The Importance of Being Ernesto - The 2017-2018 Season thread [R]

Camp Nou has only hosted four Copa finals:
1963 Barcelona 3-1 Zaragoza
1970 LPB 3-1 Valencia
2010 Sevilla 2-0 Atlético Madrid
2015 Barcelona 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Given the political climate in Catalunya at the moment I don't think the RFEF would consider Camp Nou as a venue for now.
2015 featured clubs and supporters from Catalunya and the Basque Country, two regions that have long wanted independence.
Can't recall how/why the 2010 final was chosen.

During Monday's meeting Sevilla put forward La Cartuja Olimpico but were rejected.
Guillermo Amor, who is now Barca's director of institutional and sporting relations, said after the meeting that Barca did not ask for the Bernabeu.

 

😍 Leo #Messi 🤩
🔵🔴 #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/docAf8f14n

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 13, 2018

 

The teams had a meeting Monday and suggestions were made, Sevilla nominated two stadiums in Sevilla, Barca nominated their own, and also sought to change the date of the game. I think that the only chance for a compromise was if both pushed hard for Valencia, but really I think that the Wanda on 21 April was already set in stone.

 

They gotta stop this non-sense of teams suggesting their own ground to host a national cup final! It makes the league seem so mickey-mouse.

I could understand if the 2 finalists are based in the same city to play the match in the largest stadium of that city, but for Barca v Sevilla to take place in Seville or BCN is silly for anyone to even suggest.

 

Typical that we play on Saturday but Chelsea get to play on Friday so an extra day of rest /recovery/ preparation for the upcoming game ..

 

They'll field a B team too, I suspect. We should do the same, with some exceptions like Coutinho and Umtiti. Playing away means there's no real pressure to field some of our stars.

 

Sadly I'm fairly will simply kick us all over the park and not get punished then Iniesta will tickle one of theirs and get booked ..

 

Agree with him in every single point

 

Sooo Pogba and Jose have fallen out .... of love Pogba here ... we could even get him on loan until the Summer .... Real Madrid are very interested in him apparently

 

Really ??

I rate Pogba as one of a handful of really gifted midfielders ... along with Coutinho and Busquets

 

So overrated.

Everywhere Pogba goes all you hear is "he is being played out of position". At some point people will need to find a different excuse to explain his underwhelming performances. Its okay to admit that a player never panned-out as expected.

We've also seen this movie before with Pogba at Man Utd - like 5-6 years ago.

 

wtf has Pogba ever done?

 

He effectively became the French Verratti.

 

On first listen I got to about 4:14 in that video when he said we need to score more in first half, we really need to try harder to score more goals earlier and wtf, (1) are we not trying in the first half of games? (2) is our scoring in the 2nd half (at a record-setting pace) in no way related to how much we wear out teams in the first half?

Before that he was on about we have to rotate but we also have to start the best team all the time or at least not rotate more than a player or two, till we get that big first half lead he is advocating for, then we can rotate more. OK dude, I'll sign on to that IF and when we get first half leads and otherwise when the f do we rotate more than 1 player when we are playing 13 games in 40 days or whatever the run was before we finally had a midweek off?

Other points we to move the ball faster, no short little passes. As if we never counter attack or play long balls? As if our fans did not whine about Lucho abandoning the Barca way?

Play a clear system, whether 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, and esp. with respect to Coutinho and Dembele, stop asking them to play all over as they adapt (even though their versatility is why we bought them). That one is a good point for this season where, due to injuries (Dembele) and winter transfer (Coutinho) we probably should not try to play them in too many roles.

And finally play Semedo more at RB (but still play Roberto, just as a mid). So we sit two of Rakitic, Coutinho, Iniesta, and Roberto in order to play Semedo? Not so sure right now. Maybe next season esp. if Iniesta goes to China.

 

He managed to cost United an huge amount of money, which is his biggest achievement. I'm afraid one of Dembélé or Coutinho will pull a Pogba. Overhyped, overpriced...

 

I'm assuming you guys simply haven't watched Pogba play this season .. he's not been impressive the last two games but that's mainly because United have struggled ..


I reckon he'd be a perfect partner for Coutinho with Busquets covering behind ....

 

Is there anybody that feels having Coutinho as a starter makes the team weaker? Barcelona allready has Messi - does a Coutinho really make Barcelona stronger. Make no mistake, Coutinho is a great impact player to come off the bench but as a guaranteed starter- he makes Messi less effective (due to lesser toughness in midfield and trying to take over some playmaking duties) which makes Barcelona weaker imo. (Unless the player is of the same calibre of Messi which he really isnt) Coutinho, imo, should never be a starter in any Barca lineup ahead of Iniesta or Paulinho. Ideally, barca should have bought in lucas moura instead of investing in Paulinho. This way, you guys have a genuine impact player that doesnt have to start every game.

 

Problem is Valverde is playing him on the right , if he plays on the left in the 4-3-3 with Suarez in the middle and messi on the right it will be better , same exact thing with Dembele

but when it comes to playing 4-4-2 like we are playing right now then the ideal formation is playing Paulinho because he offers more attacking options upfront specially on the crosses since we have no tall players to go for the headers and not force pique/umtiti/mina to go everytime

so the best midfield would be busi/raki/iniesta/paulinho , i have no idea why we spent over 300 freaking million on players we don't need and don't offer any advantages to the way we play , but we are used to wasting money throughout the years and i doubt it will change any time soon.

 

We spent the money as Iniesta is in a decline resembling fakeRonaldo's plus Rakitic and Paulinho have and never will be good enough for Barcelona .

Thank the good lord we have Busquets !

Just an opinion ..