Luis Enrique

[Gaudi]

Okay, so let me start by saying: yes, we were bad, we were really bad, disastrous even in the second half, but people are still exaggerating. When I read things like "we're aiming for the CL spots now" or "we can't win anything untl 2016" I have to laugh. This team is still one of the top 3 teams in the world, just not better than the other ones. Sometimes we lose, sometimes we win, and since we're not dominant anymore a lot depends on form and luck, and if we'd scored the 2-0 we would've won.

But to return to the bad things, what is most striking about this team is that it looks exactly like Tito's and Tata's Barça against the big teams. I can't believe how 3 managers in a row can't figure out to fix our tactical issues; I could understand if it was just because of poor individual performances but it goes beyond that. There's literally no movement whatsoever from our players, even when we were 3-1 down we never looked dangerous, and our team is incredibly slow on the attack. Mostly the opposition players can just walk back and still have 11 players behind the ball before we do anything.

Not even touching on the individual performances, we've known some players' deficiencies for quite some time now. We've always known Mascherano is small for a CB, we've always known Alves follows up a great performance by a terrible one (even during a game as we saw) and never tracks back, and we've always known Piqué is prone to stupid errors, so we shouldn't be surprised about that.

I have always supported Lucho up until now because he looks like a coach who knows what he wants and what he's doing, but I'm slowly losing confidence. I hope he sees what we did wrong today and finally changes things. Just like last year there was talk of us regaining our pressing, and it has gone again. Really weird that we're playing the same way for the third year in a row, with the exactly same, obvious deficiencies, and no one seems to know how to change it.

Couldn't agree more, exactly why I was scared after Malaga and PSG, because same odl mistakes

 

[Devils]

Pep is our measuring stick when our current coach is trying desperately to be like him...

Can you elaborate?

Lucho has pushed to build his own squad something that Tata and Tito never really tried to do and relied on Pep's work. If anything, this is the most changed that Barca has been since Pep.

I realize that he has been completely outclassed today, but I don't see the correlation of this loss being the result of Lucho trying to emulate Pep.

 

[Flavia]

You are killing it today... Difference is, Lucho won't get blamed like Tata...

Sure he will. It took longer for Tata to be wanted to be replaced, some are already wanting Lucho out

If Lucho has balls, he should start trying a 4-2-3-1
alves - masch - mathieu - alba; rakitic - busquets; rafinha - messi - neymar- suarez

 

[Cule4life]

This style and philosophy mumbo jumbo is like a fetter on our players legs... The game clearly demanded something different today, but in a weak attempt to be clever and standing by our principles we got schooled hard...

 

[DennyCrane]

Lucho as a tactician has offered nothing. Stop with Pep's stats. After 5 matches we knew, we were into something. EVerything looked different even the little details. Read again, even the most minor details were different. Lucho has made some drastic decisions. I agree he needs time but Barca can't afford much.

"Barca needs time" - we are saying this for last 3 seasons. And today's display was the by far the ugliest against Real Madrid in recent years. Many things are wrong. Many many things and I am not optimistic. You need time but you still need to perform in a match like Clasico.

Barca coach's job profile requires that as top most criteria.

Yeah, drastic decisions he made. Like fielding players based on name and reputation instead of form and choosing slow-motion build-up instead of fast transition play. Also, no physicality in our play. Abysmal set-piece defending goes without saying.
Especially the second half today was a relapse into the days of the all-petting-no-penetration approach. The direction Tata took the team in the first part of his tenure was the correct one as the team became way more flexible on many accounts. Someone should tell Lucho that it's not 2008 anymore.

 

[serghei]

Yeah, drastic decisions he made. Like fielding players based on name and reputation instead of form and choosing slow-motion build-up instead of fast transition play. Also, no physicality in our play. Abysmal set-piece defending goes without saying.
Especially the second half today was a relapse into the days of the all-petting-no-penetration approach. The direction Tata took the team in the first part of his tenure was the correct one as the team became way more flexible on many accounts. Someone should tell Lucho that it's not 2008 anymore.

I think that too. The first clasico in 2013, we won 2-1, was a nice one for Tata. Started tough, dominated Madrid, entered at half time 1-0 up, and then played some compact defending (Madrid didn't play a lot of balls in our 16m, they even tried to shoot from the distance because they couldn't penetrate our defence), and hit them with a quick counter 2-0. Overall, I think Martino had some troubles in the locker room, but he was a fine coach with a pretty clear understanding of the game itself.

 

[xavi_the_Boss]

I think that too. The first clasico in 2013, we won 2-1, was a nice one for Tata. Started tough, dominated Madrid, entered at half time 1-0 up, and then played some compact defending (Madrid didn't play a lot of balls in our 16m, they even tried to shoot from the distance because they couldn't penetrate our defence), and hit them with a quick counter 2-0. Overall, I think Martino had some troubles in the locker room, but he was a fine coach with a pretty clear understanding of the game itself.

That RM team wasn´t that great though.

 

[Icarium]

Tata is better than him. Tactically.

 

[serghei]

That RM team wasn´t that great though.

It was about the same, IMO. We just were better and more organised.

 

[Alarcón]

I think that too. The first clasico in 2013, we won 2-1, was a nice one for Tata. Started tough, dominated Madrid, entered at half time 1-0 up, and then playes some compact defending, and hit them with a quick counter 2-0. Overall, I think Martino had some troubles in the locker room, but he was a fine coach with a pretty clear understanding of the game itself.

LOL RM had like 5 chances 1on1 with Valdés and we were lucky that VV was in impeccable form, Khedira was so bad and CR7 didn't get a penalty, otherwise it would've ended the exact same way as the Clásico today did, not to mention we were at home back then whereas we were at the Bérnabeu today. Go back and watch the match, there's no need to create a difference out of thin air and just for your argument's sake, because the way we played in that 2-1 was literally the same as we played today. The team today looked way more like the team under the oh so great Tata than like Pep's Barça in any Clásico.

People are again making this about our possession football when in reality the way we played today has nothing to do with that and I'm sure Pep cringed today while watching the match, this wasn't his idea and if you want to see this supposedly broken system live, watch Bayern's match tomorrow.

 

[Ryan_Cule]

It was about the same, IMO. We just were better and more organised.

I would say, Barca atleast had an idea under Tata ( right or wrong) but under Lucho, it looks like pointless running and then lose the ball.

 

[xavi_the_Boss]

It was about the same, IMO. We just were better and more organised.

No it really wasn´t.It´s pretty clear that RM got much better since back.They even played Ramos as DM in that match.

 

[Chainsaw]

That RM team wasn´t that great though.

That RM won the CL last season. The space that was given to this RM tonight was unbelievable. It was so huge that they didn't even bother going for crosses. RM was the better team tonight, but Barca's chaos made them look better as well.

 

[Kerrybai]

In defence of Lucho it has been defensive blunders that have lead to 2 defeats. We were the better team for large parts of both this game and the game in Paris, but in both cases set pieces got the better of us, and added to that Pique's handball.

 

[Cule4life]

Tata in the first half of his season was way more tactically astute than Lucho.

Signs are not looking good for Lucho. 2 big games and both times schooled big time. (Even by Blanc....). Couple that with idiotic decisions like MaTS in CL, Pique starting today, Mathieu as LB etc. I hope he proves me wrong but i dont think he's good enough for Barca.