15 - Andreas Christensen

Would help if the DM wasnt hiding and making little options for ball unless situation suits him.

Deferring back to MATS been issue for Barca for years as players lack the movement/bravery to make those quick passes into midfield.

Another Xavi tactic yesterday though and team was too lethargic and lacked urgency from start of game as if they think other team will eventually just open up and allow them to play their game.

Zidane82 said:

Apparently 70% if his passes were back to ter Steg
The rest to fellow defenders

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What else could he and the other CBs do when the false DM is hiding from the ball.

If everything bad that happens on the field is blamed on busquets, If we win a game 6-0 and he starts & finishes the game, does he get all the praise as well?.

Or is it more nuanced than that?

Not everything is blamed on Busquets but when he is the sole DM and other CMs are up positioned as AMs and he cant move to get ball from defence it plays a part on ball back to MATS more.

Has been issue with Barca for years trying to use MATS to break lines when mdifield/defence cant or wont.

Catta said:

What else could he and the other CBs do when the false DM is hiding from the ball.

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You are clueless if you are suggesting that Busquets hides from the ball

Zidane82 said:

You are clueless if you are suggesting that Busquets hides from the ball

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He does it all the time as too slow to make himself available and knows he may get caught on it.

Clueless is claiming Busi was brilliant in games he hasnt played in.

If he's playing as DM and the other two are positioned as AM, then there is a clear problem with that setup ain't it?

Again nuance.

We all know is weaknesses, but every game we lose it's always busquets this, busquets that, from the same set of posters.

He gets the ball at Dm, looks around no CM to pass it to, FB's are also posoi wide & up the pitch, what does he then do? Pass it back to the CB or Mats, cycle continues.

The fault is the tactics.
Busquets in no spring chicken we all know this, but to try to blame him for Christensen bad game in advancing the ball doesn't add up.

Zidane82 said:

You are clueless if you are suggesting that Busquets hides from the ball

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Watch some games and you will se it also, instead of commenting how great he is in games he didn't even play.

jamrock said:

If he's playing as DM and the other two are positioned as AM, then there is a clear problem with that setup ain't it?

Again nuance.

We all know is weaknesses, but every game we lose it's always busquets this, busquets that, from the same set of posters.

He gets the ball at Dm, looks around no CM to pass it to, FB's are also posoi wide & up the pitch, what does he then do? Pass it back to the CB or Mats, cycle continues.

The fault is the tactics.
Busquets in no spring chicken we all know this, but to try to blame him for Christensen bad game in advancing the ball doesn't add up.

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Yes it is set up and Busi being unable to play the role.

Plenty been said about Xavis set up.

Nah just about every player gets it and nonsense to make out only Busquets does but he is a major issue and was again yesterday as he couldnt link the defence and midfield largely due to how little mobility he had.

Full bcks are not high and up pitch though... if anything the full backs dont go forward or take the width nearly enough. Xavi wants the wide players taking width and getting ball there with little link up with full backs.

If Pedri and Gavi are instructed to stay too far up, why isn't fdj instructed the same and is always helping out from the back?

He looked nervous and timid to me, rarely took initiative.

JohnN said:

If Pedri and Gavi are instructed to stay too far up, why isn't fdj instructed the same and is always helping out from the back?

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He was once we had the ball in other half

I've followed Christensen for many years, as a Danish national team fan with a certain preference for players who play the 'beautiful game' (Laudrup was at his peak in my childhood when I started watching games). Christensen is a very elegant CB, both in his physical stature and his game.

Christensen started out as an attacker, and he is surprisingly good at dribling, several times I've seen him carry the ball on his own all the way up the field, when he couldn't find someone to pass to in the midfield. Typically, in those situations, he almost looks surprised himself, because he is an extremely disciplined player who does what is asked of him, and he has been a CB for most of his professional career, so naturally he focuses on defensive duties, and he shows little desire to show off or be a flashy player.

serghei said:

He looked nervous and timid to me, rarely took initiative.

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I can see how one might interpret his game as such, but it's a misinterpretation. Like I said, he is disciplined and he plays with a high level of concentration, and puts effort into playing every ball the best he can (and fwiw, I think he sometimes gets mentally tired because of this). Related to that, he is definitly not a high-risk player.

Also, what you will see, and I saw it several times during the Rayo-game, is his patience. Yes, he can frankly be a bit boring in his sideways and back passing, but if you looked closer, you would notice that he waits for the right moment to play the ball forwards, and several times he made extremely precise balls up the field. If there is a lack of passing opportunities, his patience will not be broken, he will comtinue to wait for the right moment.

Having said that, if Xavi asks him to play with slightly higher risk, and to move the ball forwards on his own more often, believe me, he can do it. But that's not what he has been focusing on in recent years.

Naturally, Barca is a team with a very attacking spirit, so Christensen may not be appreciated by the fans for his discipline and patience, and so I'm not too surprised by some of the negativity in this thread. Still, as a fan, I tend to support new players and to give them the chance to show what they can do as they get more settled.

LaLaLaudrup said:

I've followed Christensen for many years, as a Danish national team fan with a certain preference for players who play the 'beautiful game' (Laudrup was at his peak in my childhood when I started watching games). Christensen is a very elegant CB, both in his physical stature and his game.

Christensen started out as an attacker, and he is surprisingly good at dribling, several times I've seen him carry the ball on his own all the way up the field, when he couldn't find someone to pass to in the midfield. Typically, in those situations, he almost looks surprised himself, because he is an extremely disciplined player who does what is asked of him, and he has been a CB for most of his professional career, so naturally he focuses on defensive duties, and he shows little desire to show off or be a flashy player.


I can see how one might interpret his game as such, but it's a misinterpretation. Like I said, he is disciplined and he plays with a high level of concentration, and puts effort into playing every ball the best he can (and fwiw, I think he sometimes gets mentally tired because of this). Related to that, he is definitly not a high-risk player.

Also, what you will see, and I saw it several times during the Rayo-game, is his patience. Yes, he can frankly be a bit boring in his sideways and back passing, but if you looked closer, you would notice that he waits for the right moment to play the ball forwards, and several times he made extremely precise balls up the field. If there is a lack of passing opportunities, his patience will not be broken, he will comtinue to play patiently.

Having said that, if Xavi asks him to play with slightly higher risk, and to move the ball forwards on his own more often, believe me, he can do it. But that's not what he has been focusing on in recent years.

Naturally, Barca is a team with a very attacking spirit, so Christensen may not be appreciated by the fans for his discipline and patience, and so I'm not too surprised by some of the negativity in this thread. Still, as a fan, I tend to support new players and to give them the chance to show what they can do as they get more settled.

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Nice post. I didn't really follow much of him at Chelsea and in preseason I was pleasantly surprised. CB competition this season will be interesting, Kounde I would say is likely guaranteed to start but Araujo/Christensen competing is great. Obviously could also try a back 3 in some scenarios.

Like I said in my previous post, he used to be an attacker, and if asked to move forwards, or if the opportunity arises, he can strike the ball like the best of them. But don't expect him to seek it out in particular, his focus is on the clean sheet.

Probably his most spectacular goal, I will never forget it, it was during the recent European Championship: