Luis Enrique

[Sumlit]

Idk what the hell the 'tactics don't make a difference' bit was all about. I mean Lucho is no tactical genius but the adjustments and changes he's made (both systemic and in response to our opponents) have been very astute recently. He's still a young manager and if he's capable of epiphanies like the post-Moyes one, I'm sure he'll grow to become a very mature and reliable tactician in the future.

Yeah that was a very weird statement. The tactical tweaks and adjustments on the field are pretty self evident with respects to earlier this season. No need to be a mastermind to see what is not working and simply try something else.

 

[serghei]

All you did this season is tell us how Lucho with his "Italian football" (still no clue what that was all about, Italian football is traditionally very tactical, never heard that in a negative context before) will do worse than Tata, how the squad with Cesc and Alexis was superior, how Alexis the € 60M player lol is equal to Suarez etc. Seems like it does bother you a bit because the players and the coach you liked were thrown out yet Barca is playing its best football in years. Your first post in this thread after a comfortable 5-0 win and 11 consecutive victories is a sarcastic post about Enrique being a genius. Says it all.

The part with the italian football, with us building on the wings all the time, has changed, and I haven't mentioned it since october. You might as well drop it as an argument, as it is something I said last year.

Tata played the Cup final, we are in the semifinals. Tata played CL quarters, we are in the last 16. Tata played for the title in the last game at home. Lucho, result-wise, is still under Tata Martino, remember that. If that changes, so will my attitude. Until then, I'm reserving a certain skepticism, which is within my right.

How is the fact that I said Alexis is worth 60m lol material? That's probably the figure you'll get from most serious football sites except Barcaforum. He is one of the best 5 players in England, currently rated at 54m. or so by transfermarket. I didn't say Alexis is equal to Suarez, I said Suarez is a better CF, Alexis is a better midfielder-winger. Not that much between them IMO, and I stand by that. Seems like our new sporting director really likes Sanchez, btw. This Braida guy must be an amateur by your optics probably.

My first post here was the following of the chat discussion.

Frankly, I thought he was saved by the mods closing the chat, he could have just let the matter rest. Don't know why he had to come to this thread and re-ignite the argument he was losing with another weird statement.

I said tactics are overrated, and that I think we beat Atletico firstly because we matched them in ambition. Ancelotti is a master tactician, and his Real lost because they were outclassed in terms of dedication by this Atletico lot. How is saying dedication matters most a weird statement? I saw Messi defending against Atletico -- even made a penalty. I haven't seen him do that last season.

 

[serghei]

So, your point is to take a shit at Barca parade because Lucho made mistakes in the past and because he ain't the second coming.

Must be fun to watch Barca for you.

Here's some of what I just said on the game:

"If Lucho fixes a couple of things we could really win the CL"

"Rakitic has been doing very well recently, his passing has been very precise"

"This was classic Busi tonight"

Yea, I'm totally taking a shit on Barca. Just because I'm not yet on the Lucho bandwagon.

 

[Richard.H]

I will be happy with just CDR but if we can win La Liga and/or CL, then Lucho would have certainly exceeded my expectations.


If this form continues and no injuries occur I could really see us battling very hard for all 3 competitions. I'm just hoping we don't face the kryptonite of Barca that is Chelsea...

 

[Neymessi]

The way we are playing right now, a treble is not an optimistic dream.Our defense stays strong till next few months and we don't have any major injuries and we can conquer anything.

 

[putogusiluz8]

I watching the match right now on replay.

I have so many thoughts running through my head about this team right now. The focus, the way everyone has their eye on the ball, the way everyone understands their role, the way you can count the amount of errors committed with the fingers in your hand, the chemistry between our forwards, and most importantly the freedom and joy we seem to be playing with which is what takes a team from being great to being absolutely exceptional. Wow, there's a saying in Spanish that there's no bad that for good doesn't come. All the bullshit surrounding Neymar, Messi, Suarez, FCB in general have made are players say i have had enough, if it's not that then idk what is because their mentality is the most astonishing part to me. This team is looking REALLY SERIOUS and focused, and yet absolutely having a blast footballistically.

Last night I was bored and decided to watch Bayern vs stuttgard, and can I just say it didn't help. BORING. I will always love you Pep, and I was one of the many who hated when they called us the same thing. Perhaps it was a different day and age, and it tiki taka seemed fresh, and we had the likes of Messi who always added the extra spice to the stew, but I would not trade the way we are playing for what any other team is doing not for what we used to do. While we seem to play possession to extent it is necessary, they choke hold their opponent with possession and play extremely rigidly and methodical while we seem to be playing so much more natural, still adhering to similar ways but much more free like I said and unpredictable and it is 1000 more enjoyable and dare I say more effective.

I know it's just Levante, but for a good while there I witness heavenly football, the best i've seen in a while.

