Lliga | Round 7: Sevilla - FC Barcelona 2-1

[Barcafan 2304]

The thought of even playing RM at this moment is making me piss my pants.

Think I'll ignore it tbh. If we start January no worse than five points adrift of rm I'll be happy

 

[mazp]

Good thing we have an international break coming, and most likely will have Messi (and Iniesta) back for the el clasico. I agree, facing those teams today would be bad, but when the time for the el clasico comes we might be firing on all cylinders again. It doesn't take long for things to turn around, and seeing how well we played especially in the first half today I would say there is nothing majorly wrong with the team that has to be fixed, rather small adjustments. Little things like benching Mathieu for instance

The defense does need some serious work, but again I think a lot would be fixed simply by benching Mathieu for a while. He has been more or less directly involved in most of the goals we've conceded recently.

Getting Messi and Iniesta back still won't solve our defense issues. We were leaking goals with them in the lineup. Last season Lucho had the best defense in Europe, this season the worst, it's alarming. You need a strong defense to win trophies.

 

[serghei]

Anyway, if Sevilla won at home against Barca, then it's a lock that we will win at Anoeta. Trust me, it's that kind of season. La Liga is the best league in the world by far.

 

[raskolnikov]

I still wonder why our defense has suddenly done a 180 and is conceding goals left and right, same defence that stood strng last season..

 

[FC B]

The positive thing is that Real wasted 4 points against weak teams. Thank god for that. And so happens that despite these problems, we're 1 point ahead of them right now. And they didn't play Atletico, Sevilla and Celta away from home.

What we must do, what we absolutely must do, is win all games until the clasico, and there are very high chances that we will go on Bernabeu as Liga leaders.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. I'd wish it was.

 

[serghei]

Unfortunately it's not that simple. I'd wish it was.

It's not simple. But it can be done. The toughest part until January is over.

 

[Mido]

Lucho, should be a man and take full responsibility for the loss. Thinking that without Messi, Rafinha, Iniesta, Xavi , Pedro and Alves you can stay loyal to your football principles , with the same system, is a bit naive...

Actually, he deserves that "slap" so to speak. Vigo and Leverkusen already demonstrated that it had no sense but Lucho kept on doing the same thing. He's done it 3 times in 10 days, in 3 games where he clearly had to do adjustments.

I am eager to here what he has to say.

I hope the international break will be restful...

 

[BBZ8800]

1. even with a full team, free on injuries=we would suffer in the early Months of the season, because players have dropped in motivation levels after winning a treble, which happens to a lot of teams
2. even without a drop of motivation=we would suffer from a huge amount of injuries because we played too many matches in the last Season, too often with the same starting 11
3. on top of that, even points 1 and 2 are strong enough for our weaker displays, now add Messi's injury.
And Messi is like 30-50% of Barca in terms of every aspect (except defending).

The current form isn't caused by 1 thing.
It is a mixture of a lot of accumulated problems.

But still, if Messi will be fit in April and March, we are still the favorites to win a CL.
What will happen with La liga? Well, we are still favorites, but La liga's format is much different than CL's.

 

[raskolnikov]

We just need to grind out of these type of wins, we started well this season but now two consecutive losses. It wonr do.

 

[BBZ8800]

I still wonder why our defense has suddenly done a 180 and is conceding goals left and right, same defence that stood strng last season..

1. motivation and concentration.
2. some injuries to defense and midfield
3. GK's injury
4. some bad luck

It's not simple. But it can be done. The toughest part until January is over.

No, it's not.
Some fans have already told me that I am a broken record because I am repeating that a lot of problems are caused because we lost Messi and that we are very average without him (ok, not average, but...).

Anyway, even though we will face weaker sides from now on, imo, I predict:
1. a lot of struggling without Messi, poor matches, poor passes, poor build up
2. and probably some lost points

There will be good days, of course.
But without Messi, struggles and bad days can and will occur more frequently even against weaker teams.
But let's wait and see...

 

[serghei]

[MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION], I agree, except the part about Messi. Messi himself has been also known to suffer from lack of motivation. Missing Messi is not our main problem right now. The team created plenty of chances anyway.

I thing the lack in motivation is true and that shows especially in league-type competitions, where you have to be sharp every game. I trust Lucho to fix that, because the motivation part comes both from within the players themselves, but also from the manager. The injuries and the thin squad are also problems that are clear.

Anyway, I expect at least 2 transfers in the winter. In january I want us to have Arda, Aleix Vidal, CM and RW/LW. It is a must. Gundogan and Nolito should do just fine.

I am confident, because it is very unlikely to be out of reach from RM until january, by the looks of it. If we can fight for 3/3 from january onwards with reinforcements (2 for sure) and hopefully no injuries except Rafinha, we could pull through like we did last season. Last season we become the best team in the world not right away, at the start, but since winter. I am hoping we do the same, and I put a lot of trust in Lucho to be honest.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

Could not watch the game and will look at highlights now. I thought we were going to win this because of Sevilla's injury problems. Damn it.
But let's see how Derbi Madrileno turns out tomorrow. Maybe Villarreal will still be on top.

 

[BBZ8800]

[MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION], I agree, except the part about Messi. Messi himself has been also known to suffer from lack of motivation. Missing Messi is not our main problem right now. The team created plenty of chances anyway.

I thing the lack in motivation is true and that shows especially in league-type competitions, where you have to be sharp every game. I trust Lucho to fix that, because the motivation part comes both from within the players themselves, but also from the manager.

I have seen already the same replies like:
= even with Messi, we played badly in the beginning of the season

I replied above:
= yes, our 2015/16 team till now played MUCH WORSE even with Messi, because we lack motivation and we have injuries

So:
-- if your 2014/15 team was:
1. injury free
2. full of motivation
3. and had Messi
-- then without motivation, our team drops from 100% to (let's say) 80%
-- if you add Messi's injury (on top of a lack of motivation), we are dropping from 80% to like 50-60% of our last season's form and abilities
-- if you add some other injuries on top of lack of motivation and Messi's absence, then we drop even lower (like today)

 

[serghei]

Nah, I don't think it works that way. Messi needs a well-functioning team around him, or else he won't be as great. Messi single-handedly winning games for Barcelona has been an idea I never supported. And I really don't want to go there again.

Of course Messi makes us better, but he is not enough most of the time if the rest of the players are not at the required standard for a team like Barcelona.

 

[Galning]

Can't say I'm surprised.