Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[Sumlit]

We don't need to buy anyone in my opinion. Not with the midfield quality we have coming up Suarez,Rafinha,Espionsa,Samper. Buying more players would just force these players out.

The midfield right now cannot hold, performing at the highest level, the 2-3 years is going to take for those players to be ready to take the mantle.

If you want to take this course you have to:

A. Settle on a Busi, Roberto, Cesc starting midfield triumvirate.

That midfield loses control and creativity in favor of speed, work rate and directness. So for that to midfield to be effective you need:

B. To re-structure your backline with 2 strong, smart and agile CBs, and 2 well rounded fullbacks. Of those needs, you only possibly have 1, Bartra. You'd need the other 3.

and

C. A true striker up front to serve as the fulcrum of your midfield, and to give freedom to your creative minds in Messi and Neymar.

 

[DinhoR10]

Iniesta will be able to give the creativity for atleast another year or 2 his form isn't in anyway tied to xavi's as evidenced this season in games like the classico. Rafinha isnt coming back till next year but with proper management of xavi we can keep iniesta in top form and not burn him out before we have a proper back up.

But my not buying comment was about the midfield alone really. I have no hope for montoya replacing Alves and a suitable 3rd cb should be bought so that masch can be sold.

And i'd love a muller or a lewandowski to complete out front line but those are a long shot.

 

[Zincubus]

The midfield right now cannot hold, performing at the highest level, the 2-3 years is going to take for those players to be ready to take the mantle.

If you want to take this course you have to:

A. Settle on a Busi, Roberto, Cesc starting midfield triumvirate.

That midfield loses control and creativity in favor of speed, work rate and directness. So for that to midfield to be effective you need:

B. To re-structure your backline with 2 strong, smart and agile CBs, and 2 well rounded fullbacks. Of those needs, you only possibly have 1, Bartra. You'd need the other 3.

and

C. A true striker up front to serve as the fulcrum of your midfield, and to give freedom to your creative minds in Messi and Neymar.

Can't believe that out once dominating midfield is so ineffective . Sadly it doesn't hold a candle to Arsenal's or Bayern's etc etc

 

[Sumlit]

Iniesta will be able to give the creativity for atleast another year or 2 his form isn't in anyway tied to xavi's as evidenced this season in games like the classico. Rafinha isnt coming back till next year but with proper management of xavi we can keep iniesta in top form and not burn him out before we have a proper back up.

But my not buying comment was about the midfield alone really. I have no hope for montoya replacing Alves and a suitable 3rd cb should be bought so that masch can be sold.

And i'd love a muller or a lewandowski to complete out front line but those are a long shot.

Iniesta has not been playing well lately. He is part of the problem the midfield is facing, which is woeful lack of defensive contribution and painfully slow pace. Furthermore, Iniesta and Cesc just haven't looked well playing together in the middle. Their ideal playing areas are too similar and too often they get in each others way and leave other areas uncovered.

It's looking more and more like an either/or scenario between those two as far as who's on the field playing in the middle, and Cesc is younger, has a more direct playing style, and gives you more scoring. He is the better choice going forward.


Bottom line is this team needs a faster, younger and more athletic midfield. It is extremely unlikely the set of circumstances that allowed this team to reach such lofty heights playing like they did 4 years ago, will present themselves for the immediate foreseeable future. Furthermore, it is debatable if that team could even be as effective right now as they were then. Teams have adapted. They need to adapt as well, or they'll get run over.

If the team intends on running a more direct, faster passed midfield, then they must, must revamp that backfield. Right now it is too slow and defensively lacking to support that style of play.

 

[Luftstalag14]

Iniesta has not been playing well lately. He is part of the problem the midfield is facing, which is woeful lack of defensive contribution and painfully slow pace. Furthermore, Iniesta and Cesc just haven't looked well playing together in the middle. Their ideal playing areas are too similar and too often they get in each others way and leave other areas uncovered.

It's looking more and more like an either/or scenario between those two as far as who's on the field playing in the middle, and Cesc is younger, has a more direct playing style, and gives you more scoring. He is the better choice going forward.


Bottom line is this team needs a faster, younger and more athletic midfield. It is extremely unlikely the set of circumstances that allowed this team to reach such lofty heights playing like they did 4 years ago, will present themselves for the immediate foreseeable future. Furthermore, it is debatable if that team could even be as effective right now as they were then. Teams have adapted. They need to adapt as well, or they'll get run over.

