Why do people still insist that Barcelona are boring?

Defending is a art, it needs to be appreciated just as much as attacking play.

Clockwork Orange wrote:I have never undersood that notion. What do people expect when the opposition put 10 men behind the ball and refuse to play football? Where are the passing channels meant to be?

I had to sit down this weekend and endure watching my team play the shameful VVV playing with a similar philosophy to Chelsea last year. Frank de Boer had to explain in the press conference that it was the oppositions fault. Ajax were being criticised for playing like Spain (I take that as a compliment).


Why is football like this? I have not suffered this much watching football this season. Why is anti-football so rampant. The fact that the biggest footballing instituion, Real Madrid is managed by anti-footballs biggest proponent, Jose Mourniho makes me question the state of the beautiful game.

I never saw a Barcelona game and conceder it boring , just more often than not , their quality takes away the element of surprise, from their opponents at least. They do come up with it though with excellent build up play and very nice goals.

Noone's fault if the opposition chooses this way to defend against them , there's no fault at all. It's just another way to play football , there isn't only one way being the ' politically correct' one, so to claim that anything else is anti-football. The only anti-football there is , is basketball , gtfo

As for your comment on Mourinho and what according to you he represents..

All his teams have been scoring goals galore , even at Inter. Real scored so many goals last season , it's not even funny to claim this. Mourinho is just realistic about the game , that's what his job is and that's why his job is better than anyone else's. Not tyed to anything , just winning. That's what everyone in football wants , nothing anti-football in this.

I think people just find the possession boring. Sure it does get boring at times, however some of the inter changing, one touch passing etc is definitely fascinating.

I personally prefer Guardiola to Vilanova. His side was much better defensively and better overall. I'm not sure how the current Barca are winning. Maybe it's just because they have superior players to the rest of the La Liga sides.

Only their quick tiki taka when they score are entertaining.
Other than that all it is are just side to side passes then to midfield then back to defense then to Valdes followed by back to defense to midfield then to Messi which at this point it finally becomes entertaining.

rwo power wrote:Well, it is easy. If all teams going against Barca park the bus and the matches appear boring, there is one connecting factor: Barca. So it is easy to come to the conclusion it is Barca's fault, not the other way round

Correlation doesnt equal causation.

rwo power wrote:Well, it is easy. If all teams going against Barca park the bus and the matches appear boring, there is one connecting factor: Barca. So it is easy to come to the conclusion it is Barca's fault, not the other way round

How can it be Barcas fault when the opposition decides how to approach against Barca?

Pedram wrote:Defending is a art, it needs to be appreciated just as much as attacking play.

Defending is about team work, there is very little individualism.

To create, not only is there individualism, but its required.

So no, it doesnt need to be appreciated as much. Individualism is always tougher, always harder. Creation is always harder, always tougher than destruction

Come on now, it's still "just" a sport lol. You can't tell me a well placed tackle doesn't require some individual skill. Defending needs heart, courage and a cool head. All qualities worth admiring in any sport. I agree about the team work part though.

But then again the same can be said for attacking, the large majority of Barca goals come from team moves. While say Madrid like to indulge themselves in individual attacking efforts, but still need to work together to score.

I personally don't think Barcelona are boring, especially this season. Actually, I love watching Barcelona when Villa, Messi and Cesc start. It's some of the best football you can see at the moment.

Zealous wrote:Come on now, it's still "just" a sport lol. You can't tell me a well placed tackle doesn't require some individual skill. Defending needs heart, courage and a cool head. All qualities worth admiring in any sport. I agree about the team work part though.

But then again the same can be said for attacking, the large majority of Barca goals come from team moves. While say Madrid like to indulge themselves in individual attacking efforts, but still need to work together to score.

Did you really read my post? I didnt say there is no individual skill...I said less.

And yes, teamwork is required in attack, of course. But you need individual skill to create space, nearly every goal that is scored there is something individual about it.

Defence is structure, timing, numbers, organsation, communication.

I doubt many people think Barca are boring at least not this season.....

Because people find Spain boring don't mean they find Barca boring.

Theres quite a big difference between the two..... Barca have more direct players and take more risks and not to mention they have Messi which makes them more direct by default.

Spain are just pass you into boredom and have hardly any direct players.

It's like watching 11 central midfielders and is like watching paint dry.

Barca are on the other hand are very exciting to watch because they have directness and risk to their play unlike Spain.

My favourite team to watch is Dortmund but Barca are not far off it.

Before anyone points out that i said last season Barca boring.... they was.

They was moving closer to a Spain style of play which bores me to death, while this season they are moving back to a Rijkaard or first season of Guardiola style of play.

It's because Barcelona is so good that it becomes predictable almost
That's what people say, I don't buy into it I think they're a fantastic team to watch and also have incredible individual talents- it doesn't get much better than that

As I predicted Vilanova made tiki taka more offensive but vulnreable at the same time, there has been a bit less mindless passing and majority of the passes have gone forward.

