₦airaland Forum

Koeman: "Busquets can now do 7 push-ups without taking a break. Even at this age he's getting better and better everyday. Amazing athlete."

Just a joke


I pity Pjanic and the rest. Seems no one is replacing Busquets anytime soon. Except he gets injured.

tesppidd:
Trolling gone completely wrong.

Funny how he 'walked' himself to 6 Ballon dors.

While all other active players in the world collectively 'ran' their ways to 6 Ballon dors.

He'll probably walk to a 7th ballon dor award if things start falling into place

Moura7:
I totally agree, he should have marked even from the point the ball was with the keeper to show how dedicated he is to the team especially given that it was just a few seconds to the end of the match and the player with ball wouldn't have even crossed the midfield before the ref'd blow the final whistle. He should have pressed intensely even to the last second to show 'us ' that he's not lazy

losprince:
That took place around 90 + 3 minutes with few seconds to go, messi was our only player at the opposition half, we had 9 men and the goalie at our own half of the field, I'd find it ridiculous had he chased that player, I don't get what the fuss is all about.

People just want to push the messi is lazy narative so bad that they will take things completely out of context, it's pathetic to say the least.

May God bless you.

Match was practically over. But then again,they show part of the story and leave out the bigger picture .

only fools accept such.

tesppidd:
Lol.

He's got 2 bags filled with penalties to last a whole season.

This is Just so epic.

Ronaldo and Bruno are chasing him (penalty rankings)

If he had been scoring from open play nobody would have trolled him like this.

Anyway, these are part of what makes football fun.

ThawneXS:

This is funny!!!!!!!!!!!!

tesppidd:
The major problem i see with the team remains the inability to put away chances.

Fati has tried, he's played his part in terms of getting the goals.

Messi, Dembele, Griezman, and Pedri, are not scoring goals!

We can only hope and pray for all that to change pretty soon.
If the goals start coming somehow, I believe so much in this team.

We are top of our UCL group and are technically 5 points behind Real Madrid in La Liga.
And considering all of the challenges faced by this club on and off the field, it could be much worse than this.

Braithwaite could offer us something very different in attack, We should give Braithwaite a chance, replace Griezman.

Koeman has got no choice now but to try Braithwaite upfront.

Messi could play behind him,
flanked by Fati to the left and Dembele to the left in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

We even reason to be optimistic, if our attackers start burying chances.

You think Koeman will play Braithwaite

I still don't understand. if you can give Pedri a chance ,why can't you give other talents.
People think our only problem is not taking chances. WRONG!

Our problems cut across ALL departments.
Dynamo Kiev came with a completely depleted team. The world thought barca would beat them with by 4-goal margin or more.

Guess what, Ter Stegen had to rescue us . Meaning they could have won that game.
That defense is WEAK.

The midfield? Slow transition. Still, Koeman believes Busquets is the key to successful Barca while talents rot on the bench.

The double pivot strategy is not working. The double pivot system aims at super solidity. What have we gotten so far? Porousness. Creativity? We on rely messi.

Attack? You know the story.

Koeman is just headstrong and rigid. I saw his worried face and I know he knows he's screwing up. Just try other options. And play the right players. Based on form and effectiveness and not based on Past glory.

I don't see us beating Betis. And may we not play any fellow elite club soon . if that happens, hmmm, Humiliation 2.0.

So tesspidd, there's nothing to be optimistic about.

Guess the player:

"his 60 minutes on the pitch he attempted just 14 passes with an 86% completion rate"

"He wasn't fouled, nor did he foul. He didn't make a key pass, nor did he complete a dribble."

"made 22 touches in his 60 minutes on the pitch - his replacement, Ousmane Dembele made 29 touches after coming on in half the time.

And the fact that Ter Stegen made nine more touches than him - literally having more involvement in the match ......doesn't make for pleasant reading."



https://www.footballcritic.com/

haymekus:
Ngl pedri is not that bad, just that he’s more like a cm/am than a winger

But once clownman likes a player, he must find a way to use that player, regardless of if the player suit his game plan or not

Even in the match against juve, apart from a couple of dribbles, he wasn’t really an attacking threat in that game.

