Was about to say the same. Fekir looking good
And agree with you. Will never understand the Griezmann buy. They should’ve gone for the Atletico man

Barcelona spend so much money and get such awful value. If they didn't have Messi they wouldn't have won much post Xavi and Iniesta.

Edit: Not even watching the game and I see that Griezmann scores 😆, but my post is more generally speaking. A forward for a big club is bound to score goals whether they're a good fit or not.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Barcelona spend so much money and get such awful value. If they didn't have Messi they wouldn't have won much post Xavi and Iniesta.

Edit: Not even watching the game and I see that Griezmann scores 😆, but my post is more generally speaking. A forward for a big club is bound to score goals whether they're a good fit or not.

They have some of the worst scouting in Europe. Lot of it was during Raul’s reign. But it looks like he had help given his decent record here

They’re stirring the pots now. Betis are outclassed. Perez with a quality finish.

I wouldn't complain about relying on messi, whatever the context or situation. He provides great entertainment by himself. I'd sacrifice watching overall team playing nice to accommodate him. ....from a spectator's point of view.

That first touch from Perez was high quality.

Barca fans have high hopes for him. Apparently the new Denis Suarez

That's like being crowned the new Ward-Prowse 😆

Speaking of Suarez, he played exceptionally well yesterday. Clearly the standout player, playing mainly from the left. Looked like a peak Hleb. Missed a late penalty but was still a level above everyone else. Was heartwarming to see after his tough London spell.

I actually thought he looked ok when he played for us, technically good and injected pace into the game. Just didn’t get any chances. Not really his fault.

Yeah he's become a meme with no fault of his own. He's clearly talented, not world class but good enough

This 16yr old looks decent.

goon wrote:

This 16yr old looks decent.

Loving his confidence.

Claudius wrote:

Lovely goal, Griezmann

that LeBron James celebration with the giltter though 😆 

You say it wasn't linear progression with Ter Stegen, but my view is that he has simply reached his peak performance level. He was an elite footballer at every age level in youth football and once he gained enough experience, he became an elite professional. I don't see the need for a more complicated analysis than that. Sure, Barca probably have good GK coaches, most top clubs do, and I'm sure they added to his game and improved him in certain areas, but I'm sure Gladbach and Germany have good coaches as well.

Similarly with Xavi, it's not a surprise that he took until he was 27 before he started to reach his best level because his advantage over other midfielders was his exceptional awareness of space/team mates. I would have bet money that a player with lower than average athletic ability would have to spend  years playing, learning and improving his tactical understanding before being able to bring what he's exceptional at to bear at the top level.

And with Leno, it's a game of opinions, and when I watched videos galore of him in Germany, I saw a guy that was very good with his feet and said as much when we signed him because that was one of the cirticisms that was going around at that time. So I'm not shocked and didn't see a huge improvement. I also don't see how you think it's possible for a keeper to come in for pre-season in July and then radically alter his ability control and pass a football by August? In fact, from the first pre-season game he played you could see his class with the ball at his feet. Perhaps he, too, just improved with age and whilst the technical ability was always there, started making better decisions with when and when not to take a touch and in his pass selection?

And that brings me on to what a good coach can do. A good GK coach can help a little with what Leno improved on, in the same way, Arteta has worked with Sterling to improve his goalscoring. Sterling still has terrible ball striking and unreliable finishing; it's too late for much, if any, improvement to the technical aspect of goalscoring, but he can be shown what sorts of runs to make and when to make them. He can imrpove his composure in front of goal by repeated practice in training.

5 days later

Joao Felix just scored to make it 1-2 vs Eibar.
VAR decision took about 2 minutes. You guys would love that. Good goal though. Costa showed great power and strength to set up the kid

They're extremely slow. Took almost 5 minutes to disallow a goal last week in the Sociedad match. It is definitely possible to make decisions much quicker.

Class finish from Vitolo

Does anyone know how sensitive the VAR technology is on offside decisions? Is it people doing freeze frames or is it automated?

Bale mini renaissance. Good finish for his second goal. But Real are dire.

Anguissa has looked really dynamic in Villareal’s engine room, playing behind Cazorla. Really strong and powerful, good tackling, covers ground quickly with the ball.

Claudius wrote:

Bale mini renaissance. Good finish for his second goal. But Real are dire.

And then he gets a red. 😆

Hilarious.
Zidane must regret coming back for a second act. He should’ve waited til he could be certain he could secure someone like Mbappé as his centerpiece. This team lacks athleticism. Just looks past it

Claudius wrote:

Anguissa has looked really dynamic in Villareal’s engine room, playing behind Cazorla. Really strong and powerful, good tackling, covers ground quickly with the ball.

The chap who played for Fulham last season?

14 days later

Ramos got injured yesterday during the game vs Levante which makes this Madrid's 5000th injury this season. Probably totally unrelated to their training methods

What the hell was that?

Their form is all over the gaff.

Marcelo got a neck injury today 😆 this is one of the most fun things going this season so far.

Marcelo
Asensio
Modric
Hazard
Isco
Brahim Diaz
Mendy
James
Mariano
Jovic
Rodrygo

That injury list is good enough to win Champions League 😆

5 days later

Barcelona with another horrible away performance. Lost 2-0 at Granada.

Surely Valverde must be walking on thin ice.

Hahaha. They lost to the top of the table team 🙂
They looked limp in the 15 minutes I saw. How was the rest?

Horrible.
Griezmann was stuck out on the wing where he was ineffective.
Suarez playing upfront was completely shit again.

If all of Europe’s teams are floundering, increases the chances that Klopp or Guardiola win the Big Ears. Sickening

It's amazing that Barcelona, to this day, still haven't replaced Guardiola.
Luis Enrique may have won the treble but his philosophy was non-existent and his tactics were so bad that the players revolted.
Valverde's Barcelona have never looked convincing and their player recruitment has been so disastrous that I think they are regretting not breaking the bank for the Neymar deal that favoured PSG.

Should have signed Ødegaard instead of Ceballos.

Santi with a banger against Barca. Keeper made a hash of it but still great to see.