Yet again, in a UCL knockout match at Camp Nou we averaged below 55% possession in the 1st half (after Newcastle)
It is no surprise that Frenkie didn’t play in both games. He is probably one of the most press resistant midfielders in the squad, who always picks the right pass and helps us pin the opposition back.
Without him, we can not do this, and we see it in games like this where we lose balls easily and it begins to look like a basketball game.
by Select_Drawing_7434
18 Comments
To be honest, the team outside of those two goals played pretty well, Barca dominated the ball and actually pressed well. Frenkie is an amazing player, but I don’t think his absence was the reason for the loss tonight.
We needed him or bernal in the midfield. Eric is good defensively, but he doesnt have the control fdj or bernal have.
We pinned them back even in 10 men, in what world is retention the problems instead of finishing?
I love him and he was sharp. However I think it’s time for new blood in the midfield. We need fresh ideas and it feels like De Jong is not truly meshing with the team. I like Andrey Santos from Chelsea, I believe he is what’s missing. We need someone that can go from defense to offense quick and press hard.
it’s the red card AGAIN…not that deep
Is he healthy to come back because regardless idk if he would be ready to play an intense 90 minutes here anyway
Nop, we need Rapha more. Yes, Frenkie is one of the most press resistant, but we miss Rapha way more.
I don’t see it as a De Jong problem but the fact we didn’t have a midfield pair for the whole game. As good as Eric is he just isn’t a propper midfielder. Even with Bernal we would look much better.
nah it’s not that but we miss him as well
The guy hasnt played in a while and now he is our savoiur.
This sub is insane.
Frenkie allows Pedri more freedom to impact the game going forward. He has to put in slave shifts when he has someone like Eric garcia next to him
Do we have a chance if Pedri and De Jong play together in the 2nd leg? I heard Pedri was injured tho unfortunately.
We only-
As always the player that is not on the pitch is the answer. By no means I don’t want him.nack but let’s not pretend until today we were unbeaten for 18 matches. The team should and will learn to adapt without the starting eleven (Bernal, Casado if he stays, Gavi etc) the team fought well but the end product was lacking (18 shot on goal). The problems of course was reffing but we soldier on.
Obviously we could have lost even with frenkie in the team but the thing that people in the comments don’t understand is that if Barca had more of the ball, had more control then maybe the red card situation could have been avoided. Simeone can’t make a run if athleti don’t even have the ball. Up until the red card athleti had more possession of the ball than we did, they were creating chances and one of them paid off big time.
Having more of the ball isn’t just for offensive, it is also a form of defense.
i cant take this shit most overrated player in the squad
5 players are the most important for us.
1.Lamine Yamal
2.Raphinha
3.Pedri
4.De jong
5.Joan Garcia
They are irreplaceable.
i don’t think the problem was maintaining possession nor our midfield. ofc that having fdj would’ve helped us to recycle possessions quickly and safely, but even with him+9 men it’s hard to pull off sth different from the end result. in that sense, deeply satisfied to have olmo, gavi and fermin in the squad: they bleed blaugrana.