Gini Wijnaldum

[JamDav1982]

GTFO

He isnt.

Takes too long on ball and teams are sitting off leaving him on it.

Clever little passes and occasional good through ball but doesnt dictate with any great range and his weaknesses dont make up for it.

Not a deep player like Kroos that dictates from there and zings ball about for fun early.

Good few times this season he was taken off and Barcas midfield play improved.

 

[malvolio]

He isnt.

Takes too long on ball and teams are sitting off leaving him on it.

Clever little passes and occasional good through ball but doesnt dictate with any great range and his weaknesses dont make up for it.

Not a deep player like Kroos that dictates from there and zings ball about for fun early.

he dictates all of our play from deep. i got the impression you want to expose his weaknesses by shitting on him from every angle.

sorry, but he is light years ahead of FDJ and pedri in the passing department. long, short, through balls, you name it.

 

[JamDav1982]

he dictates all of our play from deep. i got the impression you want to expose his weaknesses by shitting on him from every angle.

sorry, but he is light years ahead of FDJ and pedri in the passing department. long, short, through balls, you name it.

He is the DM so in that sense he does but nothing that is greatly impressive. As said he takes too long on ball and slows game down in my opinion but is best passer of ball in team just nothing that would be hugely missed and team would be better with others in there.

Not 'light years' ahead when FDJ averages more passes, better % and more key passes and one long ball less a game.

FDJ is overall 'lightyears' the better midfielder. Busquets is done and complete liability as a DM.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

and who is going to pass the ball in midfield? no problem with replacing busquets or using him as rotation. but our other midfielders don't even come close to him when we're talking about passing range and variety, creativity.

FDJ and Leo. Let's not act as if Wijnaldum has two left legs. His passing is better than Vidal/Paulinho and good enough to find a teammate. Leo's game is very different to what it was 5 years ago and I don't think he would stop dropping deep with prime Xavi and Iniesta behind him. Barca should play a faster transition like they did with Lucho. No need for fancy passing.

Wijnaldum might also mean double-pivot with 4 offensive players in front of them. Depay for instance is very creative too.

 

[malvolio]

He is the DM so in that sense he does but nothing that is greatly impressive. As said he takes too long on ball and slows game down in my opinion but is best passer of ball in team just nothing that would be hugely missed and team would be better with others in there.

Not 'light years' ahead when FDJ averages more passes, better % and more key passes and one long ball less a game.

FDJ is overall 'lightyears' the better midfielder. Busquets is done and complete liability as a DM.

i repeat, light years ahead of FDJ and pedri in the passing department. and i'm not even trying to make it out as if busquets right now is overall better than FDJ(as pedri is too young to be in this conversation).

 

[JamDav1982]

i repeat, light years ahead of FDJ and pedri in the passing department. and i'm not even trying to make it out as if busquets right now is overall better than FDJ(as pedri is too young to be in this conversation).

I repeat he isnt 'light years' ahead when has less passes slightly worse pass %, less key passes and one more long ball a game than FDJ.

Best passer of ball agreed but Busquets passing is not some huge positive on the team as much as being made out.

Teams sit off Busquets and let him pass it from deep as not the same threat for him to drive on or dictate early with any great impact.

 

[malvolio]

FDJ and Leo. Let's not act as if Wijnaldum has two left legs. His passing is better than Vidal/Paulinho and good enough to find a teammate. Leo's game is very different to what it was 5 years ago and I don't think he would stop dropping deep with prime Xavi and Iniesta behind him. Barca should play a faster transition like they did with Lucho. No need for fancy passing.

Wijnaldum might also mean double-pivot with 4 offensive players in front of them. Depay for instance is very creative too.

i get the sense you guys are trying to compare our team with what liverpool has. we are not a team that needs 3 workhorses in midfield to service a dynamic front 3.

even in the MSN era we had competent midfielders that weren't pressing machines. yeah, midfield didn't impress back then as in guardiola era, but that was also because MSN could create by themselves.

having another season where messi is the main creator and finisher, even though he has 3 midfielders behind is not a good strategy.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

i repeat, light years ahead of FDJ and pedri in the passing department. and i'm not even trying to make it out as if busquets right now is overall better than FDJ(as pedri is too young to be in this conversation).

