supercity88 said:blueinsa said:I stayed off last night bar one post in the post match and slept on it.
As fantastic as Barca are, we were poor i thought for a side that's won arguably the most difficult domestic competition twice in the last 3 years. Yes we put the effort in 2nd half but it was still men against boys and it felt like they were the cat toying the the mouse (us).
Getting beat off Barca again is no big surprise and yes we have been both hamstrung squad wise and unlucky with the draw but it still didn't excuse what was generally a poor performance on the very biggest stage.
Players out of form and players on the way out account for it but the buck stops with the manager and he is staring down the barrel right now.
Worse of all was the body language, yes, that old chestnut of Kun who looked disinterested for most of the game and constantly throwing his arms up in the air and looking fucked off with his team mates whilst not doing much himself if im honest.
I like the gaffer but he has got to show us in the remaining league games he can fix what is evidently broken right now.
I think you are giving us too much credit. We've won the league yes and that's not to be debated... but with the squad we have and in comparison to others we should have been winning it. We should have won it for the past three years really. Barcelona are a million miles ahead of us. There's not a side in the country who could have dealt with that last night. Even the organisation of Chelsea would have struggled with Messi's constant mix of direct running, quick pass and move football and his ability to pass it behind our defence onto a sixpence. He was incredible.
We lacked the fight required from the whole squad. Yaya was jogging around the middle then gesticulating when Barca carved us open. I've not seen a single game in Europe where all of our team has been on the money. That's why we are out of the competition again. Barca make us look like amateurs, we struggle to keep the ball and that's because we just aren't good enough. The toughest domestic competition? I'm not so sure. I think we get a lot of time on the ball and I think generally we are our own worse enemy on the pitch. The reason we drop points tends to be over commiting players forward and conceding on the break, or failing to break teams down. I'd say it's more competitive because the top sides have dramatically declined.
When we won the league in 2012 we were developing as a side. The likes of Barry, Lescott etc were good at domestic level but no where near what is required in Europe. Look at some of the other sides to have won the prem - Vidic and Wio - a class act across Europe, Chelsea had Claude Makelele in their title winning sides with Mourinho's first stint and John Terry another consistent and renowned defender. I think the level is starting to improve but Fabregas has been one of the best players here, he wasn't in Barca's first team plans... we've had to re-assess because of FFP but I hope we can now lure some of the top class players from across the World to the club to take us to that next level.
We need to open our eyes to the quality of Real, Bayern and Barca and look to emulate their squads. Domestically we are good but all English sides are out of Europe now aside from Everton in the Europa league - where are they in the league now?! Whilst Chelsea and Arsenal probably should have gone through, they have players who will improve as they get towards their peak. We have players generally past that which is even more problematic.
Time to press re-fresh I think. Time to build for the future by getting some pace and hunger into the side with younger players. It might cost a lot and people say it's not fantasy football. Do those same people see Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's squads... tell me that's not fantasy football!
Completely agree mate. A huge summer for us. We need to buy a couple of ready made, top quality players to propel us forward. We haven't bought a 'star' since Aguero. We need a reinvigoration of the team with energy and enthusiasm. A couple of young prospects too. We can't but just 'good' players again. We need to buy a couple of genuine top quality players who will immediately improve our XI; it needs it.