Champions League Semi Final: Liverpool - FC Barcelona 4-3 agg.

malvolio

Senior Member
I do have to say, as a supporter of a second-tier club (that almost became a third-tier club this year) in England that's never won a trophy in our history, it's really weird for me to see fans being upset because they'll "only" win the league and domestic cup and "only" got to the CL semi-finals. Come on lads, you don't know how good you have it, I'd love to win the FA Cup or even lose in the final, just once would be the best moment I've ever had as a football fan :lol:

Thing is expectations wouldn't be so high if we wouldn't have Messi and Real wouldn't have won it so many times. Barcelona weren't a force in the competition until the 2000s. Plus being a global brand, Barcelona attracts many bandwagon fans who don't care about la liga or the Cup.
 

10Rivaldo

Hoy, mañana y siempre traductor
I do have to say, as a supporter of a second-tier club (that almost became a third-tier club this year) in England that's never won a trophy in our history, it's really weird for me to see fans being upset because they'll "only" win the league and domestic cup and "only" got to the CL semi-finals. Come on lads, you don't know how good you have it, I'd love to win the FA Cup or even lose in the final, just once would be the best moment I've ever had as a football fan :lol:

Yeah if you spin it and say, "Valverde won the domestic double twice in two seasons, but he should be sacked cause he didn't win the CL" it sounds extremely entitled, but obviously nuance is key here. Our domestic rivals are going through a transition period where they're playing unbelievably poor, and we're not playing to our full potential with the squad we have, we're playing like absolute cowards against any half decent team and our mentality is like Arsenal's in peak banter era. Valverde seems like a nice guy, but I don't see how he can retain the respect of the dressing room after two absolute disasterclasses in row.
 

MagIX

Senior Member
Klopp wouldn't go to Barcelona. He chooses his clubs very specifically. He chooses clubs where he feels he can use his own "unique" talents to improve his club. He is exceptional at motivating hard working average players to a level that would be considered beyond them. For example, Origi, Wijnaldum, Milner, Henderson etc. Barcelona's philosophy is different. They buy players that are already at a very high level. He also goes to clubs where he knows he is given the time to develop players. Klopp's first 2 years were very average and actually didn't show much change from the previous manager. The results were almost identical. It's only in the end of 2017 where things started to pick up. He won't be given that time at Barcelona. Basically he attempts to resurrect "sleeping giants". All of this is in his book.

There's a reason he rejected Man Utd, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

I totally agree.
I wrote months ago about Klopp as barca coach: Klopp would have done a totally different transfer market and I think he would have made drastic decisions that would not have been accepted by the board.
 
Last edited:

MagIX

Senior Member
I'm not a Barca fan (I always loved their teams though) and rarely watch them in La Liga so I'm not an expert on your players, but I'm not accepting that you have only 3 technically good players. Off the top of my head, Pique, Rakitic, Alba, Coutinho and Suarez are all technical players. They are certainly technically better than Henderson, Milner, Origi, Wijnaldum and Shaqiri. The difference is that Liverpool's players are well drilled in the way they play and would run through brick walls for Klopp. That willingness to work hard off the ball is something Pep's great sides had and it's so important at the top level. It's something Barcelona need to find again to be successful in Europe again. I would say a new manager is needed, but also new players - young, talented ones who want to work hard and win things.

I totally agree.
Klopp chooses players with that attitute, with this kind of mentality.
 
Last edited:

MagIX

Senior Member
Alba is a good footballer and certainly better on the ball than Robertson. Coutinho is more than technically "okay", he was one of the best players in the world at what he does when he was at Liverpool. It's not worked out for him so far at Barcelona, but that talent hasn't just disappeared. I wouldn't call Suarez average either, he is capable of doing incredible things with the ball. I think Suarez's problems are physical, not technical, he looks heavy and slow compared to when he was in England. And again, Rakitic is not average, he is technically better than every Liverpool midfielder except Fabinho.

Look, we could sit here and debate each individual player for hours, but let's think about it this way: are these players technically (forget physically, psychologically or tactically) better than their Liverpool counterparts? Of course they are. There's no way I can be convinced that Milner is better on the ball than Rakitic, or Origi than Suarez, or Robertson than Alba, or Shaqiri than Coutinho.

What those Liverpool lads have, though, is supreme fitness, a tremendous work ethic, and belief in themselves as a team that they can beat anyone. Barcelona don't have any of that, and as a result they got ran into the ground by a very fit and intense Liverpool side. They turned up at Anfield looking like they thought they could just walk around and wait for Messi to score. You can't go into games like that at the top level. It might be enough against Leganes or Levante but against Liverpool and even Roma, you need to work hard and fight for everything.

I agree.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going: a saying that barca knows little about.


Yes, I think Barca need a manager with the authority to impose himself on that club and let the players know who the boss is, and get rid of any who don't comply. And that includes Messi if need be.

Probably the only man on the planet who could do that at Barca is Pep Guardiola.

I'm note sure if the board would accept a coach like that.
 

