La Liga Round 11: Real - Barca 0-4
- Thread starter Messi983
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Lol, who else did Xavi "not have"?
He had way more depth though.
Defence: Cancelo, Marcos Alonso, Mikayil Faye
Midfield: Oriol Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Gundagon
Attack: Joao Felix
7 players that are all starting in top leagues, except Felix. And Cancelo, who would be but went for the money as no one in Europe was paying a transfer fee to City.
Absolutely true though that Lamine has improved incredibly since 6 months ago. But Xavi had Lamine towards end season in top form too.
Defence: Cancelo, Marcos Alonso, Mikayil Faye
Midfield: Oriol Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Gundagon
Attack: Joao Felix
7 players that are all starting in top leagues, except Felix. And Cancelo, who would be but went for the money as no one in Europe was paying a transfer fee to City.
Absolutely true though that Lamine has improved incredibly since 6 months ago. But Xavi had Lamine towards end season in top form too.
serghei
Senior Member
Team is better than under Xavi no doubt. That's beyond any type of argument, really. That being said, Flick is a different manager to Xavi. He is much less focused on control and more attack oriented. Flick's approach is more bold and ballsy. Fits players like Raphinha and even Yamal much more.
One of those cases where both are true at the same time. Flick is doing better than Xavi and also the players are better and more mature. Also credit for Flick that he promoted Casado. The lad is having a great season.
Getting rid of bums like Felix and Cancelo is a good thing in terms of squad building. Can't believe some try to portray this as weakening the squad
. A player as dumb as Cancelo would have no room in this team. His defensive skills are a total joke. There's a reason he retired in Arabia.
One of those cases where both are true at the same time. Flick is doing better than Xavi and also the players are better and more mature. Also credit for Flick that he promoted Casado. The lad is having a great season.
Getting rid of bums like Felix and Cancelo is a good thing in terms of squad building. Can't believe some try to portray this as weakening the squad
. A player as dumb as Cancelo would have no room in this team. His defensive skills are a total joke. There's a reason he retired in Arabia.I vividly remember our subs losing us a game we were well on top against them last season. This time we had Frenkie and Olmo as options
When we already lost the League. In the CL we played incredibly well until that blunder. We also saw a glimpe of the future of Raph as well.
Horatio
You're welcome
It's not beyond any type of argument lol.
serghei
Senior Member
Yes, it is.
I call it natural progression under Laporta. Each season has delivered some improvements over the previous one. The road is up. Hiring Flick is another success for our President so far.
Everyone gets tangled in these Xavi, Flick comparisons, but the main architect that is carrying the club forward is Laporta.
jamrock
Senior Member
Flick plays a Double Pivot on paper only really.
Yesterday When de Jong came on, is the only time I've seen him play a true double Pivot.
Just saying.
Xavi just has a more Spanish philosophy like Pep, the DM is King and he couldn't see past that for his system.
serghei
Senior Member
Casado already had a better Clasico than Gundogan. Flick deserves a lot of credit for this, but if the player wouldn't be quality, trusting him would be useless.
Yamal is a completely different league to Joao Felix.
Olmo is a great signing.
Cancelo is a bum that cost us in the biggest games last season due to defensive blunders. Man can't defend.
Horatio
You're welcome
Casado already had a better Clasico than Gundogan. Flick deserves a lot of credit for this, but if the player wouldn't be quality, trusting him would be useless.
Yamal is a completely different league to Joao Felix.
Olmo is a great signing.
Cancelo is a bum that cost us in the biggest games last season due to defensive blunders. Man can't defend.
But maybe those players performed poorly due to Xavi? I mean, we have a sample of players that played under both and are twice the player under Flick. Of course then you will say “a year has passed, so naturally all of them improved”
Aye. Olmo is a great signing. Except for only played in handful of games.
Casado already had a better Clasico than Gundogan. Flick deserves a lot of credit for this, but if the player wouldn't be quality, trusting him would be useless.
Yamal is a completely different league to Joao Felix.
Olmo is a great signing.
Cancelo is a bum that cost us in the biggest games last season due to defensive blunders. Man can't defend.
Well, Casado was there last season having an incredible season for the B and didn't get a shot with Xavi clamouring for a DMC in Winter. So you could add him to the list of players Xavi had at his disposal.
Xavi had Yamal too, and also Felix who is a better squad option than Ansu. Felix actually won some points with some clutch performances like Atleti (off top my head). We haven't seen that Ansu can even offer that yet.
I'm happy Cancelo isn't here, but he would probably be starting over Balde. Now if Balde can keep it simple and cross like he did for that Lewy goal more often- happy days.
Point is that this is Xavi's squad, with way less depth. Flick is just making way better use out of it. But let's not make it out that guys who are 26-28 are suddenly more mature or better players under Xavi like Inigo, Raphinha, Kounde. It is just that Flick is getting way more juice out of them.
Did they? We saw all the signs in our CL run last season. This one is more a continuation of that on steroids. I definitely rank Flick as our best coach since Pep (so far). But same as de la Fuente the blueprint has been rather obvious. Just lots of different factors coming together right now.
Honorable mention to Balde >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cancelo.
ajnotkeith
Senior Member
I think what's clear is the scheme is completely different, we finally gave up on rigid positional play and are reaping the benefits of it, I think any argument for continuity from Xavi doesn't really hold water due to the fact that the tactics were changed completely, these players have been practising in a completely different tactical setup for several years and now after Flick has only had a few months they are fitting like a glove into the new one. This is more Flick's credit than Xavi's work.
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