Barca Transfers and Rumors

[BBZ8800]

To be fair we very much ought to sign both Seri (Controller) and Coutinho (AM) at the moment. Leaving out even one of them will seriously deplete the team.

Seri can't run.
We won't buy another player with crippled physical abilities. We have enough of them.

 

[Hektor]

Seri can't run.
We won't buy another player with crippled physical abilities. We have enough of them.

What do you mean that "Seri can't run." I'm not disagreeing with you. I do not know much about Seri and your input will be very welcomed.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

I disagree. When Tito was at the helm, before he got terminally sick, that is during the first half of the season, we almost had a perfect season. When Eusebio took over, during the second half of the season, that is when we went down. What has Pep done since he left Barça?

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The problems of that season were there long before Tito got sick.

The thing with Pep is that his system requires a god-tier midfield. It's not Tito, if anything it's Xavi and Iniesta. Look what happened to Spain when they declined. That's also why we've failed miserably every time we tried to replicate that system since Pep left (like under Tito when we were a shadow of Pep's Barca, just keeping possession with no urgency or penetration): after Xavi's decline and later Iniesta's, we simply did not have the players for it any more. No one does.

Not trying to downplay Pep's accomplishments btw. IMO, it's the combination of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Pep that brought us so much success when he was at the helm. The four fit together perfectly to form the greatest team of all time.

 

[Hektor]

Bayern won the treble but winning the CL was not something they were expecting before the season started. He got better results with Bayern then Ancelotti has. About City it's true, but don't forget that he's playing a very specific style and without the right players, it doesn't work out. The PL is also much more physical and he even admitted he underestimated it. He needed to adapt his tactics to it.

Pep at Barcelona was the right man at the right place at the right time imo.

I completely disagree. Whether they expected or not, Bayern won the treble, with the previous coach, that is a fact.

Pep is not the same coach without Tito. He was always calling Tito in New York, during Tito's first bout with throat cancer and being operated in the US.

We are never going to agree on this. We have to agree to disagree. All I want is for Tito to be recognized and be remembered.

 

[BBZ8800]

What do you mean that "Seri can't run." I'm not disagreeing with you. I do not know much about Seri and your input will be very welcomed.

I didn't wantch him much except in two matches against Napoli.
His running was on Arda/Rakitic level, maybe even worse.

Seri is good when he needs to receive the ball and pass it forward, but other than that, he is weak in defending, somewhat slow, lacks stamina, doesn't run in counters (stays back to save the energy).
More or less, imagine a 40 years old Xavi. Good technique, passing, vision, zero pace, stamina, strength, defending.

Imo, people are over and over blinded by pure technical skills (Bernardo Silva also).
We need to move away from Barca from 10 years ago and with technical skills buy players with at least some basic minimum in physical skills (pace, stamina, strength).

Sadly, Seri doesn't even posses a bare minimum of those.

About the last season, you always need to be cautious. He could be a next Mahrez with one good season plus Ligue1 is quite average and teams don't press too much, so they have a slower style of play where midfielders have more time to think and pass easily (than in England and Spain). Also, a player who runs less can defensively survive more easily in that kind of a league.

 

[Hektor]

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The problems of that season were there long before Tito got sick.

The thing with Pep is that his system requires a god-tier midfield. It's not Tito, it's Xavi and Iniesta. Look what happened to Spain when they declined. That's also why we've failed miserably every time we tried to replicate that system since Pep left (like under Tito when we were a shadow of Pep's Barca, just keeping possession with no urgency or penetration): after Xavi's decline and later Iniesta's, we simply did not have the players for it any more. No one does.

Not trying to downplay Pep's accomplishments btw. IMO, it's the combination of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Pep that brought us so much success when he was at the helm. The four fit together perfectly to form the greatest team of all time.

I do not understand about this parody of Real's win over Barça? What? If our goalie has a great game, it doesn't count. Real Madrid should have won. The last time I checked, the goalie is one of our players. It is like saying that our victory does not count, because Messi scored all 4 of our goals.

 

[kilian]

I didn't wantch him much except in two matches against Napoli.
His running was on Arda/Rakitic level, maybe even worse.

