FC Barcelona and Spanish Football | Ferrari F1 | Software Architect passionate about sports | I don't DM much, i don't ignore you personally if i don't reply
Joined September 2011
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Barça have just finished a run of four physically demanding games with two defeats, the latest against Madrid. It’s not what I hoped for, but parts of it were predictable.
As I said before the PSG game, we should have rotated and rested players.
Madrid rested four of their starters against us after facing Leipzig midweek: Tchouaméni, Konaté, Cucurella and Diomande. They had the legs to cover more ground, win second balls and close spaces. At times, it felt like they had more players on the pitch in midfield and when defending.
Valverde, who wasn’t rested at all, looked just as exhausted as our players in the first half and was eventually subbed off. That tells you something about the physical demands of this schedule.
I know there’s a lot of blame being thrown at our players on here, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. But we need to acknowledge the context: our players were fatigued, while Madrid had fresh legs.
Would rotating have prevented one or both defeats? Maybe not. But we would most likely still have Dani Olmo, Eric García and Xavi Espart available.
The Alavés game gives us a chance to recover before Aston Villa, Atlético and Villarreal. This isn’t a tragedy, but we need to manage these situations better and choose our battles.
As things stand, we can’t afford to lose any of our next four games. Let’s hope we get some of our defensive players back to full fitness.
I know Hansi Flick wants to win every game, but if i were him i would heavily rotate against PSG.
This is a game that we afford to lose, if we were heavily rotating it would not hurt our morale and we could prepare better for El Clasico this weekend.
UCL basically starts in March, and with this current group system, if you are 5th of 6th in the group you are actually disadvantaged.
Barça are reportedly looking at options to strengthen the back line, with Gvardiol, Bastoni, Lisandro Martínez and Nathan among the names mentioned.
I know our system needs defenders who are good on the ball and can defend large spaces, but can't we also look for someone who's strong in the air? I'm thinking of someone like Nico Schlotterbeck.
I feel like that profile would complement Cubarsi better, with both bringing different qualities to the partnership.
🔵🔴 El Barça activa la 'operación central'
📌 Tras las dos derrotas frente al PSG y el Real Madrid, el club azulgrana ha decidido reforzar su retaguardia con un defensa para el eje
🧐 Gvardiol (City), el soñado y que dependería de la sanción al club inglés; Bastoni (Inter), opción difícil y Lisandro (United) y Natan (Betis), más factibles
✍️ @RogerTorello
mundodeportivo.com/futbol/fc…
Interesting, Flick prefers Guillem before Landry. My only problem with Guillem is that he is short and not very physical. He was probably the best player for the U19s last year, while also playing for Barça Atletic. Technically he is very good.
To be fair, I can see it, because I see a similar style of play to Xavi, but Landry would have been more towards Eric and Kounde profile wise.
🚨🎖| 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍: Youth team full-back Guillem Víctor, brother of Pau Víctor, trained with the first team today and COULD be called up against Alavés. [@monfortcarlos & @didacpeyret] #fcblive
Maximilian Mitroi retweeted
I understand why everyone is going crazy over Rodri's performances in our back-to-back defeats against decent opposition. Rodri has been a great signing so far, and if you check the pages of those criticising Rodri now, you will find them praising him and his impact since he joined Barcelona.
So why are they suddenly complaining? Because these are exactly the games we signed him for.
We didn't bring Rodri to dominate Racing or Valencia. We signed him to make a difference in matches against teams like PSG and Real Madrid. So when Barcelona loses those games, especially in the manner we lost to Real Madrid, with Rodri looking very slow in his ball progression and circulation, fans are naturally going to be disappointed.
I wasn't impressed either. I even tweeted about how painfully slow our midfield looked, particularly Rodri, as if we'd just played 120 minutes the day before.
However, let's tone down the talk about him changing Barcelona's mentality or completely influencing the way we play. One or two games against Real Madrid and PSG aren't enough to draw those conclusions, especially when he's been outstanding in virtually every other match, even if the opposition has been weaker.
And let's not forget that he was also signed to bring much-needed experience in managing games defensively and knowing when to slow things down.
Barça are back in training today after two days off.
We all hope to put last week behind us and get back to winning ways against Alavés at home. But with Aston Villa in the UCL and Atlético away next week, I’d rest some of our starters, especially in defense.
I would not experiment with midfielders at right back. Xavi Espart was moved to that position at La Masia years ago. I'd bring Landry.
Martin played 315 minutes in the last 4 games and had an ankle knock against Betis. Cubarsi played the full 360 minutes in the past 2 weeks and has a fever since before the game against Madrid. There is no way he should play. I'd bring Hafiz Gariba and Alex Campos.
