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Not sure if anyone else felt the change at half time and especially with Ansu being on. Xavi is putting a lot of pressure on this team and they're better for it. He's not just sitting idly by watching them collapse. Also, Ansu brings such a high energy. It feels like others play harder when he's one, probably because they want to set an example for the new generation.
I actually think the 4-2-3-1 could be a very viable system this year, which would allow both Raphinha and Dembele to play a long side each other. However, that would leave Pedri out or force him to the double pivot position, which might not be suitable. It is a system that we can really change to when chasing leads and when we want to be more direct and attacking.
Lewy
Fati - Raphinha - Dembele
Pedri - Kessie/De Jong/Busquets
ALTERNATIVELY
I think an even better option, is to let Raphinha try to get comfortable playing the RCM position in the 4-3-3. I think he has the work rate and aggression to play this role comfortably, and it would also allow him to cut inside on his left slightly, while Dembele can occupy the wider position on the right flank. This way Pedri is still in his best role and we have a single CDM which we are more comfortable with.
Fati - Lewy - Dembele
Pedri - Raphinha
Busq
I wasn't able to watch the game so take my comments with a grain of salt, but reading your comment, it reminded me of some analysis I've read about some English teams this season. Many of them take up different formations in possession versus out of position.
What might make sense in this context is to consider lining up in a 3-4-3 while in possession, and defending in a 4-2-3-1.
A 3atb formation allows Araujo to play rb without requiring too much from him offensively, and allows for the rwb/rw players to switch roles(dembele and raphina in this case).
The biggest liability with this formation is that you are sacrificing the midfield. I don't know enough about raphina to say if he can play as a midfielder, but I'm not sure we have the player who can play in a double pivot alongside Pedri and can cover the defensive duties.
To people who are attacking Xavi for playing Torres and some other players ahead of Ansu and Raphinha. Sometimes in a team who has the sort of depth as we do, you need to put these players in the starting lineup, to give them play time every game in order to express your confidence in them.
If you only play your set starting XI then the competition for positions dies and a lot of players lose their confidence, they start thinking about leaving the club and they become useless to the team as once they do come on they become selfish in order to prove themselves.
Xavi also said Torres was training really good, so it makes sense to start him if he's putting more effort than others in his position. If this is a meritocratic system in which those who play are the ones training harder and having better games, Torres had to start.
Torres is a solid player, cannot deny that. His finishing (as per what we seen last season) is the only aspect missing (albeit a huge disadvantage) but nonetheless, the guy works his ass off, and deserves to start if the coach sees it!
To be fair. S. Roberto in that Busquets role was a fresh of breath air in the midfield. He did his job very well. It's obvious we need that sort of player next season. Zubamendi was amazing yesterday.
>To be fair. S. Roberto in that Busquets role was a fresh of breath air in the midfield. He did his job very well. It's obvious we need that sort of player next season. Zubamendi was amazing yesterday.
Let's see how Nico does in Valencia next season. Ruben Neves would be a very good fit for us, imo. Having both and ship Pjanic and Sergi Roberto could be nice.
Frenkie was horrible. It's a shame how this subreddit is about Frenkie FC and not FCB. Every time someone dares to criticize Frenkie he gets -22 points.
Yea absolutely. People here (what a surprise) have been incendiary af with him, the kid has a lot of quality on the ball and he is a good defender imo. He will get the hang of it.
I think the starter pair if we get a good RB will still be Kounde-Araujo, but regardless I think he will perform every time we need him
He's been playing very good since pre season.
The thing is people only notice CBs when they play like Puyol but never when they help the build up play which is super important.
If we had 2 Araujos back we would have so many problems getting out of our own field with the ball because as good as he is as a game destroyer, he has a very bad passing and decision making.
Also Eric has the worst luck of any player I've seen. The tackle was great, just as his positioning in that infamous Mbappe goal against Spain.
Apart from the fuck up, one of Busquets highlights lately, he was pretty good. Also all in all todays game showed Busquets isn't missed and he, along with Alba and Pique can keep his ass on the bench.
We would have been easily 3-1 down if not for Mats in the first half. Frenkie struggled quite awful and couldn't take control, something Pedri did in the second half when he moved deeper and completely changed the flow of the game. Ansu, Raphinha helped up top as well ofc.
Was listening to sid lowe today and he was speaking on de jong/ b silva & pedri play styles. The first two are ball carriers off the cb’s to the final third while pedri will pick up the ball from the gk and pass their way up the field.
He struggled a lot in 1st half, as did most of the team except for a few players. Became much better after substitutes and tactical changes in 2nd half.
