He really wasn't.
La Liga 2018/19
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
those two misses from Suarez 
all of them look like they are on their last reserves.
all of them look like they are on their last reserves.Keeper has been as great as the attempts have been terrible
Suarez not been his usual self as of late.
As horrible as it was Messi's game he still managed to leave Suárez twice in front of Massip to score
Just noticed MessGod done it again as usual. Viva the GOAT.
A better team would have beaten that Barcelona team tonight. Luckily for them they are playing one of the worst attacking teams in Europe.
Barcelona aren't special at all.
Best squad in the world though apparently.
Best squad in the world though apparently.
Lyon probably never had a better chance of beating them than now, I could see them going for the upset on Tuesday.
They aren't special because they are only winning 1-0? Are they not allowed a bad day at the office?
Suarez
They've produced these kind of displays all season.
They limp to victories a lot.
Messi brilliance and Ter Stegen saves have been key in a lot of their victories. Rarely has it been a collective victory.
holy shit Suarez, worst performance ever.
He scored crucial goals in the CL against Spurs. Not amazing but did the job okay
An embarrassing last few minutes for Suarez.
Indeed
It's just shocking HOW bad Suarez has become. He's finding ways to fall to new depths with every passing game. He HAS to be replaced in the summer.
Messi looks unfit and out of form as well. Worrying form for Barca just as they hit the most crucial part of the season.
Messi looks unfit and out of form as well. Worrying form for Barca just as they hit the most crucial part of the season.
Barca so so lucky to win today. Another team would have punished them.
This Barça is getting knocked out in the CL against Lyon.
No flow, no rhythm or consistency at all from anyone except Piqué and Busquets (and Messi in spurts here and there). Only silver-lining is Coutinho looking very sharp.
No flow, no rhythm or consistency at all from anyone except Piqué and Busquets (and Messi in spurts here and there). Only silver-lining is Coutinho looking very sharp.
Absolute crap from Barca, as is common these days. All parts of the team looks ordinary, apart from goalkeeper. Awful game by Messi compared to usual standards. And then comes Suarez and manages to «top» that by an absolute mile. Are there still people out there that think he is still a worldclass striker?
This Suarez performance just isn't surprising. He gets his 25 goals a year because he's got Messi but his decline has been very apparent for the last two years and this year he's just dreadful. Someone on here called him the best number 9 in football
Just me that finds Barca really boring to watch? Always amused me some who said their european cup teams were boring to watch because of the slow passing style but this team struggles to excite me tbh.
They've lacked that fantasy in the final third ever since Neymar left. Of course Messi can still light up games but if we were to compare them to many other top teams I just find them more workmanlike than others, put it this way they're more Atletico Madrid than Man. City.
Probably dosen't help how defensively strong Valverde has made them so their games tend to be low scoring games. I want to see them involved in 3-2 and 4-3 thrillers, coming from 2 down to win in last half hour.
They had a few of these games earlier this season which were fun to watch but Valverde got them in defensive lock down again so will be grinding out the wins.
They've lacked that fantasy in the final third ever since Neymar left. Of course Messi can still light up games but if we were to compare them to many other top teams I just find them more workmanlike than others, put it this way they're more Atletico Madrid than Man. City.
Probably dosen't help how defensively strong Valverde has made them so their games tend to be low scoring games. I want to see them involved in 3-2 and 4-3 thrillers, coming from 2 down to win in last half hour.
They had a few of these games earlier this season which were fun to watch but Valverde got them in defensive lock down again so will be grinding out the wins.
They are incredibly boring to watch.
Only Messi conjures up something that makes it fun to watch.
They were much better to watch with MSN.
This is such a myth. They had a good record defensively last year but that was more down to Stegen being superman than Barcelona actually knowing how to defend as a unit. Even this season, until the last 7-8 Liga games, Barca have been absolutely awful defensively. Even in games where they do keep clean sheets, they give away loads of chances.
Only ones who can call him world class anymore are the types of people who look at his stats and don't watch him play. In a team like Barcelona, being fed by Messi, anyone would get the numbers Suarez has gotten this season but he doesn't even look like a professional player these days. There was a stat some weeks ago that he's missed 19 clear chances (the highest in Europe) and it's only gotten more since then. Missed 2 just today.
I'm not a huge fan of Griezman but he'd be a huge upgrade on Suarez right now.
Yeah Ter Stegen bails their defense out a lot. Similar to De Gea with us.
People just don't notice it as much because of them having Messi.
Suarez was world class once and these days he's "only" a very good striker - which is enough when Barca (or Messi) play well. the problem is, that "very good" becomes "average/poor" when he's dead tired and he has been for some time now. he's tired so he's in shit form, but he also has to play so the circle of shitness continues. he's not special in that regard, that goes for every player. even Messi looked slower than any Valladolid player today. literally everyone struggled today. that's on Valverde.
Well since the Betis 3-4 in November they have played 12 La Liga games and only conceded 5 goals.
First three months they were involved in plenty of exciting games as were Real Madrid of course.
First three months they were involved in plenty of exciting games as were Real Madrid of course.
