Could've smoked Juve but hopefully lessons are learned from this on what not to do when you are in a prime position to score.
Shit game . Ironically , we got an away win In Italy . Go figure . I am guessing Koeman will keep tweaking until he finds something that works .
I wouldn't call it brilliant. Lucky as hell. Huge deflection, VAR and offside calls, PK. Poor in the final third.
Definitely sucked in terms of finishing but worth noting that we didn't allow a single shot on target or even a good chance for Juve unless I'm forgetting one(?) and that's with FdJ and Araujo playing CB.
I'm going with brilliant, I've been in a good mood since yesterday and no one is going to spoil that.
Hoping it was just to see how FdJ could fit in at CB as he is the 4th CB till Umtiti gets healthy (or we bring up someone from Barca B). Bit distressing that we let Cuenca and Todibo both go away for just salary relief and not much else, with Umtiti so frequently injured, leaving us with two starters, one of whom is old, and Araujo, at CB. Fortunately Araujo is good. FdJ played some CB for Ajax, due to injuries I think, but hasn't played there for Barca. So it's valuable to see how he can slot in as he may well be needed there.
What a game from Pedri. Like I’ve been saying for a while now, we seem to have another 17-year-old gem on our hands. Cuadrado will have nightmares about Pedri tonight. I’m glad with what I’m seeing from Araujo because our CB situation was a big point of concern for me going into this season. Hope his sub was just a precautionary measure. As for Griezmann, well, what else needs to be said? The guy is a complete shade of the player he was at AM. Can’t figure out what the hell is wrong with him. We need to cash in on him while he’s still worth something imo.
Maybe he needs to have a strong, aggressive minded manager on his back plus teammates who are super determined to push him ? He seems to treat these games like a pro -celebrity game - not really serious
This game proved that Pedri must play! It was wrong not to start Fati despite that stupid thing he did at the end that I don't even wanna describe. Kid is a gem. Griezmann at this point should be benched for Coutinho in at last some matches. If you keep playing a struggling a player, he has no motivation to improve. He's gotta know that he's not guaranteed a starting spot or a spot at all for that matter if he doesn't perform. Messi was fantastic... he missed that big chance which is not characteristic of him but the chances he creates. He's still the best in the world and I'm glad we have him.
We won't be able to start these players every game. Some rotation will be inevitable. By now Koeman probably realizes Fati needs to start. But we can't run him into the ground.
17 year olds don't need to be rotated. They need experience playing and they can handle all the minutes. If anything even Messi should be rested for a few games here and there. But not Fati and Pedri.
The good news is that the schedule won't have Madrid-followed-by-Juventus every week. Plenty of opportunities for rotation.
the teenagers (Fati, Pedri and Dest) don't need to be rotated physically, but they do need to be managed carefully and patiently. it's a fine balance. they need lots of minutes, but you also can't put too much pressure on them too early. Bojan is an obvious example. you can also look at Iniesta, who was a bench player for about six years before becoming a regular starter. koeman knows this, so don't be surprised to see the three of them coming in and out of the team for now.
As much as I'm excited to beat Juve in Turin they were missing several starters, they scored 3x from open play (all aided by offsides but still), our finishing was crap, players still try to over pass in the box, or over defer to trying to get it to Messi at all costs. The thing I liked most was the work rate we often exhibited when we turned the ball over on offense, where we harassed them in packs and won the ball back, or forced a bad pass, in their half. Other good takeaways involve players looking good (like Pedri), or getting some confidence back (like Dembele), showing valuable versatility (like FdJ at CB, albeit that only came after Araujo experienced discomfort in his right thigh) but over all not our best game but some promise for the future. And path to winning the Group is promising after just 2 games.