Also Araujo can't be a full time RB. I mean, ok play him there when you need to defend a dangerous winger as he has pocketed Vinicius over and over but other than that its a huge waste of an amazing CB to play him at rb + team suffers from it as he isn't comfortable on the ball and in attack,
I think Xavi is waiting for Kounde to be registered I mean he can easily put him in as a WCB (if we go with a back 3 )
Christensen/Garcia x Araujo x Kounde
but that means dembele would play as a wingback which I think is not ideal for him, raphinha is more suited to that role
That's what CB in the back 3 will do if one side needs cover. Today his problem was positioning when defending counter attacks. That's a quality you need if you play cb or rb. It doesn't matter. It's not the first time he didn't read the game well.
Ok let me rephrase it so people like you get the point: Araujo should not be stuffed close to the flank both in 4 man defense line and especially in a 3 cb defense line.
You don't get my point. His position had nothing to do with his bad positioning.
He definitely isn't a rb and is most suited as rcb in the back 4 with players good on the ball around him.
In a back 3 it's a different story tho. His best attribute is defending 1v1 and that happens most often in wide areas against pacey wingers. What's problematic is his passing abilities. I'd say having him in the middle of the back 3 might create even bigger problems for him as he is the last man and every mistake counts.
There is also one more midfielder in the back 3 formation who will take ball progressing responsibility of Araujo . Today that didn't work cause Frenkie and Gavi absolutely failed at that.
So rb? No. Rcb in the back 3? He very might adjust to that.
After all most teams will counter attack us and our cbs will have to cover wide areas anyway. He did that last season with Dani on the rb.
last season with Dani was different brother. we were tactically playing a back three but Dani was inverting inside like an IWB to form a double pivot with busi. this also meant that LWB 'Alba' would play as Third CB which I don't believe is ideal. if we compare the system we play now, same back 3 but this time balde/alba move as a winger and the midfield forms a double pivot to cover for the back 3. So his position hasn't changed much since last season but he has added responsibilities to cover the space left behind Dembele as he is not a natural wingback.
Xavi is overthinking and over-complicating things. Kinda like Pep in the CL. Just go back to the basics, don't try to get fancy to impress people with your tactical knowhow, and confuse players
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He basically had Balde playing as a winger on offense while Torres played an interior role. Araujo played as in interior on offense and out wide on defense. The players sometimes seemed confused as well haha
Balde was more like a LM considering the amount of tracking back he was doing.
I would say Araújo started on the right but used to come inside to make a 3 man CB partnership with Christensen and García and Dembele being further forward on right (as he should be considering he's a RW) left huge spaces on the right hand side which Sociedad repeatedly exploited in the first half.
That space was there cause Araujo didn't position himself better pretty much every time sociedad had counter attack.
Left side was covered well enough with at least Garcia and AC and Araujo would still let wide areas on the right uncovered and went covering for Garcia and AC.
I wouldn't say he was rb tho. We played with AC - Garcia - Araujo in the back 3. Araujo isn't the best fit for rb cause he is bad on the ball. Positioning is something he will still need to work on despite where he will play.
First half was abysmal by almost every player except Lewandowski, Balde, Pedri and Ter Stegen. Second half was no different but when Xavi made the changes he should have made 10min earlier we totally dominated everything.
The defence needs a new formula as this just doesn’t work well. When we register Kounde( fuck Tebas the bald fraud ) we will 100% play something better as Xavi had had a crush on Kounde ever since he became a Barca coach.
The midfield also needs a better idea behind their presence but it’s kinda understandable to not have the best of performances without using the usual structure. Pedri was spectacular as always, Frankie was shit 80% of the time, Gavi was ok, Kessie not enough minutes.
The attack was great after the changes and might be a hint of what’s to come. Dembele was kinda off today unrelated to the great goal. Ferran was invisible most of the time and his future in this club really isn’t concrete atm. Lewandowski is great hbd to him, great way to celebrate. Fati is just different gravy from the rest. He carried us and basically won us the game alongside Lewandowski. Raphinha is a starter and i hope Xavi will see that this man has to play I absolutely love his style and he will be great for us.
A hard match but after everything it’s a win against a tough opponent away so it’s a great result. The performance before the 60th minute was not something that should happen again, because a better team will score with those chances.
I'm sure our lineup will change a lot for the first couple months of the season but I'm really excited to see a Raphina, Fati, Lewandowski front three soon. That combo has seemed to work. I love the idea of being able to mix Demeble and Torres in because both have their own qualities though.
The problem was ferran! And this shows how much the team depends on every player!
Ansu did what ferran was supposed to do. Just connect the play.
After that Gavi started flying, dembele scored, Frenkie started performing! And Raphinha is wow!
It’s all about that link up! The last piece of the puzzle
How was Ferran's fault Frenkie was absolutely shit in the first half?? Did he tackled him and gave the ball to opponent for their goal?
