Lliga | Round 21: Girona - FC Barcelona 0-2

[Barcaman]

La Liga Round 21

Sunday, 27 January, 16:15

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[soul24rage]

my line up

MATS---Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba---Vidal, Busi, Arthur---Messi, Suarez, Coutinho

 

[Barcaman]

Maybe rest Messi again as we need to chase Sevilla

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Maybe rest Messi again as we need to chase Sevilla

We rested Messi to win LaLiga and CL. He will be playing.

 

[JerseyAddict]

Maybe rest Messi again as we need to chase Sevilla

We rested Messi to win LaLiga and CL. He will be playing.

Sarcasm?

 

[serghei]

Can't afford to lose points with Atletico still close.

 

[Devils]

Messi already has had so much rest this season dawg, the man has had like 2 months of rest through his arm injury + international breaks + not being called up.

 

[Cule4life]

Finally an early kickoff

 

[Luftstalag14]

This will be a very tough game for us, last year we won it only with an own goal of theirs if I am not mistaken.

Girona's fighting spirit is impressive. We will need to field our best XI to win this.

Our only advantage is that we will have one more day of rest than Girona, who will be playing against Real Madrid today in the Copa del rey.

 

[Galning]

my line up

MATS---Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba---Vidal, Busi, Arthur---Messi, Suarez, Coutinho

Coutinho needs to sit down for a bit. Very disappointing season.

 

[soul24rage]

Coutinho needs to sit down for a bit. Very disappointing season.

True, but I think he needs to keep playing to find his form. Plus with Dembele out, there's not a lot of better options on that LW position.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

We should try to bring Coutinho back on track. If a usual starting formation plays, it will be no problem to put him on the left wing or attacking midfield.
Boy needs some goals to raise his confidence.

 

[PhilS]

Do or die with Coutinho. He'll do a lot better playing alongside Messi and Suarez, right?

 

[Leo_Messi]

Freezing Coutinho out even for a short timespan does not seem like the best idea to me given his personality which to me, at least it appears to be the case, is kind of fragile if his body language is to judge by.

Coutinho needs a breakthrough match and performance so he can put some of his recent horrible performances in the back of his mind. Either against Girona on Sunday or against Sevilla in the return leg. Ideally the latter.

I can't state this enough. Valverde should try to use him in the midfield with Arthur and Vidal/Busquets/Rakitic behind him. At least at home. He has played less than 4 full matches in that position. He is simply not a left striker/winger in a 4-3-3 formation. It does not work due to his lack of pace. His creativity is better used when he is playing more centrally and has the likes of Suárez, Messi and Dembélé in front of him. Not next to him. In this case mostly Suárez next to him. As a left striker/left winger in a 4-3-3 you are naturally less creative than centrally when a player type like Coutinho. When you lack the pace that traditionally left strikers/left wingers in a 4-3-3 have you feel even more "excluded" from the game. It is not the right solution IMO.

 

[Jombi]

Freezing Coutinho out even for a short timespan does not seem like the best idea to me given his personality which to me, at least it appears to be the case, is kind of fragile if his body language is to judge by.

Coutinho needs a breakthrough match and performance so he can put some of his recent horrible performances in the back of his mind. Either against Girona on Sunday or against Sevilla in the return leg. Ideally the latter.

I can't state this enough. Valverde should try to use him in the midfield with Arthur and Vidal/Busquets/Rakitic behind him. At least at home. He has played less than 4 full matches in that position. He is simply not a left striker/winger in a 4-3-3 formation. It does not work due to his lack of pace. His creativity is better used when he is playing more centrally and has the likes of Suárez, Messi and Dembélé in front of him. Not next to him. In this case mostly Suárez next to him. As a left striker/left winger in a 4-3-3 you are naturally less creative than centrally when a player type like Coutinho. When you lack the pace that traditionally left strikers/left wingers in a 4-3-3 have you feel even more "excluded" from the game. It is not the right solution IMO.

Yes, Dembele is way ahead of him now, no matter how well he performs on the left forward during Dembele's injury. If the solution is him in midfield, then he must leave IMO. He has played hundreds of games as left forward and right forward in his career and our midfield just cant babysit him in the few games at home where we can dare to play him in a midfield three. He loses the ball so much and bursts forward, its just not worth it.