Las Palmas manager Enrique Seiten talked about the 5-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona mentioning Busquets, Messi, and Vidal.
After Barcelona got through dominating for 90 minutes against Las Palmas, their manager Enrique Seiten took some questions about the performance of Barca. There were many positive things said about the Blaugrana. In addition to that, Seiten mentioned many players that stood out to him as his side were no match this weekend. However, there was some criticism of how Luis Enrique is using the reliable central midfielder, Sergio Busquets.
“Ask Busquets what he thinks when Andre Gomes plays,” he said. “Busquets has to do 30 or 40 meter sprints to cover the ball. At that rate, I don’t know how long he can last. His commitment is exemplary. Busquets wants people like Andre Gomes by his side. People that commit themselves to helping, closing down and covering.”
Despite criticism of other players, when it comes to Lionel Messi, Setien confidently said that he’s hard to stop. Messi has certainly been that for his entire career. He mentioned this when asked the question ‘Who really is the best in the world at the moment?’ In addition to this, he offered comparisons to some of the great footballers of the past and present.
“For that reason he’s the best and he proves it every weekend,” the manager mentioned. “I’m not saying Cristiano is a bad player. He will go down in history as a great goal scorer, but he’s not Messi. Messi is one of those players that understand the game of football, the poise, and the balance that solve games with goals and assists. What Messi does I’ve not seen in Cruyff, Ronaldinho or Maradona. Messi does it everyday. It must be a pleasure to coach him. He does every day what others do every now and again.”
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Setien talked about Andre Gomes getting more fit into the Barca system. “ surprises me more every day,” the Las Palmas manager said. “There’s a huge difference between the dejected player that played for Valencia and the Andre Gomes at Barca. Maybe he doesn’t have the quality of Iniesta, but he’s a footballer who can do very well at Barca, like all those that run and know what to do with the ball.”
“Players with so much quality, generally speaking, are associated with not running a lot, with not being aggressive,” added Seiten. He does those things and can be the ideal complement for other players in the middle of the pitch that may be weaker.”
At the end of his conversation, Seiten mentioned the performance of right back Aleix Vidal. It was his best of the season so far. He said, “He surprised me. He played a great game, adding to the team’s general performance. Along with Mascherano, Umtiti and in midfield they didn’t let us breathe. They robbed a ton of balls.”
Next: 3 Things We Learned: Barcelona vs. Las Palmas
Overall, there were many positive comments said about the team from the opposing manager from this past weekend. Barca needed a performance like that and it came at the right time for everyone. However, the team has to consistently churn out these performances for the rest of the season. There is not margin for error for the Catalan club. In addition to this, Luis Enrique must have strong lineups and the players must play with a title-winning edge. We’ll see if most of these things happens as the La Liga campaign turns for home.