Agreement with Chelsea for the transfer of Cesc Fàbregas

darthvader7888

darthvader7888

Banned
Devils said:
For me, he was one of the worst signings in many years. Not statistically i terms of performance, but the overall effect he had on the team. He should have never been brought in in the first place.

In his first season here we experimented with the 3-4-3 formation which cost us dearly in La Liga and disrupted the beautifully flowing 4-3-3 machine that we had established the season prior. Not to mention the failed Cesc false 9 project.

In the second season, Tito's arrogance to not rotate properly resulted in us losing the player that SHOULD have been in Cesc's position from the start.

Now this past year, it was just depressing to deal with his inconsistencies on the pitch. Camp Nou grew tired of him and he was jeered by the fans, management was fed up with him as well and forced him out of the club. Just depressing.

I'm absolutely not saying it was Cesc's individual fault that we experimented with 3-4-3 or that its fault that Thiago left, but it was his signing that bought the damage.

In the end it was just a complete failure. It was a combination of poor decision management to bring him into the team and a player who was never meant to be a Barca player and should have stayed away once he left as a kid.

I'm really glad it's over.
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This pretty much sums it up. I don't blame Cesc himself, I blame the board for signing him in the first place.

Because of his signing (which happened at a time in which we didn't need midfielders, as we had Xavi, Iniesta and Thiago):

-We spent about 35m euros that could have been spent on a quality CB on an unnecessary signing. Hell, we may even have been able to snatch Thiago Silva at that time for a little more money.
-We kept damaging the lineup trying to shoehorn him in. Pep's 3-4-3, Tito playing Iniesta on the left wing, Tata playing Iniesta on the left wing and Neymar on the right, etc.
-We lost Thiago, who was our brightest prospect before we got Neymar. For peanuts too. Now, this wasn't solely down to the Cesc signing, as Tito's mismanagement of Thiago played a role, but you can't deny that the Cesc signing did as well.

Had we spent the 35m euros we did on Cesc on a quality CB, we wouldn't have a CB problem or a CM problem. Now we have both.

Also, how the fuck did we only get 33m for him? In a market where Fellaini goes for the same amount and Luiz goes for nearly twice as much.

serghei said:
I'll wait to see what midfielders we'll sign before saying this was a mistake. Rakitic alone won't cut it.
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I don't see us getting another midfielder unless another midfielder leaves or Enrique changes the formation. Xavi + Iniesta + Rakitic + Rafinha + another midfielder is too many for 2 spots.
 
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Semi-Neutral

Semi-Neutral

Sir Alupp Heynrguson
I feel like Rafinha returning makes Rakitic obsolete, not Cesc. Knowing Lucho's focus on youth, I see Rafinha getting a lot of appearances and resting both Xavi and Iniesta, contributing with his higher energy and versatility to cover for a variety of roles. In my opinion, he's not yet starting calibre in the top teams, but he will get a lot of time against mid-table and small sides. However, the downgrade between him and Iniesta/Xavi is pretty significant, he has high potential but isn't there yet.

You could have said pretty much all of that about Rakitic. Most people attribute him a role of one who offers workrate, running, and the ability to keep it simple in the midfield and allow Iniesta/Xavi to focus on their work. I feel like Rafinha could cover that role just as well, if not better due to his familiarity with Barca's system. There was also a quote floating around about Lucho not wanting to get rid of Roberto, and I could visualize a similar role for him as well, with him tending to rest Xavi and Rafinha tending to rest Iniesta. However, what we lose is starter-level quality. Cesc is a brilliant midfielder who could come in and play against the best teams, and will prove that in the EPL next season without a doubt. He didn't give amazing performances this season against big teams, but he was crammed into a 4-4-2 and used as an extra body to give more freedom to our creative players. If he was incorporated in a 3-man rotation with Xavi and Iniesta, and the best two were to start big games, we would have the quality in case of injury and the depth provided by Rafinha and Roberto.
 