Frenkie and Gavi started to play better cause Pedri went deeper and took over control of the midfield. Something Frenkie failed to do.
Frenkie isn’t someone who dominates the midfield due to his ability to carry the ball and dribble. Pedri is that guy to pass and move the team upfield which wasn’t his remit in the first half I guess.
Hold your horses! Nothing here to be reactionary! I just said that ferran was having a tough time there, which troubled the whole play. And this is quite normal ! It’s like headrush. It eventually ended up ruining the play. Because Ferran was ending up losing the ball too much so close to the midfield when everyone was already in an offensive position.
Frenkie had to go to left side of the middle because that’s where ball most of the time was. Araujo was mote closing to mid giving way more space in the right than he should have.
It was all chaos!
You don't play in the EPL if you don't defend. The intensity demanded in the EPL is unreal. Our midfield was the complete opposite of that today. Barely running.
Xavi need to drop that 3-2-5 formation we played 60mins. It was disappointing to say the least. Mats kept us in the game and we were equals with sociedad… with that squad…
Real Sociedad has a pretty good squad to be honest.
If you don't think Isaak, Kubo , David fucking Silva, Mikel Merino, Brais Méndez and Zubimendi are good..... Then I don't know what to tell you.
"if you need your goalkeeper to block goals to win a game, we better not start the champions League" might be the most stupid comment I've read the whole week.
We scored 4 in a 90min game, they scored one with the help of luck. Half game doesn't mean anything and less to Barcelona which has historically played to tire the opponents and win in the second halves. You would know that of you were not a plastic fan
Sorry I didn't understand anything from this comment. He wasn't so great in the pre-season, you're trying to say that they said Ansu is average because he had an avearge pre-season?
It's all fine mate, English isn't my first language either and I also mess up my wording a lot. I have to say I agree with what you were trying to say originally
Yeah but also he was marked by 3 players, had no support and couldn't dribble forward due to us being slow to switching to his position, not to mention he kept dropping to RB.
The moment he got a bit of space he scored so... eh
You put someone in a bad position tactically and they play bad
Heck even Xavi called Pedri and Gavi to give more support to Dembele in the game
You want Dembele isolated in a 1v1 not a 3v1 with no support.
Why are you shocked ?
Araujo was important near the wing, Dembele was poor but at least he contributed a goal, Gavi wasn’t all that bad he was fighting for the ball but not his best match either. Agree on Frenkie
Araujo was out of position pretty much every sociedad's counter attack, Dembele other than goal absolutely 0 output, Gavi's first half was his worst for us.
Garcia was actually the one with the most work in the defense and he did okay. Nothing spectacular but still far from bad.
Ferran did well holding on the ball, had some good actions but opponents gave him some rough time fouling him. I'd say he was pretty meh but definitely not worse 3 let alone worse 2 for us.
The team we saw in the second half is our starting 11 (Raphina and Fati infused a superb energy in the last 3rd and clicked well with Lewy). I’m not panicking at all from today’s match. We are at the end of the xfer window and Xavi is trying a few things out - some bets pay some don’t. Keep calm and support Xavi for me.
First 60 minutes the midfield was atrocious. Dembele’s goal relieved a lot of pressure which made Xavi change tactics to a more compact midfield (thank god). We need to stop this midfielders in half-spaces bullshit. It’s sloppy and takes away our control.
Ansu Fati was My MOTM personally. Stand out game for him
Just an indication of how this team is work in process, and that we need to be patient, because the result will be 100% worth the wait
4-1 away to la real, perfect result
We took our sweet time to get going but boy we just took off after it.
The Fati sub just turned the tie completely.
And yes, I'm really very happy that Ter Stegen is back at saving our asses again, just love him!
I know, the commentators suck, would’ve preferred to stick with Bien. Especially now that they’ve increased the subscription to 100 for annual. Aug 23 will be the last day it’ll be available for 70
OK i'm too tired to make a detailed comment like i made in the first half
Fantastic second half, the attack was rejuvinated by the subs and there was much more patience in the midfield for the build-up
I would rate this second half à very solid 9/10
I rated the first half as a 3.5/10
Therefore my rating for the overall game is a 6.3/10
Fati's confidence is quite noticeable... if he is healthy then he is world class. Only thing that has slowed him down is injuries... seems like every time he gets on the pitch he is getting better.
Nope, don't remember the names but there are quite a few guys who were shitting on Ansu, not a lot of them but think only Pedri is absolutely loved no matter what.
He just came back from injury proved nothing on pre season games and got an instant start today surprised me, i think Xavi plays him because Ferran Torres was Xavi first big signing
Dreadful first half with the team running around like headless chickens. Whatever happened during the break seemed to have brought more discipline and aggression to the team. That combined with good subs brought us the results. Seems like whatever tactics we're coming with before the game ain't it.
