A manager that believes Roberto is a good match up for Mane deserves to be bashed, not only bashed but also stoned (i kid of course, but you get my point!). Were the signs not clear enough in the first leg? Not only was Roberto roasted on each and every occasion Mane was up against him he also offers nothing going forward. Semedo on the other hand provides a better defensive solution to deal with the pace of the Liverpool forwards but also offers an outlet for Barca to get out and relieve pressure and also start an attack. That was evident in both legs when he came on. There are a number of faults with Valverde but the most evident is that he is simply too negative, hence starting Vidal ahead of Arthur and also subbing Vidal for Semedo (ahead of Roberto). You don't invite pressure when you are amateurish at defending, you try to control proceedings and take the sting out of games that way, which brings me to Rakitic, he is quite simply overrated. He's been a passenger for a number of seasons now, his role is to conduct and control and i don't think i've ever seen him do either in all the seasons that he has been at the club. Time for him to be sold or for him to accept a role on sidelines as a squaddie. Barca need a clear out in the summer, starting with the manager that very likely had a hand in plenty of the mediocre signings in the past few seasons. First goal on the target list this summer should be to hijack Madrid's efforts to sign Hazard, he'll be costly but he'll make the difference. If that's not possible, get in Griezmann. Second goal should be to bring in Jovic, awesome player that would be an ideal replacement for Suarez.
Who would have thought that Barca could've signed Salah for €50m instead of Coutinho, the abysmal flop that cost us £105 million... But then again that's part of the beauty of this sport. I still quite clearly remember how Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo were considered of more or less equal talent, at the beginning of their careers... (Barcelona signed Quaresma instead of Ronaldo...) Having said that, I think that Dembele should be a great player if he can stay not injured for long enough to develop AND if he doesn't let the fame go to his head (this is assuming he ever becomes the player he hints he might or could become); at any rate, I think it would be a mistake to let him go at such a young age. On the other hand, Coutinho the twat needs to go; his celebration vs. Man Utd was disrespectful as hell to the fans, and of course the irony is that he just comprehensively demonstrated why the fans dislike him. He can go flop at some other club.
Valverde must go IMO he wasn't at fault for this but the is the guy who blew 2 3-0 leads. When you miss piss easy chances it's not the coach's fault Alba is to blame as he had like his worst game ever I have ever seen from him. Couldn't his worst game be like Levante or some shit Anyway hope Dembele grows into a killer because if he doesn't Barca will become above average. PS I still can't get over Neymar leaving. With him Barca would have killed Liverpool last night Anyway hope that whoever wins tonight to win the final
Why not go with Busqs , Arthur and Vidal .. hell throw Roberto into a midfield 4 given Rakitic and Coutinho are useless against power speed . Samedo at his rightful place at RB in a 442
yeah, that midfield would have been effective. 4-4-2 is a formation that many fans believe we would play this game. But well, we actually have big chances to score. Messi created 3 big chances but coutinho,alba and suarez could not score. Messi could not either.
The worrisome part is that the squad in general is getting long in the tooth. The focus is on Suarez now but in a year, or two max, we will have the same concerns with Busquets, Pique and Messi.
Valverde needs to go if we're going to aim for CL thropy, we dont exactly need him in order to win the league or CDR, we've done that with various managers in last many years. It doesnt take Valverde to achieve that. He's going to turn Barca into another Juventus in CL. These CL lost in last 2 seasons will also has a lasting impact on the club for many years to come. Now Barca could win 2-0 or 3-0 , opponents still going to have big confidence to win the second leg.
Barca won their second CL back in 2006 , few years before Messi becoming best player. While Messi certainly has been carrying the team to large degree in last few years, Barca shouldnt think their future is all bleak when Messi retire or pass his prime. They've done it before without Messi, so its ridiculous that some fans think Barca is going to be at Eibar or Levante's level without Messi.
You don't think it pains me to say it at all, because apparently you can tell that I'm just being an insincere asshole for the hell of it?? Honestly, how can I even defend myself against your telepathic powers where you know what I mean despite me saying what I actually feel?? The defeat was painful, but honestly, this is some BS right here. Tottenham could win, just like the severely depleted and injured and fatigued Liverpool side that won last night, but that still doesn't change the fact that this group of Barca players cannot defend a 3-0 lead, which is unique in the history of this competition, and honestly, I think such a result is (in the long term) a symptom of a far more serious problem that neither Tottenham nor Liverpool suffer from. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I just cannot see how a bad coach can make a team THAT level of bad, that even a 3-0 lead cannot be defended in the away game. Time will tell, but as of now, I'm very much still furious after having experienced what was the greatest humiliation I can remember in my time watching this sport.
