63 responses so far ↓

• Shahenshah // Apr 6, 2008 at 22:56

  Bad luck is all I can say about today’s game.

  Puyol had a captain’s performance. Singlehandedly snuffed out every attack in the second half.

  Gio showed so much potential and improvement today compared to his previous performances. Barely lost the ball. Hit the post and had decent attempts at goal. Was a team player this time and made nice passes including the one that found xavi in front of the net right outside the 18 yard box. Sadly Xavi wasted that one.

  Gio showed signs that he could possibly be the next Ronaldinho as proclaimed by many.

• Frede // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:08

  There goes the trophy. There goes Rijkaard. There goes the last remaining spirit.
  What a blow. This i by far the most uninspired offensive approach i’ve seen this season -
  just as i thought this couldn’t get any worse.
  Yesterday, Neeskens said this: “All our remaining games are finals”.
  Yeah right, Neeskens. Is this the way you would play the CL-final`? I hope not.

• Frede // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:15

  Tonights only possitive aspect was Giovani. I think this is the best we’ve seen from him this season. So let’s bench Henry and play Bojan-Etoo-Giovani in front until Messi (and Ronaldinho?) is back.

• bobby // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:19

  yes good performance by gio finally we see once again the gio we saw during the preseaoson……. wow inspiring puyol and bojan was o.k inly that we need him to score and he didnt henry horrible he is a waste in the field its like we play with 9 players in the field rkjaard shouldve taken henry out instead of etoo and it was a guaraantee of a goal cause he has more speed and wouldve catch up to many more balls that henry couldnt…….. hopefully on wednesday he starts gio and sit henry but gio has to play like today and harder!!

• Shahenshah // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:19

  that front three makes perfect sense too. Bojan is right footed and Gio is left footed. Eto’o is well Eto’o.

• bobby // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:22

  its funny how rkjarrd plays bojan and gio in the opposite side he plays gio rigth and bojan left ayayayayay rkjarrd use your head more!!!!

• Shahenshah // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:25

  Its good that way though. They can cut in and shoot with their preferred foot.

• bobby // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:29

  yeah that is good but not the wjole game he should tell them to switch around once in a while so that the other team gets lost and confused cause today getafe found the way to play them and thats why we couldnt score if gio wouldve gone left and bojan rigth for the last ten minutes we couldve had a chance because we wouldve moved getafes pieces as well

• blaugranaboy // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:32

  rijkaard does that on purpose. and its perfect tactics. its so they cut in and take shots and make passes through the middle. you only want wingers on their natural side if they are going to send in crosses, which is not barca’s game at all.

  and you people have NOOO idea how happy it makes me that everyone is finaly seeing how poorly henry is playing. i was getting a bit tired of being told to stop criticizing him. playing him is such a waste. his effort level is like 1/10. hopefully liverpool take him.

• bobby // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:35

  henry wooow hahahaha he makes me laugh he cant even catch the ball like a inch in front of him he slips and falls all the TIME hahaha gio waited for him like 3 times to just touch it to him and he tried to stop the ball and slip hahahaha

• Shahenshah // Apr 6, 2008 at 23:43

  Henry did well in the first half but was back to his abysmal self in the second.

• blaugranaboy // Apr 7, 2008 at 0:02

  wow that is sooo true. he is always falling down. its amazing. i said that a few weeks ago and people got upset with me.

• celtic_girl_shell // Apr 7, 2008 at 0:22

  I thought eto’o looked a bit out of form in the 1st half (exhausted??) and wasn’t surprised he was taken off at half time…I definitely think Henry needs to be dropped for a couple of games, he doesn’t seem to try very hard or put enough effort in…I thought Bojan started to get a bit tired towards the end of the match, but still played good, and I thought Giovani had a great game for the 45 mins he was on, he really looked the most likely to create something, and you could see that he was really trying hard, maybe he deserves a decent run in the team, rather than coming on as a sub? The more he plays the more confidence he’ll gain, and I think he’s been lacking in confidence for a while and it has shown when he has played. I think it was mostly bad luck not winning against Getafe today, I think the most of the team tried and gave their all and it was really frustrating to watch…imagine how frustrated the players must have felt!!!

• Angus // Apr 7, 2008 at 0:40

  Dull. Poor. Inept. Passionless. I could go on but I think all Barca fans get the idea. There is no leadership in the side at present and the players look out of ideas. Pujol and Bojan look like the only two who care, the rest seem to be resigned to finishing 2nd or 3rd.

  There were no positives to take tonight. The white handkerchief’s were out and it would appear that Rikjaard will be the scapegoat and not Laporta. Changes must be made otherwise there will be no success any time soon.

  A lack of decent squad depth has cost Rikjaard this season.

• FCB // Apr 7, 2008 at 1:48

  angus—-did u see the game?? dull? passionless?? tonights game was a matter of luck only….we hit the post 3 times…it was our best game in a long time. the score should have been like 4-0 but we couldnt finish. and im talking about tonight only.

• Winterhunt // Apr 7, 2008 at 2:26

  MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO MOURINHO

  PLEASE….. I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Shahenshah // Apr 7, 2008 at 2:51

  In reality luck was totally on getafe’s side today but technically it was all rijkaard’s fault that we were having such bad luck. He is the bane of all misfortunes isnt he?

