Topic: FC Barcelona

[sideshowme]

Oh v droll. Well done!

But again my whole post hasn't been read in its entirety. We need BALANCE in football.

Barca r SLOW!

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are ponderous with the ball. I'm saying that I would prefer to watch ARSENAL OR US circa LAST YEARS PERFORMANCE AT FULHAM OR AT HOME VS MAN CITY.

NOT JUST PASS AND MOVE BUT DIRECT PASS AND MOVE ONE TOUCH FOOTBALL AND SOME SPEED IN THE PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what a strange thing to say.  barcelona playing at their normal standard are just about as diametrically opposed to ponderous as it's possible to be. ball constantly moving, players constantly moving, triangles, reverse passes, through balls.  it's thrilling football.  it's a work of art, really.

the problem the last few games is that they have lacked that speed of thought and guile.  when you face a team who are willing to sit back and defend for their lives, if you don't have speed of thought you're screwed.  couple that with a virtually non-existent defence and it's been a spectacular self-destruction.

[thereader]

once again people are talking shite...when you play like Barcelona you dont need fucking plan B

if Messi scored that penalty, you wouldn't talk about plan B,C,D...about "boring" style, about "shite" tactics

They lose the two most important trophies this season and shouldn't even consider an alternative way to play sometimes?

Football snobbery to say they 'don't need a Plan B'.

[KUNGFUDANCER]

you can't expect to win every trophy every single season. barca are fine and don't need plan B or whatever.

[jooneyisdagod]

I bet the ones suggesting that they needed a plan B were all out here thoroughly enjoying themselves when Iniesta hit that rasper of a shot a couple of years to send Barcelona through against Chelsea. 


As for Mr. loon comparing Barca's performance against Chelsea in a do or die semi final with ours against Fulham and saying our playing style is better,

[redbanky]

I bet the ones suggesting that they needed a plan B were all out here thoroughly enjoying themselves when Iniesta hit that rasper of a shot a couple of years to send Barcelona through against Chelsea. 


As for Mr. loon comparing Barca's performance against Chelsea in a do or die semi final with ours against Fulham and saying our playing style is better,

Try re-reading that post and you'll see he doesn't compare playing styles or the performance but the fact that they surrounded the ref more in one half-time than LFC did in half the bloody season.
And they always get away with it.

[jooneyisdagod]

Try re-reading that post and you'll see he doesn't compare playing styles or the performance but the fact that they surrounded the ref more in one half-time than LFC did in half the bloody season.
And they always get away with it.

There you go !

Oh v droll. Well done!

But again my whole post hasn't been read in its entirety. We need BALANCE in football.

Barca r SLOW!

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are ponderous with the ball. I'm saying that I would prefer to watch ARSENAL OR US circa LAST YEARS PERFORMANCE AT FULHAM OR AT HOME VS MAN CITY.

NOT JUST PASS AND MOVE BUT DIRECT PASS AND MOVE ONE TOUCH FOOTBALL AND SOME SPEED IN THE PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Geppvindh's]

They are a solid side with a deep rooted footballing philosophy that has taken ages to put in place. Every team cannot win everything each year, just watch them go out and sweep everything away next season. That is how much these defeats mean to them.

[Adeemo]

For me, they're currently missing a player with real goalscoring instincts like Villa or Eto'o when it comes to the big games. Someone who'll sniff out a chance when they're struggling to break down the opposition, Villa's been a much bigger loss than most thought at first.

[bclfc]

Congratulations, Fernando Torres.  You deserve to be in a Champions League Final, just wish it had been with us.  Good luck.

[killer-heels]

It's hard to criticise Barcelona for anything because they are an amazing side and have clocked up the major trophies to boot. But don't people think that maybe they should have tried just something a bit different yesterday?

It was only because they seemed to be a bit out of form. Their tactic is generally let their creative players create something and I guess their creative players all reside in the centre of the field so it was all about getting a through ball through in and around the box. Even when they went wide it seemed to only be to try to stretch the game a bit and the instruction of the wide players seemed to be to then give it back to Xavi and co so that they could possibly do something with that extra space. If a through ball on the deck didn't get through then they tried the dinked/chipped pass a lot which would have been so easy for the defenders as it would have been in front of them and never got them turning towards their own goal.

I dunno, maybe stick Messi out wide and tell him and the winger on the other side to really stretch the play and get at the fullback? God knows they have the ability. Maybe float some crosses into the centre rather than drilled, middle to low crosses just to see if they can get Cech off his line a bit? Maybe take some long shots just to give them a bit more to think about because Messi was the only one willing to have a go from a distance and hence a couple of people on him all the time. Maybe having Iniesta or Xavi or Sanchez have a shot may have just been something a bit different?

