₦airaland Forum

Moura7:
Maybe getting Memphis next month wouldn't be such a bad idea no matter how mid he might be.

I've been craving to have Memphis at barca. He'll be a boost. So sad he won't be playing at champions league if he joins us this season. or will he?

Goldbringer:
I think konrad should be a mainstay of the first team for now. Who knows what he might turn out to be?

Lol! Have you forgotten who's in charge?! Koeman!


Konrad won't get any playing time. maybe just 10-15 mins.

Philippe Coutinho has muscle discomfort and is a doubt for Sunday's clash against Levante. — MD


This season just tire me. Problems both internally and externally.

Barca have 4 games to play before Christmas. This season is not nice for a team in transition and with a stupid manager.

Not surprised injuries are killing the big players while the manager adamantly leaves good replacements on the bench.

I'm so disappointed at some of my fellow cules here.

A dimwit from nowhere comes and brings up a "Modric is better that Xavi" argument and y'all start engaging him. Who won this and that, bla bla bla...

Seriously?!

Sometimes y'all should remember the golden rule: Silence is the perfect answer for fools .

So sad

Goldbringer:
Yes ooh if I didn't put right now you'll find another angle to hook me. Meanwhile your Madrid neighbors are claiming modric is better than xavi and iniesta on their thread. Did beating monchengladbach cause this?

We barca fans don't worry when those fools say shit. I mean, everyone or group have the right to say whatever they want. The only thing that hurts is how such right is constantly abused through words of foolishness.

But then again, that's life.

Its full of sides of twos.

Good and bad. Beautiful and ugly. And in this context wisdom and foolishness

tesppidd:
Bro to be honest I don't know.

All I see is mediocrity..


I like Puig; then

I want a DM in the mould of Goretzka, Casemiro or Rodri.

That would be Matheus(maybe)

tesppidd:
Madrid is a table topper..!

Ah! how come? Inter are very useless

Let us get Madrid. it'll be good o.

tesppidd:
Bang average.
Pedri is bench material if we want to win things. De Jong is overrated.
Puig is good.

So which would you prefer.
A coutinho , Puig and Pjanic combo?
Messi , Puig , Pjanic
or Aleña, Puig and Pjanic

Moura7:
Na bro, I just don't want Bayern. Honestly, I'd very much prefer Madrid. They can give us any other team bar Bayern. Plus alot can happen btw now and February, we can improve.

We CAN'T get Madrid. Every 2nd place team must get a table topper.

zainkay:
we can imagine the level of improvement we would have witnessed if he was the one with those number of games Pedri had.. It's a great disrespect to his talent and performances to start anyone ahead of him in that midfield..

Koeman believes he doesn't fit the team despite all these.

But, I've been thinking how a midfield field trio of Pedri, Puig and De jong will be.

Group A Bayern Munich & Athletico Madrid

Group B: Real Madrid & Borussia Moenchengladbach

Group C: Manchester City & FC Porto

Group D: Liverpool & Atalanta

Group E: Chelsea & Sevilla

Group F:
Borussia Dortmund & Lazio

Group G: Juventus & Barcelona

Group H: PSG & RB Leipzig

All the teams are just too Strong.. Imagine barca coming second like Atalanta, Porto, Lazio, Monchegladbach, and Atalanta

No upset in the group stages.

The best we can get is Chelsea

Neimar:
Make dem give us Dortmund or PSG

None of these teams is preferable.

They all attack like animals.

If our defence don't step up, we'll get crushed.

Thank God umtiti is back, and we gave Araujo. The only thing left is choosing the right midfielders ,attackers and formation

Bayern wanna buy Frankie De Jong.

Barca is very desperate. Should he be sold?

BTW, Quick stat

In 24 minutes against Juventus, Riqui Puig has the same amount of key pass as De Jong in all of his last 5 games.

Now I understand why messi wasn't trolled excessively like before. Instead it was praises for he and CR7.

Compare his performance with CR7 and you'll see the guy is way better than his rival.

On the pitch,it wasn't Messi vs Ronaldo. It was Messi vs Buffon.

cumz:
Puig >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Pedri

We've known this all along, but it doesn't matter. Koeman will always bench him.

jpmoriarti:
We actually played well. Only problem was our below par start. Lost the game very early. The team led by the indomitable Messi tried to get back into the game but Juve were ready to shut shop.

We need reinforcements in January if we hope to compete.

Puig played really well. Actually the second best player after Messi for us. If he had started ahead of Pedri, maybe we might have had a chance.

Coutinho and Busquets didn't play at all.

