11 - Ousmane Dembélé - V1

[FCBfan22]

I don't want anything, but if we're going to go down this route we'll pretty much end up like AC Milan or Barcelona of the early 2000s. That's inevitable. At least we can maximize the potential of the last few years we got Messi until we go down the long, painful rebuild mode out of the wilderness because our board and management kept fucking up for years and years

Obviously the best scenario would be for us to be flourishing with a club that got a vision for the present and the future, that signs the right players for the positions we need. That hires the right managers, or for our managers to adapt and not only think short-term.

But right now that seems very unlikely. As I said, I don't want us to turn into anything. Barca should strive for success and more success and forget their past where times were difficult. This should be the new standard, but I believe we're more likely to fall back to the end of José Luis Núñez's tenure.

Chaos.

History is repeating itself, but many people are unfortunately only seeing what is in front of them

Of course we will. We are currently relying on a core of players that is 30+ years old. When they retire/leave, we will need close to 600 million euros to even remain competative (in Liga, forget CL). That's why I want us to get Griezmann and Eriksen. To maximize Messi's final years. After that, we need to get a coach that can develop players and a great scouting team. But before that, we need to make sure that players like Puig stay here.

We can't just sell/loan every young player, who is actually doing pretty good considering the cirumstaces without giving him a full season. Fucking rotate the players. Also, if I was somebody from Juvenil A and see one of the world's biggest footballing talents being loaned out after averaging almost an assist/goal per 90, I would GTFO from this club to Dortmund or Monaco ASAP.

 

[Givenchy]

Not going to happen and I think we have to accept it and just bite the bullet. I'm grateful for the domestic double just as I was for the 100 point season and Lucho's first couple of seasons, but I won't ignore the warning signs just like I didn't do it back then. It's been a trend lately. A year or two of boom only for us to go bust in the most painful manner. Back to the drawing board. Same issues. Poor signings, managers with a short-term vision and lack of tactical adaptability and player development, both 1st team and Barca B got these issues.

The club is never going to choose a talent over a manager unless it's Messi and that's the right way too. It's up to the club to hire the manager that got the same vision as them and up to the manager to adapt if he want, or can. I have a hard time seeing that happen.

It makes no sporting or financial sense to keep a player(or loan him) that you signed for 105m + incentives that the manager doesn't trust and will likely be starting at the bench a lot. It hurts his development and because he's a young player that need game time, it'll also impact what he can do off the bench for us.

So in the end we'll be benching a 100m+ investment that we'll get no return from as he'll be unable to make a great impact in 10-20 mins with the type of player he is, and we'll keep losing money on him.

for once we need to be ruthless, Barto could learn a lesson or two from Perez in that regard. do you believe though that EV is the one who decides the signings? lets say we do buy Griezmann, surely the board won't be happy having to sell/loan or even bench their 120m+ signing Dembele for a midtable manager who will probably be gone after next season.

Barca need a world class manager, no more of this 'ex-Barca' 'DNA' bullshit, we need someone with passion who demands respect to shake things up. we've got Pique, Raki and a few others who need a kick up the ass and motivating. its a strange feeling after winning the double but man, even forgetting the 3x CL for Madrid, i just want to enjoy watching Barca football again.

anyways like you said, its not going to happen and were stuck with Ernesto

 

[DonAK]

Valverde has a lot to improve or else he'll end up like Lucho in his last season already next season with an aging squad and core.

But more than Valverde the board and management have to prove a lot too, that they know the problems this squad got and are willing to rectify that.

I have very little trust in both.

Neither will change. Would be happy with a league title next season or even being very competitive down to the finishing line. I predict a bust season though.

It isn't about Dembele who's largely been a non-factor this season anyway, but a lot of other problems we've seen.

 

[FCBfan22]

Valverde has a lot to improve or else he'll end up like Lucho in his last season already next season with an aging squad and core.

But more than Valverde the board and management have to prove a lot too, that they know the problems this squad got and are willing to rectify that.

I have very little trust in both.

Neither will change. Would be happy with a league title next season or even being very competitive down to the finishing line. I predict a bust season though.

It isn't about Dembele who's largely been a non-factor this season anyway, but a lot of other problems we've seen.

