FFS 
Great stuff by Dani again
Great stuff by Dani again
La Liga 2018/19
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Bats was brilliant at Dortmund last season before injury cut short his season. He's similar to Lukaku in that yes his touch and hold up play can be horrible in some games but surprised he hasn't made more impact.
Playing in CL and La Liga been too much for Valencia so far, going into europa league won't be the worst thing for them.
Madrid still looking pretty bad but no points lost this time, important win this. Very easy set of fixtures in the next few weeks so they can enter the title race
First half was very good. Second one was bad, but there were some good counters. Asensio should have scored earlier.
How Real won this game is beyond me. Proper shit display from them in the second half.
Really poor in the second half yeah. Valencia could have scored 3 or 4 and had 3 mano a mano with courtois. We alsl should have scored another 2 or 3 ourselves, but shooting is apparently not allowed anymore when you're in the box alone 3 feet from the goal
Valencia were worse
I watched him both this season and the last one. He is good at finishing in the box but not up to it at anything else. He'll score a fair amount of goals when playing alone up top in a team that creates chances. Valencia is playing with two CFs and they need to contribute a lot more. His touch equals that of lukaku, he is worse at running with the ball and he takes way too long to make decisions. Neither can he run in channels, nor drop deeper. His holdup play is also bad.
I don't want to make him worse than he is. He is a striker that could do well for a midtable team, but he needs to play up top alone and he is just not good enough for any top team. He was good for Dortmund, but that is not his sustainable level.
Better from Madrid this week. Valencia disappointing with only Parejo having a notable game. And by now he should be playing for the other team
Batshuayi is on loan. And both have been wasteful and unimpressive this season.
Even Mina at 22 looks more of a threat than they do
Deserved point for Girona. Woeful finishing from Gelson Martins in last 5 minutes let them off the hook.
Messi seems to be playing as false 9 today, is Suarez suspended?
Was Coutinho really worth this money for Barcelona?
Sometimes he has fantastic goals or moments, but his overall play is nothing impressive.
Thought he would fit good in a team like Barca.
Sometimes he has fantastic goals or moments, but his overall play is nothing impressive.
Thought he would fit good in a team like Barca.
I think Valverde doesn't use him to his best. He's playing as a left winger and especially with Messi on the other side, Barca would need someone like Pedro who makes runs behind the defense. Coutinho should play as an 8, basically an Iniesta-replacement. A Coutinho-Arthur-Busquets midfield would be interesting
Not enough defensively, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta worked because they were miles better than anyone else so didn't need much even if Xavi in particular worked his ass off for the team. They need a Rakitic or Vidal in there or it will all fall apart.
What would i do to have only someone like Alena in our midfield
Watching Barca is a torture these days. They are so slow in possession and just wait for Messi to create something.
it would be a miracle if Alaves - Sevilla ends with 11 players on each side...
Kudos to Valverde, he needed only a few months in 2017/18 to make them borderline unwatchable.
It also worked with Fernandinho, de Bruyne and David Silva, even when Gündogan replaced Fernandinho against Chelsea. It also worked for Bayern which had clearly inferior players in these positions. It would work with the right tactics.
Barca's problem currently, and I am sure you in particular will agree, is that too many players want to have the ball played in their feet. Pep's Barca worked so well because the balance was always there. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets which liked short passes and one twos and Perdo, Villa, Eto'o, Henry etc. making runs in behind. But now you have Dembele and Coutinho up front who also like to receive the ball while standing and dribbling the opponent from a static situation. The only players really running behind are Jordi Alba and occasionally Suarez. That's also the reason for the strange and surprisingly effective partnership between Paulinho and Messi in the beginning of the last season because he made such runs extremely often for a midfielder. Like Alena for the 2:0 today.
I agree with that and it's why I thought replacing Paulinho with Vidal who can make that sort of runs too while having a lot more quality on the ball made perfect sense but he's not as dynamic as he used to be.
City have Fernandinho and Bayern had a huge advantage in relation to their domestic competition, Barcelona don't have Guardiola as manager and they don't have two of the best midfielders of all time at their disposal anymore. Instead of trying to revert to that by playing a Busquets, Arthur, Coutinho midfield and being a crap version of what they used to be they're right in playing the likes of Rakitic and Vidal instead. They just need to change the way they attack to get the best out of Dembele and Coutinho.
