Barca Transfers and Rumors

[BBZ8800]

Basically.

I dream of signing backup GK, DeLigt, FDJ and Maxi Gomez. Sell or get rid of Vermaelen, Jasper (deserves to play and we can receive some solid return), Samper, Denis, Malcom and Munir.

Imagine the first 5 matches in La liga next season, how would you rotate 4 Cbs?
1st match: Umtiti, Pique
2nd match: Lenglet, De Light
3rd match: Umtiti, Pique
4th match: Lenglet, De Light?

Now add into the maths rotation of RBs Roberto and Semedo.
And you have 2-3 new players in the backline in each match.
Alba and Busquets would play with 2-3 new players around them in every single game.

Rotations is one thing, consistency, chemistry and automatism is another thing.
You can't have both.
Of course, there is some middle ground, but imo, we can't have 4 Cbs who all want to play.
3 good players plus one average/young guy who won't play=fine.
4 Cbs who all want to play in every match=mission impossible.

Imo, De Light can come ONLY if we get rid of Pique, or sell Umtiti.

 

[D10S_JC]

Imagine the first 5 matches in La liga next season, how would you rotate 4 Cbs?
1st match: Umtiti, Pique
2nd match: Lenglet, De Light
3rd match: Umtiti, Pique
4th match: Lenglet, De Light?

Now add into the maths rotation of RBs Roberto and Semedo.
And you have 2-3 new players in the backline in each match.
Alba and Busquets would play with 2-3 new players around them in every single game.

Rotations is one thing, consistency, chemistry and automatism is another thing.
You can't have both.
Of course, there is some middle ground, but imo, we can't have 4 Cbs who all want to play.
3 good players plus one average/young guy who won't play=fine.
4 Cbs who all want to play in every match=mission impossible.

Imo, De Light can come ONLY if we get rid of Pique, or sell Umtiti.

Reasonable concern. Ideally we should sign DeLigt two years later, but other teams in the pursuit of him force Barca to take action early. A loan-back maybe another option.

 

[Zidane82]

Imagine the first 5 matches in La liga next season, how would you rotate 4 Cbs?
1st match: Umtiti, Pique
2nd match: Lenglet, De Light
3rd match: Umtiti, Pique
4th match: Lenglet, De Light?

Now add into the maths rotation of RBs Roberto and Semedo.
And you have 2-3 new players in the backline in each match.
Alba and Busquets would play with 2-3 new players around them in every single game.

Rotations is one thing, consistency, chemistry and automatism is another thing.
You can't have both.
Of course, there is some middle ground, but imo, we can't have 4 Cbs who all want to play.
3 good players plus one average/young guy who won't play=fine.
4 Cbs who all want to play in every match=mission impossible.

Imo, De Light can come ONLY if we get rid of Pique, or sell Umtiti.

Over the years the real top teams seemed to have a settled keeper and defence , centre mid ..

Then if need be you rotate the wide players and forwards

 

[Messigician]

Make me manager next season and give me full responsiblity I will play this team. All hypothetical of course but I believe this formation gets the best out of the current squad.

Suarez Messi
Alba De Jong Busquets Arthur Roberto
De Ligt Umtiti Lenglet
Ter Stegen

I know people want to see Coutinho and Dembele make it here but tactically I think this system would be the most balanced to suit our system.

 

[El Trencaxarxes]

I think that team severely lacks goalscoring threats. You have Messi and Suárez but that is it. Rakitic provides a good amount of goals and so does Coutinho and Dembélé. I also fear that Roberto and Alba would be somewhat obsolete in that formation because they would be too easy to shut down with no actual wingers for the opposing fullbacks to care about. Alba is only as dangerous as he is because he can find space whenever our left winger pulls the opposing right back out of position and into more central positions. We have always liked to create through the middle of the pitch, but that is only possible when you also have the width to spread the opposing team thin. I think this team lacks that width.

 

[Messigician]

I think that team severely lacks goalscoring threats. You have Messi and Suárez but that is it. Rakitic provides a good amount of goals and so does Coutinho and Dembélé. I also fear that Roberto and Alba would be somewhat obsolete in that formation because they would be too easy to shut down with no actual wingers for the opposing fullbacks to care about. Alba is only as dangerous as he is because he can find space whenever our left winger pulls the opposing right back out of position and into more central positions. We have always liked to create through the middle of the pitch, but that is only possible when you also have the width to spread the opposing team thin. I think this team lacks that width.

