Copa | Round of 32: FC Barcelona - Cultural Leonesa (5-1 agg.)
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
RivaldoBarca
Banned
Dem-crap
Blaugrana Man
New member
Thrilled. Managed the win without any injuries or too much effort. Move on.
Edit: Other than Samper, which is a shame, but not a loss.
Edit: Other than Samper, which is a shame, but not a loss.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Alena looked good. Otherwise quite shit game. I thought opponent played good game.
Hahahaha it was he who saved barca with his free kick of genius.
he should have made a pass to Dembele!
i_bleed_blaugrana
Senior Member
Was working so I just watched the recording.
First off, credit fucking Cultural! They played a heck of a game and for a team in the 3rd division to keep roughly a third of the ball throughout the match against us is impressive to say the least. They also didn't just park the bus the entire time, they had good spells on the ball, were organized off the ball and played with intensity but weren't dirty. I really like what they showed as a team and as a club and I hope to see them in La Liga a couple years down the road!
Our class showed through though with the goal at the end but it was a really disjointed game from us with some players shining and others really struggling. Imho...
The Bad:
-Semedo. I've been a big fan of his this season, he has really impressed me on both sides of the ball this season but I don't know where he was tonight. He made from my count about 5 turnovers today, 2 of them leading to dangerous breaks from Cultural. Simply can't happen if he wants to start over Roberto every match. He needed to be a leader today out there and he put us in a lot of trouble instead. Looked just slower of thought than he usually is, maybe took Cultural lightly and I hope this is a wake up call for him that you can't take any opponent lightly.
-Munir. Despite a couple decent runs here and there, and a nice flick pass in the first half, pretty much invisible throughout the entire match and missed an absolute sitter that a striker for a club of our stature should not be missing. Maybe needs more time but I'm just not convinced he can do much for us either as a starter or off the bench. Wouldn't mind seeing him moved on somewhere next summer.
-Denis Suarez. Lot of the same sentiment for him as Munir. His decision making on the ball really confuses me at times, he forces passes that aren't on to try and show something that lead to possession losses and he misses simple passes at times. He is taking time away from players who show a lot more than he does, namely...
The Good:
-Alena, no surprise here. Outside of two giveaways, just oozed class all game. Decision making, spot on. Positionally sound, always moved the ball forward when the opportunity was on. Dribbled when there was space, passed when there wasn't and make penetrative passes to the forwards and dangerous runs of his own. Please oh please, Valverde! PLAY THIS GROWN ASS MAN. Dude is sooo past the B squad, it's clear as day for me and hopefully Valverde took note of this performance as well.
-Vidal. Solid match overall, one of the more senior players who actually played like one. Not bashing Dembele, it was a good ball for the goal, but I expected a bit more out of him today. Vidal played the pivot well though, something I was a bit skeptical about with him. Phil Schoen on Bein Sports mentioned this and he's right: this sort of performance helps his case in getting more minutes from Valverde as a rotation for Busi. At the very least, he can at least see out the last 15-20 mins of a game to give Busi some extra minutes to rest.
-Malcolm. Nothing spectacular but he demonstrated some things today that suggest he deserves at least a couple more appearances off the bench moving forward. What I am most impressed with from his is his link-up play. He is surprisingly crafty with his passes, he setup Munir with a very clever little ball into him in the 1st half that he completely wasted but things like that show me he deserves more time. The pills from outside of the box and dribbles that he showed at Bordeaux will come with more confidence but I think he showed enough to Valverde today to hopefully trust him with more minutes.
I've been very curious how games like these go. Its pretty clear who our starting 11 is this season, now we need to figure out who can be trusted with La Liga matches down the line in March when we are hopefully still battling in the Champions League. Hope Valverde saw a lot of what I saw out there, sorting through who stays/who goes and crucially, developing the players in this group who he does trust really should be the biggest factor in judging him as a coach. If he can get this right and just rest our gala 11 more this season, I think we've already shown this season we should at least get to the semi-finals of the CL.
First off, credit fucking Cultural! They played a heck of a game and for a team in the 3rd division to keep roughly a third of the ball throughout the match against us is impressive to say the least. They also didn't just park the bus the entire time, they had good spells on the ball, were organized off the ball and played with intensity but weren't dirty. I really like what they showed as a team and as a club and I hope to see them in La Liga a couple years down the road!
Our class showed through though with the goal at the end but it was a really disjointed game from us with some players shining and others really struggling. Imho...
