Hans-Dieter Flick

[SmilerBam]

People shouldn't expect. The team is young and unexperienced. But even if we don't win any trophy, Flick deserves all the plaudits for the way he turned this team around. Maybe he will be the Ronaldinho of coaches. Utterly spectacular, a trophy here and there, ultimately failing in that regard, but a turning point in this club fortunes. If he continues like this, he'll be a cult idol soon.

 

[Maradona37]

People shouldn't expect. The team is young and unexperienced. But even if we don't win any trophy, Flick deserves all the plaudits for the way he turned this team around. Maybe he will be the Ronaldinho of coaches. Utterly spectacular, a trophy here and there, ultimately failing in that regard, but a turning point in this club fortunes. If he continues like this, he'll be a cult idol soon.

Yes it is still early days. But the signs are definitely good for Barcelona right now. Much work to be done though as you imply mate - the hard part of the season is yet to come. With the young profile of the team it is a while away from peaking, likely several years, and there's always turnover in teams due to fresh blood in terms of youth and transfers, and players leaving.

I hope it works out though. Would really like to see Barca do the Liga, CL double. A huge ask but you never know.

 

[SmilerBam]

Yes it is still early days. But the signs are definitely good for Barcelona right now. Much work to be done though as you imply mate - the hard part of the season is yet to come. With the young profile of the team it is a while away from peaking, likely several years, and there's always turnover in teams due to fresh blood in terms of youth and transfers, and players leaving.

I hope it works out though. Would really like to see Barca do the Liga, CL double. A huge ask but you never know.

I still don't fancy us on winning CL. The team doesn't seem ready for that, altho if we continue on this trajectory, we will be one of the favourites in years to come..But La Liga is possible if we don't lose at Bernabeu now..We are blowing teams for fun in the spanish division.

 

[Maradona37]

I still don't fancy us on winning CL. The team doesn't seem ready for that, altho if we continue on this trajectory, we will be one of the favourites in years to come..But La Liga is possible if we don't lose at Bernabeu now..We are blowing teams for fun in the spanish division.

Yes I agree La Liga is more likely. It's boring to say But Man City and Real Madrid are still the favourites for the CL based on recent seasons as well as how they get the job done, and the players they have. I feel Barca lack the experience as of yet. They could win the CL, but I agree that the team might not be ready. Hope we are wrong though. When I said I want them to win the double it's what I would like to happen, not what I think will happen.

But yeah, there's a really big chance in La Liga. Barca are a more consistent team than Real Madrid in general (at least over the last 15 years) and that lends itself well to league play, as I said the other night. Real Madrid these days have more what Loki, Birdy and others have called 'rage spells' and high moments within games, and that lends itself well to winning knockout games in the CL even when you get outplayed for the majority of the match.

 

[Temptation]

I still don't fancy us on winning CL. The team doesn't seem ready for that, altho of we continue on this trajectory, we will be one of the favourites in years to come..But La Liga is possible if we don't lose at Bernabeu now..We are blowing teams for fun in the spanish division.

It's not as unlikely as you think. Inter and a bang average Dortmund team made it to the finals in recent years. It's all about spirit, mentality, morale and a bit of luck.


Madrid and Liverpool are the 2 main contenders this season but I'd have Barca 3rd. City won't win it without Rodri.

 

[Maradona37]

It's not as unlikely as you think. Inter and a bang average Dortmund team made it to the finals in recent years. It's all about spirit, mentality, morale and a bit of luck.


Madrid and Liverpool are the 2 main contenders this season but I'd have Barca 3rd.

Fair enough points on the first paragraph possibly yeah. Maybe myself and Smiler have a more pessimistic outlook.

As for the second, I don't think you can overlook Man City. They are always there or thereabouts. I know they're in an average moment right now performance-wise but they tend to improve after Xmas. This of course overlooks any changes with the court case.

 

[Temptation]

As for the second, I don't think you can overlook Man City. They are always there or thereabouts. I know they're in an average moment right now performance-wise but they tend to improve after Xmas. This of course overlooks any changes with the court case.

Yup, I really think Rodri is that important to them in a cup competition.

City won't win it without Rodri.

 

[Maradona37]

Yup, I really think Rodri is that important to them in a cup competition.

Fair enough.

I think Rodri is the best player in the world (when fit) and he is extremely important to them. I still think they might be able to do it without him though. But you may well be right. Time will tell. I wouldn't put my house on them winning it, that's for sure. Boring as fuck but Real will probably maggot their way to another European trophy. They have the flukiness. Hope not.

 

[Temptation]

Fair enough.

I think Rodri is the best player in the world (when fit) and he is extremely important to them. I still think they might be able to do it without him though. But you may well be right. Time will tell. I wouldn't put my house on them winning it, that's for sure. Boring as fuck but Real will probably maggot their way to another European trophy. They have the flukiness. Hope not.

Think we have a huge chance this time.


Our defense has been immaculate and we have immense firepower upfront.

 

[Maradona37]

Think we have a huge chance this time.


Our defense has been immaculate and we have immense firepower upfront.

Slot has got you more controlled and very settled down which I like.

I did watch the Leipzig highlights and it looks like you conceded a lot of chances to them. It could have been the way the highlights were edited though to make it seem like Leipzig applied lots of pressure.

How long is Alisson out for? Kelleher is a fairly capable goalkeeper but obviously Ali is several levels above. The Georgian lad arriving next summer will supersede the Brazilian.

