Hindsight isn't 2020 - The 2019-20 Season Thread [R]

Well I thought Firmino would be a fabulous addition in the Jan window instead of throwing 220 million at Neymar .

Firmino would have a massive influence on our season - was my point .

 

Years ago we knew that if we are doing well in La Liga we are poised to make noise in the CL but now you can't be sure anymore. La Liga has declined as a whole. Atletico has the same name but are a shell of themselves 4 or 5 years ago and LPB well no words are needed HAHA... But yea at this point it seems the best teams in the world aren't in La Liga anymore. Neither Real or Atletico look like they can get past the Round of 16.

 

Just posted this on OTT but it resonates with your point, and Jonathan Wilson includes Barca's decline too and points to the midfields of all 3 top Liga teams:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/sep/19/real-madrid-problems-midfield-paris-weaknesses-psg

 

The only difference between us and LPB is we have a better GK right now and a also a better attack so we can actually score more goals to compensate for leaking them on the other end. Often we get overrun but MATS or Messi on the other end save us. Atletico has stronger defense than us but a much weaker attack. Other than Felix, I don't see enough creativity in that side. All three have weaker midfields than they used to. And from my understanding of the sport, midfield is the most important part of the pitch because it affects both offense and defense.

 

That was always going to be a problem with Iniesta, Alves & Xavi leaving/declining around the same time. FdJ should keep our MF fairly decent, but obviously still below what it was. But on the forward line I have no idea what the plan is post-Messi. Lets hope Fati comes through because who else is there?

 

Sadly I’ve heard suggestions that Jose is being lined up to replace Zidane .. I hate Jose and I hated hiw he made our games with them flamin war zones

 

Don't forget Busquets falling off the map.

Our team's loyalty to our players (La Masia guys still here 20 years later...) is awesome and it's what makes this club always worth cheering for to me but it's also a double edged sword. We've kept all these declining players years longer than we should have and it's hurt us in the CL vs teams that replenish their rosters every few years.

 

At this point, any managerial change at LPB is bad for Barca. #keepzz #zz2023

 

Well we have a good deal of youthful players, but only a handful are starters just yet, so it remains to be seen. But here's a squad of Barca players all 25 or younger save for MAtS at 27 since keepers often have longer shelf lives:
GK - MAtS 27, Inaki Pena 20
RB - Semedo 25, Wague 20
CB - Lenglet 24, Umtiti 25, Todibo 19, Araujo 20, Cuenca 19
LB - Firpo 22
DM - de Jong 22, Oriol Busquets 20 (loaned out to Twente)
AM - Arthur 23, Alena 21, Puig 20, Monchu 20, Collado 20, Ilaix Moriba 16
Wingers - Dembele 22, Fati 16, Perez 21, Abe 20
Striker - Abel Ruiz 19

Italics - Barca B rest already on first team, and in bold indicates starter quality when healthy

 

Unfortunately, most of the ones in bold (4 out of 7) belong on a mid-table La Liga team at best . That's just their level (dont think I need to name the 4).

 

Football changes as the world changes - politically, economically, culturally. that's all normal.

EPL is dominating right now because of their economic power. Without that influx of TV money recently (plus oil money from Russia and the UAE), LaLiga would probably still be dominating. but the UK is in for some major upheavals. I'm not sure how EPL's dominance would survive a no deal Brexit.

Plus LPB and Barca are both in transitional periods right now, struggling to replace a golden generation of superstars and both clubs are crying out for changes in leadership starting at the very top.

 

I dunno, the EL final was Chelsea v Arsenal. Man Utd won the EL before that. Back when there was the Big 4, the other 16 teams just weren't very good.

That said, right now La Liga probably still has 3 teams that are better than the EPL's third best team. La Liga is also less of a 2-team league. Last I checked, Atleti was 5:1 to win La Liga while Spurs were something like 20:1.

 

Yeah, I can guess who you are calling scrubs. I think that is overly harsh. Obviously a couple have had injury problems, and one combines that with being an immature headcase, but both of those players are great talents when healthy (though we paid a ton for the headcase, and both are on big salaries now). Another barely started regularly starting and hasn't shown much yet. Then your fourth "scrub" would seem to be Lenglet (or Arthur if not Lenglet), which just seems unfair.

I was mainly trying to show how several (those bolded) have already played big minutes for the first team and become starters at times. The list is even better in terms of those who have yet to play big minutes, as in there's a good deal of promise there, even if only 1 in 3 become a Barca starter / regularly counted on squad player.

Then there's the fact that we'll buy a couple players each summer. So yeah, we'll struggle to replace Messi, Pique, Busquets, Suarez, and Alba just as we struggled to replace Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, Puyol, and Eto'o. But I don't see things as entirely too bleak for Barca's future.

 

Apparently Zidane makes 13M / season NET (after Spanish income taxes) and so unless he agreed to a cheaper negotiated buyout, firing him at the moment would require payment of nearly 3 year's salary (39M Euros NET), which would cost Real Madrid about 80M Euros as the taxes are just over 50% on obscene salaries like that (especially if paid in one lump sum in a single tax year). So unless ZZ wants to play ball with FloPer they literally cannot afford to fire him, much less fire him and pay Jose a similarly obscene amount.

https://www.sport-english.com/en/ne...f-they-wanted-to-sack-zinedine-zidane-7642052

 

Yeah, when you put it that way, there is not much chance he gets fired in the next few weeks. LPB have been shite in the league under ZZ before and they kept him when the penalty for firing him was probably much less. So he will probably get the whole season at least, and only be canned if they bomb out of CL early again (but not gonna happen before March given the group they're in).

 

Official Granada squada:

Injured Alba, Dembele, Umtiti
Not Selected Alena, Wague
Selected from B Team Perez, Fati

 

Poor FDJ has to play alongside Rakitic and Roberto tonight ... that’s just asking too much of the lad ..

 

next season?

 

Maybe even this season .. yesterday 12,000 Newcastle fans stayed at home in protest of their not so dissimilar situation...

As regards Valverde.... whenever the camera focuses on him he always looks bewildered/confused

 

The Newcastle comparison actually fits as both both clubs are facing a similar situation. Both club's fans despise the way the club is currently being run by their owner, both clubs are unhappy with their manager, and both clubs are playing uninspiring, lifeless football.

Surely, there should come a stage where Bartomeu holds his hands up and says 'this club hasn't progressed since Valverde's been here, the fans pay his wages, they want him out, i've given him enough of a chance so ill let him go'. When does it get to the point that it just becomes outright disrespectful to stop listening to fans?

If fans had any sense then they'd hit the club where it hurts and stay away from games, just like the Newcastle fans have started to do.

 

Thanks .. that’s what I would have liked to say

I wish I had your way with language !

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...o-valverde-after-liverpool-loss-a4243111.html