Topic: Spanish Football

[Golyo]

I am curious of our best body language expert fellow lfc fans' opinion of Coutinho right now.

[gregorio]

I was at this one a few weeks ago, stood a few hundred yards away from the church where I got married


http://www.sestaoriverclub.com/fixture_and_result/sestao-river-club-vs-ordizia-ke/

Nothing like the universal language of football, the River centre back got caught in possession while trying to play it out , ‘ who does he think he is, Frank Beckenbauer?’ said the old guy stood next to me

A few decent renditions of Allez Allez Allez from the River ‘hooligans’ as well

[oojason]

Fine 1st time strike from Dembele to put Barcelona 1-0 up at home on 32 mins vs Leganes - https://streamja.com/qXMQ & https://streamable.com/m9on9


Streams - https://www.reddit.com/r/soccerstreams_other/

[rushyman]

Coutinho is having a nightmare here

Crowd jeering at times

[jillcwhomever]

Coutinho is having a nightmare here

Crowd jeering at times

Some of them are not happy with him at all.

[Vinay]

What a player Dembele is! I doubt Barca will be getting rid of him anytime soon...

[DelTrotter]

Messi is ridiculous. So reliant on him they have to bring him on v a team of carpet fitters, brickies, policeman and checkout workers.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Coutinho is having a nightmare here

Crowd jeering at times

Entitled fuckers

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Coutinho is having a nightmare here

Crowd jeering at times

We will be able to do the same when he signs for Chelsea.

[Suareznumber7]

Coutinho is having a nightmare here

Crowd jeering at times

Does not look the same player does he?  Very little impact and that was with Messi on the bench. 

[killer-heels]

Coutinho is having a nightmare here

Crowd jeering at times

Bloody hell, thats extreme. Still, its quite funny. Unlucky Coutinho, hope your family is happy being able to visit your in-laws and have nice meals together, thats all that matters.

[Garrus]

Barcelona set to sign Kevin Prince Boateng on loan from Sassuolo till the end of the season.

[Dim Glas]

How very odd.

Kevin Prince Boateng must have had about 20 clubs at this rate 

[rushyman]

Does not look the same player does he?  Very little impact and that was with Messi on the bench. 

Hes not as effective playing the way they play

How much bigger is their pitch than ours? I mean hed be on the touchline for us cut in and in 5 yards the shot was on lol

[BrandoLFC]

Barcelona set to sign Kevin Prince Boateng on loan from Sassuolo till the end of the season.

They're so desperate to figure out how to solve their midfield issues, mainly for the CL, that here we are.  Will be amazed if it makes any difference.

[Suareznumber7]

Hes not as effective playing the way they play

How much bigger is their pitch than ours? I mean hed be on the touchline for us cut in and in 5 yards the shot was on lol

No idea how big their pitch is.  He's definitely not very effective for them at all.  Seems to take up the wrong spaces and then never really does anything with the ball.  I'd say we got the best of that deal. 

[newterp]

No idea how big their pitch is.  He's definitely not very effective for them at all.  Seems to take up the wrong spaces and then never really does anything with the ball.  I'd say we got the best of that deal. 

Probably scared as shit to mess up when a pass to Messi or Suarez is on.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

I don't think that's it because he was very good for them for the 2nd part of last season. He got injured earlier in the year, he's been in and out of the side, he's got no confidence and rhythm and I think valverde is the wrong coach for him

[trimore]

Coutinho is having a nightmare here

Crowd jeering at times

Shades of Torres at Chelsea it seems. It wouldn't suprise me if Cou, like Torres, benefitted greatly from a supportive crowd he got here and is negatively effected by the hyper critical crowds at Barca or Chelsea.

[Jookie]

I don't think that's it because he was very good for them for the 2nd part of last season. He got injured earlier in the year, he's been in and out of the side, he's got no confidence and rhythm and I think valverde is the wrong coach for him

I agree with this. Very good last season when he joined. This season he seems to have not got going. Probably due to injury, a bit of poor form and a loss of confidence in himself but also the manager in him.

He is a 120-140M transfer though. That's going to add a lot of focus on your performance. Irrespective of who you play for and what the rest of the team is doing. However, at certain teams the tolerance and patience afforded players is minimal. I get the impression Barcelona is one of these teams. We haven't got the best fans in the World but there's a sharp contrast to how our crowd are reacting to Keita and how Barcelona are reacting to Coutinho.

