Barcelona vs Tottenham Hotspur (Joan Gamper Cup) 19.00 Tonight

[cjsimba]

I mean.. Look at this

View attachment 130219

it’s better than that

 

[Westmorlandspur]

That is a pretty strong Barca team versus what is just about our second eleven. It’s just a friendly but we have played some top quality football.
im not convinced as yet by the keeper.

 

[SpursForever71]

Bissouma is the starter when healthy, imo. He had a little knock, and so was not risked on Sunday.

I expect Brentford to be Maddison, Sarr, Bissouma.

If we need goals, Lo Celso on for Sarr. If not, I expect he will come on for Maddison at some point, but maybe not early.

Skippy will come on at some point. Not sure about Hojbjerg - really depends on whether we are trying to move him out.

Thanks for that, was really hoping Gio would come good again for us, hopes he gets plenty of game time this season.

 

[Dr Know]

Based on the little that I’ve seen of how we’ve played so far, Maureen and Conte we not the right fit for the club or the players we have.
LeCelso looks a much better player. Sanchez seems to have more composure, even Perisic looking like the player we thought we signed back then.

 

[Frank Blank]

Don't want to jinx it but if we win, doesn't that mean we've won 2 cups (Tiger, Gamper) before the season ever started? We are sending a message to HK. Zero doubt.

In all seriousness, if HK believed in his teammates before and AC and JM sapped the belief out of him, this has to be weighing in on him.

Surely that would be enough (winning two cups) for Harry to stay at Tottenham. He's always said he wanted silverware.

 

[bubble07]

Can lo celso and maddison start together. Would have loved to see it in a friendly

 

[bobbof]

Sanchez does this every now and then - pulls a classy performance out of nowhere. He had a couple of outstanding games in previous pre-seasons and can be great when the pressure is off or he's high on confidence, but he always turns back into a pumpkin sooner or later.

I've been stung way too many times thinking he's going to come good and won't fall for it again.

He does look much more suited to this system than Dier, though, admittedly.

I honestly think it’s a confidence thing, and who would have thought playing terrorist football, that continiously puts our back line under pressure, would be bad for our defenders confidence? This isn’t exclusive for our defenders though, also our flair players and creative minds who has been continiously suppressed over the last three years.

 

[Yid-ol]

I like Barcelona's training top, looks nice!

 

[mr ashley]

bisso have been in full control of that midfield.
slick on the ball, smooth with the moves.
calm & collected.

This, for me has been the biggest positive.
He will be a key player at cdm for us this season I hope. Press resistant and positive on the ball.

 

[PrettyColors]

Coming back from injury, starting the season late and played less than 3 halves of football? Maybe he just needs a bit more time to learn a new role but Sonny is quality still.

I want to believe he still is mate but if you had to list all the signs of a player being washed up, Sonny is exhibiting 80% of them

 

[mr ashley]

I honestly think it’s a confidence thing, and who would have thought playing terrorist football, that continiously puts our back line under pressure, would be bad for our defenders confidence? This isn’t exclusive for our defenders though, also our flair players and creative minds who has been continiously suppressed over the last three years.

Dier hasn’t looked as assured tbf

 

[Tucker]

Let’s hope for more of the same. Barca won’t take this lying down though will they.

 

[easley91]

Hmmm. View here in Spain is that this Barca team are off the pace.
Romeu and Garcia are squad players at best

So two squad players vs a squad XI? You are way too pessimistic and overly negative.

They started quick and had the ball. Scored an early goal and I bet you and most were thinking "oh here we go". Then we got on the ball and pinned them back, figured out the defensive width and forced them to go back more often than not.

It's been impressive for an XI and a defense our fanbase would be worried about.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Shaky start, but grew into the game. Sanchez especially.

What this tells me is we don't need too much more. This would be a League cup XI essentially and they're showing they can play against top opposition. I don't care that it's pre-season. It's still a very strong Barca XI.

For me, it’s less about the level of the squad, and more about the effectiveness of the approach, we don’t have to be boring to be successful. That’s anathema to control freaks like Jose and Conte.

 

[muppetman]

Impressive looking stadium.

 

[mr ashley]

Reguilon totally switched off there

 

[Timberwolf]

I honestly think it’s a confidence thing, and who would have thought playing terrorist football, that continiously puts our back line under pressure, would be bad for our defenders confidence? This isn’t exclusive for our defenders though, also our flair players and creative minds who has been continiously suppressed over the last three years.

Yeah I know what you mean - I think this style does suit Sanchez, but even under Poch when we were playing nicer football he was the same and his form would flip-flop all over the place.

Sanchez will look great until he makes a mistake and then his confidence will go from 100 to 0 and he's suddenly an absolute liability.

He's too fragile mentally to be relied on in my opinion.

 

[mr ashley]

Impressive looking stadium.

Olympic stadium in Montjuïc 92

 

[shoggy33]

That was a seriously impressive half. Can see the confidence flowing through the players, suddenly the squad we all thought was awful looks incredibly strong. If we sort our defensive frailties out we are going to be a force this season!

 

[mr ashley]

Yeah I know what you mean - I think this style does suit Sanchez, but even under Poch when we were playing nicer football he was the same and his form would flip-flop all over the place.

Sanchez will look great until he makes a mistake and then his confidence will go from 100 to 0 and he's suddenly an absolute liability.

He's too fragile mentally to be relied on in my opinion.

Tbh I think this is a useful shop window exercise for several of our Spanish speaking players. Shame Bryan is injured