Memphis pulls chestnuts out of Koeman’s fire (2-1)

While waiting for the automatisms to work, Barça need heroes. All crises have their heroes, and Barcelona live theirs, with empty pockets, Messi debuting with the PSG shirt and a fixtures market where it remains only to see how the other clubs make good investments while you can not even get out ‘ t over some nasty players. Now, not everyone can be a hero. Antoine Griezmann, for the moment, hesitates, still too shy, too correct. French is never the worst, but it is never the best. As if he were a boy who comes into the house to meet his partner’s parents and doesn’t show his true face for fear of getting hurt. In contrast, Memphis is just the opposite. In no time, his future political family has already been won over with his casual character. His signing is, for now, the great success of Koeman, who already asked for it last season. And Memphis, who came to play alongside Messi, has found himself playing a complicated role, that of filling the void of the Argentine. Luckily, it doesn’t scare him. Not even close.

When Barça were worse, a little yellow after seeing Getafe draw, Memphis was responsible for scoring one of those goals that are worth double. Of those who change matches, of those who secure points. As long as the team doesn’t play better, Barça are content to win games at home. Koeman still has work to do. A year after his arrival, his team still squeaks too much. And Getafe proved it in a match in which the best, in fact, was the result. And that started well, as in two minutes Sergi Roberto had already scored the first goal with one of his arrivals in the area from the second line. Reus’ second goal in three games, more free in attack now that he plays in the middle of the field, but too soft in defense in this position.

It was a match of new faces. Ter Stegen was back after being operated on, but still without a rhythm, as he showed when a former Barça player, Sandro, equalized with a dry shot after an assist from Carles Aleñá. Two players who have gone through La Masia doing their thing with a goal that caused a stomach ache to a team that repeated the usual offensive trident, in this case with a Braithwaite more disappeared, and with a new pair of central, with Lenglet and Araujo. The casualties forced me to improvise with them, there weren’t many more options. And it was their turn to suffer as Barça, tired, were losing control of the match. Lucky for Memphis, who in an isolated action had scored 2-1.

Koeman, who saw people whistling Umtiti as he warmed up, continues to hesitate too much during matches. If the start always seems to have clear ideas, once the script of the game changes, it takes a long time to intervene with the changes. In the second half, as Getafe went around the area of ​​Ter Stegen, the Dutch coach looked at him with the face of few friends, but without removing the scalpel to change things. And the Camp Nou was biting its nails, nervous, seeing how its team was playing with fire against this Getafe that with Michel on the bench cares much more for the ball than with Bordalás. Thank you. The ankles of Barça players, too. Of course, two of them, Sergi Roberto and Braithwaite, ended up injured, and this finally led to the changes of a Koeman who risks angering the Barça parish. With Gavi and Nico on the pitch, Barça improved. Young people from La Masia to put things in order, as if they wanted to show Koeman that they deserve more opportunities. That nothing happens if at the outset he makes the alignments thinking about the state of form and not the gallons. Koeman, however, breathed a sigh of relief. He had finished with five defenses against Getafe.

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