The other thing I would say about Barcelona is that they aren't afraid to bin a new signing to raise funds to buy the next new shiny player. I think it's a big 3-4 months for Coutinho. I think he'll need some big performances to get everyone on side and establish himself as a key player going forward into 2019/2020. If he doesn't turn round his fortunes I wouldn't be surprised to see Barce try and move him on in the summer. Even if Coutinho would rather stay and try to fight for his place at his dream club. Interesting to see how this pans out.

[SlowRap]

he'll be fine, even going through a bad patch of form his stats are still 6 goals 5 assists in 27 games

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Well said, If Valvered is sacked in the summer, he'll be there for certain. If not, I think Barca will look to offload him

[Vinay]

Well, news is that Dembele is injured one more time. All up to Coutinho now...

[Suareznumber7]

Well said, If Valvered is sacked in the summer, he'll be there for certain. If not, I think Barca will look to offload him

I'd be really surprised if they sell a 140m transfer after a year and a half after he was brought in.  The President of the club can't look like he made that big of a mistake or there will be calls for him to go again.  Don't forget, the only reason they paid big money for Coutinho and Dembele was due to the fact the President of the club was up for re-election and they had just lost Neymar.  He needed to make a big statement to stay in power.   

[Suareznumber7]

De Jong confirmed going to Barcelona in the summer.  Big signing for them. 

[cricketrocks]

De Jong confirmed going to Barcelona in the summer.  Big signing for them.

Yeah, he looks great to me.

[BrandoLFC]

De Jong confirmed going to Barcelona in the summer.  Big signing for them.

Pretty sure he's not what they need as he's nothing like Busquets.  He's not playing CB for them either.  Maybe I'll be wrong but just seems like a vanity signing.

[Lynndenberries]

Absurd amount of money to spend on someone from the Eredivisie. He could end up being worth it, but it’s a massive risk.

[trimore]

Pretty sure he's not what they need as he's nothing like Busquets.  He's not playing CB for them either.  Maybe I'll be wrong but just seems like a vanity signing.

When special players leave or grow old you can almost never replace like-for-like. There is no direct replacement for someone like Busquets. The best any team can do is bring in a player with their own special qualities for the position and build around it. Even if it means changing their style to accomodate. 

[BrandoLFC]

When special players leave or grow old you can almost never replace like-for-like. There is no direct replacement for someone like Busquets. The best any team can do is bring in a player with their own special qualities for the position and build around it. Even if it means changing their style to accomodate.

Until Messi leaves/retires they're not changing anything.  Have you seen them play this year? 

I honestly don't think I've ever watched a game De Jong has played in.  His value seems to be in breaking the lines on a dribble from deep.  He leads the Eredivisie in dribbles as a CB?  Seems a huge risk and again they don't need a dribbler, they need a midfielder than can actually move and tackle still.  Is that De Jong's game?  I've never heard him talked about in that way.

[RedSince86]

Until Messi leaves/retires they're not changing anything.  Have you seen them play this year? 

I honestly don't think I've ever watched a game De Jong has played in. His value seems to be in breaking the lines on a dribble from deep.  He leads the Eredivisie in dribbles as a CB?  Seems a huge risk and again they don't need a dribbler, they need a midfielder than can actually move and tackle still.  Is that De Jong's game?  I've never heard him talked about in that way.

They bought Arthur last summer for that, from what i've seen on the videos of Arthur on Youtube when he was in Brazil he does exactly that.

Their transfer policy is a bit odd right now, Vidal didn't make sense, Boateng is just a weird signing, Coutinho as a Iniesta replacement has failed when his best position was left in a front 3.

Now it looks like they will have a unbalanced midfield consisting 2 players with De Jong and Arthur with the exact skill sets.

IIRC Barca's DoF was the guy who was head of our academy, he left us when FSG appointed Comolli as he wanted the DoF role.

[trimore]

Until Messi leaves/retires they're not changing anything.  Have you seen them play this year? 

I honestly don't think I've ever watched a game De Jong has played in.  His value seems to be in breaking the lines on a dribble from deep.  He leads the Eredivisie in dribbles as a CB?  Seems a huge risk and again they don't need a dribbler, they need a midfielder than can actually move and tackle still.  Is that De Jong's game?  I've never heard him talked about in that way.

I have seen them a bit and they seem pretty standard top talented side under Valverde. They don't do anything all that special.