 

[DrPepper]

Actually thought we'd be playing Man City this week, so I don't really understand the need to rotate that much, despite us winning 5-0. Against Malaga we should rotate much, but against Levante, in theory, 2 or 3 changes would be enough, considering we have no mid-week match in between.

Doesn't matter though. We're playing extremely well and Barca has never been that much fun for a long time and that is important.

 

[frog-fcb]

If lucho ends up having a brilliant season i wonder how it will affect the elections especially if the candidates have different coaches lined up. I think to the best bit of recent games is seeing we have got a strong bench who can come in an do a decent job which i would put down to the early season rotations as it made players up there game knowing they had the chance to play

 

[Barcaman]

Noone will be that stupid even to mention a new manager as long as Barca are playing this good.
I don't think they'll need it either as Rosell left plenty off mess to be made talking points in elections campaign.

 

[linetty]

Does the coach needs to be changed when a new board knocks in? Because if we will be doing still well and win 1 or 2 trophies then it would be a fallacy.

 

[Barcaman]

Of course not. Rosell took over in 2010 and didn't change Pep.

 

[Kohe321]

I watching the match right now on replay.

I have so many thoughts running through my head about this team right now. The focus, the way everyone has their eye on the ball, the way everyone understands their role, the way you can count the amount of errors committed with the fingers in your hand, the chemistry between our forwards, and most importantly the freedom and joy we seem to be playing with which is what takes a team from being great to being absolutely exceptional. Wow, there's a saying in Spanish that there's no bad that for good doesn't come. All the bullshit surrounding Neymar, Messi, Suarez, FCB in general have made are players say i have had enough, if it's not that then idk what is because their mentality is the most astonishing part to me. This team is looking REALLY SERIOUS and focused, and yet absolutely having a blast footballistically.

Last night I was bored and decided to watch Bayern vs stuttgard, and can I just say it didn't help. BORING. I will always love you Pep, and I was one of the many who hated when they called us the same thing. Perhaps it was a different day and age, and it tiki taka seemed fresh, and we had the likes of Messi who always added the extra spice to the stew, but I would not trade the way we are playing for what any other team is doing not for what we used to do. While we seem to play possession to extent it is necessary, they choke hold their opponent with possession and play extremely rigidly and methodical while we seem to be playing so much more natural, still adhering to similar ways but much more free like I said and unpredictable and it is 1000 more enjoyable and dare I say more effective.

I know it's just Levante, but for a good while there I witness heavenly football, the best i've seen in a while.

Good post, and I really agree with you. I haven't been this excited watching Barca play in a long, long time. I think Lucho is really getting things right now, the football he has us playing is so fun and exciting to watch, and it seems to be the most effective football we've played in years as well. The recent string of victories is just amazing, with 3 great victories over Atletico, huge win against Bilbao at the San Mamés, Villareal and so on... It's truly incredible how everything changed after the game at the Anoeta. I agree, I wouldn't want to trade our style for any other right now.

The joy both from the players and coaching staff is great to see, and we're looking so focused and willing to fight for victories. Luchos Barca is evolving, and it might not be through visionary tactics and style changes, but from pragmatic and good football. We're no longer resting on our laurels, but finally breaking out of the shell of our former selves that we've been stuck in for the last few years.

If this good trend continues, none of the presidential candidates should even think about throwing a wrench in this awesome process, but rather get behind Lucho and as Bojan says, use the countless of other things the Rosell era did wrong as fuel for their campaign.

 

[anguy]

Yeah that was a very weird statement. The tactical tweaks and adjustments on the field are pretty self evident with respects to earlier this season. No need to be a mastermind to see what is not working and simply try something else.

Right. He doesn't seem to be a guy who sets a gameplan at the beginning of the season and sticks to it like Guardiola or Ancelotti. His approach is more of trying everything to see what works. The word at the beginning of the season was he'll try 3-2-3-2. We started with 2 centerforwards with Messi behind them, width provided by wingers, went through phase with Suarez at RW, 3-4-3 with Pedro as a fullback, Busquets as CM, Rakitic as RDM ...
Really his biggest accomplishment was to convince Messi to play on RW again. I highly doubt Messi wanted to do it, and it looked like a mistake at the beginning (breaking Messi and Neymar combo) but now I think he wouldn't go back to the centre with all the space he has on RW.

 

[hardyboy]

Lucho is the only coach in the history of Barcelona to win 30 of his first 36 games.

 

[Icarium]

I think it is really an impressive considering our squad. Our squad is not as strong as the one in pep time, mainly midfield (big difference) and defense too there is a difference. Attack it is debatable, if MSN keep going like this then yeah they will surely edge it. Have to see how they perform against city and real.

Our core used to be Messi Xavi and Iniesta, now it is Neymar, Messi and Suarez. First one is still better for me, at their prime played a completely different football. It is just that suarez and neymar are strikers we are seeing the end product. But with messi, xavi and iniesta it is just magic.