Because it was revealed that the pre-tax amount in the final year of the contract was as high as 28 million, Pique was under a lot of pressure at one point, and there were even rumors that he would retire this summer.
Bidding farewell to Garcia in the early hours of this morning, Pique, who was paired with Araujo, won the conversation with "Serie A Drogba" Osmayne. Not only did he let the opponent have only 1 shot on goal, but he even taught how to score on the spot. The veterans of Barca's dream trinity have unique skills, Alba, Busquets and Pique, each of which is a red and blue wealth.
01. Faster Barca are stronger: Napoli can't keep up with the rhythm
a. Four arrows flying together: who can stop such a counterattack?
Barca's starting line-up has four key speed points: Adama, Aubameyang, Alba and Ferran Torres. Among them, Adama and Alba are of great value in advancing, and Aubameyang and Ferran Torres can simply connect attack and defense while providing a large number of no-ball sprints.
Why did De Jong score in 2 consecutive games? When there is a faster teammate in front of him, the space appears in an instant, de Jong can perform his stunt of accelerating forward, and the world wave goal is also derived.
How did Barca's first goal come about? Aubameyang, Adama, Alba and Ferran Torres started to run back. In the end, the three fastest men participated in the goal, and Ferran Torres failed to catch up.
Napoli want to keep up with Barca's rhythm, the problem is that Barca not only have the ball with the ball fast, but also the non-ball people put on the fast.
After Adama received Aubameyang's pass, his physical advantage was huge, directly crushing 2 Napoli defenders to send Alba a wonderful pass. Barca's left-back scored with a right-footed shot and Alba improved again.
Why can De Jong easily break into the world wave? Because Aubameyang has speed, his front insertion frightened Napoli defender Rahmani to quickly follow the defense, directly releasing the huge middle space to De Jong.
It is worth mentioning that Ferran Torres was originally in an offside position, but the opponent's header clearance error allowed him to get the ball. The subsequent heel pass to Find Aubameyang actually made a mistake, but Aubameyang took away the defender with a cover run, and De Jong took the ball and was flat.
Barca's speed is fast, not only sprinting, but also the control of the second drop point, as well as the second reception and cover of the no-ball man.
De Jong's shot was brilliant, but don't overlook Barca's overall movement during the goal. This shows that Harvey's training quality and offensive philosophy are quite outstanding.
b. Halftime shots 11-2! Barca completely overpowered Napoli away from home
From the half-time statistics, Barca had nearly 60% of the ball and shots 11-2 on goal, allowing the home team to complete only one shot on target (or because of the obviously controversial penalty, Ter Stegen did not touch Osmayne).
Barca not only counter-attacked quickly, but also moved very quickly in front of the high position, with Busquets completing a lot of access to the ball (his selection and footing at key moments, as well as the pass after the break was too good).
This time Busquets' beautiful tackle, De Jong crossed Torres to get a chance, but the shot hit the defender.
Let's take a look at this time when Busquets broke the ball and went straight to Aubameyang, but unfortunately the latter's shot was deflected. Such shots were repeated in the first half, with Napoli's backcourt buzzing.
02. Pique Online Teaching: How to Defend Against "Serie A Drogba"
Pique's defense: Rely on your mind first
In addition to Barca's mercury on the offensive end, Pique's performance on the defensive end is also commendable. In his conversation with Osmayne, he gave the other party no chance.
In addition, Pique has a 95% pass success rate and a wonderful back-footed left-footed shot.
In terms of strength and speed, Pique is now not dominant against Serie A "little monster" Osmayn, the problem is that Pique's defensive experience has helped him greatly.
It was no longer Garcia behind him, but Alaujo, who was more physically fit, and Pique could safely defend. His strategy against Osmayn was to squeeze his opponent towards the sideline.
Pique couldn't actually break Osmayne, but he let the other side go outside to ensure a large part of the safety. More importantly, in the middle of the penalty area, Araujo has moved into place, and Osmayne's choice of cross is meaningless, so he can only return the pass.
Looking at this wave of defense, Pique still insisted on squeezing the opponent to the outside line, letting Araujo protect behind him, and Alba chased back to find the opportunity to get his foot.
The key point was Pique's long legs, and he crossed in front of Osmayne, and the opponent could only accelerate to the outside line, thus giving Araujo and Alba the opportunity to return to position. In the end, Pique forces his opponent to a non-threatening area on the flank and slows down, will You be surprised if Alba destroys the ball?
B. Osmayne: I just can't get past Pique
Osmayne won only 1 of his 5 one-on-one matches (against Ter Stegen, although there was a controversy over misjudgment), and once against Pique, he did not take advantage of anything at all. There was only one shot on goal and it was deflected.
In this wave of consecutive confrontations, Pique first went forward to the middle line and competed with Osmayne for the first point of the header. Because the strength is not dominant, it has not been cleaned up.
The key was Pique's subsequent retreat, and when he saw Osmayn insert forward, he completed the key tackle that saved his life.
It is clear from the GIF that Pique didn't win the first point completely, but he had an extremely important tackle when Busquets couldn't keep up with Osmayne's front.
Pique's experience and decisions are excellent, and after Araujo shared most of the confrontation, Pique was more reliable at the key moments.
03. Pique, who forced the "28 million euros annual salary" to retire early? This is a bit unreasonable
For the past 2 months, Pique has been repeatedly attacked by the media. The main problem is the final year of Pique's contract, up to 28 million euros of annual pre-tax salary.
The Barca mouthpiece daily Sport even revealed details: 16 million euros before fixed payroll tax, another 7.5 million euros in loyalty bonuses, 3.3 million euros in performance bonuses, and 1 million euros in compensation.
So there are many voices calling on Pique to give up his remaining contract and retire early this summer. Pique himself doesn't think so, though, and he's still eager to continue his career on the pitch.
This time Osmayne wanted to cheat on Pique, could he do it? C Ronaldo was seen through by Pique at that time, and Osmayne was obviously far behind.
Even before the end of the first half, Pique received Alba's cross, unloaded the ball with his right foot in the penalty area, and scored with his left foot against the foot, extending the lead to 2 goals again, and completely killing the suspense of the game.
This goal is even enough for Osmayne to study well. In terms of technology, Pique can produce a book even if he plays as a center.
Pique's annual salary of 28 million euros before tax in his last year sounds scary, but the problem is that Pique also posted his salary slip for the second half of 2021: 2.33 million euros after tax (about 9.5 million a year before tax).
He was able to get such a sky-high annual salary afterwards because Pique was the first player in barca to receive a pay cut (now it should be called a delayed payment) after the pandemic.
He gave up the part that belonged to him and got the promise to get it back a few years later. Now it seems unreasonable to attack Pique for his last year of high salary and ask him to give up.
Conclusion:
The veterans of Barca's dream trinity, each with extraordinary talent. Whether it is Pique, Busquets or Alba, or even Alves, it is a valuable asset for the team.
They are indeed no longer as strong as they were at their peak, and even drag down the team at times. However, after experiencing the glory of the dynasty, you should endure the desolation of loneliness. Accompanying the veterans on their last journey should also be a respectable part of the culture of the giants.