The State of Barcelona under Lucho

[kilian]

I think it is not fair to criticize Suarez and Rakitic. Both are proven quality players, but have problems adapting to Barca, as did many others. Today that is even a bigger problem because we have an amateur stubborn coach who doesn`t help them to adapt with his idiotic man management and tactics. Nobody can know that Reus or Kroos would play spectacular in this current Barca team.

Barca has a solid roster, but they are failing at fundamentals. Firstly, there is no first team who can form chemistry and partnerships across the field like Messi - Dani Alves or Puyol - Pique, Xavi - Iniesta. Modric and Kroos look very good in Real Madrid because they played all the time. Barca didn`t have the same lineup in two games this year.

Another thing is that they cannot accept that Xavi - Iniesta - Busquets midfield is finished. Xavi is absolutely past it. Iniesta currently plays in a shitty form, but has some more years in him, if he is managed correctly and lastly Busquets. He is not a classic defensive midfielder. Lacks intensity and you have to compensate that with someone like Rakitic in central midfield. When he plays behind Xavi and Iniesta it is a disaster.

They are club legends, but currently are a burden to the inevitable changes if they want to win trophies in the near future.

And last thing, but not the least is club management. There is not much to say. Disastrous managing, they should be sacked and elections should be held.

 

[Bertus]

I think it is not fair to criticize Suarez and Rakitic. Both are proven quality players, but have problems adapting to Barca, as did many others. Today that is even a bigger problem because we have an amateur stubborn coach who doesn`t help them to adapt with his idiotic man management and tactics. Nobody can know that Reus or Kroos would play spectacular in this current Barca team.

Barca has a solid roster, but they are failing at fundamentals. Firstly, there is no first team who can form chemistry and partnerships across the field like Messi - Dani Alves or Puyol - Pique, Xavi - Iniesta. Modric and Kroos look very good in Real Madrid because they played all the time. Barca didn`t have the same lineup in two games this year.

Another thing is that they cannot accept that Xavi - Iniesta - Busquets midfield is finished. Xavi is absolutely past it. Iniesta currently plays in a shitty form, but has some more years in him, if he is managed correctly and lastly Busquets. He is not a classic defensive midfielder. Lacks intensity and you have to compensate that with someone like Rakitic in central midfield. When he plays behind Xavi and Iniesta it is a disaster.

They are club legends, but currently are a burden to the inevitable changes if they want to win trophies in the near future.

And last thing, but not the least is club management. There is not much to say. Disastrous managing, they should be sacked and elections should be held.

You don't get it at all.

You take what people like me said as an offense against players you consider good.

But it's not what you think. What we stated is that Suarez, Mathieu and Rakitic despite being good, very good players are not on par with Reus, Koke, Benatia and Kroos. Especially when you consider Barcelona usual playstyle.

Reus is better than Suarez because he doesn't just stand there in attack. He can go back deep to help building an attack, then since he's faster than Suarez, he has no problem doing what Suarez is currently doing while greatly helping in midfield and even cover the fullback when he has too. He provides more on the field, I would dare saying maybe even more than Bale.

Kroos is the same, he has all the qualities that Rakitic has, but he's better in everything else. Especially on set pieces where he's deadly.

Koke, same. His impact is on another level.

Benatia compared to Mathieu, again it's the same. He can do all that mathieu can do but better and even more, and he's younger, so Barca would not have to stress because of the transfer ban.

See? It's not insulting players, it's just stating facts.

 

[pacp_96]

I disagree.

Reus would fit Barca system better than Suarez imo.

Koke and Kroos would have more impact than Rakitic.

Benatia is better than Mathieu and only butthurt barca fans try to imply otherwise.

And I really like Mathieu as I said it many times, but sorry, Benatia is in a league above him, that's all.

Fair points.

Reus however is more of a counter attacking player which I don't think would fit the system any more than Suarez.

Koke would have needed a 60m transfer fee and he just isn't worth that much imo

Kroos I would have got but as well as raki not instead of him.

Would have got Benatia instead of Verm and Douglas and got Mathieu as well.

 

[DrPepper]

Reus is better than Suarez because he doesn't just stand there in attack. He can go back deep to help building an attack, then since he's faster than Suarez, he has no problem doing what Suarez is currently doing while greatly helping in midfield and even cover the fullback when he has too. He provides more on the field, I would dare saying maybe even more than Bale.

I disagree here, but tend to agree on everything else.

The problem is that the manager impacts a player the most. Watch Liverpool last season. Suarez was everywhere, always there for a pass but also offering runs from deep. Also was able to play different roles. Sometimes as a pure goal scorer and against better teams more as a creator. Rodgers built a system that was able to get top performances out of him.

Suarez doesn't look good atm but technically I'd say he is better than Reus. He isn't really fully integrated in tactical terms and as a result has not the confidence he had at Liverpool.

So the question, would we be better with players like Koke, Benatia and Kroos? On paper yes since they have more quality, but how can Koke and Kroos do better than Rakitic and Xavi when Enrique prefers to bypass the midfield or build from the sides?

 

[Bertus]

I disagree here, but tend to agree on everything else.

The problem is that the manager impacts a player the most. Watch Liverpool last season. Suarez was everywhere, always there for a pass but also offering runs from deep. Also was able to play different roles. Sometimes as a pure goal scorer and against better teams more as a creator. Rodgers built a system that was able to get top performances out of him.

