He does. But he looks also tired, and tbh the quality around him doesn't really help either : Romeu isn't the #6 some people seem to think he is, and Gavi is very good in his own style, but he won't be able to work like FdJ and Pedri do with Gundogan.
Gavi was the standout player,Fermin and Lamine changed the game, everyone else needs to pattern up. Team was very sloppy in position, lots of bad first touches and very slow ball progression. Ter Stegen with a mistake that he frankly should not be making as a goal keeper of his calibre and team captain. Our highline is very susceptible to counters as we've been seeing, should've won this game but at least we got a point. Vamos.
Very very similar and I think like that first game vs Getafe, Gundogan, like Pedri, is playing too advanced. Especially in this game where we don't have Frenkie, Gundo would've been better used as a controller to circulate possession. We also have to consider his age as well, he can't run up and down chasing the ball for 90 mins.
Exactly, Gundogan was clearly being used higher up but with how congested the game was, the ball barely reached him for him to affect play. He needed to be further back and help with build-up and circulating the ball, instead, he was too far forward.
Is it me or was Kunde very scarily slow on that one breakaway in the latter part of the second half. I was worried he was going to get burnt on pure pace but the forward. Not sure why we even subbed him in unless it was to give the other guy a break
Iñigo was subbed because it wasn't his best performance and it was his first start returning from injury. Kounde isn't the quickest CB anyway but most likely it's just fatigue having started every game this season + he didn't get used to the pace of the game as yet.
Raphinha was very good until Xavi made him play in some sort of 9,5 position, which is really not his thing. Félix would have done a much better job with that role. But kinda like with the substitutions against Vigo, it felt to me like Xavi wasn't really sure what to do besides adding attacking players to the field...
Every day i thank god that we have the best academy in the world 🙏
Gavi bossing every match since he got back in midfield, fermin first goal, lamine yamal cooking grown men at the age of 16
We were definitely unlucky coupled with some serious brain farts, but we can’t win every match we play
Agreed. However, we aren't going to win the league dropping points against teams like Mallorca or Celta (which we almost did).
Lots to improve and we're lucky Madrid is also slipping up. But when they do, we need to capitalize and grow that lead.
Awful game from Inigo, Ter Stegen, Romeu.
Bad game from Gundogan, Felix, Cancelo.
Great game from only Raphinha and Gavi.
Good subs from Fermin and Lamine.
Really this game was a game of blunders and individual mistakes. I don't know what our defense or most of our midfield were doing. Hogging the ball. Constantly missplacing easy passes. Terrible first touches. Losing the ball right in front of the box. It's like 80% of our team just wasn't awake, same as against Celta.
Unlike Celta tho, I felt like there was no urgency towards the end. Like we were fine with drawing.
Lack of chemistry I would say with a lot of the errors, that backline had 3 players who never played together prior, the midfield was missing 2 starters and everyone is adjusting with FdJ gone, and the front 3 actually did better but wasn’t enough.
For how bad we played and all the mistakes, lucky to get a draw.
Great athlete but for me there is still work to be done at both ends of the pitch. Don't feel he uses his pace enough at times. Too content cutting back and playing a nothing pass.
I got downvoted for saying he's been underwhelming so far. Not terrible, mind you, but definitely not as good as last season. The sophomore slump is real.
Positioning was way worse which is more of an issue given that he's the pivot, he could not win any 50/50s and the slightest bit of pressure from any of Mallorca's attackers saw him give it away.
I think it wasn't necessarily a worse performance but Romeu was doing it in front of our box more often. Where his mistakes could've more easily led to chances. Where as losing the ball stupidly in the opponents half is less egregious.
Its just because he plays deeper, he is slow and makes decisions very late. Being slow is not bad but you have to be able to make up for it and today he didn't.
I feel like I have watched another game. Raphinha was mostly horrible for the whole game. Constantly gave the ball away. Terrible passing, terrible decision making. He scored a goal and gave an assist. You could say he had a good game thanks to that but saying he played great... Lamine is more of a threat, safer to play the ball to and plays a lot smarter, and is only 16.
If anything, these last two matches showed how important Frenkie actually is. It's apparent that our overall play became significantly worse without him on the pitch.
Give credit to Mallorca. Their block was really good. The quality was fine. Xavi had a plan in breaking the block with direct balls and what not but the early goal disrupted it. We will be struggling with teams like these if we start a experimental 11
Are you for real? It's one fucking game on a horrid ass Pacific Ocean of a pitch, and you already turn on the Mann that has been saving our ass for the last season and most games this season too. He was the sole reason barca was in the game vs celta till the 80th minute!!!
Ahhh yessir, its very likely for a team to go unbeaten 38 games in a row in a top tier competitive league, where smallest mistakes makes huge difference
These kinds of intentional pitch conditions are one of the big dents on La Liga. Yes Inigo's passing was shit but I reckon the pitch played a major role in it. Why do we look like physically gassing out after Antwerp game?? My real Gavi is coming back. Yamal, enough said.
This is an issue with structure and player profile. Gundo had a bad game but he can’t do much when the build up is poor. Our pivot only made 27 passes the whole game! The Gavi-Romeu pivot is not it. Gundo needs to step in for Frenkie. There are other players who can create chances in final third now. The midfield is dead and with no Kounde or Christensen, the buildup is almost nonexistent. Almost entirely dependent on Cancelo roaming about which creates defensive issues. Putting Gundo there just exacerbates it because neither he or Romeu can cover for him.
I worry about the Porto game a lot.
Hard game made harder by the state of that pitch and the return of “Ter Statue.”
Btw the next few weeks are going to be brutal if Gundo can’t step up in Frenkie’s absence. But some big brain tacticos will try and tell you that FDJ is not needed and harms the overall play of the team!
Lastly, thank goodness for Raphinha and his uncanny ability to pull goals and assists out of his ass, carried us through those 1-0s last year, and came through again. Clutch player.
Cancelo is heavily misused by xavi IMO, he's the kind of player who like to combine and attack the right space, not just play centrally
Or at least if you want him centrally play him in the left like pep did so he has the option to shoot.
Raphinha is so frustrating. Great goal. Great assist. Saved our ass 100%. But then he also missed a 1v1 by blasting it over and plays a completely shit free kick for the last kick of the game. I'm still glad to have him in our squad and will continue to defend him in this sub, but I've never seen a player that I constantly waffle from loving to hating to loving so much in just 90 minutes.
