La Liga Round 1: FC Barcelona - Rayo Vallecano 0-0

hardyboy said:

I sometimes feel we will suffer like Man United for the next few years. They were too reliant on SAF while we were too reliant on Messi.

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Quite the opposite. We COULD of ended up like United had we not majorly rebuilt this summer. Even though we took massive risks, this is why it's so important to remain competitive.

The biggest issue we have now is Xavi, if he doesn't have this team playing to its potential by January, Laporta needs to get rid and finally hire a manager capable of winning a CL; keep an eye on Tuchel. We can't afford to not win this season, La liga is a must, no excuses.

Me and Kinan knew this was same shit after 5 minutes of watching

We had 21 shots. If 2-3 go in, everybody hypes the team. It's often only a small difference between a good and a shit game. We weren't effective, the team was also a bit nervous. Rayo pressed hard, especially in the first half. I think the team was surprised with that and that's on Xavi and his assistants. I expected better solutions against this pressing than what we saw yesterday. The goals will come, I'm sure of it. Lewandowski and Pedri played a great game. Frenkie needs to start before Gavi and Araujo can only play a defensive RB like he did against Vinicius Jr. in el clasico. Against teams like Rayo, we need an offensive one.

Xavi is getting a lot of heat here, but the forum's favourite ten hag has has no blame for United disaster class. We should wait at least untill October before jumping on any trains.

From this game, it shows the importance of a right back and how desperately we need one. Bernardo silva shld wait.

Such a disappointment. Beyond words.

Still think we should have scored a few goals given all those chances plus we should?ve had two penalties
One where Lewandowski was wrestled to the floor with the ref just a metre away plus the one where Raphinha had his legs kicked away

Oh and I do not see any point at all in Kessie

Zidane82 said:

Still think we should have scored a few goals given all those chances plus we should?ve had two penalties
One where Lewandowski was wrestled to the floor with the ref just a metre away plus the one where Raphinha had his legs kicked away

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Obama hit past the goalkeeper into an empty net, the defender took the ball, Lewandovsky into the corner, the goalkeeper looked away, didn’t even jump, Fati almost hit the top nine, this is 100% bad luck. Why the average team runs more and presses better is a mystery. There is no hopelessness but needs to be improved.

Gari said:

Obama hit past the goalkeeper into an empty net, the defender took the ball, Lewandovsky into the corner, the goalkeeper looked away, didn’t even jump, Fati almost hit the top nine, this is 100% bad luck. Why the average team runs more and presses better is a mystery. There is no hopelessness but needs to be improved.

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that one hurt

Anyone with a link to a full match replay? Unfortunately wasn't home to watch the game yesterday:/

Nello said:

Anyone with a link to a full match replay? Unfortunately wasn't home to watch the game yesterday:/

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why do u want to torture yourself ?

A few remarks on the game yesterday:

1) Rayo, Cadiz, and Eintracht are maybe the worst fits to our style.
Very deep, very compact, and very aggressive buses like them that can hurt you in open space are giving us trouble not only since Xavi took over, but even before.
2 big chances for them, only 1 medium chance for us with Lewa out of a scrappy mess in their box, rather than organized attack.
The only other cases we could have scored, are the two shots Dembele created for Raphina, Pedri and Lewa's shot towards the end. All of them very low xG
Obviously, not good enough.
Good ball circulation has to get translated to clear cut chances. We need to improve to manage to break these kind of teams effectively

2) As to how to break them,
I think yesterday's game is a good testament to why we need Bernardo badly.
Only Pedri yesterday had the ability to 'pause' the run'n'gun tempo of the game, and had the calmness to find the right option in congested situations.
But one md only is not enough
Bernardo is like Pedri but better and more experienced. He will add the necessary nuance and critical decision-making in the spaces just outside the opposition's box, and that could be significant.

3) Araujo is meh at RB.
I can consent him playing there only against Vinicius or in such situations.
Other than that, it's a big waste of his abilities.
Roberto is as bas as he had always been in that position.
We need to recover Dest

Agreed about most.

Pedri has been timid though, and he seems to have poor stamina, I think he needs more time and is not yet as good as many believe. Gavi goes without saying.

No matter what Xavi wants or thinks, he needs to fix it, because most La Liga teams will put up a pretty good defense on Camp Nou. Rayo is not a one-off in terms of game scenarios we will often face this season.

We will face pretty compact defenses and need better movement, and quicker combinations centrally. If you can't advance the play well enough with just one DM because the guy is too slow and weak physically, then have the other 2 interiors sitting lower in build-up to offer options for defenders and fullbacks to pass to more often.

serghei said:

We will face pretty compact defenses and need better movement, and quicker combinations centrally. If you can't advance the play well enough with just one DM because the guy is too slow and weak physically, then have the other 2 interiors sitting lower in build-up to offer options for defenders and fullbacks to pass to more often.

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Bernardo has been doing that at City.
So ready to be the perfect interior in all respects