Roberto-Masch-Umtiti-Math ------------Gomes--------- ----Raki-------------Turan Vidal----Paco------Neymar
Thanks. I'm a bit surprised at Vidal with a more advanced responsibility than Turan, but it's obviously already worked well so what do I know?
VIDAL GOL and it's all over. OK, it was a weird lineup for sure, did not like the midfield and thought we were done ever seeing Mathieu at LB BUT with Digne injured and Alba needing rest perhaps LB maybe made sense, even more sense if they played 3 CBs and let Vidal play more like a winger. Anyways my point is look at who is completely rested before Atletico semifinal for a place in final and likely hardware: Jasper (of course Copa only GK) Suarez - huge to have him rested and hungry Alba - huge to have him fresh, only worry is the YC accumulation Denis - nice to have him fresh, less critical as he may not start and is young Roberto - also nice though frankly I like Vidal's form right now Fully rested but coming back from injury: INIESTA BUSI Digne Partially rested: Pique only played half, should be very fresh Masch same as Pique Rakitic played less than half Rafinha - more than half but should be fine after possible stitches but unlikely to play MESSI - rare rest for his old timer So let's say we want to play best team against Atleticot (to hopefully seal a place in a final) : Jasper (Copa GK) Roberto-Pique-Umtiti-Alba Raki-Busi-Ini M-S-ARDA (Ney out for YC accumulation) Nearly all rested as are other subs, bring on Denis for Ini, Masch for Busi. Only Arda and Umtiti played 100% of this game, can sub off Arda too and go 4-4-2 if we get a lead/build a bigger lead.
Vidal strength is going forward, he did leave space behind him in the first 30 mins so he needs to improve his defensive positioning but he is been great so far. Same with Gomes playing as DM for the first time, he did leave a gap between him and the defense which caused some issues, but he improved his positioning awareness in the second half.
So that's 4 freekick goals already this year from Messi? I dont care if its from sloppy goalkeeping but he's gonna score at least 10 this year.
Waaaat the hell? Barca beat pathetico 3-0 and I missed it all? I thought the game was tomorrow [emoji22] Wow Alcacer and Vidal on target. Fantastic and Turan from start, great. How was the game? Anything Lucho did that I can criticize? [emoji23]
Yes you can still criticize him. We had poor first half and Bilbao had two clear chances wasted otherwise the game would have been very different. Neymar and Messi stepped up and made the difference. In the second half, forced substitutions improved the defense and the midfield with the introduction of Masch and Raki. By this time, Bilbao already gave up. Positive from this game: Paco scored, Neymar played well although wasting chances. Vidal keeps telling Lucho how wrong he was. Turan can play good in Messi's position.
Added emphasis to your post as I disagree on that one fact: Gomes has played DM more than anyone but Busi this year, more than Raki and more than Masch, when Busi has been out Lucho has tried him there, unfortunately Gomes still is less good there than Raki, Masch or even Roberto if we ever tried him there.
I don't have the time to go through lineups and list each game when Busi either did not play or was subbed off but there have been numerous articles, tweets, statements during matches which have stated how Lucho has most often played Gomes there (over Rakitic - who played 2nd most at DM, something like 5 or 6 times for Gomes vs. 4 times for Rakitic), or Masch, and over another option now that Vidal is out of the doghouse, Roberto. Here's a quote from one such article: 2. Who is the best option to replace Busquets? It's not easy. It is the only position where there's not a clear replacement in the team even if Ivan Rakitic, Andre Gomes, Sergi Roberto and Javier Mascherano can all play there. Luis Enrique will have to decide, but on Sunday Rakitic played an excellent game as a pivot. At the moment, and although the coach has often put Gomes there, the Croatian seems the best option. http://www.marca.com/en/football/barcelona/2017/01/23/5885ce09468aeb171e8b4627.html This one is pre-injury but talks of Lucho's faith in Gomes as DM, and Lucho has often been quoted as saying one reason he signed Gomes was his versatility not just at AM but at DM too. http://playingfor90.com/2016/12/10/...rique-identifies-sergio-busquets-replacement/ Also pre injury: Luis Enrique sees no reason for concern, though, and tipped Gomes to become adept at playing a holding midfielder role, similar to Busquets. "When we play Gomes in the pivot role, he shows that he is quite capable of playing in that position," the Barcelona coach said at a news conference. "His best position is in the middle, because of his ball control, piercing runs and good kick, but he can also play a supporting role, so he's a useful resource to have. http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/88/s...an-play-in-busquets-role-insists-luis-enrique Edit - and I really wish it were not true, I think Gomes is having a hard enough time adapting to playing Attacking Mid at Barca without also playing DM, but I recall it happening before, and read a ton about how he'd done it more often than Raki or anyone else. The articles came out after Busi got hurt but focused on who had spelled Busi so far that season. Raki did it the first game (when Busi went down in the 10th minute), Denis came