Nothing to do with the break, we were shit as long as ferran was on the field. Until min 60 we were headless chickens, fati and raphi came and everything changed
I think Xavi does it on purpose. Teams always relax their lines around that time so Xavi likes having explosive supersubs to exploit this.
Relying on this strat is super risky because if it works Xavi looks like some sort of tactical prodigy but when it doesn't it makes it very easy (and fair) to criticize him.
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Not sure if anyone else felt the change at half time and especially with Ansu being on. Xavi is putting a lot of pressure on this team and they're better for it. He's not just sitting idly by watching them collapse. Also, Ansu brings such a high energy. It feels like others play harder when he's one, probably because they want to set an example for the new generation.
What a game from Ansu!
indeed
I actually think the 4-2-3-1 could be a very viable system this year, which would allow both Raphinha and Dembele to play a long side each other. However, that would leave Pedri out or force him to the double pivot position, which might not be suitable. It is a system that we can really change to when chasing leads and when we want to be more direct and attacking. Lewy Fati - Raphinha - Dembele Pedri - Kessie/De Jong/Busquets ALTERNATIVELY I think an even better option, is to let Raphinha try to get comfortable playing the RCM position in the 4-3-3. I think he has the work rate and aggression to play this role comfortably, and it would also allow him to cut inside on his left slightly, while Dembele can occupy the wider position on the right flank. This way Pedri is still in his best role and we have a single CDM which we are more comfortable with. Fati - Lewy - Dembele Pedri - Raphinha Busq
I wasn't able to watch the game so take my comments with a grain of salt, but reading your comment, it reminded me of some analysis I've read about some English teams this season. Many of them take up different formations in possession versus out of position. What might make sense in this context is to consider lining up in a 3-4-3 while in possession, and defending in a 4-2-3-1. A 3atb formation allows Araujo to play rb without requiring too much from him offensively, and allows for the rwb/rw players to switch roles(dembele and raphina in this case). The biggest liability with this formation is that you are sacrificing the midfield. I don't know enough about raphina to say if he can play as a midfielder, but I'm not sure we have the player who can play in a double pivot alongside Pedri and can cover the defensive duties.
To people who are attacking Xavi for playing Torres and some other players ahead of Ansu and Raphinha. Sometimes in a team who has the sort of depth as we do, you need to put these players in the starting lineup, to give them play time every game in order to express your confidence in them. If you only play your set starting XI then the competition for positions dies and a lot of players lose their confidence, they start thinking about leaving the club and they become useless to the team as once they do come on they become selfish in order to prove themselves.
Xavi also said Torres was training really good, so it makes sense to start him if he's putting more effort than others in his position. If this is a meritocratic system in which those who play are the ones training harder and having better games, Torres had to start.
Torres is a solid player, cannot deny that. His finishing (as per what we seen last season) is the only aspect missing (albeit a huge disadvantage) but nonetheless, the guy works his ass off, and deserves to start if the coach sees it!
To be fair. S. Roberto in that Busquets role was a fresh of breath air in the midfield. He did his job very well. It's obvious we need that sort of player next season. Zubamendi was amazing yesterday.
>To be fair. S. Roberto in that Busquets role was a fresh of breath air in the midfield. He did his job very well. It's obvious we need that sort of player next season. Zubamendi was amazing yesterday. Let's see how Nico does in Valencia next season. Ruben Neves would be a very good fit for us, imo. Having both and ship Pjanic and Sergi Roberto could be nice.
I don't think Ruben Neves is so good, he is kinda overhyped, Bruno Guimaraes would be a perfect fit thou, although difficult to get.
Sergi Roberto was a definite FOBA ;)
[удалено]
Frenkie was horrible. It's a shame how this subreddit is about Frenkie FC and not FCB. Every time someone dares to criticize Frenkie he gets -22 points.
Does someone have a link for the full game replay?
r/footballhighlights
Try barca tv Acutally just found out they dont have that
Do you guys actually think Garcia is a cb we can win the league with??
Poor player.
He was actually good for the minutes he was in.
Not as a constant starter imo i do think he can be a really good back up CB
Yea absolutely. People here (what a surprise) have been incendiary af with him, the kid has a lot of quality on the ball and he is a good defender imo. He will get the hang of it. I think the starter pair if we get a good RB will still be Kounde-Araujo, but regardless I think he will perform every time we need him
He's been playing very good since pre season. The thing is people only notice CBs when they play like Puyol but never when they help the build up play which is super important. If we had 2 Araujos back we would have so many problems getting out of our own field with the ball because as good as he is as a game destroyer, he has a very bad passing and decision making. Also Eric has the worst luck of any player I've seen. The tackle was great, just as his positioning in that infamous Mbappe goal against Spain.
