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On May 08 2019 16:13 Twisted wrote:
Obviously Liverpool deserved to advance after last nights performance (and the week before), but man, Valverde sucks. You need to score one goal. One. And you start with Vidal / Rakitic / Coutinho (who underperforms every match). The instant Arthur came on they had more control in the midfield. He should be playing at all times. Still, Barcelona could've scored a goal easily with the chances they had.
Frenkie de Jong next season coupled with Arthur will make them fearsome again, if Valverde has the guts to play them both in important matches.
Loving Liverpool though and happy for Wijnaldum and van Dijk! Dutch pride :D. Gogo Ajax tonight!
De Jong will be benched under Valverde.
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Barcelona had very few matches this season where they dominated and created good football. They were saved in a lot of matches in la liga against minor teams because Ter Stegen and Messi (And the defense sometimes). But the midfield and playmaking has been dreadful.
And well. Luis Suarez has scored 2 goals in the last 2 Champions League. We need a striker.
De Jong will be benched under Valverde.
This is sad but true. I hope he leaves the club (and hopefully Coutinho too, what a waste of money).
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but we havent had so much excitement in the champions league for years
ajax two upsets,
manutd comeback against PSG
city vs spurs game
liverpool vs barca tie
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Yeah, amazing champions league year, even if I discount me being a huge Ajax fan.
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Again Barcelona biggest problem is, besides Valverde, how shitty their signings have been the last few years.
Since 2015/2016, only Umtiti, Lenglet (mostly bc Umtiti injury), Arthur and Vidal (both just got to Barcelona) are actually part of the team. Semedo does play too, so there's that.
You have players like Dennis Suarez, Deulofeu, Coutinho, Dembele, Andre Gomes, Digne, Coutinho, Mina, Murillo... etc.
Barcelona never really found either the replacement or the bench, they are still playing with the same spine from years ago, which is not bad perse, but you give yourself little space for deviation.
Edit: Coutinho 2 times because 160m euro
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
Yeah Barca have huge problems and the only way to fix that is with throwing money at it, like haitike keeps saying Barca are better defensively then they have been in years and their best signing coming in is a CB this summer. They need people to play with Messi, they need a midfielder who is going to score 15 goals a season, a winger who is going to score 15 goals a season and a backup striker to Suarez who can become the next big thing. These all cost big money. They should defo go all in on Jovic and at least get themselves a striker to use and hope Malcolm chips in with 15 goals from the wing next season that way.
That is what i see from the outside at least.
Malcolm - Jovic - Messi
Arthur - Biscuits - Rakitic
then back 4 picks itself.
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On May 08 2019 19:37 Twisted wrote:
Yeah, amazing champions league year, even if I discount me being a huge Ajax fan.
Pretty sure anyone who loves football (the game) wants/wanted a Liverpool Ajax final. They both have been playing stellar. With passion, with skill. Exactly what made us fall in love with the game.
You guys know me as a Real/Ronaldo fan but while I discredited their win vs Real as a fluke - since their Juve domination I realised what a mistake I made and they are the real deal. Only spurs could destroy the dream
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with all the big teams that need "rebuilding", one has to wonder whether the talent in football in the current generation is just not good enough compared to the legends of old.
it could easily be an issue with mentality of players nowadays also, either way there is clearly an issue of multiple top teams not having players that live up to expectations or standards set by older generations.
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Its most definitely a mentality thing. I dont think most super expensive players are lacking in the skill departement. They are prolly even more skillful than all "older" legends except Messi.
But their mentality is so damn weak. Not performing week in week out. Social media more important than training. Fifa, Fortnite, way too high wages...
And of course the fact that even if they do NOT turn up in several games (like Pogba) they still earn shit ton of money. Maybe football needs to change from weekly wages to performance-based wages?
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it's not a question of mentality but ability, the team just isn't very good bar Messi, Ter Stegen and a couple others.
the midfield is really a joke and can barely string a few passes together vs any team that comes at them.
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
Salary cap is the only thing that can "save" football in that regard now, FFP is irrelevant it shouldn't have been done it should have been done on a salary cap. Who cares if you are buying a player for £200 million but Sanchez on 500k a week at Yanited is just disgusting, guy is awful and is milking so much money its crazy.
Anyway, Barca and Real be throwing lots of money at the problem in the summer be a fun watch. Perez's mouthpiece said last night Hazard to Real is done at €130million which is good, we get very good pay off for a player who has given as much as he can for us. He said they are interested in Pogba but Yanited want £150million for him and Real don't want to go that high...at the moment but im sure they will. So thats £250 million plus on two players so far for them xD
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On May 08 2019 20:04 Espers wrote:
it's not a question of mentality but ability, the team just isn't very good bar Messi, Ter Stegen and a couple others.
the midfield is really a joke and can barely string a few passes together vs any team that comes at them.
