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What went wrong for Barcelona vs Sevilla!
Barca had some injury concerns at the back going into the match. @RonaldKoeman decided to play Umtiti and Mingueza and Firpo at RB. He didn’t really have much of a choice as both Lenglet and Umtiti play on the left. Firpo wasn’t ready.
Barca had some injury concerns at the back going into the match. @RonaldKoeman decided to play Umtiti and Mingueza and Firpo at RB. He didn’t really have much of a choice as both Lenglet and Umtiti play on the left. Firpo wasn’t ready.
Secondly, I’m still not convinced if Pedri, de Jong and Busquets is our strongest midfield lineup. Looking at the most recent comeback, and yes it’s a small sample size, but the best performance so far has been with Frenkie, Pedri and Puig on the field.
Busquets vision and experience is definitely unmatched. But age and speed do catch up in football. According to the latest data, Busquets will perform good in two matches and he’ll be tired for the third match. Ball rotation is slow which slows down the overall game speed.
Lately, there have been comparisons between Puig and Pedri. Both have performed better as impact subs. In Puig’s case, he’d perform better as a starter if he’d be starting with Barca’s best team. You’re as good as your teammates. Puig has never been given that chance.
Coming back to yesterday’s game, @RonaldKoeman waited till the 85th minute to make the first sub and bring Riqui on. That should’ve been done around the 70th minute. Then Trincao comes in at the 90th minute.
Trincao has been performing well for about three games now. He’s improved dramatically. He’s been playing his best as a starter. He scored in the last game and before that he had two shots, one of which hit the post. Why not let the player continue when he’s on a run?
Finding Busquets replacement could be challenging for Barcelona. The option @RonaldKoeman has right now is to start gravitating towards a mid three of Frenkie, Pedri and Puig. See how it progresses. Frenkie will grow into that role with time and Barca can have a rotating mid.
The other option is to bring Jandro to the first team and try him out. If that doesn’t workout, then a signing will have to be made. Wijnaldum isn’t the pivot as seen in Liverpool’s latest matches.
Barca also have to offload the CBs. Both Umtiti and Lenglet. They will have to dish out money for a player at the level of Jules Kounde. Kounde had an amazing match yesterday, a rare sight where a CB made efforts on more that one occasion to go it himself. And he ended up scoring
For Barca to win the big matches, Barca have to outperform their xG. How do they do that? Every player who’s a non forward, has to attempt one if not two shots on target. That’s including the CBs. That’s how Liverpool managed to win the PL last season by such a huge margin.
What about Pique? Again, it’s the age factor and an injury. Will Pique be able to perform at his previous level? He’s still Barca’s most experienced CB, but Barca have to make the transition. Having fast defenders was why Barca weren’t conceding while hold a high line.
Can Barça make a comeback in the second leg? Absolutely. It’s about the mentality and every player doing his part. Players have to put in their shots. Goals win you games. Subbing strategy has to be improved. Continue with what has worked. The data is there.
How does Barca hold up against PSG? Well the CL has a bit of a roulette factored in. Neymar went off yesterday so there’s an injury concern there. If Araujo makes it back, then Barca go in as the stronger side.
Can Barca win the La Liga? It depends on how many points Atletico drop. Atletico are prone to dropping points in the last few seasons. They are outperforming their xG with the help of A renewed performance from Luis Suarez. But then again, they did end up dropping points.
@RonaldKoeman just needs to fix his core starting lineup. Right now, Puig needs to be a part of that. Maybe even Trincao. Subbing strategy has to be improved. Rotations have to be made so no player is overplayed. Barca started off decently, but were tired.
