Pedri or Lamine Yamal MOTM? Player Ratings for Barça's 2-1 over Athletic Club

Housekeeping and Flick's Grade welcome to episode 609 of the Barcelona podcast brought to you by the bluewire podcast Network I'm Dan Hilton and three more big points for hzi flick and Company all the chaos on the field seems to not be bothering the new German manager because he has his team working well as well as a probably could with a shorten preseason with so many players missing and all of that so three more big points for Barcelona in the early part of a season when Danny almost Camp was frustrated that he wasn't registered that Barcelona is sending out players that they probably would like to keep for the future but they've got to make ffp work so all the chaos and all the frustration of the last few days even the show I did with wory that came with Rory barow that came out midweek we had a lot of frustration a lot of negativity in that show but all of that and is the case with the good stuff gets erased by bad stuff on the field it's the same in the opposite where the good stuff on the field can sometimes erase all the bad vibes off the field and I think that is the case of what we saw today against Athletic Club where Barcelona were clearly the better team I do appreciate for all the housekeeping before I get to the player ratings but for housekeeping purposes I do appreciate all of the different suggestions I got for the good bad and ugly that I will probably be shifting to this season or if people like these player ratings they a bit more work but maybe I'll stick with that we'll see what happens I'm still trying to play around with replacing the five headlines which I want to remind everybody I'm going away from those because of all the work that they were they just took a little bit longer than going from now the stream on Tif which final piece of housekeeping plugging Tuesday show that's Barcelona rakano on Tuesday 9:30 local time in Barcelona and 3:30 here in the eastern United States I appreciate everybody it's TF the description or the show notes will have the link to that and it's promo code Ola koola but it's free to join and over there we're having a good conversation you can request to be on the show if you're a patreon or you've been on the podcast in the past so if I know you and I trust that with the Right microphone and camera that you can come on and speak to me that'll be a lot of fun we've yet to have somebody outside of the first day so I'm hoping that we get some more guests on there and have some more fun on the watch along so again I'm doing these watch alongs as the game is happening live so you can join and chat with me there and then I don't want to be too redundant with these five headlines and having to write everything and edit and all that so I'm diving right into a post game afterwards so you can even join me for that live but I'd also prefer if you watch on YouTube or subscribe to the podcast apps wherever you get your show so without further Ado let's dive in here are the player ratings beginning with Hans flick he gets a nine for me because in his second official match in charge for Barcelona all of the things that are different with hzi flicks Barcelona from shavei Team to make those changes so quickly with so little time with some of your important players in the preseason this is a testament to the fact that flick had ideas and he' had that time off he watched a lot of Barcelona he watched Barca athletic and he knew the players he would have at his disposal even though he didn't truly know what happened in the transfer window you know he didn't get Nico Williams whatever it was niik was playing on the other side for Athletic Club in this match Barcelona seems to have really good ideas what to do in the Press how to find and make those Central combinations work to good effect and there seems to be a clear intention with his team all the different mini combinations if anything you'd hope they just get smoother as time goes on maybe teams will watch more film and get a little bit better in defending but hanzi Flick's team unlike shab's team is not relying on individual Excellence to get wins it was Usman demal it was levandowski at the back it was Ron raho then it became linal individual players under shavei needed to have really great games for Barcelona to seemingly get points and then when they didn't have control over a match or when an individual player wasn't being individually brilliant or having an individual moment M of complete you know as I said Brilliance or inspiration then that meant that Barcelona were going to have to defend like heck defend for their lives and Limp over the line but I think hzi flick it's still early the reason I give him as a nine is because yeah he's gonna have challenges teams are going to get more Fitness teams are going to get more comfortable with each other teams are going to figure out what hanzi flicks Barcelona's trying to do and the level of teams it's obviously going to get better come to Champions League and that new format and all that stuff but still the structure and the thing that he has built so far has been excellent nine for hanzi flick and this was supposed to be at least on paper in the lia a difficult opponent so to get the three points even at home to get the three points of Athletic Club could pay dividends for this La Liga title race come the end of the season so really good stuff for hanzi flick to throw a bunch of Academy kids even out there and by that I mean a bunch I mean Mark Bernal making his home debut we'll get to him in a second because let's start the player ratings with the individual Forwards players with Robert leandi leandi gets a 7.5 for me not only did he have the game-winning goal but he also hit two posts and he had the one that was right at the keeper so three really great chances it wouldn't have been that crazy if he had scored four goals in this game due to the positions he was putting himself in and I know people argue and see him give up those balls in the Middle Field say that when the ball gets to him at his feet that attack break down that his flick on weren't good enough but I remind you too that when Robert leowski does get those flick on to work in those Central channels when he drops in Barcelona are in our goal and their opportunities or the percentage of goal scoring opportunity whatever expected goals that's what I'm looking for the XG whenever Robert leowski can get that ball out of his feet and flick it on the way he kept trying to in this game to fair and toward Rafia it's a high probability that Barcelona probably close to 30% which is still really high but it's a high probability that Barcelona is now in a ond1 opportunity Midway through the second half Foria getting in behind and while it was not an immediate red it was still a yellow because y was in a position where you know bfho was still in front of him so it was an opportunity for Rafia to get in behind and if not pull down Rafia was in a good goal scoring opportunity so Robert leowski I'm giving him a 7.5 because he not only had the game-winning goal but he seems to fit this system much better than he fit shavei he would have to go out to the wings so much more under shavei and maybe that will happen as the season goes on and teams do different things with him but so far he's just being in the cental channel being that guy who absorbs all the pressure and takes those two center backs or takes their attention I should say away from the guys running through the channels in the middle and a half spaces and running in underneath him so good job by Robert leowski to be a system player here Rafia gets an 8.5 for me because he was excellent in this game three key passes didn't have an assist or a goal but I don't really care because functionally he's so important to hanzi flick system the three key passes four of six on his crosses six of six on the long ball three big chances created three for five on his dribbles n of 13 on his ground DS and maybe that last stat there is the most important to me of all the six of six on the long balls is something it means that I know that it looked like he gave the ball away a lot today and where he's losing possession is kind of where he's supposed to lose possession if he gets it right then Barcelona again are in on goal and if he doesn't then you got to win the ball back and you got to press and you got to work hard and every time he lost the ball he fought like hell to get that ball back so nine of 13 on his grounds tells you the Excellence that he was he was coming all the way back to Barcelona's own goal line back into their own box and I think a puzzling thing for hanzi flick will be do you keep him in the Middle where he can defend probably in the best position of those players that could be in that number 10 he's a better Defender than Danny Elmo and he's a better Defender than faren Torres so do you keep him in that position or do you move him out to the left wing and you kind of give Danny Elmo the keys of the castle in the 10 where he's going to be most comfortable think that's probably what happens because if Barcelona are going to have between 60 and 70% in possession this year which I do expect them to have that this season again under hanzi flick if you're going to have 60 to 70 posess percent of possession then you do want to put hzi uh Danny Elmo in his most dangerous spot Faron Torres gets a 6.5 for me I think that the best of Faron Torres the is the idea of fentor is not necessarily execution of him it's that his ability to unlock space that the opponent leaves and that teammates are creating and when he can either push into that space himself dragging Defenders around and then vacating that space for somebody to come into that is what he does best and that does have a a role in hanzi flick system it feels like a novity thing when he's not scoring goals or getting assists and I don't think his whatever Striker instincts he had while playing at the wing at Valencia and then in that first season with Man City I think those kind of left him at this point I think he's a different player as he ages so I give him a 6.5 because I don't think he was a negative by any means but clearly I think if you upgrade that spot with in theory Danny Elmo and then move rafini out to the wing or have Danny Elmo on the left I don't know what's gonna happen but I think once you upgrade that that spot in the starting 11 you're going to