• Hilal // Apr 7, 2008 at 3:01

  Nobody said it was his fault that we were unlucky. Luck is luck and in football sometimes the luck is not with you and that is that. However bad luck does not change the fact that Rijkaard IS at fault for not being able to adapt his tactics. He is at fault for not motivating our players and he is at fault for not keeping them fit enough. Plus he is obviously at fault for all the little stupid decisions he makes. He deserves respect for what he has achieved and he deserves a dignified exit, but he does not deserve to be our coach anymore.

• layi // Apr 7, 2008 at 3:11

  i continue to look on

• FCB // Apr 7, 2008 at 3:26

  after every game, same talk. they win, u say same thing. tie, same thing, loss, same thing. rijkaard will not leave for now so ppl need to stop whining and support the team more than ever. learn from the liverpool fans.

• Shahenshah // Apr 7, 2008 at 3:32

  There was improvement on his part in this game. He stepped out and was adressing to the players. He showed frustration when nothing was going their way. Barcelona threw everything they had towards Getafe.

  There seemed to be motivation. Defenders pushed up to attack and attackers sprinted back to defend.

  Even Henry came back to defend on many occasions and if you can motivate Henry to do that you are doing something right.

  Getafe stayed really far back and defended Barcelona yet Rijkaard’s men tried to be themselves by breaking down the defence with intricate passing. They could have used a different approach like taking long shots or sending long balls but i guess thats just not Barca’s style.

  I would say “hey we had a 17 and 18 year old on the attack” but not many here are forgiving enough to acknowledge that as an excuse.

  Near the end, anxiety got the better of them but what can Rijkaard do at that point? He only gets a chance to motivate these players with a speech or two at the beginning of the game and halftime. If Football allowed time-outs then it might have been completely different.

  I believe he should be given time until the end of the season to prove himself.

• Morzzan // Apr 7, 2008 at 4:40

  Well said Shahenshah( means king or emperor doesn’t it?)!Spot on. Barca were fantastic, attacked well, defended well, everything was superb. But sometimes lady luck just is not on your side and today proved this point. It is pointless blaming Rijkaard, he did everything he could. His subs were fantastic (what a performance by Dos Santos, take a bow boy, take a bow), he stood up and yelled at his players, WHAT DID HE DO WRONG????? Was it his fault that the the damn post is so big, was it his fault the players could not finish it off? Hey, I am going to step up for him today, I always did and always will. I was disgusted to hear some of your comments as if it was his fault three of perhaps the worlds best strikers failed to score one goal. HOW, HOW HOW? Winterhunt said Mourinho, does any one feel he can stand up to this much criticism, im sure instead of passing sarcastic comments about Real and Schuster, he WILL taunt the barca fans themselves. Yah, I already see that coming. He might lose 4 games in a row, fans show his the handkerchief and he WILL open his big mouth. And that day, my friends, remember me.

• BarcaboyUK // Apr 7, 2008 at 4:57

  I usually agree with Nics articles but today im not so sure we were watching the same game. I dont think it was an excellent performance and just bad luck we did’nt win. Ok Gedafe defended very deep and had an 8 man defence, that did mean we had to take our time and build our attacks, that does not mean we should play at a snails pace. The tempo was too slow. We were rock solid in defence, Puyol i thought had his best game for a long time. I felt we were sloppy in the final third of the pitch, too many final passes went astray so i can understand the crowds disapointment at the end. It was nice to see Gio has been watching Bojan and has now become more of a team player who actually looks to pass rather then keeping his head down and trying to shoot all the time. We lost the league ages ago and dont really deserve to win it so im not too bothered when we dont win. All i want is some consistancy from the players so as they can have some confidence when playing in the CL. Long term for this team to succeed it will need wholesale changes next season.

• bobkat // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:35

  poor showing, however sadly this isn’t unexpected … pathetic.

• Shahenshah // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:37

  @ Morzzan

  lol yeah man. It means emperor in me mother tounge: Urdu. Well in Persian too.

• Winterhunt // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:38

  Morzzan,

  Mourinho never taunted Chelski fans, and is obviously an intelligent man, when he speaks out it is with purpose, to deflect media attention from his players, to make a point with the Refs, to tweak Fergie or Wenger etc…. He has worked here already and understands the dynamic, why do you think he would antagonize the fans and more to the point what makes you think he will suffer a four game losing streak????? If Frank hasn’t lost four straight I’m not sure what in Mourinho’s record would lead you to believe that he would…… I’ll remember you the day that happens but you remember me every single week when we hear yet another excuse or justification for not getting a result against a team we should beat hands down….. Don’t you think we’ve seen enough of that already??????? Also, I really don’t see how anyone could term our performance today “Fantastic”…. there is an old truism in sports, you are what your record says you are….. today we drew at home with a mid-table team when we absolutely needed a win, now you can cite the ages of Bojan & Gio, you can say we hit the post numerous times, you can say we controlled the run of play but in the end none of that effects the record which is we dropped points we HAD to have….. The Liga is now over and if Real was half decent it would have been over weeks ago, and yet people actually defend this, and say it is “Fantastic”…. What then were we two years ago when we actually were fantastic????? Drawing with Getafe at home in a must win game, no matter how you want to shade it, is just unacceptable in my book….. What Frank did wrong s not find a way to get his team to beat a mediocre team when we needed it most…. that is why he is paid big money, Laudrup like every other team that plays us with intelligence, packed it in on defense and countered when he could….. this has been going on for 2 years and Frank still hasn’t found an alternative tactic to deal with it, except to praise the effort, and say it was a tough game, in other words excuses for not getting a result we needed…. La Liga is now over, and last year at least we stayed in it until the last game before we finally gifted it to Real, and Real was a far more galvanized team last year…. This year we gave them a nice early present, so they can relax, and maybe if we are lucky we can hold onto second place, and not go into Champion’s League as qualifiers next year but I guess that would be OK as long as we keep performing as such fantastically high levels as today….. When did everyone start to accept such low levels of expectations for us??????? We are suppossed to be Champion’s, and we have the best talent on the planet, but what the heck, who cares???? Let’s just throw away another year…….