Not that it matters much this year, they can continue like this and they'll win the league anyway.
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Above all, Barca used to press like maniacs back in the days but that's not sustainable with so many key players past the age of 30 and Messi walking around like a stroll in the park.
That aside, Coutinho is simply not a central midfielder. Many people always misunderstood Iniesta as an attacking midfielder because he was a unique dribbler and had those killer passes in his locker but he was always much better at conducting the game, picking up the ball deep, retaining it and playing between the lines. Coutinho is in the Özil, Fabregas and James Rodriguez category of players who thrive as CAMs. Which is not possible with Barca's 4-3-3 nor with Messi on the same pitch.
This is why I said that Valverde isn't the main culprit for the way Barca play, he's making the best out of an extremely unbalanced squad.
If Coutinho can't play in the middle 3 as I just explained, he plays on the LW.
If he plays on the LW and Messi and Suarez are set starters (logical, the 2 most lethal attacking players in Spain), this leaves Dembélé on the bench.
If Dembélé is on the bench, there is no pace upfront at all.
And everyone wants ball to feet except Alba sprinting up and down with Messi playing balls over the top to him, which is a bit predictable.
There is not much Valverde can do here with what he has, he utilizes all the best players in their best possible positions. The squad is simply not good enough to form a coherent first XI which is defensively stable, good in possession but also provides movement and pace upfront.
That aside, Coutinho is simply not a central midfielder. Many people always misunderstood Iniesta as an attacking midfielder because he was a unique dribbler and had those killer passes in his locker but he was always much better at conducting the game, picking up the ball deep, retaining it and playing between the lines. Coutinho is in the Özil, Fabregas and James Rodriguez category of players who thrive as CAMs. Which is not possible with Barca's 4-3-3 nor with Messi on the same pitch.
This is why I said that Valverde isn't the main culprit for the way Barca play, he's making the best out of an extremely unbalanced squad.
If Coutinho can't play in the middle 3 as I just explained, he plays on the LW.
If he plays on the LW and Messi and Suarez are set starters (logical, the 2 most lethal attacking players in Spain), this leaves Dembélé on the bench.
If Dembélé is on the bench, there is no pace upfront at all.
And everyone wants ball to feet except Alba sprinting up and down with Messi playing balls over the top to him, which is a bit predictable.
There is not much Valverde can do here with what he has, he utilizes all the best players in their best possible positions. The squad is simply not good enough to form a coherent first XI which is defensively stable, good in possession but also provides movement and pace upfront.
Perhaps you can take Mourinho of our hands. No one is slower than our team.
A few years ago many would've said that de Bruyne and Silva are number 10s, too, and no 8s. I believe we shouldn't associate players that irrevocably with positions they played in the past but instead focus on their skill sets and Coutinho's bears striking resemblance to Iniesta's. If a player has the abilities required for a position it he can learn the tactical and decisive part with the right coaching.
Of course there is no real substitute to Guardiola. But it is not like a similar style is impossible to implement without him around. Heynckes and Zidane both adapted principles originally belonging to Guardiola's respectively Cruyff's school of thought, just like Sarri, Löw, Del Bosque, Tuchel and many more. IMO a midfield consisting of Busquets, Arthur and Coutinho could definitely work. In the same way, Valverde could teach Dembele to adjust his playing style to focus more on runs behind the opponent's defense since he has the ideal skill set for that.
By the way, I think Barca's counter pressing already improved extremely since Valverde took over. I believe that is the single aspect of their game which Valverde took back to the roots. They came back to the "six second rule" while Luis Enrique had abandoned that principle and had his team fall back after possession losses more often.
He could rotate and make subs with common sense.
At the camp nou you can field Cou, Messi, Suarez, Arthur and Rakitic, maybe even Semedo at the RB and use Sergi Roberto to either cover shortcomings at the back (sub semedo) or in midfield, leaving Dembele as an impact sub when the game is open, 30 minutos to play, etc.
Away, you strenghthen the team with Roberto as the RB, you can bench Coutinho for Dembele and, against weak teams, field Leo as a false 9 with Dembele and Malcom if needed, Coutinho as the impact sub to regain control in midfield, or you can play Messi and a 451 with Busquets, Roberto, Rakitic, Arthur and Coutinho, Semedo gets to play and you go for pace if things go south, you strenghten the middle and look to get ahead and kill the game.