The Franchise wrote:

Zealous wrote:Come on now, it's still "just" a sport lol. You can't tell me a well placed tackle doesn't require some individual skill. Defending needs heart, courage and a cool head. All qualities worth admiring in any sport. I agree about the team work part though.

But then again the same can be said for attacking, the large majority of Barca goals come from team moves. While say Madrid like to indulge themselves in individual attacking efforts, but still need to work together to score.

Did you really read my post? I didnt say there is no individual skill...I said less.

Yeah I know, I'm just arguing that it requires "more" than what you're saying it needs.

The Franchise wrote:And yes, teamwork is required in attack, of course. But you need individual skill to create space, nearly every goal that is scored there is something individual about it.

Defence is structure, timing, numbers, organsation, communication.

I get the gist of what's you're saying and obviously anyone who plays the game knows how hard it is to do something productive with a football in a real game. If you don't create something for yourself by way of individual skill (especially if you're average) then you're going to have a tough time. But anyone who's played against a team that's much better than yours knows how hard defence can be especially 1v1.

At the highest level when players who have the ball are just as comfortable with the ball than without a defender's job is not an easy one. Sometimes stopping an attack is harder the starting it when you're up against the best of the best.

Overall I agree with you. I'm just reppin' for defenders because what they do isn't easy, especially against the world's best.

eelir wrote:

rwo power wrote:Well, it is easy. If all teams going against Barca park the bus and the matches appear boring, there is one connecting factor: Barca. So it is easy to come to the conclusion it is Barca's fault, not the other way round

Please elaborate! What should Barca do to make it more entertaining? Just give the ball to 9-10 man in their box? Cross the ball restlessly so the defenders can clear it and hoof the ball to the lone standing striker at the other end? Would this make the game more entertaining?

This is stupid, 90% of the cases barca brakes down such teams. In 5% of the cases the teams get lucky, and other 5% Barca are out of tune.

They could do some circus tricks with the ball while they have it to entertain the audience. Do a Harlem Globetrotters of football.

Not this BS again. First and foremost football is about winning ffs. Go and tell Arsenal fans about this. Barcelona are to good at keeping the ball. What do you want people to do, chase them down and wear themselves out. If sitting back maximisies your chances of not losing go for it. Big teams have to play what? I hold no grudge against Chelsea for the way they won.


O and CO, what were Ajax doing when They went 2-0 up because they certainly weren't trying to play football against Man City... Explain please. Ajax were parking the bus...philosophy indeed...

jibers wrote:Not this BS again. First and foremost football is about winning ffs. Go and tell Arsenal fans about this. Barcelona are to good at keeping the ball. What do you want people to do, chase them down and wear themselves out. If sitting back maximisies your chances of not losing go for it. Big teams have to play what? I hold no grudge against Chelsea for the way they won.


O and CO, what were Ajax doing when They went 2-0 up because they certainly weren't trying to play football against Man City... Explain please. Ajax were parking the bus...philosophy indeed...

Dude are you Walking Dead? It sais you are banned, how come you can post? BTW can't blame Barca for other teams impotence. We always play the same!


@rwo - very original. u da best!

It is a little bit of chicken and egg. Although people do PTB against Barca especially because they just pass it around...

barca is playing the most entertaining football in europe atm, they're conceding so much and scoring so much at the same time

they were boring last season though, just waaaay to passive. titos barca is more direct and much more entertaining

I get ya Zeal, just saying. I think people appricate attacking more for a reason and I think a fair one.

As for this more direct talk...I dont have a clue what you people are talking about. Probably just listening to pundits and not thinking for yourself. There is very little more direct about our play, we play the same way whenever he have had 3 forwards on the pitch.

Pressing Barca = successful as well.

PTB isn't the only way to beat them.

@Kizz & Franchise

Of course I was joking. Was that so difficult to see? I mean, I even added the coffee guy

(I just answered the question posed in the topic ^^)

Its a shame people overuse coffee guy or I would of understood that lol

My apologies RWO

Dani do you think i pay attention to pundits lol?

It's pretty obvious to me you are playing more direct this season.

Direct doesn't mean long ball but i see more driving runs, more through balls, more forward passes and overall more risk being taken.

There has been games where you look like last season too but in the main i'm seeing a lot more direct play.

I was referring to the Madrid fans to be honest. I missed your post.

I dont think we are playing more direct at all anyway. I think just when you play Tello on the wing instead of Iniesta, of course your going to be playing more balls in behind the defence, those "risky" balls as you put it.

Aside from going back to 3 forwards on a permant basis (something we couldnt/didnt do last season), Alba who overlaps vs Adriano who comes inside more and Cesc..nothing different at all.

I don't know what Barca fans thinks about their style but so far what i've gathered from Tito's Barca is that they're more daring when going forward.

What i'm saying is that some of the goals that Barca has scored this season wouldn't have happened under Pep, like Alba's goal against Celtic. Barca's pep was more patient, less risk.