UD Almeria 1 - FC Barcelona 2

I know no one cares anymore but this game is on right now and Barca is losing at HT. Suarez and Nerman on the bench. Goal Almeria:



Nerman and Suarez on in the 2nd half but Rafinha-Rakitic is the worst Barca midfield I've ever seen.

If we lose this...smh

we will

Next!

Has to be said it's ridiculous though. Hit the woodwork 3 times again. Someone jinxed this trio pretty hard.

Neymar

Suarez with DEM assists.

Suarezzzzzzzz

Xavi comes in, Barca scores 2 goals in 19 minutes. Still the best midfielder in the whole squad. Too bad he has no legs anymore.

Xavi had no part in this win. It came from great impact play from Suarez, scrubs were hauled off and Almeria getting tired.

In a   match the Barca is saved by Messi , in another match the Barca is saved by Neymar , in another match the Barca is saved by Suarez.
It is often for individualities , no game.
then there are the big games and Barca shows limits because of this
#Luchout

Tbh you can't blame solely Lucho. Rafinha and Rakitic aren't up to standard, Xavi can't start more than 1 game a week and Iniesta is injured (didn't play well this season anyway). Did Rakitic create a single goal the entire season apart from that deflected over the top pass in the first game against Elche? Or put someone in a goalscoring position? All the hipsters were telling me last season how great he was, best midfielder in La Liga etc. etc. I'm not seeing it. Cesc >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. Rightback position is also a problem. Alves has a free ride, his competitors are Lord Douglas, Montoya and a backup leftback made of glass. Centerback reinforcements have been a 31 year old smoker and Vermaelen who is yet to get fit in November. F everything and everyone.

What a game..from the brink of a third consecutive league defeat...Neymar and suarez.

On a positive note, barca fought like champions today.

Tbh the feckup in the lineup was completely on lucho. Why the hell aren't you starting Neymar and Suarez when there is international break coming up. The starting lineup were a joke.

on a side note though munir didn't play too bad, he set up two or three amazing chances, but also messed some up in the process..
he out shined pedro which idk if it's a good thing or not.
Messi has hit the post ATLEAST 5 times the past three games.

Harmonica wrote:Tbh the feckup in the lineup was completely on lucho. Why the hell aren't you starting Neymar and Suarez when there is international break coming up. The starting lineup were a joke.

Yeah, that's true. I don't have a single clue why he would leave out BOTH Neymar and Suarez in a tricky away game where it was clear that the opponent would park the airbus and start with Pedro and Munir who have what? 2 goals combined the entire season?

barca got 100 corners this season and not a single goal from those

What lucho was thinking i dont know tbh..leaving out neymar and suarez with the intl break coming up in an away match? Like generally subbing out these guys early isn't enough..leaving messi alone with those scrubs..so how does he expect the attack to build an understanding? I really don't want to believe lucho is taking advantage of the individual will/brilliance of some certain players..infact how many times has neymar opened the scoring in an otherwise tight affair? Did u see the will to win by certain players today? Especially suarez, neymar and messi?..how many times has barca struggled to score goals? Even against weak teams. Aside one or two occasions,we have not been able to blow any team away this season.. Lucho has to go back to the drawing board tbh.

Btw, why dont these pos keepers just let messi beat the record once and for all?

Fußball wrote:Tbh you can't blame solely Lucho. Rafinha and Rakitic aren't up to standard, Xavi can't start more than 1 game a week and Iniesta is injured (didn't play well this season anyway). Did Rakitic create a single goal the entire season apart from that deflected over the top pass in the first game against Elche? Or put someone in a goalscoring position? All the hipsters were telling me last season how great he was, best midfielder in La Liga etc. etc. I'm not seeing it. Cesc >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. Rightback position is also a problem. Alves has a free ride, his competitors are Lord Douglas, Montoya and a backup leftback made of glass. Centerback reinforcements have been a 31 year old smoker and Vermaelen who is yet to get fit in November. F everything and everyone.

Werent you advocating a Rafinha-Rakitic midfield after the Clasico?With Mascherano protecting.I can only imagine how bad our play would have been with Masch in midfield.
Still ignoring the most glaring problem I see.Typical.
Scrubrique is the biggest problem.Guy is completely and utterly clueless.That was the worst display I have seen from us in a long time and there have been some pretty bad performances.
And he does nothing to make us play better.We won inspite of Scrubrique not because of him.

