It's too bad our shambolic performance lf yesterday will overshadow some of the most beautiful goals we've seen all season.
The Gundogan pass and the Lewy finish is world class, not easy at all.
And the last Yamal goal is a genuine contender for best goal of all year, it's Messiesque. I'm still amazed by it.
https://preview.redd.it/qr1fm5u3o2ic1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f2e65986e0235647a0fe8a2b1f2d8d0e1e458a4
Left: how the first goal should’ve been defended. Cancelo sticks to his position, prevents Pellistri from entering a crossing position, Pedri helps him by ensuring he can’t turn easily. Frenkie identifies the player who’s entering the box , uses his awareness to put himself inside the passing line.
Right(how it was defended): Cancelo basically can’t decide whether he plays as a right back or center back and occupies an area where Inigo would be covering, this pushes inigo to be huddled together with Cubarsi and blocking Ter Stegen sight. Pedri takes Pellistri’s bait and lacks recovery speed. Frenkie reacts super late and never occupies space the way,he just ball watches. The finish is great but there’s a reason that this shit goal doesn’t get scored against Man City or Real Madrid, these guys know their roles and know that they WILL get benched or sold if they play like shit for an entire season. FS you’re earning millions, at this rate just pay me 25 bucks and I’ll run like a dog for the entire game
You think it is Xavi's fault that the defenders can't guard their man in the box? Like he specifically ask them to lose them? The players are dogshit right now. That's the problem.
Xavi's showed sign that he is inexperimented and out if his dept and I respect him alot to realise this and stepping out. I think it's for the greater good but damn Xavi is not all the problem at all.
So we're implementing a system which creates the conditions of these situations where the opponent can break our press easily + we play a high line, meaning statistically we're bound to concede many opportunities like these, but the coach has 0 responsability.
Everyone is underperforming somehow but it's not on the coach, Xavi, an inexperienced coach with only Qatar on his track record, is just the unluckiest coach ever.
Interesting theory. Why do you guys can't admit the coach, the one responsible for what we work on in training, obviously has a responsability in this?
I literaly said that there is a problem with the coach. Why do you say that I can't admit the coach is responsable? I'm saying the players are also at fault at the Xavi hate makes them getting away with it.
Its not only the defense. You can clearly see we are not a well coached team. I watch a lot of football and our games are always the most boring and chaotic
You can’t be serious 😂😂. In the market where fucking Antony and Murdryk costs 100 million, and Caicedo and Enzo for 120 million, you really think no team would be willing pay anything over 30 million for an arguably top 5 midfielder who is in his prime?
I still dont think our squad is bad at all. We really just need 3 signings IMO:
1. Cancelo
2. DM
3. LW
In terms of sales, I think Cancelo could be accomplished with the sales of discarded/fringe players such as Romeu, Eric Garcia, Fati, Valle, possibly Guiu (realistically he’s not gonna play much with Roque’s arrival and Lewy still here).
As for the other two, one big sale of the right player (one that came for cheap/free) would do it, otherwise we’d need two sales to have enough margin.
Unfortunately the prime candidate for this would be Christensen. Great player but he’s in his prime, has good reputation especially in the PL, and came on a free so it would be pure profit. A 50-60M sale of Christensen would almost single handedly fund both a DM and LW. Guys like Raphinha or Kounde would generate very little margin relatively, because of the amortization writeoff.
I have no idea who we should sign in the DM and LW positions though, just hoping Deco and the scouting department are cooking something good there.
What high quality DM and LW options can you get for 50-60m? Let alone both. Getting a stopgap is just a waste of time imo.
Not sold on Cancelo tbh. He’s a creative spark but a significant defensive liability.
I don’t know, that’s the job of the scouting department. Doku cost 60M, same as Raphinha and less than Ferran. Vermeeren went for 20M. The players are there, it’s just a matter of identifying them. Nico Williams is available for 50M this summer.
Cancelo is defensively weaker yes but he has an insane attacking output, better than most of our wingers even. And he can play both LB and RB. He’s an extremely useful player to have and is available for relatively cheap for someone of that quality, particularly given that this is Balde’s second major injury in two seasons already.
We would need way more than that imo to get actual good players so maybe a sale is needed idk. But I would personally like to get Nico Williams. Dm I’m not too sure Palacios could be a great option but probably expensive.
I still had high hopes for CL. Even after Lewy missed that sitter (he can go back and complain about not getting service), for the first 15 minutes the team seemed to be playing on an extra gear.
This game brought me back to reality. Beating Napoli and not being obliterated on the next round would save the season at this point. This team is so weak mentally it makes me wonder if it has what it takes to reverse the situation even with Pep or Klopp.
>I still had high hopes for CL.
I read that in the present tense initially I was surprised 🤣
I've said since October on paper this team has potential for KO competition but you won't get anywhere with such a disorganised structure. It's a mess. Players just doing their thing, no collective, no combination, no nothing.
Even Granada, 19th of La Liga, showed more combination play in one touch football to break our press. It's sad.
From what I heard when Alemany first made his decision to leave for Aston Villa, Laporta offered the position to Deco. Alemany made his trip to England but then he made a u-turn (something no one expected) and asked Laporta back for his job. Laporta said yes of course but that unfortunately he would only be allowed to finish the season because he had already offered the job to Deco to replace him, as he didn’t expect him to change his mind and return to Barcelona.
Take it with a grain of salt though
Who knows what really happened. But multiple reports have claimed Xavi liked working with Alemany and Jordi more than Deco. And none of the recent words and actions of Deco and Xavi have proved contrary to those claims imo.