Fair call but alot of what you described is because of the current system. Instead of wingers one of the mids either De Jong or Arthur can support the attack while Busquets sits back as he does. One of the CBs can push up the field too to support the attack. The players in the formation are quite versatile and can fill in the gaps.

Roberto is quite good in the final 3rd I find. I see your point about goal threat but if we stick with 4-3-3 Busquets isn't getting any younger. Same with Messi and Suarez and already Coutinho is quite slow for a winger. I feel a frontline of Coutinho Suarez Messi will be too slow. And ifwe drop Coutinho to CM out midfield will get overrun by top teams on the counter.

For possession play I think my formation would work most of the time at least with good impact subs.

 

[Joan]

[tw]1058265236317310976?s=20[/tw]

De Ligt for 60, De Jong for 70? Something fishy there.

 

[El Barcelona]

[tw]1058265236317310976?s=20[/tw]

De Ligt for 60, De Jong for 70? Something fishy there.

Why fishy?

 

[khaled_a_d]

And a guy whom we already have, Lenglet, is playing quite good.

Pique is 31, Umtiti 24, Lenglet 23.

At start of next year (De Ligt isn't coming in January,Ajax want trophies more than money atm) Pique is 32,Umtiti 25 going 26 with injury history and Lenglet 24.
There is 3 legitimate question regarding those 3 players:
1-Is Umtiti meniscus situation a concern? Puyol went from an iron man to barely being able to walk pain free due to knee issues, on the other hand plenty of knee injuries are almost nothing. Doctors knows the situation more than us.
2-Can Lenglet and Umtiti partnership coexist? Normally I don't buy the whole "RCB & LCB" thing. but left footed CB are obviously a minority and it is very rare to see 2 of them playing in 4 men back line. If they can't then it is mute to bring them both to the discussion.
3-Can Pique regain his form back to decent, won't deny he has been better after international break. But he had steady decline for few years now.

But since Pique is a club icon, he won't be benched, and he is still a good player.

And this begs another question:
Is Pique really a club icon? I think it depends on who you ask. But the truth is Pique is different than classical Barca legends before him like Puyol,Xavi & Iniesta and even those younger than him like Busquets & Messi.
The truth is Pique has big mouth, with a board like us I can't imagine them liking it despite being unable to admit it publicly, he made so many enemies, he doesn't have media to back him up either.
He is in middle ground between Puyol and Alves, he can get to stay in the club but he won't be protected from the manager or have different treatment most likely, and would expect him to join MLS very soon, most likely will work with Beckham franchise and his media projects etc.

Imo, De Light can come ONLY if we get rid of Pique, or sell Umtiti.

And then, when was the last time we kicked our legend then signed a back up? the truth is we prefer to do it gradually
Raki arrives and year later Xavi leaves, Umtiti arrives and year later Mascherano leaves, Coutinho arrives and then Iniesta leaves, we wanted Griezmann to arrive when Suarez was here.
Barca signed Xavi replacement when he was 34, but remember that Cesc was actually supposed to be his replacement and he arrived when Xavi was 31.
We signed Coutinho when Iniesta was 33 going 34, but we tried to get him in summer and tried to get Verratti even a year before, but also we have to remember that -sadly- Gomes was signed as Raki future partner in midfield, Iniesta was 32 back then. The club almost let Alves go at the age of 32 for free with transfer ban too.
Pique being 32, probably second oldest player in squad by June (after Suarez, as Vermaelen contract expires) I see that the club will prioritize getting his replacement depending on how things shakes (whether Lenglet proves to be able to play with Umtiti, and depending on other team needs)
De Ligt - or other Cb- won't be an immediate replacement, but he will have to push Pique out just like Umtiti and Coutinho done with Mascherano and Iniesta

 

[ThwiX]

So back with the Willian rumors again. Seems like the moron Valverde won’t give up until he gets his man.