• Morzzan // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:10

  Ok Winterhunt, tell me something, was there a lack of attacking instinct? Was there some sloppy defending? On any other day Barca would have destroyed Getafe 5-0, but unfortunately, today was not one of those days. Even though Getafe lined up 8 players in defense, did that halt us from attacking? Did that halt the players from almost scoring from every attack. Sometimes, as Nic said, anxiety got the better of us today. Forget Real, yes, Barca needed the 3 points, werent barca attacking or were they just passing it around as if they would be happy with a draw? How many defenders were back when Getafe countered after a barca attack, 2! Is that a lack of attacking mentality? Getafe lined 8 men in defense, Barca lined as many in attack. Rijkaard attacked like never before, his substitutions were brilliant. 68% possession, 20 shots compared to Getafe’s 12, 9 corners, if that wasnt attacking football then nothing is! The mid table team you describe is by no means a mediocre team to say the least. They are playing extremely well in the UEFA cup and are brimming with confidence after drawing with Bayern at the Allianz Arena, compared to a grim and non confident Barcelona. 3 times we hit the bar, 3 times. Eto’o hit the bar from close range, yeah thats Rijkaard’s fault because he is outside yelling at his players. Someone hit the bar from a corner and yes, that was Rijkaard’s fault too, Gio hit the bar yes again Rijkaard’s fault. You thing if mourinho was in charge, somehow the bar would have been thinner and they wuld have all scored? NO!!!! there is also this factor called luck involved, today she just wasn’t on our side.
  I say bring Mourinho on, and we will see who has the last laugh, and even Laporta feels he is not the man for the job. Just read his interview.

• FCB // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:15

  i agree with u 100 percent morzzan!! and isnt mourinho the guy hoo called messi an actor?? im glad laporta doesnt want him….he will never be welcome at barca.

• Morzzan // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:17

  second time ur agreeing with me, thanks FCB……….. and the couch spelling thing at the heat of the moment……………… hillarious!!!!

• Shahenshah // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:18

  I dont think anybody is satisfied with the result. Perhaps the commitment and performance was fantastic but defo not the result.

  Its a funny old game. Sometimes you need luck on your side.

• kuga // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:20

  i wont simply blame the luck … its our poor finishing that hit the post 3 times..
  but heads up for barca..they played from top to toe…as Morzzan said..
  i think rikjaad tried to play long ball at the end of the game…but unfortunately it didn’t work…now he is showing us his managering capablity by changing game plays…shouting at player near the touchline..he never did that b4..

• El // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:35

  Rijikard is guilty because of the lack of the tactic. You just can’t play with the team who plays one of the best tactic in La Liga in the same way the whole match. They just read all our game through and killed most of our chances. No esxcusing by the posts, great team as Barcelona can’t rely on such excuses. It was ridiculuos when he changed Etoo but not Henry. He just screwed all game.

  The only thing that pleased me a lot, was Dos Santos’s brilliant performance. I think he deserved to play from start on Schalke. Also, Puyol played really great!!

  I also raise white handkerchief for Rijikard and Laporta! I am SO SICK OF THEM!!!

• Jay // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:55

  Frustration. No other word to describe this. And when it’s not a bad performance, it hurts more than ever.

  Three post-hits, one clear penalty appeal and two brilliant saves. All of these gone in would have seen a thumping Barca scoreline. But that’s football.

  Getafe were very average. They had come to defend. Not pleasing.

  Giovani was brilliant. As was Puyol. There is no real lack of leadership as is being talked about I think. These players do give their all.

  What is weird is the crowd reaction. How can we do what we did when Barca are still in the hunt for two trophies. How will the coach and players feel? They expect Rijkaard to be sacked before Wednesday?

  At least wait till May. We all know that something can be made out of this season. That wasn’t the right way to acknowledge a team that has struggled with injuries and bad luck but is still eyeing a 2nd Champions League win in 3 seasons.

  Very disappointing. Even more than the draw.

• Tsvetan Vetskov // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:32

  bad luck once again , really it is time for changes

• Angus // Apr 7, 2008 at 10:08

  FCB, I personally do not believe “Luck” was against Barcelona last night. Barcelona were poor. There was no cutting edge, no neat one touch passing and no real attacking threat. When Barcelona play at home I expect them to perform and really attack teams. Last night they looked slow, tired and out of ideas. This proves to me that Barcelona are a one man team and when Messi isn’t around the side look lost.

  I am a Barcelona fan and have watched almost all the games this season but it is time to think about change. Some of the football we’ve seen this year has been awful. Getafe away, Atletico away, Villareal home and away and Betis away have all been poor. We could be top and sailing to a league title.

