Lliga: Real Madrid - FC Barcelona 3-1

[Luftstalag14]

The worst part of this bitter defeat is how our midfield was dominated by this Real Madrid midfield that was dismissed by many not too long ago.

Midfield had been where we excelled. Nowadays, it can't even match that half-assed Real Madrid midfield. Sigh.

So fucking painful to watch.

I hope we redeem ourselves in the return leg. We've got to be better than this.

 

[Ursegor]

The worst part is that half the squad looks past it. Based on yesterday and the last 12 or so months the following players shouldn't be starting games for Barca anymore.

Xavi: Can contribute against La Liga fodder when rested but not anymore in such high intensity games.
Iniesta: Last time he played consistently well was first half 12/13 under Tito. Keeps the ball for an eternity and adds nothing defensively.
Busquets: See Iniesta. Last time he played consistently well was under Tito. Non-factor nowadays.

^ This is somewhat fixable. Mascherano-Rakitic-Rafinha would add muscle and workrate if nothing else. If they are not going to control games which they aren't doing anymore Busi-Xavi-Iniesta is useless.

What isn't fixable:

Alves and Pique. Although Alba wasn't part of the defeat yesterday he's an even bigger liability. Basically only Mathieu at LCB is acceptable in the back four.

Messi's finishing in pressure games has become comical. He's shitting the bed now.

Lucho looks nothing special. The spacing between the lines was atroscious since minute 1 and where was the promised collective pressing? PSG game all over again.

Wake me up in 2016.

 

[catalanKings]

We lost the same way we always do. Good teams always expose the same weaknesses.

Why is Mascherano still playing centerback? that's ridiculous. And for that matter, shouldn't he be the first choice DMF? Busquets is TOO SLOW!

Mathieu should be centerback. This coach worries me, 0-2 in real games.

 

[catalanKings]

If they are not going to control games which they aren't doing anymore Busi-Xavi-Iniesta is useless.

this.

 

[Luftstalag14]

The worst part is that half the squad looks past it. Based on yesterday and the last 12 or so months the following players shouldn't be starting games for Barca anymore.

Xavi: Can contribute against La Liga fodder when rested but not anymore in such high intensity games.
Iniesta: Last time he played consistently well was first half 12/13 under Tito. Keeps the ball for an eternity and adds nothing defensively.
Busquets: See Iniesta. Last time he played consistently well was under Tito. Non-factor nowadays.

^ This is somewhat fixable. Mascherano-Rakitic-Rafinha would add muscle and workrate if nothing else. If they are not going to control games which they aren't doing anymore Busi-Xavi-Iniesta is useless.

What isn't fixable:

Alves and Pique. Although Alba wasn't part of the defeat yesterday he's an even bigger liability. Basically only Mathieu at LCB is acceptable in the back four.

Messi's finishing in pressure games has become comical. He's shitting the bed now.

Lucho looks nothing special. The spacing between the lines was atroscious since minute 1 and where was the promised collective pressing? PSG game all over again.

Wake me up in 2016.

Well said, I agree with every single point you made.

But 2016? What about 2016? Get some fresh players and kick these old legends out the door and things will impove? I am not sure. Different players, same old scheisse. I feel that we have to have sea change in our philosophy and how we approach the game to win again, this Pep-era legacy of a bunch of midgets playing ground football with short passes, with no real wingers and no real No.9, slow-as-hell play should go.

 

[Neymartinez]

Well said, I agree with every single point you made.

But 2016? What about 2016? Get some fresh players and kick these old legends out the door and things will impove? I am not sure. Different players, same old scheisse. I feel that we have to have sea change in our philosophy and how we approach the game to win again, this Pep-era legacy of a bunch of midgets playing ground football with short passes, with no real wingers and no real No.9, slow-as-hell play should go.

Totally agree. Teams have adapted to our style of football,we must too.

 

[Flavia]

Messi has declined drastically. He just doesn't show up in big games anymore. Let's hope Suarez can take over as the primary goal scorer

He showed up against psg. And he wasn't brilliant today, but "declined drastically" is quite the overreaction. Cr had a worse game than Messi did, has cr declined drastically too?

 

[Devils]

It's his finishing that is so ridiculously frustrating.