see a bit more from that position and barcel will be even more dangerous the what fair and Tores provide you but I want a 6.5 because I think it's just a very fair number for him linum all next up he was the man of the match because he scored the the goal and what a Gazo was I'm glad they made sure that he got credit for that goal because it was goal bound he got credit for the goal which is important and now already this season he has a goal and an assist giving you the idea and I'm not giving him an 8.5 because of the grade I think he'll get for the season because he does have the possibility of getting 20 and 20 but just because he looked better even than he did against Valencia with only a few days of training under hanzi flick the big concern going into this game for me honestly outside of pedri and Mark benol being a double F we'll talk about in a second was that partnership between luminal and kund even though they played together last season in this system kundai has a lot of work to do to support Lin mall and L mall is seeing less of the ball on the wings he's seeing less of the ball to take on the opposition in ond1 situation so when he is on the ball he's got to make the right decisions we know he has in his boots but he's got to be a bit more clinical with his decision- making and L M is capable of as I will say probably every match review I'm as a broken record linum Mall's ceiling is who knows because he is already a star could be a superstar by the time he's 19 years old who knows where he is in those things that's too quick let's not talk about a ceiling but his floor in every match in the Liga is going to be high enough that he gives you something in every match that's what makes him the star he is already he's expected to do something and he will in every match and even in this match where I didn't think he had the best first half and in the second half Barcelona were focusing much more on their left wing as Nico Williams they were trying to take the ball kind of away from him and he was also getting a bit tired there in the second half linum mul again didn't have the best linum all day that he could have but he also had a goal that was a galazo in the game and he did his job and he was important and he he took on Leu and the calls didn't really go his way today the referee wasn't very kind to him he got called for a foul when a guy flopped he got called for not getting a foul when he went down maybe a little too easily but he also was pushed down so calls didn't go his way and he could be even more dangerous so I want to give him an 8.5 maybe okay the goal gave an 8.5 if not for the goal I would have given him like a seven and a seven and a half because I felt like I want to leave space for him to go up you know I I don't want to start him in .5 the season and then by you know the third month of the season if he's got eight and seven or six six goals and and nine assists or Whatever It Is by November I want to have space to move up in his player ratings because of how good he arguably already is game in and game out so 8.5 for l m pedri up next he got an assist Midfielders in the game gets a 9.5 for me he was my man of the match the stats don't even tell the story I've been giving you some of the stats when they do tell the story like with AIA but for pedri created Five chances more than anybody else on the field great five key passes 87% on his passing 63 touches but again that does not tell the story his ball retention is essential in the center of the park for a team that is now combining a lot more in the middle of the park I was worried when I saw the starting lineup Mark bernau and pedri working together for the first time this season mark C would played the 90 minutes in the Gare played the 90 minutes against Valencia Barcelona play on Tuesday again against Rano joined me on TFO for the watchalong so Caso getting rotated makes a ton of sense and it means that H flick is already considering the next matches and already considering those when he made his opening lineup against Valencia that he's planning for the long run at least for the players he had at his disposal based on ped's health but pedri was excellent in this game ball retention was amazing his deep Ling play making if he was better at that you'd already argue that he's one of the best in the world with that position and it did this game answer a huge question for me maybe we'll see what happens when D young and Goby come back and you kind of GNA fit all of them in together but pedri can absolutely play as a pivot in the system because he is Barcelona's best controller he's better than gby at that role he's better than Franken young at that role he is the best player on the ball as a controller he is not the best Creator from a deep position that barcelon have I don't know if they really have one that I would consider as above average in that position maybe it is D young because of his ability to both play some long balls and drive into the space forward so maybe it is D young is the best deep lineing playmaker for Barcelona on paper but pedri as a controller is excellent where I'm now kind of reconsidering maybe it's Gabby who moves into that 10 position in the 4231 in the buildup and