Barca should try and poach Tuchel if he is still up for grabs this summer.
Barcelona 2017/18
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
He is about to be confirmed as the PSG manager.
Roma jest eliminated Barcelona. To assume that Liverpool wouldn’t even need to break a sweat to get past them is a bit arrogant.
Andre Gomes
what's funny is that he would be the least of their problems if he was the only one, but they have bunch of average cm's and not a single one on Kroos or Modric level. they don't need 2 or 3 world class midfielders, just one and they have none.
Piece of cake
Barça smiles with the luck of the draw and starts dreaming about the treble
We have Coutinho...
Anyway, I think this team would look much better if Valverde prepared the season around setting up a 451 since September.
A back four of Semedo, Pique, Umtiti and Alba, with Roberto helping Semedo rotate.
Double DM with Busquets, and one of Rakitic, Roberto and Paulinho
Three forwards, Deulofeu/Dembele on the right wing, Messi in the center, and Denis Suarez/Iniesta on the left with Coutinho fitting there from January, with Dembele's injury and after letting Deulo go, you can put Messi as the RW, with Rakitic playing in the center, or even Paulinho.
Suarez as the lone striker, but rotating more with Alcacer.
Instead, we had Aleix Vidal eating minutes as a FB/Winger, Semedo being benched or out of the list, an absurd imbalance of minutes, with Rakitic and Suarez nearing 4k by March, and Alcacer or Denis still below 1k, less minutes than Aleix (who was on his way out) or Gomes, who, we should remember, was kept in the squad while we loaned Rafinha, a player that has shown glimpses of adapting easily to Barcelona's style, I'm pretty sure that Rafinha has already done better with Inter than Gomes' best game with Barcelona.
No, you don't. What would other teams say? Henderson, Ox and Milner dominated City
Already have Coutinho instead Iniesta, Busquets can still play, so you need Rakitić replacement. He is a good player, but not a top one and should be used from the bench (which I think he wouldn't even mind). You'll be fine.
Oh dear.
Spoke a bit too soon. How disrespectful was that to Roma tho?They need a new manager before anything else.
The big problem for Barcelona is that Valverde's style will get a lot of shit from many supporters if the results aren't great. The fans won't have a lot of patience after this even if Valverde's done a very good job.
Busquets-Rakitic-Coutinho/Iniesta is very good but they need an upgrade in midfield more than they need Griezmann.
Busquets-Rakitic-Coutinho/Iniesta is very good but they need an upgrade in midfield more than they need Griezmann.
Oh dear.
but whose words were those? Messi couldn't have said that. or...?
Wonder how much Barca will go downhill when Messi goes downhill... They don't look extremely prepared to deal with that right now.
Matic and Pogba would improve their midfield.
Imagine Barca being that weak in the middle. That's been their strong point for over two decades.
Imagine Barca being that weak in the middle. That's been their strong point for over two decades.
I have wondered this for awhile. Even with some of the star power they've purchased in Dembele, Coutinho and potentially Griezmann this summer, it doesn't seem like a very coherent strategy to set them up for long term success.
Dembele doesn't even look like a cert anyway. Think Dortmund fleeced them personally.
Arthur is confirmed, I also want Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
We need midfielders who are both physical and technical.
At the moment our technical midfielders (Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic) are slow as hell. Our physical midfielders (Paulinho, Gomes) can only pass sideways and backwards.
Who gives a feck about Griezmann. There are more important issues with this team.
We need midfielders who are both physical and technical.
At the moment our technical midfielders (Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic) are slow as hell. Our physical midfielders (Paulinho, Gomes) can only pass sideways and backwards.
Who gives a feck about Griezmann. There are more important issues with this team.
I had only watched Dembele a handful of times last year for Dortmund and he looked good but not that good. Seemed a bit desperate more than anything. Maybe he'll come good though. Idk.
I think that this is a direct consequence of Barcelona abandoning their philosophy. Even the CL winning side of 2015 was already a break with what made them the best team in history. In the last five years, their transfer strategy was more reminiscent of the Galactico days of Madrid. Primarily big names for the offense. When Neymar departed, I thought that this might be a chance for them to go back to their roots but instead they got Dembele who for me is no typical Barca player neither. Technically not on the required level and a more direct/physical player with average decision making.
