24 - Eric García

[te amo barca]

Pique is in steady and awful decline.
Some flashes of his past here and there, but for the most part he is a liability nowadays.
A serious club would have looked for his replacement already couple of seasons ago.

And tbh Tobido has shown great signs the few times he played. If the club was not run by clowns and jokers, Tobido would be already phasing Pique out gradually.
Garcia looks promising, looks like someone that maybe can take Pique's place (although Tobido has shown more potential than Garcia IMO).

Of course the problem is that Pique is part of the Amigos core, so unless discipline within the squad gets reinstated again, the talk about Garcia or anyone else replacing him is futile...
Garcia knows that he will be warming the bench for an old and horrible Pique and wasting one or more years of his development if he comes. Why would he come?

Pique is the only amigo bar Messi imo who was actually consistently good in the last 2-3 years bar the horrible CL capitulations.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Pique is the only amigo bar Messi imo who was actually consistently good in the last 2-3 years bar the horrible CL capitulations.

Very true.
Pique antics off the pitch along some occasional performances have affected his reputation a lot.

I am also not sure how Todibo showed great signs when he played? Only good performance was against Inter in back 3, while his showing against Sevilla was probably the worst by Barca defender in years.
Araujo has actually showed more and I our 2 last coaches, board and majority of Barca fans right now agrees on this.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Whats the harm? Hes low risk, high reward.

The risk isn't just the money, it is bad fit for our need.
Right now both Pique and Lenglet are playing well individually, but together they are a risk since non of them are athletic enough. We always needed that Puyol/Mascherano/Umtiti type of defender to be able to play with high line defense effectively.
So even if Eric proved to be good for example, he might waste us some years as bad fit in our defense as we will be blinded by the individual performance

 

[serghei]

Pique will be gone in 2 seasons max. Ideally you'd want 2 fast, athletic CBs and two CBs who are good and composed on the ball.

Pique is great and terrible at the same time. Goes in and out of both during a single game. Man is a mess. Cannot be trusted anymore. He could have a complete dud of a game right when you need him most.

 

[DonAK]

We don't have cash.

The alternative to not signing a CB this summer is going into next season with Umtiti as one of our four CBs. We all know how that will go which will mean that Cuenca becomes the de-facto 4th choice CB, and Cuenca is fucking atrocious. He is going to turn 21 soon and I don't think he's talented enough for a top 6 Spanish side. Probably going to end up as a mid-table to lower table team, if not Segunda.

David Alaba who would be awesome for us as a LB or CB is available for 30m. It's reported in Germany that he's even willing to drop down his wage demands from 20m to something more reasonable for either of Barca or Real Madrid - Yet it is reported that we cannot afford him.

Beggars can't be choosers. Eric Garcia for 8m + 2m in incentives isn't that bad of a deal even if I too prefer a more athletic, fast CB.

 

[Birdy]

Pique is the only amigo bar Messi imo who was actually consistently good in the last 2-3 years bar the horrible CL capitulations.

Not true at all.
It's the other way around: he occasionally puts in a performance and people think Pique is still good.
80% of the time, he under-performs.
Yes, he hasn't forgotten how to pass the ball, and he wins a few headers as he is very tall. But, his positioning can be awful, he makes frequent mistakes, when being countered by the opposition he is the one to lose a player, dribbled or beaten on speed, and eventually the one to make the move that results in a goal conceded (or fail to make the move that saves the goal)
He is already a liability most of the time.
If he is still to be used, it will be for that 20% that he still puts in a performance, with someone else playing the 80%.

We don't necessarily need a short and speedy CB. We need a defender that has qualities, but first and foremost trains, and is not lazy.
Lenglet is the only active reliable CB this team has at the moment.

 

[Messi983]

Pique is the only amigo bar Messi imo who was actually consistently good in the last 2-3 years bar the horrible CL capitulations.

Exactly. He's the least of our worries amongst the amigos. Removing Suarez and Busi from the lineup should be a priority. Replacing them with players who can help out defensively better would ease a pressure on the back four. Our defense is far from perfect but as long as we'll have two walking amigos upfront and a slow Busi in midfield we could have a prime Beckenbauer and Maldini in defense and we would still struggle.

 

[soul24rage]

According to rac1, Garcia is our #1 CB target with Torres as the #2

 

[xXKonan]

Gerard Romero also says Garcia knows Pique is getting old, Pep won't be at City forever which is making him want to come back.

 

[Messi983]

According to rac1, Garcia is our #1 CB target with Torres as the #2

Personally I like Pooo D) better but if one is available for 10-15m while the other would cost 65m then this is a no-brainer.

 

[Birdy]

Exactly. He's the least of our worries amongst the amigos. Removing Suarez and Busi from the lineup should be a priority. Replacing them with players who can help out defensively better would ease a pressure on the back four. Our defense is far from perfect but as long as we'll have two walking amigos upfront and a slow Busi in midfield we could have a prime Beckenbauer and Maldini in defense and we would still struggle.

Busi is old and slow, but he is still world-class with his distribution and breaking the lines way above most ball playing mds on the market.
Not the same case with Pique. When he is not a liability, he is doing things that many decent CBs nowadays can do

 

[JamDav1982]

Busi is old and slow, but he is still world-class with his distribution and breaking the lines way above most ball playing mds on the market.
Not the same case with Pique. When he is not a liability, he is doing things that many decent CBs nowadays can do

Busi passing is good but just about every single game is giving the ball away in bad areas of park and giving away big chances/goals to opposition and leaves the defence completely exposed due to his positioning and lack of pace.

Pique is long past his best but easily a better player in his position than Busquets.

 

[Andresito]

Each passing day I want this guy more and more. I think he can be an essential part of the next era with ter Stegen and Frenkie. We need a homegrown leader in our core.

Really looking forward to his big 'audition' against Madrid next week.

 

[te amo barca]

Not true at all.
It's the other way around: he occasionally puts in a performance and people think Pique is still good.
80% of the time, he under-performs.
Yes, he hasn't forgotten how to pass the ball, and he wins a few headers as he is very tall. But, his positioning can be awful, he makes frequent mistakes, when being countered by the opposition he is the one to lose a player, dribbled or beaten on speed, and eventually the one to make the move that results in a goal conceded (or fail to make the move that saves the goal)
He is already a liability most of the time.
If he is still to be used, it will be for that 20% that he still puts in a performance, with someone else playing the 80%.

We don't necessarily need a short and speedy CB. We need a defender that has qualities, but first and foremost trains, and is not lazy.
Lenglet is the only active reliable CB this team has at the moment.

Not true at all.

 

[MTL_Barca]

I don't think they'll sign a high profile CB this summer so in the end it's probably between Garcia and nobody or another talent. Might as well get him if he is available cheap and see how he and Araujo do next season. If one of them makes it that would already be a big success. As of now i'd blindly take them both over Umtiti for sure, at least they can properly run without being out with knee discomfort the day after.

Maybe we can add another, more athletic, CB in 2021 then.