Don't forget to add defensive frailties and errors

Okay!
Before the Juve match, there was rumour that the players expressed dissatisfaction with the 4-2-3-1 system. But koeman said the formation is non-negotiable.
Yesterday this is what he said again: “With the players we have, 4-2-3-1 is the best system.”
This guy is fxcking stubborn. This system makes it seem like were playing with a man down. It's not working.

This stubbornness and wickedness is why he deliberately benches Puig even when its glaring that the boy is super talented.

Yesterday, the whole world saw what barca was lacking. Puig. An engine in the middle. But koeman thinks otherwise. Even when FDJ or Busquets keep doing rubbish on the pitch, he'll rather play them that play Puig.

What else does this boy need to do.

As for defense, may God help us. Hopefully we can get better before our next UCL match.

Until, the elections are held and Koeman is fired ,I have no hope for this team.

Woah ! Just came online and I saw y'all are bashing koeman already. Pointless.

I'm just looking for those blaming messi. Honestly judging by yesterday's match, I support 'the messi must leave' movement. Not because we don't need him but because I don't have the stomach to see messi waste is precious final years on a useless club ,under a useless manager.

Messi played well yesterday,but he can't do it all.

As for Puig, I hope yesterday's performance convinced all those saying the that ' Pedri is better than Puig'.

I'll say it again, Asides Messi , Puig is our most creative player.

As for Koeman, He's not the right guy to lead us out of this mess. If only he was flexible and open minded. But, Stubbornness is his problem.

Starting XI

Ter stegen

Dest, Lenglet ,Araujo, Alba

Pjanic, FDJ

Trincao, Messi, Pedro

Griezmann.



BTW, Ronaldo and Arthur start for Juve.

I'm I the only one wishing dembele was available. I'm scared AF.

Moura7:
Bro, are you saying Messi is preventing the other players from stepping up? That when he plays, his presence scares the other players?....what exactly are you even saying? Cus whenever you comment here, it's always directly or passively against Messi. The other players are professionals and need to step up their game and stop being scared or intimidated by Messi's presence(according to you). He's played with Neymar, Suarez, Pedro, Iniesta, even dembele sef. Did his presence block them from playing to their full potential?
I get that he's not been at his usual best lately, I get that he's been playing with less enthusiasm too but there comes a time when the other ten have to step up too.
See Coutinho in that game, dude was out of it. No creativity, just passing back and forth, no take ons. Playing Coutinho in close tight spaces is just useless. No passes from the MDF that could engage our forwards( it wasn't even attempted at all), see that Sergio's through ball to Dest?.... that's what we should expect from our MDFs, that's why they're paid for crying out loud. It's their job.
The goals against us were defensive errors but instead let's single out Messi as the cause. Correct me if I'm wrong, almost all the positive from that game for Barca came from Messi's effort. Almost all the spaces found that Cadiz defence came from a Messi's boot.
Then let's talk about how nobody can actually take an accurate shot again. Like professional footballer can't take a straight shot at goal. Alba miscued one so wide in front of world I was baffled, Couts ballooned an open net chance too. No one shoots again, I didn't say curl oo, just shoot straight at goal. Messi loses ball more often now, he doesn't even join in pressing, he's not the guy we knew before but that doesn't mean he should always take the hit, man has overpaid his dues to be criticized this much esp by barca fans. He shouldn't have to carry barca almost single handedly as he's been doing. Others need to step up too.

You made so many sensible points but the bolded is just so on point.

Let's us look at our previous matches without Messi.

In fact all our matches this season. I doubt if any club have had as high number of shooting opportunities and golden opportunities as barca.

I said it once, that for Messi to still be the one taking 70% of the teams shots shows that our attackers are questionable.

Even when the chance comes and they eventual do, it's likely going to be off target.

You talked about Alba's miss. It was Trincao's miss in our match before Cadiz that made me realize that some players lack shooting confidence and accuracy. They'll rather pass. Except Dembele and Fati

If this team choose to rely on a declining Messi, then we're doomed.

Messi has carried us for over 10 YEARS! Other players should take over.

Koeman will play the B team again against Juve on Tuesday. We should expect to see players like Trincao,Pedri,Araujo,Pjanic and Neto. There could be more surprises in the lineup. [SPORT]


I wonder what Koeman is planning. Perhaps Puig or Alena have a chance.
Let him bench Messi and Griezmann also. I wanna see something.

Abimloaded:
Imagine... Cadiz coach knows our own game plan more than our coach does.

Cadiz coach is lecturing Barca's coach. Drama just full this club and 2020.

Very funny.

The problems are so obvious for all to see.

Anyway, we can only hope for the best.

Koeman has just 2 plans.

First is to play a double pivot and field 4 attacking players into any position to fill up space.

Second, when the game isn't going our way, he'll sacrifice the a midfielder and defender to bring on 2 more attackers.

