Lliga | Round 11: Levante UD - FC Barcelona 3-1

devo901 said:

In all due respect, but when Barca wins 4:0 and Griezman is doing wonderful assists no one complains... but when Levante scores 3 times 2 of them a bit lucky, Griezman is the reason and the worst deal eva.... cmon!

levantes first goal was due to pique is close to the corner flag clearing the ball - which comes back immediatly and he is missing in the middle.... well sometimes you get goals like this...somehwhat bad luck

levantes second goal: pique is too far away from striker and so he is able to shoot from 18 meters and manages it to get it past terstegen as pique is arriving too late.

levantes third goal: lucky shot from 15 meters deflected.. bad luck again ..

despite this accumulation of errors and bad luck situations - our offense was weak, Messi attempts running through the middle losing the ball, Ansur Fati too young, Perez invisible, Suarez searching for his mojo, only FDJ was good/active.

on top of all this - real draws at home vs. betis. we are still at the top...

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Griezmann of course is not a sole reason we lost, but the point is that with him, Messi and Suarez the attack is dysfunctional and there is no way to fix it because you can't bench Messi and play Griezmann in his position, you can't bench Suarez because you can't play without strikers, so what we have now is no right side because Messi drifts centrally, you have no wingers who provide width because Griezmann is not a winger and on top of that we have a striker who has trouble holding the ball.

xG for Levante - Barcelona 0.93 - 2.13


Why was Messi's 2nd goal disallowed?

Also, look at Real Madrid's xG vs Betis: 2.82 - 0.44

They are really poor at scoring and so are Atletico.

Griez was actually offside for both goals. Technically it should be 0-3 for us.

Ghostmaster said:

Griezmann of course is not a sole reason we lost, but the point is that with him, Messi and Suarez the attack is dysfunctional and there is no way to fix it because you can't bench Messi and play Griezmann in his position, you can't bench Suarez because you can't play without strikers, so what we have now is no right side because Messi drifts centrally, you have no wingers who provide width because Griezmann is not a winger and on top of that we have a striker who has trouble holding the ball.

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you absolutely right in all aspects. and this is not the fault of the griez, nor valverde... shitty team composition of expensive players that you have to let play. maybe griez was bought because back then it was unclear if messi will continue.

Congrats. You made it. That is Barca's best positioned 11.

The Observer said:

Scapegoating Busquets, Rakitic, Suarez. Conceded 3 goals without them. Same will happen after Valverde.

Good times are over. Deal with it.

Arthur-De Jong getting dominated by Slavia Prague and Levante. Talk about hype.

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Very well sad. The good times are over. And yes, our best two players at the moment - Arthur and Frankie were dominated in these two games, even-though they were playing at their positions. Any coach in the World with this group of players will get kicked in the ass from likes like Levante and many other lower level teams. The reason for that is just one. This Barca squad does not have the killer instinct. They don't play with hearts. They don't understand what it means to wear Barcelona's uniform. The red and blue jersey is to be wore on their hearts, not on their bodies. Unfortunately, in this forum are dominating the blinds. They are continuously refusing to see the REAL PROBLEMS of this team.

That stuff about jerseys that should be wore on the hearts are a bag of bulshit. This hasn't been the case in professional football for a long time now.
You are saying with a straight face that this squad, under any manager, would be dominated by the likes of Levante?

Ghostmaster said:

Coutinho definitely could have done better with different manager, Dembele is plagued with injuries, so he wouldn't have developed even under better manager, but what would change for Griezmann if we, let's say get Koeman? He is not a pure striker, so he still need to have a striker next to him, if he plays with a striker, then we'll have the same situation next season again, he'll be stuck on that left wing without having skills to be a winger.

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Wait,wait,wait...
Griezman is not a pure striker? He does not have the skills to be a winger? And we all know that he is not a play-maker as well, right? Then, my question here is.... Why we bought this guy?
And please, do not blame Valverde for this. From the beginning, he was against bringing him to Barcelona, but Bartomeu did it over his head, and voila... You have 120 million euro thrown in vain. With this money we could get Nicolas Pepe and Lambert from PSV, who are younger and better strikers than Antoin.

Jcar said:

I would accept even Sampaolli as our coach. Valverde has to go.

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You don't understand anything from football, if you really prefer the biggest clown among the coaches, over Valverde.

JohnN said:

That stuff about jerseys that should be wore on the hearts are a bag of bulshit. This hasn't been the case in professional football for a long time now.
You are saying with a straight face that this squad, under any manager, would be dominated by the likes of Levante?

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YES. I stand behind my words. Yassu.

devo901 said:

you absolutely right in all aspects. and this is not the fault of the griez, nor valverde... shitty team composition of expensive players that you have to let play. maybe griez was bought because back then it was unclear if messi will continue.

