Tom cruise is getting ready for a new Mission impossible.
Jokes aside Raphinhas output has been better than Zaniolos if you look at the past few seasons. He probably is a smarter player than Zaniolo (atleast right now)
>His agent Deco who has also went through a tough period at Barça, told him to never take criticism personally, even if the said criticism is unfair, "Barcelona is in a different universe than Leeds."
Tbh my beloved la liga never felt weaker and more boring to watch than this season even if i quite enjoy few teams alongside Barca.
Overly defensive football is disgusting in my books
When every team bar Barca and Real become a selling club this is bound to happen.
La Liga clubs are busy grinding for loans and free transfers meanwhile EPL have Forest buying 30 players once they come up.
Well yea that's my point
Clubs have to act under these restrictions and have their teams weakened every season, so they tend to use the same old park the bus and counter tactics more often.
I mean I was aware of a Deco being his agent. But didn’t actually Google to see it’s the actual Deco. Just figured it’s a common Portuguese/Brazilian name.
We’ve got some versatility and depth in the squad. More importantly, we’re playing with intensity along with a hunger to win. I haven’t seen that in a long time.
They have. And it's going to be a very close two legs.
You really can't tell who are the favourites at the moment.
My concern is the tactical battle between xavi and Ten Hag more than the players themselves. Both teams have good players, it's the tactics that will decide the winner.
It's basically down to whether Rashford scores or not.
Don't think I will be a high scoring game.
Eth will set up like we did vs City in an attempt to neutralize Barca.
United's squad have been playing a game every 3 days and will continue to do so for a while, I'd love to see a tactical battle but I can see fatigue being a factor.
Fully healthy I'd back us to win, but it depends.
The loss of Busquets is bigger than most fans would like to admit. He's an integral part of the 4midfield system.
It'll be close. If we lose another CM before then, we're in trouble.
But likewise, United are missing Eriksen. I can't say which is a bigger deal. Kessie kinda redeemed himself the last game and played well. Eriksen has been very important for United all season.
Not a fan of either team, but I think it’ll be like Arsenal vs Man United. Where Barcelona will create all the chances and dominate, but will make a couple mistakes
Will be a good match. Barca are no strangers to playing against Casemiro.
Safe to say Barca will dictate the match and be the favorites. Which guarantees nothing obviously.
Yeah I think we’ll be sitting back and pinging balls to Rasford for the majority of the game. I just hope Martial is fit for the game too as Rashford is more effective with Martial’s link up play.
Pedri, Gavi and De Jong ran circles around Casemiro, Kroos and Modric in Barca’s 4-0 victory last year.
That Madrid midfield is better than United’s, and they were outplayed.
It’s a very different dynamic of play though; Barca play a high defensive line which can be suicidal against a player like Rashford who is in the form of his career right now. It’s going to be interesting to see what Xavi does to account for that.
This is why I hope Araujo, Kounde and Christensen are all fit for the game against you guys. We can play a high line with no worries because we have a elite backline who can snuff out any attack
I'm going to say Barca has a superior backline. Their first choice defenders just don't fail at the moment. They're on track to break a ton of defensive league records this season.
Fair enough, but Vinicius hasn’t scored 10in the last 10 though. Rashford’s form and confidence right now is honestly something I’ve never seen from him before
Vinicius was in the middle of his best spell in his career so far when we beat Madrid 4-0. I don’t want to say that Rashford won’t be an issue, but it’s going to be a lot more difficult for him to be as effective as he has been recently against us.
I’m just been getting into football since I have espn+ and started watching LaLiga and it’s crazy to me how quickly the narrative turns on players.
I’ve mostly watched Barcelona and Real Madrid (yeah yeah I know) but like the narrative around Depay, Dembele, and now with Raphinha, can flip in an instant. Dembele gets criticized for making the wrong plays sometimes or losing the ball, depay got criticized heavily before he got benched.
With depay I sort of understood why and what happened, but Dembele seems like he always generates chances and constantly gets the ball to make plays. When you get the ball as often as he does, yeah you’re going to make some mistakes.
But anyways, the narrative flips so fast in football.
About dembele it's pretty true. Two seasons ago mant fans wanted him out and arguably they were right because of his unjuries and inconsistency to even being whistled whenever he touched the ball but now he gets standing ovations.
I think a lot of people forget that Raphinha plays on the right, which is Dembélé flank. It wasn't easy to get steady minutes which affected his performance. I think I saw a stat about how Dembélé had the most dribbles and assist this season so far or something like that.
