"Should never start a big game for this club ever again" - Fans slam Barcelona star after their loss to Real Sociedad
Fans were unimpressed with Frenkie de Jong's performance in Barcelona's clash against Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday. The match ended in a 1-0 loss for the Blaugrana at Anoeta Stadium.
Sociedad's Sheraldo Becker netted the only goal of the match with a right-footed shot after being set up by Luka Sucic with a headed pass. De Jong made 38 touches and one key pass while maintaining a pass accuracy of 89%.
He was down with an injury for a bit on the pitch in the 26th minute. The Dutch midfielder had no shots on target and lost possession six times before being substituted by Dani Olmo at the beginning of the second half.
On X, fans criticized Frenkie de Jong's display against Real Sociedad in La Liga. While some fans accused the 27-year-old of breaking the flow of the game for Barcelona, some wanted him removed from the starting line-up in the upcoming matches.
One fan wrote:
"Frenkie should never start a big game for this club ever again. Completely fucked up our flow from the start. Gavi needs to start instead of him if Pedri-Casado-Olmo isn't available."
Another added:
"Barcelona losing today was completely on Flick. Frenkie was horrible, and Olmo starting would have made the difference."
"Everything was going on well till Frenkie De Jong came back and Hansi Flick tried to find a spot in the starting XI for him," another fan chimed in.
One account posted:
"Frenkie k!lled the tempo of this game from the first half."
The Catala club's fans were disappointed by the Dutch midfielder's performance.
"I don’t see how Frenkie is part of our strongest 11," posted another.
"We should sell Frenkie De Jong," one user wrote.
"Whatever you do, never start Frenkie again," another wrote.
Frenkie de Jong has started two out of the seven matches he has featured in across competitions with no goal contribution for Barcelona so far this season.
Hansi Flick on Barcelona's 1-0 loss against Real Sociedad in La Liga
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick opined on his squad's performance in their 1-0 loss against Real Sociedad in La Liga. This marked the Catalan club's second defeat in the league this season and the first goalless match since the German manager took charge.
In the post-match conference, Flick pointed out the errors made by his squad against Real Sociedad.
"It wasn't our day," Flick said (via fcbarcelona.com). "We have to accept the result. There are no excuses. We could have played better, like we did in the first few minutes, but we couldn't maintain the dynamic and we didn't create enough chances. We connected well, with possession, but then we started to struggle and with that they scored. In the last third, we weren't making the right decisions."
Flick's men maintain a ball possession of 70% in their 13th La Liga clash of the season while creating no big chances or having any shots on target. Barcelona had an opportunity to open their scoring with Robert Lewandowski's goal in the 13th minute. However, the Polish striker was ruled offside and the goal was overturned by VAR.
(Stats via Sofascore. These platforms may change the stats as per their prerogative)