I could be wrong, but I don't see what Messi has to do with it. He's pretty flexible, all he needs are runners and they can stick him out wide as a playmaker and he'll bring the ball up, create and score a lot at least for the next couple years at least. He hasn't been heavily involved in the defensive phase for a while now. And I don't see why De Jong can't both break the lines as a dribbler when in possession and move and tackle when out of possession. All he would need is a develop an understanding in the long term with Arthur and Alena to cover for him when he gets forward and pick the right time. So long term post-Messi they might have a very fluid midfield 3 which could do a lot of everything, instead of depending on a Busquets to always be DM.

But it could be they don't know what they're doing and De Jong will never curb his forward instincts even a little. But Busquets needs to be replaced, and there is no one that can do his job as well as he does they will only get a lesser version, so it's a risk either way. 

[Suareznumber7]

Pretty sure he's not what they need as he's nothing like Busquets.  He's not playing CB for them either.  Maybe I'll be wrong but just seems like a vanity signing.

I’m not sure there is anyone in the world who is like Busquets or can do what Busquets can do.  Busquets is already 30 years old so only has a few years left at the top level.  De Jong does play in the same position as Busquets and is one hell of a talent and at just 21 years old he should be a mainstay for them for years to come.   

[Flaccido Dongingo]

Seeing the "more than a club" support turning on the rat really brightened up my evening, how nice to see his "dream move" is going so well, I'm sure they'll have another player with "Barca DNA" to replace him.

[BabsLFC]

Seeing the "more than a club" support turning on the rat really brightened up my evening, how nice to see his "dream move" is going so well, I'm sure they'll have another player with "Barca DNA" to replace him.

Im with you mate, puts a nice smile on my face. Thinking about his speech at those awards and then re-signing a new contract to a few months later turning his back on Jurgen and forcing a move out. I can still picture that slapped ass face pulling into Melwood when told Barca can ggf they’re not signing you just because you put in a transfer request days before our season kicked off.

[BrandoLFC]

There's like 4 posts I'm responding to here so apologies beforehand.

Yes you're not replacing Busquets like for like.  That doesn't mean you can't get an accomplished DM to start with though.  De Jong has played as a CB except for the national team?  And where Busquets combined the ability to snuff out danger with exquisite passing De Jong dribbles and attempts a lot of through balls?  I'd say Ndombele would have been a better option especially as Eredivisie talent is so hit and miss.  So Barca are basing their future and spending a ton of money to convert a CB to midfield and it's for sure going to translate how?

As far as changing things under Messi, the whole team has to be built around Messi which is what Barca are struggling with now.  If Messi and to a lesser extent Suarez worked harder out of possession then maybe they could get away having an aging midfield that struggles on turnovers.  I'm sure as shit not criticizing Messi though, more Barca not planning for the later stages in his career when they need younger legs around him to do the hard work. 

Anyway, that's my ill trained thoughts.  De Jong may be the next big thing like Beckenbauer, he may be total shit.  Barca are spending a lot to find out.

[killer-heels]

he'll be fine, even going through a bad patch of form his stats are still 6 goals 5 assists in 27 games

Is that good? Doesnt sound very good.

[Roger Federer]

De Jong isn’t a CB, is he? He played there at times for Ajax, but that was short term, and he’s always been a midfielder otherwise. Not sure where in midfield he is best exactly,  but by all accounts he’s a deep playmaker with great dribbling skill. I’ve seen him play once I think so all that is based off what I’ve read about him after a saw a link to us a while back. He looked like a great talent from a few compilations I’ve seen, exceptional close control, but I have no idea how consistent he is or if he can adapt to a higher level. The fee seems very high for such an young player from the dutch league.

[Suareznumber7]

De Jong isn’t a CB, is he? He played there at times for Ajax, but that was short term, and he’s always been a midfielder otherwise. Not sure where in midfield he is best exactly,  but by all accounts he’s a deep playmaker with great dribbling skill. I’ve seen him play once I think so all that is based off what I’ve read about him after a saw a link to us a while back. He looked like a great talent from a few compilations I’ve seen, exceptional close control, but I have no idea how consistent he is or if he can adapt to a higher level. The fee seems very high for such an young player from the dutch league.

I didn't think he was a CB either.  From what I've read, the plan is to play him in front of Busquets when they both play together and then he'll play in Busquets role when Busquet's doesn't play. 

[FlashGordon]

De Ligt is the good young centre back Ajax have.