Suarez doesn't look good atm but technically I'd say he is better than Reus. He isn't really fully integrated in tactical terms and as a result has not the confidence he had at Liverpool.

So the question, would we be better with players like Koke, Benatia and Kroos? On paper yes since they have more quality, but how can Koke and Kroos do better than Rakitic and Xavi when Enrique prefers to bypass the midfield or build from the sides?

I disagree. Technically Reus is better, and a better creator.

When he's fit ( ) he's mainly the one that carries Dortmund because he creates a lot.

Technically, it's not even a question to me. He has way better control of the ball. Suarez is more a finisher, but this season, he sucks and missed a lots of easy chances to score.

The thing is, Reus would provide more chances to score for Messi and Neymar than what suarez is doing. Barca didn't need another main striker. A versatile player than can score (less than suarez given past seasons but still) and provide lots of assists for Messi and Neymar would have been more useful imo.

Fair points.

Reus however is more of a counter attacking player which I don't think would fit the system any more than Suarez.

Koke would have needed a 60m transfer fee and he just isn't worth that much imo

Kroos I would have got but as well as raki not instead of him.

Would have got Benatia instead of Verm and Douglas and got Mathieu as well.

Reus is very good at combining. I dare saying he would be better than suarez as far as controlling and passing the ball in a fast pacing style.

And also, Barcelona doing some counterattacks when it can would not hurt too.

Reus is a versatile player with better skills than suarez. Maybe he's not as good as shooting at close range (Talking about last year suarez here, because this season, he's horrible compared to last year and reminds me Cavani from PSG more and more), but he would provide so much more for Neymar and Messi it's not even fair to compare him with Suarez.

And yeah, sure, Kroos+rakitic+mathieu+benatia would have at least been a better mercato than what barca got.

 

[ryuken]

We let Benatia go becuz he didnt have the mythical Barca DNA, the same apply to Kroos. Tbh, that what you get for letting 3 DF working together.

 

[Flavia]

The problem isn't the players. It's Lucho, zubi, Bartomeu. While these people are there, there's no hope. Nothing will change. Barça have been on a steep decline since Pep left. There is no sporting project. These fools thought buying Suarez would sovle all problems, but forgot the midfield is also important. They signed players like douglas and vermaelen knowing very well a ban was possible, snubbed Kroos... Nothing will change while they're there.

 

[Bertus]

The problem isn't the players. It's Lucho, zubi, Bartomeu. While these people are there, there's no hope. Nothing will change. Barça have been on a steep decline since Pep left. There is no sporting project. These fools thought buying Suarez would sovle all problems, but forgot the midfield is also important. They signed players like douglas and vermaelen knowing very well a ban was possible, snubbed Kroos... Nothing will change while they're there.

Can I dare saying Pep left because he felt Barcelona started to fuck up?

I think he was smart and knew what was coming, and didn't want to be part of this titanic.

 

[Bertus]

We let Benatia go becuz he didnt have the mythical Barca DNA, the same apply to Kroos. Tbh, that what you get for letting 3 DF working together.

Don't remind me that.

All summer, there was people here saying to me I was wrong because Benatia and Kroos didn't have that DNA.

And when I said that I would even get James in, I got almost laughed at.

Fee aside, I still think James would have been a great signing for the future. And well, since the ban was coming, I would have went all out.

Who cares if barcelona got the same sanctions as PSG since Barca would not have been able to recruit because of the ban anyways.

Yeah I would have spend 250M if needed.

 

[Flavia]

Can I dare saying Pep left because he felt Barcelona started to fuck up?

I think he was smart and knew what was coming, and didn't want to be part of this titanic.

I think one of his reasons was rosell, surely.

Don't remind me that.

All summer, there was people here saying to me I was wrong because Benatia and Kroos didn't have that DNA.

And when I said that I would even get James in, I got almost laughed at.

Fee aside, I still think James would have been a great signing for the future. And well, since the ban was coming, I would have went all out.

Who cares if barcelona got the same sanctions as PSG since Barca would not have been able to recruit because of the ban anyways.

Yeah I would have spend 250M if needed.

This dna talk is BS. I don't really remember it being used this past summer. The rumor was roma wasn't willing to talk about Benatia. But we have zubi as sporting director. A competent one went there and signed him for Pep, while zubi got us vermaelen.

 

[Bertus]

This dna talk is BS. I don't really remember it being used this past summer. The rumor was roma wasn't willing to talk about Benatia. But we have zubi as sporting director. A competent one went there and signed him for Pep, while zubi got us vermaelen.

I remember clearly those discussions I had about benatia and kroos that "didnt fit barcelona". Which is the same as saying they don't have a Barca DNA.

Dig a bit in the Benatia thread, you will see some examples

 

[ryuken]

And are we still consider Mathieu and Rakitic a steal now?

 

[Bertus]

And are we still consider Mathieu and Rakitic a steal now?

They are both good players. If the board paired them with Benatia and Kroos that would have been better.

Mathieu and Rakitic were not really a problem tbh. Getting Verma and rejecting a Kroos that was adamant to join us was.

 

[Jägermeister]

I remember clearly those discussions I had about benatia and kroos that "didnt fit barcelona". Which is the same as saying they don't have a Barca

That's true. Almost everybody didn't "fit our system" or was "too slow".

 

[kilian]

cut

Suarez just stands there in attack. You just disqualified yourself from any serious football conversation.