I honestly don't think that they're boring when both Messi and Dembele play. Otherwise yeah, it's sad watching hopeless clowns like Coutinho and Suarez play football. Barca are at their best with Artur, Messi, Alba and Dembele all playing.
I don't watch that much Barca, but are they really that bad?
They're by far the best team we've played this season. Played us off the park at Wembley to be honest.
They're by far the best team we've played this season. Played us off the park at Wembley to be honest.
Stats may make it look like they're solid but they give up plenty of chances. They're lucky they have Stegen and that their opponents rarely seem to make the most of the counter opportunities they do have. This defense will be found out against quality teams.
Most important thing is they agreed a new contract with Valverde 
They wont be winning the CL under him. I am impressed by their recent transfers though.
They wont be winning the CL under him. I am impressed by their recent transfers though.
Not at all. People just expect them to be like the Barca of old but they're never going to play that kind of football without Neymar, Iniesta etc. Dembele is getting to the level required but they're overly reliant on Messi yet. They're still better to watch than most teams in the world.
We mere mortals cannot comprehend the reason why. God might know?
On the other hand, it just might have some relation to the fact that their coach is a certain Ernesto Valverde, whom you keep defending here on this forum? Would you at least allow that possibility?
I've not seen many of their games but that was performance-wise by far their best game this season. Messi's best, and vital contribution from Arthur.
I wasn’t defending him at all... it’s hilarious that the same fans that devalue the Champions League are the ones wanting a manager that’s won everything except the CL fired.
Valverde is a good manager imo, just not suited for this particular job. And I’ve criticized him for it here plenty of times.
When I say Barcelona have the best squad in the world it’s because I believe they have the most quality overall, I don’t particularly think it was a smartly built squad though. Buying Coutinho for 140 million wasn’t a bad decision, the bad decision is playing in a system that doesn’t suit him after 6 months of him thriving.
Valverde is a problem but I believe that they’ll only get better if they sign a great attacking and positive manager such as Guardiola. I don’t believe there would be big improvements by replacing Valverde with most other top managers.
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I don't know for anyone else, I (and I'm not a Barcelona fan, more of a sympathizer) based on the large majority of games I watched would want him kicked out just for the fact that most of the time Barcelona looks devoid of ideas, bland, uninspiring, and boring. I can't shake the feeling that Valverde is completely unsuitable for his current role...Whenever someone complains, you turn up trumping trophies won and generally being condescending. People want to be entertained, and are well within their rights to complain when served crapshow after crapshow, and that's what Barcelona fans are doing. Mind you, I don't think there will be any success from those endeavours, but you can hardly blame them for voicing their concerns.
Barcelona’s crap show is better than most top teams, that’s the funny thing about it.. City, Liverpool and PSG are the only top teams that play more entertaining football than Valverde’s Barcelona. I’d love to watch a Conte, Simeone, Allegri or Mourinho manage there, that’s for sure.
They can fire Valverde all they want, and it wouldn’t be a bad decision by any means, but as long as they don’t replace him with a top attacking manager, the same bland, one-dimensional football that’s way too reliant on Messi without any need to be will keep going.
Isn't Suarez hurt? I had the game going on in the background and heard about him playing through pain and knee issues.
I would be able to stomach this kind of performance if I knew the team was focused on upcoming games and saving their strength.
But sadly, this isn't the case. They're just exhausted. Suarez and Rakitić play all the time, why did they have to be subbed in last night? As bad as Valverde is in making this team play attractive football, he's even worse in managing the team's efforts over the course of the season.
We reach the most crucial part of the season deflated. If we underperform in the next four games, we can be eliminated from both cup competitions and put the league title in question. If we perform well, we could book a place in the cup final, get one foot in the Champions League quarter finals and stop Madrid from reducing the gap in the league.
So, the most crucial run of games we've had this season and we arrived to this point without energy and playing poorly. This is what management is about, this right here, what's happening to us now. A manager is supposed to make sure we aren't in this state when it matters most, but Valverde's ineptitude means that his most important players (Messi, Suarez, Rakitić) play all the time and now we are where we are.
Any team that plays us at a later date in the season has a good shot at beating us. Roma did so last season, now if Lyon don't do the same, the next team will. I hope we can at least eliminate Madrid in the Copa so we have a Final to look forward to later in the season.
But sadly, this isn't the case. They're just exhausted. Suarez and Rakitić play all the time, why did they have to be subbed in last night? As bad as Valverde is in making this team play attractive football, he's even worse in managing the team's efforts over the course of the season.
We reach the most crucial part of the season deflated. If we underperform in the next four games, we can be eliminated from both cup competitions and put the league title in question. If we perform well, we could book a place in the cup final, get one foot in the Champions League quarter finals and stop Madrid from reducing the gap in the league.
So, the most crucial run of games we've had this season and we arrived to this point without energy and playing poorly. This is what management is about, this right here, what's happening to us now. A manager is supposed to make sure we aren't in this state when it matters most, but Valverde's ineptitude means that his most important players (Messi, Suarez, Rakitić) play all the time and now we are where we are.
Any team that plays us at a later date in the season has a good shot at beating us. Roma did so last season, now if Lyon don't do the same, the next team will. I hope we can at least eliminate Madrid in the Copa so we have a Final to look forward to later in the season.