it's pedri who is the controller alongside D young can hanzi flick in the system make all of that work I'm not sure but the fact that pedri being so good in that spot and the fact that he played as the 10 for Spain a similar system over the summer was good there I've always been team pedri I know that there are people especially my YouTube comments so shout out to you because there are people who do comment every video and I don't want to have people get negative on you so I won't say certain names but there are people in my YouTube comments that get on pedri seemingly every chance they get and I think they're going to even harder time this year getting on pedri because he looks like he fits perfectly excellent like a glove in HTI flick system he gets a 9.5 for me Mark Bernal 83 minutes for him in his home debut Standing Ovation very much like linal I'm actually gonna give him a 7.5 I know I gave Lal an 8.5 I'm gonna give Mark manol a 7.5 that might be too low but let that rating let you know how high I am on this kid I think he even has Room to Grow I think he has room to even be better I think if you judged him just on the first half I would have given him maybe an eight and a half or an eight but I think the second half was a little bit tough for him he picked up the yellow I think he struggled with the rest defense as he got his legs got a bit tired but he was still so essential I think Barcelona closed out the game really well due to him from this 83rd minute Barcelona could have been back on their heels they could have let Athletic Club come back into the game but the hard work of Mark Bernal did not allow that to happen I think he played a few long balls that were better than what I saw for Bernal at times I thought as I said he was excellent at times at bars atletic but I need that more consistently from him and he played a few of them and but if he can continue to play more of those this season it's just going to open up so much forward for him and I if I'm Frankie young I'm looking around I'm kind of worried and if I'm gobby coming back in November I'm saying great I can take my time getting back because Mark Bernal can be a starter throughout La Lia can he be a starter in the Champions League I'm not sure yet because of that inexperience and you could argue some of the other youngsters like paga BARC who will get to in a second here with berol so 7.5 but if you put in the comments or if you hit me up on social media if you're listening on the podcast apps that he deserved an eight no arguments for me if you argue .5 again barely an argument for me but I want some room for him to improve Mark berol Standing Ovation on his home debut I'm so excited I said it on the podcast I'll keep repeating it and I think I'm going to keep repeating it because hey you never know when you get a new listener Mark Bol kuar c l mall all coming up at 17 in the last year that doesn't happen it doesn't happen for Barcelona even it doesn't have for any Academy and we could just prophesize and and idolize what laasia does but this is it doesn't happen this is so exciting awesome and to have Bal and gobby kind of in the same generation fery Lopez the same generation casido the same generation having them all in the first team at the same time even though it's out of need they didn't have to this good it didn't have to work out for Barcelona even if you need to have your Academy kid step up doesn't mean they will and the fact that all of these are in the way that they are it just simply continues to be mind-blowing and having done this show for seven years I don't take it for granted having watch the academy for close to 20 years now I don't take that for granted this generation is special and I will say that until I am blue in the face or even a Barcelona blue in the face of season Bal day I'm going to go Defenders to 6.5 which feels low but I also think he has room to improve in this system he wasn't great last year he was better two years ago and I think he is still finding his way in hanzi flick system so he was I don't think he ever because of the injuries especially and he went down to end the season I don't think he ever really got it under shavei in last season when the team wasn't doing well I think he es and flows as the teams and flows when the team looks amazing Baldi looks amazing when they're struggling he's struggling and so I think that kind of fit the narrative today so maybe he deserves a seven over a 6.5 but I'm going 6.5 just because his Crossing I know it can be better his cutbacks I know can be better in the second half he looked much better and that did look more purposeful so actually if I'm giving two half ratings to him I would go maybe five and a half in the first half I I didn't think he was very positive but I'd give him almost an eight in the second half because I think it was very purposeful for Barcelona to get that ball off the right wing I know the idea would be hey we want L on the ball as as possible but honestly it was better for Barcelona to take Nico Williams off the ball and try to move the ball and have Rafia shade to the left quite a bit more and with faren Torres those two working through the middle together they had some really good moments together