Yes, we are not in form right now and missing important players like Iniesta and Pique because of injuries don't help us either but trophies are won in March-May, not in October or November. We'll be fine.

 

[Adversus]

1000% agree with this. With Valdes we had Xavi and Iniesta controlling the game, not the defence and goalkeeper passing it for most of the game, mistakes are bound to happen.

The game against City a team that presses just showed how important especially Xavi was. Iniesta as well and when he and Pique are back things will be obviously better but Xavi was the man that allowed Barca to control games on the half way line rather than the edge of their own box. A defender could always find him with the ball and a midfielder showing was just not an option against City at times and it resulted in mistakes.

Honestly City have similar problems because they don't have a Xavi either although Gundogan had a brilliant night.

 

[klc123]

We had total control until City's first goal...

...

I agree with you. I can't really take most of the posts on this forum seriously anymore.