Ernesto Goes to Work: The 2018-19 Season Thread [R]

When you're in a position of Barca (or RM, Bayern etc) I don't think it's actually that difficult to put a team together.

Like, of course it takes resources and knowhow, and a lot of work hours, but we have them. Putting together a team is not about luck. But whatever team you have, margins are small and titles are not guaranteed. Not that you can't put a team together poorly (ManU).

 

It goes without saying that the resources are there, it was never about that. It's about having to replace a player who's influence has been unprecedented in our history. It's not that hard to grasp. We can have all of the resources in the world, but if we have never found ourselves in a similar situation it's always gonna be tricky to get it right the first time.

Putting a team together that will fill the hole Messi leaves isn't purely about luck, of course, but luck does play a role in the sense that you buy the players who fit the profile and hope they gel well together. Look at the Galactico's of Madrid in the past. A team of superstars is no guarantee for success.

Messi has been carrying us for so long and we've seen other stars come and go but there has always been ONE glaring constant, and that is the GOAT. No one is saying it's impossible to replace his output, only that it's not that simple.

 

“Backpass Rakitic” third in passes ending in the attacking third!?

 

He was in the bottom four for pass completion along with Roberto ..
The lowest pass completion went to Messi as usual who normally goes for difficult , near impossible passes .

 

Well, considering you lied about their pass completion rate for the Eibar match, I don't necessarily believe you that you have your stats correct this time.

But the end of your post (Messi has a lower %) says it all about why this isn't the most relevant statistic to judge a player on its own.

 

Those stats are as reliable as you as they’re from YOUR link .. did ya not even think look at your own link ?

Incidentally.. You’ve been warned about calling fellow members liars ..

 

Yawn Rakitic is 3rd on Barca in Pass %, Roberto is 6th (in La Liga, among players with at least 1000 minutes). In CL they are even higher.

 

Yawn ..... nice try at moving the godl posts buddy

As you know , I was initially referring to the Eiber match PLUS your link takes you to the Eiber v Barca page

Try posting links that are not so misleading in future

 

Why don’t you just try playing nice for a change ?? I’m sure everyone must be fed up of all this tiresome bickering.
Let’s just agree to disagree on certain players ..,

 

Its kinda difficult when you keep bringing up the same criticisms of the same players every single post, totally out of the blue, and whether they had a good match or not. Often copying and pasting the same comment in multiple, unrelated threads.

But lets see how long you can follow your own advice about agreeing to disagree on certain players. I am all for it.

 

Given you had quoted Boca referring to that season stat chart by inswinger I thought you were referring to that chart as well. You made no mention of Eibar anywhere in that post.

 

Really? I thought he was indeed referring to the Eibar match.

Anyhow, I don’t want to come in between this “discussion.”

 

I guess I assumed he was talking about the entire season because of how meaningless is it to say "Rakitic had the 5th lowest pass completion %age against Eibar". If it was for an entire season then maybe it is a stat that is worth mentioning.

 

Well this is the ‘confusing’ post .... in the Eibar v Barcelona thread as well ..

 

WTF? That post was clear. I responded that both were in fact over 80% (in the Eibar match).

We're talking about another one.

 

I was referring to post #981.
Which one are you referring to?

 

Lol... I don’t even know anymore... the last two posts have confused me about who is referring to what post.

I really don’t care, to be honest, to go check.

Anyhow, I don’t like SR or Rakitic as starting players for us, but I not completely against them either.

 

Clean slate then ... no bickering or petty squabbles ??


This is where I’m coming from ..

I really can’t abide Valverde’s style of play , tactics or team selections ...

I despair at Roberto who’s an average, at best , midfielder being played out of position at RB , ahead of a Samedo ..

Rakitic... I just don’t think his performances over the last two or three seasons warrant him being a certain starter in what was once the best midfield in world football - arguably for quite some time as well .

 

I think most people are just fine with you having an opinion, they might not agree with it but they'd defend to death your right to express it. From what I can understand it's more of a "time and a place" issue.

With that being said, I do agree with you to some extent. I do not like players in make-shift roles and I do believe Roberto is a typical case of jack of all trades but master of none. That's not to say he's a bad player, though, just not particularly good in any position.

As for Rakitic, I think he suffers, probably unfairly, from the impossible-to-fill shoes that Xavi and Iniesta left behind. I've said many times before that I do not think he's a bad player, he's good at what he does and is well-ingrained into our system. With that being said, I don't think he will be hard to replace when the time comes. We do have to accept that holding any midfield composition against the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets trio in their heyday will most likely fall short.

 

Tito, I don’t think you having an opinion is an issue.

But what I think rubs some posters the wrong way is that you come across as negative all the time, and don’t seem to enjoy our victories.

When we wrapped La Liga title, seemingly you weren’t here. When we beat Liverpool 3-0, you seemed to be absent as well.

I silently have wondered whether you were more a Liverpool fan than Barca fan.

Anyhow, I respect your views.

 

Mmmm ... I’m currently going through a difficult time personally and maybe that has an effect on my outlook on things ...

I just despair at the way we are playing these days ... sure we have Messi’s moments of magic but over the years I’ve enjoyed so much beautiful football from us that now when I sit down and see supposedly poorer teams actually going through spells of playing lovely football AGAINST us , it hurts ...

 

I completely understand your viewpoint. I don’t think we can replicate the Iniesta-Xavi-Messi type of football any longer, unless we get players of that type again.


Hope for the best for you, and you get out of all your problems.

 

Slight tangent , sadly can’t be regarded as optimistic though.. just found it interesting to see Jose’s thoughts on Liverpool’s 4th goal ..