He's scored six goals, some very crucial and he's at the right place most of the times unlike others. It's not chance, he's in good form atm. Why mess with it?
Hopefully the improvement shown when we add a bit of pace has been noted ... and he doesn’t make the same mistakes over and over like Valverde did
I don't know if I like taking foot of the pedal after 1-0, it's same complacency that could be punished. I saw some improvement but only 1-0 with 11vs10 for 20min doesn't mean a damn thing. Let's see how they handle Valencia.
Can definitely build on this. Created many scoring chances. Suarez would have had a couple. And hey ... clean sheet !
Mallorca ripped Valencia 4-1 today. Valencia will be without their captain Dani Parejo, red carded today when it was 3-0 to Mallorca
To be honest we created more chances today than we usually did under Valverde. Our team showed some beautiful passing but our forwards had subpar finishing in the final third, Messi included.
3 things that were noticeably different this game: - Consistent pressing. Saw a lot more communication when the front line attempted the press. Definite plus. - Lot more speed in the pass. Especially between the defense and midfield, which allowed them to possess the ball in the opponents half, facing the goal with a lot more frequency. - Noticeably more line breaking passing from the midfield to the forward line. A vintage Busi performance, always with his head up, looking to break the line with an inch perfect pass. Vidal his usual aggressive self. Even Rakitic looked more daring. With Frenkie returning, Arthur more match fit, and Ruqui gaining more experience, this can only get better!
1005 passes,92% accuracy. But only one goal,i miss Suarez. Puig is technically gifted,played well this match but need to train to grow physically stronger.
1005 passes actually sets a new Barcelona record and us the 2nd most passes attempted in a matches of all time (Bayern in 2014 did 1033). Quique Taka is here Source: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...eam-have-completed-the-most-passes-in-a-match
so we made more pass than even under Pep 82.6% - @Barcelona’s Quique Setién has become the second manager with the highest possession figure in a @LaLigaEN game since at least 2005/06, after Pep Guardiola (84% vs Racing de Santander in 2011 and 83.9% vs Levante in 2011). Premiere. pic.twitter.com/A5FSdHyGCn— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 19, 2020
First match, so only tells so much. But while we reduced their attack very well, ours wasn't good. Have to create better chances. I think we were at around 1,4-1,5 xG (scored). Interesting to see how this develops.
Yea we are officially at 1.42 xG for the match which is surprising. I recall at least 5 goalscoring chances from open play. Messi fluffed one with his left leg from inside the box, Griezmann hit two of them into the side netting. Fati roofed another great chance. And of course 3 threatening free kicks which amounted to nothing. I actually felt it was one of our better games.
He's physically a lot smaller than both Messi and Xavi. His size will possibly be an issue in years to come, well it was an issue last night as he was getting shoved off the ball with such ease. That said his general play was hugely impressive, he always made the right pass, was technically good in tight areas and was always in space to receive a pass, very much a product of the Barca way, something that was very much missing under Valverde. Hopefully he gets more minutes this season and if possible he definitely needs to work on his upper body strength.