Apparently 15 years ago last time Barca conceded 4 at home. Could have been 10 today if Betis were clinical.
La Liga 2018/19
- Thread starter jojojo
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Betis are great. A ragtag group of misfits with players past their prime or overlooked by bigger clubs.
The likes of Joaquin, Lo Celso, Bartra, Canales, Sidnei, Tello, Guardado, William Carvalho and my boi Sanabria.
The likes of Joaquin, Lo Celso, Bartra, Canales, Sidnei, Tello, Guardado, William Carvalho and my boi Sanabria.
Rakitic is clearly tired, he needs to be rotated.
Barcelona having their worst start to a season in ages only for the same to happen to both Atleti and Madrid is hilarious. This is the best chance Simeone will get to win La Liga again, he needs to get it together as they have the squad to do it. Next matchday there's a Atletico-Barcelona in Madrid, so it's the perfect chance to start a run.
Barcelona having their worst start to a season in ages only for the same to happen to both Atleti and Madrid is hilarious. This is the best chance Simeone will get to win La Liga again, he needs to get it together as they have the squad to do it. Next matchday there's a Atletico-Barcelona in Madrid, so it's the perfect chance to start a run.
Betis are great. A ragtag group of misfits with players past their prime or overlooked by bigger clubs.
The likes of Joaquin, Lo Celso, Bartra, Canales, Sidnei, Tello, Guardado, William Carvalho and my boi Sanabria.
You missed out Inui.....Yagami will be on to the mods for a week banning order.
Betis had a slow start but they'll be in the mix for a europa league spot, maybe even 4th place if they can get more consistantcy after xmas.
What a performance by William Carvalho BTW. Literally walked all over Barca’s midfield all game. I haven’t seen much of him this season but thought he was his solid self at the WC. Underrated player. Not many, if any, better than him in that position.
He's been pretty bad this season. Betis fans were calling for him to be dropped a few games ago and plenty of people were disagreeing with him getting called up for Portugal, Danilo should end up taking his place.
Under Jardim, William was fantastic. Ever since he's been pretty average.
We risk our star not being 100% with a "serious" injury on his arm, for him to start, play 90 minutes, score two goals and lose 3-4. We might have our moments of brilliance, or maybe we Barcelona fans are spoilt after the last decade, but I can't trust this team as top contender in the UCL run.
Messi unbalances Barcelona. WIth Messi in that side Barcelona have far less variation in their attacks. Barcelona's best results in Classico's since the 5-0 win in 2010 have all ben when Messi did not start. Valverde should have abandoned the press completely whenever he plays. He just walks around in attacking and defences phases. There a few situations where he could have done a lot more by simply moving and opening up more space for himself and the rest of the team. In defence when all his teamates press he walks which means their press is bypassed every time. His constant need for ball to feet means that Barcelona's whole attack runs through him. Suddenly Barcelona players that were making great passes when he was out of the team were jst deferring to him. I have said it before and I will say it again, he is one of the main reasons that Barcelona haven't gone past the Quarter finals in the champions League since 2015.
Barcelona simply can't play a high pressing functional 433. Valverde will probably be forced to play some sort of 442 hybrid. Messi has been like this since 2015.
Barcelona simply can't play a high pressing functional 433. Valverde will probably be forced to play some sort of 442 hybrid. Messi has been like this since 2015.
Think it's an issue of motivation. They just can't be arsed to be fully motivated and play at high intensity week in week out in the league. They're a completely different matter in CL
The same Champions League were they have been knocked oput in the quarter finals since 2015? They are just unbalanced and it usually works in the League were they have an overwhelming talent advantage. When that gap has been closed they have fallen short for the 3 years and last year embarassingly so.
I've said this time and time again but that's the last thing they should be worrying about right now. They can win the league playing that way regardless because Messi can solve most things offensively anyway in nearly every La Liga match, we saw that last season. Rakitic being tired and the defense turning to crap are what's stopping them from repeating last season's league form. They need Umtiti and Pique to be back on form and Ter Stegen to go back to making a couple of insane saves per match.
Did you see Messi against Tottenham? Pressing like a madman. I have always disliked his lack of pressing in recent years because he is quite clearly capable of doing it well like against Tottenham.
Agree, Barcelona are unbalanced. Messi needs to be managed better. Team needs to come first.
Title race shaping up very nicely and a lot of very good games already this season and especially this weekend. Vigo RM should be good too, Vigo are third top scorers in the league but can't defend.