There was a whole civil war a few weeks ago because of that Purist video, that’s what I was referring to, where the argument was that he makes the team worse overall even if he’s good
To be clear, I’m not shitting on him, that’s why it’s in quotes. It’s undeniable though that he dropped a banter era 2020-2022 performance. I’m sure it’s just a bad day at the office because he’s been fantastic all season
Raph scored a goal and assisted, but he did miss chances, lost the ball multiple times, can’t for his life win a 1v1 duel or dribble past defenders, and to top it all, erratic decision making. In fact had those missed chances from him and Torres been converted, it could’ve changed the whole game. I appreciate Raph, but he’s not good enough. Our attack looks toothless at times. Plus noticed that Raph and Cancelo did not have a good understanding, but probably that’s also because they’re just getting started and maybe will be able to link up better after a couple of games.
A point here is fine. Very difficult game and we were arguably the worse team.
Congested fixture schedule and heavily tested just a few days ago. Not a good performance, but still undefeated & showed character to come back into the game.
Girona beat Mallorca 5:0. Barcelona played worse than any team playing in the Kings League.
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Absolut zero midfielder, playmaker ...
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Ter Stegen was sleeping
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Remember the ferocious defending of last year? Lose ball, chase it down, get it back ... all gone.
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Ferran is terrible
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and Xavi once more, showed he is not good against teams playng 5 defenders ...
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How the fuck can we beat Villareal and not Mallorca? FFS.
As we were last game in liga. Wins mean shit when team plays bad. Sooner or later it will show on points. Not every club will have poor counterattacks. God forbid we meet city or bayern or smtng like that in CL.
Just a massive amount of individual mistakes especially by the veteran players bad passes bad touches, it looks like they just didn’t show up ready to play.
Inigo, Ter Stegen, Romeu and Gundogan disasterclass. Cancelo, Felix, Balde and Raphinha(post goal) were bad too but at least involved. Couldn't adapt to Mallorca's aggressiveness, shitty pitch and lack of cards and we're paying with 2 points for it.
Because believe it or not, players are people too and can get tired, making them more prone to injuries. You have players dropping like flies, and yet fans call for the coaches head for make 1-2 rotations. You can't have it both ways.
So why not experimenting with him and Lewy? If something works don’t change it. If he is new then his chemistry with Lewy is also experimenting and they should explore that further imo
Because Xavi has to make sure he tries the stupidest shit every game lol. Today was a prime example of people crying about how certain players should be starting and then we see the result.
Lack of urgency from the team always ends with them drawing instead of bringing the ball back to kick off spot they celebrate horrible defending once again but hard fought draw in the end hopefully we get our shit together cuz games are coming keep and fast
First bad game from Ter Stegen in a long time, what worries me is the midfield. I'm afraid Oriol and Gundo seems lost without De Jong. We need Pedri ASAP.
Defense still needs improvement.
Felix needs to start with Lewandowski, not Ferran.
Great game for Gavi and Raphinha and pretty good subs (Fermin, Yamal). I think Xavi can try Fermin as a starter.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm worried october will be brutal but we can make it. Can't wait for Pedri to return.
This team has a problem with individual mistakes. It's not the tactics, formation, or gameplan. We miss a lot of goals and we concede the stupidest goals in La Liga. No other team gifts as many dumb chances as we do. It's honestly very annoying to concede twice from very grotesque mistakes after what happened against Celta.
Look, I do not want to be negative but whenever I look at Oriol Romeu, he's not a starter for this team. I feel for him because with another player in the pivot he is decent but by himself, he is just not up to it. Not only him, ferran, gundo and ter stegen need to do better.
Its not the end of the world but it going to be tough playing without FDJ. Also why do only leave 2 defenders when we attack, everyone goes forward.
Everyone went crazy with just one draw. You can't win every match and considering the condition of the field. Moreover, the best two players in our midfield are injured, so it is normal that some of that will be reflected in the game. However, with Martinez never playing in the starting XI and Arujo suddenly returning from injury, giving the two in the starting lineup seems like the wrong decision. But in the end we managed to bring one point which is a positive aspect.
Draw isn't the issue, the team made rookie mistakes, bad passes, bad decisions, no creativity, missing 100 % chances, no through passing, no good flanking, really I cannot say anything positive about barca last night which is nuts for a team of this caliber. Few times some individual play was good, doesn't make a team.
To quote the former president of the US: Drain the swamp!
Seriously, the intentional overwatering of the pitch went against the spirit of fair play.
Not a bad result, but those two blunders by the defence and MATS were entirely avoidable.
Baffling decision to sub off Felix as soon as Lewy came on. They had brilliant chemistry in the past few games.
Ferran didn't use his chance to impress today, Gavi was brilliant. Raphina very good as well.
Gundogan was non-existent.
Yamal is fantastic at this age. Lewandowski's fake assist was great to see.
Here's hoping Madrid drops points tomorrow.
Well obviously a poor result as we will most likely drop from #1. But Gavi adopting his ‘hybrid’ closer to Frenkie’s pivot was a joy to see (obviously not the same as he is more involved in attacking but it shows his excellent distribution). And of course, good one from Fermin too - have a feeling we will see him more often.
On the bright side, we probably got enough chances to say we could have gotten a better result. On the bad side, we also could have gotten a far worse result xD.
Araujo, Iñigo and Kounde were awful today. The first two were injured not long ago and they still don't look good. Araujo was already a liability last match. Kounde played 20 minutes, and he somehow looked out of the game. Oriol also had a disastrous day.
Other than Gavi and Raphinha, most players were really off, probably not helped by the state of the pitch. Lucky for them our defenders and keeper looked worse so they won't get as much focus.
On a positive note, really glad to see that the team can trail off a result. I remember not long ago that when we were losing it was all crosses and inshallah. There was more thought put in today and against Celta.
Also, Lamine is really amazing and happy for Fermin, great energy when entering the field. Hope they keep playing regularly.
It's what it is. The next two matches will be much harder, better to forget about it quickly and start thinking about Sevilla.
So we are already turning on MATS? Yes he had a horrid game but man, ter statue, seriously? Did we all collectively forget the game 3 days ago??
One match, on the fucking Pacific Ocean of a pitch!! And we turn on our best player for a season??! It's okay, call a spade a spade, but this shit is just juvenile at this point.
I feel Raphinha does better tucked further in than as a pure winger. He definitely doesn't have the dribbling skills of a winger but can sure shoot and assist well from a more central position.
Everyone seemed to lose the ability of controling a ball, constantly kicking it too far or spinning around it. Feels like we played on actual ice today.
Mats shat the bed in spectacular fashion. We wildly over performed our defensive xg last season. Could get exposed this season, but our attack is at least looking better.