Exactly. Both coaching and managment need to improve a lot of things. But, regarding youth development, unless Garcia Pimenta is some kind of a miracle worker at Barca B, I can see it going only one way from here. Down.

As I said, loaning Dembouz would show our youngsters that they have 0.1% chance of making the A-team someday and they will simply fuck off to Dortmund, Monaco or similar clubs.

 

[Barcilliant]

Dembeles biggest problem is Valverde. Actually the clubs biggest problem is the board and Valverde.

A loan would make us the laughing stock of Europe and destroy the kid's confidence.

 

[MTL_Barca]

It would be a true masterpiece from us if we manage to fuck up a special talent like Dembele. We should probably hire Mourinho then because no offense to Valverde but what is one Dembele compared to Salah, De Bruyne and Lukaku? We could step it up!

Jokes aside i think a loan would be the dumbest thing ever. Dembele is extremely talented and already showed that at Barca too, if the coach cant build his team with the players we give him because he only has a slow 4-4-2 in mind and cant adapt from.there just because it worked in la liga we should sack the coach because in the end he is not only costing us a shitload of money this way but also does a good job in ruining our near future by not playing one of the biggest talents in the world.

 

[MessiCam]

Im with [MENTION=15376]DonAK[/MENTION] on this one. It hurts me to say this but Dembélé should request a transfer, he is not going to grow as a player under this bum. This kid has played less minutes than Coutinho and in terms of attacking output he is doing better and will only get better but Valverde wants him to defend as if he is a defender or at the very least a midfielder. He is neither.

As long as Valverde is our manager we will continue to prioritise workhorses and physicality over talent.

 

[henias]

Agree with DonAK but we will look like a complete fool loaning/selling him. Dembele is the one who can inject pace and creativity, provide a multitude of attacking options on the right side.

Under Valverde's slow static 442, we can hardly get in the final third and those useless possession playing like little kittens in front of the opponents backline will be likely to cause some serious problems from counter attacks to domination, we will get burnt out quickly because they have to cover large amount of space.

Griezmann will never work as a winger or a midfielder and playing with 2 strikers will be extremely narrow because Messi has to play centre.

 

[snowy]

Dembele out? :-( Sweet Mary Joseph pls tell me this is one of those boggus rumors...

also [MENTION=15376]DonAK[/MENTION] is absolutely right, Valv needs to make Demb a starter now that he's fit and let him play loose, with complete freedom.

if Valv can only play with defensive 422, he needs to go. When you have Messi on your team, focus should be on attacking style! ok I'm biased, I admit it hehe

but even if I weren't, this backfoot safe football has got to stop! and if Board lets go of an attacking talent like Demb, they should take up yoga, gain some flexibility and kick themselves in zzzze butt!!!!

 

[henias]

Valverde has a lot to improve or else he'll end up like Lucho in his last season already next season with an aging squad and core.

But more than Valverde the board and management have to prove a lot too, that they know the problems this squad got and are willing to rectify that.

I have very little trust in both.

Neither will change. Would be happy with a league title next season or even being very competitive down to the finishing line. I predict a bust season though.

It isn't about Dembele who's largely been a non-factor this season anyway, but a lot of other problems we've seen.

Judging by how tactically inept EV is, and if they decide to loan Dembele, I'm predicting a bust season with probably a Copa Del Rey.

I seriously see no difference from Lucho's last season. A plethora of problems that has no end unless the main prepetrator (Valverde and the board) is removed.

 

[Luftstalag14]

I don't think people realize yet how this team is elevated by Messi, despite his own issues when it comes to intensity and what not.

Once he's gone, we'll be back to being a normal club like Bayern are right now, but with a board and management whose squad planning is among the worst out of all top teams in Europe.

Been saying it since May 2013 when I joined this forum, but people always looked at what was in front of them short-term. I don't want to be pessimistic, but I see very hard times for us from 2021 onwards. When the damage is done it might take many years for us to recover again.

And don't tell me how the club was stuck in a rut in the late 90s or early 2000s. I couldn't give a fucking shit about that. That is in the PAST. At this junction Barca should do whatever it takes for them to stay where they are and get better. Stay as a dominant club for decades. Stop being a bunch of pussies or losers with no desire to compete to be the best.

