Well, Koeman certainly put us behind the 8 ball with what he did the first part of the season. And the value of the players that we have doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Look at Coutinho, his transfer was more then probably the majority of what the squads in the league are worth yet he can't get a game because he's not good enough.
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Well, Koeman certainly put us behind the 8 ball with what he did the first part of the season. And the value of the players that we have doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Look at Coutinho, his transfer was more then probably the majority of what the squads in the league are worth yet he can't get a game because he's not good enough.
ajnotkeith
Senior Member
It is the coach's job also to get the best out of his players. We may think they're bad but you can't say with a straight face that FDJ is worse than some random Segunda midfielder from Rayo, or that Dembele is worse than a winger from Getafe. These are obviously players with ability.
I didn't say anything about FDJ to be fair. I also agree with you but the quality of individual players, whether bad or good, doesn't make a good TEAM. It's how the players perform as a team and we obviously haven't been performing good enough which is why Koeman got sacked and we're not in the top 4 at this point.
Bobo32
Senior Member
He is not talking about skills but about habits. Barcelonas players, especially the la masia ones have the skills to play la masia style football, they have good technique and good minds, but they have been left to their own decision making and styles too much at least since coming to Barcelona A.
A bit inevitable just counting the amount of managers (and players) lately, but it's also about Koeman seemingly having little clue about what he wanted, and Setien and Valverde being so different managers, both opposed in different ways by the board, and "helped" so much by having Messi.
Xavi has a lot of work to do probably, I only see glimpses of things going the right way so far, but it's tough of course.
The most impressive thing about Pep is probably the way he got Barcelona, Bayern and City to play already the first pre-seasons.
xXKonan
Senior Member
This team needs Veterans but the issue we have is our Vets are either at the tail end of their careers and have declined significantly such as Pique and Busi and to an extent Alba as well or a not good enough such as Ter Stegen, Lenglet, Umtiti, Barith, Roberto, Coutinho etc.
Depay is heading towards the not-good-enough territory for me. We have some talented youngsters but also have youngsters who are not developing properly or simply not good enough long term. This team badly needs an overhaul in the veteran department the most. I'm talking about guys like Rakitic when we first got him, guys in the 26-29 range that can help at least give us a good spine.
Right now the Kids are the ones doing the heavy lifting which itself is embarrassing really that we have to rely so much on kids while our Vets aren't simply good enough anymore.
Depay is heading towards the not-good-enough territory for me. We have some talented youngsters but also have youngsters who are not developing properly or simply not good enough long term. This team badly needs an overhaul in the veteran department the most. I'm talking about guys like Rakitic when we first got him, guys in the 26-29 range that can help at least give us a good spine.
Right now the Kids are the ones doing the heavy lifting which itself is embarrassing really that we have to rely so much on kids while our Vets aren't simply good enough anymore.
Messigician
Senior Member
Now Barca fans and players have started appreciating every win. 🤣🤣In the past, wins were taken for granted against teams like elche and co.
iniestaGOAT
Senior Member
Everybody dropped points. What a week!
BBZ8800
Senior Member
I have no idea what this reply has to do with my post.
You are probably a bot from Rory's post.
I didn't blame Xavi or La Masia.
My opinion is that the whole club from the board, coaches, physical preparation and players moved into Barca DNA Wallmart version.
I'll try to explain it in this way:
Imagine if your team is the best because you have world class players, pacey wingers, fighters, good captains, good coach, good defense, pacey players, good stamina.
And on top of all you have world class technique.
Now, technique is a key part of all of this, but you wouldn't get on top without other ingredients.
And then one day someone comes and say: we only need technique, we'll survive without those other 10 things which made us great.
And that's how you get the current Barca.
On surface it looks like the old, successful Barca, but when you dig beneath the surface, it lacks in all areas.
Technique from this post is just an example, don't take it literally.
But imo, that is what Xavi was talking about.
We had like 10 or 20 little things which were the basics of our football and success and we neglected majority.
About tactical things which he is talking about, there are 3-4 options:
1. he thinks that La Masia kids don't learn the basics anymore
2. he thinks that expensive transfers don't know the basics of our football
3. he thinks that both 1 and 2 from this post don't know the basics
4. or he thinks that the coaches in the last few years did zero to improve the tactical basics of our team and thus the players lost even the aspects which they knew 6 years ago, so again either 1, 2 or both don't know the basics
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Devils
Senior Member
I've always been #TeamXavi, but he has to get a result vs Sevilla on Tuesday. Huge huge opportunity to get ahead of Pathetico.
If we can finish this year in top 4 and we manage to sign Torres/Cavani in the winter along with Ansu and Pedri coming back, pretty confident we can finish 2nd in La Liga, win The Europa League and Copa Del Rey.
If we can finish this year in top 4 and we manage to sign Torres/Cavani in the winter along with Ansu and Pedri coming back, pretty confident we can finish 2nd in La Liga, win The Europa League and Copa Del Rey.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
This is really good because even draw vs Sevilla would be decent result.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
If all those things happen it's nearly perfect season in my eyes, especially after ALL the struggle we had. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though.
Iniesta Ultra
Senior Member
If Xavi gives MATS a rest and keep Lenglet, Depay, Luuk De Jong benched and stick with 334 I'll be happy.
Well Pep is a genius. We know that. But let's be fair. The teams he inherited are miles better than what Xavi has now at Barca.
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