8 - Pedri

R

Rory

Senior Member
If centre backs that are used to play fullback don't count then Man City/Arsenal/every top club are short on fullbacks. I'm not sure I could name a team in world football that have a better fullback situation than us.

I admitted we're a bit short in midfield. Clearly need a quality DM. That's first priority. Signing a top attacking midfielder would be a bonus and a luxury. If Pedri stays fit then Xavi needs to find a way to unlock his potential more.

We need a LW but if we sign Felix that's because the manager and coaching staff want him. I don't think he's good enough or has the skillset to match what Xavi wants from a LW. We've wasted big money on forwards and this is Xavi's doing, Felix would be a continuation of poor squad planning for forwards.

Xavi has been financially backed for defenders and forwards. If the forwards aren't doing the job we need them to, then tough. Can't think of many clubs that can buy a forward for a lot of money, have them perform not up to expectation and then sell for good money. Sure it happens occasionally but usually with young players. Lewa will not fetch a penny, Raphinha will be sold for a loss as will Ferran. All players Xavi wanted right?

We are not tier 1 but we are certainly above the likes of Dortmund/Napoli/Leipzig for overall squad quality. Can't name 3 players from each squad that immediately become a crucial player for us. I'll try:

- Napoli: Osimhen, maybe Kvaratskhelia but he currently has 4 goals in 20 games and may be a one season wonder.
- Dortmund: honestly can't name one.
- Leipzig: again can't name one.

Could easily do that with 5 players from us for their teams.
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
We probably are a bit better, but the difference between likes of Barca and Dortmund, or Leipzig is much smaller than the difference between Barca and the elite clubs. That's a given to me.

Also, the problem is also that Barca are a 2nd tier club now in most aspects that matter a lot, but masquerading as a tier 1 team.

That's the worst position to be in. It's much more practical for the team to be realistic and access that underdog mentality that worked for us last season in La Liga.

Not seeing much of that. We play almost like a complacent team that is top level only in its made up bubble, where Pedri is elite, Balde is one of the best fullbacks in the world and Yamal is the next diamond. :lol: We can't afford this luxury.

The way you view yourself has to conform to reality. You work from that, realizing it, not pretending the situation is different. Delusions help no one.

This is valid for the club, the media, the fans, the manager, the players, everyone. The old Barca teams built by signing the best players are frankly irrelevant. They exist on youtube and in statistics, that's all.
 
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Rory

Senior Member
What elite clubs though? City are the only obvious answer there, their squad is much better yes. About the same quality difference as us and the three teams mentioned above. Go and look at Bayerns squad and tell me how it is so far out of our reach. Bayern, who have a net spend of 25m over the last 2 seasons.

Been looking at other clubs squads today and I can't see one where I'm thinking we're miles off that other than city, who have 115 pending charges against them.
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
:lol:

Bayern comparison doesn't make sense. They won the CL not long ago (you might remember the 8-2 match), they don't need to still be registering high net spending.

And still, Bayern's results in Europe are quite average in the last 2-3 seasons. Lost to PSG, got trashed by City, shamed by Villareal. And in Bundesliga they don't to great either recently. Only won it last year because Dortmund bottled it.

Bayern are gonna up their spending again pretty soon. In the past they were used to sign the best players in Bundesliga for cheaper prices, but now the other teams are expecting, or so they should, much more money for their talents.
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
Horatio said:
sergandez keeps hyperfocusing on comparisons to strongest teams even though we just want barca to stop losing.
Click to expand...

Nah, you don't. Who are you kidding, you even discredit a La Liga title by saying CL winners Madrid are crap. Not you, but most of you. :lol:

What you want is the team to win titles by playing top football. That doesn't happen just like that.

Sure, it's easy to say play like Brighton... :lol: until Brighton lose at home 1-5 to a team from relegation zone and behave like it's normal. That part you don't want to be like Brighton about of course.
 
R

Rory

Senior Member
serghei said:
:lol:

Bayern comparison doesn't make sense. They won the CL not long ago (you might remember the 8-2 match), they don't need to still be registering high net spending.

And still, Bayern's results in Europe are quite average in the last 2-3 seasons. Lost to PSG, got trashed by City, shamed by Villareal. And in Bundesliga they don't to great either recently. Only won it last year because Dortmund bottled it.

Bayern are gonna up their spending again pretty soon. In the past they were used to sign the best players in Bundesliga for cheaper prices, but now the other teams are expecting, or so they should, much more money for their talents.
Click to expand...
That doesn't answer the question though. How do they have a far superior squad to ours?
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
Rory said:
That doesn't answer the question though. How do they have a far superior squad to ours?
Click to expand...

By signing better players, and by being the only big club in their league, which gives them much better options to sign talents from the league with little to no competition. All German teams gladly sell players to Bayern. Or used to do it.

Remains to be seen in the future if they can sustain that.

If Wirtz wants Bayern, all they need to do is wait for him to run his contract down and they will be able to get him on a low sum on this market. You have a lot of angles to play when you are the only big player in your domestic league.

In Spain the rivalries are much nastier at the top. Seems like Wirtz has contract until 2027... so they kind of need to pay through the roof for him. Probably close to Bellingham money, 100-120m.
 
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R

Rory

Senior Member
serghei said:
By signing better players, and by being the only big club in their league, which gives them much better options to sign talents from the league with little to no competition. All German teams gladly sell players to Bayern. Or used to do it.

Remains to be seen in the future if they can sustain that.

If Wirtz wants Bayern, all they need to do is wait for him to run his contract down and they will be able to get him on a low sum on this market. You have a lot of angles to play when you are the only big player in your domestic league.

In Spain the rivalries are much nastier at the top. Seems like Wirtz has contract until 2027... so they kind of need to pay through the roof for him. Probably close to Bellingham money, 100-120m.
Click to expand...
You're not getting it or avoiding it, evaluate the players in Bayern Munich's squad in comparison to ours, then tell me how it is far better
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
Rory said:
You're not getting it or avoiding it, evaluate the players in Bayern Munich's squad in comparison to ours, then tell me how it is far better
Click to expand...

You mean eye test?

We can do that. Only De Jong and Araujo clearly start for Bayern.

X

Cancelo - Araujo - X - Davies

De Jong - Kimmich

Coman - Musiala - Sane

Kane

X is where you can go either way from Bayern or Barca, depending on momentary form.
 
R

Rory

Senior Member
That's if you go the 4231 route. 433 and it's Gundo, FDJ, Kimmich.

So that could be Cancelo, Gundo, FDJ and Araujo. vs Kimmich, 2 out of Sane, Musiala, Coman, + Kane and Davies.

4 vs 5.

Wider squad was more my point though. Not a big gap between them at all.

If their front 3 is miles better that's on our recruitment wasting bags of money on players that I assume Xavi at the very least was happy to bring in.
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
True. But I'd go 4-2-3-1 looking at the squads, on Bayern's framework. Araujo and De Jong would do excellent in such a setup.
 
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