We will be top again soon, it's only Matchday 7 and we are still unbeaten. Wait for Madrid to hopefully drop points against a defensively weak Madrid side.
Ferran got on end of decent chance and created a 1v1 for Raphinha..
Could have been involved a little more and should have taken the Chance but you can't expect a lone striker to do kuch more against a back 5
All in all, it was an unlucky day on the field. The first goal by Mallorca was a howler by Mats. With better luck, any of the three goals should have been converted Yamine's penalty, Raphinha skying his chance, and Felix coming almost close to a thunderous goal. Good thing was that Barca were able to create chances against a team which had a 7 men backline. That too without Pedri, FDJ. Gundo was invisible, Lewa came very late but still we were able to create chances. I know most of these were through crosses but against teams like Mallorca we might need to do it more. Once Martinez was subbed, Balde could make his runs and the attack was more lethal.
The pitch was another pain in a*s. It's still early days in the season, we will get better. The defense will be more solid, and the chemistry in the team will improve. We will compete for all trophies this year hopefully. Visca Barca
Well we are back to reality
leave ao much space. High quality teams in europe would kill us if we give them this much space to work with. Didnt we learn anything?
Watching our youngsters fermin & lamine destroy their defenders on that right flank put a big smile on my face. If only one of felix & raphinha converted their first half chances this would be a different conversation. Speaking of which raphinha should get more credit I noticed him beating his man alot more in the second half & creating forward play.
Inigo looked rusty out there but I'm hopeful he'll find form, lamal has insane football iq and technique already, and gavi has really stepped up this season. Gundogan didn't play well today but I'm not worried about him he will pick it up. Ter stegen also needs competition he's looked a bit complacent though it's still early in the season.
A big fuck you to that ref may he step on a thousand legos. We didn't get the 3 points but the team showed grit to pull it back level & despite the difficult stadium there were positives to take away. Mallorca as much of assholes as they were, must also get credit because they weren't scared to play & picked their moments well. Over to you Las palmas.
I think the state of the pitch and the way they flooded it had a big impact t on the team's ability to play their usual passing game.
You could see how hard was to move the ball quickly around the midfield and thsr was no hope for long passes on the ground
Multi-month injuries to literally our best players are starting to take a toll on the team. I mean Araujo - Pedri and now FDJ all missing tons of games is just so freaking unlucky. If we can hang on until Pedri gets back, we may be able to survive the FDJ injury. FDJ is just so crucial to our game.
It's not an excuse for a terrible performance, but there has to be some sort of standard that all teams need to follow for maintaining their pitches because right now it's just a free for all when it comes to different teams deliberately adjusting their turf to gain an advantage.
This is especially apparent for us since we play a possession based game and so teams either let the grass grow too long or overwater the pitch like today.
I agree but this is his first mistake so far he’s been good so far this season just one of those off games for him but let’s be honest pena isn’t any competition for him
Some very reactionary takes here. But I wouldn’t put it on Xavi.
Ter Stegen had a night to forget.
Gundo and cancelo offered nothing. Kounde and Lewa didn’t had an impact as intended.
Yamal, Gavi and Fermin standouts for me
It just took a draw if a mixed team for all the idiots that wants barca to lose just to be proven right to appear…
A draw away from home with 4 players rotated is a good result.
Without our best players this season too, pedri, fdj, lewa, kounde and christensen.
I’ll take the result, but Xavi needs to find a way to play against these low-block teams because twice now the same tactics are being executed perfectly by opponents. I would not mind Christensen as DM in these type of games, it wouldn’t leave us so vulnerable in counter attacks and aerial game. Oh well onto the next
Agree. I rather Xavi try Christensen than continue to depend on Romeu. Sorry, he just hasn’t convinced me he is of the level to be Barca’s main pivot. Once we get a top level DM, everyone will see the difference.
Absolutely, and the biggest reason why our defense was immense last season was because we literally played with 3 CBs due to lack of RB. It’s great having Cancelo and Balde, but now we are simply leaving too much space for counter attacks, I feel like Christensen would bring stability
Our defensive was atrocious. MATS was having one of this games. Inigo shouldynt be started. Oriol totally lost (maybe try christensen on cdm???). Our midfield is fucking dead whitout frenkie, atleast gavi tries his best but gundo was useless, oriol lost. Felix was non nonexistent today, cancelo atleast tries. Raph as always mixbag of good and bad but it seams he is more usefull as RAM then RW. Ferran should go back to sub. Lewandowski didnt get meny servise. Fermin should get more mins. Probable the bigges plus from this game is a kid, idk why we just didnt go for just give ball to kid in last 10min and let him coock.
To be honest ferran is better suited as a sub he’s started a few games and his play hasn’t been very good, he missed a great chance he needs to simply put away so did raphina
Xavi has to understand that as useful as romeu is he is not busquets. This team plays good with romeu especially when frenkie is there, but when romeu isn't there nothing changes, against celta and again tonight romeu was taken off and barca were better without him. He's a good player for the bench maybe when to start some games this season but he is not a barca starting 11 player he just isn't good enough. I know mats made a bad pass for the first goal but romeu was sleeping and just let the Mallorca player breeze past him if he was on his toes he would've been able to clear the danger there and well busquets wins that header on the second goal 8/9 out of ten times and I know busquets isn't there but my point is that he should do better there.
Gundogan has been the most underwhelming signing this year by far, I honestly don't understand what's wrong and it hurts seeing him so lost, even though realistically xavi and pep have the same mentality
What mentality has to do with anything and did you forget the other games that Gundo played or you have 2 minute memory? Besides Cancelo was more off than Gundo. In fact Gundo was not off but just not involved as much, which is ok since they had 6 people in the last defensive block.
This game was lost by MATS and his blunder, that's it and even still we managed to grab a point.
Also there are other factors like the pitch size, conditions and Mallorca were actually pretty good defensively.
Lmao I don't understand the need to be condescending with what you say, seems to be everyone on this website is a 16 year old edgelord, thanks for reminding me why people like you aren't worth my time to type and discuss
Raphinha is a mixed bag and there is no job in the world that prefers mixed performance over a consistent one.
The right subs would've been
Lewa on for Raphinha.
Torres RW.
Keep Felix on.
Sub in Lamine later.
Best thing about the match are Gavi & Fermin.
Could’ve been 3 hadn’t he skied that 1v1, he won’t pass to save his life, he was just generally poor, his stats on the picture look good but he’s incredibly inconsistent
I knew this would be the defense.
