Gerardo "Tata" Martino

[Barcilliant]

Stop targetting unrealistic targets.

So how are Barca going to compete in the future? La Masia is not some tap which we can switch on and have an endless supply of talent. Rijkaards Cl winning side had only 3 guys from the academy. We BOUGHT guys like Eto, Ronnie, Marquez etc. We need to restructure the squad and if we have to break the bank for a few players so be it. In case you forgot Neymar cost 57 mil!

 

[DinhoR10]

So how are Barca going to compete in the future? La Masia is not some tap which we can switch on and have an endless supply of talent. Rijkaards Cl winning side had only 3 guys from the academy. We BOUGHT guys like Eto, Ronnie, Marquez etc. We need to restructure the squad and if we have to break the bank for a few players so be it. In case you forgot Neymar cost 57 mil!

Well with the amount of talent we have right now we're good for another 20 years. Atleast in that we won't have to buy an ENTIRE squad obviously we will need to buy some players.

 

[Kerrybai]

Well with the amount of talent we have right now we're good for another 20 years. Atleast in that we won't have to buy an ENTIRE squad obviously we will need to buy some players.

Compare our bench to Madrids of even A.Madrid's. We don't have as much depth and talent as some people make out.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Martino: "Conceding goals from set pieces? We won't change our way of marking. We're a small team, we'll continue to suffer." #fcblive

I like Tata, but refusing to do anything about set pieces is just ... Outrageous.

 

[Flavia]

I like Tata, but refusing to do anything about set pieces is just ... Outrageous.

What can he do? Maybe zonal mark could work better, but the team also conceded using that. Stronger and taller players need to come, for that to change.

 

[Luftstalag14]

What can he do? Maybe zonal mark could work better, but the team also conceded using that. Stronger and taller players need to come, for that to change.

I know his hands are tied, but he should keep trying, instead of simply accepting the fact that we will keep conceding goals from set pieces. That is defeatism. What are we saying? Our CL dream will be dashed because of set pieces?

 

[DinhoR10]

I know his hands are tied, but he should keep trying, instead of simply accepting the fact that we will keep conceding goals from set pieces. That is defeatism. What are we saying? Our CL dream will be dashed because of set pieces?

Dashed? We mostly concede on Set pieces now because thats all they can do against us. Teams are completely dominated by us so the only thing they can hope for is a mistake or to get a corner. Levante was lucky in that they were able to come along at just the right moment when our strongest part of the team (Left flank Alba-Iniesta-Neymar) was out of commission along with a subpar game from the best playmaker in europe right now (Cesc). And Alexis who lost all his confidence (Could've used a distance shot from him). We might need a change in tactics to handle the parked busses (Messi in midfield 9 up front to act as a decoy) but our CL dreams are far from dashed.

 

[Flavia]

I know his hands are tied, but he should keep trying, instead of simply accepting the fact that we will keep conceding goals from set pieces. That is defeatism. What are we saying? Our CL dream will be dashed because of set pieces?

He's surely trying to improve the man marking on set pieces. That's all he can do about that.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Dashed? We mostly concede on Set pieces now because thats all they can do against us. Teams are completely dominated by us so the only thing they can hope for is a mistake or to get a corner. Levante was lucky in that they were able to come along at just the right moment when our strongest part of the team (Left flank Alba-Iniesta-Neymar) was out of commission along with a subpar game from the best playmaker in europe right now (Cesc). And Alexis who lost all his confidence (Could've used a distance shot from him). We might need a change in tactics to handle the parked busses (Messi in midfield 9 up front to act as a decoy) but our CL dreams are far from dashed.

Certainly not yet, but I can think of many players on our CL opposing teams who can materialize on set pieces. And there is absolutely no chance whatsoever for us not to give away set pieces. Are we going to accept that set pieces are like penalties against us, that we will most definitely concede? No we shouldn't. I know we are a short team, but we must still try to find ways to better handle and defend against set pieces. Taller players like Busquets, Piqué and Batra should and can do better.

I know it is easier for me to say, and I don't have a solution either, but Tata should at least keep trying.

 

[DinhoR10]

Certainly not yet, but I can think of many players on our CL opposing teams who can materialize on set pieces. And there is absolutely no chance whatsoever for us not to give away set pieces. Are we going to accept that set pieces are like penalties against us, that we will most definitely concede? No we shouldn't. I know we are a short team, but we must still try to find ways to better handle and defend against set pieces. Taller players like Busquets, Piqué and Batra should and can do better.

I know it is easier for me to say, and I don't have a solution either, but Tata should at least keep trying.

But its not like we concede EVERY set piece we conceded 6 goals on them, we have given away dozens of set pieces this season and the only time we concede is when someone makes a mistake (Ala Busi, Bartra and most recently Cesc). Pique has actually been much better at set pieces this season and has made many a clearance. If you ask me getting past a parked bus is our main concern for CL hopes, my faith in our defense has been restored after the Atletico game where we held down the best striker in la liga and one of the top 3 in europe. Our team right now is too reliant on iniesta for tight pressing games, from both the levante game and the atletico game it was easy to see that without iniesta on the field messi had to take over his driving roll and that left a hole in the centre of the pitch.

 

[beautifulgame]

What can he do? Maybe zonal mark could work better, but the team also conceded using that. Stronger and taller players need to come, for that to change.

zonal marking is not the answer neither, imo.

 

[Barcilliant]

So Tata says we wont sign anyone. What will he say if Man City give us a Bayern-esque thrashing????

The squad needs to be revitalised-asap. This squad is living in on past glories. There are plenty of sides which have big players. Those big players are pretty damn good at set pieces too.

Will Tata shrug his shoulders and just say we are a small team if City score 3-4 goals from set pieces???

 

[Galning]

So Tata says we wont sign anyone. What will he say if Man City give us a Bayern-esque thrashing????

The squad needs to be revitalised-asap. This squad is living in on past glories. There are plenty of sides which have big players. Those big players are pretty damn good at set pieces too.

Will Tata shrug his shoulders and just say we are a small team if City score 3-4 goals from set pieces???

Lot of "ifs" in your post.

 

[Maria]

Compare our bench to Madrids of even A.Madrid's. We don't have as much depth and talent as some people make out.

Are you serious? Have you even watched Atletico? They barely rotate and they already look burned out. Also, to those that complain about squad depth: in 2009 we had to play with Sylvinho and Yaya in defense in a CL final, in 2010 Pep brought on Bojan and Jeffren from the bench against Inter, in 2011 he had Sergi Roberto and Afellay on the bench in the SFs against RM and in April 2012 he had to play with Cuenca and Tello against Chelsea and RM because Villa broke his leg. Now we have more depth than then..what we don''t have though is someone like Abidal, who can help us at set pieces and play CB and FB.

 

[Alarcón]

We have players like Fàbregas and Pedro on the bench and people complain about lack of depth in the squad. Pep's squad was much thinner and I don't even want to name the kinds of players we used to have on the bench a couple of years ago, I bet many people on here haven't even heard about some of them.

What makes the difference right now (concerning the quality of the squad) is the fact that some of our key players have declined and haven't been replaced. I don't even want to go into tactics but as far as I can tell, our players also don't have the kind of strict orders that they had under Pep, and they don't face the same consequences if they don't follow those orders or don't play well.