Two of those players have been out injured for extended periods. And Xavi has been declining for 2 years. We can't use that against him. We were brilliant when Iniesta and Messi played consistently together in September.
Gerardo "Tata" Martino
- Thread starter Faceless
- Start date
Two of those players have been out injured for extended periods. And Xavi has been declining for 2 years. We can't use that against him. We were brilliant when Iniesta and Messi played consistently together in September.
KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
Also when Neymar played with them too. If we can get all three firing on all cylinders at the same time, then we are force to be reckoned with.
JimmyGuitarist
New member
It's funny listening to all the people criticising Tata who were all most likely singing his praises earlier on in the season for apparently bringing a "directness" to Barca.
It shows that the man who gets the Barcelona job can literally do no right. The, technically, amazing season Barca have had so far still isn't good enough. Tata's been unfortunate that 2 other teams in the league have also had an amazing season & have always kept up. Anyone managing Barcelona will have to suffer a loss at some point, you can't go unbeaten in a game which can involve so much good luck when it comes to winning or losing.
It shows that the man who gets the Barcelona job can literally do no right. The, technically, amazing season Barca have had so far still isn't good enough. Tata's been unfortunate that 2 other teams in the league have also had an amazing season & have always kept up. Anyone managing Barcelona will have to suffer a loss at some point, you can't go unbeaten in a game which can involve so much good luck when it comes to winning or losing.
Maria
New member
Really? In how many games we were brilliant in September? And it's funny that you bring up Messi's injury because we were actually doing better until he returned.
Barca were more direct in the first half os season and as a result Cesc, Alexis and Pedro played really well. But in the meantime teams have actually started to adapt and play much deeper against Barca. So it's up to the coach to find solutions.
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G
Gascav
Guest
The team was playing great direct football but now they are back to playing like they did under tito!!!!
Semi-Neutral
Sir Alupp Heynrguson
This post is addressed mainly to Ammar, but also to any other person who thinks we've become a team that does nothing but play the ball out wide and cross it. I'm going to go to whoscored, where I'll select the major leagues. Then, I'll click on "team statistics", scroll down to "Liga BBVA Situational Statistics" (or whatever league) and click on pass types, where it'll show "crosses per game", and I'll put the numbers here for everyone to see.
(La Liga) FC Barcelona: 18
(La Liga) Real Madrid: 24
(La Liga) Atletico: 25
(La Liga) Athletic Bilbao: 30
(La Liga) Real Sociedad: 26
(EPL) Manchester City: 24
(EPL) Swansea: 25
(EPL) Southampton: 24
(EPL) Arsenal: 20
(EPL) Chelsea: 21
(EPL) Liverpool: 18
(EPL) Manchester United: 27
(EPL) Everton: 22
(EPL) Spurs: 23
(Bundesliga) Bayern: 21
(Bundesliga) Borussia M'Gladbach: 9 (??!)
(Bundesliga) Dortmund: 17
(Serie A) Juventus: 22
(Serie A) Roma: 21
(Serie A) Napoli: 20
(Serie A) AC Milan: 26
(Ligue 1) PSG: 22
(Ligue 1) Monaco: 26
So, Liverpool and Dortmund are about the same as us, and M'Gladbach apparently has a religious taboo on crossing, but other than that, we seem to be comfortably ahead, or behind (however you want to look at it) in that department. Odd, that.
(La Liga) FC Barcelona: 18
(La Liga) Real Madrid: 24
(La Liga) Atletico: 25
(La Liga) Athletic Bilbao: 30
(La Liga) Real Sociedad: 26
(EPL) Manchester City: 24
(EPL) Swansea: 25
(EPL) Southampton: 24
(EPL) Arsenal: 20
(EPL) Chelsea: 21
(EPL) Liverpool: 18
(EPL) Manchester United: 27
(EPL) Everton: 22
(EPL) Spurs: 23
(Bundesliga) Bayern: 21
(Bundesliga) Borussia M'Gladbach: 9 (??!)