Also, I thought the lack of a real striker and Dabid Beeya drinks sangria really told last night. Their forward line never really gave the defenders anything to think about both in terms of movement (although to be fair there wouldn't have been enough space to move into) or directness. Someone like Villa would have given that and also probably got vexed with the passing and taken some long shots, something of which he is capable of doing.

That said though, Chelsea defended well and deserve to be in the final. Also, you don't want to be too harsh on Barcelona because they are amazing and still the best team in the world and will challenge and may very well win everything next season. Also the reason why they play this amazing football is probably because they spend so much time practicing this way that they have no time to try another style (nor would we want them to). I mean, fucking hell, no striker, no full backs, 4 central midfielders, 78% possession even away from home? Some practice needed to make that effective.

But it just goes to show you that in Football and in sport there is never a sure thing and even the best in the world can be toppled.

[hollger]

For me, they're currently missing a player with real goalscoring instincts like Villa or Eto'o when it comes to the big games. Someone who'll sniff out a chance when they're struggling to break down the opposition, Villa's been a much bigger loss than most thought at first.

They've missed Villa badly since his injury.

Seeing as he's really the only striker they have in the side, they should have gotten a backup in. I know Messi has like a billion goals this year but in games where he's playing as more of a creator (like vs Chelsea) then there's no-one in there to finish off the stuff they create. It's down to their style of play admittedly and another striker would have to warm the bench or be rotated with Villa which won't please either of them, but we've now seen 3 games (2x Chelsea, 1x Real) where if Barca had more of a scoring threat they'd have probably won.

I do wish they'd have a few more shots though

[jamieredders]

They've missed Villa badly since his injury.

Seeing as he's really the only striker they have in the side, they should have gotten a backup in. I know Messi has like a billion goals this year but in games where he's playing as more of a creator (like vs Chelsea) then there's no-one in there to finish off the stuff they create. It's down to their style of play admittedly and another striker would have to warm the bench or be rotated with Villa which won't please either of them, but we've now seen 3 games (2x Chelsea, 1x Real) where if Barca had more of a scoring threat they'd have probably won.

I do wish they'd have a few more shots though

sounds like a team in red we all know

 

[Sat1]

Never seen messi mis place so many passes, and even his touch let him down on so many occasions.

Previous winners will never win it back to back. They could of been playing the owls team and still would of gone out.

[sinnermichael]

some muppets coming out the woodwork today. just heard one idiot say that barcelona and spain are "overrated" and that busquets, mascherano and sanchez are "average".

[kopitecrash]

some muppets coming out the woodwork today. just heard one idiot say that barcelona and spain are "overrated" and that busquets, mascherano and sanchez are "average".

*Shakes head sadly*

An idea for Barca might be for Messi to be moved out wide again - generally the way to defend against Barca now seems to be to flood the centre, so putting Messi up against Ramires on the left imo, could've payed dividends. I mean, it's where he started.

[Red Being]

i think its all part and parcel of the game....people predicting their downfall now itself are overreacting....la liga-they won 3 in a row,compelling real to 'buy' a ridiculously talented team to dethrone them....i dont think any team can maintain that level of consistency where you can go on winning everything for a long period...especially when a team like real are chasing you...and due to the nature of the champions league,exit from it does not in any way signal the decline of any team....because the CL is where small differences and luck play a huge part in ones fate....in 2010 they went out to inter courtesy of a wrongly disallowed goal...now they go out as a result of the world's best player failing to convert a penalty....its just the way the CL is...hope pep stays and face the challenge

[jooneyisdagod]

some muppets coming out the woodwork today. just heard one idiot say that barcelona and spain are "overrated" and that busquets, mascherano and sanchez are "average".

[Red_Irishman]

No doubt muppets of journos will try their best to bring about the downfall of barca. They are still the best team around, and probably ever.

[LFC when it suits]

Barcelona are still the best team in the world. They will be back next season. They need a plan B, but to be fair, their plan A works 99.9% of the time, so you can't blame them for sticking with plan A. This was not like the 09 semi finals vs Chelsea where Barca hardly had a sniff at goal. If Barca put away their chances over two legs, Chelsea would have been humiliated.

[petrichor]

barca don't need a plan b, they just need to keep servicing plan A which needs some new parts and fine tuning, not a total overhaul
think they do need a striker, not a forward like sanchez, and some reinforcements in defence

[scatman]

they've just had a bad 3 games where they have missed a lot of chances

kinda like us since August last year.

But right now, let's get it right, the best team in the world are Real Madrid.

[eirwen]

I think it's too simple to blame their form on Villa's injury. Villa wasn't actually having the best season and was missing sitters left and right too.

What hurt Barca is the thin squad, particularly in defense. And they have been playing so many games these couple of years the fatigue finally caught up with them.

[Chakan]

I think it's too simple to blame their form on Villa's injury. Villa wasn't actually having the best season and was missing sitters left and right too.

What hurt Barca is the thin squad, particularly in defense. And they have been playing so many games these couple of years the fatigue finally caught up with them.

I think the loss of Abidal has really hit barca badly.

[thereader]

To be fair it's not all about three bad games.  In the CL they also struggled against AC Milan at times, and their La Liga downfall has been the result of dropping several points away from home to the other teams while Madrid have generally swept aside the rest, the weekend defeat was a final nail in the coffin and considering they've taken 3 points each from the Clasicos the results against the others have really been the deciding factor.

Of course talk of massive decline, calling them overrated, questioning Messi's ability etc is crazy and stupid, but I also don't think it's unfair to point out that they don't look the unstoppable force they have done for four years.  Nor is it unfair to suggest they'll need some work in terms of transfers and perhaps having a Plan B to really come back next season, but of course they'll be challenging. 

[scatman]

Thing is, I'm one of those that think they don't need a Plan B, Plan A works, it works all the time. However the fail point of Plan A is individual mistakes and clinicalness of the forwards. If the forwards are not clinical, Plan A will always fail. This season they have been fortunate that Messi has provided that clinical aspect where others such as Pedro and Villa have failed.
Fabregas was in the first half of that season was clinical as well, the second half of the season he's been acting like he's playing for Arsenal again where the season finishes in January

[williamson84]

Someone explain to me what their plan B should be then???  Because watching the game last night they tried long shots, crossing, wing play, pass and move, through balls, dribbling through the middle etc etc they tried everything possible but if you're playing against a good team that defends with every single person behind the ball, literally on/in the edge of the box you need the luck.  Drogba was playing as right back for about 25mins in the 2nd half ffs. 

Barca did look tired tho, thin squad that's pretty much played every game possible for 3 seasons including playing World Cups and Euro's in between them will take it's toll on any team.

[thereader]

Thing is, I'm one of those that think they don't need a Plan B, Plan A works, it works all the time. However the fail point of Plan A is individual mistakes and clinicalness of the forwards. If the forwards are not clinical, Plan A will always fail. This season they have been fortunate that Messi has provided that clinical aspect where others such as Pedro and Villa have failed.
Fabregas was in the first half of that season was clinical as well, the second half of the season he's been acting like he's playing for Arsenal again where the season finishes in January

Fair enough, but in that case I assume you think they'll need to do something in the transfer market, to get a more clinical side?

My point was it's not unfair to say they have some work to do in the summer, not a revolution of course but I don't think they can just go again next season without changing anything, whether it be players or the 'plan B' idea.

[KennyDaggers]

Being honest, I think Barcas defence is shite and calling them the best team in the world is a massive overstatement considering they have so many glaring weaknesses.

A goalie who is shite, a defence that can't really defend, they'll get away with it 95% of the time it's just when they come up against top opposition they may get find out.

As much as I think Rafa had his weaknesses, I believe Rafa's side would beat this Barca side 7 or 8 out of 10 times, we did virtually everything right. However I wouldn't claim rafa's side to be the best they just did everything well.

Barca only know one way to play, it's great to watch and there as good as anything I've ever seen going forward but there's a few ways to win a football match and you've got to be able to defend as well.

[mactifosi]

I also think their style of play has become too predictable.
It seems the way to stop them now is to just flood the centre.

Barca are given width but are reluctant to use it.
I am not sure where this aversion has come from.

[Danyaals Kop]

One thing I have been saying for months is how David Villa is critically underrated in that team. I accept that Messi is the best player in their team, fuck that, the world, and he has the creative geniuses of Xavi and Iniesta along with him but Villa supplies the end product. Their whole play in the last week is just ending up passing to the wing to Alves who will play a horrbile ball back to the outside of the box which will easily be dealt with. They need someone up forward who can easily take responsibilty when the other stars are not performing.

The standard of the defence has fallen. I mean how Adriano isn't the best out of all LB's in the world. Puyol getting old, even if he can still do the trick. Alves in the past few match has been poor attacking as a wing back. And the worst is Valdes. I think the loss of Abidal was a big blow.

What happened to Pedro this season ? Just checked wiki and he played 43 games and only scored 9 times. I thought he was having a boss season last year...

[jooneyisdagod]

Being honest, I think Barcas defence is shite and calling them the best team in the world is a massive overstatement considering they have so many glaring weaknesses.

A goalie who is shite, a defence that can't really defend, they'll get away with it 95% of the time it's just when they come up against top opposition they may get find out.

As much as I think Rafa had his weaknesses, I believe Rafa's side would beat this Barca side 7 or 8 out of 10 times, we did virtually everything right. However I wouldn't claim rafa's side to be the best they just did everything well.

Barca only know one way to play, it's great to watch and there as good as anything I've ever seen going forward but there's a few ways to win a football match and you've got to be able to defend as well.

