Sam, Rik and Toni are back to discuss Barcelona's goalless draw at Getafe, which secured them a top two finish in LaLiga and a place in next season's Spanish Supercopa with one game to spare. Prior to that match, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski had revealed his desire to leave the German club, with Barça keen to bring him to Camp Nou.
Running order:
-- B...
Hey, some patrons having trouble with the episode today - it seemed the file was corrupted, so we uploaded it again, although it still didn't solve the problem entirely. Let's see if this works.
2022-05-13 14:02:37 +0000 UTC View Post
A huge Q&A on all sorts...
—Lewandowski
—Frenkie de Jong
—Marcos Alonso
—Spanish core
—Barca DNA update
—Should Barca loan better?
—Outgoings
—Lies
—Eto’o
—Mino Raiola
—Eric Garcia
—The pivot
—Gavi, Roberto
—Areas for Xavi to improve
—Sports psychologist
—One club men
—Barca B
—Mexican waves
Hey everyone, we'll record the Q&A on Friday so any Qs about anything you want in the Discord channel or as comments to this post, as usual. Thanks!
2022-05-12 10:22:31 +0000 UTC View Post
On Wednesday a story broke claiming Frenkie de Jong was 95% of the way to Man United. We discuss that rumour, where it came from, and more, after analysing the 3-1 win over Celta Vigo on Tuesday night.
--Xavi's experiment
--Memphis as a No 10
--Aubameyang next season
--Dembele soaring
--Araujo injury scare
--Fallen gladiator
--Rik's ratings
--Riqui Puig
--Fre...
This pod will self-destruct in 24 hours. Actually, that’s not true but Barcelona face Celta Vigo on Tuesday so its 'best before date' is certainly in the next day. Sam and Rik look at Barcelona’s win at Real Betis that locks in Champions League football and discuss the return of golden boy Ansu Fati. Toni is away but leaves some audios with his thoughts. We’ll be back on Wednesday here on...
2022-05-09 17:50:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Sam, Rik and Toni discuss what Real Madrid's Champions League heroics (sorry!) mean for Barcelona, the club's famous DNA, winning titles and offer transfer updates on Marcos Alonso, Rahpinha and Robert Lewandowski.
There's also an interview with Nico Gonzalez's dad, Fran of SuperDepor fame, and a look into what the future could hold for the young Barça midfielder. Plus, Toni's tidb...
2022-05-06 13:38:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Sam, Rik and Toni talk about Barcelona's 2-1 win on Sunday night over RCD Mallorca, with goals from Memphis Depay and Sergio Busquets to stop the rot after three consecutive defeats at Camp Nou. Ansu Fati returned and there's a lot of talk about a certain Carlos Soler story which we looked at.
--Step forward or not?
--Memphis's display
--Link with Auba
--His future
--Ansu Fa...
Benvinguts Sam Marsden, Rik Sharma and Toni Juanmarti, Barcelona's three new sporting directors.
Their task is to plan the squad for next season and the summer window, with some financial muscle but also a healthy dose of realism.
They discuss the options for each position and put lots of names on the table. We'll see how much of it comes true...
2022-04-29 08:40:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Here we goooo! We answered your questions on everything below and more:
—Espai Barca
—Boixos Nois
—White kit
—Gareth Bale
—Loanees
—Lisandro Martinez
—Christensen analysis
—Pablo Torre
—Ferran Jutgla
—Sergi Roberto
—Busquets replacement
—Players watching games
Q&A will be coming, probably tomorrow, so anything you want answering.... you know what to do
2022-04-27 10:20:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Less than a week after Cadiz we're back again in a similar (sinking) boat. Sam, Rik and Toni get into the hows and whys of what's going on now Xavi's great start has tailed off.
--No answers to the low block
--Timewasting
--Two added on for one lost
--Motivation and desire
--No creativity
--Frenkie's funk
--Gavi's penalty shout
--Rik's ratings
--Xavi's culpability<...
Barcelona recovered from back-to-back defeats with a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Real Sociedad, taking a huge step towards Champions League qualification for next season in the process.
Sam, Rik and Toni discuss:
-- Losing possession, winning the game
-- Defensive concerns?
-- Ter Stegen and FDJ
-- Pique fuelled by Supercopa leaks
-- Dembele the leader
...
And in the second episode of the day, we tackle the two big issues around Barça at the moment. How 30,000 German fans got tickets last week for the Eintracht clash, and Pique's leaked audios with Rubiales and the RFEF.
—Laporta and the ticket shambles
—Too much/not enough made of it
—Transparency and blame
—Protest against Laporta
—No Barto protests
—Piqu...
Sam, Rik and Toni analyse the 1-0 home defeat by Cadiz on Monday night in a game where the Grada d'animacio refused to attend in protest.
Rough running order:
—Winning streak over
—Bad all round
—Toni’s defence
—Why the struggle?
—Attitude
—Ter Stegen
—Dembele driving force
—Pedridependencia
—Rik’s ratings
A bonus bonus pod! Once you're over the defeat, this might make for some interesting listening. Toni spoke to three Eintracht Frankfurt supporters to find out how they got tickets, and how they experienced an historic night in Barcelona.