If the team intends on running a more direct, faster passed midfield, then they must, must revamp that backfield. Right now it is too slow and defensively lacking to support that style of play.

 

[DinhoR10]

Iniesta has not been playing well lately. He is part of the problem the midfield is facing, which is woeful lack of defensive contribution and painfully slow pace. Furthermore, Iniesta and Cesc just haven't looked well playing together in the middle. Their ideal playing areas are too similar and too often they get in each others way and leave other areas uncovered.

It's looking more and more like an either/or scenario between those two as far as who's on the field playing in the middle, and Cesc is younger, has a more direct playing style, and gives you more scoring. He is the better choice going forward.


Bottom line is this team needs a faster, younger and more athletic midfield. It is extremely unlikely the set of circumstances that allowed this team to reach such lofty heights playing like they did 4 years ago, will present themselves for the immediate foreseeable future. Furthermore, it is debatable if that team could even be as effective right now as they were then. Teams have adapted. They need to adapt as well, or they'll get run over.

If the team intends on running a more direct, faster passed midfield, then they must, must revamp that backfield. Right now it is too slow and defensively lacking to support that style of play.

Iniesta hasn't been at 100% but he's been playing well. Ever since the classico he's been playing well. I see you complaining about him all the time on these forums about his not initiating counters fast enough but for a while now the majority of the time we get into the box or initiate an attack he's been a part of it even though he's hindered at times by the lack of passing accuracy of others sometimes like adriano or neymar against Athletic. Also Iniesta and Cesc have played well together like against granada when our fowards were all over the place our midfield won us that game. You actually commended them for it in the Granada game thread.

And Barca's style is about fast passing not about running from box to box, we'd literally need to get rid of basically all our players if we wanted to try and play like bayern or a team of that mold. The only player we have now in midfield that fits that fast paced mold is Sergi. Cesc, Song and Busi are slow, Iniesta prefers to press up the field and Xavi is old and slow. If you want a faster paced midfield then I would suggest the opposite of what you are saying Cesc would need to go because even though he's 3 years younger Iniesta is faster than him.

 

[Sumlit]

Iniesta hasn't been at 100% but he's been playing well. Ever since the classico he's been playing well. I see you complaining about him all the time on these forums about his not initiating counters fast enough but for a while now the majority of the time we get into the box or initiate an attack he's been a part of it even though he's hindered at times by the lack of passing accuracy of others sometimes like adriano or neymar against Athletic. Also Iniesta and Cesc have played well together like against granada when our fowards were all over the place our midfield won us that game. You actually commended them for it in the Granada game thread.

And Barca's style is about fast passing not about running from box to box, we'd literally need to get rid of basically all our players if we wanted to try and play like bayern or a team of that mold. The only player we have now in midfield that fits that fast paced mold is Sergi. Cesc, Song and Busi are slow, Iniesta prefers to press up the field and Xavi is old and slow. If you want a faster paced midfield then I would suggest the opposite of what you are saying Cesc would need to go because even though he's 3 years younger Iniesta is faster than him.

One good game is not indicative of a trend. He did have a very good game vs Granada, but has had many more poor games. He has not played well this year. It isn't simply about him not initiating counters fast enough. He has also not been making good decisions with the ball and is holding onto the ball too long in both offense and defense, leading to stagnation on offense and dangerous possession loses on defense.
Cesc and him have not generally player well together when they're both playing in the midfield, and again, one game is not indicative of a trend.

We do not need to change our style, we need to simply adapt it, evolve it. In fact, Barca have not played Barca style in a consistent manner for 3 years now. Tiki Taka is not only about ball control, but about fast passing, movement in space with and without the ball, deep cutting runs from the wings and the midfield, and high pressing. Of that, only the game control remains. Barca have lost the fast passing, the movement, the runs, the pressing.

Adding pace does not mean adding Real Madrid stampede type of counter where 4 players just spring running forward and receive service. Adding pace for us means returning to what made Barca dangerous. Fast technical play. You don't need every player to be Usain Bolt to run a fast pace passing attack. You just need players making quick decisions, being mobile, having vision. I'm not saying Barca should run the hectic game Dortmund runs, but the pace does indeed need to be quickened significantly to be able to compete.