  It’s time to offload some players and put a team together and not a bunch of indeviduals. Rikjaard has done well and we cannot forget the success he’s brought to the club but no the potential of no trophy in two seasons will surely spell the end of Rikjaard’s era at the Camp Nou.

• blaugranaboy // Apr 7, 2008 at 10:12

  barca were not fantastic today. thats exaggerating. two/three years ago we were fantastic, on a regular basis. our team in general gave performancs of 8 or 9 /10. today it was a solid 5.5-6/10. we did attack constantly but thats because it was all we could do if they just parked the bus in front of the goals and waitied for us. but there wasnt enough pace and fitness, the problem for years now. but today isnt the day to diss the team or rijkaard too much. it goes down mostly to bad luck. puyol was brilliant. he is much better in the center and i was happy with zambrotta who i have never thought has been at his best since moving over. sylinvho also deserves to play in defense. that back 4 is our best at the moment. i also hope that henry sees the bench more often. especially when messi gets back

• dnzi // Apr 7, 2008 at 10:18

  It’s Rijkaard. If you’re going to blame the guy for everything so far, at least have the decency to write his name correct.

• blaugranaboy // Apr 7, 2008 at 10:19

  all in all though, im very very sick of excuses and trying to explain the problem. im prob not gonna make many more comments about the team’s performances this year. i accept they are a mess and only next year can things really properly change. at times this year i have been thought sacking frank and bringing in jose is correct. jose has many great attributes but then i just think about how he conducted himself and chelsea, his stupid antics and hypocrit comments and just smug demoneor, it really pissed me off. its such a hard decision for me.

  but i believe in continuity and building an era. look at the most successful teams of the last 12 years or so. United (one of the clubs i have hated most) have had Ferguson for 21 years, and a few years back when Chelsea was winning everyone wanted him sacked, but they stayed faitful and he has paid them back. Ancelloti and Milan has been under pressure a few years, and gotten them 2 CL. When Del Bosque was at Madrid, almost nobody c0uld beat them, then they fired him, and shit hit the fan. Wenger at Arsenal too (who would be my # 1 choice).

  i think the main thing is dressing room atmosphere. the unity and happiness in this team is gone. i really think that is the primary problem. i honestly believe getting rid of deco and roni could bring about big change. their general disrespect for the team, rijkaard, and putting in any effort at all could be killing us like a cancer. anyone think this is possible???? next year we need to move on and fill the team with WINNERS. players that firstly have the heart and drive to win and play for their teammates. thats what is lacking this year. and even those that remain with this spirit (bojan, puyol, xavi, and a few others) it must be very hard being the only ones, then ur spirit gets diminished. someone mentioned before how united have such a great spirit, and thats true, and a reason for them doing so well. when we had our glory years, everyone was smiling, laughing, joking, loving their game. that needs to be restored. we dont need to dip in the market too much. a defender or two and a diego (i wish). upfront, id be all for selling henry and replacing him with drogba, but i dont see that happening. and obviouly the fitness needs to be addressed. guily commented on this a few months back. bringing back ten cate would be great i think.

  everyone here, i feel your pain. really i do. but i just cant keep letting this current year team into tricking me into believing in them. im going to sit back, watch this season, expect the worse and hope maybe a few suprises come my way. but im not going to run the team down anymore, its getting redundant.

• Oliver // Apr 7, 2008 at 10:29

  As a fan of Newcastle United (think you’ve got issues, eh?) I can tell you that getting out of a rut needs not so much a change of players, but a change of tactics. Frank R needs to try something out to refresh his players. I’ve seen what a minor piece of tinkering can do to my side. Only a couple of weeks ago we were the worst team in the world, now three games later from a tactical change and we are a backheeling, freescoring fun machine.

  It will come good again…

• Taras // Apr 7, 2008 at 11:05

  Getafe was deffending very well. The match wasn’t fun to watch, without Messi and Ronnie there is no creative and beautiful game. I can’t take it anymore. The team with such players should play better. I don’t know what happened after Barca won Champions League, but that is strange. This season is a disaster, this season we have better players than the last season, but we still play worse!

• Frede // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:08

  I think its maybe time to try something different with our tactics. Here’s my version of how the tactics should be against Schalke04 on wednesday:

  ———————-Valdés———————

  Puyol—-Márquez——-Milito—-Sylvinho

  Giovani—–Xavi————Yaya—-Iniesta

  ——————Eto’o–Bojan——————

  Please comment….

• Angus // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:43

  If Rijkaard changed the system that Barcelona play that would signal to me he’s defeated. I cannot see that happening on Wednesday or for the rest of the season. The current system will not be changed.

• blaugranaboy // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:46

  thast only going to work if giovanni is going to steam up the touch line. otherwise its just going to be 4 central type players moving around everywhere. i believe in playing with solid shape and this could lose its shape. id much rather put zambrotta right and puyol middle. i dont think puyol is good on the right. and marquez is overrated, frankly i dont understand why people think he is so important for us. i remember people were ready to sell him earlier this year. i really dont think the formatoin is the problem, we’ve said it time and again, its the effort, motivation, drive, and fitness. 4-3-3 works perfectly when people are willing to run all game and play quickly.

• Jay // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:34

  No coach will change his system out of fan behaviour. I don’t think the 4-3-3 is failing as such. He will play this and SHOULD play this in fact because if it works well, then Barcelona are unstopptable. Maybe, against Manchester United too.

