Luis Enrique

[El Barcelona]

We look so clueless on set pieces. It's a wonder that we managed tot hold that 1-2 lead after Atlético scored that goal and we continue lose the ball. Oké we won but I can't understand that people are happy with the way we play and keeps defending lucho. Like said above, it's like watching real. Fuck the football only results matter. Nothing against Lucho but please let this be his last season!

 

[El Barcelona]

It's great we are almost in the final and we are all happy because of that. But the real problem is direction where we are heading out. If we continue like this in 5 years time we will lose everything we were known for.

It's great to win trophies but I sincerely doubt people would be happy if we win CL with playing ATM football all of the time, style of play is also important, is our identity. I also sincerely doubt we will continue to win trophies in the long term by playing like this, it's much more easy to do this when you have Messi in the team but he wont play for 10 more years!

I am aware Xavi is gone and Iniesta is almost 33 but than try to bring 2-3 players from La Massia in our squad. Bring Alena in, give chance to Samper to be our backup, do something. LE is now giving chance to Gomes in every single game and I personally have nothing against this guy but no one can assure me he has shown so far something Alena would not be capable of. He is bad in defense, he doesn't contribute anything in game creation and he isn't scoring or giving assists so what is the point of paying so much money and sending your own players constantly on loans? To be clear I am not against bringing great players like Verratti or Coutinho in, but they have to be great and they have to fit in our system or you will lose money, identity and destroy your homegrown players in this way.

This! If we want to buy someone for the team it needs to be a worldclass player that immediately is a starter. We need to look more at La masia and change our approach. Loaning homeplayers doesnt work..

 

[rixxer]

You guys have totally lost it. We just won on Calderon and we're almost in the final.

It is getting out of hand. We won against Simeone at their stadium and people are yelling "get out!". Wow, thought that we were better than this. Pity.

 

[FlaFCB]

[tw]827109958193909762[/tw]

Same shit.

It is getting out of hand. We won against Simeone at their stadium and people are yelling "get out!". Wow, thought that we were better than this. Pity.

It has always been like this, lucho isn't even the first to be criticized after a win. Barça has a way of playing that has been forgottten. Is Barça a results oriented team now? Are we like rm now? Identity has always been something we took pride in.

 

[bismp]

Exactly

The team has no identity anymore.Say whatever bad thibg you want about Pep and Tito,but the team had a specific way of playing back then.

Tiki-Taka,the 3 seconds rule,the 5 seconds rule,the no dribbling(for most players) rule etc.It was a playing style that had to do with team play,constant and rapid movement of the ball etc.Of course it required many WC players for it to work,but when it worked we were unstoppable.

Now the team has no indentity.None.Barcelona was famous for their midfield and right now we have the worst midfield among the European best teams.No control.Everything is up to MSN and especially Messi.If they are off,we are GARBAGE.

I am not going to mention the whole La Masia thing.Sure the new guys are not Xavi,Inesta or Puyol,but we will never find out if they get no chances at all.

And when Messi and Iniesta retire we will have nothing.Neither an identity nor GOAT type players.Then nothing will be able to help is and we will experience some dark days.

We have to start building a system(under a new coach) which brings our identity back, ensuring a semi-successful future,while also maximizing the chances of imminent titles with Messi.

 

[serghei]

The success of a way of playing is given by the players you have and their ability of making that system work at the highest level. We do not have a system of obtaining players like Xavi or Iniesta. And is foolish to play the same way without taking notice of the difference in quality between a player like Xavi and a player like Denis Suarez for example. If you do not respect that difference, you may end up being the spanish Arsenal, i.e. playing nice but always being in the shadow of other teams.

The style doesn't make the players. The players make the style. Forcing the same style with lesser players will automatically lead to worse results. Lucho has managed to tweak the style in order to cope with losing probably one of the best midfielders ever. It is the right way. It's just that fans need to understand that what happened with Pep takes place maybe once every 4-5 decades.

Stop making that specific Barcelona the stylistical level that other generations or other managers need to match, or try to resemble.

 

[bismp]

Sure to have Messi,Xavi,Iniesta,Busquets,Puyol and Pique all graduate within a few years from La Masia is once in a lifetime event.

However i don't think that all the young players are that bad and unable to cope.They may not be able to become GOAT type players,but we are doing nothing to maximize their potential.Even Messi,Xavi and Iniesta wouldn't have had their legendary careers if they were stuck in an endless cycle of bench-Barca B-loaned until their mid-20s.Besides,all those players are breed to play the Barca-way since they were 10 years old,i believe that 1 or 2 of them have a place in the squad,instead of giving millions for players like Gomes.

Nobody said to bring the tiki-taka back.What some of us say is to firstly give some chance to the La Masia kids(which is the Barca way of doing things and has nothing to do with Pep) and secondly to create a decent system for us to play in.

Right now,we have no system and it has been that way for over a year.Our midfield is non existent and no top team can survive in modern football without a competitive midfield.We have no control over the game.Sooner or later we will get another 4-0 loss by a good team like we did against Bayern 4 years ago.

If you recall,a few years ago,our problem was that top teams like Chelsea and Inter could sabotage our game.Niw every La Liga team can sabotage us.From Alaves and Betis to Atletico and Manchester City.We have no way to deal with high pressure.And the thing is that the opposing team often dominates the game.

 

[FlaFCB]

The success of a way of playing is given by the players you have and their ability of making that system work at the highest level. We do not have a system of obtaining players like Xavi or Iniesta. And is foolish to play the same way without taking notice of the difference in quality between a player like Xavi and a player like Denis Suarez for example. If you do not respect that difference, you may end up being the spanish Arsenal, i.e. playing nice but always being in the shadow of other teams.