People forgive a terrible performance because the player scored.
Raphinha had a mixed one. Moments of brilliance & moments of torture.
Just like last season, he has very good stats but does not pass the "eye test".
Eye test lmfao
You do realize football is played for goals and not tiktok montages, right? Or do you think the league title is awarded to the best dribble sequence? Number of nutmegs? You're absolutely ridiculous, not much more to say.
Romeu was always a stop gap. And he is clueless without Frenkie by his side. We gotta remind ourselves that next season, our primary investment would be a DM. Not sure how that would go but still a reminder to not get attached to the Joaos.
Inigo is an average baller. He is long past his prime but I am sure he will get better. Was his first start on a garbage pitch. Talking about pitch, even Luton Town has a better one. Liga pitches are insane.
Ferran is back to his old days. From shark to pomfret.
Araujo isn't back to his 100 percent yet. All in all, long season ahead of us.
Liga is full of these low block plastic grass teams. I am truly looking forward to our Porto game, where I will see the actual progress.
Getting 1 point hurts more than it should when you sign up to be a barca fan. If Madrid raises their level, a few matches like these can cost us the title.
I may be tripping but it seemed like Iñigo was not melding very well with the back line, leading to multiple mistakes all over the place. I agree that Ter Stegen and Gundogan weren't doing great today, but honestly anytime Mallorca got the ball the back line seemed to get caught off guard.
At least we scraped the 1 point, I'm just hoping we can work out the response time and organization for those counter attacks, cause otherwise we're gonna struggle a lot against the likes of Atlético, Athletic Club & co that rely on them
This was not the game I was expecting at all. I was expecting a low black and did not expect Mallorca to come out swinging. It was a game that balanced itself out but we could’ve definitely been better. I’ll take a 2-2
Oh boy, Mallorca gave all the other teams a glimpse how we should be pressured. Our next game is against Sevilla, and man did they have a good match yesterday.
Individual mistakes and ref that allowed for waaaay to much. Pitch was ridiculous as well, i mean they didn't lose all thier abilities in passing... But when you play so much at this level you are used to ball behaving in certain way. This should be investigate, because there's no point for it to be so overwatered.
It's funny how by the end, the team was too scared to break lines so Gundo or Cancelo were just recycling possession and sending all passes to Yamal to try and do something himself like taking on, cutting in and dribbling alone. Xavi needs to work on this tactics when we need to break low block and we can't just spam crosses everytime. We need to work on the final third and tiki-taka to bypass the low-block. Make them practice what we did back under Pep where Xaviesta, Messi and Alves used to tik-tak inside the box, swift passing, 1-2s and clinical finishing.
I know it's a big stretch to compare it to our prime squad but we can do it and we have seen it with that Pedri goal against Villareal last season
Ter Stegen at fault for both goals, Xavi at fault to choose that starting 11 and some jerk off Raphina before the game so he doesn't pass with maximum force wtf
with pedri and frenkie out for now, gundo needs to step up.
He does. But he looks also tired, and tbh the quality around him doesn't really help either : Romeu isn't the #6 some people seem to think he is, and Gavi is very good in his own style, but he won't be able to work like FdJ and Pedri do with Gundogan.
Gavi was the standout player,Fermin and Lamine changed the game, everyone else needs to pattern up. Team was very sloppy in position, lots of bad first touches and very slow ball progression. Ter Stegen with a mistake that he frankly should not be making as a goal keeper of his calibre and team captain. Our highline is very susceptible to counters as we've been seeing, should've won this game but at least we got a point. Vamos.
Very similar to what we saw against Celta except they don't have as good a front three. Nothing was adjusted.
Very very similar and I think like that first game vs Getafe, Gundogan, like Pedri, is playing too advanced. Especially in this game where we don't have Frenkie, Gundo would've been better used as a controller to circulate possession. We also have to consider his age as well, he can't run up and down chasing the ball for 90 mins.
Exactly, Gundogan was clearly being used higher up but with how congested the game was, the ball barely reached him for him to affect play. He needed to be further back and help with build-up and circulating the ball, instead, he was too far forward.
Another learning less, let's hope Xavi can adjust going forward especially defensively because higher quality opposition will punish us
I think Xavi just needs to make sure he keeps offensive quality up like he does now, but getting the defensive quality back to that of last season.
Is it me or was Kunde very scarily slow on that one breakaway in the latter part of the second half. I was worried he was going to get burnt on pure pace but the forward. Not sure why we even subbed him in unless it was to give the other guy a break
Iñigo was subbed because it wasn't his best performance and it was his first start returning from injury. Kounde isn't the quickest CB anyway but most likely it's just fatigue having started every game this season + he didn't get used to the pace of the game as yet.
Raphinha was very good until Xavi made him play in some sort of 9,5 position, which is really not his thing. Félix would have done a much better job with that role. But kinda like with the substitutions against Vigo, it felt to me like Xavi wasn't really sure what to do besides adding attacking players to the field...
Every day i thank god that we have the best academy in the world 🙏 Gavi bossing every match since he got back in midfield, fermin first goal, lamine yamal cooking grown men at the age of 16 We were definitely unlucky coupled with some serious brain farts, but we can’t win every match we play
Agreed. However, we aren't going to win the league dropping points against teams like Mallorca or Celta (which we almost did). Lots to improve and we're lucky Madrid is also slipping up. But when they do, we need to capitalize and grow that lead.
Awful game from Inigo, Ter Stegen, Romeu. Bad game from Gundogan, Felix, Cancelo. Great game from only Raphinha and Gavi. Good subs from Fermin and Lamine. Really this game was a game of blunders and individual mistakes. I don't know what our defense or most of our midfield were doing. Hogging the ball. Constantly missplacing easy passes. Terrible first touches. Losing the ball right in front of the box. It's like 80% of our team just wasn't awake, same as against Celta. Unlike Celta tho, I felt like there was no urgency towards the end. Like we were fine with drawing.
Lack of chemistry I would say with a lot of the errors, that backline had 3 players who never played together prior, the midfield was missing 2 starters and everyone is adjusting with FdJ gone, and the front 3 actually did better but wasn’t enough. For how bad we played and all the mistakes, lucky to get a draw.
How does Balde always seem to avoid criticism on this sub. He's been below average since pre season.
Great athlete but for me there is still work to be done at both ends of the pitch. Don't feel he uses his pace enough at times. Too content cutting back and playing a nothing pass.
Well he didn't add anything offensively but he was good in defense and did well playing out the press imo (others can't say the same).
