Nelson Semedo

[Joan]

....

Great post

 

[MessiCam]

No Dembele did play as RW and heat maps show defensive movement as well where likes of Raki or Gomes are likely to fall back in that formation.

Are you trying to tell me Raki played same role vs Bilbao as Dembele did vs Juve?

Jesus it gets worse.

No. Maybe I worded it wrong. Gomes and Rakitic played as wide midfIelders in a 4-4-2 formation.

They played 4-3-3 against Juventus.

 

[JamDav1982]

How many goals has Messi scored since the Girona game? How many assists has Alba provided since then?

You are if the opinion that wingers play only on the touch line and that they don’t drift centrally at times or that because there are wingers/Wide midfielders or whatever you wanna call them the full backs don’t need to push forward to provide width.

You don’t have a clue about the basic dynamics of a flat 4-4-2 formation vs a diamond and you think 4-4-2 is interchangeable with a 4-3-3.

Good night.

'Since Girona game' has no relevance just trying to pick and choose a game cut off to suit and he has four goals and three assists in seven games. More assists and less goals despite you claiming he is a striker in the 4-4-2.

Messi has scored a hat trick before that in a '4-4-2' and while Alba has three of four assists in the '4-4-2'

You dont have a clue if claim Barca play a flat 4-4-2 with wingers. Have not done that once this season nor have played a 4-3-3 with two wingers either.

 

[JamDav1982]

No. Maybe I worded it wrong. Gomes and Rakitic played as wide midfIelders in a 4-4-2 formation.

They played 4-3-3 against Juventus.

Exactly they played different positions as I said.

Your catching on here.

Wasnt a 4-3-3 vs Juve though but if you want to stick to what whoscored tells you then maybe you will think it.

 

[MessiCam]

'Since Girona game' has no relevance just trying to pick and choose a game cut off to suit and he has four goals and three assists in seven games. More assists and less goals despite you claiming he is a striker in the 4-4-2.

Messi has scored a hat trick before that in a '4-4-2' and while Alba has three of four assists in the '4-4-2'

You dont have a clue if claim Barca play a flat 4-4-2 with wingers. Have not done that once this season nor have played a 4-3-3 with two wingers either.

What is this then? Against Alaves and Eibar.

 

[MessiCam]

Exactly they played different positions as I said.

Your catching on here.

Wasnt a 4-3-3 vs Juve though but if you want to stick to what whoscored tells you then maybe you will think it.

What is clear is that you have no idea regarding formations. They played 4-3-3 vs Juventus without a doubt. I don’t need WhoScored to tell me that.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

Sorry if I was being too harsh.
It was not only about you.

But people are whining when we have 9-1-0 ratio while:
1. Barto is our president and ruined a club. And yet, we are winning points inspite of him and his decisions
2. our core of players (Iniesta, Pique, Masch, Alba, Rakitic, Suarez, Busquets) won way too many trophies. Majority of them are old, and mentally drained.
So, with a core of players without too much desire to give 100% ever again, we are still winning 9-1-0 of matches.
3. we don't have any La Masia talents for years
4. we lost Neymar, got Dembele and he got injured, long term. Our key target, Coutinho, didn't come.
On paper, realistically, our team is way weaker than any of our teams since 2009 till today. (Which team was weaker on paper than the current one, especially when you remove injured Dembele from maths?)

I expected that we will have some horrible season like in early 2000s when we were a 6th placed teams in some Months.
And then, Valverde has 9 wins in La liga from 10 matches, and 3 wins in a CL (even against Juventus).
With a total goalscore: 28:3 in La liga and 7:1 in a CL.
Total 35:4 in 13 matches.

Also, remember guys: Rijkaard had a slow start and he was almost sacked after 3-4 Months in his first season.
Then a team clicked in a spring of 2003/04, and came from 10th place to a 2nd place.
In the next season, he bought new players for his style of play, and we won 2 La Ligas in a row and a CL in 2006.

Lucho had a slow start and he was almost sacked in his first season.
Later his team clicked and he won 2 La Ligas and 1 CL also.

Even Cruijff finished 2nd and 3rd in his first 2 seasons here (ok, we were a crap before him, but still).

Lucho's and Rijkaard's Barca needed a few Months for "a click".
Ernesto already has awesome results, let's give him some time, maybe a team will start to play nicer also.

Also, remember, we are yet to use Dembele.
And who knows, what if we really get Coutinho soon?

Imagine this team (with a good results and awesome defensive record) with Dembele or with Dembele+Coutinho?

Imo, a huge part of our better defending are physically stronger players in midfield like Paulinho, Gomes, Rakitic.
On the other hand, they are also a reason why our game is not as fluid and nice as before.
But, you can't get both.
Again, imagine this defensive setup with Messi-Dembele-Coutinho-Suarez upfront.
We can't concede a goal and these guys would unlock any opponent's defense.

Maybe that was Ernesto's real plan?
But Liverpool and Dembele's injury ruined his plans?