I know I already talked about them but really good combinations from them at moments in this game in central channels withan far and Torres and they were shading over to the left there because it does support both the left foot of AIA and fent Torres coming in off the left so Bal day in the second half to start the second half getting into that mix and having a bit more space and have a bit more time on the ball was advantageous for him in this game so Bal day I give him a 6.5 but again I could argue something a little bit higher but let's give him room to grow this season Ena Martinez gets a seven for me because he didn't do anything wrong and inaki Williams didn't really do anything right in this game didn't really look dangerous in inaki Martinez in Martina I should say well dealing with inaki Williams it could have been worse and hanzi flick has been high on him he wasn't good against Valencia much better against Athletic Club so don't really have anything too positive or too negative so that's why he gets a seven because Barcelona won the game and he was solid and Athletic Club only scored one goal and he really didn't have much to do with it so you could also argue that he deserved a higher rating but I'm going to go with a seven for him because I don't think his long passing today was as clear and as concise as it could have been I think he can get better with the ball at his feet he had a few diagonals but I think it could have been better from him with those line breaking passes today and I expect him to be even better in that role throughout this first half of the Season as Christensen and arajo are gone until God knows when P goar lowest rating I think for every anybody especially any of the starters at least six for me gave up the penalty got a yellow it was a rough day at the office for Pago BARC it's been a rough three months for him in comparison to the high high standard he set so if you're listening to the Barcelona podcast you're likely a Barcelona fan this is a safe space I wouldn't say he was overhyped but I would say that he exceeded all of our expectations when he was 16 and turning 17 as a first team player it's just like you're not a center back at that age and that good that he was in the first two three months of the season and I think he has come back a bit to reality to what a 17-year-old Center back should be so he gets a six for me because it was not a completely terrible performance especially they won the game and he had to deal with niik Williams and he had to deal with nyaki Williams and he had to deal with sunset coming from Deep positions or deeper than those two so he had a lot on his plate today in an attack that could be really dangerous in the Le of this season for a team that would like to be pushing for the Champions League spots in a league of this season in Athletic Club so it could have been worse so I give him a six here and I'm that's kind of unwavering I'm good with that and if you want to say it's lower go ahead but anything lower than a six seems ridiculous when the opposition only scores one goal and yes the one goal was his fault completely his fault on the PK but he also could have done there there were worse things that he he had moments where he won some goal kicks for Barcelona and he cut down space and he slid and he did all he needed to do with thei Williams in the middle of the field kundai today gets a 7.5 not really for what he was doing on the ball if he had been better on his Crossing if he I think had had better chemistry or continuon with linum Mall because again those guys only got about a week to work together this was their first full week to work together in the preseason and I know they played together as St as last season but trying to figure it all out in hanzi flick system that's a lot of thinking for kundai to do that's a lot of work for him to kind of work through when to make those overlapping runs in this system things are different for kundai now so I you know for the attacking side of things I probably would have given him like a 6.5 and that his attacking prowess today does kind of knock his overall rating down but as far as a Defender today kundai basically gets a nine I mean it was as as perfect as it could be as an individual Defender he fell for two niik Williams fakes and one of them led to Nico Williams getting a shot off that fortunately TI Stan kind of had covered the whole way and niik didn't get enough on it but as a niiko Williams Defender boost I'm going with 7.5 for kundai because let me read you niiko Williams stats that's actually what I find to be more important than kundai stats he was 0 for five on his crosses did 12 total passes zero long balls played 50% on his dribble success zero shots on Target and he lost possession 19 times remember with Dem we used to talk about Demay that if he lost possession between 12 and 14 times that was about Fair anything over that then it was a bit too much and now you're counterproductive of your team niik Williams today lost the ball 19 times so maybe people will argue that niik Williams is he really the answer for Barcelona on the left wing I still think in the long run yes he's too young and too good not to be but kundai is making an