Andrés Iniesta

[sumo]

Don't kill me, but sentiments being put aside for a second, Iniesta will be 30 at the end of the season. Looking at Xavi, he has 2 more seasons to give after this one at most before slowing down for good. If not earlier, considering how much he relies on his explosiveness. The cynics among us might even say that he's already showing signs of decline this season. I can understand the reluctance to renew him for another 5 years with a > € 7.5 M pay check. If we don't consider these kind of things and renew everyone just because they are legends, we will end up like Milan a few years ago with an overaged squad full of old stars on big paychecks. Watching Ajax kids running rings around Xavi and Puyol was already a sad sight. If we sold Iniesta for € 50 million, bought someone like Gündogan and played Busquets-Gündogan-Fabregas in midfield, I wouldn't be too mad. We're playing with the exact same midfield trio for 5 years now. That's a very long time for opponents to figure us out.

Don't kill me.

I disagree. Look at a player like Giggs or Scholes or Pirlo. When ManU are suffering with their younger stars, they can STILL bring on 40 year old Giggs to control a game. I think Iniesta has at least another 6 or 7 great seasons, and 50 million would be a steal (in todays football market at least).

 

[Meitux]

You guys seem to not accept one thing, that typically Fabregas and Iniesta midfield alongside Busquets looks wrong and not so powerful. Powerful in terms of bringing defensive abilities in it and powerful in terms of speed. Overal defending is not only done by defenders, it's pretty clear that our only midfielder who can provide defensive abilities is Busquets and when he's exposed against like 2-3 players he can't do it alone and non of Cesc Iniesta can do it. Also defending on the counter attacks takes a part as well. Both of Iniesta and Fabregas are slow i don't even mention Xavi. They can't catch up a player if he's off and sprinting.

The player who could bring some balance to the midfield is a box to box player and theoretically it's Gundogan. Strong fast with both great attacking and defensive abilities to provide some more defensive cover to our midfield, and of course he can control the game. I'm not talking about a straight comparison with Xavi but man.. noone is compareble to that style, different players ok. But Gundogan is settled to fast and direct football that Tata wants, and with all the above things he can offer he would be a very important add to the squad. Both Iniesta and Fabregas are attacking midfielders, non of them can control directly the midfield and mostly Fabregas. But even if Iniesta takes that role we are again the point zero having a weak slow midfield. The best thing for me personally is having Gundogan and only one of Iniesta or Fabregas in the midfield based on their performances.

 

[NeyMesSis]

You guys seem to not accept one thing, that typically Fabregas and Iniesta midfield alongside Busquets looks wrong and not so powerful. Powerful in terms of bringing defensive abilities in it and powerful in terms of speed. Overal defending is not only done by defenders, it's pretty clear that our only midfielder who can provide defensive abilities is Busquets and when he's exposed against like 2-3 players he can't do it alone and non of Cesc Iniesta can do it. Also defending on the counter attacks takes a part as well. Both of Iniesta and Fabregas are slow i don't even mention Xavi. They can't catch up a player if he's off and sprinting.

The player who could bring some balance to the midfield is a box to box player and theoretically it's Gundogan. Strong fast with both great attacking and defensive abilities to provide some more defensive cover to our midfield, and of course he can control the game. I'm not talking about a straight comparison with Xavi but man.. noone is compareble to that style, different players ok. But Gundogan is settled to fast and direct football that Tata wants, and with all the above things he can offer he would be a very important add to the squad. Both Iniesta and Fabregas are attacking midfielders, non of them can control directly the midfield and mostly Fabregas. But even if Iniesta takes that role we are again the point zero having a weak slow midfield. The best thing for me personally is having Gundogan and only one of Iniesta or Fabregas in the midfield based on their performances.

+1

 

[Stric]

Except Iniesta-Busquets-Fabregas worked great so far this season.

 

[KingMessi]

The player who could bring some balance to the midfield is a box to box player and theoretically it's Gundogan. Strong fast with both great attacking and defensive abilities to provide some more defensive cover to our midfield, and of course he can control the game. I'm not talking about a straight comparison with Xavi but man.. noone is compareble to that style, different players ok. But Gundogan is settled to fast and direct football that Tata wants, and with all the above things he can offer he would be a very important add to the squad. Both Iniesta and Fabregas are attacking midfielders, non of them can control directly the midfield and mostly Fabregas. But even if Iniesta takes that role we are again the point zero having a weak slow midfield. The best thing for me personally is having Gundogan and only one of Iniesta or Fabregas in the midfield based on their performances.

