Defeat Away From Home
Good day, everyone, and welcome to my blog. It has been a rough week as a Barcelona fan as the club has not suffered back-to-back defeats in a while. FC Barcelona played away against Sevilla yesterday, and like I said in my post on the PSG game, this match was the important response the club needed to get the motivation back in the squad, but unfortunately, it went south against Sevilla yesterday. FC Barcelona lost 4-1 away to Sevilla, which is the biggest defeat under Hansi Flick since he began managing the club.
There is a lot to take away from that game. I won't start by questioning Lewandowski's ability in front of goal because it has been horrible in the past few matches the Polish striker has played. Lewandowski had a chance to turn the game around with a penalty, but for some reason, the Polish striker failed to find the back of the goalpost, and that moment is one of the reasons FC Barcelona lost the match yesterday. There were chances for Barcelona to equal the score line, and they failed to take them, and I don't know how many times the team needs to realise that every chance in front of goal should be taken at all costs.
Dani Olmo yesterday showed no improvement on the pitch, and this has just confirmed that he will be seeing the chairs on the bench soon, once Fermin Lopez gets back from injury without a doubt. I honestly don't understand what has happened to him this season, because if we look back I remember vividly how Hansi Flick and even every Barcelona fan wanted Dani Olmo to quickly recover from his injuries to be part of the team on the pitch, but that Dani Olmo of last season has suddenly disappeared.
Rashford and Pedri were the only decent players for me on the field because, as for the rest, they were average. Roony Bardighji had an opportunity to get his first goal and give the team a lifeline as he was clear on goal, but he couldn't convert his chance into a goal. It was a frustrating match to watch, and I am glad for the first time that the International break is here, so we can just take a break, and once it's over, everyone has to be on their best form because they can't go into the El Clásico looking this poor in performance.
The defence has been nothing to write home about because it has been extremely poor from the start of the season, and don't get me started on Wojciech Szczesny, who I had a lot of doubts about handling the goalpost in Joan Garcia's absence, but that will be in another post. Hansi Flick has sent a message to the fans that he will fight for every trophy in this season with the team which I trust he will do and all those talks about Hansi Flick having a poor second season don't move me because I am confident he will go all out this season and win trophies with Barcelona.
It has been a rough week, and I hope that after the International break, the team gets back to form to fight for the crucial games ahead this month. So, guys, that will be all for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a good day.
Posted Using INLEO
These are my reservations about Flick's high-line system:
1] It's a style that is not new to football, so top coaches have it's antidote. How do you win the biggest trophies when you will have to face these top coaches and teams?
2] Ok, if you must use the system, then be ready to coach your team to play disciplined intense high-pressing football. Also be sure that you can do it when your best players are not there. Because they seem to be issues, mostly when their best players are out.
Now, by the middle of the 1st half against PSG midweek, surprisingly, Barca's pressing had reduced. Gaps were opening, but PSG couldn't punish them well enough with the young players upfront. You can't allow that drop Barca!
3] I have told Barca faithfuls even last season that, it's not just about the high-line, it's the tools used to prosecute it. I have never been confident with the pace and sharpness of Barca's defence. Against Bayern last season, Barca folks were busy celebrating victory, but I was showing them how easy it was to penetrate there defence-line. It's just that Bayern forward players goofed.
4] Bayern had a beautiful defender in the Asian,Min, last season, but for a high-line, he was too slow. Today the Asian is on the bench and Bayern bougbt, Ta, who has a better recovery speed. It's now difficult to break Bayern unlike last season.
Anyways, I wasn't worried on the weakness I saw in Kompany's defence last season, he was a defender, I knew he'll fix it.
Mr Flick maintains his system no matter what, he's that rigid.
Rigidity is if you have a bench like Arsenal’s. Barca clearly doesn't have that, so what's the rigidity about?!
CONCLUDE
I advice, reduce the high-line in some games when your choice players are out injured.
Also even when choice players are fit, consider altering the high-line when you play truly big teams.
The high-line pattern of football is no rocket-science in football, the answer to it is in the hands of big coaches. Flick should respect those coaches, by being adaptable.
I wish him well.
It was a very hard times for us Barcelona fans we couldn't find it easy to bear the 4:1 lost but all for good we go again we would never give up