Messi has been like that since 2011, the difference lies in our off the ball movements when we have the ball in the opposing half, that's what puts Guardiola over any other manager we've had since him, Lucho found a way around by not pressing that much further up and launching counters.
And that's where 99% of the most valued Spanish managers fail, be it with Messi in Barcelona or Del Bosque/Lopetegui at Spain and RM level, they do the easy part of the plan, pressing and passing the ball around, but lack the quality or the personality to point at their stars and tell them they need to fit the plan and start running all over the defense and trust their teammates to feed the ball to them, instead of taking turns at having fun with boring passes 40 meters away from the goal.
Messi acts as a safety net for managers like Valverde, they don't need to tink around the team leaving it exposed with radical setups to overcome opposition, they can work on the basics and leave the part of deciding the game to the guy with the 10 on his back, if they win, it's fine and if not they stil reached further than what they would had they take the risk to make the team theirs.
Yes, Messi is the main reason that Barcelona haven't gone past the QF in the CL, not the fact that they concede 3 or 4 goals away from home.
Barca has won plenty of clasicos with Messi on the team and Atletico hasn't defeated Barca in a league match since ages, and Messi hasn't missed a single match. Are those two also shit teams?
I agree with you that Messi's walking means that Barca's pressing becomes worse but 5 matches where Barca has done well doesn't prove that they're better without him.
I'm afraid their best chance for CL was last year. with the same old flaws in their game but now with their defence being shit, I don't really see them winning anything except the league again. Valverde will be replaced after this season, that I'm sure of.
Villareal had about 5 goals ruled out by VAR.
Would imagine they'd get another chance before the end as Rayo's defending is once again horrific.
Would imagine they'd get another chance before the end as Rayo's defending is once again horrific.
God I wish I supported a team that's biggest problem was having Messi on it.
Fantastic goal by BenzYou are quite wrong on this one. His last games he has been improving and the ones who think Danilo is a better player than William are the same ones who think Sergio Oliveira is better than Oliver Torres. Watched the entire match, he was superb today.
I cant believe Joaquin is still going.
Also cant believe I was reading during the week that posters think Ter Stegen is the best shot stopper. Certainly showed that today
Hahaha yeah a players is only as good as his most recent game or whatever.Also cant believe I was reading during the week that posters think Ter Stegen is the best shot stopper. Certainly showed that today
Only as good as what they show. If they show they cant deal with a ball straight at them, they arent that good a shot stopper
We'll see if Barcelona can finally win a UChL in a mediocre Liga season.
In fairness saw a few Sporting games last year and Carvalho was woeful, looked miles from the player that was getting linked to Man. United and Chelsea years ago. Guess he declined in the negative atmosphere around Sporting last year.
Very good pick up by Betis on a free though. The sort of good signing you need to go from mid table to 4th-6th in the table. All the better deal when you think West Ham wanted to spend 40m on him a year ago.
Betis had a great summer. Him, Lo Celso,Canales and Inui all in for hardly anything and you add them to likes of Guardardo and Barta who they picked up last season.
This is the sort of transfer deals beyond many prem clubs, they just obsessed with blowing 30-40m on very average players who get hyped up.
Very good pick up by Betis on a free though. The sort of good signing you need to go from mid table to 4th-6th in the table. All the better deal when you think West Ham wanted to spend 40m on him a year ago.
Betis had a great summer. Him, Lo Celso,Canales and Inui all in for hardly anything and you add them to likes of Guardardo and Barta who they picked up last season.
This is the sort of transfer deals beyond many prem clubs, they just obsessed with blowing 30-40m on very average players who get hyped up.
@FootballHQ Its not so simple as that. Imo he isn't a classic number 6. Classic on the sense of being a very physical player who is there to "destroy" game. He is more suited to play as a false 8 if we can call it like that. Like he is playing for Portugal on the Nations League or now at Betis, where Guardado is more the pivot.
But true the atmosphere last season or his questionable behaviour outside the pitch don't make him a consistent player. But worse than Danilo Pereira? Hell no. And Santos thinks the same as me. Now if we are talking about Neves in the future or present we can discuss that.
Oh and we wasn't free for them. 16+4 million euros.
But true the atmosphere last season or his questionable behaviour outside the pitch don't make him a consistent player. But worse than Danilo Pereira? Hell no. And Santos thinks the same as me. Now if we are talking about Neves in the future or present we can discuss that.