• Hilal // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:38

  We performed ok, but again not well enough to beat a mediocre team and as Winterhunt said it is simply not good enough. Fine we were VERY unlucky and sometimes that happens in football and if it wasnt for the plethora of disappointments before this game then maybe we could just ignore it. However given the fact that we have been under performing FOR 18 months now you cannot put anything down to luck anymore. Maybe if Rijkaard had tried a 4-4-2 we would have won the game simply by the element of surprise, maybe we would have lost 0-6, but at least we would have tried something new. That would have been a step forward, we are just taking steps backward. It is almost like every time we play we get more and more predictable and easier for teams to read. Getafe knew exactly what we were going to try to do last night and they stopped us again and again.

  Bringing Gio on helped a lot but it was no “briliant” decision. A brilliant decision would have been NOT TO PLAY an out and out striker as a winger to start off with. Eto’o is useless on the right and everybody has been pointing that out for weeks now, just like we pointed out that Messi was useless down the middle or Henry on the left. It is very simple; players like Henry and Eto’o need to play in their best position in order to get the best out of them. What happens when you play them out of position is that they get frustrated, they get impatient and they lose confidence. We saw it with Henry, we saw it with Messi when he played down the middle and now we are seeing it with Eto’o. Him hitting the post had nothing to do with luck, 10/10 times that is in the back of the net, what you saw was a drop in confidence and composure because every time he gets the ball he loses it or puts in a poor cross…. not because he is shit but because Rijkaard is asking him to do something he is not supposed to be doing. Same thing happened to Messi down the middle, he wasnt able to have an impact, he stopped scoring goals and as a result his general form dropped. Even when Rijkaard put him back on the right it took him a few games to really get his confidence back. Instead of adapting our formation to get the BEST out of our forwards he is ruining our forwards to try and make his formation work and prove that he is right. Well that is not what a good manager does. A good manager adapts his tactics to take advantage of the players he has at his disposal and an even better manager adapts his tactics to take advantage of what is actually happening on the field of play!! When was the last time you saw Rijkaard effectively do something like that?? Sorry but you Rijkaard lovers need to stop holding onto the past and realize that the best thing for Barcelona right now is a new manager. I even think the right man could sort out Ronaldinho. Im not saying it HAS to be Mourinho, although I do think he would be the best manager for us, but we definitely need somebody new! How he has not tried 4-4-2 with Henry and Eto’o up front yet is beyond me, we have two of the best strikers in the world and we are playing BOTH of them out of position. If there was a time to play 4-4-2 it is now, when all we have are strikers, and not wingers. Not Rijkaard though, nope, he wants to play everybody out of position, make all his best players frustrated and useless and then wonder why he doesnt win games he should be winning. God its so infuriating to watch these GREAT players reduced to mediocrity so unnecessarily. You play Henry and Eto’o up front in their favored positions and you can guarantee goals, its a given.

• Messi // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:45

  F*** Rijkaard, Txiki and Neeskens…

• Hilal // Apr 7, 2008 at 14:09

  Jay nobody is saying he should change his formation because the fans want it. He should change his formation because 4-3-3 clearly does not work effectively enough with the players we currently have at our disposal. There is no reason why he cannot try 4-4-2 while we are missing Messi and then go back to 4-3-3 when we have Messi back.

• Nic // Apr 7, 2008 at 14:10

  While we are all frustrated can we please not have comments like the one above from ‘Messi’. Let’s try and keep this a place for intelligent discussion and constructive analysis. Thanks.

• Angus // Apr 7, 2008 at 14:42

  If they were to start messing around with tactics at this stage of the season it just shows that we are in a crisis. Having not changed the system for a couple of years now there is no way Rijkaard could change tactics and not come under heavy criticism. He has to stick with the formation and tactics otherwise he will appear to have lost control, lost the players respect etc.

  He has made his bed tactically and he has left it too long to change it. Had he done this a few months ago when Messi was first injured I don’t think it would be a problem but now it just looks desperate and I can be sure that the Board and fans do not want to look desperate.

• Hilal // Apr 7, 2008 at 14:57

  To be fair Angus we are in a crisis, Rijkaard has already lost control and I do not see how the players can respect him. In fact they clearly dont since last week he told them to keep concentrating on the game and they did the exact opposite. I agree that he should have done this months ago when Messi was first injured, but now it seems to be all over anyways, who not try it…..if it worked we might be able to salvage something from this joke of a season! Honestly it cannot be any worse than the performances we have been putting in the last few games and if anything the surprise factor alone would give us an advanatage!

• Angus // Apr 7, 2008 at 15:05

  Hilal, you make good points. You can look at it from the Rijkaard point of view I’ve taken or the fans which you have taken. As a fan I agree with you that this has been a disaster of a season and that Rijkaard has lost control. But the trouble has come from a few large ego’s that think they are bigger than the club. Rijkaard wasn’t hard enough on those players and is paying the price now.

  I don’t agree this is a crisis. I think second in the league is achievable, Real should be out of sight now and a potential semi-final/final/winning apperance in the champions league is not a bad season. It’s not nearly as good as it should have been and we all know that.

  You have to attempt to stay positive, it’s hard right now but we all support the same cause.