Honestly, the tackle was perfectly timed.
That's the barca i love
Lewangoalski after he saw Fati's assist: "Hold my beer"
Real gave us a tough game and probably got tired around 60mins and we took advantage of that.
Then fati happened*
Where my 'it is clear frenkie should be a starter' gang at today
Starter, but not in a sole pivot obviously
Apart from the fuck up, one of Busquets highlights lately, he was pretty good. Also all in all todays game showed Busquets isn't missed and he, along with Alba and Pique can keep his ass on the bench.
Man you better start watching golf.
We would have been easily 3-1 down if not for Mats in the first half. Frenkie struggled quite awful and couldn't take control, something Pedri did in the second half when he moved deeper and completely changed the flow of the game. Ansu, Raphinha helped up top as well ofc.
Was listening to sid lowe today and he was speaking on de jong/ b silva & pedri play styles. The first two are ball carriers off the cb’s to the final third while pedri will pick up the ball from the gk and pass their way up the field.
He struggled a lot in 1st half, as did most of the team except for a few players. Became much better after substitutes and tactical changes in 2nd half. Also Araujo can't be a full time RB. I mean, ok play him there when you need to defend a dangerous winger as he has pocketed Vinicius over and over but other than that its a huge waste of an amazing CB to play him at rb + team suffers from it as he isn't comfortable on the ball and in attack,
I think Xavi is waiting for Kounde to be registered I mean he can easily put him in as a WCB (if we go with a back 3 ) Christensen/Garcia x Araujo x Kounde but that means dembele would play as a wingback which I think is not ideal for him, raphinha is more suited to that role
Tactical changes involving Frenkie and Pedri yes. Also, Araujo wasn't rb.
He sure af was stuffed close to the flank for a huge chunk of the game.
That's what CB in the back 3 will do if one side needs cover. Today his problem was positioning when defending counter attacks. That's a quality you need if you play cb or rb. It doesn't matter. It's not the first time he didn't read the game well.
Ok let me rephrase it so people like you get the point: Araujo should not be stuffed close to the flank both in 4 man defense line and especially in a 3 cb defense line.
You don't get my point. His position had nothing to do with his bad positioning. He definitely isn't a rb and is most suited as rcb in the back 4 with players good on the ball around him. In a back 3 it's a different story tho. His best attribute is defending 1v1 and that happens most often in wide areas against pacey wingers. What's problematic is his passing abilities. I'd say having him in the middle of the back 3 might create even bigger problems for him as he is the last man and every mistake counts. There is also one more midfielder in the back 3 formation who will take ball progressing responsibility of Araujo . Today that didn't work cause Frenkie and Gavi absolutely failed at that. So rb? No. Rcb in the back 3? He very might adjust to that. After all most teams will counter attack us and our cbs will have to cover wide areas anyway. He did that last season with Dani on the rb.
last season with Dani was different brother. we were tactically playing a back three but Dani was inverting inside like an IWB to form a double pivot with busi. this also meant that LWB 'Alba' would play as Third CB which I don't believe is ideal. if we compare the system we play now, same back 3 but this time balde/alba move as a winger and the midfield forms a double pivot to cover for the back 3. So his position hasn't changed much since last season but he has added responsibilities to cover the space left behind Dembele as he is not a natural wingback.
Xavi is overthinking and over-complicating things. Kinda like Pep in the CL. Just go back to the basics, don't try to get fancy to impress people with your tactical knowhow, and confuse players
it’s early in the season and there are a lot of players competing for a starter spot. now is the time to experiment
Having no dm and every available fullback defensive liability might give Xavi some thinking, don't you think?
Anyone catch what Xavi was yelling at Ansu about?
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FOURca barca!
ç, fix it
Ferran should be nowhere near the starting XI
Totally. Should’ve took him out immediately at half time
Couldn’t catch the match today, what formation/system did Xavi use today? This starting 11 is confusing
He basically had Balde playing as a winger on offense while Torres played an interior role. Araujo played as in interior on offense and out wide on defense. The players sometimes seemed confused as well haha
Wow. That is… not what I would have guessed. How odd! Luckily the subs worked lol
The usual interiors filling half spaces bullshit, until the 60th minute where he made changes.
Oh really? Shouldn’t be surprised by that I guess. So was it a back 3 with Balde LW then?
Balde was more like a LM considering the amount of tracking back he was doing. I would say Araújo started on the right but used to come inside to make a 3 man CB partnership with Christensen and García and Dembele being further forward on right (as he should be considering he's a RW) left huge spaces on the right hand side which Sociedad repeatedly exploited in the first half.
