Lliga: Malaga - Barcelona 0-0

Panicfest is in full throttle here.
As was expected, Malaga was parking a bus, the pitch was horrible and It seemed to me overwatered, which slows the game even more, plus it really worns out your legs and that was telling. Apart from that the passing was slow and there were very few improvisation from the players.
But I think it was Luchos plan to control the game and not trying to concede t possession even a little bit and to play counterattack- I don't of course know what was in his mind but it seemed that he was willing to paly safe for a point in the end at least than going for a risky win and to give chances for Malaga- they did not have any chances besides this set piece post. I think/hope that's why Lucho decided it is better to have a sparrow in hand than a crow on the roof.

Also, bear in mind that games have accumulated (yes, we have rotated the squad) but it really seemed one of those nights that the team was tired mentally and as it was a away game, there was not much inspiration to draw from the fans. It happens.
Anyway, it is still early to panic, we won't thrash every opponent and we won't win every game. Parking a bus is a new norm for us and there are solutions for that as well.

And I do not get this Pedro bashing- he was the best player in the first half, at least creating something and drawing fouls. That was only positives from this game besides the point we finally got (not earned, of course).
However

Frankly,I think Sandro should've started instead of Neymar. Against a team like Malaga,a Neymar who's just come out of an ankle sprain is risky. He could've been fouled and injured worse,and he seemed to be disposessed easily,although not as much as Iniesta. The Don had a match to forget. Pedro hasn't impressed me,and Douglas slowed the game down faaaaaar too much. Not a single cross,not a single sprint down the line. This is when you miss Dani Alves. However,I think it was a good decision not to take Dani as Malaga usually love playing down the left side of the pitch(our right),according to Opta Sports stats,and Dani's deficiencies in defence would've been easily exploited.I don't think though that Douglas was the right choice. Montoya wouldn't have been bad,really.
Just looking forward to the match against Granada Saturday. I'm sure Lucho will make us proud!
Visca el Barca!

Stop with the field excuses. You don't see other clubs complain when we waterboard Camp Nou.

Xavi has to play . We are lucky he didnt leave . There are some games where his help is needed. Messi needs a xavi so he doesnt always have to play that deep .
I dont know what happened to iniesta , seems he is starting to lack creativity, all I see is dribbles and technique .

serghei said:

Absolutely horrendous game, and one that showed Lucho needs to be very careful with they way he is experimenting. We have an objective, Barcelona is not Celta. An experienced coach would have chosen a more facile game to try Douglas.

Dani Alves was very missed tonight. Mascherano also. And Xavi also. Instead of subbing in both Munir and Sandro, he should gave brought Xavi in. This lenience towards youngsters can be very damaging sometimes -- check Arsenal.

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This. It was obvious we couldn't control the midfield, Xavi could have helped in this situation and Douglas was thrown to wolfs here, a start in away game in La Liga is just nonsense, first Lucho should have him subbed him in the cup, then he should have started him in the cup and only then played him in Camp Nou against team like Cordoba.

Terrible game but we did stop Malaga from creating anything so that is something. Lucho is still learning and we have still got a lot of room for improvement especially with Suarez to come in who I think will transform the attack. With a 4pt lead on Real considering the changes we made and such a young coach, I am happy with the start we have made.

"We struggled to use the ball quickly enough to break down their defence. We lacked that extra bit of speed needed." - Iniesta

El_e8 said:

Stop with the field excuses. You don't see other clubs complain when we waterboard Camp Nou.

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It's not an excuse it's a fact, and a valid one at that.

Did you watch the game?

If you saw the pitch you'd be shocked too. It was like sand painted green, as the ball glided along the ground there was a tail. Patches all over the place where the groundsmen had done shoddy patch work all over the pitch, it was like the pitch had acne. An excuse, laughable.

A poor pitch often takes it's toll and effects the game.

We don't see other clubs complain because we don't visit their forums? Or maybe because the majority of the time the Camp Nou is a joy to play at or the fact you wouldn't notice because Barça is pressing them to hell.

The point is that if you can't play good on a shitty pitch or any sort of pitch for that matter, you have a shit team. No one is obliged to accommodate Barca's play style by trimming the grass short and keeping it in mint condition. In fact, you should expect the very opposite to happen on constant bases and learn to deal with it.

Surely but there should be a bare minimum in requirement for pitch condition

Suarez would have made a huge impact in this game but we'll still have problems with parked buses once he is back. What I've noticed is that our build-up play was extremely sloppy and slow which gave Malaga the time to reorganzie their defense. This is so annoying. I want this to be fixed ASAP. There was a lack of directness and fast combinations which would have broken their bus. Instead we only pass the ball to the FBs who hardly produced anything. This is an fundamental problem in our team. I don't expect Suarez to be our magic savior, if the willingness to make long runs is not there and it wasn't there vs Malaga, it simply wasn't.

There is literally no need to panic.

It was a shit game but we have the world's most elite striker in our squad and he will be able to play soon enough.

I'm more fed up with the goddamn wing play, for the entire 90 minutes I cannot recall anyone trying to penetrate through the centre, not even making runs. It's frustrating at hell to watch.

So boring I feel asleep watching it. First time in a decade we didn't have a shot on target!

The menu of what the players ate before the game was posted by liberdad digital:



Sergi Roberto wins with his triple nutella sandwich

Messi ordered a sprite, instead of coke...

The Malaga game yesterday is a perfect example as to why FCB needed a #9 (Suarez) although he wont solve everything but will be very useful