(Bundesliga) Dortmund: 17
(Serie A) Juventus: 22
(Serie A) Roma: 21
(Serie A) Napoli: 20
(Serie A) AC Milan: 26
(Ligue 1) PSG: 22
(Ligue 1) Monaco: 26
So, Liverpool and Dortmund are about the same as us, and M'Gladbach apparently has a religious taboo on crossing, but other than that, we seem to be comfortably ahead, or behind (however you want to look at it) in that department. Odd, that.
DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
Semi I generally agree that we aren't a crossing team but lately you seem to be using numbers too often to generate opinions (often which disguise the truth). Stats present a lot of false ideas that would say that Tata's Barca overshadow Pep's, that Alves is efficient in attack, and that Xavi is as good as ever.
I do support Tata and think that he's a good manager in general. However it remains to be seen if he's the best fit of a coach. He's active and makes an impact (unlike Tito) but in a more responsive type of way. He focuses on players' roles rather than a cohesive team system, which is why we have specific performing individuals but sometimes as a team we don't look fluid or connected. I still like him because he rotates very well and has brought new ideas to the club but I think he's here to facilitate the transition before we rise again rather than be a long term manager. Eventually we will need a coach with a vision who can reshape the squad and bring in a system, until then Tata is doing fine.
I do support Tata and think that he's a good manager in general. However it remains to be seen if he's the best fit of a coach. He's active and makes an impact (unlike Tito) but in a more responsive type of way. He focuses on players' roles rather than a cohesive team system, which is why we have specific performing individuals but sometimes as a team we don't look fluid or connected. I still like him because he rotates very well and has brought new ideas to the club but I think he's here to facilitate the transition before we rise again rather than be a long term manager. Eventually we will need a coach with a vision who can reshape the squad and bring in a system, until then Tata is doing fine.
Semi-Neutral
Sir Alupp Heynrguson
I am a statistic-oriented person, I admit, but I don't see how the statistics are wrong. I try to look at my opinions and see if they're justified, and it seems to me that they are. Sure, we many not "seem as dominant", but we've gotten results, we've gotten wins, we've gotten clean sheets, and for a transition period like ours, that is impressive. I think are lack of fluidity is because of our players aging, because of Tata being new to the club, because of injuries and subpar form from Messi and Iniesta (two very important players for our fluidity), as opposed to Tata's style in general. I don't like making conclusions quickly and prefer to trust managers until proven wrong, and for now Tata has been checking all the right boxes even if we haven't hit top gear yet.
ammarfcb
ze special one
the idea is to long ball to winger and cross but things get in the way
>alexis' inability to control a ball
>dani alves crosses looking like a shot
>and the most likely. ball played back to busi, busi long balls it back to winger.
is there a stat for usueless long balls?
i maintain tata is the worst manager par maybe mancini. doesn't get worse then mancini
>alexis' inability to control a ball
>dani alves crosses looking like a shot
>and the most likely. ball played back to busi, busi long balls it back to winger.
is there a stat for usueless long balls?
i maintain tata is the worst manager par maybe mancini. doesn't get worse then mancini
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DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
Well recently even results seem to elude us, but I don't think that's much more than a rough patch. Anyway, the fact that we've ticked all the necessary boxes show that this team still functions (unlike United for example) but we don't have the same aesthetic team play as before which displeases some fans. I do think Tata is doing fine and am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt though.
My point was that statistics in general hide a lot of the story. Alves' attacking stats aren't too bad, yet the crosses are always in useless times with bad decisions and he often suffocates his right winger and lingers on the ball too often. Xavi's passing stats suggest that his play hasn't declined at all, yet it's easy to see he simply isn't the same animal as before. Those are just two examples to show that statistics aren't to be trusted in many cases and the visual differences in the team are actually more reliable even if they are open to a much wider range of interpretation than statistics. Often times those visual opinions are skewed by bias, but if they stem from logic then I'm more inclined to believe that than the story of a sport told by numbers.
TL/DR: Stats are less wayward than opinion, but have less potential to be correct as well.
Alarcón
New member
No surprise as Favre is a Cruyff and tiki-taka fanboy and we'd be better off returning to our roots as well. We should have way less crosses than other teams considering our style of play and the height of our players. Almost all those teams have a big target man up front and most of them only have a few crosses more than us.
iniesta messi neymarrrrrrr
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