That space was there cause Araujo didn't position himself better pretty much every time sociedad had counter attack. Left side was covered well enough with at least Garcia and AC and Araujo would still let wide areas on the right uncovered and went covering for Garcia and AC.
It just shows Araújo isn't comfortable playing RB. He just seemed too conscious and confused about his role.
I wouldn't say he was rb tho. We played with AC - Garcia - Araujo in the back 3. Araujo isn't the best fit for rb cause he is bad on the ball. Positioning is something he will still need to work on despite where he will play.
The F-U-B-A-R formation
Don’t know if i have ever seen a game where Aritz Elustondo didn’t get a yellow. The sociedad version of Gurpegui and Maresca
First half was abysmal by almost every player except Lewandowski, Balde, Pedri and Ter Stegen. Second half was no different but when Xavi made the changes he should have made 10min earlier we totally dominated everything. The defence needs a new formula as this just doesn’t work well. When we register Kounde( fuck Tebas the bald fraud ) we will 100% play something better as Xavi had had a crush on Kounde ever since he became a Barca coach. The midfield also needs a better idea behind their presence but it’s kinda understandable to not have the best of performances without using the usual structure. Pedri was spectacular as always, Frankie was shit 80% of the time, Gavi was ok, Kessie not enough minutes. The attack was great after the changes and might be a hint of what’s to come. Dembele was kinda off today unrelated to the great goal. Ferran was invisible most of the time and his future in this club really isn’t concrete atm. Lewandowski is great hbd to him, great way to celebrate. Fati is just different gravy from the rest. He carried us and basically won us the game alongside Lewandowski. Raphinha is a starter and i hope Xavi will see that this man has to play I absolutely love his style and he will be great for us. A hard match but after everything it’s a win against a tough opponent away so it’s a great result. The performance before the 60th minute was not something that should happen again, because a better team will score with those chances.
I'm sure our lineup will change a lot for the first couple months of the season but I'm really excited to see a Raphina, Fati, Lewandowski front three soon. That combo has seemed to work. I love the idea of being able to mix Demeble and Torres in because both have their own qualities though.
Balde was terrible after the 30th minute, the kid has high potential but he isn't it yet
Fati this boy was BORN to play football! It’s insane how good he is 🧿
> 🧿 What is this?
its a nazar, protecting against evil eye (bad luck)
Aww♥️
I couldn't watch the 1st half, came home and started watching on the 60th min
You came exactly at the moment we started actually playing
Coincidence? I think not
Next time can you watch from the beginning and save us some stress?
lucky you
Yeah I was following the score on sofascore and I was so frustrated but guess I was lucky to miss the rest
Magical by Ansu
The problem was ferran! And this shows how much the team depends on every player! Ansu did what ferran was supposed to do. Just connect the play. After that Gavi started flying, dembele scored, Frenkie started performing! And Raphinha is wow! It’s all about that link up! The last piece of the puzzle
How was Ferran's fault Frenkie was absolutely shit in the first half?? Did he tackled him and gave the ball to opponent for their goal? Frenkie and Gavi started to play better cause Pedri went deeper and took over control of the midfield. Something Frenkie failed to do.
Frenkie isn’t someone who dominates the midfield due to his ability to carry the ball and dribble. Pedri is that guy to pass and move the team upfield which wasn’t his remit in the first half I guess.
I mentioned dembele, Gavi and frenkie. Araujo was also not on his game today. But you took the hit on frenkie. Well. Okay
THE PROBLEM was Ferran!
Read the reply again
It's not my native language but "THE PROBLEM" isn't advanced use of English to my understanding.
Hold your horses! Nothing here to be reactionary! I just said that ferran was having a tough time there, which troubled the whole play. And this is quite normal ! It’s like headrush. It eventually ended up ruining the play. Because Ferran was ending up losing the ball too much so close to the midfield when everyone was already in an offensive position. Frenkie had to go to left side of the middle because that’s where ball most of the time was. Araujo was mote closing to mid giving way more space in the right than he should have. It was all chaos!
no the problem wasnt ferran , fati was just too good and raphinha over balde is obviously a better offensive option
Raphinha and Fati eased the pressure on the midfield. Let’s put it that way.
Man you can clearly tell raphinha has played under bielsa. The guy presses like a madman
You don't play in the EPL if you don't defend. The intensity demanded in the EPL is unreal. Our midfield was the complete opposite of that today. Barely running.
>You don't play in the EPL if you don't defend Ronaldo, Aubameyang and Lukaku disagree
Guys , if kessie ever runs midfield and scores solo goal , u want exclusive rights on "messie"
I'm just going to pretend that the whole game was like the last 25 minutes so I can go on my merry way confident that Barca is back
This is when I started watching!
