CL | Round of 16: PSG - FC Barcelona (5-2 agg)

[Birdy]

In general, Messi is my favorite player.
But I don't think he can handle the high-intensity games in his actual age in 2021, as we need very dynamic players who run consistently to cover spaces.
Even if Messi plays those games, I see him play like 30-40 minutes in the second-half, not for 90 minutes. This is my opinion.
If you play Messi, you need to have a strong team with excellent effective defenders, and fortunately that barca squad doesn't have that quality in defence.

Couldn't agree more.
Messi post-18/19 can only be a super sub for the end of games.
Football at the highest level is all about intensity and endless running.
Anyone thinking Suarez has a place on it, or defenders like Pique and Lenglet who cannot run for life in open space, lives in a parallel universe

 

[Hamzah]

Not to be an ass but we all know where that missing 10/11 km is coming from... so it's no surprise.

If messi leaves we will be awful but could at least begin to become a pressing team, and with coaching and a couple signings could be decent defensively in a couple of seasons

Offensively we will be terrible of course but that’s already the case

 

[putogusiluz8]

The problem is he doesn't give a sense of security. Despite the fact he can make some crazy out of the ordinary saves, even the likes of Neto makes you feel more secure. Ter Stegen is such a wildcard.

 

[Jaguar]

You do realize in almost every single interview Laporta has praised the seniors and said he wants to keep Messi...?

He stopped Barca from turning into a Valencia or Sevilla and into a legendary team. If your mindset judges presidents from meaningless complimentary interviews instead of how he turned Barca into a real ferocious team then your mindset is a similar level to current team.

 

[gregorrin10]

Messi needs to go. Best for him and club. He isnt interested.

Busi and Pique need to follow him out.

Alba too. Then to follow them are the younger players who are simply shit (Lenglet, Umtiti, Coutinho, Griezmann, Braithwaite, Dembele?). We need almost a complete clear out at this point. It's not just about lack of quality anymore. Too much loser mentality already engrained in these players's DNA.

Need to bring in new players, homegrown youth products and free agents from outside (Moriba, Balde, Pena, Garcia?...), combined with some bargain deal players, who still have something to prove in their careers and aren't just looking for one last paycheck. And some other maybe even not well known players, who are among the best players in their current teams, but these have to be only the top 4-6 teams in their leagues, not top 3, so that Barca is the next logical step up in their careers, Gaya being the perfect example of a player like that. And Valencia, Sevilla, Dortmund (hint!), Lyon (them especially, since they have some stunning young players) being the kind of teams that we should be looking at for reinforcements. Realistically, we also don't have enough money to pay any better teams than that, cause they'd want too much money for any of their players.

And it needs to be done in the next 5-18 months, before the select few remaining in the current team (Araujo, Mingueza, De Jong, Pedri, Puig, Fati, Dest?, Ter Stegen?, Trincao?) also develop this loser mentality as their default setting.

 

[Birdy]

And now, hold your shit, the xG map is coming:

PSG created 8 (!) big chances during the game. Better than the 11 Bayern created in August, but still unacceptable for the highest level.
In contrast, Barca created only semi-chances, and only 1 big: Dembele's. But that one was the result of a defender slipping, so it does not count...

And if you wonder how PSG created most of those chances - apart from set-pieces, which is another glaring deficiency in this team - look at this image:
Moments before Mbape's last goal:

8 PSG players in the box, only 2 futher ahead.
2 lines of 7 Barca players (first line of 4, second line of 3) nicely spread out, and 3 players further retreated.
Any top (or not even top) team in Europe that knows ABC of transitioning, and has players that CAN run, stops this counter

Plus:
typical Barca shape when pressing:

Some players commit, while the last line - led by Pique and Lenglet who continue to do what they did under EV - stays retreated, thus creating tons of space between the lines.

 

[jj_101]

So do you think a other coach would have saved us? Dont you realize its not about the coach but more about our squad. How many coaches do we need to fire and hire to realize that we have shit players?

However shit the players may be, we seem to keep hiring coaches that are 10x worse.

 

[blueandclaret]

If messi leaves we will be awful but could at least begin to become a pressing team, and with coaching and a couple signings could be decent defensively in a couple of seasons

Offensively we will be terrible of course but that?s already the case

Sad to say, but I?m honestly convinced we are better off moving on from Messi.

 

[blueandclaret]

If Pique, Busquets, or Lenglet are still starting next year we have failed.

 

[Richard.H]

Sad to say, but I?m honestly convinced we are better off moving on from Messi.

We do. It's tough saying that in this forum but we really need to. He is our savior in a lot of matches, but we need to part ways so our rebuild can fully happen. We need to clean out all of the oldies. He has been our club legend. He was rewarded very well for his talents (his salary). Now it's time to give him a very good farewell and do something in his honor (statue in front of camp nou or rename the joan gamper trophy after him).

 

[Total-Football]

Can we stop for a minute and give psg their due praise.. That was some champagne football they played honestly.. I know we got trashed repeatedly but mostly by ruthless efficient teams.. But psg took the barca model and ran with it.. They not only win, they entertain.. Some attacks yesterday were pure money

 

[Porque]

Such a mauling. Were just so far off the top-physical teams right now.

 

[Xaviniesta]

Such a mailing. Were just so far off the top-physical teams right now.

One thing that was so obvious was that no one was pressing or making runs. infuriating watching it

 

[Porque]

Yeah, worst is that it's nothing new. PSG with LE was the same.

PSG moved up and down the pitch like a unit. While we had huge gaps as our defence held a deep line for fear of getting hit on the break.

Araujo would of helped fair better, but we would get beat everytime even if we had Araujo and Van Dijk.

Horrible. The demons of CL exits past still lurk in Messi's head.

 

[Gaudi]

For all the croats: https://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/s...ampom-smiri-se-i-prestani-vikati/2254937.aspx
To everyone else: words between Pique and Griez with Pique screaming hold the ball we are running like crazy everywhere.

Everything in one fight: hold the ball DNA and what @Birdy posted - we are basicall last ditch defending all the time. No movement as a unit, no organisation, just ball to the feet and hope for miracle. We are obsolete and we don't need new players we need to get rid of players so this style dies with them.