Trickykid

Trickykid

Active member
Semi-Neutral said:
I feel like Rafinha returning makes Rakitic obsolete, not Cesc. Knowing Lucho's focus on youth, I see Rafinha getting a lot of appearances and resting both Xavi and Iniesta, contributing with his higher energy and versatility to cover for a variety of roles. In my opinion, he's not yet starting calibre in the top teams, but he will get a lot of time against mid-table and small sides. However, the downgrade between him and Iniesta/Xavi is pretty significant, he has high potential but isn't there yet.

You could have said pretty much all of that about Rakitic. Most people attribute him a role of one who offers workrate, running, and the ability to keep it simple in the midfield and allow Iniesta/Xavi to focus on their work. I feel like Rafinha could cover that role just as well, if not better due to his familiarity with Barca's system. There was also a quote floating around about Lucho not wanting to get rid of Roberto, and I could visualize a similar role for him as well, with him tending to rest Xavi and Rafinha tending to rest Iniesta. However, what we lose is starter-level quality. Cesc is a brilliant midfielder who could come in and play against the best teams, and will prove that in the EPL next season without a doubt. He didn't give amazing performances this season against big teams, but he was crammed into a 4-4-2 and used as an extra body to give more freedom to our creative players. If he was incorporated in a 3-man rotation with Xavi and Iniesta, and the best two were to start big games, we would have the quality in case of injury and the depth provided by Rafinha and Roberto.
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I like having both Rakitic and Rafinha. The former is still plenty more experienced than the extremely talented Rafinha, and should probably have some sort of seniority meaning he'd be the initial starter. This should allow Rafinha to integrate slowly but steadily.

I think where we disagree completely is about Fab. You call him a brilliant midfielder - which he undoubtedly is. However, as it's been argued for years now, that's hardly the case when it comes to playing for us. While I don't expect Rakitic to equal his numbers output, I'm thorougly expecting him to look more fluent and less disrupting for the team as a whole. I could easily turn out to be way too optimistic in regards to Rakitic, but I fully believe he won't be a downgrade compared to Fab in terms of chemistry and overall influence on the team.

Another point where I disagree with you, is on your description of the Croatian. Running, workrate and keeping it simple? It doesn't do him justice as I see it. He's very creative and has great ball control - in my eyes, better than the one he replaces. All in all, I think he just suits our team pretty well, which is more than could be said about Fab.


Oh, and in before Antimilan arrives and slanders Rakitic as the worst thing ever to grace the mighty San Pizjuan.
 
Catorce

Catorce

Cruijff's Heir
Cesc hinders any evolution in our play. We consistently try to find a place for him and in three seasons it hasn't worked. He also, in my eyes, hasn't showed me why we should build a team around him. It's an unlucky marriage and it is best for both parties to part ways and do something else. As some would say: football careers are short, enjoy them. He wasn't enjoying it here, most fans weren't enjoying him as a player. Having Rakitic and Rafinha come in and them fighting for a spot can be very good, as well as them being different types of players. A lot needs to change and selling Cesc was a step in the right direction.
 
serghei

serghei

Senior Member
The sale of Cesc Fabregas doesn't bother me that much. However, in two years we have lost both Thiago and Fabregas, and we haven't bought any world class midfielders to substitute them. What I see so far in this transfer window is a worrying pattern --> selling top class, experienced players, and buying/promoting replacements that might work, but also, might fail or not live up to the expectations.

Bartomeu has said that we will improve the team. Selling Cesc and buying Rakitic is no upgrade in my book. Yea, Rakitic is a fine player, and he might fit us better, but it doesn't change the fact that we sold ro a rival team a very valuable midfielder, and bought a cheaper one to fill the gap. Rakitic is a transfer that could've been made without selling anyone, since he didn't cost that much.

I'm waiting to see where are those 120 mil. Bartomeu was talking about.
 
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jamrock

jamrock

Senior Member
i said when he was bought that he will be off in 3-4 seasons, happy he is gone. he will be a start in the prem and people will start telling us again that he is better than xavi and iniesta
 
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