Rakitic in 2015. You just had to be there. He will probably never get the recognition he deserves. Had the impossible job of replacing Xavi, scored important goals, and covered for Messi defensively.
Still, there is one fascinating statistic which must be addressed.
Sometimes things happen for a reason.
Barca lost out on Arda Güler. As a consequence of that, Fermín López was given a chance. He took it.
One goal and one assist in El Clasico is incredible no matter the circumstances.
Barca & Real Madrid…
The two biggest clubs in the world. But why can one club pay €100m for Bellingham, while the other struggle to sign free agents?
(A Thread looking into the financial situations of the clubs)
- Never complained about lack of playing time
- Always showed great attitude on the pitch
- Scored one of the most important goals of last season: Stoppage time winner vs Real Madrid
No drama. Great player. Solid character. Thank you, Kessie 👏
- Had the impossible job of replacing Xavi
- Allowed Messi freedom by covering for him defensively
- Iconic goal in the Champions League final
- Always turned up against Real Madrid
- Big goals vs teams like Manchester City, Atletico and Tottenham
Rakitic was underrated 🔥
I absolutely love Balde, and I think he is our future left back.
But man, Jordi Alba was treated poorly by many fans towards the end of his Barca career. His output in the final third remained out of this world.
Per 90 minutes he averaged 0.40 expected assists. Balde is
Can we talk about Jordi Alba and how he broke his own assist record last season (10), scored crucial goals against teams like Atletico, but lost his place to Balde over the summer.
• No complaining
• Supported Balde and his teammates
• Still deciding games when coming on
What is football heritage?
Winning the Euros in 2008, Champions League in 2009, the World Cup in 2010, Champions League in 2011, and the Euros in 2012.
That’s what Xavi & Iniesta did.
2008 & 2009 - Two historic years for Xavi Hernandez. Two of the best years by any footballer. Some say Kroos & Modric sit at his table, but I disagree. I think we easily forget…
(A Thread)
Born a Culé, graduated from La Masia & played for Barca. Would go on to lead the club into it’s most successful era. Pep Guardiola is a Barca legend.
The question remains: Why did it only last 4 years, and what can we learn from it?
Barca - Real Madrid: 3-0 🔥
- Oriol Romeu was OUTSTANDING!
- FERMIN LOPEZ WITH A SCREAMER + A WORLD CLASS ASSIST 🔥
- Gündogan & Pedri showed a good connection 🙌
- Frenkie stepped up in the heat of the moment!
- Ferran Torres with 2 goals in 2 games!
What sounds fake, but is actually true?
Barca spent the second least money (€3.4m) in La Liga, while generating the second most (€105.4m), and still signed Cancelo, Joao Felix, Gündogan, Oriol Romeu & Inigo Martinez.
• A ruthless negotiator
• Allowed signings last January by reducing the wage bill - crucial for top 4
• Outsmarted Dembele’s agent
• The mastermind behind Barca’s transfers last summer.
• Established a healthy salary structure.
Thank you, Alemany 💙❤️
- Left Barca after graduating from La Masia
- Had a tough experience at Chelsea
- Joined Southampton and became a man.
- Returned to Spain. Top season for Girona.
- Back to Barca for one last dance.
Call me a football romantic, but this could become a beautiful story…
Vinicius is arguably the best dribbler in the world. Averaged 3.72 dribbles per game the last 365 days. Yesterday, he completed 0.
He spent majority of the game complaining. No one can stop the Brazilian like Araújo. Monstrous display.
Barca - Arsenal: 3-5.
- Arsenal’s fourth game. Barca’s first. That was clear.
- Abde was tremendous. Biggest threat offensively, and strong defensively.
- Fati was a breath of fresh air 🔥
- Balde leaves me speechless at times.. Such a phenomenal talent.
- Good preparation!
Barca - AC Milan: 1-0 🔥
- ANSU FATI IS THAT GUY 🔥
- Balde & Fati linkup = 🔝
- Oriol Romeu plays like he has been with the team for a long time!
- Strong displays by Eric Garcia & Kounde!
- Raphinha struggled to convince.
- Yamal was exciting!!!
Unpopular Opinion:
Pedri does not belong in the conversations for the best youngsters in the world. He belongs in the conversations for the best players in the world.
As Fabregas announced his retirement yesterday, I’d like to look back at one of the craziest periods as a Barca fan:
11/12 season. Pep Guardiola experimenting with a 3-3-4 system. Messi & Fabregas as false nines with positional freedom.
