After Barcelona fell to a 2-1 defeat to Girona and gave up their lead in La Liga, Hansi Flick will have been scratching his head at some of the performances he was witnessing.
Joan Garcia – 8
The one saving grace for Barcelona – and save them he did on three or four occasions. The only reason there was any controversy about Girona’s winner was because he had stopped it coming earlier.
Jules Kounde – 3
While he did overlap well, his final ball rarely found a teammate. It’s hard not to sound cruel, but there isn’t a team in La Liga that hasn’t created goalscoring chances from getting in behind Kounde or running at him, and while part of that is a system problem, he’s not helping either.
Pau Cubarsi – 6
Had a good first half and was among Barcelona’s better players, then did brilliantly to direct his header into the top corner for the opener. However it’s his error that costs Barcelona the equaliser, and the final half hour and he struggled to cover on several more occasions in the final half hour.
Eric Garcia – 6
Girona got in behind Barcelona consistently and Garcia was struggling to put out fires. Didn’t cause too many issues before being brought off with 73 minutes gone.
Gerard Martin – 5
Similarly to Kounde, provided nothing in attack, and part of his problem is systematic. Didn’t really do much to halt Girona going forward either though, and was withdrawn after 63 minutes.
Frenkie de Jong – 4
The game passed de Jong by in midfield. Barcelona couldn’t put together any sense of fluidity and de Jong found himself covered all too often. Defensively he was left exposed, but it’s hard to remember a tackle he put in.
Dani Olmo – 5
Won the penalty that should have given Barcelona the lead, but added more depth to the case that he shouldn’t be playing as part of a three in midfield. It just isn’t his position, and it dampens his qualities, and shows up his weaknesses.
Fermin Lopez – 4
One of Fermin’s more disappointing performances. Usually you can rely on his pressing, but he allowed opposition players to turn and escape today. Add in some rash shots with teammates in better positions, and some bad giveaways, it was a night to forget.
Lamine Yamal – 5
On the one hand, Lamine Yamal took responsibility time and again, receiving the ball and making things happen. Yet there is no escaping the fact he passed up an easy one-on-one in the first half, and then missed a penalty, two chances that should have been goals and would have changed the result.
Ferran Torres – 4
Four passes out of nine completed in the Girona half, two shots off target, and not much else to speak of. Flick clearly seems to think that Torres is the better fit than Lewandowski big picture, but this was another dreary performance from Torres.
Raphinha – 7
Arguably should have scored one of his two or three clear openings, but hit the post twice before being removed for his own protection after an hour. It’s no coincidence that his exit coincided with Girona growing in the game, and Raphinha also made two important clearances in his own box running back to help out during counter-attacks.
Substitutes
Alejandro Balde – 5.5
Got into good positions twice, but couldn’t pick out a teammate on either occasion.
Roony Bardghji – 6.5
It’s so almost there for Bardghji. Around him, and especially close to Lamine Yamal, things happened for Barcelona, but he was unable to provide the killer instinct on the couple of occasions he did get into good positions.
Ronald Araujo – 5.5
Not particualrly at fault, and but probably should have got onto a cross at the back post late on that would have given Barcelona the lead.
Robert Lewandowski – 5.5
The frustrating thing for Lewandowski is that this is the first consistent run where Torres could be dropped, but it has coincided with his own touch declining. Amid complicated service, he mistimed his run for a disallowed goal and added little in the final 17 minutes.
Marc Bernal – 6.5
Had a couple of nice interventions in a busy final 15-20 minutes.
The post Barcelona Player Ratings v Girona: Problems all over the pitch for Hansi Flick appeared first on Football España.