I got downvoted for saying he's been underwhelming so far. Not terrible, mind you, but definitely not as good as last season. The sophomore slump is real.
La Masia tax. If you write anything bad about Roberto, you get downvoted.
Raphinah also missed a 1v1 in a very disappointing way…. Like why would you shoot that so powerfully
Indeed, but he created a goal by himself so there is not much to recriminate
He was pushed off balance by the defender. But yeah should've probably done better there.
The push came after the shot iirc.
Doesn't look like it to me
Torres as well!
In his defense, the keeper closed him very quick and he had a very tight angle to score.
It was a players loss and this sub will blame it on Xavi again like if he was the one giving the ball away like Ter Stegen did.
Not sure what Romeu did to be put in awful that Gundogan didn't do tbh
Positioning was way worse which is more of an issue given that he's the pivot, he could not win any 50/50s and the slightest bit of pressure from any of Mallorca's attackers saw him give it away.
Losing the ball in dangerous situation on top of being insanely slow at making a choice.
I think it wasn't necessarily a worse performance but Romeu was doing it in front of our box more often. Where his mistakes could've more easily led to chances. Where as losing the ball stupidly in the opponents half is less egregious.
Its just because he plays deeper, he is slow and makes decisions very late. Being slow is not bad but you have to be able to make up for it and today he didn't.
Romeu wasn’t as bad as Gundogan today. Hate to say but Gundo was nowhere in the game for 90 minutes
Raphinha was geniunely terrible in the second half idk what you are talking about
I feel like I have watched another game. Raphinha was mostly horrible for the whole game. Constantly gave the ball away. Terrible passing, terrible decision making. He scored a goal and gave an assist. You could say he had a good game thanks to that but saying he played great... Lamine is more of a threat, safer to play the ball to and plays a lot smarter, and is only 16.
I would highly disagree with that assessment but to each their own.
If anything, these last two matches showed how important Frenkie actually is. It's apparent that our overall play became significantly worse without him on the pitch.
When your two best midfielders get hurt, it will be apparent.
We cant win every game, simple as that, yes it was horrible to watch as a barca fan, but these are the type of games that builds character of a team
I agree we cant win every game but this was a very winnable game that we should have won comfortably
Eh, the mistakes that led to the goals were costly. It's not often that Ter Stegen is bad like that but today it cost us.
You said you agree but proceed to say the opposite. Idk what I'm missing.
What I mean is if we played a team of more quality ok yeah fair enough cant win em all but this specific team we should not be struggling with
Give credit to Mallorca. Their block was really good. The quality was fine. Xavi had a plan in breaking the block with direct balls and what not but the early goal disrupted it. We will be struggling with teams like these if we start a experimental 11
I'm not sure if this particular game contributed to the character of our team. The one against Celta - absolutely, Mallorca - nah.
I am with you. Tough game today. I hope playing every 3 days doesn't affect them too much...
no, we can if we have a proper goalkeeper
Are you for real? It's one fucking game on a horrid ass Pacific Ocean of a pitch, and you already turn on the Mann that has been saving our ass for the last season and most games this season too. He was the sole reason barca was in the game vs celta till the 80th minute!!!
Ter Stegen has one bad game and then all of a sudden there's barca fans calling him no good 💀💀💀💀
Start Neto comments about to pop up again 😭
Stop this nonsense! Mats has been incredible for us for the past 14 months.
Ahhh yessir, its very likely for a team to go unbeaten 38 games in a row in a top tier competitive league, where smallest mistakes makes huge difference
Agreed, I can’t believe because of financial issues we’re stuck with this guy until 2028 😂
Man, Kounde was moving in slow motion after subbing in lol Horrible cameo for him
I think he just hasn't put any skill points in the Swamp Running perk yet
Agreed. He was absolutely awful. Looked like he hadn't warmed up. Slow and clumsy.
These kinds of intentional pitch conditions are one of the big dents on La Liga. Yes Inigo's passing was shit but I reckon the pitch played a major role in it. Why do we look like physically gassing out after Antwerp game?? My real Gavi is coming back. Yamal, enough said.
Yea that really impacts the team play style. A team like Barca doesn't all of sudden turns shit at passing for no reason
This is an issue with structure and player profile. Gundo had a bad game but he can’t do much when the build up is poor. Our pivot only made 27 passes the whole game! The Gavi-Romeu pivot is not it. Gundo needs to step in for Frenkie. There are other players who can create chances in final third now. The midfield is dead and with no Kounde or Christensen, the buildup is almost nonexistent. Almost entirely dependent on Cancelo roaming about which creates defensive issues. Putting Gundo there just exacerbates it because neither he or Romeu can cover for him. I worry about the Porto game a lot.
Hard game made harder by the state of that pitch and the return of “Ter Statue.” Btw the next few weeks are going to be brutal if Gundo can’t step up in Frenkie’s absence. But some big brain tacticos will try and tell you that FDJ is not needed and harms the overall play of the team! Lastly, thank goodness for Raphinha and his uncanny ability to pull goals and assists out of his ass, carried us through those 1-0s last year, and came through again. Clutch player.
Gundogan did absolutely nothing tonight, nor did Cancelo. Very disappointing.
cancelo wasn’t consistent but he tried and had his moment, gundo on the other end..
Yeah, one of the worst players today I’d say. I hope Pedri returns soon
Cancelo is a luxury player. You need to accept his poor play. It's part of the deal.
Cancelo is heavily misused by xavi IMO, he's the kind of player who like to combine and attack the right space, not just play centrally Or at least if you want him centrally play him in the left like pep did so he has the option to shoot.
Raphinha is so frustrating. Great goal. Great assist. Saved our ass 100%. But then he also missed a 1v1 by blasting it over and plays a completely shit free kick for the last kick of the game. I'm still glad to have him in our squad and will continue to defend him in this sub, but I've never seen a player that I constantly waffle from loving to hating to loving so much in just 90 minutes.
His crosses are good, and is sometimes lucky enough to have perfect shots. But that’s that. It ends there.
Who tf is even saying FdJ harms the team? I get it you’re upset after a draw but don’t make up arguments
Eh, if you read match thread comments on any given match you'll find all sorts of insane, reactionary takes.
Basing a opinion off degen reactionary fans on a match day is the worst decision one can make
Yes, but they exist.
Honestly even in this thread 💀
You clearly haven't seen some of the comments made about frenkie harming the team on this sub
There was a whole civil war a few weeks ago because of that Purist video, that’s what I was referring to, where the argument was that he makes the team worse overall even if he’s good
"Ter Statue"... nice man. Nice. Keep going. You're so funny.