And in this time frame, they missed out on so many midfielders who had Barca written all over them. Gündogan, de Bruyne, Thiago, Isco, Verratti, Kroos, Kovacic - all of them would have been perfect fits but they decided to go with superstars instead. And the individual brillance of Messi, Suarez and Neymar whitewashed that the other team areas were detoriating.
And besides all that, they abandoned the tiki taka style. Occasionally, you see remnants of these times and Busquets, Messi and Iniesta have nice passages, but that's it. I cannot regonize a system at all. The only positive thing Valverde implemented was that the counter pressing is far better under him. Other than that I don't think that his Barca side lives up to the standards of the club.
And in this time frame, they missed out on so many midfielders who had Barca written all over them. Gündogan, de Bruyne, Thiago, Isco, Verratti, Kroos, Kovacic - all of them would have been perfect fits but they decided to go with superstars instead. And the individual brillance of Messi, Suarez and Neymar whitewashed that the other team areas were detoriating.
And besides all that, they abandoned the tiki taka style. Occasionally, you see remnants of these times and Busquets, Messi and Iniesta have nice passages, but that's it. I cannot regonize a system at all. The only positive thing Valverde implemented was that the counter pressing is far better under him. Other than that I don't think that his Barca side lives up to the standards of the club.
I actually think someone like Houssem Aouar would be ideal. He is that midfielder who can in tight spaces that Barca usually have. Still young but, looks a special talent. Savic does not seem like a Barca midfielder at all.
Liverpool are the type of team that Roma would be unlikely to replicate such a performance. Lightening striking twice seems unlikely to me and I always fear the worse when Liverpool are sniffing around unless of course it's the League.
Told you you were ready for a proper beating
They will always be a big pull because of who they are and the city they play in but let's be be honest it will be just as bad perhaps worse than the void Fergie left when leaving us. The way they have geared up everything towards him and their play it will probably take them a few seasons to get back to the right balance and team. Barca are less prepared to replace or compensate for his absence than any other team over any other player.
They'll also have way less fanboys around my neck of the woods too.
I have been trying to convince myself they're great but can't prevent myself to think they're underwhelming and overdependent on Messi at the moment more than any previous year despite having other top players. Whenever Messi isn't present or has an off day, they look lost on the pitch. It's all Messi for them at the moment.
Semedo committed another identical penalty to the one from the first leg tonight as well at the beginning of the game...
Honestly, after a few months i kept hearing barca fans talk about how what a good signing he was, when he was sergi roberto's backup...all because he looks good on the ball(looks being the key word - doesn't mean he is good). Has shown nothing so far imho
Barcelona's midfield problems are overblown. They lack energy, intensity and movement, but a guy like Griezmann would fix a lot of problems. They just need to move away from their idealized football and adapt fully to the players
Honestly, after a few months i kept hearing barca fans talk about how what a good signing he was, when he was sergi roberto's backup...all because he looks good on the ball(looks being the key word - doesn't mean he is good). Has shown nothing so far imho
Barcelona's midfield problems are overblown. They lack energy, intensity and movement, but a guy like Griezmann would fix a lot of problems. They just need to move away from their idealized football and adapt fully to the players
That's the thing. It really is incredible. Especially considering that there are so many of their preferred type of midfielders like never before. There were so many players who had Barca written all over them. They simply needed to stretch out their arm and grab them, yet they didn't. Instead, they even let Thiago go, completely focused on Galactico transfers and chose mediocre players like Paulinho and Andre Gomes to run their midfield. It is telling something that an ageing and injury prone Iniesta is still comfortably their best CM. Gündogan, Verratti, Kroos, Modric, Özil, Thiago, Kovacic, Isco, Götze, de Bruyne, Thiago, even David Silva - those would all have been perfect fits with much perspective for their CM back when they were on the market and they let them pass by without a second thought.
Cutinho is obviously a great player but I am not sure that he will fit into the Iniesta role.
