Gullit: “There are a lot of stories abut how amazing Frenkie is doing at Barça. I don’t think he is playing good. He passes left or right, but that’s all that happens. He has to play better. He’s like the ideal son-in-law, it’s all “fantastic”. But I haven’t seen it.”
Public opinion starting to turn on FDJ
We are currently in some weird era where for lots of fans=having possession, no matter how sterile it is=equals domination and a total football.
1. Dutch total football from 70s was not sterile
2. Cruijff's Barca Dream team in early 90s was not sterile
3. Pep's original ideas weren't sterile, but something turned into a wrong direction in his 4th season, especially later during Tito and with a Spanish NT team where they all turned to too much possession and control and not enough of directness.
And then we have a new gen of fans who think that Frenkie-Arthur midfield is: "just fine", they will control (they won't create and won't score), yet we will somehow score goals.
Frenkie alone is not a problem, but Busi-Frenkie-Arthur midfield is a huge problem.
Especially paired with sterile attackers, like Griezmann, or Rodrygo whom we want to buy.
Barca will need to make a shift towards basics and get rid of parts of possession and trade it for a faster, more direct, more vertical and more risky game.
** About Gullit, an interesting thing: Dutch NT team has always played the most beautiful football, but they were never good enough in terms of actual results and they would always lose in semis and finals.
Their dominant and eye pleasing game always lacked a final punch, actual goals in key moments.
The only moment EVER when Dutch managed to win a trophy (either World cup or Euros) was at Euros 1988 with Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard.
No wonder that Gullit is not a fan of a sterile possession football without a killer punch.
And also, no wonder that Rijkaard played a slightly more direct version of total football compared to Pep, Spanish NT team and a current era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVZdz0fbdcg
What Setien is doing, seems to be another step in the wrong direction with even more possession and even less risks and a killer punch in the final third.
And also, how we are building our team (too many sterile, build-up based midfielders and attackers) is also not the right direction.