Adiwana:
I will take this 3 points any time any day.Not the prettiest of wins but at this point we need results not some world class performances

Key Takeaways

Whoever thought about selling Semedo is very stupid.Dude was great making those forward runs and was really fantastic on the day. We really need Marina of Chelsea as she knows how to make real transfer decisions. Abidal maybe a club legend but being our sporting directories something that doesn't fit him well.

Messi lacked a little bit of match sharpness.Was still OK based on his standards. Fati/Puig and La Masia is the future. We should think to our academy and stop wasting funds buying players.

Arthur was really poor.Vidal was poor but improved greatly in the last 30 minutes.Rakitic continued his improvements.

Lastly,we needa coach that knows what he's doing. This game needed Griezmann and Suarez not starting the 2nd half with Braith and Fati starting in the 2nd half. We needed more energy and that what got us the 3 points

homesteady:


Exactly. They all come to Barcelona and become impotent because they have to pass to Messi. It's just so painful.

I just wonder why the management don't have the common sense to see that Messi is not like before. Why will a 33 year old player be saddled with so much responsibility? They are just burning him out and the effect is already showing.

When Ronaldo was past 32, he was already skipping some games, but Messi is playing every single minute of every game.

We need a Coach with balls to come and stop all this rubbish going on.

jpmoriarti:
Puig was the man of the match for me. He was the only one who was able to bring the incisiveness Barcelona badly needed. Easily the best midfielder on the show.

We'll see what happens next game, if the coach will still keep him away from the starting line up

Adiwana:


I don't think he should start next game. Should be Busquet,Rakitic,Arthur. Then he and Vidal can enter the game to provide those energy needed to get these goals. Same with Fati. We are really low on rythm and this kind of players are ones that should be brought in to change games

kodded:


Barcelona don't need any coach, what Barcelona need is a world class LW like Neymar that can single handledy win you games on his own.


check today game, apart from messi, every other players look average when they are with the ball around the box 18


griezman for example was average again because Messi occupied his favourite position to shoot from outside the box

Suarez on the other hand has passed his prime, his shot is no longer deadly from outside the box and neither is his passing accuracy that suberp


arthur, semendo, Alba, bosquet, Vidal are all average when with the ball withing the box 18, this is because their shots are not threatening neither is their vision for passing great


coincidentally the only midfielder that has attempted more shot on target from outside the box is rakitic, this is because of his long short accuracy ability, that's why you see him getting to the scoring sheet more than any other midfielder in the team.

this is not a rocket science, when a player poses more threat from outside the box, the rest of the team will always pass the ball to him, because the other players in the team don't poses such ability.


if Barca can bring back Neymar or someone that is really comfortable playing from the LW, you will start seeing less of 'pass to Messi', because other players will be passing the ball more to the other attacking threat rather than Messi.


finally, I want you to ask yourself why did 'pass to Messi' begin as soon as Neymar left us

jpmoriarti:
Busquets is suspended. Card accumulation

toluxe0075:
Messi, Suarez, and Alba are so unfair to Griezmann. This guy will make a good run only for those guys to pretend as if they didn't see him. Setien too is a fool for leaving removing Griezmann while that wasteful Suarez is still playing. I hate this current Barca team.

Adiwana:


Ok,should be Rakitic,Vidal and Arthur. Puig can come in to give us the same energy he gave today

jpmoriarti:
Puig was the man of the match for me. He was the only one who was able to bring the incisiveness Barcelona badly needed. Easily the best midfielder on the show.

We'll see what happens next game, if the coach will still keep him away from the starting line up

homesteady:


That is what hungry youths bring to the game. They just came in and brought in fluidity and movements.

jpmoriarti:
Arthur was awful during the game. He should sit on the bench until he learns how to be a midfielder that offers visions and promises with his ball circulation. Puig didn't have to do much to be an upgrade

tesppidd:
Fati and Puig gave me joy.

Fati gave me memories of Neymar.

Puig of Iniesta.

Unlimited22:

Lol. And which person in his right mind would exchange KDB or Bernardo Silva for Arthur?

kodded:


Barcelona don't do need any coach, what Barcelona need is a world class LW like Neymar that can single handledy win you games on his own.


check today game, apart from messi, every other players look average when they are with the ball around the box 18


griezman for example was average again because Messi occupied his favourite position to shoot from outside the box

Suarez on the other hand has passed his prime, his shot is no longer deadly from outside the box and neither is his passing accuracy that suberp


arthur, semendo, Alba, bosquet, Vidal are all average when with the ball withing the box 18, this is because their shots are not threatening neither is their vision for passing great


coincidentally the only midfielder that has attempted more shot on target from outside the box is rakitic, this is because of his long short accuracy ability, that's why you see him getting to the scoring sheet more than any other midfielder in the team.

this is not a rocket science, when a player poses more threat from outside the box, the rest of the team will always pass the ball to him, because the other players in the team don't poses such ability.


if Barca can bring back Neymar or someone that is really comfortable playing from the LW, you will start seeing less of 'pass to Messi', because other players will be passing the ball more to the other attacking threat rather than Messi.


finally, I want you to ask yourself why did 'pass to Messi' begin as soon as Neymar left us

funkyjms:


He was good today but don't say this again

jpmoriarti:
We have all been focusing in how bad the team has been since resumption but one fact remains that the team is yet to concede a goal.

G 4
W 3
GF 7
GA O

Not all bad if you ask me.

tesppidd:
Not all.

There are certain people whose only job is to criticize.

Ibukzy:
We need to rest messi in the next game against celta, maybe he can come from the bench if things aren't going our way

jpmoriarti:
Yeah someone like Debroslink.

He only visits the thread on occasions when the team drops points to justify and continue his #PassToMessi tirade. Like are we supposed to throw Messi away, so the players won't pass ball to him or something?

He's got a point though. Other players are supposed to take and assume more responsibility on the field but dude is now overkilling it. Everything he says is now a cliché!

Remarkably, you don't see him around this thread whenever the team manages to grab all 3 points. You begin to wonder if he wishes the team goes down, so he can feel justified?

tesppidd:
lol. Go easy on Debros.

That's why i loved Dembele.

He ain't no Neymar but he's the closest.

Dembele makes his runs and sometimes ignores Messi sef, pulls defenders out of their shape.

That's the kind of player we need.

Fati is not bad but he needs consistency.


Personally i don't like to criticize the team too much.

People have no idea how difficult it is to play against a top team who decide to leave 6 or 7 men around the box and play on the counter.
It is very difficult. Like last night.

Its getting to 10 years and we have not found a solution to that problem.

jpmoriarti:
Happy Birthday Leo Messi!

So sad Barca hadn't taken full advantage of Messi's best years to win as many UCL as possible.

A return of 1 trophy in the last five years is simply not good enough considering we have GOAT on our side.

Sometimes, it feels like we missed huge opportunity to stamp our authority on Spanish and European Football. Yes, we dominated locally but it would have been more balanced if this dominance translated to more European Championships.

tesppidd:
Rest Messi away to Celta?

Una don come again?



These are the next games;

Celta A
Athletico H
Villareal A
Espanyol H

The earliest we can rest Messi is at home to Espanyol.