₦airaland Forum

Listening to the ESPN podcast today. Craig Burley said the same thing.

"We don't create enough chances. There's no creativity, and we win games through sheer willpower and pride."

Simple.

Available

What I said last week. Barcelona used to be the benchmark for beautiful football, but these days, we play like Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Nigeriagood:
dembele 2nd division player 😨why was he starting for Barcelona

Everybody starts for Barcelona at this point.

Oldboss:
When did u started watching football
Rodri that was running the show at Villarreal and ATM please don't even compare dem. Caicedo is all about energy, and Tackle Rodri is everything apart from the fact that he is slow He is currently the best midfielder in the world

He was running what show? He was probably a rising star at the age of 21. But nobody was talking about him. Most football fans only got to acknowledge Rodri when he was at City.

Even at Atleti, he was like Thomas Partey's kind of player. Of course, I know people like you'd say, "I have known Rodri since his Villareal days, and he was one of the best blah blah blah."

Like, shut the heck up. Rodri is fantastic, Yes. He is the best in his position, no doubt.

At 21, no big clubs were after him like Caicedo. He wasn't the talk of the town. He was one of those players that exploded out of nowhere. Even his first season at City was pretty average, and he sat on the bench a lot that season.

Don't come here to sound like an expert without your facts stacked in your briefcase.

andrewbaba44:
Una can hype nonsense sha

Same fans slandering xavi for not conceding goals ,praising ATM for same thing with just 2 games

Smh

I was referring to Rayo Vallecano. And who criticizes a coach for not conceding goals?

What I know is that this season is a three-horse race.

The way Atletico ended the last season with winning streaks and scoring the same amount of goals scored as us (La Liga Champions) after a poor start. Now, it seems they've picked up where they left. It's concerning. We better buckle our belts and give our oppositions a tough season.

andrewbaba44:
Is it the same team wey real betis wan kill last week?

I Kuku trust Barca against them

Two games, 6pts, zero goals conceded before playing Atletico. What are you saying?

I thought Atletico was defensive team?

Every time they use the 5-3-2 formation, they turn into prime Real Madrid and start whacking the hell out of their opps

7-0 against a decent Rayo Vallecano is insane.

Kilishihunter:
We're not chasing cucurella, I was talking of man united
Cancelo will aid our attack's productivity and also be the inverted RB we've been lacking since Dani Alves, We're Barça, We're not made to be defending like most midtable teams, ,(one of the reasons why you see xavi being called out despite his trophy wins) It's attack, attack until you outscore your opponents like the Barça iterations of old, If we can't win by 1-0 again and switch to 4-2, A win is still a win
It's also not guaranteed he'll play against tricky wingers since we have araujo and kounde for that

You have a point, but remember, defense wins you trophies, and attack wins you games.

Having a better defense and a mid-attack is better than having a great attack and a mediocre defense.

Kilishihunter:
Cancelo's arrival and Alonso's departure in one week would be the stuff of dreams but I'm not really sure Alonso will still leave this season especially as he's still leaning towards staying, xavi's backing and cucurella being a more logical option to poach

Honestly, we don't need Cancelo, Alonso, and freaking Cucurella. I'd rather sign another centre defender-and rotate him with Balde.

Playing with two natural fullbacks that can't defend will make us vulnerable to counterattacks.

We might not get up to 15 clean sheets this season.

I'm only voicing my opinion, but I'd trust Xavi for now.

Oldboss:
If Dem Caiceido is 115m
That means Rodri is definitely 200+m

Rodri is 27, while Caicedo is 21. Rodri isn't worth 200m. The point is that Caicedo is already in the top 3 best DMs in the league at the age of 21. That hype inflated his worth. Of course, he has the potential to be better than Rodri.

Rodri, at Caicedo's age, was an unknown. Draw the lines, and you'll understand why he's worth that much.

Mind you, Caicedo having that much potential doesn't mean he can't flop or misuse his talent.

Oldboss:
Have u watched any of inter Miami Game without Messi does guy are poor. Even Eyimba will beat them

When you pay $500 to watch Messi play, and he doesn't score goals, or his team gets hammered by the NY Red Bulls, you'll not return the next time.

andrewbaba44:
They know the vibes

Rodri is next

LMAO. To dream is free.

andrewbaba44:
Yes no loan fee with buy option of 25 milli

City dey dash us their players because we gave them football success.

Culer:
what intrigues me most about yamal is his decision making. At that tender age he knows the right thing to do at the right time. Maaad football IQ
A trait dumbele, at almost 30, still doesn't possess.

I watched the PSG game on Saturday, and Dembele's decision-making is one of the worst from a player who's supposed to be a world-beater.

Whenever he reaches the opposition's third, his brain lags and he somewhat loses or shoots the ball to the stand.

He's very lucky to still be playing at a top-flight football league. For me, he's a 2nd division league player.

I hope we win this game. I expect an entertaining match from Barça.

How long will Pedri be out, guys?

Yamal over an in-form Ferran Torres? C'mon, gaffer.

Oldboss:
I have lost count of how many times Messi has made me say "How is that even possible?".

Every time he comes up with something extraordinary. It could be just a pass or a through ball, but the execution and the timing is so immaculate, and one can only wonder how he can see the passes he does.

In this situation, you would expect most players to play the ball back to the player on the edge of the box, or even if he can see the pass to the wide player, it would be behind him. But Messi being Messi, plays it through to the wide player and gets on the end of the cross to finish it.

He makes the game beautiful as we know it.

Bro, relax. It's the MLS

S A

Coolx:
You have said it all
I like someone who isn't shy from the truth
I barely watch Barca game these days
I'm tired of their silly back pass
No counter attack nothing
We need a serious couch Xabi is the man

Xabi Alonso? I've not seen his ball. I hope he's innovative

Awesome01:
You really do have a good point there. However we've got a blessing of having some of the best midfielders in world football in Pedri Gundo, FDJ, Gavi, Romeu and others.

On paper, Barca has one of the best midfields in Europe.

They are very good at their positions, and expectedly, one expects them to create those chances often and often. And if that's not happening, who or what is the problem?

Is one or all the midfielders not playing up to expectations? or is it the formation? Or is it the tactics used? Or is it the coach? Or is it injury woes? What is the problem with our not creating chances in games? Which used to be one of our strengths before now.

Down to the manager and his tactics. Try to watch a Spurs game, and you'll see midfield a excellence from Pape Mate Sarr, Maddison, and Bissoumma.

I'm rooting for Spurs this season in the prem. I've been a lowkey Spurs fan in the Premier League, and this season, their new manager is smoking hot.

We have a better midfield than Spurs, yet we play like garbage. It's always difficult for Barça to play an attacking game with fluidity.

When I watch Spurs, I always have goosebumps. Ange Postecoglou (Spurs Manager) plays with a two-inverted full-back. This means he orders his fullbacks to invert into the midfield. And truly, when you watch Spurs, they dominate the midfield well.

He plays with wide midfielders. Son and Kulu play wide, which they don't usually do. They're used to being an inside forward. Especially Son.

Tottenham Hotspurs are playing beautiful football even against a low-block team, Spurs were creating chances after chances. They could have easily won 4-0 today if their attackers were more clinical.

My point is that Xavi isn't innovative enough. He recycles his tactics and doesn't allow an expressive football for the youngsters to express their creativity.

I mean, playing with a disciplined shape isn't bad, but Xavi isn't a manager of Barcelona's level.

I hate to say this, but Xavi is not a manager that can take the club to the dreamland like Pep, Enrique, and Rijkaard.

I don't know better than Xavi, but watching Barcelona's game these days is boring. There's nothing new in the team's tactics.

There is no tactical innovation; our pattern is always identical to the previous match, and teams easily defend against us. Barcelona has always been a terrific team, but these days, we struggle to create chances. Like we hardly create any clear-cut chances.

We shuffle and recycle passes here and there. No creativity and innovation.

That's why we got trashed out of the UCL last season. Even an average Manchester United knocked us out last season.

Try to watch a Spurs game, and you'll see how they delicately whip low crosses into the box and how they break presses with a one-two pass with their pivots. The way their midfielders escape pressure in a tight space. Damn.

Honestly, the only creative player in our squad is Pedri. He's the only player that can wiggle out of tight spaces and press resistance.

Also, Barcelona crumbles under teams that play with high intensity. Why? We're too poor in the middle of the park. No team can beat City with a high press. City players are programmed to be press-resistant.

Eddie Howe said there is no press ritual effective against City. Their ball retention is so high, like the ball is glued to their feet, or their brains are programmed to a level that they know where to be, what to do, and what not to do.

We have one of the best training facilities in the world, and I wonder what Xavi teaches his players.

Listen, I've also realized our play is not Barcelonaesque. We play more like Real Madrid these days.

In the preseason, Xavi said Arsenal played with much intensity. Of course, he'd say that. We're so bad when we're pressed behind. The UCL is all about intensity and pressure. Against Arsenal, we could hardly string passes together without losing the ball.

If we can learn how to play through the press and be press-proof, then we're one step closer to immortality.

Anyways, I hope Xavi proves me wrong. However, I don't like Raphinha that much. We're kidding ourselves if we think we can reach the UCL quarter-final with Raphinha as a starter.

I'm not saying he's bad, but man.

I'm out.

Kilishihunter:
I'm just glad we sealed this Roque kid despite all the tough competition, scored a golazo last night, Dollywood you that likes talking about half Chances being fed to lewandowski I'll have you know that Roque's team atletico paranense is one of the least teams for expected goals in the Brazilian serie A but kid's still finding a way to score, he's literally almost carrying them at age 18, If he continues his good development at this rate don't you think his goal rate will improve when he comes to a bigger side
Note I'm not in anyway comparing him with lewandowski the old fox who obviously has years of knowledge in the game and was pichichi last season, But Blud's being off since the world cup, and it's highly worrying

,

There's no way you're comparing La Liga to the Brasiliero Seria A. Lewa is a veteran striker. If the team creates chances, we worry Lewandowski won't score.

We're afraid of the unknown. The fact that our striker isn't scoring makes us tremble because we barely create any chances. That's why we won the league with binary scores.

If we create chances like Bayern, Arsenal, City, and even Real Madrid, we wouldn't wait for our strikers. With so many chances, our 8s can run into the box to score goals. Heck, even Raphinha will rack up 20 goals per season.

Bring Roque, and we'll see how many he'll score in this team that expects strikers to work their asses off to score one or two goals.

Lewandowski scored 30 goals last season. That's amazing for a team that doesn't average more than 2 goals per match.

If you want your striker to flourish, feed him. You don't give him crumbs and expect a bigger reward.

Or have you forgotten Lewandowski didn't score a single penalty last season? That's part of what I've been trying to say.

We lack creativity. Our tactics are too predictable. Low-block teams know how to defend and frustrate us.

Still available

You are right. He deserves more than being locked up in Jail.

He's a loser and an irresponsible father. Your children will grow up to hate him. Avoid him and look for somewhere else before he attacks you again, which I'm sure would be far more brutal than last time because of what you did.

tuzle:
so are u saying we should forget about winning the league? Why then are we spending money if not to compete with city. How many years do we have to wait before we can dine on the same table with city? Leicester won the league during one of those seasons guardiola was coach, why can't we do the same? Liverpool also won it too.

Leicester? You're mistaken. Liverpool? Yes. Because I said you shouldn't compare yourself to City doesn't mean you shouldn't compete for the title. Thinking you're on the same level as City is a recipe for disaster. An over-inflated ego that needs to be humbled.

BlaqFaze:
Dribbling, shooting, decisiveness...the only thing Balde has better than Cancelo is speed, and Cancelo is no slouch in that department either...Balde is a little bit faster

Dribbling? I have to disagree with that. Shooting? Does he even shoot? He's a full-back. There's nothing to shoot.

illicit:
Teaching ought to be the highest paid profession

Highest? Definitely not. It's not a lucrative skill.

pocohantas:
After they collect heartbreak, they will start overdosing on redpill. He doesn't care about impressing women. Make we beg am? He shouldn't impress his woman na. My own man dey impress me and I impress him too.

You impress him by offering what? Lemme guess "Nothing."