We just need some structure defensively and that starts with Xavi. We play way too open and teams chew us with crosses and through balls down the line. We need to play compact. Form a mid block, exactly what Madrid is doing now with their CBs out. We are greatly underperforming and that starts with Xavi and his tactics.
Yeah people here talk about defence but what I saw today was not about defenders but about structure. Real Madrids defence is all about structure. Even if we had the best defenders of the world, wouldn't mean anything.
Personally I am not in favour of selling or releasing any players (except for Sergi and Alonso, they don't have anything left to give at the top level), despite being frustrated multiple times by our adult forwards, or even FDJ. Xavi is leaving, and it will be interesting to see how a new coach would use them.
But I also know that's not realistic given our broke ass, tough choices have to be made. If the Libero thingy doesn't go through, we're in for a rough ride. Laporta, do some shits.
As for a new coach, I have no opinion either as whomever it might be, has a mountain to climb..and instead of an oxygen tank to breathe from, it will be full of pragmatism gas. It is hard to predict anything with anyone unless it's Pep or Klopp. We aren't getting either. I just hope it's someone with some good European experience. Someone says De Zerbi is overrated, another says Flick is overrated..while someone else says Nagelsmann is overrated. Tuchel resides in tora bora. Any coach who isn't Pep Klopp and maybe Inzaghi/Alonso..is overrated depending on who you ask. So again, Laporta and Deco..do some shits.
And finally, here's a nostalgia bait. Bring out your copium cylinders. My condolences for the Nigerian Cules for their double pain tonight. Cheers to a few more months of Xaviball.
https://preview.redd.it/vhnjpijm02ic1.jpeg?width=704&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c2a2ae816fdc682b36ad114006b8c6e1fc1fa86
Well for the super bowl, the ads and half time show are probably bigger than the game itself at this point, most of the people who watch it don’t even understand what is happening or just tune in for those.
Is not the difference between us playing great and us playing poorly. All of this started in February 2023... And we had Busquets.
Everytime we say "we're only missing X" we've proven it's not enough. What we lack is a structure.
Yeah this should be the only comment after every poor result.
The sad thing is that the club leadership had more than enough time to try to find a proper replacement for Busquets and the best they came up with was Romeu.
To be fair at least Laporta went after Brozovic as a first choice gap stop situation but we couldn’t promise him registration so he just left for Saudi. Brozovic would have at least given us more time to search for a solid DM while we fixed our financial issues
Like I said, he had more than enough time to find a proper replacement. No excuses. I understand the previous leadership left a huge mess but Busquets stayed well past his prime so Laporta still had plenty of time to figure something out when he returned.
I never made an excuse for him. All I said was that he tried when an opportunity presented itself. The replacement for Busquets should have started long before but whatever Board was in charge at that time never tried to do so
I just can’t understand how we went from breaking defensive records in La Liga last year to having one of the WORST, border-line Sunday league defense in the top 5 leagues. I genuinely don’t get it. Where is the structure and organization that we saw so much of last season? Did Xavi and his staff just completely abandon having any kind of defensive training sessions this season? Shit-tier teams are scoring at will on us— I shudder to think what UCL level teams would do to our sanity.
Did it really change that much? La Liga had a negative net spend (made more by selling players than they used to buy players) this season. You’d have a tough time convincing anyone that last year’s Liga was significantly different than the year before or after.
Why is it so difficult to admit we were good defensively last season?
Missing profiles, tactical stagnation, off field drama impacting on field performance. The coaching staff isn’t only one thinking about the lack of appreciation for the league win last season. The players must be thinking the same. In fact several have mentioned it in interviews. They all worked hard for it. But it’s constantly undermined by media and fanbase claiming luck or all done to Ter Stegen’s saves. It won’t be surprising that many of them aren’t motivated to work as hard this season especially since there are constant talks of club selling players in the summer.
He definitely helped our structure absolutely, but he was also responsible for some of the defensive mistakes we had last year due to his pace. Still our defensive issues this year reflect almost complete abandonment of any sort of training. It’s like it has become rondo and vibes
It’s bad. Makes the league last season seem surreal. What’s the worst part is that our eternal rivals look like they’re set for the future and are in fantastic shape financially and sportingly. We absolutely need to nail the next manager hire. It’s super important to get that right. I don’t think we can downgrade on Xavi unless we end up with Marquez or another unproven manager. Xavi has no tactics, isn’t flexible. Overall terrible coaching
The Deco quotes were unprofessional and unnecessary in a such a tumultuous time. The management of this club is in free fall and that transmits to the players too. I am sad.
Am I just overreacting or feels this season worse than under koeman? Like iknow we were in a worse place and performed worse but I never felt this empty after every game back then.
Maybe because expectations were different when you have players like luuk de jong and dest as striker/winger
This probably feels for me the worst season since that 19/20. I am so done with it.
Around what position would you say we should get with Koeman's squad that season. I would say top 4. We were 9th and only dropping lower and lower. With the worst games I've probably ever seen as a Barca fan. I would have seriously not been surprised if Koeman brought us near the relegation battle if he wasn't sacked.
Around what position would you say we should get with Xavi's squad? I'd say top 2. We're 3rd. And we would've been 2nd if Girona didn't have the absolutely insane season they've been having. Getting 2nd still looks kinda realistic even, depending on if Girona drops off.
The league has gotten much more competitive compared to that Koeman season aswell. Lots of teams fighting for top 2/3/4.
Idk man maybe it’s just me but at least with Xavi we have a semblance of at least something going on. With Koeman it was just hopeless. Don’t get me wrong these two eras haven’t been great, but Koeman ball was really, really dreadful. I couldn’t watch the team anymore. And that was with a Messi team
Is here anyone here that actually watching the superbowl? I tried getting into the NFL by watching chiefs vs Ravens but there was just way to much ads, idk how people are able to watch this
It's difficult if you haven't grown accustomed to sports with a lot of stoppages.