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Of course we can not blame it all on Griez and Valverde. This team suffer in the past 4 years from luck of good players selection.
Our only central forward L.Suarez is already washed up and has difficulty to stop and manage the ball near his fits. Messi, Dembele, C.Perez and Griezmann are shooting with the left. We need a left winger, who can shoot with the right. We need a younger and faster striker, who can keep Suarez on the bench for the most of the time. We also need at least one solid play-maker to direct our offense. And lastly, we need a whole new defensive line. Pique does not know what and where is playing. He is not even close to his previous self. Lenglet is younger but still makes very serious and fatal mistakes. Umtiti and Todibo are not any better. Semedo, S.Roberto and Alba are not a solid backs anymore. So why are we wondering, when Slavia Prague and Levante are outplaying as at every spot on the field. There will be a lot more games like this one, until our board change its strategy and stop paying hundreds of millions for useless players. I don't care if we are still at the top of La Liga. The Spanish championship is not a criteria for us. Barcelona has been always playing for the Champions League trophy. That is what it counts most. Real's last La Liga trophy was in 2015-16 season, But since then, they have won 3 consecutive times the Champions League. With this squad, we have no chance to win Europe.

Jcar said:

Hummm, Manchester United wants you! You are just the right fit for the job!

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No. I called them few times and they said they "won't tolerate any more losing" (had enough under Ole) and want next manager to be great winner. So I got to stay here, where it's not problem to lose, be humiliated and get gang banged by small teams.

I understand very well what you are trying to say. Nowadays, teams are full with foreigners, who care more about the money then the logo of the club. But, in the last 10-15 years, Barcelona has established himself as the best team in the World. Any player, regardless the nationality and race, who is coming to this club has to be ready to play his heart out, night in and night out. It is a honor to play for Barcelona, not just a personal goal. I will bring you only one example with my compatriot Hristo Stoichkov and his time at Barcelona. Do you remember him? Very often, as a commentator for the Mexican TV channels, he is bringing this topic up and criticizing Barca's players for their luck of SELF motivation and respect to Catalunya and the city. And he is not the only one doing that. Ronald Koeman, Romario, Laudrup and even Pep Guardiola are all on his side. This group of players, besides Leo Messi,Ter Stegen, Arthur and De Jong don't deserve to play for our team, especially the French men.And you all have to understand one very simple thing. There is no coach in the World who can change Barcelona board of directors strategy. There are tons of money involved and the priority for them is to assure the return of their investments. That is why, they will continue to bring useless big names for 120 - 220 millions of euro.

I tend to agree. One thing about todays Barça, and that was somewhat case from first Dream team onvards, is that Barça needs star players. To compete with Real and their stars. It is not just the game on the oitch, it is a game of prestiege and glamour. THE top club.

That is why stars will be signed even if some more usefull player is available.

But it is up to the coach to keep those stars in place.

I remember Stoitchkov really well. And Romario. Two "bad ass" player on and off the pitch. But Cruyjiff keept th in place.

Barça needs respectfull and know-how coach.

EV is neither of them. He is a half drowning man that is reaching for the straws. Look his decision. Read his statements. He is "past" walking on some credit...not that I see why he got one.

JerseyAddict said:

I tend to agree. One thing about todays Barça, and that was somewhat case from first Dream team onvards, is that Barça needs star players. To compete with Real and their stars. It is not just the game on the oitch, it is a game of prestiege and glamour. THE top club.

That is why stars will be signed even if some more usefull player is available.

But it is up to the coach to keep those stars in place.

I remember Stoitchkov really well. And Romario. Two "bad ass" player on and off the pitch. But Cruyjiff keept th in place.

Barça needs respectfull and know-how coach.

EV is neither of them. He is a half drowning man that is reaching for the straws. Look his decision. Read his statements. He is "past" walking on some credit...not that I see why he got one.

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..."That is why stars will be signed even if some more useful player is available" ...

That my friend is WRONG. That is very, very WRONG. It is your way of viewing on the problems and I am OK with that. But, the reality is different. Who cares about Real or Atletico? They are just a little better than the rest of the league, but not better enough to create a danger for us. That is why, it is possible for us to win La Liga, even with many embracing games like the last one. Our goals are always higher.We have to play at least in the Champions League final games.

From last year, I have been always against bringing in Griezmann and Neymar and before them, Coutinho and Dembele. Gues why? Not because they are not good players, but because they are not good fits in our system. We made a name in Europe when Juan Laporte was president and our academy, La Masia was working at full speed. Johan Crujff implanted the same system in La Masia as the one, which was adopted form the First Team. That is why, we were able to produce World class players like Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Pedro and Messi. And from that moment on, we started our domination in Europe and we have won four more CL trophy. So your theory that in order to keep up with likes of Real, Atletico, Sevilla and Valencia, we need to buy world class players, even though they won't fit well in our team, is WRONG. That kind of strategy will keep us away from all of the competitions in Europe. Yes. Bartomeu and the other members of the board will make money maybe, but it will come at the expense of the millions of fans worldwide.