serghei
Senior Member
That's because Lucho has built the entire team around MSN. It's logical that the end result was an exaggerated dependency on the trio since the tactics were made in that direction.
Paulinho
- Thread starter xXKonan
- Start date
That's because Lucho has built the entire team around MSN. It's logical that the end result was an exaggerated dependency on the trio since the tactics were made in that direction.
BarçaBarça
New member
Rumour could be bs, but only Barca would be stupid enough to buy from Chinese clubs.
Everyone else cash in the other way by selling mediocrity for recordfees. We buy back the mediocre - how insanely ironic
Everyone else cash in the other way by selling mediocrity for recordfees. We buy back the mediocre - how insanely ironic
BBZ8800
Senior Member
If we don't get Verratti, it seems that Valverde will build a team even more around MSN, aka around DMSN (Dembele+Msn) while midfield will be even more neglected with Busi+Lima/Paulinho/Roberto/Rakitic.
An alibi how our team is actually awesome, but only Lucho ruined us, will soon lose sense since we will probably play exactly the same, or even more chaotic under a new coach (if we don't get Verratti).
The only reason the tactics were made like that in the first place was because our midfield was shit. I'm sure Lucho wishes he could've played patient attacking football with lots of link ups between the midfield and attack but he just didn't have the personnel to do so.
We don't have prime Xavi and Iniesta anymore, nor do we have adequate replacements, sorry to tell you this but this same trend of over relying on MSN is going to continue under Valverde unless we revamp our midfield and get a proper RB.
xavi_the_Boss
New member
Is there a video of the interview?
El Flaco
Active member
Well, there' a possibility that Paulinho would take a pay cut if it means joining a club of Barca's stature where he can win trophies.
Messi983
Senior Member
How about N'Zonzi if we are really looking for that type of B2B midfielder? I think he could work well with Busquets and we also have good past experience with Sevilla players. Also, a bit less atractive and cheaper option could be Roque Mesa. I know they both wouldn't be longterm solutions like Verratti but I think they would improve us for the next season or two until we find someone better. If we are really as desperate to look for Paulinho I'd just rather have proven La Liga players who would also probably accept lower wages. Another player that I really like and is a bit more creative is Manu Trigueros. And looking for younger options there are Ceballos (won't happen because he's an idiot) or Pablo Fornals. None of them are perfect and we don't know if they would really improve us much but I would take any of them over Paulinho or Lucas Lima.
Of course there are rumours today about Saul but I just don't see us paying his release clause (which is 80M€ IIIRC) and Atletico won't sell him for anything less with their transfer ban. And I don't believe he's worth that much anyway.
serghei
Senior Member
I don't believe that to be true. Lucho has a certain managerial style. Very italian-like. Players are not allowed to move out of ther designated position on the field, which leaves us with a pretty stiff ball circulation, very predictable. He had MSN and thought that he can win by simply giving the ball to them as soon as possible. But, instead of this being a winning tactic, it was certainly not.
Very rarely would players from midfield go up with the ball on their feet, even if there was an opportunity to do that. If you have the ball as a midfielder, and you are not pressured (because teams kept more men guarding MSN) you move up until some opponent takes notice and comes to block you. And considering how well he does that, how well he pressures you, you have, as a player, several options. You either pass the ball forward (it is believed that a player moving forward to block you means less marking on some other players), you either dribble the player that is approaching you if he is not very good defensively, or, if you don't have an option to do one of those 2 things, you do a safety pass sideways, or even backwards if the situation is potentially dangerous. However, and this is where it is very impotant, you always do the motion forward, you always ask the question to the opponent and force a reaction out of him, instead of passing the ball when in space and having a stale possession which doesn't lead to chances created (which is the main point of having the ball in the first place). Lucho rarely did that. Lucho instructed our midfielders to pass the ball even in situation where they weren't pressured. Lucho would rather put Neymar or Messi in a 1 vs 3 situation than tell our midfielders to attack space when not pressured. He is the one who caused the most problems in our midfield, not the players. Time and time you saw our midfielders or even our CBs having space to move into and forcing a reaction from the other team, but still did the obligatory pass to Neymar (most often), or to Messi, which were under conditions of heavy marking. He had 3 star players up front and thought he can cut the corners and relly on them to create on their own what, instead, should have been done by tactics. It backfired badly.
Lucho's style is direct, not midfield oriented. MSN god fed with a lot of balls whenever it was possible. This resulted in them doing fancy things in situations where they shouldn't have done that, things with low success rate time and time again. This caused a lot of turnovers, which, instead, exposed our inability to make the attack-defense transition quick enough. And not only did we not make the transition defense-attack quick enough, but most times we didn't even make it with our full team, you would often see Messi, Neymar and Suarez just switching off when they lost the ball. Which was the story of that season. MSN was part of the problem imo, because the tactics relied on them too much when we had the ball, and too little when we didn't. So, I don't buy the idea that Lucho had to do those things because he adjusted to the state of the squad. I think he did that because this is how he sees football or because he just took the easiest option. Valverde seems to be of a different ilk. We'll see what he has in mind. I certainly don't exclude the idea of us playing much better than last season (in which we almost made the double again mind you) with just the same players but under revitalized tactics and bolder ideas from the bench.
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Trickykid
New member
BigBarcaBoy
Active member
The only impact paulinho had at spurs was om luis suarez's chest
Icarium
Lifestealer
Just to make sure you are dead
Not enough, you got to send someone to afterlife to kill me again. because still in shock.
DonAK
President of FC Barcelona
I wouldn't mind N'Zonzi if we cannot get Verratti or anyone else and Valverde's dead set on the 4-2-3-1- and want a new player. Roque Mesa could be a decent option too. Not sure about Fornals although Trigueros is an interesting one.
It's a pity Ceballos is a cunt and said those things about Catalunya and is a cunt in general now too, because I really like him as a player with a lot of talent and hunger to get better and win.
Would be a short-term solution IMO until we go for Verratti, Saul or someone similar again
so in that sense it would be disappointing, but they're decent options and I'd have them over Paulinho any day. However it speaks volumes about our planning again where the management and Robert in particular would look short-sighted, have tunnel vision and would be question marks over his capability. If he lets our MF, RB and potentially RW signing go down till the end and doesn't land a great player, I'd say it might be better to get someone who's done this job before.
Not someone who was a part of a team elsewhere or had issues at the other team he worked for(Zubi in Athletic).
Trafalgar
Senior Member
M8 we said the same thing about Vermaelen and Douglas and the rest is history ...
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