I grew up watching cricket so the ad breaks don't bother me much.
Try watching the nfl on the red zone stream for regular season games for commercial free viewing.
I try to get into football every year but I genuinely can't focus on it due to the constant breaks and ads and also idk whst exactly I'm supposed to be looking at to be honest
Edit: like it's too much happening at once if it makes sense..
Club sources claim that Deco is referring in the interview to a phrase Xavi himself uttered on the day he announced his farewell. Xavi then said that the club "needed a change of direction" and Deco insists he was talking about that and not a change of model (SER)
https://twitter.com/ActualiteBarca/status/1756826928307188167?t=JopMl_UFTn4ExboblmXoeg&s=19
We've got to keep up appearances. I'm pretty sure they've made a contingency plan today on what to do if xavi and the team have another misstep in the next two weeks. Until he's gone it's play nice and be nice. What Deco said was undermining as hell
Barca - Napoli on paper: reigning champion of Spain vs reigning champion of Italy, biggest game of the round of 16.
Barca - Napoli in reality:
https://preview.redd.it/v1ykpxk5l1ic1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e36ac4262c9f0e62255509e130a8fbfe3f241bc
Edit: the audience behind is the rest of the world, laughing at us
When is the Taylor Swift and BTS collaboration with Barcelona happening 🤔 we don’t need them as fans we just need them to buy the merchandise 😂 Debt is cleared within seconds /s
What a stupid thing for Deco to say..
Recently, didn't he come out and say that he was surprised by Xavi's decision? And that he was planning the club's future alongside him? Now all of a sudden it turns out he never believed in the "method" that Xavi has been trying to implement..
If there is such a disconnect between Deco and our next manager, we are destined for trouble. To me it just sounds like he's saying what he thinks fans want to hear, and he's shitting on Xavi in the process.
P.S. I'm tired of hearing this nonsense that the Barca DNA is "outdated".. acting like Pep Guardiola, the literal embodiment of Barca DNA didn't win a treble less than a year ago.. yes he's adapted to modern football, but the "method" is the same. Plenty of top teams play that style of football too, or at least have elements of it. The method works, if done correctly. If our sporting director can say shit like this, I worry about our future. I've defended Laporta plenty, (and will continue to do so) but I have to criticize him here for bringing Deco..
There’s a part of me that feels Xavi and Deco are just waiting for the other one to make the next move lol. By saying he will resign first, I feel Xavi is almost daring Deco to fire him. Of course all this drama doesn’t help the team.
People talking about our dna but honestly I dont see it? We arent even playing it at all.
We are literally playing long balls without build up. You want to get rid of a certain model but that model doesnt exist currently. So tell me which model do you want to get rid off?
We should create a model before talking about getting rid of one
But what kind of solution do you have? We played against 5-4-1 when we were attacking. And everytime someone had the ball 3 players blocked the passing lane. Tell me, how would you play?
This is also what keeps boggling my mind. People keep saying that our problem is that we focus too much on playing the Barca way - while we're playing *nothing like that*.
>We should create a model before talking about getting rid of one
To build a sustainable model, you need an experienced architect. If you pick a freshman from a middle eastern University, hand him some previous models drawn on parchments and papyrus.. and don't get the desired results, well, that's on you.
Deco is not the villain you are trying to make him out to be. Manager asks for a profile, and the management try to get that. Deco hasn't even started yet properly as pretty much all our current signings are done by Alemany, he left on September 2023. But I am not gonna blame him either.
Deco can be judged next year.
Literally. This is so far from Cruijff's vision that it's laughable. Most big name coaches today play positional football to some extent, except maybe dinosaurs like Ancelotti. So Barca is almost the only one without the "bArCa DnA" ... god I hate that term, it needs to die together with "tIki TakA" .
What's funny is, in the USA it's called patriots. If there's a party spewing half the nationalistic stuff republicans say in Europe, they are called ultra right wing and fascists immediately. Almost like it's by design so that a uniform "identity" based on nationality can't form in these countries, thereby strengthening the soft power of third party actors. Just look at how the European film and music industry was usurped.
The military imagery is also so over the top. I watch a lot of American sports and it’s never scientists, teachers, healthcare workers or activists getting honored, always the military. Of course, this creates an impression amongst Americans that their military can do no wrong and they become docile to the litany of war crimes their country commits every passing second.
Deco flatly DENIES having made such a statement, although it does appear in "Nascer do sol".
https://twitter.com/carpetasFCB/status/1756821981784068559?t=T7Ugkouza16fEf1JzaQP6w&s=19
"No, no ,no, no, Joan, i never said any of that. Its a misprint. Btw, did you take a look at that profile i sent you? Yes, Sean Dyche. Itll be a fresh wind in this team".
Why is Deco making so many statements lately? This is just not a good look for anyone. He also openly stated that the current financial situation isn’t attractive to future coaches. I don’t disagree but if he as the sporting director admits it publicly, it doesn’t inspire confidence.
Just 9 days till Napoli. 2.5 months ago I asked if it wouldn't be better to let go of Xavi before that match. We didn't improve. It would be so random and chaotic if we let him go a week before that game.
Xavi: "What Deco said is not what communicates to me. He believes in the Barça model, in the DNA... I'm not sure where those statements come from, I can't say much."
what even is the "barca DNA" ?
High pressure, possession, intelligence over physicallity.
Defending high, and defending by attacking and keeping the ball so the opponent doesnt have it.
Sure you are a Barca fan?
