Asylum15
Senior Member
Well, I’ve had many hours to let last night sink in.
It’s difficult to form an opinion on us these days for me because I either highlight the stupidly obvious, or re-iterate the beaten to death. I guess I will undertake both here.
We’re paying for 5+ years of bad signings, poor decisions at board level and poor management. As much as I’ll always dislike RM, they are in a better position than us with regard to player ability (across the squad) and young player development, which is even more surprising considering La Masia’s reputation. They’ve hit the jackpot with the development of Isco, Ascenio, Carvajal and to a lesser extent Vasquez. Our equivalents in Roberto, Samper, D. Suarez, Deulofeu just aren’t a match in terms of quality. Samper may still turn out to be something, but the others for me are now at their ‘level’ which is not Barcelona level. Real have nailed a formula, they are in a good ‘cycle.’ What’s hard to take is the fact we’ve had so much money to spend, so many chances to invest such that we stay with them at the very least, and even with the world’s best player, we’ve continually invested poorly. Does this board understand the logic behind lessons learned? We are paying for it dearly the last few seasons.
We can talk about last night’s game in more detail. Sure, we ‘controlled’ the game for long periods, and looked more compact in defence but are you really controlling a game with 65% possession when you create little, or no chances? I would always argue if you sit back and restrict a team to 1-2 chances in 90 minutes, you’re in pretty good control. We didn’t penetrate enough, we allowed them to reset far too often once we’d dislodged them. Eg. 4-5 very quick one touch passes, which then is destroyed because a player stops the ball, holds it for 2-3 seconds, then passes it backwards. (Neymar’s famous move). We didn’t look like scoring until Busquets demonstrated his finishing abilities once more… We didn’t deserve a penalty, and other than that, we did nothing. I can’t take the positives some of you guys can here for these reasons. We’ve got some big problems that need sorting, and even if we splash the notes on Dembele, Coutinho and Seri, it’ll only mask some big core issues we have. Eg, Iniesta (Age, lack of mobility) Pique (1v1 Abilities), Rakatic (Headless chicken), L. Suarez (Clumsy, poor control, rushes things, extended lack of form.)
Defensive vulnerabilities. I’ve been supporting the club since 2007 and I’ve said it before and will say it again, Pique is good with the ball, good with defending the occasional cross/set piece, but if he is isolated 1v1 against anyone with even an above average agility, acceleration, and dribbling ability we are in big trouble. Last night, we pressed high, especially after the Madrid second goal, and left space in behind for Bale, Ronaldo, Ascenio and Benzema. Gerard’s lack of athleticism was shown up dramatically. One quick turn, jink, drop shoulder and he’s out of the game or giving away penalties. It’s always been a blinding weakness for me, and further support from his fullbacks are needed. Speaking of fullbacks, Aleix Vidal is not Barcelona quality either. A panic buy, a ‘spirited’ Sevilla flag carrier, who quite clearly doesn’t have the intelligence needed to play our system. The guy is constantly caught out of position defensively, and constantly gets into GOOD positions offensively, with zero delivery. It’s incredible how many times he fails to pick out a man when he’s gotten in behind in a wide position, only to drill a cross at the first defender, or pull it back, hoping Leo is arriving. Semedo needs to be brought in ASAP. Umtiti and Alba still get my vote of confidence but what good is half a defence?
Legless midfield. When Raka came, he was instrumental in our treble season, but has since turned into a headless chicken. Decent at keeping the ball moving, but spends most of his time charging at players, and running into nonsensical areas these days, rendering us a midfielder short in many instances. Also, it is incredibly infuriating how many times he tries to nutmeg players lately! Combine this with Andres, who is now closer than ever to the end, and Sergio who has never been able to run anyway, we have serious midfield mobility problems. Get the ball past our 3 guys in midfield on the counter and we’re dead meat. The difference is, a Real Madrid put it in the net, an Alaves don’t.
