I haven't read too much of posts after Roma's defeat. Some guys quoted me, I didn't reply, not because I don't have an opinion or anything to say about EV, our tactics and similar, but because I am sad.
This is the dumbest defeat (for me) since Chelsea in 2005'.
I don't want to offend anyone, but seriously, YOU guys who are talking ONLY about tactics all the time and how we need to fix this or that, I think that you have a tunnel vision, that you are not looking at a bigger picture and that you are stubborn and naive, the same as Pep.
I see that some guys (Serghei) mentioned that TikiTaka hasn't been figured out at all and that it was just about US starting to play way weaker.
Come on guys, don't be naive.
Football is a sport where 2 teams play.
And how good you will be, is determined by:
1. your skills and tactics
2. and by opponent's skills and tactics
If you have some new tactics which is working well, in the beginning you will have awesome results.
But as a time will go by, you will be less and less effective because the opponents will LEARN how to neutralize you (and which they didn't know in the early days of your new tactics).
In short: of course that TikiTaka, and ALL other tactics EVER will be less and less effective over time and you will constantly need to add new things, new ideas and a plan B, C and D to your gameplan to counter the opponent who figured out your original gameplan.
For example, about EV's 442, it was clear that teams didn't know how to stop it early in the season, but in the last 2 matches, SMARTER coaches (Italian guys from Chelsea and Roma) played a simple 352 and caused insane problems to our 442.
After these 2 matches where Chelsea and Roma neutralized us, of course that more and more teams will start to play the same against EV's 442 and we will look more and more sterile in upcoming Months.
Now, the same as how TikiTaka defenders are saying: no, that tactic is not figured out. It is just about us who don't run or press as before...
I could reply: no, 442 has not been figured out, it is only about us. We are tired or whatever.
Well, we are tired, but still, 442 HAS BEEN figured out now and it will be harder and harder in upcoming Months.
Also, the thing I don't get with majority of users here is that "tunnel vision" how all problems will disappear if we just "tweak" our tactics.
No offense, but wtf and lol.
Football and any sport is played on so many levels, I will just randomly splash some of elements here:
1. tactics
2. physical skills like pace, strength, height, stamina
3. about stamina, rotating players and saving energy for April and May
4. mental strength and a psychological preparation for a match
5. injuries and injury proneness
6. chemistry between players and automatism
7. experience of players
8. experience of a coach
9. overall motivation and a hunger of a team
I mean, we could hire Pep tomorrow (since he surely knows how to set up our play, right?), I am almost 99% sure that we would be equally as shit in a CL even with Pep, against AM, Juve, Roma, Chelsea, Bayern, against any physical team.
Further, majority of you guys act as if football works like this (these ARE my estimated numbers, NOT a fact):
Tactics 50%
Technical skills 45%
Physique of players 5%
Lol, seriously lol.
I would say more like:
Tactics 50%
Technical skills 30%
Physique 20%
Majority of you are totally underestimating an importance of physique in a modern football.
Have you watched Roma/Chelsea vs Barca:
1. Barca has the slowest midfield between ALL top teams.
Busi is a turtle, Raki is a turtle, Iniesta is not even a turtle. A turtle is way faster than Iniesta.
2. but it is not only about pace, let's go to strength in duels and everything.
Iniesta is the lightest players out there. Especially this granny Iniesta who is tired, slow, short and physically weak.
Raki is a taller and stronger guy. But he is still very slow.
Busi is taller, but he never went to a gym in his life.
He is very weak in lots of duels and his arial strength is nonexistent.
Now, a lot of guys will say that physique doesn't matter at all (well, it doesn't matter if you are Messi or Xavi. But if you are a regular player, then you are in problems against players of the same technique as you, but who are faster and stronger than you).
This is Roma's team which beat us 3:0:
Schick 186
Dzeko 193
Kolarov 187
Strootman 187
De Rossi 184
Nainggolan 176
Florenzi 173
Jesus 185
Manolas 189
Fazio 195
For example, at set pieces and corners, who will jump against Roma's guys?
Pique 194
Busquets 189
Rakitic 184
Luis Suarez 182
Umtiti 182
Lol:
Roberto 178
Semedo 178
Iniesta 171
Messi 170
Jordi Alba 170
So, we have only 2 guys taller than 185 (Pique and Busquets who can't jump).
And we needed to mark at corners:
Fazio 195
Dzeko 193
Manolas 189
Strootman 187
Kolarov 187
Schick 186
Jesus 185
So, we have 2 tall players.
They have 7 tall players.