The rest would be a mix of starters and backups. Let's learn from the last 4 games.
This would be my lineup. What would yours be?
Maximilian Mitroi retweeted
The funniest thing about the narrative that Flick always gets outcoached by a "real" coach is how inconsistent these people are with it.
If we had beaten Madrid, Mourinho would suddenly be a washed manager who isn't good anymore. Just like Xabi Alonso was a tactical mastermind when he beat Flick in La Liga last season, but a failure when Flick beat him.
Simeone isn't a good coach when Flick dominates him in the league or knocks him out of the Copa in 24/25, but suddenly becomes a "real coach" when he eliminates us from the UCL, despite two red cards and our players missing a ridiculous number of big chances.
The same goes for Ancelotti, a five-time UCL winner, and Kompany in 24/25. Apparently, neither of them was a "real coach" either.
The pattern is always the same: when Flick beats a big-name manager, they discredit the opponent. When that manager beats Flick, suddenly he's a tactical genius who exposed him.
It's not a consistent argument about tactics. It's just a narrative they change depending on the result.
Maximilian Mitroi retweeted
🔵❤️| LANDRY FARRÉ: THE LA MASIA DEFENDER BARÇA SHOULD BE ASSESSING RIGHT NOW.
Landry Farré, 19, is a natural right-back who can also play left-back and centre-back.
He joined La Masia in 2015, represented Spain at U16, U17 and U18 levels, and became part of Barça Atlètic’s senior setup in 2025/26.
His development was disrupted by injuries, but he returned to prominence in September 2026, scoring the winner against Barbastro while playing at left-back.
Now consider the tactical opportunity.
Farré offers Flick a defender who can be assessed in his natural position, while his versatility provides potential cover across the back four.
That matters because Barcelona need more than someone to fill a vacant position. They need defenders who understand defensive distances, tracking runners, protecting the high line and recovering when possession is lost.
I’m not saying Farré is automatically ready to start for the first team. I’m saying Barça should establish that through first-team training and carefully managed minutes.
Flick, why not assess the natural defenders already in the club before creating another positional experiment?
Even Harry Kane a year ago understood what the criteria for the Ballon d'Or was.
But hey, if he's up against Lamine Yamal, suddenly goals matter...
Maximilian Mitroi retweeted
I am a Barcelona fan, not an analyst. Most of my takes here are personal opinions, so don’t fucking expect me to be neutral about everything. I no dey follow una do all that nonsense eye service just to please rival fanbases.
I am a Barcelona cultist! A Lamine Yamal cultist, a Neymar cultist and a Messi cultist too, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a bias or a special emotional attachment to someone or something. Even the GOD of the Bible wasn’t neutral. He had favourites!
So you expect me to be happy that Harry Kane won the Ballon d’Or over my own player when I know in my heart that my player deserves it as well ? I should Congratulate Kane and pretend to be excited so you people can clap for me and call me an unbiased football fan.
I love Lamine Yamal. I wanted him to win the Ballon d’Or and I am disappointed he didn’t, even more disgusted he finished third behind Mugabe. It is not by force to celebrate another player’s victory when my own player lost. Give your Unbiased take and leave me with my Bias.
Everybody go sha dey alright.
How to win Ballon d'Or in 2026:
- take 24 penalties
- score some tapins in a farmers league
- do absolutely nothing in UCL
- do almost nothing in the World Cup
Ladies and gentlemen: Harry Kane.
Dembélé won the 2025 Ballon d’Or because PSG won the UCL, even though Raphinha had better numbers across the season. Rodri won in 2024 after Spain won the Euros and he was named Player of the Tournament, despite other candidates like Vini Jr having better stats.
In previous years the Ballon d'Or was won by players that played for the team that won the most important competition of that season.
So why should 2026 be different? Spain won the World Cup, and Lamine Yamal was the best Spanish player across the season.
If trophies mattered this much in previous seasons, shouldn’t Lamine be the clear winner? Or are we changing the criteria this year, because he's 19?
MLS has the same amount of players in the Ballon d'Or top 10 as the Premier League?
They are our ten finalists for the 2026 Ballon d’Or… who you got?
🇫🇷 Ousmane Dembélé
🇳🇴 Erling Haaland
🏴 Harry Kane
🇬🇪 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
🇫🇷 Michael Olise
🇪🇸 Fabián Ruiz
🇪🇸 Rodri
🇪🇸 Lamine Yamal
Follow the ceremony live on Ballondor.com, with analysis and data from the London Palladium!
#ballondor