God bless you!

That Koeman is a stubborn and rigid fool.
Try something new. its obvious his strategy is not working. But no. He'll keep on doing the same thing.

Bart is gone. but barca still maintains its shitiness.

its like Koeman just throws in players based on who he thinks plays well in training or recent matches.

I still can't wrap my head around why Busquets plays regular and young talents like Puig and Alena waste.

Its like if De jong and Busquets don't play he'll die. He's now obsessed with Pedri and plugs him anyhow in the team whether its his position or not.

*Pedri on the wing is terrible and best utilized as a sub for now.
*Busquets and Griezmann should warm the bench.
*Dembele should be used more.
*The Double pivot strategy is bullshit.
*We need good CBs.
*We need a striker!
*Let Messi rest.
*Give Puig and Aleña chance play more.
*We need to shoot more.
*I think Trincao fooled me to thinking he's a world class talent.
*Koeman is a fool
*Barca isn't winning anything if things continue like this.

I still can believe it. Dynamo Kiev came with 13 players (not main squad), and we barely survived.
I know I said it still early days, but the signs we're seeing is of a terrible future.
No threat, quick transition, weak creativity, i can go on.

The problem is not just the players, its Koeman. That stubbornness will kill him.

Neshcheret
And he's dynamo Kiev's C keeper!

Players that have impressed me.

Ter stegen and Kiev keeper. Damn,they are good.

Guys, can someone tell me the value of this double pivot strategy that we've been using?

This Kiev C team have carved us open severally.

homesteady:
I haven't seen anybody excusing Griezmann on this thread sha. If there is any player that there is a 100% consensus among Barcelona fans that he is useless, that player is Griezmann

Someone defended him by saying he hasn't been given playing time and plays in odd positions.
As if that should stop him from scoring our big chances.

haymekus:
Come Sunday against real Betis, guess who’s gonna start as the top striker for barce.....




Someone that can’t convert a simple chance like this

Funny thing is I didn't flinch when it happened. It's like I getting used to our mediocrity.

Honestly, Koeman should:

do a 3-day shooting training for the players.

Griezmann is not ready! Pedri on the wing is just average. The right wing needs to be utilized. Trincao or Dembele won't be bad.

jpmoriarti:
All play and no result! Exactly what happened against Alaves. We need a classic no 9.

Apt!

Ter stegen

haymekus:
Greizmann never fails to disappoint

Make we still dey look

Like I was telling someone who was criticizing Messi, Griezmann has had the best of our goal scoring chances. A lot of them. And he's missed 98% of them.

Sadly, Messi is still the one to be singled out while other attackers can be 'excused'. Or so they said.

homesteady:
This Busquets Pjanic partnership is just stressing me out... Keoman is trying everything possible to convert Busquets into an attacking midfielder.

Koeman has issues honestly.

It's either he's putting right players in wrong positions. Or playing wrong players in right matches. Or he's messing something else.

haymekus:
Clownman never cease to surprise me

Pedri on the right wing is a no no.

Messi can play that wing while Pedri plays the No.10 role. Busquets and Pjanic partnership looks odd. Why not a younger player?

jonsnow92:
De Jong
Lol

De Jong is relatively experienced as a center back. His partnership with De ligt at Ajax was quite good.

Turns out he's better as a midfielder but very decent at the back too.

Dynamo Kiev manager said some sh*t about Barça.

"They have a squad with very talented players, but they need time to learn the mechanisms.
"I don't think Barcelona are at the level to win the Champions League at the moment. Bayern Munich, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain have more options"

He said "learn the mechanisms".

I'll love a thrashing.

Then Betis manager too that watered down Barça. He believes now is a good time to face Barça.

I can't wait for this weekend as well.

tesppidd:
3-0 for Barca.
Messi to score 2 penalties, Griezman 1 goal.

LMAO

homesteady:
Please kindly Point out where I said Messi was generally terrible. You won't find it because it's only in your imagination. You people think we are bashing Messi.

Or are you also of the mindset that a player should never be criticized like Tepsid?