What I like about Liverpool too is they seem very clinical. They always were, but even more so under Slot. Nunez still misses some chances, but Jota, Salah, Diaz and even Gakpo tend to take many of their chances - that's a very important attribute, especially in a CL quarter of semi away the Bernabeu where you have to score when you are on top.

Gravenberch has been a revelation this far too, and I always did like him. I am a big fan of Mac Allister too, and Virgil is still doing very well considering he's 33.

Overall, Liverpool look in a good place at the moment. However, as with my post on Redcafe on the Yamal thread, I don't like to take too much off-topic, so if you wanna discuss Liverpool more you can add this quote to their thread. Cheers.

 

[SmilerBam]

Slot has got you more controlled and very settled down which I like.

I did watch the Leipzig highlights and it looks like you conceded a lot of chances to them. It could have been the way the highlights were edited though to make it seem like Leipzig applied lots of pressure.

How long is Alisson out for? Kelleher is a fairly capable goalkeeper but obviously Ali is several levels above. The Georgian lad arriving next summer will supersede the Brazilian.

What I like about Liverpool too is they seem very clinical. They always were, but even more so under Slot. Nunez still misses some chances, but Jota, Salah, Diaz and even Gakpo tend to take many of their chances - that's a very important attribute, especially in a CL quarter of semi away the Bernabeu where you have to score when you are on top.

Gravenberch has been a revelation this far too, and I always did like him. I am a big fan of Mac Allister too, and Virgil is still doing very well considering he's 33.

Overall, Liverpool look in a good place at the moment. However, as with my post on Redcafe on the Yamal thread, I don't like to take too much off-topic, so if you wanna discuss Liverpool more you can add this quote to their thread. Cheers.

By any chance Mara, who are you in redcafe? Lol, i read that forum for years, never did an account. I actually discovered that forum long before barcaforum, found the discussions interesting. Plus i dislike United, so i am enjoying their meltdowns.

 

[Maradona37]

By any chance Mara, who are you in redcafe? Lol, i read that forum for years, never did an account. I actually discovered that forum long before barcaforum, found the discussions interesting. Plus i dislike United, so i am enjoying their meltdowns.

I am not on Redcafe, Smiler - I have had the odd account just to make a post, and then leave, but I just lurk it. I have probably made ten posts there in 16 years over a few accounts. I will never make one again, though.

I like to read different football forums, though a lot of the time it's just meltdowns and banter. But now and then you get a good and deep discussion on football.

Redcafe has some interesting discussions, because there's such a massive amount of users so there will always be some good posters. There's many poor posters and poor discussions too. But overall it tends to be good on non-United related matters. They vastly overhype United though and always end up being overconfident and wrong.

But yeah mate, I am not on Redcafe. If you like it you should join, though I believe they have that flawed newbite system in place.

I hate United too so love their meltdowns also. But sometimes I prefer a serious discussion.

 

[SmilerBam]

I am not on Redcafe, Smiler - I have had the odd account just to make a post, and then leave, but I just lurk it. I have probably made ten posts there in 16 years over a few accounts. I will never make one again, though.

I like to read different football forums, though a lot of the time it's just meltdowns and banter. But now and then you get a good and deep discussion on football.

Redcafe has some interesting discussions, because there's such a massive amount of users so there will always be some good posters. There's many poor posters and poor discussions too. But overall it tends to be good on non-United related matters. They vastly overhype United though and always end up being overconfident and wrong.

But yeah mate, I am not on Redcafe. If you like it you should join, though I believe they have that flawed newbite system in place.

I hate United too so love their meltdowns also. But sometimes I prefer a serious discussion.

Yeah, idk, that system of theirs it s weird. BarcaForum it's enough for me. Actually, it was worse years ago when i joined, there were two camps: people who loved Leo, and people who hated him. I joined after that all debacle with Bartomeu. The forum seems in a better shape now, i only restarted posting a few months ago after a big big break.

 

[Maradona37]

Yeah, idk, that system of theirs it s weird. BarcaForum it's enough for me. Actually, it was worse years ago when i joined, there were two camps: people who loved Leo, and people who hated him. I joined after that all debacle with Bartomeu. The forum seems in a better shape now, i only restarted posting a few months ago after a big big break.

They hate Barcelona, and it's 100 percent PTSD from the two CL Finals under Pep. As for Messi - there are Messi fans there, but the ones who don't like him are the Ronaldo sycophants. After Ronaldo screwed United over before the World Cup a lot turned on him, but there were and are some who still see him as linked to them even after he left for Real Madrid.

There are some very odd Ronaldo lovers on there, I could list a good 10 or 15 who seem scarily obsessed with him and defend him at every point. The worst was SportingCP96 but thankfully he left a while ago - Messi winning the World Cup likely broke him. Probably the worst now is that SirAF guy - that lad is cringe. He never types more than one or two lines on any football discussion, and evidence of his obsession with Ronaldo is him listing the number every time he scores in Saudi. It is proper creepy. He also dismissively calls Messi 'the little guy' while claiming he never enters the Messi thread as he has no interest in him. Absolute cock of a guy lol.

As for Barca Forum - yeah it seems a bit more relaxed now. Barca improving likely has something to do with it.

 

[KingLeo10]

I legitimately can't wait to see what he has in store for RM.

Haven't been this excited to support Barca since the 2015 MSN days.

Winning big and winning in style - what this club is ultimately about.