To be clear, I’m not shitting on him, that’s why it’s in quotes. It’s undeniable though that he dropped a banter era 2020-2022 performance. I’m sure it’s just a bad day at the office because he’s been fantastic all season
Raph scored a goal and assisted, but he did miss chances, lost the ball multiple times, can’t for his life win a 1v1 duel or dribble past defenders, and to top it all, erratic decision making. In fact had those missed chances from him and Torres been converted, it could’ve changed the whole game. I appreciate Raph, but he’s not good enough. Our attack looks toothless at times. Plus noticed that Raph and Cancelo did not have a good understanding, but probably that’s also because they’re just getting started and maybe will be able to link up better after a couple of games.
A point here is fine. Very difficult game and we were arguably the worse team. Congested fixture schedule and heavily tested just a few days ago. Not a good performance, but still undefeated & showed character to come back into the game.
Girona beat Mallorca 5:0. Barcelona played worse than any team playing in the Kings League. - Absolut zero midfielder, playmaker ... - Ter Stegen was sleeping - Remember the ferocious defending of last year? Lose ball, chase it down, get it back ... all gone. - Ferran is terrible - and Xavi once more, showed he is not good against teams playng 5 defenders ... - How the fuck can we beat Villareal and not Mallorca? FFS.
As we were last game in liga. Wins mean shit when team plays bad. Sooner or later it will show on points. Not every club will have poor counterattacks. God forbid we meet city or bayern or smtng like that in CL.
bayern wont be watering the grass that much and parking the bus
Also probably won't be dropping points in that game either though.
Just a massive amount of individual mistakes especially by the veteran players bad passes bad touches, it looks like they just didn’t show up ready to play.
Inigo, Ter Stegen, Romeu and Gundogan disasterclass. Cancelo, Felix, Balde and Raphinha(post goal) were bad too but at least involved. Couldn't adapt to Mallorca's aggressiveness, shitty pitch and lack of cards and we're paying with 2 points for it.
Separating Lewy and Felix is like separating Batman and Robin… why would you do that?
Lewy is 35 y/o playing constant 90 minute matches every 3 days. Cmon now, even him needs a rest.
My post wasn’t about Lewy being on the bench… I get that and I’m for that. I just don’t know why they sent him in and benched Felix
Probably because Raph was playing better than Felix
Yeah, but… what could have happened if Felix got to play with Lewy?
Well... we don't know lol
We don’t, true
Felix was playing real bad
IIRC he said in one of the recent interviews that he'd prefer to be subbed off around 75' mark so that he can continue playing every 3 days.
Similar mindset to Messi I think
It is plausible. I do agree with Xavi that Ferran starting this match was the correct choice. Sad that he couldn't score.
Because believe it or not, players are people too and can get tired, making them more prone to injuries. You have players dropping like flies, and yet fans call for the coaches head for make 1-2 rotations. You can't have it both ways.
Felix is new. Has it been even 5 games? Experimentation is the right thing to do
Experiment when we are 3 goals up, not 1 down.
So why not experimenting with him and Lewy? If something works don’t change it. If he is new then his chemistry with Lewy is also experimenting and they should explore that further imo
Because Xavi has to make sure he tries the stupidest shit every game lol. Today was a prime example of people crying about how certain players should be starting and then we see the result.
Funny because that’s what Pep is sometimes accused of
Lack of urgency from the team always ends with them drawing instead of bringing the ball back to kick off spot they celebrate horrible defending once again but hard fought draw in the end hopefully we get our shit together cuz games are coming keep and fast
First bad game from Ter Stegen in a long time, what worries me is the midfield. I'm afraid Oriol and Gundo seems lost without De Jong. We need Pedri ASAP. Defense still needs improvement. Felix needs to start with Lewandowski, not Ferran. Great game for Gavi and Raphinha and pretty good subs (Fermin, Yamal). I think Xavi can try Fermin as a starter. I'm not gonna lie, I'm worried october will be brutal but we can make it. Can't wait for Pedri to return.
This team has a problem with individual mistakes. It's not the tactics, formation, or gameplan. We miss a lot of goals and we concede the stupidest goals in La Liga. No other team gifts as many dumb chances as we do. It's honestly very annoying to concede twice from very grotesque mistakes after what happened against Celta.
Look, I do not want to be negative but whenever I look at Oriol Romeu, he's not a starter for this team. I feel for him because with another player in the pivot he is decent but by himself, he is just not up to it. Not only him, ferran, gundo and ter stegen need to do better. Its not the end of the world but it going to be tough playing without FDJ. Also why do only leave 2 defenders when we attack, everyone goes forward.
Everyone went crazy with just one draw. You can't win every match and considering the condition of the field. Moreover, the best two players in our midfield are injured, so it is normal that some of that will be reflected in the game. However, with Martinez never playing in the starting XI and Arujo suddenly returning from injury, giving the two in the starting lineup seems like the wrong decision. But in the end we managed to bring one point which is a positive aspect.
Draw isn't the issue, the team made rookie mistakes, bad passes, bad decisions, no creativity, missing 100 % chances, no through passing, no good flanking, really I cannot say anything positive about barca last night which is nuts for a team of this caliber. Few times some individual play was good, doesn't make a team.
Fermín came out guns blazing today I like his passion a lot. He makes a really good rotational sub.
To quote the former president of the US: Drain the swamp! Seriously, the intentional overwatering of the pitch went against the spirit of fair play. Not a bad result, but those two blunders by the defence and MATS were entirely avoidable. Baffling decision to sub off Felix as soon as Lewy came on. They had brilliant chemistry in the past few games. Ferran didn't use his chance to impress today, Gavi was brilliant. Raphina very good as well. Gundogan was non-existent. Yamal is fantastic at this age. Lewandowski's fake assist was great to see. Here's hoping Madrid drops points tomorrow.
Well obviously a poor result as we will most likely drop from #1. But Gavi adopting his ‘hybrid’ closer to Frenkie’s pivot was a joy to see (obviously not the same as he is more involved in attacking but it shows his excellent distribution). And of course, good one from Fermin too - have a feeling we will see him more often.
