Lliga | Round 21: FC Barcelona - Alaves 2-1

[khaled_a_d]

Gomes played many games as DM last year, surely his main position was CM, but many always thought he was better when he was resting Busquets and playing DM

 

[Messi983]

Problem was the lax attitude, not personnel. Alaves, while solid under Abelardo (as with Pelegrino), played extra time midweek in Copa and with Barca pressing more we would have cracked them open and had we not been complacent and soft (4 fouls entire match), I doubt Alaves would have had those chances.

Besides, Suarez, for example, had a poor overall match and who's to say Paco wouldn't have buried some of those chances.

I also maintain that Iniesta and Coutinho shouldn't have played together.

I was just asking because I think people underestimated Alaves. They are in great form, fighting against relegation and Abelardo knows us well. Someone at the start of this thread even suggested we should play the likes of Denis, Deulofeu and Mina. It's clear attitude was the main problem but I think personell was a problem too and we'd probably have tough time against Alaves even if we'd play with our best XI.

Agree about Suarez but I think Paco is still not 100% fit to start and Suarez was also in great form recently so it makes sense to keep playing him.

I think Cou and Iniesta can play together but not in the lineup without Busquets who gives us balance and stability. Raki did a good job filling in for him (of course he'll never fully replace Busi but there is no player in the world who can do that) but problem was that Paulinho didn't really replace him in his original role good enough. Not having a true replacements for both Busi and Raki is our biggest problem right now IMO. Sure, we have players who can play at their positions but they are either lacking tactical awareness and discipline (Paulinho) or starters at other position (Roberto). That's why I said I've missed Gomes because I'm interested to see how he'd do yesterday instead of Paulinho. Nothing against Paulinho who I still like but I think the only time he should start is when both Busi and Raki are also playing. He can't replace either of them.

 

[Ken_rosseneri]

lol and to think that people on the forum wanted to completely play a way weaker side than that which was played yesterday (e.g. resting messi).. smh.. glad we got the win tho