Frenkie de Jong

[Joan]

He's a certified starter anyway. It was either this knock JamDav mentions or Xavi underestimated Frankfurt and wanted to rest him and Dembele.

 

[Kul_z]

Kind of a sub you just knew he would cook something

 

[FCBfan22]

I have a feeling that Xavi somehow successfully installed a bit of himself in him since the arrival.

And yeah, as said, vital to protect Busquets. He does so much more work than it seems and keeps everything together.

 

[te amo barca]

He exuded class yesterday, played with arrogance - like he knew/believed he was the best player on the pitch. I like it

 

[Catta]

Why is he subbed out every game, while the walking corpse gets to play 90 minutes every match, without ever getting rest. SMH

 

[Horatio]

Why is he subbed out every game, while the walking corpse gets to play 90 minutes every match, without ever getting rest. SMH

could he be playing with discomfort?

 

[Devils]

I thought he was poor today.

Could be because Nico was non existant and he had to do too much by himself, but he wasn't on it.

Once Gavi and Pedri came on we were much better.

 

[malvolio]

Why is he subbed out every game, while the walking corpse gets to play 90 minutes every match, without ever getting rest. SMH

Because Busquets was better than him. And Xavi probably doesn't trust FDJ to play at DM.

 

[soul24rage]

Great game.

 

[FCBfan22]

I think he was hindered by Nico's performance. Still maintain that our best CM pairing is Pedri-FDJ, for now.

 

[JamDav1982]

Didnt look 100% fit.

He was definitely gesturing to bench in first half about something.

 

[Co0ter]

De Jong played a good game and didnt get much help.

De Jong isnt slow, but he's not the fastest. Xavi started him with two turtles, while Nico has no redeeming qualities whatsoever from what I've seen. He's not fast, not strong, not strong on the ball, not creative or has vision and he isnt making smart runs or shooting from outside the box either. It was a terrible midfield pairing by Xavi, and Nico just isnt good. Give the kid a chance somewhere else on loan, he hasnt shown enough to earn a place here and he'll never start once Kessie is here.

 

[Catta]

could he be playing with discomfort?

Could be, but in that case, why not rest him for a couple of matches, instead of playing him every game for 60 minutes.

 

[fergus90]

Was surprised he came off but the subs worked out for the best anyway. Thought he was decent in what was a dodgy midfield set up.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Was surprised he came off but the subs worked out for the best anyway. Thought he was decent in what was a dodgy midfield set up.

Xavi wants him rested to start vs Frankfurt, I suspect. Yeah, I thought he was decent. He's never going to provide the kind of energy and creativity between the lines to break down this kind of opponent but Nico is even worse and Torres is far from that level as well. Gavi changed the match. Bad pairing but I suspect it's all looking ahead to Thursday.