Gerardo "Tata" Martino

[serghei]

Reality is different from FM...

I'm afraid massive changes is what we need at this moment in time.

 

[Flavia]

I'm afraid massive changes is what we need at this moment in time.

Still, buying players is not that easy. It's not just bid and wait, like in FM or Fifa.
It's just not going to happen.

It would be good as a tactical variation, but Barça also won't drop the 433 and start playing like Argentina.

 

[TornAndFrayed]

As Sumlit and many others feel I think the team is structurally much weaker than in the 08-11 era.
But I was always pleased with Tata as I saw new things on the pitch, a slow but kinda steady improvement, the ship just seemed to be pointed in the right direction despite very little wind to carry it forward.
Yet since the break there is really no reason to be satisfied. We look less efficient with Messi (who btw is still performing at a very high level) than without him, when we hoped the exact opposite would happen.
I think it's too early to pass judgement on Tata, but I'm worried. Let's hope the players prove us wrong against City

 

[serghei]

Still, buying players is not that easy. It's not just bid and wait, like in FM or Fifa.
It's just not going to happen.

I could settle with three or four signings in the summer. Mario Mandzukic, a box to box midfielder and a central defender are a must IMO. We could play Neymar - Messi -Alexis or Neymar - Cesc/Iniesta - Messi as a three behind Mario in a 4-2-3-1. Or we could play a 4-1-4-1 against lesser opposition with a quartet consisting of Neymar - Iniesta - Messi - Alexis to support our centre forward.

 

[Gascav]

I like your formation better

 

[Flavia]

Mandzukic is not a realistic target. Last I heard bayern were going to renew his contract.
Next summer Rafinha and Deulofeu will come back. I just hope a cb is finally bought.

Selling song and getting a better cm/dm would also be wise.

 

[Djab]

I could settle with three or four signings in the summer. Mario Mandzukic, a box to box midfielder and a central defender are a must IMO. We could play Neymar - Messi -Alexis or Neymar - Cesc/Iniesta - Messi as a three behind Mario in a 4-2-3-1. Or we could play a 4-1-4-1 against lesser opposition with a quartet consisting of Neymar - Iniesta - Messi - Alexis to support our centre forward.

I don't know about the formation but a tall forward like Mandzukic is needed desperately.

 

[Sultan]

I do see the lack of motivation. IMO the team is not responding well emotionally to the changes being proposed to infuse the team with a little edge. I think they know they need the change, but they just don't like it, they just don't feel comfortable. In their minds, they just would rather go back to the comfortable and familiar style they already know and brought them such joy, but it just doesn't work anymore, for this group.

They also don't see the results when they experiment the changes, which again has to do with the talent and state of the team. That also kills drive and motivation to put work and effort into the change.

Fantastic post earlier mate. Sums up most of what we've been feeling lately.

Regarding the team's psyche, after all the success with Pep, and then Spain winning the WC, you had Pep leaving, Tito's illnesses, Abidal's exit, Puyol and Messi's injuries, and all the issues with Rosell's reign. Now there is a new manager, Rosell's gone and a World Cup on the way. That's a lot to take in relatively short period.

I believe the players as well as the whole organization need a new vision to get them excited. Not necessarily a new style of play or a complete over-haul but rather a new challenge that excites the players, the organization, fans, everyone. The crucial piece to this is having the right Manager, someone with the right qualities who can infuse this new vision/mission into to the players and lead them through this transition. I believed Tito was the right choice, but what happened to him was unfortunate. Honestly I'm not yet sold on whether Martino is right for this transition.

 

[jamrock]

sell iniesta? really seriously, Really.

SAF manage to constantly change it team, will keeping certain players around who gives the team identity.

Puyol,Xavi,Iniesta are unsalable, point black period.

if we want to sell someone, sell Song,masch,alves,roberto,tello,sanchez(like him). but as we are not living in a dream would where its all down to the players, this will not happen.

why hasn't Tata tried a midfield like

-------------Busquets

-----Song--------------iniesta

---------------Cesc

------Messi-------------Neymar

or

----------masch

-----busquets------cesc

or

a different combination of that, set their would be an outcry by the fans because their beloved is not longer starter, people cried when we sold dinho and deco.

know what shut them up?. results.

as i said he has the players in the squad to try something different to be more vertical, and he has not done so. because he isn't bold enough, and a manager who isn't bold and never been a good - great barca manager, they have simply gotten results and left.

only players that need sell is, alves(much more creative than alba, but getting old),Song,roberto,Masch/puyol retires gracefully, and tello lastly stop playing fucking cesc as false 9 and buy a CF.

if cesc isn't out of the world awesome next season we sell him too

 

[Barcaman]

We need a major overhaul. Selling Song, Tello or Mascherano won't change a bit.
Problem is in the main players who either gotten old or lost motivation. Or both.

 

[Antimadridista1]

We need a major overhaul. Selling Song, Tello or Mascherano won't change a bit.
Problem is in the main players who either gotten old or lost motivation. Or both.