Fußball wrote:Tbh you can't blame solely Lucho. Rafinha and Rakitic aren't up to standard, Xavi can't start more than 1 game a week and Iniesta is injured (didn't play well this season anyway). Did Rakitic create a single goal the entire season apart from that deflected over the top pass in the first game against Elche? Or put someone in a goalscoring position? All the hipsters were telling me last season how great he was, best midfielder in La Liga etc. etc. I'm not seeing it. Cesc >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

says the hipster himself. u need to stick to one idea and not change ur mind every match hell u even changer ur mind in middle of match rakitic was one of the best mf last season but he is poor this season because this team has not tactics. barca press very bad and defend very bad. everyone concentrate on the ball and runners go behind them unnoticed.

enrique is responsible for this awful team that doesnt play well or beautiful and is lucky to get results. it was obvious from the match vs villarreal this team is scrub killer at best. i agree with alex and barca this season have not a chance vs good teams max u get in champions is quarter final and i am very generous for sayin that. madrid to walk away with liga and their not even good .

alexjanosik wrote:

Werent you advocating a Rafinha-Rakitic midfield after the Clasico?With Mascherano protecting.

Yes, I did. Pure logic. Xavi turns 35 in January. He shouldn't be in the equation anymore apart from backing up his teammates to give them rest against midtable and relegation La Liga teams. Can Xavi physically last 90 minutes against teams like Bayern, Real, Atletico, Chelsea? If the answer is "no" then he should be counted out from the first XI. Which means Rakitic, Rafinha, Iniesta are the options for the 2 interior positions. Iniesta is playing dog poo for the past 18 months with glimpses here and there. Wasn't different under Martino. He had a bit of a resurrection around the time his baby died in spring this year. But that's about it. You can pretend that it's just tactics that don't suit him all you want. He isn't the same player anymore. So the logical choice is Rakitic-Rafinha. Because at least they have something to prove and will work hard. Unfortunately neither has the talent, neither is a central midfielder who can organize and dictate play. Both are attacking players in the mould of Fabregas. Except they create even less than Fabregas. I never imagined them to be this bad.

Stick to 1 idea? How? When I see Rakitic I want Xavi. When I see Xavi I want Iniesta. When I see Iniesta I want Rafinha. It's not my fault Barca doesn't have a single world class midfielder anymore and Messi is picking up the ball from the centerbacks to transition play.

moutinho98 wrote:

Fußball wrote:Tbh you can't blame solely Lucho. Rafinha and Rakitic aren't up to standard, Xavi can't start more than 1 game a week and Iniesta is injured (didn't play well this season anyway). Did Rakitic create a single goal the entire season apart from that deflected over the top pass in the first game against Elche? Or put someone in a goalscoring position? All the hipsters were telling me last season how great he was, best midfielder in La Liga etc. etc. I'm not seeing it. Cesc >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

says the hipster himself. u need to stick to one idea and not change ur mind every match hell u even changer ur mind in middle of match rakitic was one of the best mf last season but he is poor this season because this team has not tactics. barca press very bad and defend very bad. everyone concentrate on the ball and runners go behind them unnoticed.

enrique is responsible for this awful team that doesnt play well or beautiful and is lucky to get results. it was obvious from the match vs villarreal this team is scrub killer at best. i agree with alex and barca this season have not a chance vs good teams max u get in champions is quarter final and i am very generous for sayin that. madrid to walk away with liga and their not even good .

Dude, he is bad. I don't care what he did for Sevilla. Forget tactics, just look at him individually, what he does once he has the ball. He overhits passes, has a very erratic touch and plays ping-pong under the slightest bit of pressure (immediately backpassing). He should be backup at best like Keita was. He might be great for clubs like Spurs, Sevilla, Mönchengladbach. He's not someone to run the midfield of Barcelona. fss

Glad to see Suarez is at least getting up to speed now. 2 assists? Not bad at all. Looked unmarkable at times. Too strong & intense to mark one on one at least. Things beginning to look up again.