It's liverpool, not 1970 Brazil FFS. They aren't even a particularly better team than roma
You are right but they are one of those sides who can be utterly shite like 2005 yet win. They should be at best tied for 3rd favorites but I've had a sinking feeling they will be in the final lately.
They basically have done that for the last few seasons.
It worked until April 2016...then i don't know what happened. Last season they made no sense and got carried by the sheer talent of the MSN+Biscuit
This season they haven't figured out how to play. Just relying on Messi and Ter Stegen to bail them out
Didn't expect tonight's result but Barca really aren't that great away from home in the CL, the results last season indicated that and Messi struggles to influence things away from the Camp Nou in europe.
To me this is arguably the least impressive Barca since 2008 when the Deco/Eto'o/Ronaldinho group had reached the end of the line. Just makes their dominance of La Liga this year all the more surprising to me.
Who was the poster on here btw who a few weeks back was adamant they were the clear favourites for CL purely because they had Messi play for them?
Same tactic won't work for Argentina either.
To me this is arguably the least impressive Barca since 2008 when the Deco/Eto'o/Ronaldinho group had reached the end of the line. Just makes their dominance of La Liga this year all the more surprising to me.
Who was the poster on here btw who a few weeks back was adamant they were the clear favourites for CL purely because they had Messi play for them?
Same tactic won't work for Argentina either.
Not a typical Barca midfielder, but they also dont play tili taka anymore. They need to mix things up, got battered today physically
Today I think the main culprit is Valverde. Barcelona will win liga and copa with ease but today the team should have gone for the game.An incredible lack of intensity and ambition.
Their dependence on Messi is exaggerated,more than Madrid-Cristiano.
Several culés friends tell me that it is the worst night they remember
Their dependence on Messi is exaggerated,more than Madrid-Cristiano.
Several culés friends tell me that it is the worst night they remember
I don't understand how Valverde kept his 442 the entire game, Iniesta and Sergi were constantly in 1v1 while Messi and Suarez were outnumbered. I was sure that he was going to switch to a traditional 433 at half time.
No-name manager. Probably thought he was still managing Bilbao in the Europa League...
What happened is that for example in the treble season, Iniesta had bad games, but turned up on the big ones, helping our midfield, so we had 4 players that could win any game, but now...
Iniesta shows less each season, started declining fast in 2016, it dangerous in 2017 and it's now our achilles heel imo.
Neymar is gone, as bad as he was for our team balance, he was a game winner that we don't have now, closest thing is Coutinho, but no UCL this season.
Suarez right now is following the same path as Iniesta, each year he's worse, and this season he's playing dreadfully, yet he keeps playing every minute.
We haven't improved in any area beyond CB (and what two stinkers has Umtiti played vs Roma) and squad depth, but who cares about depth when in the last 2 months of the season the manager only trusts the starting 11 + Gomes and Paulinho, and all our players are worse now (except Alba, Busquets who was injured today, and Messi) than 3 years ago.
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/barcelona-2017-18.430693/page-9#post-21338503
I have actually been impressed by Semedo though, he's done better than I thought he would.
Such a bad excuse to put the blame on the manager. Barcelona have a vastly better first 11 and that first 11 walked on the pitch tonight thinking they didn't have to show up. They severly undersestimated Roma. They ran under 102km which is pathetic for a team in the CL (Liverpool ran 116km) and their passing percentage was 76% when they usually don't go under 90%.
4th time in 5 years that Barca are knocked out of the quarter finals but sure, keep blaming the manager.
I still don't understand why they'd think a 2 man attack would get it done in the CL. Sure, they are both great footballers but honestly, Messi receives the ball in the 'hole' and only has one player to aim for, or he tries to get a shot. What happens when that central area is shut off? disaster. I've said it before in this thread, i've not understood why they have such a great defensive record this season. Someone tried to explain and yet i still couldn't see it. They just didn't feel like that sort of side and they got exposed for the frauds they are in that sense. Btw great effort by Roma, haven't seen a team successfully reduce space like that without being vulnerable at the back.
That Pique defending for the penalty.