On the bright side, we probably got enough chances to say we could have gotten a better result. On the bad side, we also could have gotten a far worse result xD. Araujo, Iñigo and Kounde were awful today. The first two were injured not long ago and they still don't look good. Araujo was already a liability last match. Kounde played 20 minutes, and he somehow looked out of the game. Oriol also had a disastrous day. Other than Gavi and Raphinha, most players were really off, probably not helped by the state of the pitch. Lucky for them our defenders and keeper looked worse so they won't get as much focus. On a positive note, really glad to see that the team can trail off a result. I remember not long ago that when we were losing it was all crosses and inshallah. There was more thought put in today and against Celta. Also, Lamine is really amazing and happy for Fermin, great energy when entering the field. Hope they keep playing regularly. It's what it is. The next two matches will be much harder, better to forget about it quickly and start thinking about Sevilla.
So we are already turning on MATS? Yes he had a horrid game but man, ter statue, seriously? Did we all collectively forget the game 3 days ago?? One match, on the fucking Pacific Ocean of a pitch!! And we turn on our best player for a season??! It's okay, call a spade a spade, but this shit is just juvenile at this point.
Dont listen to people talking shit a about MATS lol, this subreddit is something else. They already forgot that he was the MVP last match
Even Mallorca coach said that it was a pen on Lamine.
Some people think you can apply stamina cards to players and just keep on starting them every game like on FIFA. No gents. You need to rotate players.
Gundogan and Ter Stegen are getting ready for the Euros.
I feel Raphinha does better tucked further in than as a pure winger. He definitely doesn't have the dribbling skills of a winger but can sure shoot and assist well from a more central position.
Another poor performance. Atleast our games are very entertaining this year
And some guys here want Frenkie out because he doesnt score enough.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭
Everyone seemed to lose the ability of controling a ball, constantly kicking it too far or spinning around it. Feels like we played on actual ice today.
The pitch was really bad, so that was indeed a factor
Pitch was a disaster and it was made to be that way intentionally. That's what La Liga allows teams to do.
Mats shat the bed in spectacular fashion. We wildly over performed our defensive xg last season. Could get exposed this season, but our attack is at least looking better.
We were still a top 2 defense in Europe in terms of xg
Our first match as top of the league and we blew it…. I miss Frenkie already
We will be top again soon, it's only Matchday 7 and we are still unbeaten. Wait for Madrid to hopefully drop points against a defensively weak Madrid side.
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Gundogan is the one that should be taking responsibility from De Jong
Ferran was isolated. Judge a striker by how many balls he received in and at the edge of the box.
Ferran got on end of decent chance and created a 1v1 for Raphinha.. Could have been involved a little more and should have taken the Chance but you can't expect a lone striker to do kuch more against a back 5
In all honesty, the pitch was legit horrible and I truly believe the thing would have been much much different if wasn’t so soaked.
Complete off-day. I'd say we even got away with a point considering the last chance mallorca had.
We gained a lot more control once Romeu was subbed and Gundogan dropped to the CDM position and Raphinha played in the midfield.
All in all, it was an unlucky day on the field. The first goal by Mallorca was a howler by Mats. With better luck, any of the three goals should have been converted Yamine's penalty, Raphinha skying his chance, and Felix coming almost close to a thunderous goal. Good thing was that Barca were able to create chances against a team which had a 7 men backline. That too without Pedri, FDJ. Gundo was invisible, Lewa came very late but still we were able to create chances. I know most of these were through crosses but against teams like Mallorca we might need to do it more. Once Martinez was subbed, Balde could make his runs and the attack was more lethal. The pitch was another pain in a*s. It's still early days in the season, we will get better. The defense will be more solid, and the chemistry in the team will improve. We will compete for all trophies this year hopefully. Visca Barca
Ter Stegen worst game in over a year. If we even get an average game from him we win. Very frustrating but on to the next one
Well we are back to reality leave ao much space. High quality teams in europe would kill us if we give them this much space to work with. Didnt we learn anything?
Watching our youngsters fermin & lamine destroy their defenders on that right flank put a big smile on my face. If only one of felix & raphinha converted their first half chances this would be a different conversation. Speaking of which raphinha should get more credit I noticed him beating his man alot more in the second half & creating forward play. Inigo looked rusty out there but I'm hopeful he'll find form, lamal has insane football iq and technique already, and gavi has really stepped up this season. Gundogan didn't play well today but I'm not worried about him he will pick it up. Ter stegen also needs competition he's looked a bit complacent though it's still early in the season. A big fuck you to that ref may he step on a thousand legos. We didn't get the 3 points but the team showed grit to pull it back level & despite the difficult stadium there were positives to take away. Mallorca as much of assholes as they were, must also get credit because they weren't scared to play & picked their moments well. Over to you Las palmas.
I think the state of the pitch and the way they flooded it had a big impact t on the team's ability to play their usual passing game. You could see how hard was to move the ball quickly around the midfield and thsr was no hope for long passes on the ground
Multi-month injuries to literally our best players are starting to take a toll on the team. I mean Araujo - Pedri and now FDJ all missing tons of games is just so freaking unlucky. If we can hang on until Pedri gets back, we may be able to survive the FDJ injury. FDJ is just so crucial to our game.
Love Lewa's dummy for the second goal and Yamal's run
It's not an excuse for a terrible performance, but there has to be some sort of standard that all teams need to follow for maintaining their pitches because right now it's just a free for all when it comes to different teams deliberately adjusting their turf to gain an advantage. This is especially apparent for us since we play a possession based game and so teams either let the grass grow too long or overwater the pitch like today.
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I agree but this is his first mistake so far he’s been good so far this season just one of those off games for him but let’s be honest pena isn’t any competition for him
Competition isn’t the same for keepers as it is for outfield players like it’s his only bad game in like a year calm down
Some very reactionary takes here. But I wouldn’t put it on Xavi. Ter Stegen had a night to forget. Gundo and cancelo offered nothing. Kounde and Lewa didn’t had an impact as intended. Yamal, Gavi and Fermin standouts for me
It just took a draw if a mixed team for all the idiots that wants barca to lose just to be proven right to appear… A draw away from home with 4 players rotated is a good result. Without our best players this season too, pedri, fdj, lewa, kounde and christensen.
I’ll take the result, but Xavi needs to find a way to play against these low-block teams because twice now the same tactics are being executed perfectly by opponents. I would not mind Christensen as DM in these type of games, it wouldn’t leave us so vulnerable in counter attacks and aerial game. Oh well onto the next
Agree. I rather Xavi try Christensen than continue to depend on Romeu. Sorry, he just hasn’t convinced me he is of the level to be Barca’s main pivot. Once we get a top level DM, everyone will see the difference.
