Yaya + Keita not working?

[Evil]

Screw Yaya-Biscuit partnership! Bring back the Yaya-Xavi-Iniesta from last season!

 

[John Antonio Bilboa]

Tamers right, Keita on his own is just fine but when their put together they seem to cancel each other out. Xavi Yaya and Iniesta is a better combination.

 

[G.J]

If Keita isn't the right option, then the Biscuit isn't a better alternative, IMHO...He's had a very poor early showing thus far...From preseason until now, he's been the weakest part of the squad from my perspective.

Keita, on the other hand, has been one of the most improved

While I agree he hasnt been in the greatest of forms this year, he definitely does bring a different option. He can hold the ball well , hes much more creative than Keita, and better for our possession game as oppose to Keita's directness (Remember the ownage of united midfield?). Also when he playes with Yaya, he allows him to run at defenders, thus bringing a different aspect of Yaya's awsomeness.

 

[Metaphysical]

Screw Yaya-Biscuit partnership! Bring back the Yaya-Xavi-Iniesta from last season!

not 'til henry's fit, I don't think.

but in any case, keita and yaya don't work.

yaya and busquets
busquets and keita

these are fine.

but when yaya and keita both play it just doesn't work.

and no, keita is not very creative at all and his presence in the team DOES make it harder for xavi. but we get the added bonus of keita's goal-threat (of course he can negate this by missing sitters, as he did in the san siro).

 

[Evil]

Don't forget his aerial threat, Sporting game anybody? He killed them with those headers.

 

[Cule Angles]

CA or someone else on the forum brought this to my attention. It appears that when we have both Yaya Toure and Keita on the field that our midfield looks somewhat lost and loses it's fluency and those two just don't click.
So where's the problem here? I don't think it's merely "Keita is no Iniesta" but I do agree that Xavi is easier to be marked off when there's no other creative midfielder alongside him.

Twas moi, I believe. Given that I've been saying they don't work as a partnership for about a year I'll take the credit anyway, excellent topic though as it's something well worth discussing properly rather than just having a moan about from time to time.

A lot of the posts above note how good Keita is. Yes, yes he is a good player as an individual but in the system we play that's not enough when his presence destabalises the midfield to such an extent that it cancels out nealy all the creativity. Defensively I don't think we lose much but it's in attack that we really suffer when Keita and Yaya team up.

Somebody mentioned Keita's lack of creativity meaning sides can concentrate more on marking Xavi out of the game. Nail. Head. I'm not the best tactical observer of the game but that for me seems the most logical explanation and Seydou's lack of creative genius means that suddenly our play becomes slower and more predictable once teams gang up on Xavi and we lose the dynamic needed to bring the wide men into play.

The concerning element is Pep's persistence with playing Yaya and Keita when the world and his wife seems to have cottoned on to the fact that it doesn't get the job done. Does Pep feel he has no choice given Busi's poor performances of late? Is he so determined to make it work that he is giving the partnership more time to gel? If it's the latter then for me it's too much time because they've had enough minutes together to find an understanding and a solution to the problems. My opinion is that the players in question simply do not have the ability to make the system work and it is a case of one or the other but never both at the same time.

 

[barcetia]

Twas moi, I believe. Given that I've been saying they don't work as a partnership for about a year I'll take the credit anyway, excellent topic though as it's something well worth discussing properly rather than just having a moan about from time to time.

A lot of the posts above note how good Keita is. Yes, yes he is a good player as an individual but in the system we play that's not enough when his presence destabalises the midfield to such an extent that it cancels out nealy all the creativity. Defensively I don't think we lose much but it's in attack that we really suffer when Keita and Yaya team up.

Somebody mentioned Keita's lack of creativity meaning sides can concentrate more on marking Xavi out of the game. Nail. Head. I'm not the best tactical observer of the game but that for me seems the most logical explanation and Seydou's lack of creative genius means that suddenly our play becomes slower and more predictable once teams gang up on Xavi and we lose the dynamic needed to bring the wide men into play.

