La Liga | J26 Date: March 6, 2024 Tough away match at Athletic tomorrow. Even though Athletic played in the midweek in the CdR SF, they are 5th in the standings just 3 points behind Atletico and fighting for a CL spot, so I don't really expect them to be on a hangover.
Every time it looks like the others atop the table are willing to help out by losing points, this side loses points. Oh well, it just looks like that kind of season. What's a bigger concern (from my view) are the injuries, and the heavy usage of the youngsters. I'm concerned that the heavy use of Lamal and Cubarsi could be too much, too soon. Especially after the early heavy uses of Fati and Pedri and Gavi, and their subsequent injury issues. I hope it's nothing. I also hope Frenkie and Pedri get back soon.
One other thing that came front of mind about this match: Pedri started on the left, albeit tucked inside Cancelo who was on the line. When he went down, Xavi didn't replace like-for-like, instead he went to his security blanket, Lamal, and then square-pegged Raphinha into the left side. Of course, Raphinha was ineffective, and the team as a whole lacked a left sided threat for much of the second half. Now, I would have assumed that this would have been a chance to insert either Felix or Roque, but nah. He'd rather overuse Lamal, square peg Raphinha into the left side, and squander 2 subs to replace Pedri. Rather than let Raphinha build on the last match, he just HAD TO go to his security blanket. Rather than let Roque play tucked in alongside Lewandowski, he'd rather hold up the team for what, exactly? And/or rather than put Felix into his natural left sided role, he'd rather force Raphinha out of position. Just pure class on the part of Xavi. It may not have mattered. MAYBE Felix has a knock hes carrying. MAYBE Roque isn't training well. But on its surface, Xavi looked like he failed to maximize his options this match.
Last thing on the imbecilic coaching by Xavi this past match: Again, while it may not have mattered, it just looked like the worst string of decisions on his part. When Frenkie went down, he warmed up Fermin [a CMF], and Lamal [a RW]. He basically painted himself into a corner to where his ONLY option was Fermin. IOW, he went straight to his 4th-best choice for CMF at that point. What most experienced managers in football do with an injury is to warm up two/three potential solutions, and then decide upon the best course of action. To me, that would have meant warming up Felix and/or Roque, and Fermin. That way, he could have either gone to Fermin, or better yet, drop Pedri into the MF, and insert Roque or Felix up top. IMO, putting Roque into the role Pedri was in, and then moving Pedri into Frenkie's role would have disrupted the team the least, and put as many 1st or 2nd-choice players into as many spots as possible. Instead, he went with Raphinha, a 4th or 5th choice at LW, and Fermin, a 4th or 5th choice at CM, just so that he could give Lamal yet even more minutes. Now? Raphinha's gotta feel like this club doesn't want him, Roque's gotta feel like this club doesn't want him, the match was lost, and Lamal and Cubarsi might be getting played into Pedri-style/Fati-style injuries in the future. That Xavi was either unprepared for this type of situation, and/or just simply can't fvkcing help himself with respect to going to Lamal each and every time means that he's out of his depth as an in-game manager. That fans can see this, and he can't means that he either doesn't put in the preparation, or that he lacks the foresight to see that injuries can, and do happen in football.
Ya know what, that's fair on your part. At the same time, the man's been in professional football as a player for decades, and has now managed for 5 years as well. He should know what to do by now, and he should have learned from his previous mistakes by now. Alas, here we are with a manager who seemingly can't learn anything.
thanks as far as your complaints about Xavi's choices when Frenkie went down; 1) i don't think Felix has fully recovered from his ankle injury he got about a month ago so they're probably managing his minutes carefully and didn't want to make him play more than an hour (Frenkie went down a little after the 20 minute mark, and although Felix did start vs Getafe last week he was taken off after an hour). plus he's also blown hot and cold offensively and isn't the strongest defensively, especially when he isn't 100%. so I really don't see a problem with his decision not to bring on Felix for Frenkie at that moment. 2) i think there's genuine concern that Yamal is playing more than he should at his age and this was only the second time Xavi has been able to rest him for the past couple months while Raphinha was out. so i also can't find any fault in Xavi's reluctance to bring Yamal off the bench so early in the game. 3) Sergi Roberto was available on the bench but still hasn't made his first appearance since a muscle injury ruled him out for the past month. probably not the right time to reintroduce him. this leaves Fermin and Roque as his remaining options. the truth is that neither of them are ideal players to have brought on at this moment (anyone remember how Xavi was asking for more depth in midfield?). but with Pedri dropping back into Frenkie's position, i think it could have been a mistake to put Roque, a striker, in that false-LW position. Roque would have added more goal threat, yes, but he would have also been a big downgrade in the creative/possession department. after loosing arguably our most important midfielder in Frenkie, i think it was a perfectly logical choice to go with Fermin in his natural position over Roque out of position. don't forget also that Roque has only been at the club for a minute and hasn't earned his time on the pitch yet the way Fermin has. while i share your frustration, i think pinning all the blame on Xavi is both unfair and inaccurate. to me the problem in this case was not the coaching, but the limited and inadequate options that he has to work with.
This may be a possibility, but then no one within the club has made mention of this. After seeing Fati, Pedri, and Gavi go through injuries, I think load management should be a concern. Given that there are two matches in quick succession coming up, I would have preferred to go a different way than Lamal/square peg Raphinha on the left. I'd rather left Raphinha build on his excellent previous match, and give Roque some time as well. By this point in the season, pretty much every senior player is gonna HAVE TO put in some time. And while a false LW isn't IDEAL for Roque, its certainly better than him trying to play as a true winger. At this point, he's a last resort choice. With these injuries, we may be seeing more of him, whether we like it or not. Yet, he never even had Roque warm up. I do recall this, and I knew he was right, but that FFP would disallow any meaningful addition to the roster. This is a fair thought, but: 1. Having Raphinha out of position, AND going to your 4th choice CMF weakened TWO spots; using Roque may have weakened just one, whole keeping the shape of the formation (at least in possession) as close to original as possible. At least, for this match. 2. As I noted above, there are two matches coming up in quick succession, to include Napoli in the UCL. This means that the roster will have to be rotated, whether the injuries occurred or not. 3. Given the need for roster rotation, I would have preferred to save Fermin for a 2nd half MF sub. I agree that there were no "ideal" choices, he still chose the least-ideal choice of what was on offer, given the roster, given what silverware is still in play for this season, and given the fixture list. Thoughtful post on your part. We need MOAR of that!!
Should have pushed harder for Bernardo Silva last summer. Not sure if it would have made a difference but feels like our attempts to sign him were half-hearted. The beauty of such a signing was that he could play both midfield and forward, so adds depth in two areas of the field. Wouldn't have had to worry about overplaying Yamal and the team would be many points higher in the table.