• Joe Henry // Apr 7, 2008 at 17:18

  Ahhh. I am sick and tired of excuses. Many of the readers here say they are but still give Frank and excuse. Frank did he’s best last night ( If you want to believe that ). It was a draw ! He’s best is a draw ! Last time I said my point a fine mate here here said that the problem was not in his coaching but the fact that I miss spelled coach. And then he said I only wanted to correct me. Thank you very much when I want some one to correct me I will post my comment in an English blog. As for this year I don’t think that we are going to win any thing this year under Frank. He is a good COACH that went bad. Nic you host on hell of a website, I voted for you when there was this voting thing ( more than 10 times ) you really are the best FC News website. but posting comments here is just pointless. The readers are blind to see that under a good coach average teams win cups. We are a great team , hack we the best team in the world and people is blaming it on luck. If you want my true comment if a great coach like Winger would have taken over we would have won 3 - 0 easily. Did Frank make any mistakes yesterday ? NO. Yet the team is a mess from the start of season you cant expect to pull every thing back to gather in a blink of an eye. Last night was bad luck, the week before it was bad calls…. . It’s just one excuses after another. This is not FC Barcelona ! I rest my case till I see effective changes. For as for me I have nothing to say till I see Frank leaves the Camp Nou. I will always love Barca & I will always cheer for Barca. But Nic my comments here are almost the same so basically to sum up every thing that I said; Any plan that has Frank leaving I am up with it. 70% we lost Roonie, Even if he never made a plan to leave Barca now he is. All this talking is for sure making him feel like if he didn’t leave he will be the Laugh of the century. I don’t need Barca to win in order for me to be positive about my team. I need Barca to play there best games. Last night sorry we could have played better. Maybe its the best game in a long time. But not the best game , EVEN under Frank or even this season. Barca Vs Villarreal CF the famous 3-1 I think now that was a game. You want to say Barca played well fine. But don’t ever say this is the best we can do !

• blaugranaboy // Apr 7, 2008 at 18:44

  hilal, you’ve been campaiging for the 4-4-2 for a while now and i see the point that this isnt working so lets chagne it up. but your so for not playing players out of position, who would you play on the wings of the midfield??? we dont have any natural wingers? fair point wouldnt you say. and im not being patronizing here or anything, ur actually one of hte people i think make the most logical and objective points.

  but stop making excuses for henry. putting him up front with etoo will do nothing. he needs to stop crying like a little baby and man up or va va voom the F**K out of here. 4-3-3 used to work perfectly well in the past, it has nothing to do with that. its the players. they dont want to win, they wont want to run, they just dont. frank’s only mistake is not controlling a few superstars and not being able to motivate the players to win. fair those are some serious mistakes, but faulting him his tactics i dont really agree with. he needs to just yell at these guys propely, make them run the entire week of training and tell anyone who doesnt want to run they can see the bench the rest of the year and get transfer listed immediately. he needs to crack the whip, not change the formation.

• Hilal // Apr 7, 2008 at 19:30

  Blaugranaboy. To be honest when we have Messi and Ronnie fit I am more than happy to see a 4-3-3, but when they are both injured 4-4-2 would be a better fit for the players. The reason why 4-3-3 works so well in the past is because we had 2 wingers and a striker all playing in their preferred positions, all confident in what they need to do for the team most importantly all happy. 3 strikers in a 4-3-3 DOES NOT WORK. Playing 2 of our best out of position is always going to hurt us., no matter how he arranges it or who he puts in the middle we still lose out. Look how much changed once we brought on an actual winger in Gio. With so many injuries to key players a 4-4-2 formation would suit us better, its as simple as that. As for the wings on the midfield you can easily put Gio on the right and Iniesta on the left, with Xavi and Yaya in the centre of the midfield. That way we are only playing one player (Iniesta) a little bit out of position and we all know how good he is in every position he plays! You can then put Eto’o and either Henry or Bojan up front. That way our BEST players are not out of position and you will see the best out of them. Obviously this would not happen overnight though, you would need to give them both time to regain their confidence. That is what worries me the most, his tactics seem to be sapping the players belief and confidence in themselves.

  As for Henry, I do not like making excuses for anybody and I DO NOT THINK HENRY IS DOING ENOUGH. He is lazy and lackluster on the pitch. That being said I think if you played him the way he NEEDS to be played you will see a much better Henry. Look what has happened to Eto’o after only a few games on the right. Sorry but there is NO WAY he would have missed that chance a month ago when he was playing in the middle. He doesnt look as sharp, he doesnt look as confident and he does not seem happy to be playing there. That is only after a few weeks playing out of position, imagine Henry playing all season out of position. Again I dont want to seem to be making excuses because I still do not think he is trying hard enough, but VERY FEW of our players are giving their all anyways so its a little unfair to single him out. We will never see anywhere near the best of Henry playing him down the left and it is such a shame.

  Cracking the whip and changing the formation are different things. The manager should ALWAYS be making sure that players are training hard and playing to their best no matter what, no matter who is injured or how well we are playing or how many games we win. The players should ALWAYS give 100% no matter what. That is simple. The formation is something different. Tactically when we have all of our players fit, 4-3-3 works, however when we have players missing for whatever reason then the tactics should change to suit the players we have at hand. Even if the players were playing at 100% i still do not think you would get the best out of them right now because of the formation. No matter how hard they try Henry and Eto’o are not wingers and they should not be played as wingers! In essence you are right, if all of our players are fit then there is no need to change formation, it works. However my problem with Rijkaard is that he seems completely incapable of adapting his tactics NO MATTER WHAT. Sorry but that is not the sign of a good or even a mediocre tactician!

