I tuned in. I expected to tune out as SOON as I saw that tiki nonsense. But I was surprised. Barcelona look good...going forward. More forward thinking, less passes, use of space and just a bit more exciting going forward. But...midfield???
I don't know if Enrique is experimenting or he really thinks Iniesta, Biscuits and Rakitic have enough presence in midfield to control and dominate a match. It was fine against a weaker Malaga team as they could easily outwit and outpass them, but against Bayern, Chelsea or the VERY tough Atletico, that just won't fly.
The defense is what it is. Malaga had a few chances, but Pique and the gang kept the mistakes low. BUT, this is Malaga who has a striker with a number 3 which annoys me beyond y'all comprehension.
I'm liking how Enrique makes them attack now. Neymar is allowed to do more forward running. Don't know why he is stuck out on the wing, but he was a very important dimension in ultimately...getting the ball to Messi.
But it is catching up to Barcelona. This was a match they should have won, but by the second half, their ideas where out and Messi resorted to faking it...after calling a Malaga player a "son of a whore"....apparently.
The notion of short guys in the box, it is catching up to Barcelona. If they had an Ibrahimovic or even Mandzukic, a cross from Dani Alves or Alba, a header and they walk away with a 1-0 win. You CAN'T get that kind of goal with Messi and Pedro in the box. This means Malaga just had to focus on through balls not coming through and completely disregard any aerial threat.
Football is dynamic. You need threats from ALL over.
But this La Liga will be pretty curious. Seeing Barcelona, I now want to see how they match up against Madrid and Atletico. What happens when they face a much better team that can offer something in attack other than a guy who wears the number 3 as a freakin attacker.....
http://havehopefootballhut.ishoutbox.com
HH
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