Madrid destroyed us with his plans and Cadiz should have gotten more than 2 goals as well in that match.

Asides those 2 plans ,Koeman is as empty as camp nou right now with nothing to offer. No tactical sense. Hes simply thriving on talents of the players but he's not using them optimally.

Baddestguyp:
Based on available players I propose This formation for Tuesday...

433
Konrad is untested...I'd rather start Pedri at LW as Pedri did well in that position in 1st leg

I no longer rate Coutinho or Trincao...they are both useless...same as Busquets

Puig should start...we need his risk-taking and passing against Juve

Koeman can't try 4-3-3. It's 4-2-3-1 or nothing.

He has a fixed tactical mindset. That's the problem. That double pivot thingy is just not it. It's simply accommodating useless players like Busquets. His partnership with De Jong has NEVER worked.

The painful thing is that we have the players to pull off wins in every match. But Koeman will never use them. Except something happens.

Look at Braithwaite. If not for Fati and Coutinho injuries, that guy would rot on the bench and only get 5-10 mins. Konrad might be talented on the wings, but Koeman will prefer to play a Coutinho who's useless as a winger.

Aleña and Puig would rot on the bench now that Busquets is back. We'll keep getting useless display from the midfield and nothing is gonna happen.

The problem is so obvious. Koeman.

haymekus:
Dembele is injured

Elongation of hamstring.

This season is really bad.

That foolish coutinho better step on Tuesday. Or better still ,Pedri should replace him.

Asides Dembele, Fati , Messi and Baraithwaite (based on form),I don't see any reliable attacker

This is funny. Only Messi can cause this.

Wondering why Messi finds it difficult to score free kicks?

tesppidd:
Like someone said on this thread last month;

If Messi does not leave this club by June, he'd be the biggest idiot that ever existed...

Messi yesterday

Most shots. 10

Most shots on target 5

Most take ons 9

Most fouls won 3

Though its wasn't his best night

He's definitely at fault


Like someone tweeted: Messi is a victim of his own greatness.

Cardiz had nothing to offer in that match. They came to park the bus.

The best barca would have gotten from that match was a 1-0 win with the players Koeman lined up.

The only thing needed was to take chances and keep it tidy at the back. That was all.

Watch how our defenders sacrificed us in the match. Yet some idiots are ranting that the team played poorly and lost because Messi was present.

Christ!

jpmoriarti:
I can blame Messi for everything, but I cannot blame him for comical individual errors from our defenders and goalkeepers.

What we are seeing are schoolboy costly mistakes that any professional player should be ashamed of.

Lenglet, Ter Stegen, Alba ... has been a shame.

Messi should just leave. Its like everyone ignore the things he does and focus on the failures of other and plant them on him.

He needs to leave. This is too much. To even see barca fans attacking him makes it even appalling.

I'm not understanding this anymore.

Koeman: "I subbed off Dest for some freshness on the wing with Trincão."

Can y'all see what a supposed manager is saying. Leaving Trincao all alone on the wings. and playing with 2 defenders.

Debroslink:
No truer words have been said. Why do Griezmann, Dembele and Braithwaite score load of goals whenever Messi isn't around, but disappear whenever he plays. The only time Messi plays well nowadays is @ Camp Nou.

Messi is GOAT, but if we want progress, we have to move on without him even this season.

Please list out the matches.

Let's check if Messi played or not.

Barca vs Osasuna. Messi played. He, Braithwaite , Griez, Coutinho all scored. But No one blamed Messi. We scored 4!

Barca vs Real Betis. He came on and changed the game. Haters went mute. That match we scored 5!


With Messi we can play well and score a lot. Koeman is the problem not Messi. Use you wingers for Christ sake.

In cagey games, leave griezmann out because he'll offer you NOTHING.

Our games without Messi showed the power of wing play and a No 9 and the irrelevance of Busquets.

Sadly, Koeman doesn't even know how to use the right players in the right game.

His substitutions?! Lord. Somebody that took of Dest who was playing well and one of the bright sparks yesterday.

Messi is not at fault.

We lost against a 'park the bus' Cardiz, due to stupid blunders by stupid defenders, Yet, Messi is the problem.

I am just tired of all these.

From the beginning of the match, the problems were staring right at us. No single winger to stretch the cardiz defense.

No proper cover for the defense. Busquets keeps doing nonsense. De jong keeps losing balls more than he recovers them.

Coutinho continued is poor play like in his last match.

Defenders and keeper couldn't keep their shit together.

But, because Messi played in the match, he's at fault for our loss.

Some idiots forget how we've been playing well very with Messi and decide to capitalize on how we've played well without Messi . And because his return coincidies with this loss ,he's at fault.

haymekus:
This coach is a fool

This is an established fact