on for him BUT Raki slid to DM and Denis to AM, lo and behold Raki had 14 interventions - his most ever for Barca. Still not there next game. Then against Atleti Masch looked like a boss at DM, and assisted the Suarez wonder goal with his slide tackle pass, still not enough to cement that position for him. No Lucho had to go back to playing Gomes there. But it was not the first time. Here's a quote which actually names a couple games (but again I've heard it stated that he played there several more times, like today was the 6th or 7th time, some of these of course being spot duty when Busi got to take 10-30 minutes off at the end of a game): In fact, the Croatian and the Portuguese are the only two players, in the current campaign, who have occupied Busquets’ place when Luis Enrique has given him a rest. Other alternatives include Javier Mascherano and Sergi Roberto, although both are preferred in defence. RAKITIC Ivan Rakitic has shown he can play the position. He did so against Leganes when Barça played with a back four. And he also did so against Granada from the start, as well as taking Busquets’ place on Sunday when he went off injured. GOMES The former Valencia man played in the pivot role against Bourssia Monchengladvach in the Champions League and again against Hercules in the Copa del Rey. http://www.sport-english.com/en/new...omes-the-favourites-fill-for-busquets-5759793
Um, don't cross paths with MAtS I guess: Hope Pique can play Tuesday: “Gerard Pique suffered an overload in the adductor of his left leg. The change was made for precaution.” Lucho on Neymar and rotation: "We're seeing a wonderful version of Neymar," he said in his post game press conference. "His capacity to dribble is impressive, as his sacrifice when it comes to helping the team. "Not scoring goals doesn't bother me at all, it's a mere anecdote if you keep in mind all the adds to the team. It's clear he's a vital player for us." And Luis Enrique couldn't hide his satisfaction after the 3-0 win over Athletic, with goals from Paco Alcacer, Lionel Messi and Aleix Vidal. "It demonstrates that we need everyone to win titles," he said after rotating his line-up once again. "We've been able to rest some players because it's impossible for them to be at 100 percent and we've still got the three points." all from Sport
If he did play few games doesn't mean he is adjusted to that role especially when you have screwed up midfield tactics and lineup. Besides he did well in one game (Barca won 7-0) and yesterday he played much better in the second half when the midfield got connected. As for Raki, he played a DM in few games too, he did well when he came in replacing injured Busquets vs. Eibar but then played bad vs. Real Betis especially the first half. He improved in the second half with the introduction of Roberto and Gomes. Again I'm not saying Raki is bad as DM but just like Gomes the tactics and the lineup didn't help him and both were isolated and outnumbered at times. so I don't understand why favor one player over the other when both had similar performances and both improved once the midfield lineup adjusted.
Lets stop wasting time discussing Gomes, he´s not worth it and I cant see him becoming anything special in Barca except for some depth, he´ll never make a change. With thats said. I watched the game and although things could have gone differently, still the 3-0 win was great to see. Vidal as a starter is written in stone for me.. he doesn't need rest and rotation, play every game instead of being sent to the bench just to keep Craperto happy. Arda was awesome I think.. no question, he´s in good form all season even when played sporadically and not continuously. Glad Suarez was rested entire game. Glad Alcacer got the chance to start and with good players around him and no B-team, he did score and lets see how it goes but he def needs to play more especially coming on as a sub. Glad Messi was subbed Wow Lucho.. bravo man Messi has not been subbed since 2014 which is crazy. So there were things I really like with this game and Lucho.. but will it continue like this? Will he keep playing players in form for 3-4 game in a row instead of rotating the hell out of them? Lets wait and see
OW The lesson is: we knew this since his years at ATM, but Raúl García is still a dirty player. He gave Rafinha the nudge in the back to send him into the onrushing MAtS.
Agreed. By now any coach at Barça should understand you just can't plug in another player when Busi is unavailable. He does the work of 2+ players when he's fit. I doubt we could afford the luxury of 3 forwards without Busi's incredible ability to read the game, break up opponents' attack, and launch our own. Gomes or Raki could do well at DM, but it involves retooling the whole tactical scheme to fit their abilities. If you want to keep MSN on without Busi, we'd have to put out something with a double pivot resembling more a 4-2-1-3 formation than our usual 4-3-3. At least against quality opponents. But there is such conservatism within Barça, from fans to the media, that anything diverging from the orthodoxy is going to get ruthlessly skewered, even if it works.
Just to be clear so you don't miss a match, we play on Tuesday! But good on you for giving Lucho some credit, even if fleetingly, I think we fans are best when we don't see things in black and white / good and bad, through rose tinted glasses or cynical eyes, but rather in all the shades of grey.