Forget about the goals in the World Cup final. THIS was the biggest moment of the tournament. I don’t think Argentina would have beaten Mexico if it wasn’t for Messi scoring from here. Based on the position, there is a 2% chance of scoring. They needed a miracle - he delivered.
Dembele thought he was bigger than the club. He considered himself the most important player & demanded a disrespectful high salary.
Fast forward a few weeks and we have Adama Traore coming. Dembele has no other offers & the original offer from Barca is withdrawn. Levels.
- Joined for €135m
- 119 games missed through injuries
- With Xavi’s introduction, Dembele broke his own assist record (13).
- Seemed to become an essential player to the project.
- Leaves Barca in a deal worth €50m to join PSG.
The best team in Spain: Barca.
We didn’t win La Liga with four rounds left to play due to Real Madrid focusing on Champions League. We won because we are the better team.
I remember the 16/17 season like it was yesterday. Messi was phenomenal, but he was growing older. Closing in on 30. At the time, there were already rumors about Messi’s desire to end his career in MLS. Now, I expected it to happen sooner rather than later. Why?
Football has a dark side. Yes, Alonso and Sergi Roberto shouldn’t start in top games for Barca, but they weren’t responsible for the first half. However, EVERYONE hated on them. Some players are simply protected due to their name, while others get hate due to their name.
When
Messi:
“I think we should value the La Liga we have won. 8 league titles in 11 years. We might not be able to appreciate its value right now, but in a few years time we’ll realise how difficult it was to win what we won.”
Never forget how one player made an unsuccessful season enjoyable. Ansu Fati in the 19/20 season was different… 🔥 16 years old, came out of nowhere, scored goals for fun.
If Marc Bernal is out for the rest of the season, we simply have to sign a midfielder.
Honestly, I am devastated. He was adapting so well. Heartbreaking 💔
Is Pedri cursed?
• Third most chances created 🥉
• Expected assists: 4.7
• Assists: 0 ❌
In 20/21, Harry Kane got 14 assists despite having an expected assists of 3.6..
Don’t think it’s been spoken enough about, but Joao Felix has been incredible since joining Barca. Slightly unlucky in front of goal, and not gotten the assists he deserves (didn’t even get the one against Granada due to a slight deflection).
Can’t wait until his teammates get
Casado with an assist that would have made Xavi proud. Pedri getting through the back line like Iniesta, then dribbles the goalkeeper.
Vintage Barca-football.
Pep Guardiola when signing players:
“My first question is always: Can this guy dribble? I only want players that can dribble. Because you can learn control and good passing. Dribbling is the key.”
🇪🇸 Oriol Romeu:
💰 Low cost
⭐️ Understands Barca’s system
💪 Elite ball winner
✅ Experienced
It’s a far better investment than paying a lot of money for someone who wouldn’t suit our style of playing.
🗣️ Julian Alvarez:
“When it was one of my first days at City. There were Portugueses, Rodri and Pep were talking about who could win the World Cup. They said Portugal, France, etc. And Pep told them, 'Do you know who has the most chance?' And he pointed to me.”
Oriol Romeu. Cost: €3.4m. Helped pay his own transfer fee, gave up salary, all to fulfill his dream - Playing for Barca.
Some are turning on him, but they should not…
(A Thread)
There is no player I wish to see lift the UCL trophy more than Frenkie.
- He was here for the 8-2 loss vs Bayern, and the 4-1 loss to PSG.
- Never wanted to leave, even though the club tried to sell him.
He is now one of the captains, playing his best ever football.
Barca - Tottenham: 4-2 🔥
• WE WITNESSED HISTORY TONIGHT! Lamine Yamal.. 16 years old. Assist, dribbles and elite decision making! ⭐️
• Ferran with a goal and assist! Looks very promising!
• Fati & Abde were great coming on! Happy for them!
• Poor display defensively.
Casado changed the game for me though. That one turn where he decided to keep the ball rather than pass it truly shows who he is as a player. Gave us proper control.
When Guardiola won 3 league titles in 4 seasons with Barca, including two UCL’s beating English teams for fun, they called La Liga a ‘farmers league’.
Guardiola has now won Premier League 5 out of the last 6 seasons, and could win the UCL for the first time.
• Busquets’s La Liga debut: 13.09.2008
• Busquets’s CDR debut: 28.10.2008
• Busquets’s UCL debut: 22.10.2008
Pep made the brave choice to replace star player Yaya Toure with a B-team player. The result? A treble. A treble in his debut season is not talked enough about.
Xavi was criticized for using Eric Garcia. Eric Garcia was criticized for being Eric Garcia. Eric Garcia has now sent these haters back into their caves.