Even though I'm not so sure Iniesta is physically faster than Cesc, it's not about actual speed, but game pace. Fabregas just plays faster than Iniesta. Everything he does is direct, quick. Iniesta wants to slow down, dribble, go back, dribble some more. Right now, that's killing the team. Iniesta himself used to play faster before. He has slowed down his game just as the team has slowed down their game.

Just to be clear though, I'm not saying we should get rid of Iniesta. I'm just saying Cesc should be the focus of our midfield now, and he should play with a player in there that complements him better, and of the ones we have, Sergi Roberto is the best complement.

 

[Zincubus]

Iniesta was an amazing player but he does seem to get caught in possession a lot these days .

 

[SeloBarca]

Said the same ting Sumlit is saying for a year now, but now you can say it without getting trashed

Although Iniesta is way better then Cesc when he actually plays well.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

The problem with this team is just awful mismanagement. It has been going on for over 3 years. It started the last year of Pep.

When Villa got injured, they should have bought a world class striker then and there. They could have bought Aguero then. They could have bought Suarez then. Mismanagement and nearsightedness.

When Puyol started getting injured, they should have bought a world class CB then. They could have bought Thiago Silva then, they could have bought David Luiz then. Mismanagement and nearsightedness.

When Pique started playing out of form, they should have found a young player to bring competition. They could have bought Vertonghen then. Mismanagement and nearsightedness.

They should have better handled and planned the succession of key aging players like Xavi and Alves. A better management of Thiago. A timely acquisition of Alves' replacement. Mismanagement and nearsightedness.

They should have handled cantera players better. Gotten rid of those not in your long term plans, instead of stringing them along. Managed better those you evaluated to be in your plans going forward. They are right there in your backyard, if you cannot ascertain which are keepers and which are goners, what the hell are you doing evaluating talent? Incompetence, mismanagement and nearsightedness.

These are just but a few. They have piled and piled and piled on all these issues like a student who just leaves studying and homework to the last day before the test and attempts to cram all content in one night and ends up stressed, sleepless and flunking.

Just speaks volumes as to the level of mismanagement and nearsightedness that permeates the management of this team, when you are now attempting, at an incredibly increased difficulty and cost, to get the very same players you could have gotten years ago if only you had done your jobs better.

Had to go back and give props to this post. One of the better posts I've seen on here in a while. The repetition scheme was a nice touch, because mismanagement, nearsightedness, and incompetence are great words to sum up Rosell's legacy.

...anyway

Xavi and Iniesta are far from finished. They are still two of the best footballers in history, all that talent just doesn't evaporate once you hit 30. Pirlo says hi.

I'd say recently the reason why they have struggled has a lot to do with Messi's abscence. I'd say a big reason why we looked so toothless against Ajax and at some stages Athletic was bc we decided to stick Cesc in as a false 9...again...and we lost...again.

I mean, it's just an absolute mess out there when he plays there. Whenever he inevitably gets stuck at the circle when he tries to drop deep, it leaves a gaping hole in the center and while Cesc, Iniesta and Xavi are having a laugh, playing keep ball at the half line, Neymar and whomever are kicking grass on the wings bc they have absolutely no support or space to play off of. Then when Neymar tries to drift inside to try and get something going, Iniesta fills outside on the left, Xavi has no one to pass to bc Cesc is stuck in no mans land.

It's borderline enfuriating that despite how painfully obvious it is that Cesc isn't a false 9 and the fact that he clearly excels as a MF, our mangament still, STILL, continues to play him there whenever Messi is down.

My point is this: we've played Neymar there twice and he scored once and grabbed two assists. The fact that Cesc is starting in that position over Neymar is fucking asinine. With three real forwards making good runs, Xavi-Iniesta have more time, more space and more options to do their thing.

Like this shit isn't rocket science, anyone could realize this.

 

[DinhoR10]

One good game is not indicative of a trend. He did have a very good game vs Granada, but has had many more poor games. He has not played well this year. It isn't simply about him not initiating counters fast enough. He has also not been making good decisions with the ball and is holding onto the ball too long in both offense and defense, leading to stagnation on offense and dangerous possession loses on defense.
Cesc and him have not generally player well together when they're both playing in the midfield, and again, one game is not indicative of a trend.