Indirect attack. Aside from Leo, we have absolutely no more 1v1 ability now. While this may be remedied with Dembele’s arrival, it is still worth noting L. Suarez has completey gone off the boil with this regard. He’s slower, and seemingly easier to read these days. His off the ball movement is still good, but he’s been playing like a hold up ST for the last number of weeks, who waits to finish chances, not create them. He’s been off form for months, and spent a huge part of last season invisible. He needs better competition for his spot, as Alcacer is laughable if we’re being honest. Neymar’s departure is fine, and in the manner he behaved, and how he’s left, he can do one, but he HAS taken a huge 1v1 ability with him, and also the ability to run in behind for Messi to find him with his change of pace. However, Neymar’s horrendous finishing means if we can actually find someone who can do those things and put it in the net, we might be actually more effective.
L is for Leo. I feel terrible for the man every season. Imagine being the best player in the world by a distance every year and constantly compared to a guy who’s favourite meal is narcissism? Oh, by the way, Ronaldo’s pre planned idea to mock Messi’s celebration was an amusing anecdote which further evaluated his inferiority as he was sent off like a proper idiot. Leo is gonna have the world on his shoulders again this year the way we stand currently, and seeing how our board has behaved over the last weeks, he must truly be rubbed the wrong way. We’ve had a prime Messi since 2013, and other than 2015, given him nothing but excuses. It’s a pity because any football fan with two brain cells will know had Leo been surrounded by the right players after Guardiola’s era, we’d have dominated world football for another 5 years. This will always be my biggest qualm with the club.
Bottom line, we need signings. Not tomorrow, not next week, right fucking now. We need them in, embedded in the culture, and we need Valverde to show us if he’s the real deal or not, by re-inventing aspects of our tired old game which has been overcome by far too many opponents since Pep left. We fucked last Summer in the transfer market. We cannot afford to fuck this one, but considering that we have agreed a deal to sign Paulinho,
my optimism as an FC Barcelona fan has never been so low.
It’s difficult to form an opinion on us these days for me because I either highlight the stupidly obvious, or re-iterate the beaten to death. I guess I will undertake both here.
We’re paying for 5+ years of bad signings, poor decisions at board level and poor management. As much as I’ll always dislike RM, they are in a better position than us with regard to player ability (across the squad) and young player development, which is even more surprising considering La Masia’s reputation. They’ve hit the jackpot with the development of Isco, Ascenio, Carvajal and to a lesser extent Vasquez. Our equivalents in Roberto, Samper, D. Suarez, Deulofeu just aren’t a match in terms of quality. Samper may still turn out to be something, but the others for me are now at their ‘level’ which is not Barcelona level. Real have nailed a formula, they are in a good ‘cycle.’ What’s hard to take is the fact we’ve had so much money to spend, so many chances to invest such that we stay with them at the very least, and even with the world’s best player, we’ve continually invested poorly. Does this board understand the logic behind lessons learned? We are paying for it dearly the last few seasons.
We can talk about last night’s game in more detail. Sure, we ‘controlled’ the game for long periods, and looked more compact in defence but are you really controlling a game with 65% possession when you create little, or no chances? I would always argue if you sit back and restrict a team to 1-2 chances in 90 minutes, you’re in pretty good control. We didn’t penetrate enough, we allowed them to reset far too often once we’d dislodged them. Eg. 4-5 very quick one touch passes, which then is destroyed because a player stops the ball, holds it for 2-3 seconds, then passes it backwards. (Neymar’s famous move). We didn’t look like scoring until Busquets demonstrated his finishing abilities once more… We didn’t deserve a penalty, and other than that, we did nothing. I can’t take the positives some of you guys can here for these reasons. We’ve got some big problems that need sorting, and even if we splash the notes on Dembele, Coutinho and Seri, it’ll only mask some big core issues we have. Eg, Iniesta (Age, lack of mobility) Pique (1v1 Abilities), Rakatic (Headless chicken), L. Suarez (Clumsy, poor control, rushes things, extended lack of form.)
