He added, “In general, we are all in a bad situation. The defeat against Chelsea was difficult. We thought we were capable of winning. We have to be optimistic about the next match.” Ronald Araujo asked Hansi Flick. However, the Azulgrana coach did not want to sign with a club. At least, I did not want to point out the Uruguayan midfielder, sent off in the duel against the English team the first time, today due to a stomach virus that makes him out of the party of the Saturday before Alaves (16.15, DAZN), always prey of a certain Cainite sector of the Barcelona that targets him with fear so as not to be a pure style.
But Araujo is not the only one who lives in Picota. Something similar happens to Frenkie de Jong. When the Dutchman stands out on the pitch, he doesn’t seem to catch anyone’s attention; However, hardly every party becomes a center of criticism. However, he seems to live in public ridicule. “The good thing about football is that everyone can have their own opinion. There are people who think Leo is not the best… You can never convince everyone. In my case, I think at least you can just play football,” he explained in an interview with The Sun. El Pais. He knows, however, that he has the protection of the good: the pupil of Messi at the moment, and now Lamine Yamal, who is always a starter for all the Barcelona coaches. “It is true that many comrades and coaches always say that if there is a player who is underrated, it is me.”
De Jong’s criticisms were generally accompanied by Mark Casado’s allegations. The elegant model of the Catalan and Barcelona player of Masia, able to celebrate Canaletta’s title disguised as a bigger fan. But in this campaign, Casado lost his place to Flick once; He has accumulated 592 minutes, compared to the 1,305 minutes he finished last season. It seems strange if you compare it to your performance with Flick, but not when you look at it in retrospect. In his final year at Barcelona, for example, he played 11 out of 35 matches (32%) as a full-back because Rafa Marquez considered Bernal, Garrido and Savior behind him.
However, it so happens that while Flick is preparing changes behind the ‘cachitazo’ at Stamford Bridge, Casado is one of those who could benefit. Naturally, in training in the coming months, the Catalan steering wheel moved next to De Jong and Dani Olmo. Flick said: “I think Eric can play in different positions and we also wanted to test Andreas there. It would be good, for technical matches, to have tall players. We trust Casado and Bernal, who are back from injury. It will take minutes. Casado will have occasions, he has our trust.”
Casado’s presence will be at the core behind Eric Garcia. First, in the central position, leaving the right side, as happened in the last match in LaLiga against Athletic, Pau Cobarsi faced Gerard Martin.
“When we lose, when we score three goals, it’s easy to decide that the party wasn’t good and Barcelona wasn’t what we wanted, but we also have to make it clear that there are people who don’t know what we need to keep the prison under control. It’s not just about defenses: that’s the midfield and the forward. But there is still room for improvement, especially in the front.” There are reasons for optimism: Rafinha will be able to play the whole group and Pedri will participate, at least, a few minutes before Alaves.