argument and has now for two seasons to be the best defensive right back in the lia actually let me go on a limb I think he's the best defensive right back in the lia and Danny kahal still at his veteran age what he does for Real Madrid in the attacking sense and what he still gives them defensively it's hard to argue that he's not at the top of his game and I'm forgetting some of the other best at their position I guess jesun Naas is quite long in the tooth and there are other options around the Liga for really good right backs but I think kundai might be the best individual defensive right back that the Liga has to offer not just this season but last season as well and he continued to kind of build that Legacy against niik Williams today 7.5 lock it in t Stan gets a 6.5 for me he was in the first half when Barcelona had a few shaky moments when they had to play back to their keeper he was good on the ball he had one where he had to chest it down and and play it quickly so with the ball at his feet and the stuff that we don't really care about because Barcelona are keeping possession near their own goal we kind of forget those things he was important there and he was good on the sa that he had to poke over I mean Atletico didn't really do too much to make him think today and the one time he really did have to think was on the PK he got caught went the wrong way so I guess I'm going 6.5 on ter Stan he did his job so maybe he's just like a flat seven if that's what our base is but I guess if our base is six then I gave him a 6.5 so I don't know we can argue about goalkeepers because most of us aren't goalkeepers and we're goalkeepers so if you goalkeeper let me know what ter Stan's rating is you have a better idea than me now for the sub this is tough Substitutes because gotten again they don't really have too much time to play I thought ferine Lopez looked a bit Rusty looked like he didn't what three days with hzi flick that's what it looked like to me looked like he wasn't totally comfortable coming over to the wing interchanging with Rafia and I do expect them to work on that in training and I expect that to get better so ferine Lopez gets a six for me because very much like the other guys who I said only have Bal day only have way to go is up I think is the same thing with ferine Lopez he was important defensively late in the game to press gave some energy and had a few good moments with pedre but I think that we can expect more from him so a six for me and then I'm giving Eric Garcia pal Victor and jard Martin sevens but really it's kind of a not applicable for them because especially P Victor and jar Martin they played so little of the game but they came on Barcelona looked like they were confident in finishing that game they don't look like they were going to concede so they get a seven for me all three of them just because again I feel like that's in a game that you win the base number you give of a seven so a base for those three and how about this you let me know what my rating was will you give me for these player ratings and also let me know from one to 10 how much you like these player ratings because again I will likely go back to a good bad ugly or maybe depending on the match I might switch it up a little bit so we might do some good bad ugly whatever I want to name that I might have a Champions League match where I want to do a five headlines and really go long and deep on some big match review and I also have these player ratings having these different options for the postgame stuff I think is hopefully going to lead to more exciting feedback and more interactive feedback from the audience So speaking of that audience if you want to be an active part of it again I remind you you can support me and be an active part of it $3 on patreon the benefit I can finally give you patreons is that if you have a mic and a camera and our confidence to be on screen then request to be a part of the broadcast on these watch alongs remember the next one is Barcelona Rano 9:30 local time in Barcelona 3:30 here in the United States that's PM so 3:30 p.m. here in the US or 9:30 local time in Barcelona remember you can join my watch alongs if you're a patreon for those $3 or if you're listening and we're former guest on the show Frances Tomas where you at well in when are those matches going to be early enough for you to come on I know these are a bit too late for you but I know you listen and if anybody else who's a regular podcast listener uh who's been on the show before wants to come on you absolutely can come on the show with a microphone and a and a camera so again I'm looking forward to have people on so whether it's player ratings good bad ugly five headlines whatever it is I appreciate everybody being with me on the podcast apps or on the YouTube channel or on patreon on Discord on the Facebook group whatever it is subscribe on all those different places including social media to be a part of the Barcelona podcast Community I do appreciate everybody so much and six points to start the year as good as it gets can't ask anything more from hanzi flick and Company so let's continue on Vos with Barcelona this season Visa Al Barca and of course fora Bara [Applause] [Music]