i actually think our main issue last season (and a bit before) wasn't the defence but the overall rhythm of play,
everyone was just walking 80% of the time.. with all that wierd "50 passes in defence" method
thats not Tiki Taka and it helps nothing
i agree that Mascherano has his flaws, and so does Pique and Puyol etc... but no one is perfect
and actually if i compare them to other def on the market, like Luiz or all this Sakho news crap, well.. we are in a pretty reasonable spot.
the idea is to prevent their flaws from appearing so much,
i mean seriously, i was looking at some You tube videos of our Tiki Taka play from previous years
and i honestly cant even remember when was the last time i even saw Xavi Iniesta Messi (pedro, Dani, etc...) running around so quickly to one another and staying close to eachother, making the triangle - one touch and a pass, not letting the opponent touch the ball.
and when the ball is lost, both wingers go down like crazy to get it back.. even messi..
last year it was wayyyy below that .. and everything was slower, and.. just.. sad..
thus encouraging counter attacks and loss of possession...
i actually saw some bits of the old barca play yesterday
of course it was limpy Levante.. but i hope it stays against stronger teams..
still im always for buying new young promising prospects.. in any position .. and of course in defense..
but if our horrible scouts cant even find one young defender... then.. whats the point in buying Luiz for around 50 m? or even some other name like Agger who is slow as death. ?
would be just another waste of money imo