West Saxon

New member
Yeah if you spin it and say, "Valverde won the domestic double twice in two seasons, but he should be sacked cause he didn't win the CL" it sounds extremely entitled, but obviously nuance is key here. Our domestic rivals are going through a transition period where they're playing unbelievably poor, and we're not playing to our full potential with the squad we have, we're playing like absolute cowards against any half decent team and our mentality is like Arsenal's in peak banter era. Valverde seems like a nice guy, but I don't see how he can retain the respect of the dressing room after two absolute disasterclasses in row.
Yeah, I'm not saying you're entitled, just that we obviously live in completely different worlds when it comes to our football teams! :lol: I mean the best moment I've ever had as a supporter is when we got to the FA Cup semi-final in 2015 and lost in extra time to Arsenal. That's nothing to Barca fans but to our fans it was everything. So all I guess I would say is yep, be upset by that performance vs Liverpool, it was absolutely dreadful, but do enjoy the trophies you ARE winning, otherwise what's the point? I saw a post in another thread where the poster said they don't care about Barca winning the King's Cup any more. Fuck that. Enjoy the final and hopefully the trophy at the end of it! :hooray:
 

MagIX

Senior Member
^ I like your positive attitude, but as supporter at the moment is not easy, the defeat has not yet been digested !
For once, this year I just wanted the CL in any manner: for once I absolutely didn't give a shit about playing badly or in a great way, winning with or without luck, with merit or not, .. so on and so forth. This year I simply wanted the CL in any manner.
 
Last edited:

henias

New member
Yeah, I'm not saying you're entitled, just that we obviously live in completely different worlds when it comes to our football teams! :lol: I mean the best moment I've ever had as a supporter is when we got to the FA Cup semi-final in 2015 and lost in extra time to Arsenal. That's nothing to Barca fans but to our fans it was everything. So all I guess I would say is yep, be upset by that performance vs Liverpool, it was absolutely dreadful, but do enjoy the trophies you ARE winning, otherwise what's the point? I saw a post in another thread where the poster said they don't care about Barca winning the King's Cup any more. Fuck that. Enjoy the final and hopefully the trophy at the end of it! :hooray:

It's not about the loss or the trophies. It's about the style and the way we went out. It's about witnessing the way the players grow from playing with each other, as if they have played together for decades, the level of understanding and chemistry unparalleled, second to none. If we are able to obtain trophies with this manner and framework, then I would be hesitantly fine with it, but clearly the poor groundwork for Barca's success is far from expectations. It's been years of CL exits, one too many, and to top it off 2 bottlejobs in succession. This is no coincidence. If I am not a true Barcelona fan, I would have your mindset, and if I don't care, I wouldn't be watching or supporting Barca but clearly I do. I just hate to see the club spiral in a downward trajectory with no signs of improvement. Trophies are always the least of our concerns, because I believe our philosophy has been fundamental for our past success, and evidently so.
 

Raed

Dr. Raed St. Claire
Yeah if you spin it and say, "Valverde won the domestic double twice in two seasons, but he should be sacked cause he didn't win the CL" it sounds extremely entitled, but obviously nuance is key here. Our domestic rivals are going through a transition period where they're playing unbelievably poor, and we're not playing to our full potential with the squad we have, we're playing like absolute cowards against any half decent team and our mentality is like Arsenal's in peak banter era. Valverde seems like a nice guy, but I don't see how he can retain the respect of the dressing room after two absolute disasterclasses in row.

What bothers me as a Real Madrid fan is not that Barcelona won 10 La Ligas in the era of Messi, but how easy Madrid and Atletico made it for Barcelona, domestically.
So you are right when you said domestically Valverde had done well, it has come on the back of poor showing from contenders and he is god damn boring man. In the CL, the first game against Liverpool, that was not inspiring football by Barcelona, only exposed heavily in the 2nd half against Liverpool in Anfield.

He is a good coach as a stabalizer, and he is pragmatic, but when you have Messi, that shouldn't be exactly a priority, not in season 2 anyway.
 

PhilS

Active member
I don't blame the manager for the formation, or for the starting lineup. Puttig in the subs wase late, considering that almost all of the starters remained in the fog throughout the game. I would not call it complacency, but they just failed to rise to the occasion, like they were psyched-out. For this, I blame the manager, the starting players, and the management that put together this squad. As far as age of the squad goes, yes, that worked against us, too young. Lenglet just did not have the experience to be ready for that quick corner, he was completely AWOL.
 

jairzinho

Senior Member
Valgreen takes majority of the blame for his choice of starting lineup, tactics and late subs when the game was already lost.

His first sub was Semedo in the 60th minute and then Arthur in 75. By that time it was already 3-0 and the game was lost with Liverpool having the momentum and the psychological advantage.

Malcolm came in at 4-0. LOL.

There was no coming back at that point. Poor lineup, poor tactics, poor in game management, failing to read the situation, failure to adjust.

failure to avoid the same mistake he made in Rome, just to name a few.

All are sackable offences. Nothing to deliberate on.
 
Last edited:

Centauri B

New member
There's nothing that any of them can say or do right now to make amends for the Anfield debacle.

The only way to make partial remedy for this, is if they play good football, along with good results next season.

Now is the time for them to be silent.
 

Home of Barca Fans

Top