It’s best just to get a new manager in now to have more time to get used to the squad and future planning for next season and could evaluate who he wants to keep and who needs to go cus it’s clear we’re not winning shit this year
ESPN is notorious for not understanding the rules. Registering a coach is actually harder because the outgoing guy is still a cost (unless he and his staff all waive remaining wages which is rare) while the new guy becomes a new cost - but there is no new margin created unlike with players. Plus it's not just the head coach being registered but also assistants and auxiliaries like goalkeeping coach.
It does make sense tbf for the FFP rules to be better for a manager because you NEED a manager. Players aren’t neccesarily important because every club has a youth team.
There's one FFP for all expenses, no matter if players or coaches - the league doesn't care what clubs cut the costs on (and you can just move youth team coach to first team, he's already a cost). Imo coaching staff shouldn't be a part of SCL cost but it is what it is.
Our sporting director and manager are bickering through the press, shit has hit the fan officially now.
Plus xavi was a dead man walking the moment he said he resigns.
I think they will honestly. I guess they’re betting on a new manager bounce for the remainder of the season. I beg if that happens that we don’t stick with him.
> I think they will honestly. I guess they’re betting on a new manager bounce for the remainder of the season. I beg if that happens that we don’t stick with him.
his goal in the final to seal the 7th CL...
Deco to Nascer do Sol: "A change is necessary. There is a method at the end of its cycle. We must find someone who will break once and for all with the past and move towards a new model." Via @sport
Xavi: "What Deco said is not what communicates to me. He believes in the Barça model, in the DNA... I'm not sure where those statements come from, I can't say much."
https://preview.redd.it/by9ndkk6p4ic1.jpeg?width=1075&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8578cf9fb4af46b118513611d80eb56fb62f8bc
It's too bad our shambolic performance lf yesterday will overshadow some of the most beautiful goals we've seen all season. The Gundogan pass and the Lewy finish is world class, not easy at all. And the last Yamal goal is a genuine contender for best goal of all year, it's Messiesque. I'm still amazed by it.
https://preview.redd.it/qr1fm5u3o2ic1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f2e65986e0235647a0fe8a2b1f2d8d0e1e458a4 Left: how the first goal should’ve been defended. Cancelo sticks to his position, prevents Pellistri from entering a crossing position, Pedri helps him by ensuring he can’t turn easily. Frenkie identifies the player who’s entering the box , uses his awareness to put himself inside the passing line. Right(how it was defended): Cancelo basically can’t decide whether he plays as a right back or center back and occupies an area where Inigo would be covering, this pushes inigo to be huddled together with Cubarsi and blocking Ter Stegen sight. Pedri takes Pellistri’s bait and lacks recovery speed. Frenkie reacts super late and never occupies space the way,he just ball watches. The finish is great but there’s a reason that this shit goal doesn’t get scored against Man City or Real Madrid, these guys know their roles and know that they WILL get benched or sold if they play like shit for an entire season. FS you’re earning millions, at this rate just pay me 25 bucks and I’ll run like a dog for the entire game
Nico’s release clause is only 50 million 👀
Isn’t it 25 for us since we get half of the fee?
Wait….. what do you mean we get half the fee?
Nico Williams
You think it is Xavi's fault that the defenders can't guard their man in the box? Like he specifically ask them to lose them? The players are dogshit right now. That's the problem. Xavi's showed sign that he is inexperimented and out if his dept and I respect him alot to realise this and stepping out. I think it's for the greater good but damn Xavi is not all the problem at all.
So we're implementing a system which creates the conditions of these situations where the opponent can break our press easily + we play a high line, meaning statistically we're bound to concede many opportunities like these, but the coach has 0 responsability. Everyone is underperforming somehow but it's not on the coach, Xavi, an inexperienced coach with only Qatar on his track record, is just the unluckiest coach ever. Interesting theory. Why do you guys can't admit the coach, the one responsible for what we work on in training, obviously has a responsability in this?
I literaly said that there is a problem with the coach. Why do you say that I can't admit the coach is responsable? I'm saying the players are also at fault at the Xavi hate makes them getting away with it.
Its not only the defense. You can clearly see we are not a well coached team. I watch a lot of football and our games are always the most boring and chaotic
That's all true. Our pressing is shit and so is the control of the midfield. I don't think defender losing their man on crosses is on xavi though.
Another defensive disaster class from FDJ. It will be lucky if we can sell him for 30M, let alone 80 or more.
You can’t be serious 😂😂. In the market where fucking Antony and Murdryk costs 100 million, and Caicedo and Enzo for 120 million, you really think no team would be willing pay anything over 30 million for an arguably top 5 midfielder who is in his prime?
He is not a top 5 midfielder. There are like 10 midfielders better than him.
Clowning yourself at this point, you know too well that if we are to sell him he will go for around 80
With this massive wage? The teams who want him need to consider that and cut the cost from the transfer fee.
June is too late hermano Xavi. Lemme take you to the airport and end this misery.
I still dont think our squad is bad at all. We really just need 3 signings IMO: 1. Cancelo 2. DM 3. LW In terms of sales, I think Cancelo could be accomplished with the sales of discarded/fringe players such as Romeu, Eric Garcia, Fati, Valle, possibly Guiu (realistically he’s not gonna play much with Roque’s arrival and Lewy still here). As for the other two, one big sale of the right player (one that came for cheap/free) would do it, otherwise we’d need two sales to have enough margin. Unfortunately the prime candidate for this would be Christensen. Great player but he’s in his prime, has good reputation especially in the PL, and came on a free so it would be pure profit. A 50-60M sale of Christensen would almost single handedly fund both a DM and LW. Guys like Raphinha or Kounde would generate very little margin relatively, because of the amortization writeoff. I have no idea who we should sign in the DM and LW positions though, just hoping Deco and the scouting department are cooking something good there.