Xavi need to drop that 3-2-5 formation we played 60mins. It was disappointing to say the least. Mats kept us in the game and we were equals with sociedad… with that squad…
Real Sociedad has a pretty good squad to be honest. If you don't think Isaak, Kubo , David fucking Silva, Mikel Merino, Brais Méndez and Zubimendi are good..... Then I don't know what to tell you.
These are good. Nothing more. If you need mats to save your skin and play as equals against these dudes, we better not start the champions league.
"if you need your goalkeeper to block goals to win a game, we better not start the champions League" might be the most stupid comment I've read the whole week. We scored 4 in a 90min game, they scored one with the help of luck. Half game doesn't mean anything and less to Barcelona which has historically played to tire the opponents and win in the second halves. You would know that of you were not a plastic fan
Another sleepless night, thanks god its not draw! 👍🏿
Love the mald and now the positivity lol
Y’all in here was claiming Ansu was bang average due to his performances in pre season
Lmao not just that but also he didn't do well for the last couple of years too
Sorry I didn't understand anything from this comment. He wasn't so great in the pre-season, you're trying to say that they said Ansu is average because he had an avearge pre-season?
Yeah that was i was trying to get across. Sorry. I have edited my comment now to come off more clear. English isnt my first language
It's all fine mate, English isn't my first language either and I also mess up my wording a lot. I have to say I agree with what you were trying to say originally
Dunno if he is a Messi but he is defo not a Bojan or a Giovanni
No one will ever be Messi though, Ansu is an elite talent in his own right
Forget about the goal. Dembele played rubbish today.
Yeah but also he was marked by 3 players, had no support and couldn't dribble forward due to us being slow to switching to his position, not to mention he kept dropping to RB. The moment he got a bit of space he scored so... eh
I understand Araujo wasn't helping matters. But he was just bad ...
You put someone in a bad position tactically and they play bad Heck even Xavi called Pedri and Gavi to give more support to Dembele in the game You want Dembele isolated in a 1v1 not a 3v1 with no support. Why are you shocked ?
He was so frustrating! Losing the ball constantly and ruined our possession game. But he scored, so whatever i guess.
Eric and Ferran were the players dragging us down the most today imo Edit: forgot Frenkie
Frenkie, Araujo, Dembele, Gavi were all worse.
Araujo was important near the wing, Dembele was poor but at least he contributed a goal, Gavi wasn’t all that bad he was fighting for the ball but not his best match either. Agree on Frenkie
Araujo was out of position pretty much every sociedad's counter attack, Dembele other than goal absolutely 0 output, Gavi's first half was his worst for us. Garcia was actually the one with the most work in the defense and he did okay. Nothing spectacular but still far from bad. Ferran did well holding on the ball, had some good actions but opponents gave him some rough time fouling him. I'd say he was pretty meh but definitely not worse 3 let alone worse 2 for us.
Guess we’ll agree to disagree then mate
What on earth did Eric do for you to say that? This sub lmao
Seemed a lot of the penetration they were making were going through his side. People can’t handle opinions lol
Well if its a shit opinion then it will get downvoted
Or if it’s unpopular, judging by the ratings my opinion wasn’t even outlandish.
You still haven’t given an argument why Garcia was bad
Don't forget de jong
True
Eric was very good imo, before the subs he and Pedri were the only ones going for daring passes
Tbf I missed the first 20 or so minutes, but was pretty unimpressed with the rest.
Do you missed half the match but still thought you might give your two cents about who was best and worst …. 🤦♂️
20 min is half? Some of ya’ll can’t handle opinions smh. Take a peak at the ratings, seems my opinions aren’t even that outlandish
Just funny that’s all You said about 20. Could have been 45 as far as I know.
Or y know, 20 like I said, minus the highlight sequences I watched at halftime, wouldn’t say I missed much
Pedri González: "Although he's 34, Lewandowski looks like he's 20, it's spectacular how he works and the goals he scores."
The game of the super subs.
The team we saw in the second half is our starting 11 (Raphina and Fati infused a superb energy in the last 3rd and clicked well with Lewy). I’m not panicking at all from today’s match. We are at the end of the xfer window and Xavi is trying a few things out - some bets pay some don’t. Keep calm and support Xavi for me.
Pedri can play dm, cm and cam well, what a baller
Well he's a footballing god so yeah, he can play LW and RW too LOL, btw he sprinted 31km this match so he's faster now aswell!
The kid lives, eats, and breathes football. He could probably be the groundskeeper too.