We do not need to change our style, we need to simply adapt it, evolve it. In fact, Barca have not played Barca style in a consistent manner for 3 years now. Tiki Taka is not only about ball control, but about fast passing, movement in space with and without the ball, deep cutting runs from the wings and the midfield, and high pressing. Of that, only the game control remains. Barca have lost the fast passing, the movement, the runs, the pressing.

Adding pace does not mean adding Real Madrid stampede type of counter where 4 players just spring running forward and receive service. Adding pace for us means returning to what made Barca dangerous. Fast technical play. You don't need every player to be Usain Bolt to run a fast pace passing attack. You just need players making quick decisions, being mobile, having vision. I'm not saying Barca should run the hectic game Dortmund runs, but the pace does indeed need to be quickened significantly to be able to compete.

Even though I'm not so sure Iniesta is physically faster than Cesc, it's not about actual speed, but game pace. Fabregas just plays faster than Iniesta. Everything he does is direct, quick. Iniesta wants to slow down, dribble, go back, dribble some more. Right now, that's killing the team. Iniesta himself used to play faster before. He has slowed down his game just as the team has slowed down their game.

Just to be clear though, I'm not saying we should get rid of Iniesta. I'm just saying Cesc should be the focus of our midfield now, and he should play with a player in there that complements him better, and of the ones we have, Sergi Roberto is the best complement.

One game? He's had more than one good game milan,madrid,granada,real sociedad,betis and can you tell me some games when hes been poor(loses us the game poor not "not as good as 100%" poor). I understand if you don't like his style but he has been giving quality. Whats killing the team is not iniesta, he doesn't score as much goals as cesc but that's not his game he's a supporter and as a supporter he needs people to take the chances he makes for them. If neymar had taken the chances set up by iniesta (One shot at the keeper another he was offside when he didnt need to be) we would have won the game against Athletic. The problems of this team are caused by things like playing Cesc (Who is unbearably slow) in false 9 when he's better in mid or playing a out of form xavi 2 games in a row or playing Mascherano when Batra is obviously better or the fact that with xavi in his slump the right side of our attack is muted due to alves being injured or Adriano's CONSTANT misplaced passes.

In the last 2 games only a few starters have not played badly. Actually it would be better to say that in the past few games only a few starters have not been INVISIBLE. You can't blame iniesta for that.

And How many games have Cesc and Iniesta played together this season that we can say they can't play together well? Have they actually started a game together this season other than the granada game? It was mostly Cesc and Xavi/Iniesta and Xavi.

 

[Sumlit]

One game? He's had more than one good game milan,madrid,granada,real sociedad,betis and can you tell me some games when hes been poor(loses us the game poor not "not as good as 100%" poor). I understand if you don't like his style but he has been giving quality. Whats killing the team is not iniesta, he doesn't score as much goals as cesc but that's not his game he's a supporter and as a supporter he needs people to take the chances he makes for them. If neymar had taken the chances set up by iniesta (One shot at the keeper another he was offside when he didnt need to be) we would have won the game against Athletic. The problems of this team are caused by things like playing Cesc (Who is unbearably slow) in false 9 when he's better in mid or playing a out of form xavi 2 games in a row or playing Mascherano when Batra is obviously better or the fact that with xavi in his slump the right side of our attack is muted due to alves being injured or Adriano's CONSTANT misplaced passes.

In the last 2 games only a few starters have not played badly. Actually it would be better to say that in the past few games only a few starters have not been INVISIBLE. You can't blame iniesta for that.

And How many games have Cesc and Iniesta played together this season that we can say they can't play together well? Have they actually started a game together this season other than the granada game? It was mostly Cesc and Xavi/Iniesta and Xavi.

The only real good game Iniesta has had this year was the Granada game. If you want to argue that he has played well in other games, I won't get into that argument with you because it'll be fruitless. I think differently.

If you understand that I don't like Iniesta style, then you understand incorrectly. What I don't like is the way he has been playing this season, which again, I think has been poor.

You say his lack of scoring doesn't matter. I disagree. This team lacks scoring. If your forwards and midfielders cannot score, you need to replace one or the other. He is part of that problem.

Cesc playing at false 9 is not the problem, that is just a failed attempted solution. The problem is without Messi this team has no CF. The fact the team has other problems, does not mean the midfield play is not one of them, and it does not mean Iniesta doesn't share some blame.