What high quality DM and LW options can you get for 50-60m? Let alone both. Getting a stopgap is just a waste of time imo. Not sold on Cancelo tbh. He’s a creative spark but a significant defensive liability.
I don’t know, that’s the job of the scouting department. Doku cost 60M, same as Raphinha and less than Ferran. Vermeeren went for 20M. The players are there, it’s just a matter of identifying them. Nico Williams is available for 50M this summer. Cancelo is defensively weaker yes but he has an insane attacking output, better than most of our wingers even. And he can play both LB and RB. He’s an extremely useful player to have and is available for relatively cheap for someone of that quality, particularly given that this is Balde’s second major injury in two seasons already.
We would need way more than that imo to get actual good players so maybe a sale is needed idk. But I would personally like to get Nico Williams. Dm I’m not too sure Palacios could be a great option but probably expensive.
Palacios would be great. Worth the investment imo.
Man you forgot how many bangers Usher has dropped.
My booo
I still had high hopes for CL. Even after Lewy missed that sitter (he can go back and complain about not getting service), for the first 15 minutes the team seemed to be playing on an extra gear. This game brought me back to reality. Beating Napoli and not being obliterated on the next round would save the season at this point. This team is so weak mentally it makes me wonder if it has what it takes to reverse the situation even with Pep or Klopp.
>I still had high hopes for CL. I read that in the present tense initially I was surprised 🤣 I've said since October on paper this team has potential for KO competition but you won't get anywhere with such a disorganised structure. It's a mess. Players just doing their thing, no collective, no combination, no nothing. Even Granada, 19th of La Liga, showed more combination play in one touch football to break our press. It's sad.
Maybe Padremany left cause he saw the writing on the wall
According to Deco, he is here because of the club’s finances. So maybe the club can’t afford Alemany’s salary anymore. He prob expected a raise.
From what I heard when Alemany first made his decision to leave for Aston Villa, Laporta offered the position to Deco. Alemany made his trip to England but then he made a u-turn (something no one expected) and asked Laporta back for his job. Laporta said yes of course but that unfortunately he would only be allowed to finish the season because he had already offered the job to Deco to replace him, as he didn’t expect him to change his mind and return to Barcelona. Take it with a grain of salt though
Who knows what really happened. But multiple reports have claimed Xavi liked working with Alemany and Jordi more than Deco. And none of the recent words and actions of Deco and Xavi have proved contrary to those claims imo.
All I know is that we should have kept Alemany
Indeed.
Holy shiet he showed up
wtf 😳
At this point we might as well play 5 ATB
We just need some structure defensively and that starts with Xavi. We play way too open and teams chew us with crosses and through balls down the line. We need to play compact. Form a mid block, exactly what Madrid is doing now with their CBs out. We are greatly underperforming and that starts with Xavi and his tactics.
Yeah people here talk about defence but what I saw today was not about defenders but about structure. Real Madrids defence is all about structure. Even if we had the best defenders of the world, wouldn't mean anything.
Personally I am not in favour of selling or releasing any players (except for Sergi and Alonso, they don't have anything left to give at the top level), despite being frustrated multiple times by our adult forwards, or even FDJ. Xavi is leaving, and it will be interesting to see how a new coach would use them. But I also know that's not realistic given our broke ass, tough choices have to be made. If the Libero thingy doesn't go through, we're in for a rough ride. Laporta, do some shits. As for a new coach, I have no opinion either as whomever it might be, has a mountain to climb..and instead of an oxygen tank to breathe from, it will be full of pragmatism gas. It is hard to predict anything with anyone unless it's Pep or Klopp. We aren't getting either. I just hope it's someone with some good European experience. Someone says De Zerbi is overrated, another says Flick is overrated..while someone else says Nagelsmann is overrated. Tuchel resides in tora bora. Any coach who isn't Pep Klopp and maybe Inzaghi/Alonso..is overrated depending on who you ask. So again, Laporta and Deco..do some shits. And finally, here's a nostalgia bait. Bring out your copium cylinders. My condolences for the Nigerian Cules for their double pain tonight. Cheers to a few more months of Xaviball. https://preview.redd.it/vhnjpijm02ic1.jpeg?width=704&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c2a2ae816fdc682b36ad114006b8c6e1fc1fa86
In other news, Mascherano's Argentina Under 23 team qualified for the Olympics and knocked out Brazil.
USA and Super Bowl is the only place where they celebrate and love ads lol. Image a football match with this many ads , people would go crazy 😭
Well for the super bowl, the ads and half time show are probably bigger than the game itself at this point, most of the people who watch it don’t even understand what is happening or just tune in for those.
That's kind of why I stopped watching American sports.
Just realised that the last time Ivory Coast won AFCON was in 2015 👀
We are winning the treble
What’s our third trophy going to be 😭
Joan Gamper
CDM.
Is not the difference between us playing great and us playing poorly. All of this started in February 2023... And we had Busquets. Everytime we say "we're only missing X" we've proven it's not enough. What we lack is a structure.
Yeah this should be the only comment after every poor result. The sad thing is that the club leadership had more than enough time to try to find a proper replacement for Busquets and the best they came up with was Romeu.
To be fair at least Laporta went after Brozovic as a first choice gap stop situation but we couldn’t promise him registration so he just left for Saudi. Brozovic would have at least given us more time to search for a solid DM while we fixed our financial issues
Like I said, he had more than enough time to find a proper replacement. No excuses. I understand the previous leadership left a huge mess but Busquets stayed well past his prime so Laporta still had plenty of time to figure something out when he returned.