Totally agree. You don't say it, but the likes of Valdes,Xavi, Puyol even the Iniesta of this season should leave or retire. We need fresh player with motivation, who haven't won anything or not much in their career.
Some players just made their time in Barcelona and need to let the youngsters take over .
Guys like Vidal, Gundogan, Koscielny, Ter Stegen etc are the one's we should have a look at.

 

[rixxer]

I really don't know what all of you expect from Tata.

You say he hasn't tried to make changes, but that is clearly incorrect. He has tried to make the team do different things. Long balls, more counters, faster attacks, tried to get the pressing back, tried to make the team defend more solidly. For the most part, he has succeeded in all of this.

You want someone to do what Guardiola did, but that is extremely unreasonable. Aside from the fact that Guardiola clearly is a different animal, what other manager out there has the standing, the respect and the overall surrounding situation to do what Guardiola did at Barca? Alex Ferguson at Man U, and maybe Mounrinho at Chelsea. That is it.

No other manager can come into a new club and get rid of their best players and make such radical changes with so little impunity.

The team, not the manager, just doesn't have the players to play at the level people demand from this team, just like Tito didn't have them, and he easily had more leeway than Tata has just by virtue of being cule and being Peps second. By the way, this demand for the team to play like the way they were playing during their golden era is also extremely unreasonable. Teams don't go though such periods every year, that's why they're called golden eras.

The team just doesn't have the same player and those who remained have clearly seen their better days.

There is no Abidal giving solidity and defensive muscle at left back.
There is no indomitable Puyol refusing to lose and unwilling to let others slip at center back.
There is no strong, skillful, goalscoring and direct forward the likes of Eto'o, Henry, Villa.

Dani Alves is clearly not the same player. He has declined.
Xavi is clearly not the same player. He has declined.
Pique is clearly not the same player. He has lost form.
Iniesta has been up and down.


Meanwhile, you've replaced the defensive cover in your fullback tandem with a dynamic offensive player in Alba, but who is clearly a defensive weakness.
You've replaced your strong, technical, direct goal scoring forwards with weak, creative, non scoring wingers. They're not even good at tacking on defenders aside from Neymar.

All this being so, yet people want to blame Tata for the team clearly not looking like it did in the past? It does not look like in the past because this an entirely different team. This is an entirely inferior team.

The team is still good, is still a top team in Europe, however it is no longer a dominant and trampling force. It needs turnover. It needs new players. It needs an infusion of talent, an infusion of youth and an infusion of hunger.

Like I said, great post. There are some things still I do not agree. E.g non scoring wingers- stats of this season tells something different and I also would not say they lack speed. But, of course, they have their limits, but I think Neymar has very important role to play to overcome this.
Anyhow, this eternal idioliziation of Pep and golden era is getting out of hand. To use a word "spoiled" might be a strecth and also it has been used a bit overwhelmingly to point a finger to some posters here, but really, Barca cannot have a golden era non-stop. owever, this has been said again and again, no news here. My concern is that this "golden era" serves as a measure for every single game that Barca plays. You can't be pragmatic nowadays, you can not grind out results, no, no, this is Barca and we have to trash every parking bus, we have to run over every opponent in Copa, La Liga and CL group stages, otherwise we are doomed etc etc. At the same time same people are overjoyed if we manage to win against Madrid Real even if we play pragmatically and rely on a bit of luck. Hypocrisy?
Let's face it- we are in transition and so far we are doing it by still competing for trophies and still winning games and still producing some magic here and there. We have been extremely lucky to see some unbelieveable things couple a years ago but as always things change and you have to adapt as well. It could be much much worse, but I really do not see much patience in this forum, everything should delivered into gold as it once was in point blank and in blink of the eye, otherwise it is incompetence or just averageness.

 

[ammarfcb]

for all the people asking for massive change...this is massive change. i want no change, our loss vs chelsea was far more graceful than the ridiculous long ball show with tata.
i only tend to pay attention when there's a corner lately cause that's were we look most dangerous or when goalkeeper and a defender collide.

 

[rixxer]

for all the people asking for massive change...this is massive change. i want no change, our loss vs chelsea was far more graceful than the ridiculous long ball show with tata.
i only tend to pay attention when there's a corner lately cause that's were we look most dangerous or when goalkeeper and a defender collide.

Ridiculous long ball show? It seems that you don't tend to pay attention closely enough.

 

[Sultan]

We need a major overhaul. Selling Song, Tello or Mascherano won't change a bit.
Problem is in the main players who either gotten old or lost motivation. Or both.

It is inevitable, drastic changes are upon us once this World Cup is behind us. Alves is the most likely to be sold. Xavi and Puyol - will probably reduce their wages and minutes. So there alone, 2014/15 season you have Valdes, Alves, Xavi and Puyol out of the regular starting 11. I suspect between Pedro and Alexis one of them will be sold too. I don't see us selling Cesc, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique or Messi nor do i want any one of these to be sold. Perhaps pique i wouldn't mind so much.