Instead, we get a lot of variations that try to reinvent the circle with players not being used to their best skills. Everyone forgets it wasn't only plan A with Guardiola, Keita got a lot of minutes as a starter, he could go with Villa centrally or on the wing, Pedro moved around on both wings, Iniesta could have some games as a LW, we even played with 3 defenders some games. Memory makes us remember things were set on the 433 with the same 11 players playing again and again, but week to week we had a lot of variations, same as Pep did with Bayern or now with City.
Valverde has been brutal and possibly the worst manager in the world when it comes to subs and a sensible rotation
Barca haven't a good depth, but yeah, he can't read well the game and is too defensive.
The complaints about Barca‘s squad are very funny, it‘s like you can only play good football when you have prime Xavi and Iniesta.
Napoli under Sarri had a much inferior squad and produced exciting football, I see no reason why Barcelona can‘t do the same, especiay considering the resources they have. Many would consider the Barca squad the best in the world, that attack alone consists of 3 players with a combined cost of 350m and you have fecking Leo Messi on top
Napoli under Sarri had a much inferior squad and produced exciting football, I see no reason why Barcelona can‘t do the same, especiay considering the resources they have. Many would consider the Barca squad the best in the world, that attack alone consists of 3 players with a combined cost of 350m and you have fecking Leo Messi on top
I think they have great depth, they’re just injured right now
If anything he should’ve used his bench more this season
Two things:
a) Sevilla feeling dizzy at the top.
b) That assist by Messi to Aleñá: JHC.
a) Sevilla feeling dizzy at the top.
b) That assist by Messi to Aleñá: JHC.
These comparison are pointless. Playing exciting with a small team and winning nothing is not the same as managing Barca and getting called a fraud despite winning doubles and trebles like Enrique and Valverde.The complaints about Barca‘s squad are very funny, it‘s like you can only play good football when you have prime Xavi and Iniesta.
Napoli under Sarri had a much inferior squad and produced exciting football, I see no reason why Barcelona can‘t do the same, especiay considering the resources they have. Many would consider the Barca squad the best in the world, that attack alone consists of 3 players with a combined cost of 350m and you have fecking Leo Messi on top
Valverde played exciting with Bilbao, too. He beat Barca 4-0 with a club consisting of only local lads to a Cup. Bilbao under him was always perceived as an energetic, high pressing, offensive team.
Perception changes when you are at Barca and do not play like Barca 08-11 though.
Poor Bilbao. They are in a complete free fall. No one can save them atm.
He has decided to go to three CB's. The kid in the middle has just been sent off. I am surprised he didn't have Yeray in there if he wants to do that. They were in the game until conceding a goal right at the end of the first half and as usual cannot seem to manage the second half of games. Don't put the ball in the net and there is good chance you will lose the game. Sorry to say we really are missing Kepa and Laporte and their fans are going to have to realise that. The policy of only Basque players may have just come and bitten them on the bum. For it to work there has to be a constant supply of top class players.
I still prefer Williams wide running at people, but they want him to be a striker as Aduriz is coming towards the end.
Bilbao are a total joke atm. Surprised Berizzo is still there, thought he was getting sacked weeks ago? Are they going to dig Clemente out of retirement? Maybe Heynckes would be up for it, he managed them before.
Your very best players keep leaving then eventually it will take it's toll, especially when your pool for replacing them is so small.
Muniain has tried. Funny he has just renewed, but with no clause as he wants to stay.
They did replace Laporte with Inigo Martinez from La Real, guess he hasn't matched expectations as we was also being linked to Man. City not so long ago. Kepa certainly big miss.
https://www.skysports.com/football/...inigo-martinez-as-they-target-new-centre-back
Said before their problem is in attack. Season too far for Aduriz, Williams level has stalled and Raul Garcia can't seem to last 90 minutes so used more as impact sub.
Bilbao do not have a proper board at the moment, as there are elections at the end of December. They just seem to be in some limbo nightmare.
Raul was on the bench and has had to come on, he picked up a knock last league game. They have the return cup game in a couple of days I think, so fortunately they have a good lead.
They either have to accept they are going down or try and do something about it. These players should be a lot better than this. It sounds like I am talking about United regarding the players.