It is funny at Barca’s expense though, we got the best deal ever. You gave us Luis Suarez, a league table + Griezmann back in return for a 2 year loan of Griez lmao
It hardly could have worked out better for Atleti, we ripped you off so badly
Class response from the team after a difficult start, and shoutout to Oblak for his amazing save at 0-1. We dominated the second half and created chance after chance, Morata with some poor misses but he is perfectly entitled to an off day after his brilliant start to the season
Great subs from Cholo. Llorente, Barrios and Lino all made a big impact. It feels good to have this kind of depth
Otherwise credit to Villarreal, they looked MUCH better than at any point under Pacheta. Gerard is a joy to watch and this squad should suit Marcelino well. They have so many technical players that are difficult to press which is very frustrating when chasing the game
Not much to say, respect to Molde who are the way stronger team at this level. In terms of general play and chances there wasn’t much between the sides over these two matches, Häcken might even had slightly more chances overall but still the aggregate scoreline is a crushing 8-2. The likes of Eikrem and Gulbrandsen are so clinical and lightyears above any forward Häcken has
In some ways I admire that Häcken continues to play their all out attack kamikaze football even in Europe but they just don’t have the individual talent to make it work at this level. Even in Allsvenskan their defence is really shaky let alone against opponents of this quality. They just give away simple goals every time
CIRO <3 Massive goal for Lazio!
Even with a more modern coach, the problem remains that it’s very difficult to get Forsberg and Karlsson on the pitch at the same time. I keep seeing people talk about playing Forsberg as a number 10 but when has he ever played a central role? And even then I think him and Karlsson would occupy similar spaces and get in each others way
You would also have to bench one of Isak and Gyökeres, and personally I think Isak might play LW in a 4-3-3 at times depending on who the new coach is. He has played that role for Newcastle
I am expecting the midfield to change with Cajuste and Hugo Larsson getting more chances, but I struggle to see how Karlsson will ever be a starter. It’s impossible to have him, Forsberg, Isak, Gyökeres and Kulusevski on the pitch at the same time. Someone has to be left out
The jump in level from Eredivisie to Serie A is MASSIVE. Will take time to adapt
In return for Griezmann we got: Suarez, a league title and Griezmann back 2 years later. So Barca gave us La Liga plus 120M for a 2 year Griezmann loan, whilst breaking his confidence to the point that he begged to come back on a much lower salary
One of the best transfer deals ever, and the truth is that we would never have been able to keep Griezmann long term on the wages he was previously on. He was earning 700k/week before joining Barca, more than Ronaldo earned at any point with Madrid