Sure, Valverde has done a great job so far grinding out results, but with the way we're playing I doubt it'll be sustainable for much longer. I sure hope you're right that Dembele returning along with a buy in the the winter helps kick the team into gear because while the short term results may be good right now, do you think we can play like this the entire year and win the league?

I don't think anybody concerned about Valverde is complaining about our form, or asking us to play like we did in Pep's era, because that's impossible with this squad, but that they're just worried about Valverde's long-term philosophy and style he's trying to get this team to play. Yes our squad is weak and paper thin, but are there better ways of playing, of course there are.

 

[xXKonan]

Looked shy out there today.

But with Roberto likely out for a month he can finally get a run of games to build up his understanding and confidence again.

 

[Joan]

He didn't look bad, shy is the right word.

Hope he finally improves his understanding of the game with playing time given.

 

[MessiCam]

He didn't look bad, shy is the right word.

Hope he finally improves his understanding of the game with playing time given.

Alba and Denis kept tripping over each other on the left flank and Semedo and Roberto/Deulofeu did the same thing on the opposite flank...

Valverde's got a lot of work to do.

 

[Joan]

Alba and Denis kept tripping over each other on the left flank and Semedo and Roberto/Deulofeu did the same thing on the opposite flank...

Valverde's got a lot of work to do.

Valverde's lineups are as unbalanced as it gets. For most of the time Alba has to cover huge area and switch between playing a winger and a FB. It's not easy to adapt.

Semedo and Deulofeu, on the other hand, just don't seem to click no matter how many games they get to play.

Hope Valverde finally improves the attack. We look clueless.

 

[MessiCam]

Valverde's lineups are as unbalanced as it gets. For most of the time Alba has to cover huge area and switch between playing a winger and a FB. It's not easy to adapt.

Semedo and Deulofeu, on the other hand, just don't seem to click no matter how many games they get to play.

Hope Valverde finally improves the attack. We look clueless.

Problem is with the 4-4-2 as played against Bilbao (Gomes and Rakitic LM and RM respectively) the team is too narrow with no recognised wide men other than the wing backs. With the 4-4-2 as played against Olympiacos (Denis and Roberto LM and RM respectively) the midfield is too congested with the fullbacks pushing forward.

I understand he's only been around for a few months but he stubbornly persists with it when more expansive systems can be played with the players available. 4-2-3-1, 4-1-3-2, 4-3-3, 3-4-3... When he was at Bilbao he swore by the 4-2-3-1 despite not having half the talent even this rubbish squad has. I don't get it. It must be mid table coach mindset...

 

[Joan]

Problem is with the 4-4-2 as played against Bilbao (Gomes and Rakitic LM and RM respectively) the team is too narrow with no recognised wide men other than the wing backs. With the 4-4-2 as played against Olympiacos (Denis and Roberto LM and RM respectively) the midfield is too congested with the fullbacks pushing forward.

I understand he's only been around for a few months but he stubbornly persists with it when more expansive systems can be played with the players available. 4-2-3-1, 4-1-3-2, 4-3-3, 3-4-3... When he was at Bilbao he swore by the 4-2-3-1 despite not having half the talent even this rubbish squad has. I don't get it. It must be mid table coach mindset...

Bilbao and Olympiacos games were terrible. Have to agree with you tho I still have some faith in 4-4-2.

If he decides to play Denis, it has to be LW. Also, unless Valverde benches Suarez, Messi must return to the RW. 4-4-2 was invented to please Suarez but if we looked at his average positioning, we'd see him playing deeper than Messi. That musn't be the case. Our biggest problem, I'd say, is Suarez' finishing which is off.
On the other hand, with all the injuries taken into account, Rakitić has to have his minutes and if he is to be utilized, he needs RW, ideally Deulofeu.
There are 2 problems with playing more expansive systems, 1) what to do with Messi and 2) we lack wingers.

The most obvious solution is benching Suarez and dealing with his form off the pitch.
I didn't really 'reply', rather was thinking out loud.

 

[JamDav1982]

Problem is with the 4-4-2 as played against Bilbao (Gomes and Rakitic LM and RM respectively) the team is too narrow with no recognised wide men other than the wing backs. With the 4-4-2 as played against Olympiacos (Denis and Roberto LM and RM respectively) the midfield is too congested with the fullbacks pushing forward.

I understand he's only been around for a few months but he stubbornly persists with it when more expansive systems can be played with the players available. 4-2-3-1, 4-1-3-2, 4-3-3, 3-4-3... When he was at Bilbao he swore by the 4-2-3-1 despite not having half the talent even this rubbish squad has. I don't get it. It must be mid table coach mindset...

He changed the set up last night at HT and the team looked poorer.

Previous pages you seem to show him having tried 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 3-5-2, 3-4-3 in games yet few posts on seem to say he stick to some 4-4-2 when he doesnt.

His Bilbao team was maybe more traditional 4-4-2 than this one a lot of the time as their plan often revolved around balls into the box for Aduriz and Raul Garcia.

 

[JerseyAddict]

+1 for this last few posts and quality reading.