Come at the King, You Best Not Miss - Barcelona 2015/2016

[bosox4283]

Maybe we were a bit quick to anoint Barcelona league champions. They've now taken 1 of the last 9 points. Yikes. It seems that the international break has taken a little out of the team, especially Neymar and Messi who have been a bit quiet these last few games.

I don't think Barcelona drops enough points for Atletico or Real Madrid to catch them, especially since Barca has the head-to-head advantage over both teams.

My question, though, is: what happened to Arda Turan? Is we exaggerating his poor form? Did the long layoff affect his play? Does he not fit into Barcelona's system?

 

[Zososoxfan]

To answer your question, my thought was that Arda was a great pick up because he could spell any player in the front 5. The reality is that he has not performed well as a MF. As a winger, he is creative and incisive and gives Barca a very good back up for Messi/Ney. But, there is no way that he can replace Iniesta or Rak, at least not yet. This really shouldn't be an issue since Rafinha is back and Roberto can fill in too, but I think the reality is that no matter what position you play, adjusting to the Barca system is almost always a 2-year process (the big exception being El Pistolero last year, and even he struggled early on before he became the focal point of the attack in the middle).

As for Saturday, you're absolutely right that SNM don't look like themselves. It could be because the travel, it could be that they're just wearing down at this time of year. For that reason, I didn't mind that Lucho sat Suarez. But if he's going to do that, he needs to start at least one of Iniesta/Rak. I think he realized how discombobulated his squad was at half, so he brought on San Andres and later even brought on Rak too. The right move would've been to play Arda instead of Munir. On top of all those changes, Roberto also started over Alba, although Lucho brought on Alba later too. I distinctly get the feeling that Unzue was advocating for some of this, Lucho reluctantly agreed, then reversed course as he saw the match develop. There's too many moving pieces for these lineup decisions to belong solely to one person.

All that being said, progress in UCL on Wednesday, and the panic will subside substantially. Valencia is next up in the league. March was pretty bad for them, but we'll see how they change post-Neville. They did beat Sevilla last week, but I did not see any of it.

 

[coremiller]

Also, they finished last year P60 W50 D4 L6, and of those six losses, one was the 2nd leg against Bayern when they scored first to go up 4-0 on aggregate and ultimately lost 3-2 (winning 5-3 on aggregate), and 4 of the other 5 losses were in the first part of the season. They lost away to Rayo on Jan 4 2015; besides the Bayern second leg, they would lose only one more match the rest of the season (at home to Malaga in February), finishing the season on a 31-2-2 run (with again, one of the "losses" not really being a loss).

If you add that to the numbers above, and then add the UEFA and Spanish Super Cups (1-1-1), then in their last 83 meaningful games (yes, selective endpoints) they are W70 D8 L5.

So what the hell happened to this team? Since I pointed out that Barca had lost only 5 times in their last 83 games, they have lost 3 of 4, and the only game they didn't lose was the first leg tie where they fell behind before Atletico were reduced to 10 men.

 

[Schnerres]

I´m not saying it, but...in the 89th minute it-s Barca - Valencia 1-2 and Atletico already tied them on points today.
HAHA - Pique with a huge miss from 7meters in the 90th minute after his opponent missed the high cross.

 

[Schnerres]

Game over. Barca has now lost 4 out of 5 including CL.

Now it´s
1 Barca 76p
2 Atleti 76p
3 Real 75p
Tiebreaker is direct matchup.
Barca - Atletico was 2-1 and 2-1
Barca - Real was 4-0 (@RM) and 1-2(@FCB)
Real - Atletico was 1-1 and 0-1

Barca plays: LaCoruna(@), Gijon, Betis(@), Espanyol, Granada(@)
Atleti plays: Bilbao (@), Malaga, Rayo, Levante(@), Celta
Real plays: Villareal, Rayo(@), San Sebastian(@), Valencia, LaCoruna(@)

Bottom6 Teams=Green, Top6 teams=red.

Seems like Barca has the easiest path, but on current form they could drop some points. Real has won seven consecutive matches in LaLiga and Atletico is also on an emotional high of course after advancing through Barca in CL.
Who would have expected this about four weeks ago??

 

[bosox4283]

What an unbelievable turn of events. At this stage, Atletico and Madrid fans find themselves happy to be where they are, but also questioning these easily lost points during the season.

Because I'm somewhat a pessimist, I still think Barcelona takes the league. Barcelona has the easiest schedule, but they also play four teams all fighting to stay in first division. Without having to play Champions League, though, my guess is that Barcelona rests up, figures out what's wrong, and finds that extra gear to hold on to the lead.

 

[Zososoxfan]

This is definitely time for panic. Suarez and Ney look really out of it. Alba of all people looks tired to me at the back. All I know is the coaching staff needs to be much more creative than adding Pique up top to catalyze the attack. Maybe they need to try Messi as an "attacking midfielder" and get another winger out wide (Munir/Arda). The thing is the team created chances today and just didn't finish them. But, when things break down, putting Pique up top screams desperation and there should be a better strategy in the chamber.