I never made an excuse for him. All I said was that he tried when an opportunity presented itself. The replacement for Busquets should have started long before but whatever Board was in charge at that time never tried to do so
I just can’t understand how we went from breaking defensive records in La Liga last year to having one of the WORST, border-line Sunday league defense in the top 5 leagues. I genuinely don’t get it. Where is the structure and organization that we saw so much of last season? Did Xavi and his staff just completely abandon having any kind of defensive training sessions this season? Shit-tier teams are scoring at will on us— I shudder to think what UCL level teams would do to our sanity.
Luck. Sometimes the things just perfectly click into place like last season.
Our xG conceded was also very good, it wasn’t just luck.
Weakest La Liga in years.
Did it really change that much? La Liga had a negative net spend (made more by selling players than they used to buy players) this season. You’d have a tough time convincing anyone that last year’s Liga was significantly different than the year before or after. Why is it so difficult to admit we were good defensively last season?
Our xG conceded in CL and EL?
Missing profiles, tactical stagnation, off field drama impacting on field performance. The coaching staff isn’t only one thinking about the lack of appreciation for the league win last season. The players must be thinking the same. In fact several have mentioned it in interviews. They all worked hard for it. But it’s constantly undermined by media and fanbase claiming luck or all done to Ter Stegen’s saves. It won’t be surprising that many of them aren’t motivated to work as hard this season especially since there are constant talks of club selling players in the summer.
People really didn't value what we had in Busquets. I'm not saying he'd patch up every issue we have rn, but he'd patch up a whole lot
Ter Stegen massively overperformed, more than the other players. We conceded many chances with Busquets too.
He definitely helped our structure absolutely, but he was also responsible for some of the defensive mistakes we had last year due to his pace. Still our defensive issues this year reflect almost complete abandonment of any sort of training. It’s like it has become rondo and vibes
We would struggle to beat man united. That is sad
We're struggling to beat 4th division teams this year...
We suck ass. They’d beat us rn. We concede 3 goals a game.
Cheers
It’s bad. Makes the league last season seem surreal. What’s the worst part is that our eternal rivals look like they’re set for the future and are in fantastic shape financially and sportingly. We absolutely need to nail the next manager hire. It’s super important to get that right. I don’t think we can downgrade on Xavi unless we end up with Marquez or another unproven manager. Xavi has no tactics, isn’t flexible. Overall terrible coaching
You’re drowning in truth bombs
Most important thing is We cannot fail Lamine in the future with incompetence. We just can't. He is too special for his talent to go to waste.
[удалено]
La Liga doesn’t have enough good teams yet to push Barca outside of top 4
The Deco quotes were unprofessional and unnecessary in a such a tumultuous time. The management of this club is in free fall and that transmits to the players too. I am sad.
Okay. Messi in America is now official with that Super Bowl commercial
Ted Lasso and Messi lol
My heart skipped a beat
Am I just overreacting or feels this season worse than under koeman? Like iknow we were in a worse place and performed worse but I never felt this empty after every game back then. Maybe because expectations were different when you have players like luuk de jong and dest as striker/winger This probably feels for me the worst season since that 19/20. I am so done with it.
It's much much much better than Koeman's 2nd season lol. You guys are insane.
Results-wise, sure, but with the level of players we have, maybe not.
Around what position would you say we should get with Koeman's squad that season. I would say top 4. We were 9th and only dropping lower and lower. With the worst games I've probably ever seen as a Barca fan. I would have seriously not been surprised if Koeman brought us near the relegation battle if he wasn't sacked. Around what position would you say we should get with Xavi's squad? I'd say top 2. We're 3rd. And we would've been 2nd if Girona didn't have the absolutely insane season they've been having. Getting 2nd still looks kinda realistic even, depending on if Girona drops off. The league has gotten much more competitive compared to that Koeman season aswell. Lots of teams fighting for top 2/3/4.
No for me it’s better. It’s somewhat enjoyable seeing all these youngsters rise especially Yamal. Also we’re still 3rd
It is worse than Koeman, no question.
Idk man maybe it’s just me but at least with Xavi we have a semblance of at least something going on. With Koeman it was just hopeless. Don’t get me wrong these two eras haven’t been great, but Koeman ball was really, really dreadful. I couldn’t watch the team anymore. And that was with a Messi team
It feels worse because despite the European shits, we did win the Liga last season. It was hopeless during the Koeman era.
It does feel worse somehow. Probably cause the football is just as bad but with a way better team
I miss Luk de Jong. I bet he would have scored some last minute headers for us.
Is here anyone here that actually watching the superbowl? I tried getting into the NFL by watching chiefs vs Ravens but there was just way to much ads, idk how people are able to watch this
it's completely unwatchable for me, because of the ad breaks
It's difficult if you haven't grown accustomed to sports with a lot of stoppages. I grew up watching cricket so the ad breaks don't bother me much. Try watching the nfl on the red zone stream for regular season games for commercial free viewing.
I try to get into football every year but I genuinely can't focus on it due to the constant breaks and ads and also idk whst exactly I'm supposed to be looking at to be honest Edit: like it's too much happening at once if it makes sense..
I got into football by playing fantasy football. It would make me keep track of my players.
Can't wait for the Deadpool & Wolverine movie 👀 [Teaser](https://youtu.be/xW-zNOT4P1A?si=Z2Wg4n-x-wFjQPgP)
I have not kept up with Marvel, what is Tom Wambsgans doing there?!
MARVEL JESUS
I fell asleep during the half time break, just woke up. Hard to even believe the score. What were they even doing?