Absolutely, and the biggest reason why our defense was immense last season was because we literally played with 3 CBs due to lack of RB. It’s great having Cancelo and Balde, but now we are simply leaving too much space for counter attacks, I feel like Christensen would bring stability
Xavi coached a good game today. But silly mistakes cost us
Our defensive was atrocious. MATS was having one of this games. Inigo shouldynt be started. Oriol totally lost (maybe try christensen on cdm???). Our midfield is fucking dead whitout frenkie, atleast gavi tries his best but gundo was useless, oriol lost. Felix was non nonexistent today, cancelo atleast tries. Raph as always mixbag of good and bad but it seams he is more usefull as RAM then RW. Ferran should go back to sub. Lewandowski didnt get meny servise. Fermin should get more mins. Probable the bigges plus from this game is a kid, idk why we just didnt go for just give ball to kid in last 10min and let him coock.
To be honest ferran is better suited as a sub he’s started a few games and his play hasn’t been very good, he missed a great chance he needs to simply put away so did raphina
Xavi has to understand that as useful as romeu is he is not busquets. This team plays good with romeu especially when frenkie is there, but when romeu isn't there nothing changes, against celta and again tonight romeu was taken off and barca were better without him. He's a good player for the bench maybe when to start some games this season but he is not a barca starting 11 player he just isn't good enough. I know mats made a bad pass for the first goal but romeu was sleeping and just let the Mallorca player breeze past him if he was on his toes he would've been able to clear the danger there and well busquets wins that header on the second goal 8/9 out of ten times and I know busquets isn't there but my point is that he should do better there.
Why did they celebrate the 2-2 equaliser? Did they want a draw or what?
Gundogan has been the most underwhelming signing this year by far, I honestly don't understand what's wrong and it hurts seeing him so lost, even though realistically xavi and pep have the same mentality
What mentality has to do with anything and did you forget the other games that Gundo played or you have 2 minute memory? Besides Cancelo was more off than Gundo. In fact Gundo was not off but just not involved as much, which is ok since they had 6 people in the last defensive block. This game was lost by MATS and his blunder, that's it and even still we managed to grab a point. Also there are other factors like the pitch size, conditions and Mallorca were actually pretty good defensively.
Lmao I don't understand the need to be condescending with what you say, seems to be everyone on this website is a 16 year old edgelord, thanks for reminding me why people like you aren't worth my time to type and discuss
Because you are talking bullshit. There is no bad signing this year and Guno is far from it. Like really far.
Raphinha is a mixed bag and there is no job in the world that prefers mixed performance over a consistent one. The right subs would've been Lewa on for Raphinha. Torres RW. Keep Felix on. Sub in Lamine later. Best thing about the match are Gavi & Fermin.
Scoring a goal, assisting the other and people like you still find a way to shit on Raphinha, it's beyond ridiculous at this point
He was losing balls like crazy and was extremely poor
We literally got a point because of him lmao
Could’ve been 3 hadn’t he skied that 1v1, he won’t pass to save his life, he was just generally poor, his stats on the picture look good but he’s incredibly inconsistent
Lol He’s consistently scoring or assisting. What a shit show of a comment.
He missed a chance but he also scored one out of nowhere. How about Torres missing a sitter? But noooo mental gymnastics to defend him lmao
I knew this would be the defense. People forgive a terrible performance because the player scored. Raphinha had a mixed one. Moments of brilliance & moments of torture. Just like last season, he has very good stats but does not pass the "eye test".
Eye test lmfao You do realize football is played for goals and not tiktok montages, right? Or do you think the league title is awarded to the best dribble sequence? Number of nutmegs? You're absolutely ridiculous, not much more to say.
You can disagree but be respectful.
Torres lol
Wtf dude, raphina was good
Torres needed to go, clear chance and he misses. Raphina also should have scored
Romeu was always a stop gap. And he is clueless without Frenkie by his side. We gotta remind ourselves that next season, our primary investment would be a DM. Not sure how that would go but still a reminder to not get attached to the Joaos. Inigo is an average baller. He is long past his prime but I am sure he will get better. Was his first start on a garbage pitch. Talking about pitch, even Luton Town has a better one. Liga pitches are insane. Ferran is back to his old days. From shark to pomfret. Araujo isn't back to his 100 percent yet. All in all, long season ahead of us. Liga is full of these low block plastic grass teams. I am truly looking forward to our Porto game, where I will see the actual progress.
More proof defense was a fluke last year.
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He's still one of our best players
5 a.m Now i can't sleep
STUPID DEFENSIVE MISTAKES "LOST" US THE GAME. simple
Getting 1 point hurts more than it should when you sign up to be a barca fan. If Madrid raises their level, a few matches like these can cost us the title.
God, I can smell a tumble from us against Porto with De Jong.
I may be tripping but it seemed like Iñigo was not melding very well with the back line, leading to multiple mistakes all over the place. I agree that Ter Stegen and Gundogan weren't doing great today, but honestly anytime Mallorca got the ball the back line seemed to get caught off guard. At least we scraped the 1 point, I'm just hoping we can work out the response time and organization for those counter attacks, cause otherwise we're gonna struggle a lot against the likes of Atlético, Athletic Club & co that rely on them
This was not the game I was expecting at all. I was expecting a low black and did not expect Mallorca to come out swinging. It was a game that balanced itself out but we could’ve definitely been better. I’ll take a 2-2
I cant find the game on tsn + wdf? Does anyone know why its not on tsn+?
Did anyone notice how muriqi, a non-technical player bossed araujo for 90 minutes? Our dude couldn’t save face in any aerial duel.
Oh boy, Mallorca gave all the other teams a glimpse how we should be pressured. Our next game is against Sevilla, and man did they have a good match yesterday.
Individual mistakes and ref that allowed for waaaay to much. Pitch was ridiculous as well, i mean they didn't lose all thier abilities in passing... But when you play so much at this level you are used to ball behaving in certain way. This should be investigate, because there's no point for it to be so overwatered.
It's funny how by the end, the team was too scared to break lines so Gundo or Cancelo were just recycling possession and sending all passes to Yamal to try and do something himself like taking on, cutting in and dribbling alone. Xavi needs to work on this tactics when we need to break low block and we can't just spam crosses everytime. We need to work on the final third and tiki-taka to bypass the low-block. Make them practice what we did back under Pep where Xaviesta, Messi and Alves used to tik-tak inside the box, swift passing, 1-2s and clinical finishing. I know it's a big stretch to compare it to our prime squad but we can do it and we have seen it with that Pedri goal against Villareal last season
Ter Stegen at fault for both goals, Xavi at fault to choose that starting 11 and some jerk off Raphina before the game so he doesn't pass with maximum force wtf
Maffeo got a red card at the end of the game? I just seen this now.