I agree on the fact that Busi is the best midfielder in the passing department. I also agree that he was great in many games last season. You need to play 3 at the back to get the best out of Busquets though which brings other weaknesses to light. I doubt that we'll see that system very often next season. It will be a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 most of the time and I doubt Busquets will start in big games. It is great to have him in the squad though as he is still great in La Liga against weaker teams. In big games Busquets' shortcomings come to light way too much. Can't move forward with him still being the starting DM.

 

[malvolio]

I agree on the fact that Busi is the best midfielder in the passing department. I also agree that he was great in many games last season. You need to play 3 at the back to get the best out of Busquets though which brings other weaknesses to light. I doubt that we'll see that system very often next season. It will be a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 most of the time and I doubt Busquets will start in big games. It is great to have him in the squad though as he is still great in La Liga against weaker teams. In big games Busquets' shortcomings come to light way too much. Can't move forward with him still being the starting DM.

true. that's why i was adamant we get a younger specialized DM. wijnaldum seem too similar to FDJ.

 

[JamDav1982]

Busquets when pressed fucking holds ball on and tries to win a foul too often. Trick of slow players. Raki did same thing all the time.

Give me a more mobile player that can beat that press and PASS the ball anyday.

When teams sit off he dilly dallies on it and slows game down to often bar the occasional good through ball which he does have in locker.

Not this amazing passing machine as is being made out. He plays to his limitations and it impacts speed the team play at through middle of park.

 

[fergus90]

We lack a Kimmich type profile (completely unrealistic example I know) but that type of player who dictates the tempo, can switch the play, execute incisive passes through lines but also get himself about the pitch too so we don't need to compensate with 3 at the back to accommodate his skill set.

 

[JamDav1982]

We lack a Kimmich type profile (completely unrealistic example I know) but that type of player who dictates the tempo, can switch the play, execute incisive passes through lines but also get himself about the pitch too so we don't need to compensate with 3 at the back to accommodate his skill set.

I agree Barca lack a player that can zip ball about from midfield just dont agree Busquets is good at it consistently.

His physical limitations impact his style and how he passes it from midfield and it is nothing impressive in helping Barca dominate middle of park.

 

[Laplacian]

We lack a Kimmich type profile (completely unrealistic example I know) but that type of player who dictates the tempo, can switch the play, execute incisive passes through lines but also get himself about the pitch too so we don't need to compensate with 3 at the back to accommodate his skill set.

The Kimmich, Kroos, or Xavi/Iniesta of the current team. I've been complaining about that since 2017 or so, constantly ranting about how we need a new no. 8/playmaker and everyone seems to think our midfield creativity is fine.

I honestly knew Pedri would dry up half way through the season and wouldn't satisfy our needs for creativity. Even when he was good, he still wasn't whipping in balls incisively on a consistent basis. Ball distribution and creativity is something we severely struggle with and I doubt we will see that as a priority at all tbh, at least not within the next few years.

 

[Horatio]

Busquets when pressed fucking holds ball on and tries to win a foul too often. Trick of slow players. Raki did same thing all the time.

Give me a more mobile player that can beat that press and PASS the ball anyday.

So true this one. Kills the momentum too often looking for a foul.

 

[behindbrowneyes]

i get the sense you guys are trying to compare our team with what liverpool has. we are not a team that needs 3 workhorses in midfield to service a dynamic front 3.

even in the MSN era we had competent midfielders that weren't pressing machines. yeah, midfield didn't impress back then as in guardiola era, but that was also because MSN could create by themselves.

having another season where messi is the main creator and finisher, even though he has 3 midfielders behind is not a good strategy.

We are in a transition phase, not in a transition year. Younger, specialized DMs that have the quality to play here don't grow on trees. Gini will be a stopgap to let replacements develop while Busquets will slowly get phased out.

We don't have the best offense of all time, but scoring isn't an issue. La Liga table is a proof of that. Maybe creativity without Busquets will drop, but we have to fight the biggest issue which is fixing defense. And this issue started in midfield. Can't allow to have 2 players in Leo and Busquets who are physically not there. With Gini on the pitch FDJ and Pedri will have to do less dirty work which might enable them to be more creative.

Not gonna say that this is my dream midfield, but I'm pretty sure we win more by it than we lose.