It is a miracle how we conceded only 1 goal after corners and crosses.
Further, do you remember how we played during all 90 minutes?
Mats has the ball, he passes it to someone out of back 4.
Busi is marked, Raki is marked since Roma has 5 midfielders compared to our 3 guys (and Roberto hogging the touchline to prevent crosses).
And our defenders were just hoofing the balls forward.
And what happened forward, lol?
Our 3 most attacking players were Luis 182 cm, Messi 170 cm and Iniesta 171 cm.
And they lost like 100 arial duels and Roma was just gaining back possession every time.
So:
1. we had the ball. we lose the ball after 10 seconds.
2. then Roma attacks.
3. then we have the ball for 10 seconds, and we can't do anything either with feet or with head and we just lose the ball over and over and Roma was able to attack like crazy all the time.
Also, if anyone will watch a reply later, try to see how many arial duels we lost and how many loose balls we lost.
Roma's players were faster and stronger at every loose ball.
We were nowhere.
Our turtles couldn't run and win balls.
And our players couldn't jump and win any single arial duel
I know, 90% of you will now reply (I will kill myself, seriously): if we had better midfielders, we would control the match better (lol).
Well, this is not Getafe.
In a CL matches against physical teams who are both good technically (AM, Bayern, Roma, Juve) and who are better in physical skills than us, things like this will happen often.
In 2013: Tito was sick, a physical+technical Bayern won 7:0
In 2014: you will blame Tata, as a bad coach. You won't blame our slow, short and weak players who couldn't do anything against AM's thugs.
In 2016: AM again. But you will all blame Lucho. It is not about being short, slow and weak.
In 2017: Psg and Juve have ate us alive. Way faster, taller and stronger teams again.
In 2018: Roma. You will all blame dumb EV. No one will blame physically the shortest top team on a planet. Or the only top team consisted of turtles. Or the only top team in which half of players has never seen a gym.
I mean, against Roma, we had Iniesta and Busi, both with zero muscles against Nainggolan and Strootman, for example.
Also, why WE can't buy players like Strootman (or that type of players), who both have some physique and awesome technical skills?
We have Busi without muscles, we have Iniesta without muscles, we just bought a 160M Coutinho who looks like a 13 years old kid and our next signing is a 172cm Arthur.
Also, we are on a verge of signing another weaker player, Griezmann.
Do you guys think that Juve, Roma, Bayern or other teams would buy 3 short midfielders in a span of 6 Months?
Look at Roma:
1. they can play a possession, shortpassing football because they have good technical playmakers like Strootman and Pjanic, who are similar to Barca's level of midfielders.
But, their players are way faster and stronger and they can play both possession, counters, crosses and score after corners.
While Barca can play only possession and some counters. We can't play long balls, we can't play crosses, we can't score of defend after corners.
Juve, Liverpool, Bayern, Real: they can all play:
1. possession like Barca
2. counters, better than Barca
3. crosses from wings and score some headers, unlike Barca
4. score after corners, unlike Barca
5. defend corners and crosses, unlike Barca
So, majority of guys here only talk about fckg tactics all the time, and they are neglecting other aspects of the game.
No wonder that our board and coaches are equally as outdated.
Anyway, my short wishlist for the future of Barca:
1. find a better tactics
2. have 2-3 tactical solutions for different opponents
3. buy SOME faster, stronger, taller midfielders and attackers
4. open a gym at Camp Nou. That would be a revolution at our club, lol
5. buy a 185cm tall central forward with good technical skills who could play both a possession football and score headers after crosses (Lewa, Benzema style and similar)
6. do something about our mental strength and complacency
7. if possible, NOT to play CDR with Messi and starters anymore. As always: Barca is laughing at RM in February when they lose to Leganes in a CDR (lol, so rigged) and then RM laughs at us in April and May when we can't run in a CL and we are dead tired and they are winning a CL year after year.
Fc Barca currently:
1. a one dimensional team because we can't move away from Cruijff's and Pep's legacy
2. a team with the shortest set of players among Top teams
3. a team with the slowest set of midfielders among Top teams
4. a team with the physically weakest set of players among top teams. Please guys, hit a gym from time to time
5. the most naive team in terms of rotations and playing CDR
If I don't reply to all replies about this post, that is NOT because I don't know what to answer, but because I am sad and down now, and yet 90% of Barcelonistas would only tweak tactics (lol), so to some extent, why even bother?
(We have to go back to 433 with Coutinho/Verratti/Arthur/Alena/insert a random 170cm technical player, and we will get back to a glory days. Oh no, we sooooo won't.)