No. If all those Barca players would perform at their best they would destroy everyone. They just dont have the incentive to perform their best. Coutinho at Liverpool, Dembele at BVB were world class at the time of their signings. They are not bad players. Raktitic same, on his best day he is a midfield dominator. He schooled spain midfield when Spain midfield was the world's best (Euro 2012?). Pogba (not barca player but has the same problem) when he plays to his potential is super incredible. But he rarely does it
Coaches and fans must think about why they dont turn up.
On May 08 2019 20:12 Faruko wrote:
One of chilean big teams has his training ground near my house, not once but two times (and probably more) i saw the youngsters of the team training with a phone and taking selfies and (probably) posting on social media.
I'm not sure but I won't be surprised if that's a regular situation in most youngsters teams, at least occasionally.
Like come on dude, wtf, it's just 2 hours of your life.
Exactly. Social Media > concentration
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One of chilean big teams has his training ground near my house, not once but two times (and probably more) i saw the youngsters of the team training with a phone and taking selfies and (probably) posting on social media.
I'm not sure but I won't be surprised if that's a regular situation in most youngsters teams, at least occasionally.
Like come on dude, wtf, it's just 2 hours of your life.
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On May 08 2019 19:44 Pandemona wrote:
Yeah Barca have huge problems and the only way to fix that is with throwing money at it, like haitike keeps saying Barca are better defensively then they have been in years and their best signing coming in is a CB this summer. They need people to play with Messi, they need a midfielder who is going to score 15 goals a season, a winger who is going to score 15 goals a season and a backup striker to Suarez who can become the next big thing. These all cost big money. They should defo go all in on Jovic and at least get themselves a striker to use and hope Malcolm chips in with 15 goals from the wing next season that way.
That is what i see from the outside at least.
Malcolm - Jovic - Messi
Arthur - Biscuits - Rakitic
then back 4 picks itself.
Money isn't going to solve Barça's issue, nope. Money can "fix" it if they completely abandon the trademark Barça playstyle and adopt something more pragmatic like Real. A style that doesn't win consistently but could occasionally bring CL titles. But no matter how many CL Real has won, I really don't want that for Barça.
They need to go back to the style that made their success.
1) fire Valverde because he didn't win the objectives while playing bad (much worse than just losing to a better team); and hire a coach with Barça DNA
2) remove players that don't perform like they should (Coutinho, Rakitic)
3) transition older players that can't give it 100% anymore to 30-50%+ bench (Suarez, Piqué, Busquets)
4) make good signings and go back to promoting talented Masia players
From next year, without many more big signings, you could get a team like:
Malcom - Messi - Dembélé (finally all playing in their best position)
Arthur - Busquets - de Jong
Alba - Lenglet/Umtiti - de Ligt - Semedo
Or sell Malcom/Dembélé and get a 9.
With a bench: S. Roberto (awesome, versatile player but not better than Semedo or other midfielders), Aleña (young, good potential), Riqui Puig (Iniesta-level potential), Piqué, Lenglet/Umtiti, Suarez, Vidal. The main team will be much younger and able to press and play possession football, and the old players will play big matches/be super subs and teach the young about high level football.
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On May 08 2019 19:44 Pandemona wrote:
Yeah Barca have huge problems and the only way to fix that is with throwing money at it, like haitike keeps saying Barca are better defensively then they have been in years and their best signing coming in is a CB this summer. They need people to play with Messi, they need a midfielder who is going to score 15 goals a season, a winger who is going to score 15 goals a season and a backup striker to Suarez who can become the next big thing. These all cost big money. They should defo go all in on Jovic and at least get themselves a striker to use and hope Malcolm chips in with 15 goals from the wing next season that way.
That is what i see from the outside at least.
Malcolm - Jovic - Messi
Arthur - Biscuits - Rakitic
then back 4 picks itself.
Couple of things:
1. Frenkie de Jong isn't a CB? Wtf? I mean, he *can* play there, but he really shines on the midfield. De Ligt might still go to Barça too, but right now, they've only signed de Jong. I personally think de Ligt doing to Barça would be the wrong move. I mean, he's not replacing Pique, and probably not Umtiti either, and Lenglet is very good as well. So why does Barça need another CB?