 

[bosox4283]

There was an article in AS--or maybe Marca--talking about an informal agreement that Luis Enrique and the players made last year that basically ensured he would not take sub out any of Suarez, Neymar, and Messi. The article offered evidence that this was true, since any of the three players of the MSN had not been taken out. The conclusion, then, was that this rule prohibits Enrique from getting creative with this line-ups and substitutions, restricts how he can adapt to games, wears out these three, and keeps other players from developing a rhythm because they don't see time on the pitch.

It's a wonderful problem to have when MSN are on fire. It's troubling when the MSN struggle because they basically need to play themselves out of a funk.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Well then what about when Suarez sat against Sociedad? That sounds apocryphal to me and part of what made the special 2016 portion of the 2015-16 season possible was that all of Lucho's lineup juggling in the 15 portion kept the guys rested. Although this does jive with the story that Messi was pissed at Lucho for all of 15, leading to the training camp feud with Lucho in January where Xavi had to step in and keep the peace. I guess I just find it odd that SNM or any player would want to restrict their manager's ability to rest them. Hell, in the NBA I think many players wouldn't mind missing a month or 2 of the season and round into form before the playoffs.

 

[bosox4283]

It looks like Bale, Carvajal, and Pepe are out for RM against Villarreal. It'll be interesting to see how Zidane adjusts. Danilo looks terrible in his last game, but I doubt Zidane goes with Arbeloa. He may try to strengthen the midfield, keeping just Ronaldo and Benzema up front. Zidane could choose Casemiro, Modric, Isco, and James, which is a great combination.

 

[Schnerres]

Barca have steadied themselves, it seems. They 3-0 lead @LaCoruna after 47mins. Suarez with a brace and Rakitic. Suarez seems more important at this stage than Neymar and Messi, at least when you go by goals.

 

[CodPiece XL]

They only scored 8? They are slipping.

 

[bosox4283]

lol. Barcelona take care of business, but so do Atletico in, per usual, a nail-biting fashion. Godin went out with an injury, so we'll all be waiting to know how serious it is.

 

[Schnerres]

With 5 goals today, Suarez makes a run at Ronaldo in the Pichichi race.
76 goals for MSN out of 96 from Barca in 34 games and incredibly Real has even more (101).

 

[Zososoxfan]

Well that was much better. Barca were motivated again, pressing all over the pitch, and the goals were falling finally. Suarez got lucky on his push off on the first, but the second goal involved an absurd pass from Messi. Suarez then had a beautiful pass to catch a late-streaking Rak for #3. After the half, Barca kept pouring it on and Depor never retreated into a shell, hence the score line. Bartra acquitted himself and added a nice goal to top it off. Relegation battlers Gijon are up next. Surprisingly, Gijon on are on decent form the last month, going 2-2-1 (W-D-L) with wins over Atleti and Sevilla, and the loss to a quality Celta.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Barca were the beneficiaries of some calls over the weekend and won over Gijon 6-0. Messi got the scoring started at 12 minutes in, on a putback header from the top of the box. Suarez likely should've been called for a foul on the keeper who had punched it out, but it went uncalled. Barca then remained quiet until the ~60th minute on a nice attack finished off by Suarez. Suarez was likely offsides on the goal too. Suarez then converted 2 penalties, Neymar converted another pen, and then Suarez added his 4th goal on a really nice finish just before the game ended (back to back 4-goal games for Suarez). It seems SNM have 2 goals for every game - each one of them scores, and Suarez gets the Pichichi. Next up is midtable Real Betis.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Suarez just completed a hat trick with his 40th goal of the season. He is the first player other than Messi or Ronaldo to lead La Liga in scoring since Diego Forlan in 2008-09.

3 minutes of stoppage time until the celebrations begin.

 

[coremiller]

Barcelona are slowly making up ground on Real Madrid -- they now have 24 titles to Madrid's 32. Before Pep's first in 2009, it was 31-18. When Barcelona won their 8th title in 1960, they had 8 to Madrid's 6. They would win only two more in the next 30 years, while Madrid won 19.

When Madrid won the European Cup in 2002, that gave them 9 to Barcelona's 1. It's now 10-5 (obv Real has a chance to add another this year).

Of course, these trends could reverse. Despite their vaunted youth academy, Barca's first-choice XI is starting to creep up in age. Alves is 33, Iniesta 32, Mascherano 31, Saurez, Pique, and Turan 29, Messi and Rakitic 28, Alba and Busquets 27. The only key player under 27 is Neymar.

 

[Zososoxfan]

"Nothing motivates me more than going on to win this league after being in the shit." - Gerard Pique.

http://www.espnfc.us/club/barcelona/83/blog/post/2874381/barcelona-la-liga-title-owes-much-to-generation-that-won-six-years-ago

 

[Zososoxfan]

Barca wrapped up the domestic double with an entertaining 2-0 win over Sevilla AET. Suarez came off with an injury and Masche was given a direct red forcing Barca to play a man down for about 50 minutes. Right before the end of regulation, Banega was shown red, so that ET was 10 v. 10. That was short lived, as another Sevilla player saw red, so the match ended 10 v. 9. Barca struggled without Suarez and an inconsistent ref. Nevertheless, Messi dropped an absolute dime to a blazing Alba, who had a terrific finish to open the scoring. I have been cool to Alba's play this year, but that was exactly what he was doing last year and it helped seal a trophy for the Blaugrana. Messi assisted to Neymar late to make it 2-0. This Barca team seems to get along very well, so it was nice seeing them come together and secure another trophy.