Ferran Torres, you are next 🤝 Get those who believe they know better than Pep, Xavi & Enrique out of here.
Let’s not forget that Vitor Roque was given the ‘Here We Go” by Fabrizio today. We can’t win every time. Fair play to Real Madrid, they got a fantastic player.
We move on to other profiles: I suggest Lo Celso now, then we aim for Wirtz in the future.
One of my lowest moments as a Barca fan was the time we played Manchester United under Xavi. Marcos Alonso scored the opening goal, but Rashford equalized shortly after. In some way, fans slandered Marcos Alonso for losing a foot race to one of the fastest players in the world,
In Raphinha’s first season for Barca, he produced:
⚽️ 7 goals
🅰️ 7 assists
Dembele is currently in his sixth season wearing the Barca shirt, and has only matched these numbers once (last season). Things brings me over to my next point.
🇩🇰 Andreas Christensen vs other centre backs in La Liga:
- 93.7% pass completion (Top 1%)
- 97.1% long passes completed (Top 2%)
- 5.87 passes into the final third (Top 3%)
- 68.9% aerial duels won (Top 14%)
Cost: €0. Quality: One of the best.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but Xavi turning a “finished” Aubameyang, a 38 year old Dani Alves, and an unstable Adama Traore into massive resources as he does the impossible and secure second place in La Liga, is an achievement not spoken enough about.
Xavi gave Lamine Yamal his debut. One year later he has a direct goal contribution in every game of the knockouts as Spain win the EUROS.
Xavi gave Fermin Lopez his debut. One year later he has two direct goal contributions in every game of the knockouts as Spain with the
Villarreal - Barca: 3-4 🔥
- FERRAN TORRES HAS TO START THE NEXT GAME!
- We took the lead, bottled the lead, only to make a beautiful comeback! CHAOS!
- Lamine Yamal with a performance which reminded of a certain Argentine.
- 3 points, but a lot to improve.
Barca - Celta Vigo: 3-2 🔥
- Underwhelming performance, BUT WHAT A COMEBACK 🔥
- CANCELO ON LOAN IS A CHEAT CODE!
- Time to put some respect on Lewandowski’s name!!
- WHAT DOES GAVI DO?! DECIDES GAMES!
In January 2022, Barca lost 3-2 vs Real Madrid in the Supercopa. After the game, Laporta went down to the dressing room to thank the players for their performances.
People mocked him, because why would you be proud of a loss to your biggest rival? Laporta saw the bigger picture.
In Xavi’s first full season as a Barca coach, Barca have averaged 2.5 points per game.
This is more than Real Madrid have achieved in their last 10 seasons, which kills the narrative that Real Madrid didn’t prioritize La Liga.
- Gündogan might get rested after suffering a blow.
- Raphinha reportedly suffering from fatigue
- Pedri injured
- Fermin Lopez suspended
- Lamine Yamal has to be treated carefully
- No one knows how match fit Joao Felix is + how well he is adapted
I hope it does not happen,
Do you guys remember former Barca player Todibo?
190cm tall. Currently ranks top 2% for recoveries made, top 7% for successful take-ons, and top 6% for tackles won (centre backs)
A modern centre back. Rumors said he lacked professionalism & had a poor attitude..
Gavi turns 19 years old today. 19.
✅ 70 games played in La Liga
🏆 Won La Liga & Supercopa with Barca. Nations League with Spain.
🇪🇸 Youngest player make his debut & score for Spain.
👏 Two assists & one goal in an El Clasico final.
🥇 Golden Boy Winner
World class talent.
With Dele Alli speaking out about his struggles, I think Barca fans should consider how we address Ferran Torres.
Not saying he has been through the same, but it’s clear that he has had a tough time and struggled mentally.
Alright, so this is the negotiations with Atletico Madrid for Joao Felix (assuming he plays well):
- Atletico: “We invested €130m and don’t want to lose money. Pay up.”
- Barca: “Joao Felix publicly declared his love for Barca while being an Atletico Madrid. No relationship to
Barca - Real Madrid: 1-2…
- Proud of the team ❤️
- Real Madrid created one chance, but scored twice. They needed something special. Fair play, Bellingham.
- Araújo had Vinicius in his pocket. Unreal.
- Gavi and Gündogan BOSSED the midfield ⭐️
- Fermin is a gem 💎
About Ferran Torres:
• Xavi: «He’s a player on another level, he’s spectacular: how he understands the space, links play, his defensive work. He is world class.”
• Pep Guardiola: “He makes movements like the best strikers in the world. Similar to Jamie Vardy.”