PBP: Champions League - Round of 16, First Leg - Paris Saint Germain v. FC Barcelona - 14 February 2017

Let's just all agree that players played awful and Lucho coached awful and the result was awful. Chicken or the egg first? More papers saying Lucho has lost the locker room long ago and it's all culminating, they want him out. Period!

Honestly the way everything looks, I would fire Lucho now. I don't see anything changing with him and with Liga out of reach, CL a miracle away and only CDR final to look forward to. Especially with team against him he'll just be doing more harm than good.

 

He is out alrighty and it's just matter of time. Many here will cry. I respect the guy for what he has done as a player and maybe as a coach who has a strong personality, that's why I never bad mouth him or insult him but beyond this, I never thought he was a good coach or fit for Barcelona's philosophy.

The problem is he fits what this board wants and their agenda. To distant this Barca from Cruyff, Pep Laporta...etc. So I'm not sure the replacement can be any better.

My ideal replacement or let us say dream coach would be either Sampaoli or Sarri but I doubt this board will go for either.

 

The other two graphs you posted are fair enough, especially the one on Busquets.
But I would like to note a couple of things on this graph.

First off, you're comparing this current 2016-17 season with the 2010-11 season.
2010-11 is perhaps the best squad that Pep had despite not winning the treble. The team was more dominating in its matches and is often cited among the best club squads of all-time. Not just best Barca squad, but best of all clubs.
Whoever made up this graph is placing the bar very high - too high - for future squads to match. As fans, we should be lucky that we were able to witness such a campaign and not use that as the barometer for comparison. 2010-11 was the exception, not the standard. It's unfair to place such lofty expectations on future generations of coaches and players.

As for the numbers cited on the graph itself, a couple of minor points.

Non-Messi games, 2010-11
W6, D1, L0
22 Sept : J4 (H) Sporting Gijon ....... 1-0
25 Sept : J5 (A) Athletic Bilbao ....... 3-1
26 Oct : Copa-4R1 (A) Ceuta ........... 2-0 - Key players are usually rested for 4th Round, 1st leg Copa ties.
2 Jan : J17 (H) Levante ................. 2-1
2 Feb : Copa-Sf2 (A) Almería .......... 3-0 - First leg had ended 5-0. This second leg was a formality.

Barca cemented the Liga title in J36 after 1-1 away to Levante. The final two Liga games meant nothing to the title run and featured many reserve players.
15 May : J37 (H) Deportivo ............ 0-0
21 May : J38 (A) Málaga ................ 3-1

Non-Messi games, 2016-17
I count six (not five) matches total with only one defeat, not two as listed on the graph.
W3, D2, L1
24 Sept : J6 (A) Sporting Gijon ............................... 5-0
28 Sept : UCL-M2 (A) Borussia Mönchengladbach ..... 2-1
2 Oct : J7 (A) Celta ................................................ 3-4
19 Nov : J12 (H) Málaga ........................................ 0-0
30 Nov : Copa-4R1 (A) Hércules .............................. 1-1 - Key players are usually rested for 4th Round, 1st leg Copa ties.
21 Dec : Copa-4R2 (H) Hércules .............................. 7-0

Like I said, just minor points. Not trying to suggest the performances were better than they were.

 

The comments at: 3:40 and 5:50


More to watch here: 2:18

 

I'm guessing the graph only includes La Liga (since total games adds up to 38 for 2010-11). The 2016-17 graph is a bit old too since it only adds up to 18 games played.

 

Guys,

Lucho is gone and we are seven points behind Madrid with sevilla and atletico chasing us.lucho is gone but we have to play for pride.Leo and iniesta must think only this much.and we need to sell.gomes is off and aleix is in.sergi berto is in midfield and not rb.and buy isco to replace andres.

 

Exactly!

But by the way Barca playing this season they'll technically be 15p behind LPB when season ends unless some consistency creeps into the team rather than complete dissolvement. LPB has too much decent depth to keep going in both Liga and CL. Although if Barca beats them in El Clasico and lead is cut and they get the shivers, then one can hope for a complete and utter collapse like Barca had last year losing 3 straight games but not being able to stay ahead. One can dream and hope [emoji120]

 

Next week is make-or-break in La Liga for Barca. They may have literally nothing to play for throughout March, April and most of May if next week doesn't go well (no trophies to play for, at least. Of course they'll be barely clinging to 3rd place if they lose to Atleti though).

 

I agree with some of the analysis especially in the second video which summed up my argument regarding 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals. You can't just blame the defense here and focus on why the shot wasn't blocked. The built up to those goals should not have happened with a team like Barcelona to begin with. PSG was running unopposed through the midfield so many times that eventually they will score. It's not like they had 3 attacks and end up with 3 goals, they had 16 shots and 10 on target.

Now for the first video blaming players and finding the scapegoat in players like Messi and Gomes. I don't agree at all. The captain and vice-captain both spoke after the game how they are unhappy with the tactics. Players were confused and MD today saying the preparations for PSG were made in the same way versus lesser opposition. Sport also mentioned one of the key players in the dressing room says the players were unhappy with some of Lucho’s tactical decisions and Barca is getting further and further away from what made the club great.

A player like Gomes which has been criticized a lot is just a scapegoat. For me, he is a better fit for Barcelona if properly coached. He has the technical skills, good passing, fine first touch and dribbling more than some of the players that admired here like Raki who I think technically the weakest. His performance with Valencia last season and Euro enough for me to know he is mis used.

I'm not in favor of buying stars to win us trophies. If so, then keep Lucho because he relied on MSN for most parts. With a proper coach who knows few things about tactics, this team can win it all. The only star I would like to go for is Verratti. Other than that it's just waste of money.

 

With the way Real is playing, I think they will win the league and the closest to win the UCL.

 

Yeah, well they're definitely favored to win La Liga but also have to play 2 games every week for the foreseeable future while Barca obviously don't.

 

Fatigue is not Barca problems directly but the lack of sustainable consistency while rotating.. something Lucho has failed miserably at. Everyone is confused even himself. He thinks this is a video game.

 

heard he changed the formation over 20 times with different players this season alone , i dare anyone to find another coach who changes the formation almost every single freaking game , heck he started Gomes as DM to try something new regardless if he knows how to play there.

his main goal is to NEVER play the same formation and to prevent the players from creating synergy with each other which ends up in having a disrupt midfield or defence , without MSN we would've been out of copa and maybe 6th or 7th in the league by now , yet people still defend him for some strange reason

 

Sacchi: "Without an idea of what football to play, the individuals will get you nowhere. To come back from 4-0 you need a miracle" #fcblive

 

If we play against PSG like we play today, 7up will happen

 

Haha yeah, PSG couldn't even beat Toulouse at home. Says alot about the shitty form Barca is in. Only thing I see changing is a blowout between Lucho and Messi or if the board takes a risk and fires Luchos incapable arse and hope to get that new coach phenomenon when teams suddenly rise out if their slumber.

 

Seeing man city scored 5 against monaco then i don't think scoring 5 against psg is impossible

 

Manchester City is playing well this season and been extremely unlucky with some of the results. We are playing bad this season and we are extremely lucky to be second in the league.