2022-04-15 14:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Sam, Rik and Toni tackle the issue of Eintracht Frankfurt's takeover of Camp Nou. Who is to blame? What could have/can be done to stop these situations? And we also talk a bit about the game itself, a 3-2 defeat that saw Barça knocked out of the Europa League.
2022-04-15 12:51:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Toni is having a bad day but we seemed to have soothed him by the end of this one. Answering your questions on....
—Loanees
—Full back moves
—Sergi Roberto
—Collado/Torre
—Trincao
—Strikers (Joao Felix, Lewa, Darwin apologies)
—Pedri’s boot and his shirt
—Luuk future
—Laporta
—Does Mbappe mean game over?
and...
2022-04-13 15:30:26 +0000 UTC View PostHey all, we'll be recording a Q&A this week so get your questions in and we'll do our best to answer them. Probably on Wednesday but tbc. In the discord or by replying to this post as usual. Cheers!
2022-04-11 22:00:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Luuk de Jong returned from Covid-19 to score the winner in a 3-2 victory for Barcelona at Levante, where they'd won only once in their last five visits. Sam, Rik and Toni chewed the fat after the game.
--Performance discussion
--Result because of the 'positive dynamic'
--Aubameyang, quiet but deadly
--Luuk de Jong's goal rate
--Three penalties against
--Frenkie subbed early...
Barcelona weren't great on their visit to Germany but left with a 1-1 draw after a great goal created by Dembele, Frenkie and Ferran Torres. Sam, Rik and Toni tackled the game and looked ahead to Levante.
--Australia
--Good result?
--European intensity
--Araujo at RB
--Chance creation
--Auba retreat
--MSN days
--Adama performance
--Eric Garcia splits opinions
--...
It's been a busy few days since Monday's podcast: Meetings in Marrakech, meetings in Barcelona, Lewandowski, another sell-out at Camp Nou for the women... and the small matter of a Europa League quarter-final between Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday in Germany.
There's no Toni in person (but he does contribute some voice notes!) but Sam and Rik are joined by German jour...
2022-04-06 14:51:13 +0000 UTC View Post
The Xavineta rolled on at the weekend as Barcelona beat Sevilla 1-0 to move up to second in LaLiga. With nine games to play and nine points to make up on Real Madrid, is it to late to say Hay Liga?
Join Sam, Rik and Toni as they discuss:
--Another Barcelona win
--The new Ousmane Dembele
--Is there anyone better than Pedri?
--Clean shee...
2022-04-04 11:08:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Rik, Sam and Toni talk about Barça Femeni's big win over Real Madrid in front of a world record crowd and then answer all your questions.
--Femeni atmosphere
--Gio Quieroz
--Toni and independence
--Luis Figo (and Toni's Zouma moment)
--Hay Liga?
--Free transfers
--Raphinha
--Futures (Coutinho, Lenglet, Griezmann etc)
--Torre, Collado, Jutgla crowding
--Memphis<...
Hey everyone, we'll record a Q&A late Wed or possibly Thurs (edit: in the end, Thurs PM), so get Qs in on Discord or in the comments here. Cheers!
2022-03-29 23:14:38 +0000 UTC View Post
On Wednesday, Barcelona's women play at Camp Nou. It's the first competitive game they will play there with supporters allowed to attend and, if everyone with tickets shows up, they will break the record for a women's game, which currently stands at 90,185 for the 1999 World Cup final in Pasadena.
The opponents? Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinal. Barça lead 3-1 from ...
2022-03-29 10:42:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Sam, Rik and Toni looked in-depth at how Xavi Hernandez has turned FC Barcelona’s fortunes around in just four months. From ninth to third, unbeaten in 12 in La Liga and playing with smiles on their faces.
For more pods and insight, join us on Patreon. Link below.
—Non Xavi factors
—Mental improvements
—Fun training
—Focus
—Meritocratic
—Video work
â€...
We were delighted to welcome Serie A specialist Alain Valnegri onto the pod to speak about Franck Kessié. What role will he have at Barcelona? What's his best position? What are his strengths and weaknesses?
Then Sam, Rik and Toni discuss the meaning of his arrival for Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Nico and Co,...
2022-03-24 12:30:18 +0000 UTC View Post
24 hours on from Barcelona's huge 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu, Sam, Rik and Toni analyse the game and the fallout. We get stuck into the following, and more:
--Barça are back
--Pique's Tweet
--Madrid shambles
--Aubameyang
--Eric Garcia
--Araujo at right back
--Progress with no Messi
--Rik's ratings
--Hay Liga?
A bonanza bonus pod wrapping up the Europa League draw (QF vs Eintracht Frankfurt), the win in Istanbul over Galatasaray, and a preview for Sunday's showdown with Real Madrid. We welcome Tom Allnut from AFP to give us a view from the capital. Are we in a Barça bubble?
--Rain, rain, go away
--Eintracht Frankfurt
--Xavi's caution
--The win in Turkey
--Big night on the road
-...