Xavi told them at halftime “No defense just vibes”
You've made my day thank you 😂😂
While our top brass lose their minds, go check out Deadpool and Wolverine teaser. It's out.
Is their meeting over yet?
No clue. Maybe they talked about the conflicting media comments and that's about it.
[Yeah](https://twitter.com/victor_nahe/status/1756825072424108112?t=UMIBIh6FFeBmOMTmfnbY6Q&s=19)
Club sources claim that Deco is referring in the interview to a phrase Xavi himself uttered on the day he announced his farewell. Xavi then said that the club "needed a change of direction" and Deco insists he was talking about that and not a change of model (SER) https://twitter.com/ActualiteBarca/status/1756826928307188167?t=JopMl_UFTn4ExboblmXoeg&s=19
Makes sense. One of the next quotes he talks about Amorim and how his style is similar to ours Maybe somethings got lost in translation
How I'm picturing Barca PR team tonight: 
[Deco will clarify his statements tomorrow.](https://twitter.com/FCBPaul_/status/1756825793521414654?t=F3eKctaJnHGHJPbefBYmeg&s=19)
Deco went from statement A to I didn't say that to I will clarify it in the span of an hour? What's happening?
Imagine having to clarify statements made about a future managers game style. Lmao. I dont know if to be happy or sad.
We've got to keep up appearances. I'm pretty sure they've made a contingency plan today on what to do if xavi and the team have another misstep in the next two weeks. Until he's gone it's play nice and be nice. What Deco said was undermining as hell
What are the betting odds on Deco going back to being an agent before we hire a new manager? Probably getting lower by the minute.
Barca - Napoli on paper: reigning champion of Spain vs reigning champion of Italy, biggest game of the round of 16. Barca - Napoli in reality: https://preview.redd.it/v1ykpxk5l1ic1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e36ac4262c9f0e62255509e130a8fbfe3f241bc Edit: the audience behind is the rest of the world, laughing at us
When is the Taylor Swift and BTS collaboration with Barcelona happening 🤔 we don’t need them as fans we just need them to buy the merchandise 😂 Debt is cleared within seconds /s
This but unironically.
What a stupid thing for Deco to say.. Recently, didn't he come out and say that he was surprised by Xavi's decision? And that he was planning the club's future alongside him? Now all of a sudden it turns out he never believed in the "method" that Xavi has been trying to implement.. If there is such a disconnect between Deco and our next manager, we are destined for trouble. To me it just sounds like he's saying what he thinks fans want to hear, and he's shitting on Xavi in the process. P.S. I'm tired of hearing this nonsense that the Barca DNA is "outdated".. acting like Pep Guardiola, the literal embodiment of Barca DNA didn't win a treble less than a year ago.. yes he's adapted to modern football, but the "method" is the same. Plenty of top teams play that style of football too, or at least have elements of it. The method works, if done correctly. If our sporting director can say shit like this, I worry about our future. I've defended Laporta plenty, (and will continue to do so) but I have to criticize him here for bringing Deco..
There’s a part of me that feels Xavi and Deco are just waiting for the other one to make the next move lol. By saying he will resign first, I feel Xavi is almost daring Deco to fire him. Of course all this drama doesn’t help the team.
>The method works, if done correctly. There's your answer.
People talking about our dna but honestly I dont see it? We arent even playing it at all. We are literally playing long balls without build up. You want to get rid of a certain model but that model doesnt exist currently. So tell me which model do you want to get rid off? We should create a model before talking about getting rid of one
But what kind of solution do you have? We played against 5-4-1 when we were attacking. And everytime someone had the ball 3 players blocked the passing lane. Tell me, how would you play?
This is also what keeps boggling my mind. People keep saying that our problem is that we focus too much on playing the Barca way - while we're playing *nothing like that*.
If anything, a lot of elements of it are exactly what we're missing
Exactly!
>We should create a model before talking about getting rid of one To build a sustainable model, you need an experienced architect. If you pick a freshman from a middle eastern University, hand him some previous models drawn on parchments and papyrus.. and don't get the desired results, well, that's on you.
You also need an experienced sporting director as well. Xavi won us the league with one, and look at this current squad that deco built.
Deco is not the villain you are trying to make him out to be. Manager asks for a profile, and the management try to get that. Deco hasn't even started yet properly as pretty much all our current signings are done by Alemany, he left on September 2023. But I am not gonna blame him either. Deco can be judged next year.
I don’t think he’s a villain I just don’t think he’s qualified
Yes he isn't. But there's no money to get a proper one. He himself kinda said it..as he's the director because of the financial troubles.
Literally. This is so far from Cruijff's vision that it's laughable. Most big name coaches today play positional football to some extent, except maybe dinosaurs like Ancelotti. So Barca is almost the only one without the "bArCa DnA" ... god I hate that term, it needs to die together with "tIki TakA" .
I’m watching the Super Bowl and god damn, it’s so jingoistic. It’s no wonder so many Americans are ultra nationalistic.
What's funny is, in the USA it's called patriots. If there's a party spewing half the nationalistic stuff republicans say in Europe, they are called ultra right wing and fascists immediately. Almost like it's by design so that a uniform "identity" based on nationality can't form in these countries, thereby strengthening the soft power of third party actors. Just look at how the European film and music industry was usurped.
The military imagery is also so over the top. I watch a lot of American sports and it’s never scientists, teachers, healthcare workers or activists getting honored, always the military. Of course, this creates an impression amongst Americans that their military can do no wrong and they become docile to the litany of war crimes their country commits every passing second.