 

[Mrgandalf]

And then, when was the last time we kicked our legend then signed a back up? the truth is we prefer to do it gradually
Raki arrives and year later Xavi leaves, Umtiti arrives and year later Mascherano leaves, Coutinho arrives and then Iniesta leaves, we wanted Griezmann to arrive when Suarez was here.
Barca signed Xavi replacement when he was 34, but remember that Cesc was actually supposed to be his replacement and he arrived when Xavi was 31.
We signed Coutinho when Iniesta was 33 going 34, but we tried to get him in summer and tried to get Verratti even a year before, but also we have to remember that -sadly- Gomes was signed as Raki future partner in midfield, Iniesta was 32 back then. The club almost let Alves go at the age of 32 for free with transfer ban too.
Pique being 32, probably second oldest player in squad by June (after Suarez, as Vermaelen contract expires) I see that the club will prioritize getting his replacement depending on how things shakes (whether Lenglet proves to be able to play with Umtiti, and depending on other team needs)
De Ligt - or other Cb- won't be an immediate replacement, but he will have to push Pique out just like Umtiti and Coutinho done with Mascherano and Iniesta

yeah you are right ... Douglas arrives and couple of years later Alves leaves.

 

[Joan]

Pavard seems to struggle lately.

 

[xXKonan]

Pavard seems to struggle lately.

Stuttgart seems like a mess.

He's a good player but I found him a bit overrated during the World Cup with his performances at RB as he struggled quite a bit when it came to defending.

 

[Nothanks]

At start of next year (De Ligt isn't coming in January,Ajax want trophies more than money atm) Pique is 32,Umtiti 25 going 26 with injury history and Lenglet 24.
There is 3 legitimate question regarding those 3 players:
1-Is Umtiti meniscus situation a concern? Puyol went from an iron man to barely being able to walk pain free due to knee issues, on the other hand plenty of knee injuries are almost nothing. Doctors knows the situation more than us.
2-Can Lenglet and Umtiti partnership coexist? Normally I don't buy the whole "RCB & LCB" thing. but left footed CB are obviously a minority and it is very rare to see 2 of them playing in 4 men back line. If they can't then it is mute to bring them both to the discussion.
3-Can Pique regain his form back to decent, won't deny he has been better after international break. But he had steady decline for few years now.




And this begs another question:
Is Pique really a club icon? I think it depends on who you ask. But the truth is Pique is different than classical Barca legends before him like Puyol,Xavi & Iniesta and even those younger than him like Busquets & Messi.
The truth is Pique has big mouth, with a board like us I can't imagine them liking it despite being unable to admit it publicly, he made so many enemies, he doesn't have media to back him up either.
He is in middle ground between Puyol and Alves, he can get to stay in the club but he won't be protected from the manager or have different treatment most likely, and would expect him to join MLS very soon, most likely will work with Beckham franchise and his media projects etc.



And then, when was the last time we kicked our legend then signed a back up? the truth is we prefer to do it gradually
Raki arrives and year later Xavi leaves, Umtiti arrives and year later Mascherano leaves, Coutinho arrives and then Iniesta leaves, we wanted Griezmann to arrive when Suarez was here.
Barca signed Xavi replacement when he was 34, but remember that Cesc was actually supposed to be his replacement and he arrived when Xavi was 31.
We signed Coutinho when Iniesta was 33 going 34, but we tried to get him in summer and tried to get Verratti even a year before, but also we have to remember that -sadly- Gomes was signed as Raki future partner in midfield, Iniesta was 32 back then. The club almost let Alves go at the age of 32 for free with transfer ban too.
Pique being 32, probably second oldest player in squad by June (after Suarez, as Vermaelen contract expires) I see that the club will prioritize getting his replacement depending on how things shakes (whether Lenglet proves to be able to play with Umtiti, and depending on other team needs)
De Ligt - or other Cb- won't be an immediate replacement, but he will have to push Pique out just like Umtiti and Coutinho done with Mascherano and Iniesta

we could potentially also just loan out de ligt for one year... although unfavorable by most i would assume.

 

[Joan]

Stuttgart seems like a mess.

He's a good player but I found him a bit overrated during the World Cup with his performances at RB as he struggled quite a bit when it came to defending.

Definitely. But I've seen him before playing as a CB and liked what I saw. Nowadays he, just like Stuttgart, seems all over the place.