Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[spark]

In all honesty, Vermaelen's a good defender. Problem is he's so rash, he dives in to challenges and charges up the field thus leaving the defence exposed. However I expect Barcelona coaches to be tough and he will be disciplined. He could turn out well for you guys.

No thanks, we had Maschernao for that same role exposing us time and time again in the biggest games.

 

[Trickykid]

No thanks, we had Maschernao for that same role exposing us time and time again in the biggest games.

Funny you should say that, as it was actually in the biggest games, that Masch really shone.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

Could you imagine if we have another injury crisis at the back Vermaelen-Mathieu, and if that doesn't scare you, Vermaelen-Mascherano? With Cuadrado as the RB, and Alba as the LB which means its pretty much two at the back?

But no, my posts are nonsense...

 

[Trickykid]

But we need a starter?

I don't think the board nor Lucho agrees with that. Between Piqué, Bartra and Mathieu, we have a wide variety of starter material.

 

[Trickykid]

Could you imagine if we have another injury crisis at the back Vermaelen-Mathieu, and if that doesn't scare you, Vermaelen-Mascherano? With Cuadrado as the RB, and Alba as the LB which means its pretty much two at the back?

But no, my posts are nonsense...

Yes, your posts regarding Hummels are indeed pure nonsense.

I don't think anyone's disregarding the fact, that we need another CB - the board too has acknowledged that many times now.

 

[ebc_99]

But we need a starter?

I know we do, and Ideally we would have someone like Hummels but it will have to be Bartra or Mathiue alongside Pique. Vermaelen is a good defender who will benefit from the slower pace in Spain I think, and for first time in years we have 4 proper CB's and I honestly think Bartra can become top class.

Overall we are in much better shape defensively than last year if this goes through, and if Masch plays more in midfield then we should have better protection in front of defense as well. It is also a good sign that the board have seen early that they are not going to convince PSG and have moved on to another player which is what should have happened last year.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

Funny you should say that, as it was actually in the biggest games, that Masch really shone.

LOL, okay. We were luckyyy Messi bailed us out this game, kept us in La Liga for as long as we were even though we had no place still being competitive last year.

 

[Tomchin]

I don't think the board nor Lucho agrees with that. Between Piqué, Bartra and Mathieu, we have a wide variety of starter material.

Yeah, but if Lucho wants to play 3-4-3 on a regular basis, then I have my doubts whether Pique/Bartra/Mathieu/Vermaelen is good enough for those 3 CB-slots.

 

[Trickykid]

LOL, okay. We were luckyyy Messi bailed us out this game, kept us in La Liga for as long as we were even though we had no place still being competitive last year.

Masch was awesome in just about all of our Atletico encounters, but sure, keep being ignorant and shout at Zubi for not signing Hummels for 40M

 

[Trickykid]

Yeah, but if Lucho wants to play 3-4-3 on a regular basis, then I have my doubts whether Pique/Bartra/Mathieu/Vermaelen is good enough for those 3 CB-slots.

Yeah, well, I don't know about that, but if we're actually going to play that formation, we should get both a 4th and a 5th CB for cover, but that's probably not going to happen.

 

[JamDav1982]

Could you imagine if we have another injury crisis at the back Vermaelen-Mathieu, and if that doesn't scare you, Vermaelen-Mascherano? With Cuadrado as the RB, and Alba as the LB which means its pretty much two at the back?

But no, my posts are nonsense...

So if Barcelona have an injury crisis to Bartra and Pique they would have a back up CB partnership of Mathieu/Vermaelen/Mascherano.

I can barely think of any top teams that are as well covered as that to be honest.

What club would you like to have CB depth like?

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

Yeah, but if Lucho wants to play 3-4-3 on a regular basis, then I have my doubts whether Pique/Bartra/Mathieu/Vermaelen is good enough for those 3 CB-slots.

Precisely. You need three CBs who are ultra aware tactically, mobile, good in the air and solid in possession from deep. Only Bartra for me can really provide all of that right now and Pique can do it if he has two players next to him who are more alert and aggressive then he is.

Vermaelen is nowhere near well rounded enough to play in a 3 back formation. He isn't great with the ball at his feet, he isn't a good reader of the game and he lacks concentration.

Yet again, why I even mentioned Hummels in the first place which some people seem to have greatly misunderstood I guess.

 

[JamDav1982]

Precisely. You need three CBs who are ultra aware tactically, mobile, good in the air and solid in possession from deep. Only Bartra for me can really provide all of that right now and Pique can do it if he has two players next to him who are more alert and aggressive then he is.

Vermaelen is nowhere near well rounded enough to play in a 3 back formation. He isn't great with the ball at his feet, he isn't a good reader of the game and he lacks concentration.

Yet again, why I even mentioned Hummels in the first place which some people seem to have greatly misunderstood I guess.

Van Gaal who plays three at the back and knows the players needed to do so wants Vermaelen to play that role.

He would be a good back up player.

 

[Trickykid]

Precisely. You need three CBs who are ultra aware tactically, mobile, good in the air and solid in possession from deep. Only Bartra for me can really provide all of that right now and Pique can do it if he has two players next to him who are more alert and aggressive then he is.

Vermaelen is nowhere near well rounded enough to play in a 3 back formation. He isn't great with the ball at his feet, he isn't a good reader of the game and he lacks concentration.

Yet again, why I even mentioned Hummels in the first place which some people seem to have greatly misunderstood I guess.

I'm probably just being a tactical ignoramus here, but can you explain to me how these mentioned traits are so all-important compared to a 4-3-3, and where does a player like Mathieu fail in this category? I also didn't know that Bartra is ultra aware tactically, but hey, you learn something new every day!

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

So if Barcelona have an injury crisis to Bartra and Pique they would have a back up CB partnership of Mathieu/Vermaelen/Mascherano.

I can barely think of any top teams that are as well covered as that to be honest.

What club would you like to have CB depth like?

Its quality, not quantity.

Right now, honestly only Bartra is consistently a solid defender for us. That's 1 player. Pique is not consistent right now, Mascherano isn't a long term solution by any means and Mathieu is mediocre at best, its brutally honest but that's the truth.

You look at Bayern: Dante, Boateng, Badstuber, Javi Martinez as the emergency outlet, with true fullbacks in the form of Alaba and Lahm and honestly if push came to shove, Alaba could play as a CB and look very comfortable imho.

You look at Dortmund: Hummels, Subotic, Gunter, Sokratis all solid, reliable CBs.

You look at Madrid: Ramos, Pepe, Varane.

Hell even look at Juventus: Chellini, Ogbonna, Barzagli, Bonucci, Caceres who has gotten much better at Juve than he was here.

I'd take any of those teams CB pairings any day of the week over Masch-Pique again or even worse Verm-Mathieu.

I'm being harsh on Pique because he honestly is WC when he wants to be but his form has been terribly inconsistent for the last 2.5 years now. So even counting Pique, that's 2 true quality and reliable CBs while other teams have 4+ and especially for the style we play, I just don't expect players like Vermaelen and Mathieu to fit the bill in what we need. For depth playing the occasional La Liga or CdR game, sure. But against top quality in Europe and even in Spain, I question whether Verm in particular has what it takes.

It reminds me a lot of Song. He will stick out like a sore thumb here and people six months from now will be complaining about how poor he is and why we didn't get a proper CB. I swear its like people on here don't remember past 3 months or so, like a long-term memory loss or something...