As we move towards the offseason, I think the biggest questions surround Vidal and Turan. Both should fit into the squad much better with more time to acclimate, although both face challenges. Vidal presumably was brought in to compete with Alves, but Alves just had a terrific season and was much better than Alba throughout. Vidal also must compete with Sergi and to a much lesser extent, Adriano. I thought Turan was a terrific signing and that he would be able to spell Iniesta, Rak, Messi, and Neymar. However, as a MF he didn't defend or press as well as Iniesta or Rak and I frankly can't remember any significant games or plays he made as a winger. Turan needs to take a big step forward next year otherwise he will be considered a huge bust. The keeper situation also needs some attention. There are some reports out there that TS is not pleased with the current setup. I've been a TS detractor for some time, but he stepped up considerably in the final stretch of the season as Bravo went down. While it is ideal to have a seasoned vet in Bravo and a young upstart in TS, it is unlikely to be able to have 2 excellent keepers happy for much longer. There was an article of ESPNFC describing how La Masia keepers all looked to get out quickly after TS was signed, so while Barca can probably get 1 more season out of the Bravo/TS split, Bravo's value should be high and at some point a sale will need to be made.

Lastly, other than Pogba, I don't see many targets for Barca. I see more players look to leave (Bartra, Vermaelen, and Sandro in particular) than coming in. Perhaps another backup MF to help out Sergi and Rafinha even if it's not Pogba.

 

[The Price Is Wrong]

Actually, almost the entire extra time was played 10 v 10, the second red for Sevilla only happened at 120'. And Barca basically dominated in 10v10, because they had so much more space to maneuver, upping the value of their precision passing. Sevilla was physical and had a wide arsenal of player styles and talents, but if they couldn't score despite being a man up for 50 minutes, it'd be hard to argue they deserved to win the match. It got a little chippy at the end as they got desperate (hence second red, which the announcers called a little harsh - Carriço fairly got the ball first and Messi did about 7 rolls to embellish). But yeah, after Mathieu replaced Rakitic to cover the defense and Messi switched to a true midfield role, he was on fire all over the pitch.

I found this ESPN discussion of Luis Enrique's tactical dilemmas to be illuminating. One snippet:

Leaving Busquets in defence would have dramatically upset the balance of midfield and, more importantly, changed wholly the way that Barcelona like to play: with a central gatekeeper regulating when the ball is moved and to where. He beats out the tempo, sets the direction and organises when and where Barcelona press. Keeping Busquets in defence and just Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta in midfield wasn't an option.

From the stand-in Busquets, the absolute stand-out option was to bring on Jeremy Mathieu. Not only is (to my great surprise) the Frenchman one of the fastest players in the Spanish champions' squad, he's tall, good in the air and a massive favourite of Luis Enrique's. But he's very, very left-footed.

If he was coming on, there was an obvious option: Substitute a defensive left-sided player, install the Frenchman and play a basic three-man defence of Alves, Pique and Mathieu with Busquets in his completely accustomed role of dropping back occasionally to let Alves or Mathieu overlap. So, one obvious option was to take off Jordi Alba.

Instead, the Barcelona manager reasoned that keeping a back four with two flying full-backs and formally asking Messi to drop back into a three-man midfield, albeit as a No. 10 rather than in any way replicating Rakitic's work rate, was the way forward. Even in the frantic moments of the second half -- when Sevilla hit the post and, up a man, still had the scent of a second trophy in five days -- the decision didn't look anything other than smart.

By the time that Messi, deep in midfield, sent a pass to the onrushing Alba in that extraordinary extra-time tableau of bravery, intelligence and spirit, it was crystal clear that Luis Enrique had handled a major dilemma and made a cup-winning decision. He, and his director of football Robert Fernandez, have another, more long-term dilemma on their hands this summer.

As to squad changes, Alves is going to slow down sooner or later, whether Vidal overtakes him next year or the next guy does 3 years from now, it's good to have a capable replacement. Rakitic is definitely a poor man's Pogba at this point, but I think Pogba freelances a bit too much for Barca's current style. Maybe the fault there isn't Pogba's, I'm not sure. As for keepers, I think Bravo's current abilities surprised many people who thought he'd be washed up at this point, but I'm still a little down on Ter Stegen - his footwork and positioning instincts just aren't at the elite level that a Barca should be able to expect, despite his great hands. There are other keepers in La Liga that I'd take over him, even if he's still developing. There were a couple-near misses at Betis, a couple other slip-ups and softies allowed, and of course getting chipped at Roma in the UCL (which I don't fully hold against him, it was an inch-perfect shot).

 

[Zososoxfan]

Sergio signs a new 5-year contract to keep him at the club through 2021. His buyout clause is in the range of 150M Euros.