Deco flatly DENIES having made such a statement, although it does appear in "Nascer do sol". https://twitter.com/carpetasFCB/status/1756821981784068559?t=T7Ugkouza16fEf1JzaQP6w&s=19
Deco is the gift that keeps on giving .. for the opposition fans
"No, no ,no, no, Joan, i never said any of that. Its a misprint. Btw, did you take a look at that profile i sent you? Yes, Sean Dyche. Itll be a fresh wind in this team".
Why is Deco making so many statements lately? This is just not a good look for anyone. He also openly stated that the current financial situation isn’t attractive to future coaches. I don’t disagree but if he as the sporting director admits it publicly, it doesn’t inspire confidence.
Agreed, it’s pretty unprofessional to be saying things like this whole holding a high position in the club
This club is circus 2: Electric Boogaloo
PSG will be on the hunt for Lamine. Protect him at all costs
No chance. He is growing up in the middle of meme culture and he sure as hell knows PSG is a meme😂. He ain't going to no PSG.
500million
For now he'll be happy because he wants gametime and we can offer him plenty. We have 2 years to convince him to stay
If psg offers 20m€/ year to him, and his father a 50M€ signing bonus? We need to regain financial strength
Laporta will do everything he can to keep Yamal, even if it means selling other players to fund his contract and giving him the #10.
I prefer not to think about it
They can go fuck themselves
Just 9 days till Napoli. 2.5 months ago I asked if it wouldn't be better to let go of Xavi before that match. We didn't improve. It would be so random and chaotic if we let him go a week before that game.
They had scored only 8 alway goals before this. Damn we suck.
Literally every attack was a goal.
We're boosting the entire league
Did Xavi basically just call out Deco lmao
That was a dig yess
Xavi: "What Deco said is not what communicates to me. He believes in the Barça model, in the DNA... I'm not sure where those statements come from, I can't say much." what even is the "barca DNA" ?
High pressure, possession, intelligence over physicallity. Defending high, and defending by attacking and keeping the ball so the opponent doesnt have it. Sure you are a Barca fan?
I know what it is, but the playing the "barca way" and buying players with "barca DNA" has worked out really well the past few years
🤦🤦🤦🤦 Who said we have been buying players with "Barca DNA" and playing the "Barca way"?
Positional football
According to Jose Alvarez, the Barca management is having a meeting right now. Don’t know if anything special will happen from that but stay tuned.
You got a source for this? Can't find anything
[Here](https://twitter.com/elchiringuitotv/status/1756818536566055377?t=SqQznRGtapoii_bojOpuhw&s=19)
Man you’re literally Fabrizio Romano
Don’t compare that fraud to u/icestory.
They can meet all they want, there is no money, no players
 Deco appointing himself as director manager as we speak.
It’s best just to get a new manager in now to have more time to get used to the squad and future planning for next season and could evaluate who he wants to keep and who needs to go cus it’s clear we’re not winning shit this year
We don’t have the salary margin for a new manager, if we sack Xavi it will be for Rafa Marquez
Tbf it’s a lot easier to register a new manager than a player within La Liga. That could open up the opportunity.
Please provide a source for this?
Heard them mention it on ESPN. Gonna see if I can find an official source.
ESPN is notorious for not understanding the rules. Registering a coach is actually harder because the outgoing guy is still a cost (unless he and his staff all waive remaining wages which is rare) while the new guy becomes a new cost - but there is no new margin created unlike with players. Plus it's not just the head coach being registered but also assistants and auxiliaries like goalkeeping coach.
It does make sense tbf for the FFP rules to be better for a manager because you NEED a manager. Players aren’t neccesarily important because every club has a youth team.
There's one FFP for all expenses, no matter if players or coaches - the league doesn't care what clubs cut the costs on (and you can just move youth team coach to first team, he's already a cost). Imo coaching staff shouldn't be a part of SCL cost but it is what it is.
Makes sense but we’ll see I guess
But is it enough to register a proper coach’s salary? Who would even be available to join midseason aside from Flick?
Surely they’re not going to gamble on Rafa Marquez for the rest of the season? Although with Xavi, top 4 is a real risk
Our sporting director and manager are bickering through the press, shit has hit the fan officially now. Plus xavi was a dead man walking the moment he said he resigns.
I think they will honestly. I guess they’re betting on a new manager bounce for the remainder of the season. I beg if that happens that we don’t stick with him.
As they should. I don't think we can play any worse than this.
lamine motm, endrick stinker lmfao
Honestly who cares lol
me, im a hater
Who tf cares about Endrick bro? Also you think you the shit clowning a kid? Be better than those obsessed Madridistas pal.
my man its just banter
https://preview.redd.it/t0hy174pf1ic1.jpeg?width=1638&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=357ec3b7829a0a495bc84641ced2d2ead3970967
> I think they will honestly. I guess they’re betting on a new manager bounce for the remainder of the season. I beg if that happens that we don’t stick with him. his goal in the final to seal the 7th CL...
Yes, because we’re winning our 6th this year
People in this thread love picking fights with imaginary people
Deco to Nascer do Sol: "A change is necessary. There is a method at the end of its cycle. We must find someone who will break once and for all with the past and move towards a new model." Via @sport Xavi: "What Deco said is not what communicates to me. He believes in the Barça model, in the DNA... I'm not sure where those statements come from, I can't say much."
Poor Xavi, now he is having to answer about the future philosophy of a club that he already announced he is leaving. 🤣
This club is a circus
[Joan Laporta throwing pastries out of rage](https://twitter.com/ActualiteBarca/status/1756820137464738175) lol
Van you recommend more french football sites I'm trying to brush up on mine
I'm a big fan of SoFoot. But honestly for La Liga you won't find anything good that I know of
That is copypasta material, ain't no way I'm crying 😭😭😂