Spanish Cup Quarter Final: Barca - Real Sociedad 1-0

[fergus90]

Dembele > Mbappe now mate, he's turned into Theo Walcott since the world cup.

I know he scored 5 the other day but the goalkeeper was a pastry chef.

 

[kattanib]

Dembele > Mbappe now mate, he's turned into Theo Walcott since the world cup.

I know he scored 5 the other day but the goalkeeper was a pastry chef.

Can we do a deductive reasoning test for Barcaforum members?

 

[fergus90]

Can we do a deductive reasoning test for Barcaforum members?

Only if we can check the batteries in your sarcasm detector too.

 

[KingLeo10]

Been Barca's best player this season and a different player compared to Mbappe.

Mbappe tier, as in with a firm shout of being the best player in the world

 

[CatalinR10]

Our finishing was straight awfull tonight

 

[Skalman]

Been Barca's best player this season and a different player compared to Mbappe.

Disagree, he has been very hot and cold, best player has been Ter Stegen, with some margin.

 

[Messi983]

Everyone decides for himself what, but the fact that something is missing is for sure.

Two problems imo.

1. can't finish the games off. Even when creating a lot of chances like tonight we let opponents alive until the end. Game would be over if we'd scored second.

2. drop off in performance when subs are made. I know we have to keep players fresh and prevent injuries but would be much better doing subs up by 2-3 goals (which ofc bring us back to the first point).

But most important now is we somehow keep winning when we play well but don't score enough and also when we play bad (like against Getafe) and have to suffer.

Won't always end well though (two dropped points vs Espanyol and we also had to play ET against Betis in Supercopa after conceding late equalizer which wasn't ideal even though we won in the end) so need to continue improving.

When Sociedad received the red card they started playing much better than they had the entire first half, which makes no sense.

But... It was because they switched to a 5 back. It is such a counter to this system that even though they were a man down switching to it instantly improved them from when they were playing with 11 in the 1st half.

Totally understandable in retrospect how we lost to Frankfurt. The extra defender really really damages this system.

Don't think it was only the system change but also subs Alguacil made at HT. Dembele killed Diego Rico in first half, Munoz did a bit better against him (can't really blame opponent defenders when Dembouz plays like this) but also had help from Barenetxea who subbed Oyarzabal who is far from his best form just coming back from a serious injury.

I was overall happy with how we've played for 80-85 minutes but also have to give credit to Sociedad. They've missed their two most creative players (Silva and Merino), Brais Mendez who is their joined best scorer in the league was sent off. I've also mentioned Oyarzabal who was their key player in past 4-5 years. And Umar Sadiq will add more quality to the team as well when he recovers. But he has only played 2-3 games so far before getting injured so can't really say he's an important player already because he didn't spend enough time on the pitch to prove that yet. And they've still created enough chances so we couldn't say it would be undeserved if they would score and send the game to ET.

 

[Birdy]

When Sociedad received the red card they started playing much better than they had the entire first half, which makes no sense.

But... It was because they switched to a 5 back. It is such a counter to this system that even though they were a man down switching to it instantly improved them from when they were playing with 11 in the 1st half.

Totally understandable in retrospect how we lost to Frankfurt. The extra defender really really damages this system.

The only thing that I am hopeful about is that ETH will not play 5ATB
He has an ideology and never plays like that at UTD.

Other than that, any team that plays against us knows how to beat us if they switch to 5ATB

 

[Capitan Puyol]

Good game !

 

[JamDav1982]

The four in midfield is best way to go for now without a doubt.

Helps both protect Busquets and give him more freedom.
Much more options on the ball and the way FDJ plugs the gaps and reacts to be where when needed gives Pedri, Gavi more freedom than are in a midfield three as well as giving Busquets more cover.
Also helps Balde get forward on left and take width.. which is needed as no wide player bar Dembele can do it and he is needed on right.

Things need to improve on... more quality from LB/Balde in uild up and delivery if taking width on left.
FDJ, Pedri and Gavi all got into the box really well last night and each could have easily scored. Against teams sitting in this system allows more men in box which is a positive but all three need to score a bit more if it is Just Lewa centrally most of the time in this system.


Next up fill certain positions with more like for like depth so injuries dont impact so much and a DM/RB/LWF options.

 

[Iniesta Ultra]

Zoo diversity key here, chihuahua distracting for porcupine runs with red panda hiding to attack. Imho conducting corral with short hail marys, the new gmo dna.