Sergi Roberto is a box-to-box style player. Why not give him a chance before buying Gundogan. Or sell Song and buy Gundogan.

 

[Mythical Revolution]

You guys seem to not accept one thing, that typically Fabregas and Iniesta midfield alongside Busquets looks wrong and not so powerful. Powerful in terms of bringing defensive abilities in it and powerful in terms of speed. Overal defending is not only done by defenders, it's pretty clear that our only midfielder who can provide defensive abilities is Busquets and when he's exposed against like 2-3 players he can't do it alone and non of Cesc Iniesta can do it. Also defending on the counter attacks takes a part as well. Both of Iniesta and Fabregas are slow i don't even mention Xavi. They can't catch up a player if he's off and sprinting.

The player who could bring some balance to the midfield is a box to box player and theoretically it's Gundogan. Strong fast with both great attacking and defensive abilities to provide some more defensive cover to our midfield, and of course he can control the game. I'm not talking about a straight comparison with Xavi but man.. noone is compareble to that style, different players ok. But Gundogan is settled to fast and direct football that Tata wants, and with all the above things he can offer he would be a very important add to the squad. Both Iniesta and Fabregas are attacking midfielders, non of them can control directly the midfield and mostly Fabregas. But even if Iniesta takes that role we are again the point zero having a weak slow midfield. The best thing for me personally is having Gundogan and only one of Iniesta or Fabregas in the midfield based on their performances.

An alternative would be to play Mascherano as DM and play Busquets in Xavi's position. Mascherano is more solid defensively than either Busquets or Gundogan, and his pace, tackling and reading of the game would allow us to neutralize counter attacks more effectively (which is arguably our biggest weakness alongside our shaky defense and lack of height). This might be counter intuitive, but even offensively we might even be better off because on 1) you get to play both Iniesta & Fabregas instead of just one of them + Alexis/Pedro and 2) you get to move Neymar from the left to the center and we've all seen how that turned out for Messi when he moved from the right. So that's an alternative.

 

[DinhoR10]

Except Iniesta-Busquets-Fabregas worked great so far this season.

Glad someone said it.

Sergi Roberto is a box-to-box style player. Why not give him a chance before buying Gundogan. Or sell Song and buy Gundogan.

I agree why buy players when we have arguably the best academy in the world? The only reason we had to buy Neymar was that we needed immediate fixing in the front line and had no tested la masia members. But we have Sergi who plays well and played well against tough teams (Even though bayern was a pre season friendly he still ran through them while everyone else stood and watched.)

 

[Stric]

Unfortunately, Sergi Roberto is not a box-to-box style player. In recent years there's been this shortage of real CMs, so Barca (and other teams) have used players who are essentially attacking midfielders to play that role. Both Thiago and Sergi Roberto are perfect examples of this. And Fabregas, of course, but let's stick to the "youngsters". Both of them play really well at CM, that's where they usually play, but when for some reason you put them in the AM position, then you see an improvement, you see that that's really their natural thing, the environment where they excel.

 

[DinhoR10]

Unfortunately, Sergi Roberto is not a box-to-box style player. In recent years there's been this shortage of real CMs, so Barca (and other teams) have used players who are essentially attacking midfielders to play that role. Both Thiago and Sergi Roberto are perfect examples of this. And Fabregas, of course, but let's stick to the "youngsters". Both of them play really well at CM, that's where they usually play, but when for some reason you put them in the AM position, then you see an improvement, you see that that's really their natural thing, the environment where they excel.

Well the way we've been playing for the past couple of years Busi has been a lone sweeper basically but I would say sergi is more defensive than xavi or thiago when played in that position. Iniesta and Cesc were both DMs originally, iniesta became a winger before finally settling in acm. You'll never know how a player works until you give him a real chance at a position look at Lahm this season for an example of this.

 

[DonAndres]

Sergi Roberto is a box-to-box style player. Why not give him a chance before buying Gundogan. Or sell Song and buy Gundogan.

Roberto is box to box in terms of movement, but his role isn't both in attack and defense. He's box to box in the sense that he likes to drive the buildup forward in quick transitions from a deep position.

 

[te amo barca]

Yeah he really knows when to rush forward

 

[RomarioCBF12]

Iniesta doesnt get a pass from this terrible performance either. He was outright awful.

 

[Ilkay]

Iniesta was one of our best players tonight, no idea which game you were watching..

 

[DinhoR10]

Iniesta doesnt get a pass from this terrible performance either. He was outright awful.

He played fine not great but good, blame Cesc in false 9.

 

[Galning]

One of the few players who looked alright to me, no idea why he was subbed.