Oh and we wasn't free for them. 16+4 million euros.
Last year, Danilo was twice the player. Then he got injured, if he gets back to that there's no question who should be starting.
William has been wildly inconsistent since Jardim left Sporting, he can only play at one speed and he's usually awful in transition. Barcelona play slow possession football and gave him all the time on the ball he wanted.
There's a reason he was available pretty much on a free and he ended up at Betis.
William has been wildly inconsistent since Jardim left Sporting, he can only play at one speed and he's usually awful in transition. Barcelona play slow possession football and gave him all the time on the ball he wanted.
There's a reason he was available pretty much on a free and he ended up at Betis.
Danilo with the ball doesn't have half the quality William has. To say William only had a good season with Jardim is like saying he only played well as a static number 6 where he had a short range of action where he didn't even tried to make vertical passes. Yes he is better than Danilo, now if Danilo had a better season than him last season? Probably.
But Battaglia also is seen as a better 6 than William and for me he is just a awfull player who barely knows how to pass a ball. And its not me who thinks that, is Santos who never trusted Danilo to be the starter for the NT. If this was all about speed Usain Bolt would be a hell of a player.
But Battaglia also is seen as a better 6 than William and for me he is just a awfull player who barely knows how to pass a ball. And its not me who thinks that, is Santos who never trusted Danilo to be the starter for the NT. If this was all about speed Usain Bolt would be a hell of a player.
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What did he show in 50 games before today's game?
Also cant believe I was reading during the week that posters think Ter Stegen is the best shot stopper. Certainly showed that today
What a moronic post
So despite being crap, Real are just 4 points behind Real. Crazy season
What did I say about Quique Setién?!
What a manager
What a manager
I agree with most of what you said, however I think Ter Stegen has been immense this season. One of the goals from yesterday was a howler but on the season he's been a top 5 GK and I still find him making an insane save at least every other match.
Umtiti needs to come back ASAP and your boy Semedo needs to start. I like Sergi Roberto but he's a shocking defender. Rakitic will at least get a res because of his red card but it's a shame it'll have to be against Atletico. On the upside, Arturo Vidal deserves way more minutes so hopefully he starts in the Atletico match.
I think if Messi didn't play yesterday Barca lose 3-0, but I do agree the pressing seems to disappear when he's not there, but also because Sergi Roberto tracks back quite poorly. If Semedo is behind Messi it's not nearly as bad.
I think as Messi is getting older he's saving the intense pressing for the bigger matches.
@Daysleeper only to add 1 point. I think watching the entire match yesterday it was clear for me that Setien style of play would be more suitable to a club like Barcelona. The only point I have with him or his teams is they feel more confortable playing against teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Milan when they have more space, then when they are faced with teams like Levante, Valladolid or Getafe, who just play deep and let them have the ball.
Don't know if he would face the same problems at Barcelona. Valverde may deliver titles, but something looks fundamentaly wrong watching Barcelona, they rely too much on the individual quality of Messi, Suarez or Coutinho to solve their problems.
Don't know if he would face the same problems at Barcelona. Valverde may deliver titles, but something looks fundamentaly wrong watching Barcelona, they rely too much on the individual quality of Messi, Suarez or Coutinho to solve their problems.
Spot on! Setien would be an awesome Valverde replacement. I like Valverde overall but I feel like he's too pragmatic at times, and plays it too safe. He also needs to work on rotating more often. I feel like Barca have struggled to find a great manager since Pep left. Even Enrique got worse and worse after a stellar debut season. They haven't really had a manager who is a good tactician.
I also think the other issue with Barca is that they only get up for the big teams. Maybe fatigue was an issue yesterday but it has happened too many times where mid to bottom table teams either beat Barca or give them a run for their money. I loved Barca's performance against, Madrid, Tottenahm, and Inter but those were polar opposite to what we saw yeterday and against Leganes.
Very frustrating.
I think Lucho got himself caught in a first season where he overachieved, and as he started to tinker with the team (3 man defense with Wingbacks, a little more flexibility in midfield) he found himself out of the club.
Got this horrible feeling in my gut that once Messi is gone or declining, our awful board and lack of sporting direction will bring us to the dark ages of 99/04 Barcelona
Benzema had a great game yesterday. Feel like people should know
Make me wonder how that 481 minute goal drought happened? Very baffling with so many quality attacking players, Ronaldo or not? Lopetegui cursed somehow maybe
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