2. They still have Suárez, who has been clutch in plenty of matches. I mean, he can't play every single match, and you want a good sub for him, but he's still the main striker, with Messi running and doing his thing around him.
The way I'd like to see Barça play next year is with a midfield of:
de Jong - Busquets - Arthur.
As for the offense, they are still searching for someone to replace Neymar. Messi and Suárez are great, but I agree they need more there. Boateng and Dembélé just aren't panning out at all.
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On May 08 2019 20:12 sharkie wrote:Show nested quote +On May 08 2019 20:04 Espers wrote:
it's not a question of mentality but ability, the team just isn't very good bar Messi, Ter Stegen and a couple others.
the midfield is really a joke and can barely string a few passes together vs any team that comes at them. No. If all those Barca players would perform at their best they would destroy everyone. They just dont have the incentive to perform their best. Coutinho at Liverpool, Dembele at BVB were world class at the time of their signings. They are not bad players. Raktitic same, on his best day he is a midfield dominator. He schooled spain midfield when Spain midfield was the world's best (Euro 2012?)
Coutinho has no position at Barca, Dembele is injured so often and struggled to adapt. Rakitic is old and more of a workhorse, always struggled with his technique at Barcelona.
They're struggling because it's an overrated squad with no discernible style.
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On May 08 2019 20:18 Espers wrote:Show nested quote +On May 08 2019 20:12 sharkie wrote:On May 08 2019 20:04 Espers wrote:
it's not a question of mentality but ability, the team just isn't very good bar Messi, Ter Stegen and a couple others.
the midfield is really a joke and can barely string a few passes together vs any team that comes at them. No. If all those Barca players would perform at their best they would destroy everyone. They just dont have the incentive to perform their best. Coutinho at Liverpool, Dembele at BVB were world class at the time of their signings. They are not bad players. Raktitic same, on his best day he is a midfield dominator. He schooled spain midfield when Spain midfield was the world's best (Euro 2012?) Coutinho has no position at Barca, Dembele is injured so often and struggled to adapt. Rakitic is old and more of a workhorse, always struggled with his technique at Barcelona. They're struggling because it's an overrated squad with no discernible style.
but its not lack of ability
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Wow, I didn't see that coming. I thought Liverpool would win. But go out in the tie. Maybe 2:0 or something. But that was something special. I have nothing else to say it's pretty incredible. Oh I guess I could take back my words that Barcelona are still far above the Premier League's best.
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51493 Posts
On May 08 2019 20:15 Acrofales wrote:Show nested quote +On May 08 2019 19:44 Pandemona wrote:
Yeah Barca have huge problems and the only way to fix that is with throwing money at it, like haitike keeps saying Barca are better defensively then they have been in years and their best signing coming in is a CB this summer. They need people to play with Messi, they need a midfielder who is going to score 15 goals a season, a winger who is going to score 15 goals a season and a backup striker to Suarez who can become the next big thing. These all cost big money. They should defo go all in on Jovic and at least get themselves a striker to use and hope Malcolm chips in with 15 goals from the wing next season that way.
That is what i see from the outside at least.
Malcolm - Jovic - Messi
Arthur - Biscuits - Rakitic
then back 4 picks itself. Couple of things: 1. Frenkie de Jong isn't a CB? Wtf? I mean, he *can* play there, but he really shines on the midfield. De Ligt might still go to Barça too, but right now, they've only signed de Jong. I personally think de Ligt doing to Barça would be the wrong move. I mean, he's not replacing Pique, and probably not Umtiti either, and Lenglet is very good as well. So why does Barça need another CB? 2. They still have Suárez, who has been clutch in plenty of matches. I mean, he can't play every single match, and you want a good sub for him, but he's still the main striker, with Messi running and doing his thing around him. The way I'd like to see Barça play next year is with a midfield of: de Jong - Busquets - Arthur. As for the offense, they are still searching for someone to replace Neymar. Messi and Suárez are great, but I agree they need more there. Boateng and Dembélé just aren't panning out at all.
Yeah i agree with your point but i don't think that will happen, where are all the La Masia players that should be coming in to make that Barca style still a thing, they aren't there. Barca seemed to have been forced into the market to sign players because they have none coming through. Signing the two Ajax players will help them of course due to pretty much same style but Dembele, Arthur, Malcom are not in that DNA anyway right.
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They have talent in the Masia, they just don't give young players any chance. Valverde just wants to win, he doesn't care how or what happens after, so he just kept the old guys. There's definitely enough talent in la Masia to make for 30-50% of the first team at some point. Xavis, Messis and Iniestas don't come out every year, but they could easily promote some of them and build them into top level players.
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EPT