There's a reason they don't play together often. Since last season they haven't been able to be very effective with both on the field playing midfield. More often than not, it is Fabregas who sacrifices his game and looks the poorest by playing deeper. I'll grant you this though, in the Granada game they were both able to switch around and interchange the deep role and share that responsibility and pick the spots when one ventured forward and the other retreated.

 

[DinhoR10]

The only real good game Iniesta has had this year was the Granada game. If you want to argue that he has played well in other games, I won't get into that argument with you because it'll be fruitless. I think differently.

If you understand that I don't like Iniesta style, then you understand incorrectly. What I don't like is the way he has been playing this season, which again, I think has been poor.

You say his lack of scoring doesn't matter. I disagree. This team lacks scoring. If your forwards and midfielders cannot score, you need to replace one or the other. He is part of that problem.

Cesc playing at false 9 is not the problem, that is just a failed attempted solution. The problem is without Messi this team has no CF. The fact the team has other problems, does not mean the midfield play is not one of them, and it does not mean Iniesta doesn't share some blame.

There's a reason they don't play together often. Since last season they haven't been able to be very effective with both on the field playing midfield. More often than not, it is Fabregas who sacrifices his game and looks the poorest by playing deeper. I'll grant you this though, in the Granada game they were both able to switch around and interchange the deep role and share that responsibility and pick the spots when one ventured forward and the other retreated.

What is a Foward's duty? It is first and foremost to score above all else, so no it doesn't matter because if he serves neymar goals on a platter and he refuses to take them thats not iniesta's fault its neymar's. So to answer your either/or replace the fowards. We paid 67 mill or whatever for a goalscorer not someone to miss chances.

And yes Cesc at false nine was one of the problems in the past 2 games he was invisible for 90% of the match and Yes we do have replacments for messi at cf both Alexis and Neymar can play there with pedro subbing in on either wing.

And as of now the only game Cesc and iniesta have started together THIS season they put together a masterpiece of a passing game and that cannot be denied. If the past is to be relied on as you say Cesc Fabregas should never ever ever ever have been anywhere close to the cf position last weekend.

And sure I won't argue with you about what is a good and a bad game, if you can't see his contributions to the team, C'est la vie.

 

[Sumlit]

What is a Foward's duty? It is first and foremost to score above all else, so no it doesn't matter because if he serves neymar goals on a platter and he refuses to take them thats not iniesta's fault its neymar's. So to answer your either/or replace the fowards. We paid 67 mill or whatever for a goalscorer not someone to miss chances.

And yes Cesc at false nine was one of the problems in the past 2 games he was invisible for 90% of the match and Yes we do have replacments for messi at cf both Alexis and Neymar can play there with pedro subbing in on either wing.

And as of now the only game Cesc and iniesta have started together THIS season they put together a masterpiece of a passing game and that cannot be denied. If the past is to be relied on as you say Cesc Fabregas should never ever ever ever have been anywhere close to the cf position last weekend.

And sure I won't argue with you about what is a good and a bad game, if you can't see his contributions to the team, C'est la vie.

If you keep getting small creative wingers, you've got to be ready to supplement their scoring from somewhere else. They are not prolific scorers.

Neymar cannot play CF on a consistent basis. He lacks the physicality, tenacity and movement required to play there. Alexis is a better choice, but he is less than ideal. He has balance issues, has a poor first touch and lacks discipline. Barca have no real good choice for that spot without Messi, and that is the problem. Everything else is half-assed solutions that are not efficient.

I can see Iniesta's contributions just fine, it's just my opinion he has played poorly, you disagree. Lets just leave it there.

 

[Egert]

Ter Stegen will soon confirm that he will join Barca. Hope that this is true. I read somewhere that Puyol is injured again and if that is true then we need to buy a CB. With 3 CBs most of the season isnt gonna work. Like last year against Bayern. Mascherano and Puyol injured, we needed to play Bartra who wasnt at his best back then. For me we need to buy a young CB who can replace Puyol and Mascherano, because they are getting old and Mascherano isnt the tallest. I think that Barca are considering Balanta and Luiz because Agger wont come and Hummels wont come too in January. Luiz cant play in UCL but if we buy both Balanta and Luiz, then Balanta can play in UCL if we need to and Luiz would have to wait for next year. If we will buy a new CF then next year i think because in Liga everything is fine with scoring the goals and Messi doesnt have to play all games. But all the quality strikers have already played in UCL. Midfield is great, but Reus or Müller would be great because they both can play as a CF and in midfield too.