Seri is good when he needs to receive the ball and pass it forward, but other than that, he is weak in defending, somewhat slow, lacks stamina, doesn't run in counters (stays back to save the energy).
More or less, imagine a 40 years old Xavi. Good technique, passing, vision, zero pace, stamina, strength, defending.

Imo, people are over and over blinded by pure technical skills (Bernardo Silva also).
We need to move away from Barca from 10 years ago and with technical skills buy players with at least some basic minimum in physical skills (pace, stamina, strength).

Sadly, Seri doesn't even posses a bare minimum of those.

About the last season, you always need to be cautious. He could be a next Mahrez with one good season plus Ligue1 is quite average and teams don't press too much, so they have a slower style of play where midfielders have more time to think and pass easily (than in England and Spain). Also, a player who runs less can defensively survive more easily in that kind of a league.

Ligue 1 has many physically strong and fast players. That`s at least my impression from whenever I`ve watched a game from that league. So I doubt that a midfielder with no bare minimum of those as you say would be that good there. It`s not 2. Czech division.

 

[Hektor]

I didn't wantch him much except in two matches against Napoli.
His running was on Arda/Rakitic level, maybe even worse.

Seri is good when he needs to receive the ball and pass it forward, but other than that, he is weak in defending, somewhat slow, lacks stamina, doesn't run in counters (stays back to save the energy).
More or less, imagine a 40 years old Xavi. Good technique, passing, vision, zero pace, stamina, strength, defending.

Imo, people are over and over blinded by pure technical skills (Bernardo Silva also).
We need to move away from Barca from 10 years ago and with technical skills buy players with at least some basic minimum in physical skills (pace, stamina, strength).

Sadly, Seri doesn't even posses a bare minimum of those.

About the last season, you always need to be cautious. He could be a next Mahrez with one good season plus Ligue1 is quite average and teams don't press too much, so they have a slower style of play where midfielders have more time to think and pass easily (than in England and Spain). Also, a player who runs less can defensively survive more easily in that kind of a league.

Thanks for you input.

 

[Cruyff-Total Football]

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The problems of that season were there long before Tito got sick.

The thing with Pep is that his system requires a god-tier midfield. It's not Tito, if anything it's Xavi and Iniesta. Look what happened to Spain when they declined. That's also why we've failed miserably every time we tried to replicate that system since Pep left (like under Tito when we were a shadow of Pep's Barca, just keeping possession with no urgency or penetration): after Xavi's decline and later Iniesta's, we simply did not have the players for it any more. No one does.

Not trying to downplay Pep's accomplishments btw. IMO, it's the combination of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Pep that brought us so much success when he was at the helm. The four fit together perfectly to form the greatest team of all time.

Actually it is 5 including Busquets. His contribution cannot be understated any way. Best defensive midfielder I have ever seen.

Apart from that you have said everything perfectly.

Kudos.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

I do not understand about this parody of Real's win over Barça? What? If our goalie has a great game, it doesn't count. Real Madrid should have won. The last time I checked, the goalie is one of our players. It is like saying that our victory does not count, because Messi scored all 4 of our goals.

Madrid dominated us that game. We struggled to create any chances, meanwhile they would have scored 8 if not for poor finishing and the goalkeeper. Exact same story every big game that season. The 7-0 loss to Bayern wasn't a one-off, it was the culmination of all our problems that season, which were there from the beginning, long before Tito got sick. If Madrid finished their chances, that humiliation would have happened way earlier.

If your opponent misses 5 clear chances, you barely create any and your goalie is your best player, you're playing like shit, regardless of what the scoreline says.

If you look beyond the scorelines and the La Liga points total, you'd see how bad we actually were that season. If we're talking solely about big games, we were even worse that season than in Tata's season or Lucho's last season (yes, the season where we lost 4-0 to psg and 3-0 to juve). We didn't look like Barca in those games, we looked like a relegation team. I'm not even joking.

And to top it all off, that season ended with us pushing Thiago out. With Xavi on his last legs.

"Muh 100 points" was literally the only positive of that season. Take that away and it was the worst season since Rijkaard. Hell it's already down there with 13-14 and 16-17. In terms of everything but results (not overall play) in the league, 12-13 was as bad as those two seasons.

That season is so overrated by fans because of muh 100 points it's ridiculous. And you can thank Madrid for throwing away the league within the first month and taking all the pressure off us for those 100 points. Because any time we were under any pressure that season, we crumbled miserably.