Spot on.  Their defence is piss poor as you pointed out.  Its no wonder that they win no trophies. 

[Vinay]

David Villa wouldn't have helped - he has been on a downward slope for a while now.
Tello doesn't offer much, when you think Bojan was sold and Tello is replacing him. Cuenca is alright.
Barcelona have been sloppy the past few games. If you don't finish/score, you lose. As simple as that. Fabregas hasn't contributed any goals for what looks like months now. Pique has been off as well, and Abidal has been a big loss.

They should be worried for the medium term and the Copa del Rey.

[Chakan]

I also think their style of play has become too predictable.
It seems the way to stop them now is to just flood the centre.

Barca are given width but are reluctant to use it.
I am not sure where this aversion has come from.

Barca have scored over 100+ goals in all competitions this year (I have no idea what the tally is but it must be close to 130ish) , so while their style might be predictable there are very few teams that can do anything about it. They scored twice last night with messi missing a penalty and a host of other chances going begging.

[Art Vandelay]

Their only major problem yesterday was the tempo in the final third....too slow, particularly in the second half.  Not helped by Messi having a (relative) shitter.  In a way they were a bit boring to watch yesterday as they were simply not good enough in and around the box.

Also couldn't understand why they didn't try and get to the byline a little more and try a few pull backs, as crosses into the box were never going to be successful against Chelsea.


I'll never tire of watching Xavi play football though.

[Chakan]

Also couldn't understand why they didn't try and get to the byline a little more and try a few pull backs, as crosses into the box were never going to be successful against Chelsea.

Particularly frustrating watching Alves, Drogba is the defender and he would get the ball, shimmy forward then stop and pass back to Xavi/Cesc/Messi on the edge of the box I think I can remember all but one instance when he tried to take drogba on failed and then just basically gave up.

[LFCsupporter]

For me, they're currently missing a player with real goalscoring instincts like Villa or Eto'o when it comes to the big games. Someone who'll sniff out a chance when they're struggling to break down the opposition, Villa's been a much bigger loss than most thought at first.

1000x this.

[Hank Scorpio]

Barcelona have been accused of overpassing the ball but I don't think this is the case.  One of the best things about this team is the fact that every pass they make is accurate, perfect weight into the path of the receiving player so he is set to move that ball on within a fraction of a second if need be.  This is the case for simple 5 yard passes.  Only a handful of passes are made behind the receiving player so that he has to check his stride to collect the ball.  The collective result is that they are able to open up the opposition as defences are not able to get set or in position because of the passing accuracy.

This is where they have been poor over the last few games.  They have overhit, underhit and played passes behind team mates.  Where earlier in the season they may have made 10 passes in 20 seconds, they are now taking 23/24 seconds to make the same number (for example).  It gave the likes of Madrid and Chelsea the time to get back into shape.

Not to mention the missed chances.

It is more than likely mental fatigue.  They will need a break and regroup.  Not only that but the top sides have watched them over the last few years and must have been developing plans to counter them.  In other words their competitors have adapted.  Barcelona will have to come up with new ideas for games like the past week.

No big deal.  They are only human and this has proved it.  The important thing is how they respond.

[scatman]

Particularly frustrating watching Alves, Drogba is the defender and he would get the ball, shimmy forward then stop and pass back to Xavi/Cesc/Messi on the edge of the box I think I can remember all but one instance when he tried to take drogba on failed and then just basically gave up.

I think Alves is where Barcelona fucked up, he made some great runs and Xavi/Busquets always ignored them and delayed the pass, those were missed opportunities, as the one time they did play it through to him, they put the ball in the net and Alves was offside.

[Danyaals Kop]

Particularly frustrating watching Alves, Drogba is the defender and he would get the ball, shimmy forward then stop and pass back to Xavi/Cesc/Messi on the edge of the box I think I can remember all but one instance when he tried to take drogba on failed and then just basically gave up.

Agree, he could have easily overlapped him and justwhip the ball into the box, but he has played like that in the past week and each time it has not been very effective.

One moments where he actually got behind the defender and calmly passed it (to Farbegas?) who finished it but was marginally offside. I think that should have been his attacking role last night. I mean he had to take Drogba on for fucking pace.

[J-Mc-]

Agree, he could have easily overlapped him and justwhip the ball into the box, but he has played like that in the past week and each time it has not been very effective.

One moments where he actually got behind the defender and calmly passed it (to Farbegas?) who finished it but was marginally offside. I think that should have been his attacking role last night. I mean he had to take Drogba on for fucking pace.

Was Sanchez who scored mate, not Fabregas.

Barca resorted to relying on Iniesta and Messi to create something last night, as soon as the ball went out wide, you knew the next sequence of passes after about 5 minutes.

Alves, to Messi, to Iniest, to Messi, to Sanchez, to Messi, to Iniest, to Messi, to Alves

Rinse and repeat.