The funny thing is that the backroom staff would have already noted these things. Maybe they have discussed it with him or the Coach already. So you guys need to chill.

Messi role is not the typical free role, he is extra free to do anything he wants. We don't have any player, in fact, there is hardly any player that can perform the same function. Look at other big clubs, is there any one that plays with a system where one player can do whatever he likes? Nahh.. That's the reason why he is the GOAT.

The truth is that Messi is ageing. When he eventually gets his form back, will he be able to play such a demanding role for every minute of this season? The solution will either be to positionally restrict him or play him in less games.

My reply was directed to practically everyone criticizing Messi.

You may not have tagged him terrible but the comments of some people here, by implication, have declared him Terrible.

calm down. I get your point.

And yes, a player can be criticized. But sensibly. I've criticized messi for his deficiency in leadership department. Yet, I recognize the that he leads in other ways like stepping up for the team countless times.

let it end here.


Our criticism won't change anything but some people just love to drag like fools without thinking about other variables.

Prediction for Tonight's game?

tesppidd:
Don't You think Messi should play only 65 minutes tonight and against Betis on Saturday?

Yea!
Pundits are tipping he'll be benched tonight sef.

tesppidd:


Yes you did.

The part where he's slobbing around the pitch lazilly and not tracking back to the post when he loses the ball.
And the part where other attackers in the team have hit double digits already.

That 'messi is lazy' argument is obviously a silly one.

Double digits?!

homesteady:
His poor goal form is not just the only thing wrong with his game. Last season after the covid break, he wasn't in his best scoring form, but there wasn't much talk because the other aspects of his game overshadowed that part.

But this season, the other aspects of his game are not good enough to gloss over his now worse goal form.

Check below for the comparison between Messi and the other 4 most used attackers this season. Here are the worrying facts -
1) Messi is losing possession far more than any of them. The key word here is FAR More.

2) Messi is dragging chances created with Fati and Coutinho and Pedri are ahead of him.

3) Unsuccessful take ons - it can be argued that he tries more take ons than other players, so he should have more unsuccessful take ons. I don't have stats to back this up, but he is losing far more take ons close to the opponents 18 box than normal, which I believe is what is contributing more to his possession loss stats.

4) Then his shots and shots on target stats which has already been discussed extensively.

I would have compared his stats of this season to this last season stats, but that will not make sense because I can't compare this season 6 matches to about 30 something games.


I am also assuming that this is because of his age and his insistence on playing every minute. But the truth is that this can not continue. The role Messi plays in the team needs someone that has to be firing on all cylinders.

What Messi needs now is a very careful plan to ensure we get the best out of his remaining years.

I don't even think anything can be done, because they will not bench him and he will still maintain his free role. So we can only just hope he plays better as the season progresses.

The stats are based on La liga only right?
Anyway, it doesn't matter.

Messi losing possession can be truly worrying. But, dwelling on that and declaring him as terrible doesn't just sound okay.

The only thing we can hope for is that things gets better for messi and his form improves(goalscoring and in other aspects possible).
I think the Messi we've known over time makes it difficult to accept the messi we know now.

There's nothing we can do. But the guy is trying.
That's the reason I hate it when people decide to single him out and criticise him as if he's meant to be perfect. There are other positives to his performance.

Maybe he can do better. We'll just have to wait. The season is still young.

As for the free role position, who do think is better to hold that position?

Bottom line:
Critic:
Messi has been poor in front of goal. YES! and its worrying. No goals from open play in what seems like forever!

Defense:
True! He has been poor. But his performances for the team is quite good for a 33 year old. Expectations for goal scoring shouldn't be placed highly for him.

He taking more shots means other attackers should even be questioned.

I'm sorry. Did I miss something?!

Tesspidd,

If people wanna criticize Messi, its okay to defend.
But if they still think their criticism is valid after that, there's no point dragging the issue. I mean, for 2-3 days?

Same goes to others

.

tesppidd:
My issue is even the bench;
When you reeled that line up I just thought about the bench.
Who's there?
Dembele, Fati, Busquets, maybe Alena.
Who else sef.

Braithwaite