Defensive vulnerabilities. I’ve been supporting the club since 2007 and I’ve said it before and will say it again, Pique is good with the ball, good with defending the occasional cross/set piece, but if he is isolated 1v1 against anyone with even an above average agility, acceleration, and dribbling ability we are in big trouble. Last night, we pressed high, especially after the Madrid second goal, and left space in behind for Bale, Ronaldo, Ascenio and Benzema. Gerard’s lack of athleticism was shown up dramatically. One quick turn, jink, drop shoulder and he’s out of the game or giving away penalties. It’s always been a blinding weakness for me, and further support from his fullbacks are needed. Speaking of fullbacks, Aleix Vidal is not Barcelona quality either. A panic buy, a ‘spirited’ Sevilla flag carrier, who quite clearly doesn’t have the intelligence needed to play our system. The guy is constantly caught out of position defensively, and constantly gets into GOOD positions offensively, with zero delivery. It’s incredible how many times he fails to pick out a man when he’s gotten in behind in a wide position, only to drill a cross at the first defender, or pull it back, hoping Leo is arriving. Semedo needs to be brought in ASAP. Umtiti and Alba still get my vote of confidence but what good is half a defence?
Legless midfield. When Raka came, he was instrumental in our treble season, but has since turned into a headless chicken. Decent at keeping the ball moving, but spends most of his time charging at players, and running into nonsensical areas these days, rendering us a midfielder short in many instances. Also, it is incredibly infuriating how many times he tries to nutmeg players lately! Combine this with Andres, who is now closer than ever to the end, and Sergio who has never been able to run anyway, we have serious midfield mobility problems. Get the ball past our 3 guys in midfield on the counter and we’re dead meat. The difference is, a Real Madrid put it in the net, an Alaves don’t.
Indirect attack. Aside from Leo, we have absolutely no more 1v1 ability now. While this may be remedied with Dembele’s arrival, it is still worth noting L. Suarez has completey gone off the boil with this regard. He’s slower, and seemingly easier to read these days. His off the ball movement is still good, but he’s been playing like a hold up ST for the last number of weeks, who waits to finish chances, not create them. He’s been off form for months, and spent a huge part of last season invisible. He needs better competition for his spot, as Alcacer is laughable if we’re being honest. Neymar’s departure is fine, and in the manner he behaved, and how he’s left, he can do one, but he HAS taken a huge 1v1 ability with him, and also the ability to run in behind for Messi to find him with his change of pace. However, Neymar’s horrendous finishing means if we can actually find someone who can do those things and put it in the net, we might be actually more effective.
L is for Leo. I feel terrible for the man every season. Imagine being the best player in the world by a distance every year and constantly compared to a guy who’s favourite meal is narcissism? Oh, by the way, Ronaldo’s pre planned idea to mock Messi’s celebration was an amusing anecdote which further evaluated his inferiority as he was sent off like a proper idiot. Leo is gonna have the world on his shoulders again this year the way we stand currently, and seeing how our board has behaved over the last weeks, he must truly be rubbed the wrong way. We’ve had a prime Messi since 2013, and other than 2015, given him nothing but excuses. It’s a pity because any football fan with two brain cells will know had Leo been surrounded by the right players after Guardiola’s era, we’d have dominated world football for another 5 years. This will always be my biggest qualm with the club.
Bottom line, we need signings. Not tomorrow, not next week, right fucking now. We need them in, embedded in the culture, and we need Valverde to show us if he’s the real deal or not, by re-inventing aspects of our tired old game which has been overcome by far too many opponents since Pep left. We fucked last Summer in the transfer market. We cannot afford to fuck this one, but considering that we have agreed a deal to sign Paulinho,
my optimism as an FC Barcelona fan has never been so low.
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