All due respect to Tito (R.I.P.), but mastermind behind Pep? he was a very mediocre coach. Tata level at best and certainly worse than Lucho who himself had more than his fair share of problems.

 

[FC433]

Seri + Coutinho/ Draxler/ Lemar in

Douglas + Turan + Vermaelen + Munir out

Can we do this?

 

[raskolnikov]

Seri + Coutinho/ Draxler/ Lemar in

Douglas + Turan + Vermaelen + Munir out

Can we do this?

I think at this point it will be coutinho or nobody and only few of them leaving.

 

[springfield]

I didn't wantch him much except in two matches against Napoli.
His running was on Arda/Rakitic level, maybe even worse.

Seri is good when he needs to receive the ball and pass it forward, but other than that, he is weak in defending, somewhat slow, lacks stamina, doesn't run in counters (stays back to save the energy).
More or less, imagine a 40 years old Xavi. Good technique, passing, vision, zero pace, stamina, strength, defending.

Imo, people are over and over blinded by pure technical skills (Bernardo Silva also).
We need to move away from Barca from 10 years ago and with technical skills buy players with at least some basic minimum in physical skills (pace, stamina, strength).

Sadly, Seri doesn't even posses a bare minimum of those.

About the last season, you always need to be cautious. He could be a next Mahrez with one good season plus Ligue1 is quite average and teams don't press too much, so they have a slower style of play where midfielders have more time to think and pass easily (than in England and Spain). Also, a player who runs less can defensively survive more easily in that kind of a league.

You start your post with you didn't watch him play except for 2 games against Napoli. And then you put a player profile on him like you know what kind of player he is. He had a great season, plays 2 bad games and suddenly is crap. Based on this logic you can call almost every player crap. If you want to prove he's not good enough for Barcelona, then at least put some effort in it. Basically you can't even know what kind of player he is.

 

[Barcilliant]

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The problems of that season were there long before Tito got sick.

The thing with Pep is that his system requires a god-tier midfield. It's not Tito, if anything it's Xavi and Iniesta. Look what happened to Spain when they declined. That's also why we've failed miserably every time we tried to replicate that system since Pep left (like under Tito when we were a shadow of Pep's Barca, just keeping possession with no urgency or penetration): after Xavi's decline and later Iniesta's, we simply did not have the players for it any more. No one does.

Not trying to downplay Pep's accomplishments btw. IMO, it's the combination of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Pep that brought us so much success when he was at the helm. The four fit together perfectly to form the greatest team of all time.

I've been fucking saying this for yonks. WE NEED TO MOVE ON NOW. There is no replacement for guys like Xavi, Iniesta, Pep and Messi of course. They are one of a kind.

Remember even at our best we struggled with teams that parked the bus. Anyone remember Rubin Kazan, Inter and some other teams I can't remember??

Most of the time we had alot of possession but no end product. Even against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge we struggled badly and Chelsea had numerous chances to kill the tie. I'm talking the 08-09 semi.

I hate to say it but RM currently have a more balanced approach. They can counter and play possession. They can also break down string defensive teams.

While possession football maybe our base template we should be looking at getting better at shooting from outside the box and set pieces. Those are the things that break down parked buses. You don't break down a door with a surgeons scalpel, you use a sledge hammer.

 

[Truthist]

I've been fucking saying this for yonks. WE NEED TO MOVE ON NOW. There is no replacement for guys like Xavi, Iniesta, Pep and Messi of course. They are one of a kind.

Remember even at our best we struggled with teams that parked the bus. Anyone remember Rubin Kazan, Inter and some other teams I can't remember??

Most of the time we had alot of possession but no end product. Even against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge we struggled badly and Chelsea had numerous chances to kill the tie. I'm talking the 08-09 semi.

I hate to say it but RM currently have a more balanced approach. They can counter and play possession. They can also break down string defensive teams.

While possession football maybe our base template we should be looking at getting better at shooting from outside the box and set pieces. Those are the things that break down parked buses. You don't break down a door with a surgeons scalpel, you use a sledge hammer.

I think Rijkaard's teams had that balanced approach where we blended physicality with technicians and at times we looked very strong. The problem for him was motivating them after they won their first CL Cup and numerous La Liga's.