• FCB // Apr 7, 2008 at 19:35

  rijkaard is the best, hope he stays forever

• blaugranaboy // Apr 7, 2008 at 21:38

  sweet, i appreciat the lengthy reply. i thought ud go for iniesta and gio on the wings. its the most appropriate way of doing a 4-4-2. etoo is bad on the right, there is no doubt. but often in our good years he would switch out to the left and do well. people thought it was dumb, including me at times, but it gave him space. thats how we scored our first goal vs arsenal in the CL. when it was a pure 4-3-3, they was no need for a real wingers, it was more about attacking with three strikers. they often interchanged and each one of them scored enough goals. but now since teams are playing us this defensive way, its making that more difficult i accept that. the thing is i think the 4-4-2 will become pretty much a 4-3-3 anyway. gio wont run back much and just want to push forward, iniesta will also drift to the middle, so it may be as ineffective. but i presume trying something once isnt the end of the world. when messi is back though 4-3-3 is perfectly fine. bojan, etoo, messi is our best option. bojan is versatile and can play the wing and dribble and make passes and he can also find himself in the box and score. 4-3-3 can actually be very effective in bringing 3 attacks goal scoring opportunities.

  im my opinion, since the start, buying henry had no merit. i didnt like hte galactico taste of it. he was a surplus transfer and frankly i hope he goes to the mls. the wing striker role is not really a winger anyhow. roni was never a winger before, purely down the middle at psg, he had to adapt and managed to score many many goals. if henry gave a shit he could too. he was constantly on the left at arsenal. gives him a chance to cut in and score his classic goals, like vs celtic.

• Winterhunt // Apr 7, 2008 at 21:49

  FCB, come on, just admit it you really are Calderon, aren’t you???? It’s OK, we know you have the best interest of your team Real Madrid at heart when you make statements like that. It’s just that to us Barca fans, it’s way too obvious what your true identity is, as no Barca fan could possibly be watching our performances for the last year and a half and feel that way…. Anyway, nice try Calderon, and give my regards to Schuster, Guti and the boys when you see them over the next month and a half of celebrating winning the Liga because we handed it to you for the second year in a row…… By the way, what was most humiliating for you, the Nic Cage imposter that you paraded around the Bernacow, getting detained for hours by customs in NYC when you tried to enter the country, getting caught begging for a loan at the bank last week because you overspent so wildly on such mediocre transfers????? I guess you don’t have to answer as you are too busy laughing at us, losing to a bunch of losers that you assembled and having our fans still defending our performance, and actually calling a draw with Getafe at Nou Camp, a “Brilliant” performance by us…… Talk about lowering the bar of expectations, huh???? Alright FCB/Calderon, take care now, and thanks for dropping by…….

• Joe Henry // Apr 7, 2008 at 22:04

  FCB a Madrid Fan Figured ! The guy is such an ASS. I also was shocked to find a Barca fan Saying Frank is the best. Just to add to you great wall of shame mate. How is it to lose in super cup 5 on your own land !

• Hilal // Apr 7, 2008 at 22:29

  Baulgranaboy ur right it might work when messi is back, but Messi has been missing for most of the season and that is my point. Also when we had Ronnie/Eto’o/messi up front they would switch from time to time to confuse the defense and it would work, but that is different. There is a big difference between switching to a position for a portion of a game and starting in a position. Eto’o might have moved to the left for 10-15 mins of a game and Henry might drift to the left to mess with the defenders but for most of the game they were leading the line and doing what strikers do best. Confidence plays a huge part. Strikers are all about confidence, a confident striker will get you goals, but a top striker lacking confidence will not score as many. When you play a striker out of position it lowers their confidence. Look at Eto’o for example, he is clearly not suited to be on the right. He loses the ball more often, he finds it hard to cut in and take on defenders and he cannot cross for shit. All of that is going to effect his confidence and it can be seen on the pitch. Sammy was our most confident, hard working player, it is no coincidence that this has diminished since moving to the wing. If it can happen to Messi, and it did, then it can happen to anybody!

  Also I think it is a little unfair to compare Henry and Ronaldinho. When Ronnie came to us he was A LOT younger than Henry. He did not have to change what he had been doing for the last 8 years. Also Ronladinho is a much more versatile player. He can play as a winger, as an attacking mid and even as a striker of sorts. Henry and Eto’o are a lot less versatile as players. Again I dont want you to think that I am defending Henry because I am not, I still think he is not doing enough. What I am saying is that it IF Rijkaard played Henry where he belongs then we would see more from him because he would be more confident.

• Nic // Apr 8, 2008 at 0:26

  Hey! Lay off FCB. As far as I can see he is as blaugrana as anyone. Just cos you don’t agree with his opinion you don’t need to start with calling him a Madrid fan or other insults. Some of you guys need to calm down your act or I’ll be getting out the yellow cards soon.

