A few takeaways from a very tough loss on the road
Barcelona suffered a very painful 4-3 defeat on Sunday's La Liga match against Celta Vigo. After falling down 3-0 thanks to three individual errors in the first half, the Catalans fought back and scored two goals in their attempt at a miracle comeback, but eventually lost and failed to reach the top of the table heading into the international break. Here's a few takeaways from a very tough loss at the Balaídos:
1 - This loss is not (all) Luis Enrique's fault
I know most of you disagree, but please hear me out: Lucho used this exact same lineup last week against Sporting Gijón, a team that pressed high up the pitch and had pace up front, just like Celta. The same defense and midfield did a great job in controlling the tempo of the game, and the victory came in quite easy fashion. Lucho had the same gameplan for Sunday, and for 20 minutes, it worked. And then what happened next is not Enrique's fault: a coach cannot control individual mistakes, and they came from the team's most important, consistent player (Sergio Busquets).
One thing Lucho can be blamed is putting Andrés Iniesta on the bench after resting him last week. I'm not in training every day and I don't have the stats, and maybe Iniesta was at risk of injury and could not have started the game. If this was just a rotation decision, then it was a mistake. It was the only mistake, and it probably wouldn't have made any difference since the goals came from individual mistakes.
If a team fails to play well as a collective unit, then the manager should be blamed. This wasn't the case on Sunday, and Barça played very well as a team before and after the first half collapse. This loss is almost exclusively on the players, and even if you hate Lucho's guts, you have to accept this as a fact: Lucho can't control errors.
2 - Sergio Busquets should be benched
The Celta game isn't the first or the second or the third game. It was the WORST, but just another bad game from Busi, who hasn't played close to his level all season long. Maybe it's something physical, or mental, or just a bad form. But Busi cannot play, he's a liability at the moment. He nearly cost a win against Gladbach, and he definitely cost a win on Sunday. André Gomes is clearly in better form than Sergio and should be playing the big matches for now until Busi finds his best football again. Because this is not the Busquets we know. The Busquets we know is the best defensive midfielder in the world, and this Busquets is not good enough for a relegation team at the moment. Sounds harsh, but it's a fact. Get your sh*t together, Busi.
3 - Gerard Piqué should play forever
Piqué's performance on Sunday was simply incredible. He put the team on his back in the second half and went forward to look for a goal because he didn't want to lose, and along with an Iniesta who also didn't want to lose, Geri nearly won the game by himself. He was also great on defense, as always, and the way he fought in the second half was a true statement to how competitive he is and how much he loves the club.
We love you, Geri. We really do.
from Barca Blaugranes - All Posts http://ift.tt/2dB5qwF
0 التعليقات:
إرسال تعليق