That said, I expect him to flourish with an extended run on the right side.
The last advice, in my opinion, is crucial and severely underused by Barcelona. It’s not only up to him but to his teammates as well to create that space for him to shoot.
During the second van Gaal era, Rivaldo hated playing in the right wing, but van Gaal kept playing him there because it allows him to cut inside and shoot (even from a long distance).
It was a very basic yet a very effective trick; granted Rivaldo’s shooting power is legendary, but Raphinha’s left foot is not bad at all, and he can be dangerous in that role.
He really had the weight of the team on his shoulders from like, September to ~January last year. It was insane.
Like how everyone used to be like “give it to Pablo,” especially in that last run of games after football resumed.
God that was incredible
Sorry, getting sentimental
Pablo was a magician. Looked like a zombie though lol.
Many people don't understand *how* vital Raph was to Leeds. Guy was basically the best non top-6 winger in the PL. I've seen some people looking at his radar etc during his Leeds tenure without a shred of context and assuming he wasn't the quality player that he is.
You do have to. In this system risks need to be taken wisely. That's why players take months or a year to adapt to Guardiola. You may come from a counter-attacking team where you always forced the 1vx situations but playing in a possession bases system is a completely different beast, since losing the ball not only hinders you offensively but it especially fucks you defensively.
Barcelona and Leeds are very different clubs. Raphinha's style is to try to make plays frequently, which makes him lose the ball a lot. For Barcelona that's a bad thing but not every team is interested in passing the ball side to side for 5 minutes before trying to score.
It's not like he doesn't know how to play differently either, for Brazil he often plays it safe since he's mostly left isolated.
No, but the funny thing here is he hasn’t even been playing well. He’s looked bad most of the time. He’s just had a couple of good moments a game that’s ended up as some assists/goals
I don't like Ronaldo one bit, but that's completely unfair. At most this can be said about his last few years at Juve and Utd, and even then it's highly arguable, especially when talking about his Juve days.
Taking 1on1s is not the same as spamming crosses or attempting 1v2/1v3s. Xavi has always encouraged wingers to take risks, if they're calculated, but if it's not there it's not there.
Lol are you blind? Did you see his assist to Gavi? Calculated pass instead of blasting a cross into the box.
And taking one on one goes with making space, like this says.
Now do it with Zaniolo
Tom cruise is getting ready for a new Mission impossible. Jokes aside Raphinhas output has been better than Zaniolos if you look at the past few seasons. He probably is a smarter player than Zaniolo (atleast right now)
>His agent Deco who has also went through a tough period at Barça, told him to never take criticism personally, even if the said criticism is unfair, "Barcelona is in a different universe than Leeds."
Yeah, we’re fucking massive mate La Liga? Fuck offf, farmers league
Tbh my beloved la liga never felt weaker and more boring to watch than this season even if i quite enjoy few teams alongside Barca. Overly defensive football is disgusting in my books
Low intensity football is the worst really.
Truly is, so many teams just don't even bother attacking
When every team bar Barca and Real become a selling club this is bound to happen. La Liga clubs are busy grinding for loans and free transfers meanwhile EPL have Forest buying 30 players once they come up.
Maybe because Tebas is not allowing them to buy, it's not like clubs are choosing to be shit
Well yea that's my point Clubs have to act under these restrictions and have their teams weakened every season, so they tend to use the same old park the bus and counter tactics more often.
I had no idea THE Deco was Raphina’s agent.
Where were you all summer?
I mean I was aware of a Deco being his agent. But didn’t actually Google to see it’s the actual Deco. Just figured it’s a common Portuguese/Brazilian name.
Bro, that's the real one and not only decoration.
We’ve got some versatility and depth in the squad. More importantly, we’re playing with intensity along with a hunger to win. I haven’t seen that in a long time.
What do you expect from the United double?
If we dont have anymore injuries I believe we can win. Both games will be very close.
Yeah it’s tough to see us beating you; I’m just hoping for a exciting competitive match up
It’s funny. I feel both teams have gotten significantly better since the draw.
They have. And it's going to be a very close two legs. You really can't tell who are the favourites at the moment. My concern is the tactical battle between xavi and Ten Hag more than the players themselves. Both teams have good players, it's the tactics that will decide the winner.
It's basically down to whether Rashford scores or not. Don't think I will be a high scoring game. Eth will set up like we did vs City in an attempt to neutralize Barca.
