Nelson Semedo

[DonAK]

Defending was actually something he needed to improve. I'm surprised at how well he's defending as he is an attack first RB. Always been and that's the reason he earned all that rave praise.

It will come with time I think although it seems like he's holding back because Alba pushes forward a lot. Perhaps Valverde want to use his pace as a security measure defensively.

 

[serghei]

Perhaps Valverde want to use his pace as a security measure defensively.

Very very high probability of this being the case. You could see in the 2nd half how quickly he closed that gap when a Sevila player was almost 1 vs 1 with Stegen.

 

[Horatio]

Seems to me he was holding back because no one seems to be able to catch up with him anyway. He went forward first half a couple of times but was forced to cut back because no one was in front.
I think with Dembele he can set up some nice counters.

 

[Joan]

Dembele is not the killer type tho, there'll be nobody to score the chances they create...

In Paco we trust

 

[Total-Football]

this player needs to start every fucking liga match period. 2 levels above Roberto as a right back. Smooth ball control, quick and swift change in direction, comfortable distributor of the ball, explosive in acceleration; if that's not barca dna i don't know what it is. And he can defend, he proved that in that dangerous counter by sevilla. Roberto doesn't attack better than semedo-that's a myth- and he sure as hell doesn't defend better.

 

[xXKonan]

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

He doesn't trust Pique in 1vs1 or why was he running there to help him? Otherwise great run back to save his own ass. He can make mistakes defensively and still run back. He has amazing speed.

 

[Nothanks]

Yeah can't help but think he got lucky in that play, it's impressive he was able to recover it with pace but why did he lose his marker in a 2v2 attack?

I don't fault EV for using roberto over him, his offensive game isn't as good as roberto, if he improves his connections with players and figures out his passes / dribbles better he'll be undisputed starter I think.

 

[Barcilliant]

He deserves to play more frequently. Great ball keeping, great control and a very good defender. Not sure why Valverde is closing eyes on these.

Why? Because Valverde is an idiot.

 

[xXKonan]

The problem with Roberto is even if he's better going forward right now he's still a lot weaker in defending compared to Semedo. You might gain something going forward right now with Bob but you lose a lot when it comes to defensive stability.

But despite all this Roberto-Semedo are a really good RB pair to have though, much better than what we had in quite awhile.

 

[aaron101]

He doesn't trust Pique in 1vs1 or why was he running there to help him? Otherwise great run back to save his own ass. He can make mistakes defensively and still run back. He has amazing speed.

Nobody trusts Pique even on 1v1 nowadays, he's been shit since the beginning of the season except for this last game.

 

[Nothanks]

The problem with Roberto is even if he's better going forward right now he's still a lot weaker in defending compared to Semedo. You might gain something going forward right now with Bob but you lose a lot when it comes to defensive stability.

But despite all this Roberto-Semedo are a really good RB pair to have though, much better than what we had in quite awhile.

I agree with this which is why I find it odd so many people make it a huge deal he doesn't start..

I personally think we have a wonderful "problem" in our hands, both players have pros and cons..
if it were up to me and we played real madrid tomorrow I personally would rather have Semedo to keep ronaldo/marcelo's side a little bit safer.
although with roberto we get moments of brilliance aka the messi 90th+ minute goal all because of roberto, or PSG goal like stuff

 

[khaled_a_d]

Sometimes I feel he is a CB playing the RB position. Don't think it is a tactical thing either as Roberto is more free when playing.
He is good player and great signing but he needs to step up his offensive game to get more playing time, otherwise he will continue to share position with Roberto for the next few year rather than being a clear cut starter

 

[Neymessi]

He doesn't trust Pique in 1vs1 or why was he running there to help him? Otherwise great run back to save his own ass. He can make mistakes defensively and still run back. He has amazing speed.

The instinct is always in those situations to close down the striker with pressure on the break when there is just one defender trying to close him down and its normal.

You should watch the defense of chelsea vs roma where 3 went towards a single player. Now thats bad defending.

 

[Barcilliant]

Sometimes I feel he is a CB playing the RB position. Don't think it is a tactical thing either as Roberto is more free when playing.
He is good player and great signing but he needs to step up his offensive game to get more playing time, otherwise he will continue to share position with Roberto for the next few year rather than being a clear cut starter

His offensive game has to do with Valverdes tactical set up. Semedo has been given instructions to stay back. Semedo is a beast attack wise but Valverde doesn't want both full backs attacking. Semedo is better then Alba defense wise and that's why Valverde doesn't want him to far up the pitch.