1 - Marc-Andre ter Ansplant

[DonAK]

Inb4 he is really benched there too

Btw, did he even warm-up before the CWC final? It seemed like only Bravo and Masip did? The tweet by the official Barca account also only features those two.

 

[footyfan]

I don't understand people trying to portray ter Stegen as ungrateful. He signed for Barça on what could Marca and MD almost call false pretenses, having been told that he's signing up for 1st goalie spot. When Lucho demanded Bravo and picked him as 1st goalie, MAtS accepted his lesser role and the "Claudio for LL & MAtS for cups" arrangement that doesn't favorize him without kicking up a fuss, reaction that would be imo understandable from players older than him.

Now let's be real, ter Stegen urgently needs experience and needs more minutes on pitch or he'll be stuck in the "talented young goalkeeper" career phase but sans the "young" part in the next few years while his peers like starters Trapp and Leno accumulate experience and will consequently replace him in NT as well. That's why people demanding ter Stegen to be happy with his status quo are unrealistic, Bravo is wonderful right now and his form could easily continue for up to 5 seasons. What age will MAtS be by then? How will his experiences compare to goalies in the same age bracket who routinely played all these years in all competitions? Lucho's decision not to play ter Stegen in CWC, as much as I respect it, is twice unfair. First of all, a big part of the reason we qualified for CWC in the first place were MAtS' quality performances in CL. Giving then those 2 matches MAtS was killing for on the pitch last season in Berlin to Bravo goes against the working Liga/cups agreement. Secondly, the current division of playing time between Bravo and MAtS is not 50-50, closer to 3/1. It's almost an ugly gesture to take those 2 CW Cup matches from MAtS and add to Claudio's pile. Before anyone comes at me, yeah of course nothing in pro football should be taken for granted but I'm not surprised ter Stegen might get tired being repeatedly blindsided and working on different terms that he was told he agreed on in 2014 and look elsewhere. That's not being ungrateful. Hailing him as the New Neuer can only last for so long - at his age, Neuer was the captain while MAtS sits out for most games. He'll be 24 soon and at this point his situation is detrimental his own success.

Welcome to the forum. While I agree in general with your post re: MAtS unfair portrayal as ungrateful, I want to clarify a couple of things. Firstly, is it really true that MAtS was told he was signing up for the 1st goalie spot? From what I recall, there was always talk of buying an experienced goalie as well and to see who competes best.

Secondly, the split in appearances is not 3/1, not even close. MAtS has 32 appearances for Barca, while Bravo has 52. So it's more like 1.5/1. This season (incl. the recent CWC matches), Bravo has 15 while MAtS has 11. The split would have been 50/50 had Lucho started MAtS in Japan. "An ugly gesture" is really stretching it.

 

[KingMessi]

Oh I can just imagine the controversy if we get knocked out of the CL.

If Bravo started the CL, people will say we should have started TS and that's why we lost. If TS starts and we lose, people will say we should have started Bravo.

And that's even if the loss isn't directly due to a goalkeeping blunder.

Can't wait.

 

[God Serena]

Oh I can just imagine the controversy if we get knocked out of the CL.

If Bravo started the CL, people will say we should have started TS and that's why we lost. If TS starts and we lose, people will say we should have started Bravo.

And that's even if the loss isn't directly due to a goalkeeping blunder.

Can't wait.

No matter what mistake either keeper made it didn't slow us down on our way to the treble. We actually avoided a lot of potential drama last season

 

[Louis Bloom]

Then he needs to be told by the club to start caring. We should not be fixated on the current one or two seasons, we should be planning ahead.

football aint about planning for the future anymore. especially at a club like ours. short term success is the main goal for many clubs now. look at guardiola. he went to bayern because everything was already set up for him. you can plan for 1-3 years, not longer.

 

[DonAK]

You always have to plan for the future. That's why we signed someone like Neymar and should sign some younger CBs too, or else we'll end up struggling in the future with all the 30+ players in the squad without renewing it.

Playing ter Stegen isn't that big of a bet though. Courtois, DDG, Neuer, Casillas, Oblak all started at the same age or younger without costing their team much.

It's another matter Lucho wanted his own GK.

 

[KingMessi]

football aint about planning for the future anymore. especially at a club like ours. short term success is the main goal for many clubs now. look at guardiola. he went to bayern because everything was already set up for him. you can plan for 1-3 years, not longer.

Bayern is planning for the future. Look at their signings.

Just because short term success is the main goal, does not mean that you neglect the future. That's how you end up like AC Milan.

And if we do let Ter Stegen go, when Bravo is over the hill or gets seriously injured, we'll have to go looking for another goalkeeper that can play the Barca way.

 

[Louis Bloom]

Bayern is planning for the future. Look at their signings.

you mean coman and costa? those were no future signings, those were necessary signings, because the best days of ribery and robben are over and pep's tactics.
it happens that both of them are young, but there's no indication that bayern would have bought them, if ribery and robben were still in a good shape.
they suffered against us last cl season, they realized that robben and ribery need to be replaced. they got two players, who were "cheap" and atm good enough for them.

Just because short term success is the main goal, does not mean that you neglect the future. That's how you end up like AC Milan.

we wont end up like ac milan

And if we do let Ter Stegen go, when Bravo is over the hill or gets seriously injured, we'll have to go looking for another goalkeeper that can play the Barca way.

you cant have two goalkeepers fighting for spot nr. 1 over a long period. it made sense last season. but this season, lucho should have went with mats. he didnt. it clearly shows that he favours bravo.
so unless, lucho speaks with mats and clears the air, mats will leave. he can not allow himself to be 2nd goalkeeper, when his career is on the line.

 

[serghei]

you cant have two goalkeepers fighting for spot nr. 1 over a long period. it made sense last season. but this season, lucho should have went with mats. he didnt. it clearly shows that he favours bravo.
so unless, lucho speaks with mats and clears the air, mats will leave. he can not allow himself to be 2nd goalkeeper, when his career is on the line.

Why is that?

 

[KingMessi]

you cant have two goalkeepers fighting for spot nr. 1 over a long period. it made sense last season. but this season, lucho should have went with mats. he didnt. it clearly shows that he favours bravo.
so unless, lucho speaks with mats and clears the air, mats will leave. he can not allow himself to be 2nd goalkeeper, when his career is on the line.

TS still starts the CL. Which means, for now, you are wrong.

The two are nearly equal, so far, in terms of games played, FFS.

 

[Louis Bloom]

TS still starts the CL. Which means, for now, you are wrong.

The two are nearly equal, so far, in terms of games played, FFS.

unless the reports about lucho and his decision in favour for bravo are false

 

[Louis Bloom]

Why is that?

long term perspective. mats was signed to be our goalkeeper for the next 5-10 years.

 

[EdmondDantes]

long term perspective. mats was signed to be our goalkeeper for the next 5-10 years.

Bravo is world class, and in his prime. Why waste it? What you're saying makes no sense unless you're ter Stegen's agent.

 

[Frejsgodes]

Bravo is world class, and in his prime. Why waste it? What you're saying makes no sense unless you're ter Stegen's agent.

The margin between the two is minimal, which is why we should keep both. That's impressive considering ter Stegen is not even in his prime. I say keep the current arrangement, continue to develop ter Stegen, and then let him take over in 2-3 years.

 

[KingMessi]

The margin between the two is minimal, which is why we should keep both. That's impressive considering ter Stegen is not even in his prime. I say keep the current arrangement, continue to develop ter Stegen, and then let him take over in 2-3 years.

Not to mention that the two push each other to the become better players.