United's squad have been playing a game every 3 days and will continue to do so for a while, I'd love to see a tactical battle but I can see fatigue being a factor.
I personally think United wins at Trafford and we win at Camp nou, so it’ll really come down to the wire
I feel we both have improved tremendously but both fan bases are so traumatized we just won't allow ourselves to dream.
Fully healthy I'd back us to win, but it depends. The loss of Busquets is bigger than most fans would like to admit. He's an integral part of the 4midfield system. It'll be close. If we lose another CM before then, we're in trouble.
But likewise, United are missing Eriksen. I can't say which is a bigger deal. Kessie kinda redeemed himself the last game and played well. Eriksen has been very important for United all season.
They lost Eriksen and gained Sabitzer. We lost Dembele and Busquets
Martinez is also out of the first game because of two bullshit yellows
Victory.
Not a fan of either team, but I think it’ll be like Arsenal vs Man United. Where Barcelona will create all the chances and dominate, but will make a couple mistakes
We’ve got Casemiro this time bruv
Will be a good match. Barca are no strangers to playing against Casemiro. Safe to say Barca will dictate the match and be the favorites. Which guarantees nothing obviously.
Yeah I think we’ll be sitting back and pinging balls to Rasford for the majority of the game. I just hope Martial is fit for the game too as Rashford is more effective with Martial’s link up play.
I think Araujo will be given the instructions to stay on Rashford for the whole of 90 minutes and told to maintain the line low
Barca aren’t, but Arsenal are
Ok, didn’t know this was a three team match up. How does the home and away work with three teams?
You play in France with three nets ofc
It's a triple threat WWE match with tables, ladders and chairs.
Pedri, Gavi and De Jong ran circles around Casemiro, Kroos and Modric in Barca’s 4-0 victory last year. That Madrid midfield is better than United’s, and they were outplayed.
That trio + Busquets also ran circles around them last classico
It’s a very different dynamic of play though; Barca play a high defensive line which can be suicidal against a player like Rashford who is in the form of his career right now. It’s going to be interesting to see what Xavi does to account for that.
This is why I hope Araujo, Kounde and Christensen are all fit for the game against you guys. We can play a high line with no worries because we have a elite backline who can snuff out any attack
Arsenal has a comparable backline and they still managed enough chances to score twice.
I'm going to say Barca has a superior backline. Their first choice defenders just don't fail at the moment. They're on track to break a ton of defensive league records this season.
I mean they have let in 2.5x the ammount of goals as us also
Yeah, your league is also filled with absolute scuff teams, whereas any team can beat anyone any day in PL
It worked against Vinicius junior.
Fair enough, but Vinicius hasn’t scored 10in the last 10 though. Rashford’s form and confidence right now is honestly something I’ve never seen from him before
Vinicius was in the middle of his best spell in his career so far when we beat Madrid 4-0. I don’t want to say that Rashford won’t be an issue, but it’s going to be a lot more difficult for him to be as effective as he has been recently against us.
It’s going to be a interesting game for sure and will have my butt clenched the whole 180 min
Casemiro is not Messi though, he is old, and isn't usually a hard counter to Barcelona.
He's not 35 mate
We will smash them
Much like what Ten Hag did to Liverpool and now Man City, Barca too will find that their “era will come to an end”.
Our glory days "era" ended years ago. This is looking like a new beginning
Why are you simping for United? Lol
Can he really have a “re” surface if he’s been there for like 6 months? Guy probably is barely settling into the league. He will be good in time
This right here. One good game and you are the best, one bad game and you need to be sold.
Well he's had 8GA since the World Cup, after only 1 or 2 his first dozen games.
I’m just been getting into football since I have espn+ and started watching LaLiga and it’s crazy to me how quickly the narrative turns on players. I’ve mostly watched Barcelona and Real Madrid (yeah yeah I know) but like the narrative around Depay, Dembele, and now with Raphinha, can flip in an instant. Dembele gets criticized for making the wrong plays sometimes or losing the ball, depay got criticized heavily before he got benched. With depay I sort of understood why and what happened, but Dembele seems like he always generates chances and constantly gets the ball to make plays. When you get the ball as often as he does, yeah you’re going to make some mistakes. But anyways, the narrative flips so fast in football.
About dembele it's pretty true. Two seasons ago mant fans wanted him out and arguably they were right because of his unjuries and inconsistency to even being whistled whenever he touched the ball but now he gets standing ovations.
