La Liga 2018/19

2 weeks ago Bilbao almost beat Real Madrid, and now Bilbao almost beats Barcelona. So frustrating coming so close twice. Great game though.

Suarez spent his entire post-match interview saying it doesn't need to be only Messi.
 
Is it just me or Coutinho has been fairly unimpressive for Barca? Sure, he has had some worldies, but overall his performances have been very mediocre IMO.
 
SCP said:
His main problem in Portugal was when things didn't started to go well against teams who played with a very low block usually the team started to be a unidimensional possession team, struggling to verticalize their game. Now in Spain the teams have a different football culture regardless of their quality, but if you want to see what "juego vertical" means just look at Sevilla first half. Not saying Lopetegui is a fraud or bad, he did also good things at Porto, like improving Casimiro or giving a chance to Ruben Neves with 17, but their fans don't like much possession by possession.

If the media is asking questions about rotations he probably will start to be less radical on his appproach like he did at Porto, the problem is the older foreign players who probably are not so used to that.
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I don't either. In terms of style I very much prefer some of Ancelotti's or Zidane's games but it's also fair to say that Lopetegui has a worse squad and that a proper forward that can score goals would improve his team considerably. That would also make his style prettier to the eye, quite simply because the amount of possibilities in attack would have way more variety.
 
trailertrash said:
Is it just me or Coutinho has been fairly unimpressive for Barca? Sure, he has had some worldies, but overall his performances have been very mediocre IMO.
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He looked like Barça’s only threat in the first half. I’m more amazed about how much has Suárez declined as a player
 
pregra said:
Rakitic with one of the all-time worst performances today. And Suarez with his usual dross. People who don’t watch Barca and still call him «world class» really gets on my nerves. Pique is also just a joke at this point. And him raving about in the centre forward position in the 2nd half... total chaos
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Disagree completely with that first statement, he actually look excellent today (certainly for the first 75 minutes), he just wasn't clinical. Agree completely with your second statement in the sense that the outside perception of him is rating him much higher than what he's really been in the past 2-3 seasons. He still has world class moments, but his basic play is too erratic. But today was a fine performance.

Like I said Barça did look more flowing without Messi as expected. The difference after he came on was incredible though: before Athletic were going toe-to-toe and it was an open game; after they completely sat back, put a dedicated marker on Messi and made a defensive sub in replacing Beñat with San José to try and close the game off.
Don't think Valverde will be able to change this dynamic, his style just doesn't suit this version of Messi but it's not effective enough without him.

Messi's been a bit unlucky in the last three games: hit the woodwork in all of 'em.
 
Ridge Racer said:
He looked like Barça’s only threat in the first half. I’m more amazed about how much has Suárez declined as a player
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Coutinho lost the ball far too often in relatively easy situations. He also failed to convert the clearest chance that Barça had in the 1st half -- created by Suárez.
Suárez has declined immensely but today he was their best player (together with Semedo) until Messi came on.
 
Seems like part of the stand collapsed in Eibar-Sevilla game.
 
Big day today for Lopetegui and some players that have to show a bit more,as Asensio

 
trailertrash said:
Is it just me or Coutinho has been fairly unimpressive for Barca? Sure, he has had some worldies, but overall his performances have been very mediocre IMO.
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He's actually one of their few bright spots this season.
 
And of course, Alcacer playing good for Dortmund and scoring the winner, I swear It's going to be a long season for me at this rate.
 
Ah what a day of football, watching United-West Ham at the olympic stadium, then Chelsea-Pool and Real-Atletico on TV. If everyday could be like this..

Hoping for an Atletico win, unlikely for them to win La Liga but you never know with how Barca and Real have been playing of late.
 
Ishdalar said:
And of course, Alcacer playing good for Dortmund and scoring the winner, I swear It's going to be a long season for me at this rate.
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Should have had an hattrick too. Playing for Dortmund will suit him a lot more than the slow possession Barcelona style.
 
PedroMendez said:
My early opinion is, that he is a player, that benefits a lot from playing in a system with two CF instead of playing up top alone (or with wide-forwards).
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Yes, that’s pretty much always been the case for him. He is usually very wasteful in front of goal though, this season it seems like everything he touches turns into a goal.

Hopefully it isn’t just a purple patch and he continues this way
 
I have to say, when Carvajal is fit like today, he's very, very good.
 
Griezmann vs Ramos. You can see these two really don't get well along already.
 
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