I just finished a loooooong post about the Barca-Spurs preseason match in the Spurs thread and now I'll do the Barca side of the coin.
The good. MATS still looks terrific. Made some outstanding saves, and didn't have much of a chance on either Spurs goal. Balde still looks so good. I think what's most impressive is how well he understands his role in the system at such a young age. He can certainly do more but he's learning to only take the best risks and that's very hard for young players. Araujo is a bawse and is legitimately capable of playing RB. That said, I'd much rather have him in the middle. He came off after a sprint early, but hopefully that was just precautionary. FDJ was everywhere and doing his usual thing of carrying the ball for miles. He missed Raph a couple of times in the first half, but still looks primed for a great season. Pedri is already a world class MF and he's 20 years old--not sure what else needs to be said. Lewa is a legend, again not much more needs to be said.
The so-so. Erik had a very very good game, but he was rash in several tackles and was part of the CB combo that conceded 2 goals. Romeu was pretty good overall but a bit too anonymous to standout as purely good. I do think Spurs will surprise people in how they perform this season, but Romeu and the MF need to be able to dominate the middle of the pitch if they're going to do big things this season. Gavi was quiet but did help settle possession in the middle and might've participated in the buildup leading to the first goal (going from memory and not looking it up). Raph was overall very very good, but he missed a sitter in the box, and with the competition for his spot that can't happen.
The bad. I'm a huge Kounde fan but this was one of the worst Barca performances I've seen from him. Perhaps this was a byproduct of being partnered with Erik, but like I said above Erik had a pretty good game. He wasn't consistently good against the press and I thought his defending was suspect.
Subs: Lamine, Ferran, Abde, Ansu. All 4 of these guys played very fucking well, and that's a huge boost of confidence going into the season. All 4 showed that they should be in consideration for a starting spot in the XI, and right now I'd probably put one of them in over Gavi at LW. I do like Ferran doing the running and getting in front of the goal in the middle. Lamine needs to get minutes, but likely not as a starter. Ansu probably gets the first chance over Abde, but I don't think Raph is going to get a lot of rope if he doesn't score early, and Abde should get real minutes right from the jump. My XI for G1 and backups in the parentheses:
Ansu (Abde)-Lewa (Ferran)-Raph (Lamine)
Pedri (Gavi)-Romeu (FDJ, Gundo?)-FDJ (Gundo)
Balde (Alonso)-Christensen (Erik)-Araujo (Kounde)-Kounde (Roberto)
MATS (Pena)
It is a bit disappointing that Barca didn't shore up RB, but if Dembele goes to PSG as expected (GBP42M) and Kessie gets sold ((E)15M), then Cancelo might be a real option. The problem there is the remaining wages owed (4 years, GBP50M (!!)), at a rate of GBP13M/season (250K/week). I'm thinking a loan with option to buy of ~GBP35M gets it done? I have no idea whether this will work with La Liga financial rules, even with those outgoings. I don't know if Kounde is still rumored to be leaving, but at this late stage I doubt it.
Visca Barca!!
The good. MATS still looks terrific. Made some outstanding saves, and didn't have much of a chance on either Spurs goal. Balde still looks so good. I think what's most impressive is how well he understands his role in the system at such a young age. He can certainly do more but he's learning to only take the best risks and that's very hard for young players. Araujo is a bawse and is legitimately capable of playing RB. That said, I'd much rather have him in the middle. He came off after a sprint early, but hopefully that was just precautionary. FDJ was everywhere and doing his usual thing of carrying the ball for miles. He missed Raph a couple of times in the first half, but still looks primed for a great season. Pedri is already a world class MF and he's 20 years old--not sure what else needs to be said. Lewa is a legend, again not much more needs to be said.
The so-so. Erik had a very very good game, but he was rash in several tackles and was part of the CB combo that conceded 2 goals. Romeu was pretty good overall but a bit too anonymous to standout as purely good. I do think Spurs will surprise people in how they perform this season, but Romeu and the MF need to be able to dominate the middle of the pitch if they're going to do big things this season. Gavi was quiet but did help settle possession in the middle and might've participated in the buildup leading to the first goal (going from memory and not looking it up). Raph was overall very very good, but he missed a sitter in the box, and with the competition for his spot that can't happen.
The bad. I'm a huge Kounde fan but this was one of the worst Barca performances I've seen from him. Perhaps this was a byproduct of being partnered with Erik, but like I said above Erik had a pretty good game. He wasn't consistently good against the press and I thought his defending was suspect.
Subs: Lamine, Ferran, Abde, Ansu. All 4 of these guys played very fucking well, and that's a huge boost of confidence going into the season. All 4 showed that they should be in consideration for a starting spot in the XI, and right now I'd probably put one of them in over Gavi at LW. I do like Ferran doing the running and getting in front of the goal in the middle. Lamine needs to get minutes, but likely not as a starter. Ansu probably gets the first chance over Abde, but I don't think Raph is going to get a lot of rope if he doesn't score early, and Abde should get real minutes right from the jump. My XI for G1 and backups in the parentheses:
Ansu (Abde)-Lewa (Ferran)-Raph (Lamine)
Pedri (Gavi)-Romeu (FDJ, Gundo?)-FDJ (Gundo)
Balde (Alonso)-Christensen (Erik)-Araujo (Kounde)-Kounde (Roberto)
MATS (Pena)
It is a bit disappointing that Barca didn't shore up RB, but if Dembele goes to PSG as expected (GBP42M) and Kessie gets sold ((E)15M), then Cancelo might be a real option. The problem there is the remaining wages owed (4 years, GBP50M (!!)), at a rate of GBP13M/season (250K/week). I'm thinking a loan with option to buy of ~GBP35M gets it done? I have no idea whether this will work with La Liga financial rules, even with those outgoings. I don't know if Kounde is still rumored to be leaving, but at this late stage I doubt it.
Visca Barca!!