Well, at that point it was either get rid of him now or else be stuck with him for three more years at a princely 40M euros per annum roughly, and considering their financial situation clearing the wage bill was probably deemed more important.
Barcelona: Charged with corruption .... again!
- Thread starter The Boy
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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.
It's true from a financial standpoint but it's funny to see him finally fit and Barcelona have to give him up and Messi.
The hysterics of the new board, hell-bent on ruining Bartomeu (not a saint, that's true). Griezmann should have been given another year the day Messi was told he wouldn't get a new contract. Then, try to sell him in summer 2022 if you dislike him that much (way better than Depay or De Jong, anyway).
But nope, they just got rid of the two blokes that carried the 20-21 season on their backs. Now, they depend on Benfica not winning and Xavi fixing this mess (with Cavani as a candidate for joining them in January).
Absolutely insane season. If LaLiga was the PL, they would end up 7th or 8th.
I certainly wouldn't have been averse to him staying and he's obviously better on paper than everyone they have now, but I don't think it would have worked out much better it did already, and it is really questionable whether they'd be able to find someone willing to take him in a year if he had another underwhelming season.
Perhaps if you changed formation and played him as a #10, but still, IMO his main problem is lack of dribbling ability which you certainly need when playing as an attacker in Barcelona.
Well the question is, is he worth the wages? Can they be better spent elsewhere?
Yes, and no. "No" only if you're saving that money to buy a Top Top CFW (Haaland).
Huge 3 points for xavi but we need to fix this defense
How is that the way better way?
They will get 4th. The la liga referees will make sure of it.
You sound salty
There's a LOT of work ahead for Xavi and he'll have to be careful not to be to ambitious with his style, otherwise they'll get ripped appart by any decent opposition, they have huge problems dependings the sides.
Also, it's pretty obvious having that many young player causes problem when you need to slow the tempo down to regain control of the game. It was fine for 15mn or so but after that it could have gone real bad, pretty lucky win but i guess those 3 points are more important than anything else at this very moment.
Also, it's pretty obvious having that many young player causes problem when you need to slow the tempo down to regain control of the game. It was fine for 15mn or so but after that it could have gone real bad, pretty lucky win but i guess those 3 points are more important than anything else at this very moment.
Griezmann is a perfectly fine CFW; replacing him with De Jong was an insane mistake.
Anyway: Xavi might fix this mess after all. It's been MANY months since Barcelona was able to win a match after conceding an equalizer goal. 1-3.
They are linked with Ferran Torres. Is there a reason they've been avoiding fixing their defense for years
Our attack is worse than our defense this season
There should be quite a few good lonas possible for them in January. Players wanting to get games at an elite club with a World Cup only a year away.
The likes of Ferran and Pulisic could be real options and give them a real boost going into the second half of the season.
The likes of Ferran and Pulisic could be real options and give them a real boost going into the second half of the season.
No surprise when you lost both Griezmann and Messi in fairness. Aguero's injury problems won't help.
I’d say that’s an understatement.
Aguero being a cripple won't help.
They don't play the same role.
I feel like you might not have read the news recently.
I think Griezmann had to go because his wages were close to Messis and it was only increasing every year. They were in a financial mess at the start of the season and unable to register their free agent signings. They are not winning the league with him, objectives remains top 4 for them and looks like they will make it.
Might have to play in europa this year after crashing out of the group but apparently they can now make 50 million offers again for Torres so they seem fine now.
Are these the same sort of offers that they could apprantly make for Haaland last year?
Feels like every other week I watch Barcelona highlights there's anther youngster introduced.
They had to let him go. Too expensive. It's like Derby having Griezmann, it's not sustainable. They were near bankrupt and a squad needs more than one player.
As if- we'd let him go
- They could afford such a injury prone player on that kind of massive salary
- He'd want to go anywhere near that dump
What I didn't understand was the position of Eric Garcia yesterday. To me, it looked like he played cdm in defense and rb in attack. I don't think I've ever seen that before.
He was man marking the guy and chasing him in midfield leaving the right flank exposed
I hope he does that with Müller or Lewandowski too. They will drag him out of position for 90 minutes
Statistically perhaps. But most teams with shit defences don't score many goals because they're not able to open up or they'll concede. A very defensive midfield is pretty much your only option at the moment.
It seems to me that it could work better by putting Araujo in the position of Eric Garcia, it's faster. Pedraza and Danjuma did what they wanted in that area
Just lost to Real Betis. You can already tell it will end in tears, it was the wrong time to appoint him.
I think he deserves till the end of the season to see if he can breathe some life into Barca
Early days yet sure but you can see where it's going. I think Xavi will be a great manager but this has come too soon for him.
Of course he does. Kinda weird to see him go all in for "Give the ball to Dembele and lets see what happens" tactics when he subs him in.
They are actually creating a decent amount of chances throughout the season considering the lack of individual quality but finishing is completely atrocious and that's been a recurring theme for the last couple of years.
Good, they need to spend some years in doldrums. Seriously annoying and arrogant fan-base, although a large portion of them are probably newer fans.
Barca are lucky they play in a poor quality league. Had it been EPL they would have no chance of a top 4 finish. Long may it continue.
Have they reached the 2002-03 early 2003-04 point yet?
Zidane's RM looked a bit shit for a few months too.
United wouldn’t make top 4 in la liga, they barely beat 15th ranked Villarreal