Gerard Piqué

[Pepe Silvia]

That's the life of a defender, they get zero credit. If they boss someone out the match for 95% and get skipped past on one occasion that leads to a goal, major bashing. Disregarding all the good things done. Too bad

But in Pique's case, it happens far too often & he just looks plain bad these days

That's not entirely true here man. To be fair, Mascherano played like a boss for 95% of the game but had that one blunder, yet still he got no heat for having a bad game. People recognized his overall performance was quality, even with the blunder. With Pique, he might have a play or two go his way, but most times with a skilled forward, he is made to look foolish, like most those gifs show.

 

[Meitux]

Pique hasn't been very good in the last few years (except for a part of the 12-13 season, he was brilliant for a while when he first came back from that long foot injury), but he gets even more shit than he deserves.

Because:

1) he's married to a celebrity
2) he does modeling on the side

both of which make him an incredibly easy (and cheap) target,

but most importantly:

3) he's a centre-back... and no matter how funny it might sound to some, him (or any other CB) making a blunder in defense is exactly the same as Alexis, Pedro, Neymar, Messi or whoever else not converting a fair chance, or anything of that sort. If you're a centre-back and you make a mistake and the team concedes, you're a thousand times more criticized than if you're a forward and you don't score. Whereas, in reality, in both cases you're just doing or failing to do your primary job.

Hating on Pique, however understandable it is in some situations and to some extent, is just popular.

Say whatever you want, but if those reasons are making him to what he is now and it's a fact that he's been so bad for time and time again then he should be benched or even more leave the team.

Im actually not a deluded blind fan that finds always cheap excuses saying that Pique is good and hoping because of one single perfomance that he will continue the same way. It's a fact that he's inconsistent, it's a fact that he's lazy and umotivated. If this is what you call a good game overall then what is his worse? He's exposed right now and shows his true level which is average and way below Barcelona's level. Whoever hopes for him to perform in the future without any competition and having a safe place there is just sleeping. We shouldn't bring someone to partner Pique and only bring competition, but to get him off the line up.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Defending a toothless Pique at this point is

 

[Cule4life]

Hope Bartra plays against Ajax

 

[Semi-Neutral]

I love it when people post reaction gifs and consider them valid arguments just because a lot of others agree. I for one agree with Jamrock.

 

[jamrock]

I love it when people post reaction gifs and consider them valid arguments just because a lot of others agree. I for one agree with Jamrock.

when you see the gifts just hit ignore immediately it just shows their lack of understanding of the game.

 

[jamrock]

I am not even trying to say he hasn't been off form and whatever, but the way these guys come on single out pique as the sole reason for our defensive issues is juts in a word, STUPID.

few if any in the pique is crap bang wagon can come and point out the lost in defensive shape over the years and point to that as the main reason for out lackluster defensive, no its pique, an if we replace him with *insert defender here* and keep everything else at the back the way is, we will win the almighty CL.

 

[Cule4life]

2: he slipped
3: the attacker went on his weaker side(his left) and took a first time shot, something that happens everyday in football. their is such a thing as good attacking play
4: the last thing you want to do then is go to feel and try to stop the defender are clear the ball, which is the only way he could have defended that situation.

I love it when people post reaction gifs and consider them valid arguments just because a lot of others agree. I for one agree with Jamrock.

But when the argument is so pathetic that its not even a worth a reply a gif suffices. But im gonna post a reply just to satisfy you

2: If only that was an isolated incident. How many times has he slipped in the past 2 year? You probably cant count them on two hands. If that doesn't show you something is wrong then nothing will. If he cant stay on his feet he should give up football and try break dancing
3: If he was chest facing the player or hadn't been as slow as a tortoise he would have blocked the shot. Thiago Silva, Kompany, heck even Mascherano would have put a block in.
4- He followed the attacker but was too slow/lazy to put a block in. Again a good CB would have blocked that

 

[Cule4life]

I am not even trying to say he hasn't been off form and whatever, but the way these guys come on single out pique as the sole reason for our defensive issues is juts in a word, STUPID.

few if any in the pique is crap bang wagon can come and point out the lost in defensive shape over the years and point to that as the main reason for out lackluster defensive, no its pique, an if we replace him with *insert defender here* and keep everything else at the back the way is, we will win the almighty CL.

Excuse me who here is saying replacing Pique will solve all the defensive problem? But replacing Pique will solve atleast 1/3 of the problem for sure.

 

[DonAndres]

Just to give my two cents, Pique is definitely a target for some people but it's pretty well deserved on many occasions. Some qualities which make him look piss poor are:

1. How he approaches defending 1v1's- Every time you see him defending against an attacker that's dribbling at him, he's either retreating to the point where he gets beaten and has to chase him, or he falls on the floor. He's not doing what he should be doing, which is smothering the attacking player into making errors and actually putting pressure. Standing in front of the guy just for the sake of being there isn't defending if he isn't gonna stand his ground and get the ball.

2. Aerial ability and physicality- He's been gifted with height and long legs, yet happens to be one of the worst aerial defenders in elite football and slow as a boulder. You can see from his physique that he isn't even fit or muscular, which is a pretty obvious reason as to why he can't jump for shit or dominate attackers despite his colossal size. I'd bet that he wouldn't even be slow if he were to sprint-train with more dedication. Needless to say it's glaringly obvious that he is not even slightly fit or physically strong for a footballer, which can be attributed to lack of motivation.

3. Command- As a guy who spends more time in our starting lineup than almost any other player, Pique has yet to take on a leadership role at all. Guys like Mascherano and Puyol are imposing and inspiring, yet Pique just sits back and does his thing like it's nobody's business.

A lot of this can be solved by picking the guy up off his ass and making him work for his spot. It's not THAT often that a footballer declines due to an increase in responsibility, but that's what happened to Pique and he seriously needs to fix this. When Puyol returns, it should be him and Masch starting. When January comes and a CB hopefully arrives, Pique should be struggling to get himself on the starting lineup. Only then will he possibly improve to the level he should be at.

 

[ZenI]

I love it when people post reaction gifs and consider them valid arguments just because a lot of others agree. I for one agree with Jamrock.

I also agree with you guys. And that second gif - before Pique slipped first Alves f*cked up with his slide tackle and than Busquets got owned, but let us only blame Pique

 

[Boris]

THIS is what kids first learn in defense training. DO not move with both feet towards attacking player who's going full speed into dribbling ! He just stood there like a tree. Just terrible defending, no more comments .. I don't give a **** about his technical skills, he's not even in top 20 centre backs in the world.

 

[ZenI]

THIS is what kids first learn in defense training. DO not move with both feet towards attacking player who's going full speed into dribbling ! He just stood there like a tree. Just terrible defending, no more comments .. I don't give a **** about his technical skills, he's not even in top 20 centre backs in the world.

This one is funny and tragic at the same time - of course this was a huge f*ck up. But have you seen TS or Luiz lately? They've been playing shit as well! Did you watch Ramos and Pepe bossing it yesterday? No you didn't, THAT was terrible.

 

[Cule4life]

he's not even in top 20 centre backs in the world.

Try a higher number like 50

 

[pEllee]

This one is funny and tragic at the same time - of course this was a huge f*ck up. But have you seen TS or Luiz lately? They've been playing shit as well! Did you watch Ramos and Pepe bossing it yesterday? No you didn't, THAT was terrible.

Thiago Silva? Really? He's been flawless, as usual.