When Lucho was coach. Thanks for finally answering after the third time of asking. Because I don't watch Premier League as much as you do. And when I did turn it on I only saw those signs being held up at the Emerites saying 'Wenger Out'. Why did they want him out if... ... if he was doing what you say here? Or should I ask our new resident expert with the Rijkaard-spitting-on-Voller avatar who lists Arsenal as his favorite club?
Man, I remember watching that final. Still have it on video somewhere. Barca were big favorites with Milan missing Baresi and Costacurta in defence and Capello shredded Cruyff that night. In the mid-2000s when Cruyff was writing a column for a Spanish paper and would put down Mourinho's tactics Mou would fire back with, "At least I've never lost a final by four goals."
Liverpool achieved two remarkable comebacks in football history in the same competition. 04/05 UCL final and 18/19 2nd leg of SF will never be forgotten *smh*. Barca shall take their revenge against the Romans and Scousers.
No offense, but the above is probably representative of the larger underwhelming mentality that makes us give away 3-0 leads, in the first place. Arthur getting "rattled" was probably not the same thing as conceding a 0-4 defeat. What about just play Vidal AND Arthur for the first half (keep Suarez or Coutnho on the bench), see how it pans out, weather the storm, as opposed to come out with the same team that was almost outplayed in the first leg. Instead, same team as in the first leg, and no Arthur not even when Barca is 3-0 in front... Cowardly tactics in my book... honestly he wasn't even courageous enough to take advantage of the incredibly lucky break that was that 3-0 win in the first leg.
Hope the LPB trolls who lick Valverde's butthole everytime he screws up hoping he will continue coaching us enjoy the video
Sorry guys was so emotional after the match. Maybe I'll be a bit less active but I'll still be lurking and still supporting the greatest club on Earth. It's hard to swallow being up 3-0 and then going down 0-4 but going into this tie I saw us as solid underdogs. Liverpool have the better squad and winning without Salah and Firmino confirmed that. How anyone can blame Messi is beyond me. He's the reason we didn't lose 4-1. In the second leg we had 8 chances and he shot 5 and created the other 3. Yes he isn't a vocal leader but he's been the one bright spot all season. He's been the paper covering the cracks, the "medicine man" as Ray Hudson always calls him. Without him our CL campaign would have been done long ago. Without him we would have been 3rd in La Liga and lost earlier in the Copa too. Valverde out. Yes it's not like he screwed up tactically but there has to be a message sent that we won't tolerate failure. Suarez glued to the bench ASAP. He doesn't have the legs in him. 90% of the time on the pitch, he's a donkey. Rakitic and Busquets shouldn't be getting minutes at this point. Too slow footed. They are liabilities against most teams. Even against Man U, we looked outmatched. Alba and Pique had horrific games but they are still starting level players although we need De Ligt badly. MATS also had a rough game. The goalie should come and punch out a few of those balls. The part I really can't get over is how we didn't have energy. How they bullied us. By the way Robertson should have been ejected for pushing Messi's head. Cristiano got a straight red for less than that against Valencia. Teams are definitely not scared of us now. We could have a 3-0 lead and the opponent's belief will still be there. Teams used to fear us although the lack of fear factor probably has more to do with our roster than anything. Who's going to be afraid of Suarez, Rakitic, Coutinho, Busquets... Other than Messi and perhaps an in-form Dembele, I ain't gonna be afraid of anyone else on this team if I'm the opposition.
I fear that Spurs may actually go through , sadly . They will be buoyed by last night’s still unbelievable massacre .. they have Son back up front and there’s even rumours that Kane could be playing the first 60 minutes.. Their plan is to attack from the opening seconds ( anyone recall last nights onslaught ) .. luckily Ajax don’t have a mediocre midfielder playing at RB though . I do worry about the thuggish Wanyama kicking 7 bells out of Frankie. !!
There are already rumors surfacing that the board will sack Valverde. Erik ten Hag will be the obvious name everyone puts out there. ten Hag is a leading candidate for Bayern as well. I'm not sure if Valverde will make it to the Copa del Rey final. The heat is on.
Messi desaparecido? É ver as 5 defesas do Allison. Desaparecida continua a inteligência de quem não consegue ver mais além! pic.twitter.com/MipFJTIUsM— Lateral Esquerdo 🧠 ⚽️🇵🇹 (@lateralesquerd) May 7, 2019 "Messi missing? It's looking at Allison's 5 saves. Missing continues to be the intelligence of those who can not see beyond!"