The Bad:
-Semedo. I've been a big fan of his this season, he has really impressed me on both sides of the ball this season but I don't know where he was tonight. He made from my count about 5 turnovers today, 2 of them leading to dangerous breaks from Cultural. Simply can't happen if he wants to start over Roberto every match. He needed to be a leader today out there and he put us in a lot of trouble instead. Looked just slower of thought than he usually is, maybe took Cultural lightly and I hope this is a wake up call for him that you can't take any opponent lightly.
-Munir. Despite a couple decent runs here and there, and a nice flick pass in the first half, pretty much invisible throughout the entire match and missed an absolute sitter that a striker for a club of our stature should not be missing. Maybe needs more time but I'm just not convinced he can do much for us either as a starter or off the bench. Wouldn't mind seeing him moved on somewhere next summer.
-Denis Suarez. Lot of the same sentiment for him as Munir. His decision making on the ball really confuses me at times, he forces passes that aren't on to try and show something that lead to possession losses and he misses simple passes at times. He is taking time away from players who show a lot more than he does, namely...
The Good:
-Alena, no surprise here. Outside of two giveaways, just oozed class all game. Decision making, spot on. Positionally sound, always moved the ball forward when the opportunity was on. Dribbled when there was space, passed when there wasn't and make penetrative passes to the forwards and dangerous runs of his own. Please oh please, Valverde! PLAY THIS GROWN ASS MAN. Dude is sooo past the B squad, it's clear as day for me and hopefully Valverde took note of this performance as well.
-Vidal. Solid match overall, one of the more senior players who actually played like one. Not bashing Dembele, it was a good ball for the goal, but I expected a bit more out of him today. Vidal played the pivot well though, something I was a bit skeptical about with him. Phil Schoen on Bein Sports mentioned this and he's right: this sort of performance helps his case in getting more minutes from Valverde as a rotation for Busi. At the very least, he can at least see out the last 15-20 mins of a game to give Busi some extra minutes to rest.
-Malcolm. Nothing spectacular but he demonstrated some things today that suggest he deserves at least a couple more appearances off the bench moving forward. What I am most impressed with from his is his link-up play. He is surprisingly crafty with his passes, he setup Munir with a very clever little ball into him in the 1st half that he completely wasted but things like that show me he deserves more time. The pills from outside of the box and dribbles that he showed at Bordeaux will come with more confidence but I think he showed enough to Valverde today to hopefully trust him with more minutes.
I've been very curious how games like these go. Its pretty clear who our starting 11 is this season, now we need to figure out who can be trusted with La Liga matches down the line in March when we are hopefully still battling in the Champions League. Hope Valverde saw a lot of what I saw out there, sorting through who stays/who goes and crucially, developing the players in this group who he does trust really should be the biggest factor in judging him as a coach. If he can get this right and just rest our gala 11 more this season, I think we've already shown this season we should at least get to the semi-finals of the CL.
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Messigician
Senior Member
If Malcom's performance was considered good then they need they cannot say a single thing about Pique or Suarez having a bad game ever again
EdmondDantes
New member
1 - No injuries, which is great.
I only watched the second half and it was a bit of a snooze fest. Alena was bright, Denis had his moments, Malcom and Dembele were mostly poor and wasteful.
I thought Vidal looked lost in the Busquets role, he always seemed to be 2 seconds behind the play without the ball and on it, he simply doesn't have the passing to play there. And this comes a day after Valverde said in the pre game presser that he would never play Arturo there. For me, after tonight, he either plays further forward or not at all.
Leonesa play some decent football for a 3rd division team, they made Cillessen work and earn his bread out there.
P.S. I knew Lenglet would start scoring headers sooner rather than later. He's great in the air.
I only watched the second half and it was a bit of a snooze fest. Alena was bright, Denis had his moments, Malcom and Dembele were mostly poor and wasteful.
I thought Vidal looked lost in the Busquets role, he always seemed to be 2 seconds behind the play without the ball and on it, he simply doesn't have the passing to play there. And this comes a day after Valverde said in the pre game presser that he would never play Arturo there. For me, after tonight, he either plays further forward or not at all.
Leonesa play some decent football for a 3rd division team, they made Cillessen work and earn his bread out there.
P.S. I knew Lenglet would start scoring headers sooner rather than later. He's great in the air.
henias
New member
Terrible game, a result of poor integration and zero chemistry. Not sure why even bother to play Denis Suarez, when u have likes of Puig and Alena. Vidal was terrible in the role, Malcom simply needs more game time, he has the pace and the skills but was very rusty. Thought Dembele did well, tbh, except his passing could be better. His ball shielding and dribbles were good, and didnt get dispossess. Free kicks could be improved, but man his low crosses look dangerous as hell. Provided the assist against Madrid and now this.
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