Looking at the post-match takes confirmed my suspicion that there are many people here who can tell a good performance from a bad one, but cannot diagnose causes for poor performance.

USELESS variations of player ratings everywhere, b/c apparently the only way some fans can conceptualize this game is on the level of individuals, w/ no consideration for context (& I mean actual context, not noise like "tHiS aSsIsT iS oVeRrAtEd b/c iT wAs sIdEwAyS").

I've always disliked immediate post-match player ratings, but it's particularly noxious now. As if it's possible to properly assess individual performance in a game like that one. Reactionary responses from ppl who claim they aren't reactionary.

People so eager to show their objectivity (while condemning others for pretending to objectivity) that they overcorrect, retweeting 1 opinion they agree w/ even though the account they're boosting has bad logic in every other tweet.

And this is praised as being fair, as giving credit when due, despite the fact that even a broken clock is right twice.

Or going out of your way to criticize a player you like b/c you have to "tell it like it is." Performative "objectivity."

It's funny reading comments about Busquets. Lots of token talk about the style, the system, & how they affect him, but then in a game that had neither style nor system, suddenly he's condemned. "Can't judge a player on one game" until you can.

Before this game he had a great individual season. That hasn't changed. But here's what you ALL apparently knew: the game against Bayern was going to be a disaster. Why? B/c Setien wasn't able to do what he said he would. B/c Barça's form was already shaky. B/c it was coming.

Amazing then how you imagined Busquets was going to somehow escape this awful gravitational pull, so you can say he did well but others shat their pants, or whatever scapegoating that passes for analysis on here. Answer this: Has the context for him materially improved?

Were they playing in a style that brings out his best? After the break when Setien really veered from his promise, Busquets was able to cope b/c it was Alaves, Valladolid. But against a team like Bayern? He & EVERY OTHER FUCKING PLAYER needed more help from their manager.

As for MF partners, last season: Arthur, Rakitic, & Vidal. This season: de Jong, Vidal, rotating cast. All that context STILL APPLIES. But nah, you're upset about the humiliation & he couldn't do anything to stop it, & you have to tell it like it is! So he's finished.

I applaud you for your incredible objectivity, able to criticize players you like so people can call you unbiased!

And equally funny: comparing Busquets hot takes w/ those on ter Stegen or Piqué.

If you were paying ANY actual attention to ter Stegen, you would have already noticed that he sometimes makes strange decisions under pressure. But you were all so eager to push the better-than-Neuer thing, ter Stegen as captain, that you ignored it.

And that's as it should be. I have no desire to nitpick ter Stegen's mistakes b/c he is a great goalkeeper, he deserves some leeway. Some leeway that you don't give Busquets, you so-called fans. Consider ter Stegen had a middling season for him & Busquets had a good one.

Then they both had a poor showing vs. Bayern as you should have expected, the situation being what it was. But for ter Stegen: "Oh worst game ever in a Barça shirt but he deserves to start." Busquets? "Never start again." HAHA FUCKING HA.

And then there's Piqué. Ah, Piqué. Every start of the season I fume at the volume of "he's over" BS. Then by January everyone suffers collective amnesia while simultaneously complaining that people don't rate consistency. This is very objective, of course.

One of the things I love about Piqué is what everyone loves about Piqué: his honesty. EXCEPT FOR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON when you shat all over him for being honest. I wasn't on Twitter but OH I fucking remember you.

Back then: Piqué doesn't lead & is a bad example & how dare he criticize Dembele tennis blah blah blah. Now, Piqué TRUE CAPTAIN! Why? B/c he sopped the wounded pride of entitled fans who demand that players grovel as if they aren't the ones living the loss.

Do you really imagine that so many of you will be fine w/ Piqué right now if he hadn't given that post-match talk? Last season when he said he would like Valverde to stay, how many of you wanted him out & said he was over? Truly, an objective assessment of his performance.

People get REAL antsy when fans are called entitled, so I will add this. Not entitled: demanding excellence, being angry at poor leadership. Damned entitled: acting like players are beholden to us, that their spare time is ours, that they should change to suit us.

So Busquets? Introverted. Doesn't say much. Reserved when he does speak. Well, that's a character flaw now. True captain Piqué has shown his face, unlike that wuss. He should be a completely different person, he should prove to us that he's captain in a way we can understand!

Nevermind that they probably take turns to talk to the press & the only captain to show right after Anfield was Busquets. He's twice condemned b/c he's not a typical athlete & he's not charismatic. No wonder he gets none of the leniency given to other great players.

Even his fans are quick to rate him harshly the instant he falls short of unrealistically high expectations, like when he didn't reproduce Granada every single game. Massive decline my ass. He declined over the span of a week? Is this really how you think performance works?

Busquets haters have already won. I won't even be surprised if he leaves this summer, b/c this board's been aching to be rid of him for years, & it's the perfect excuse. There won't be an uproar. You, the not-reactionary-&-very-objective fans, have shown me that.

If you resemble these comments & are offended, don't hesitate to unfollow me. I didn't come here to be popular. I have never pretended to an objectivity I don't have. I have tried to use objective tools & apply them consistently. I have tried to argue my case. Good night.