• Winterhunt // Apr 8, 2008 at 3:19

  Oh Nic, no need to get so serious it was just a little humor to lighten the mood, obviously I don’t think FCB is really Calderon, and besides if you read what I wrote I was making fun of Real & Calderon…. Unless of course FCB really is Calderon and then, my friend, your blog is far more influential than we ever could have imagined…….. We musn’t lose our sense of humor in these dire times… I was hoping to inject a little bit comedy into the funereal proceedings, but if anyone was truly offended, then I apologise and suggest that maybe we consider that it isn’t life or death here….. as my pick for our future coach once answered when asked if he felt pressure in regards to his teams upcoming game, and I paraphrase; Pressure??? No I don’t feel pressure. There is no pressure in football. Pressure is all those parents in the world who are trying to make enough money to feed their children, and cannot find a job to do it. That is pressure…. not football….. comments on a board are only comments on a board in cyberspace, not really much of anything, really in the big picture of our lives, we’re just expressing ourselves, and venting frustration….. it’s sort of like AA for addicted and annoyed Barca fans…. I don’t think anyone is attempting to be mean spirited….. just one person’s view…….. FCB isn’t really Calderon though, is he????? I mean there was no denial on his part…. just kidding….. just for a second though, imagine if it really was in fact Calderon, and by my joking around I stumbled upon him….. How funny would that be????? I can see old Calderon, all red faced, Schuster looking over his shoulder at the computer, both of them trying to figure out who gave it away so Calderon could fire them… “I don’t know Berndt, maybe it was Guti……. ever since he got those star tattoos on his elbows, he’s seemed a little off to me…..” I digress……

• Shahenshah // Apr 8, 2008 at 4:49

  lol isnt it obvious, calling some one a supporter of los blanco on a barca website would be regarded as the highest insult. Thats worse than being called the scum devil. Trust.

  As for Henry. Even he agreed that the Henry in Barcelona will not be the same as the Henry at Arsenal. I have said this many times and I cant stress it enough. When a player moves to a new team. He is the one who requires to adapt to the team. The team doesnt change their whole dynamic for one player, no matter how high his pedestal. Henry on the left makes sense. He can cut in and pull off finesse shots. Didnt he show that in Arsenal. It was his bread and butter there. Literally.

  As for the 4-4-2 formation with Gio on the right and Iniesta on left, it would be more appropriate if Gio plays on the left and Iniesta plays on the right. I am guessing the wingers will have to do a lot of dribbling down the flanks and send crosses into the box.

  Isnt that what wingers do? I cant tell because Barcelona never played like that. When we had the R-E-M front line, I ask you, has Barcelona ever crossed the ball into the box? No, the only people i’d see cross the ball were overlapping fullbacks like Sylvinho and Zambrotta. Rijkaard’s plan was to put Ronaldinho on the left. Why? Johan Cruyiff was the fellow who advised Rijkaard to do so, which makes sense. Ronaldinho can cut in on his preffered foot, send in a through ball or dribble around players and score a goal. Its pretty much what a striker does. Score a goal or set a goal but get a goal somehow. Messi did the same thing on the right. I am guessing they didnt cross the ball because they were on their off foot, either that or they were strikers not wingers and again I reiterate, I cant stress that point enough. In fact, they had to cut in for their crosses too (Henry’s goal against Rangers this year in the CL, look what Ronaldinho does.). That was the whole dynamic of the front three. Two efficient dribblers (Mind you Eto’o is effective with the ball only marginally less than Messi and Ronaldinho when on form.) who have the ability to create a goal, somehow. One left footed and one right footed. And a striker up front. Fit perfectly.

  Aight this is my theory. Messi’s injury left a void on the right side. Either you need an efficient crosser or a dual footed player because a right footed player cannot play on the right in Rijkaard’s strategical system. He tried Ronaldinho during villareal but lets be realistic, yes unfortunate, but look at the facts and you can see that Barca’s key chess piece on the attack, the legend, who was the focal point of Rijkaard’s attack went from classy to ashy after champions league glory. Dipped in form. He tried Bojan next but that wasnt very productive. He then tried Eto’o but he can neither cross nor is he very efficient with his left foot. Eto’o is actually a decent dribbler and he loves to be on the left. Why? Because he is right footed. That was Rijkaard’s system and what was his flaw? He didnt have another left footed player and no other was able to play on the right because they are strikers not wingers. Sadly Gio was injured too but this injury and time off from the game was a good thing I believe. During his time off he prolly observed the rise of Bojan and the fact that even someone like Ronaldinho is expendable has woken him up.

  Atleast this year in the beginnig, a young phenomena, Messi stepped up in Ronaldinho’s absence. His injury has caused such a problem in Barca’s front three. Defence was solid, Midfield was creative and maintained the position game but what was missing? Efficiency in the finishing third.

  I always thought why would Barcelona buy Henry when they have Eto’o who classifies in the same category of strikers in the book of football. Both have blistering speed and the instinct to spring the trap like a ravaged greyhound freed from its cages, latching on to a throughball and finishing it off in excellent efficiency. Then I saw what happened last season when Eto’o got injured and missed that key striker up front. Saviola did well at first but fizzed out later. I realized perhaps having another striker like Henry could have helped Barcelona. We have to observe though and understand that we purchased an arrogant superstar. The captain of a top english team. We got greedy and didnt realize that egos were certain to clash.

  Too many egos, too many blacksheep, too much drama. Do you think this can help team unity? Definitely not. People need to be disciplined as soon as possible and those who cannott be disciplined, then their service or lack there of should be eliminated from the team.

• Nic // Apr 8, 2008 at 8:54

  Excellent post Shahenshah. Giovani seems like the only natural sub for Messi. Rijkaard played him in January when Messi was out and Barça went unbeaten. Until Messi comes back I’d like to see Giovani on the right, Bojan in the middle and Eto’o on the left. With Eto’o and Bojan interchanging positions.

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