The concerning element is Pep's persistence with playing Yaya and Keita when the world and his wife seems to have cottoned on to the fact that it doesn't get the job done. Does Pep feel he has no choice given Busi's poor performances of late? Is he so determined to make it work that he is giving the partnership more time to gel? If it's the latter then for me it's too much time because they've had enough minutes together to find an understanding and a solution to the problems. My opinion is that the players in question simply do not have the ability to make the system work and it is a case of one or the other but never both at the same time.

I agree with you totally. Mainly this is also why we are getting Fabregas.

 

[Metaphysical]

the reason yaya/keita doesn't work is because keita isn't creative and when yaya is in DM he isn't very creative either.

this puts all the onus on xavi as previously said.

the reason busquets/keita DOES work is because even as a DM busquets is creative. so it doesn't put all the burden on xavi and our midfield can function as normal (though still below xaviesta levels).

I'm amazed pep hasn't figured that out yet (or maybe he has and is trying to get either of our africans to be more creative).

 

[sammy]

Maybe he already knows about it, but iniesta is still on the road for his full recovery and to gain his toudh again. Plus henry always have injury problems this season.

 

[IrvDizzle]

Pep really doesn't have a choice. Hleb is back in Germany. Eidur is in Monaco. Thiago and Dos Santos are too young. No one else was brought in. This is why Cesc is coming to FCB this offseason. Our chances of repeating (CL/Liga) and winning the World Club Cup hangs on the thread that is Xaviesta. Although it does explain why Ibrah was brought in, somewhat. Kieta and Toure would work if M.I.T. and one of Xavi/Iniesta are on form and on the pitch because Kieta and Toure are poachers, not creators.

It's rather worrying.

 

[iced1776]

One note about Yaya's role this year that I think people aren't mentioning. When he's free to move up into the attack he can pull off some brilliantly creative passes and runs, better than any other DM in the world can. However this season Pep has dropped him much further back in the field so that he can cover for the defenders (mainly Alves, sometimes Pique) when they make runs upfield. This, combined with an undeserved lack of playing time, has made him a bit less visible than the last two seasons.

 

[DivineVisitor]

I think Xaviesta should be given a run out in midfield again sooner rather than later, even if it means playing three of Bojan, Pedro, Messi and Ibra upfront and droping Keita when Yaya is playing.

 

[ZenI]

the reason yaya/keita doesn't work is because keita isn't creative and when yaya is in DM he isn't very creative either.

this puts all the onus on xavi as previously said.

the reason busquets/keita DOES work is because even as a DM busquets is creative. so it doesn't put all the burden on xavi and our midfield can function as normal (though still below xaviesta levels).

I'm amazed pep hasn't figured that out yet (or maybe he has and is trying to get either of our africans to be more creative).

Yep, totally agree.
Biscuits style is very 'Xavi-like', a deep laying playmaker with excellent vision. OK, he has fuc*ed up 2-3 times this season - but still it's for the better if Keita and Yaya don't play together. If we don't get Fabregas we should just get another DM an play Biscuit on CM.

Our other problem is the totall waste of Iniesta on the left wing + Pedro.
Since Iniesta returned after his injury he hasn't been himself. OK, he dribbles a little and makes a decent pass and all but in the end he ends up on the midfield which is already overcrowded - than Messi is marked out because we don't have a left winger (cause' he's always in the midfield) and we play to slow with less options. Without Ibra we just looked very lost - Pedro, Messi and Iniesta were changing positions so often that I even think they got confused.
I don't blame Txiki or Pep for not signing a left winger. Just to sign a player for the sake of it is useless and the options we were going for were all impossible to get. Also, Henry looked very good last season and it looked like he had one more season in him + Pedro as a backup. But now we see that Henry hasen't reached his standards + he's injury prone, Pedro is not good enough imo (OK, he scored an important goal and all - but overall it's not enough) and it seems like Iniesta doesn't do any good on LW.

I think Xaviesta should be given a run out in midfield again sooner rather than later, even if it means playing three of Bojan, Pedro, Messi and Ibra upfront and droping Keita when Yaya is playing.

Also agree, play Bojan on LW and Xaviesta/Yaya.

 

[Barcaman]

Add another match to this theory. No Yaya and Keita scores a hattrick.

 

[House of Flies]

weird coincedence.