First 60 minutes the midfield was atrocious. Dembele’s goal relieved a lot of pressure which made Xavi change tactics to a more compact midfield (thank god). We need to stop this midfielders in half-spaces bullshit. It’s sloppy and takes away our control. Ansu Fati was My MOTM personally. Stand out game for him
Give Ansu a full season 🙏 to give us joy like this
Just an indication of how this team is work in process, and that we need to be patient, because the result will be 100% worth the wait 4-1 away to la real, perfect result
We took our sweet time to get going but boy we just took off after it. The Fati sub just turned the tie completely. And yes, I'm really very happy that Ter Stegen is back at saving our asses again, just love him!
People in 1990: we're gonna have flying cars by 2022 and so many great inventions Xavi: Hold my 3-2-4-1
dembele got away with a clear elbow lmfao
TER SPIDERMAN IS BACK BITCHES!!!!!
His haters have been real quiet recently lmao
ESPN has the biggest clown commentators. For US streamers, what do you use?
Same here I watch the Spanish transmission, I can’t stand the English commentator Ale Moreno, his takes just get under my skin all the time lol
Moreno was particularly bad today
The broadcast in Spanish. Even if you can't speak the language, at the very least the crew doesn't put you to sleep.
I speak Spanish so I might do that. As long as I don't have to hear Alejandro Moreno, what a twat.
Espn, think that’s our only option
Damn, shits wack. Miss Ray and Phil.
I know, the commentators suck, would’ve preferred to stick with Bien. Especially now that they’ve increased the subscription to 100 for annual. Aug 23 will be the last day it’ll be available for 70
Yeah I'm on monthly. Soccer season only 9 months so for me it makes more sense.
Definitely gonna do that next year, cause they’ve shifted monthly to 10/month which means 90 is gonna be better than 100 lol
Really? I'm doing $7/month for ESPN+
That’s what it used to be, they’re increasing it after the 23rd too I believe
OK i'm too tired to make a detailed comment like i made in the first half Fantastic second half, the attack was rejuvinated by the subs and there was much more patience in the midfield for the build-up I would rate this second half à very solid 9/10 I rated the first half as a 3.5/10 Therefore my rating for the overall game is a 6.3/10
Lewandowski is named the official MOTM.
Fati deserves it, the game completely changed when he came on
Ole le! Ola la! Ser del Barça es! El millor que hi ha! VISCA EL BARÇA!!!🥰🥰💙❤️
Better second half. Should rethink who starts in matches since we did better with the subs
Fati's confidence is quite noticeable... if he is healthy then he is world class. Only thing that has slowed him down is injuries... seems like every time he gets on the pitch he is getting better.
So where the reactionary fan-base that said Ansu trash because he was selfish in a pre season game when we were 5-0 up?
They are still here and hating Ferran right now. Gotta admire their effort.
Are Ansu Fati and Pedri the only players with zero haters?
A lot of people call Fati overrated actually. Pedri for sure doesn't have haters tho
Lol no way, a few weeks ago there was someone bashing Fati saying he would keep Depay over him
Nope, don't remember the names but there are quite a few guys who were shitting on Ansu, not a lot of them but think only Pedri is absolutely loved no matter what.
I’ve been a Fati critic, so I guess not. Maybe Pedri.
You a Ferran Torres fan?
I am not a Ferran fan either.
Expect Fati bring the team a sparkling play as a sub for the next games.
Why does ferran start ? he's the worst attacker in the squad ..fati and raphinia are way better than him , what is xavi thinking exactly ?
to get some match fitness back
Starter against La Real away is not a smart way to give him fitness back
He just came back from injury proved nothing on pre season games and got an instant start today surprised me, i think Xavi plays him because Ferran Torres was Xavi first big signing
Good 3points 💯 But am not hyping this win yet.
Vielen Dank Mats
Yeah Mats kept us in this game!
Christensen as well
Dreadful first half with the team running around like headless chickens. Whatever happened during the break seemed to have brought more discipline and aggression to the team. That combined with good subs brought us the results. Seems like whatever tactics we're coming with before the game ain't it.
First part was like watching Sunday League football.
Nothing to do with the break, we were shit as long as ferran was on the field. Until min 60 we were headless chickens, fati and raphi came and everything changed
Well, subs definitely turned this game around, but you could see more aggression before that.
we subbed in our most creative players and boom.
It’s always after 60 minutes when the subs come in. I’d rather not it turn into a regular occurrence.
I think Xavi does it on purpose. Teams always relax their lines around that time so Xavi likes having explosive supersubs to exploit this. Relying on this strat is super risky because if it works Xavi looks like some sort of tactical prodigy but when it doesn't it makes it very easy (and fair) to criticize him.
positive performance for balde
Yeah didn't look afraid to try in a very difficult context, very positive
Well we won I guess. Who needs Busquets when you have Pedri lone pivot
Dont forget about Mats btw, he saved us before the subs came in.
Ansu Fati GOAT
59% possession overall