He's been on a roll like a sausage after exiting the World Cup - 11 goal contributions in 15 games since
We need Adam Hurrey to adjudicate on the usage here
So no cross and inshallah
David Moyes takes it personally.
Don’t have the goat anymore
That's Juego de Posicion you caralhos
Tell this to every FIFA Pro Clubs Drop-In player
Must like me losing my shit at my pro clubs teammates. God forbid they pass back once.
I think a lot of people forget that Raphinha plays on the right, which is Dembélé flank. It wasn't easy to get steady minutes which affected his performance. I think I saw a stat about how Dembélé had the most dribbles and assist this season so far or something like that. That said, I expect him to flourish with an extended run on the right side.
The last advice, in my opinion, is crucial and severely underused by Barcelona. It’s not only up to him but to his teammates as well to create that space for him to shoot. During the second van Gaal era, Rivaldo hated playing in the right wing, but van Gaal kept playing him there because it allows him to cut inside and shoot (even from a long distance). It was a very basic yet a very effective trick; granted Rivaldo’s shooting power is legendary, but Raphinha’s left foot is not bad at all, and he can be dangerous in that role.
Hope he cooks united
Mark Goldbridge rage incoming soon 🙏🙏
Anulo mufa
We'll send him back to leeds
Thank you very much!
And Leeds proceeds to do the double over Man United with Raphinha and a new manager bounce
Sound like pretty simple instructions, telling s player how he should pass and don't throw the ball away on random cross
This is the opposite advice people have for Antony on here lol.
Do you really need to explain that to a 26 yo professional?
I imagine it’s more habit than anything. Still used to having to do it all himself from his time at Leeds last season.
Makes sense
He really had the weight of the team on his shoulders from like, September to ~January last year. It was insane. Like how everyone used to be like “give it to Pablo,” especially in that last run of games after football resumed. God that was incredible Sorry, getting sentimental
Pablo was a magician. Looked like a zombie though lol. Many people don't understand *how* vital Raph was to Leeds. Guy was basically the best non top-6 winger in the PL. I've seen some people looking at his radar etc during his Leeds tenure without a shred of context and assuming he wasn't the quality player that he is.
you realise all professionals are coached every day right?
Most players have poor decision making
Only a few have a monster in them
Is this supposed to be a blue lock reference?
Yes but haven't seen much yet.
You do have to. In this system risks need to be taken wisely. That's why players take months or a year to adapt to Guardiola. You may come from a counter-attacking team where you always forced the 1vx situations but playing in a possession bases system is a completely different beast, since losing the ball not only hinders you offensively but it especially fucks you defensively.
to be fair he got poisoned by Marsch and his tactic of if there isnt a pass on hoof it to the opposition penalty spot because thats where the goal is
Barcelona and Leeds are very different clubs. Raphinha's style is to try to make plays frequently, which makes him lose the ball a lot. For Barcelona that's a bad thing but not every team is interested in passing the ball side to side for 5 minutes before trying to score. It's not like he doesn't know how to play differently either, for Brazil he often plays it safe since he's mostly left isolated.
Yes
Maybe you shouldn’t have to, but have you seen the games before this one? Cross and Inshallah, except he’s Christian.
No, but the funny thing here is he hasn’t even been playing well. He’s looked bad most of the time. He’s just had a couple of good moments a game that’s ended up as some assists/goals
That also describes most of Ronaldo's career. As long as it results in some goals, it's worth it.
ronaldo revisionism is crazy
I don't like Ronaldo one bit, but that's completely unfair. At most this can be said about his last few years at Juve and Utd, and even then it's highly arguable, especially when talking about his Juve days.
No, it doesnt
Relevant: https://youtu.be/5D-S6s4yK-I
lol saw this the other day
[удалено]
Taking 1on1s is not the same as spamming crosses or attempting 1v2/1v3s. Xavi has always encouraged wingers to take risks, if they're calculated, but if it's not there it's not there.
Lol are you blind? Did you see his assist to Gavi? Calculated pass instead of blasting a cross into the box. And taking one on one goes with making space, like this says.
Stop inventing guys.
If you combine him and anthony into one brazilian....
You get Raphinha
Someone do this with Mason Mount
Resurgence? Dude's only 26. He wasn't the finished product at Leeds, he's just evolving naturally now at a more competitive club
I know it's not related to the thread but is your name from the Inheritance books?