The style doesn't make the players. The players make the style. Forcing the same style with lesser players will automatically lead to worse results. Lucho has managed to tweak the style in order to cope with losing probably one of the best midfielders ever. It is the right way. It's just that fans need to understand that what happened with Pep takes place maybe once every 4-5 decades.

Stop making that specific Barcelona the stylistical level that other generations or other managers need to match, or try to resemble.

Your only reference is Pep's Barça, that's why you don't understand when people talk about style. This style came about with Cruyff. And was carried on by many other managers. The players we have now were bought by lucho and robert. They changed everything. Since all you know is Pep, even him could put up a team without Xavi and Iniesta sometimes, and the style of play was still there.

 

[DonAK]

We dominated the first half against Man City too before they absolutely tore us to shreds in the second half.

If Man City can do that, and La Liga teams can stifle us, and Atletico as yesterday also pose a big threat, then do people think it's a systematic failure or the players' fault and lack of commitment?

It's a systematic failure which have been recurrent all season. We won't win the CL this way where you're punished far more for your flaws and need some luck too, which it seem like we almost never have.

No one is saying we should revert back to the glory days of Cruyff or Pep, but would it hurt if our midfield didn't get bypassed almost every game? We need to make the midfield matter again. #MakeTheMidfieldGreatAgain

This is on the coach who is struggling to find any solutions to the very obvious problem.

 

[serghei]

Your only reference is Pep's Barça, that's why you don't understand when people talk about style. This style came about with Cruyff. And was carried on by many other managers. The players we have now were bought by lucho and robert. They changed everything. Since all you know is Pep, even him could put up a team without Xavi and Iniesta sometimes, and the style of play was still there.

Came about with Cruyff, and did it continue until Pep took over? No. I remember Barca under Rijkhaard playing a similar style to Lucho's Barca. I remember winning narrowly 1-0 without dominating in Milano in 2005/06, much like we won to Atletico last night. Same style of play, good on the counter, careful in defence, and taking a critical lead in a tough match. Everybody wants to win big and win in style, but that is not possible except in extremely rare cases.

Style changes a bit with different managers. It never stays the same for a long period, because the players do not have the same style and the managers do not have the same style as well. Trying to impose a specific way of playing without taking notice about what players do you have at your disposal is not the right way. You can see Pep trying to play his way at City and failing massively now. Why? Because you just can't mold players to play like you want them to play and develop the qualities that you want them to develop.

 

[FlaFCB]

Came about with Cruyff, and did it continue until Pep took over? No. I remember Barca under Rijkhaard playing a similar style with Lucho's Barca. I remember winning narrowly 1-0 without dominating in Milano.

Style chances a bit with different managers. It never stays the same for a long period, because the players do not have the same style and the managers do not have the same style as well. Trying to impose a specific way of playing without taking notice about what players do you have at your disposal is not the right way.

Yes, it did continue after Cruyff. You keep showing you really don't know much about Barça. First that stuff about Xavi, now this... Pep didn't bring in back, he built on it. Xavi and Iniesta already knew how to play that way, just as an example. Pique came back from utd and also already knew how to play, because he learned that in la masia. Barça always had a specific way of playing, after Cruyff. Even during the damned gaspart era. Rijkaard was a bit more direct, but not like this lucho team now. There was a good midfield back then as well.

 

[xXKonan]

I wrote on a post not to long ago how Lucho's problems come from the own system he created. What worked in the 2014/15 first half of 2015/16 seasons doesn't seem to work anymore and he hasn't done enough to fix issues that have risen.

I get what he's trying to do in creating a System than can soak up the pressure and fast counter attacks but without a proper Midfield it won't be as effective as he would want and it doesn't seem he is willing to fix that problem or theirs a chance he probably doesn't know how.

I believe it is possible to combine all three into one effective system.

 

[bismp]

Style changes a bit with different managers. It never stays the same for a long period, because the players do not have the same style and the managers do not have the same style as well. Trying to impose a specific way of playing without taking notice about what players do you have at your disposal is not the right way. You can see Pep trying to play his way at City and failing massively now. Why? Because you just can't mold players to play like you want them to play and develop the qualities that you want them to develop.

I wouldn't say he is doing much worse than we do.And he is not having Messi,mind you.

Seriously,don't you see how fragile we are defensively and how limited our offensive play is?

 

[TornAndFrayed]

There's the result and there's the manner of it. We won at Calderon thanks to a great individual action on a counter and a bullet by Messi. This game should certainly not change Lucho's fortunes.

 

[DonAK]

Rijkaard's system wasn't fundamentally flawed in the midfield like Lucho's Barca this year.

Forget Cruyff, Pep, Rijkaard, LVG for a moment anyway.

This midfield setup is fundamentally flawed. This isn't even about Barcelona's identity or style of play. The last team that had a midfield similar to ours was Benitez in Real Madrid and he was torn apart by the Madrid media. Why? Was it about the identity of Real Madrid or their style?

Not at all. He was criticized because the midfield was so out of place from the expectations and level of Modern Football that it would pose a huge threat to their chances in winning trophies as it was an easy way for other teams to exploit your weaknesses.

Every team have their flaws and weaknesses, but you don't make it easy for them to exploit it and attack you. If you have no midfield, you're handing them an open invitation to come and attack you. That's the problem.

Do you think people here would have complained if the midfield was working and not getting exploited even if Lucho was playing a very direct style? No, because no one was bashing him or criticizing him from January 2015 to March 2016.

You constantly have to improve because the more your opposition gain knowledge about you, the easier will it be for them to find a solution to attack you. We have not improved, in fact we might have regressed which has lead to the situation of today.