I can't for the life of me figure out why his shooting is so off form and it's not just this game, it's been the entire season so far that he's been missing easy opportunities. Look at his free kicks, he can barely get them on target these days whereas the past 3 years he would convert them for fun.

It's so incredibly bizarre, a player doesn't just lose clinical ability like Leo has in the past two months. It is a HUGE concern and something Lucho must address immediately.

 

[Flavia]

It's his finishing that is so ridiculously frustrating.

I can't for the life of me figure out why his shooting is so off form and it's not just this game, it's been the entire season so far that he's been missing easy opportunities. Look at his free kicks, he can barely get them on target these days whereas the past 3 years he would convert them for fun.

It's so incredibly bizarre, a player doesn't just lose clinical ability like Leo has in the past two months. It is a HUGE concern and something Lucho must address immediately.

Maybe the zarra record got to him. He'll get out of this slump eventually.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Doom & gloom as usual

Yup! Quite amusing. Plenty of Schadenfreude to go around, if anyone wants a serving.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Messi has declined drastically. He just doesn't show up in big games anymore. Let's hope Suarez can take over as the primary goal scorer

Hyperbole. His failure to show up in big games is more to do with hs mental state, I think mentally he is too brittle these days. His decline in finishing is real though, don't know what's going on there.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Maybe the zarra record got to him. He'll get out of this slump eventually.

Don't think it s the Zarra record thingy. His finishing has been quite poor for quite some time, since the 13/14 season, perhaps his injuries had something to do with it?

 

[Flavia]

Don't think it s the Zarra record thingy. His finishing has been quite poor for quite some time, since the 13/14 season, perhaps his injuries had something to do with it?

He had some troubles when he was reaching Barça's all time top scorer too, if I recall correctly. I think it's mental, as he is scoring difficult goals, as the one vs Eibar. And missing the easiest ones. To me it looks like things aren't flowing properly, he's taking an extra millisecond to react, as if thinking too much what to do.

 

[Luftstalag14]

He had some troubles when he was reaching Barça's all time top scorer too, if I recall correctly. I think it's mental, as he is scoring difficult goals, as the one vs Eibar. And missing the easiest ones. To me it looks like things aren't flowing properly, he's taking an extra millisecond to react, as if thinking too much what to do.

Yeah, I think the mental part has a lot to do with it too.

I don't know, I don't even recall the last time I saw him scoring on a one-on-one. And he seems to always try to run/duck pass the goalkeeper and then take the shot, he rarely tries a chip shot these days.

 

[Lomar1o]

The worst part is that half the squad looks past it. Based on yesterday and the last 12 or so months the following players shouldn't be starting games for Barca anymore.

Xavi: Can contribute against La Liga fodder when rested but not anymore in such high intensity games.
Iniesta: Last time he played consistently well was first half 12/13 under Tito. Keeps the ball for an eternity and adds nothing defensively.
Busquets: See Iniesta. Last time he played consistently well was under Tito. Non-factor nowadays.

^ This is somewhat fixable. Mascherano-Rakitic-Rafinha would add muscle and workrate if nothing else. If they are not going to control games which they aren't doing anymore Busi-Xavi-Iniesta is useless.

What isn't fixable:

Alves and Pique. Although Alba wasn't part of the defeat yesterday he's an even bigger liability. Basically only Mathieu at LCB is acceptable in the back four.

Messi's finishing in pressure games has become comical. He's shitting the bed now.

Lucho looks nothing special. The spacing between the lines was atroscious since minute 1 and where was the promised collective pressing? PSG game all over again.

Wake me up in 2016.

messi's finishing is fixable tho'. when his teammates start playing more convincingly, i'm sure he will feel more calm and composed. he will be less nervous and he will start ****** teams like madrid again. individuals can't win games when the 90 percent of the team is playing like shit. look at real, almost all of the players were 100% great. benzema, pepe, james, isco, modric, marcelo, carvajal. they were all incredibly good. no wonder others performed well with them. barca had zero hunger, zero spirit, zero everything. once we get the hunger back with the overhaul we were all promised to get, messi and co. will be more determined. we need new blood, changes, and not some minor changes like mathieu at lb while pique and masch are our still main cbs. sadly, we appointed our bro as our coach. because lucho is 'our man', he's 'our dude', he knows the philosophy. lol.