Bayern is a normal club, Don? They are one of the three best clubs in the world last time I checked (supposedly us, Real Madrid and Bayern). They face no competition domestically but they have consistently made it to the CL semi-finals for how many seasons? I lost count. I wish we would be in the CL semis every year.

I understand what you are saying (why we should sell Dembele), but I felt you are getting the priorities wrong. The argument that because we can't get rid of Valverde therefore we should ditch young talent like Dembele and go for established players that Valverde prefers is just crazy and short-sighted in my opinion. First off, which established players can we buy? I for one don't want Hazard, he is so lazy and underwhelming, especially in important games. And not that we could get him anyway. Let's say we sell Dembele and get Hazard and some other established players to placate Valverde, he does not deliver next season (as expected by many) and he is gone in summer 2019, we are left with an even more aging squad and we will start buying young players and talent again if our next manager likes them?

Valverde is temporary, the club is forever. Valverde will not stay here for long, a couple of more seasons tops. For the future of the club we can't simply sell the likes of Dembele just because Valverde does not give him a lot of playing time. We need to have more young players like him, not less. I agree that our track record of sending players on loan has been absolutely abysmal, but it is worth a try in the case of Dembele if Valverde refuses to change. If he doesn't develop well with enough playing time then we can sell him.

 

[Ronaldinho10]

Bayern is a normal club, Don? They are one of the three best clubs in the world last time I checked (supposedly us, Real Madrid and Bayern). They face no competition domestically but they have consistently made it to the CL semi-finals for how many seasons? I lost count. I wish we would be in the CL semis every year.

I understand what you are saying (why we should sell Dembele), but I felt you are getting the priorities wrong. The argument that because we can't get rid of Valverde therefore we should ditch young talent like Dembele and go for established players that Valverde prefers is just crazy and short-sighted in my opinion. First off, which established players can we buy? I for one don't want Hazard, he is so lazy and underwhelming, especially in important games. And not that we could get him anyway. Let's say we sell Dembele and get Hazard and some other established players to placate Valverde, he does not deliver next season (as expected by many) and he is gone in summer 2019, we are left with an even more aging squad and we will start buying young players and talent again if our next manager likes them?

Valverde is temporary, the club is forever. Valverde will not stay here for long, a couple of more seasons tops. For the future of the club we can't simply sell the likes of Dembele just because Valverde does not give him a lot of playing time. We need to have more young players like him, not less. I agree that our track record of sending players on loan has been absolutely abysmal, but it is worth a try in the case of Dembele if Valverde refuses to change. If he doesn't develop well with enough playing time then we can sell him.

I absolutely agree. We haven't fully tested Dembele he needs to be a regular starter before us or EV could get the full picture about him. Like u said he needs to play more. With the amount of young attacking talents we have laying around (not so many..) I don't see how we can possibly afford to sell him especially due to the amount of money we spent on him.

 

[serghei]

Selling Dembele is a no go for me.

First, Valverde will only be here as long as he brings results. Which won't be for long with this football. It means that the first weak season he has with no results, he's gone. So, no CL or La Liga next season? Gone. Maybe we'll finally name a manager who has balls and can really nurture the talent we have the right way.

Valverde is operating on loaned time, time he got because he won the double. Valverde is not a great enough manager to survive a bust season, because all he has going for him is winning titles.

He can still get his head out of his ass and learn the right lessons and make the right adjustments. First huge red flag I got was when he refused to play a single youngster vs Sporting at home. I was shocked that Alena didn't play that game.

 

[Joan]

Selling Dembele would be retarded. I think this will be Ernesto's last season. So, no. No way we should let him go.

Can we really say that his season was a failure, injuries aside? I'm not known as his biggest fan here, but give him a break.

 

[FCBfan22]

Selling Dembele would be retarded. I think this will be Ernesto's last season. So, no. No way we should let him go.

Can we really say that his season was a failure, injuries aside? I'm not known as his biggest fan here, but give him a break.

If you call a season of 21 year old youngster, who was injured for half of it and will finish with 6-10 assists and 2-4 goals at Barcelona, a failure, you are retarded.