Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[Ursegor]

Lucho would also be a better player developer if I could say. Budding players like Montoya and Bartra (who we'll really need) will be able to be refined a lot by a guy who takes youth progression very seriously. Look at the 180 degree turn he's managed with Rafinha, as well as others (Nolito, Mallo) and you can see that he'd handle our individuals very well.

Just interfering because I've seen you write this a couple of times. "180 degree turn" with Rafinha paints a wrong picture about a player who was already in double digits in goals + assists in Segunda last season and one of their star players. Even managed a goal and worked hard against PSG in preseason for the first team under Tito. Under Lucho he's just making normal progression but nothing out of the ordinary as if Lucho touched him with a magic wand and he's a totally different player now.

I am certain not much will change about youth playing time under Lucho. This is Barca, not Celta. When Barca must win games - and Barca must win every single game - there is no time to dick around with the Tellos and Montoyas and Sergi Robertos of this world. With Alves clowning around maybe Montoya should indeed play a bit more but apart from that I don't feel any youth player deserves more than he got this season. And I hope people don't genuinely suggest Tata should play the likes of Adama in the first team already. I mean we already have Alexis AND Pedro on the bench in many games.

I wouldn't expect much from Lucho. Just get back the workrate, play through the middle, rotate intelligently and bench Fabregas when it matters. All you need to do as Barca coach. The rest the team can handle itself if the board buys defenders.

 

[mazp]

Can you really see Lucho go head to head against the likes of Ancelotti, Mou, Pep, Klopp, Simeone, etc.. tactically? Because I can't.

 

[DonAK]

Valverde is not coming, people here don't like De Boer either, I doubt they're gonna give Paco Jemez the job, none of the elite managers are coming.

I don't know guys.... Who are left? Eusebio lol?

 

[KingMessi]

Can you really see Lucho go head to head against the likes of Ancelotti, Mou, Pep, Klopp, Simeone, etc.. tactically? Because I can't.

Honestly Valverde already said he'd stay at Athletic. So it's either Lucho, De Boer, or Martinez at this point. Unless they do the unthinkable and promote someone from within like Eusebio or Jordi Vinyals :eusa_think:.

I really can't think of anybody else that'd suit our team and its style. We could take a look at the international team coaches who may want to move on after the World Cup, but IMO it'd be another instance like last season where Tata came in to the team really late.

That said, MD had Jordi Vinyals mentioned as one of the options for the manager position in one of their covers. What do you guys think? He's done well with the Juvenil A, but IMO it'd be too big of a step up for him and it'd be a HUGE risk.

 

[Ustari]

Anyone think buying Micah Richards as a RB (back up) would be a good idea. . . Heis fast as F**k and can bully his way in against parked buses, Has a decent height on him too.

Micah Richards????

 

[Andrew M]

Micah Richards. That is funny

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

lololololololololol.....lololol Micah Richards at Barca...

Anyway, we are in a bit of a conundrum as far as what to do about the manager situation. Its clear that we need a motivator, someone who can claim authority of the dressing room and get the best out of the players. We also need someone who has a solid track record with promoting and developing young talent. Players like Cesc, Montoya, Bartra, Adama and Rafinha need some refining so they can reach their maximum potential. In these aspects, out of coaches we have been linked to, de Boer and Lucho are the best candidates in this department.

However on top of this, this team needs a tactical overhaul as well. A new shape and restructuring of tiki-taka is needed. Someone who is tactically astute and can introduce some innovations to this style of play is just as vital. All honesty and I may take some flack for this, but I think the best option in this department would have been Bielsa. His 3-3-1-3 approach is a step in the right direction to how to break down these buses. Unfortunately though, he seems to be going to Marseilles.

Tactically speaking de Boer shows a lot more class than Lucho does. Most importantly he shows tactical flexibility, as he was able to prepare his team tactically to play ultra-defensive and compact against us in the CL, and then go back to an aggressive and offensive approach domestically.

We should move quickly however and decide soon. The manager will need as much as time as possible to prepare for the summer revamps and it would be best to get a coach prior to the WC so he can observe and scout potentials targets there. de Boer I think has a bit of the tactical mind plus the ability to develop youth talent as well so he makes the most sense out of all the candidates.

Plus he knows the club.

 

[Mythical Revolution]

Valverde is not coming, people here don't like De Boer either, I doubt they're gonna give Paco Jemez the job, none of the elite managers are coming.

I don't know guys.... Who are left? Eusebio lol?

I don't know either, but consider the fact that 2-3 years ago the likes of Simeone & Klopp weren't spoken of in the same breath as the Carlo, Mou, or Pep; and they've been at it for quite a while.

 

[DonAndres]

Just interfering because I've seen you write this a couple of times. "180 degree turn" with Rafinha paints a wrong picture about a player who was already in double digits in goals + assists in Segunda last season and one of their star players. Even managed a goal and worked hard against PSG in preseason for the first team under Tito. Under Lucho he's just making normal progression but nothing out of the ordinary as if Lucho touched him with a magic wand and he's a totally different player now.

Well excuse the hyperbole but in principle, I'd definitely say that Rafinha has had massive progression at Celta.

I won't deny that he was one of our better players while he was with the B team (one of our only good 3, alongside Alberto and Deulofeu). I also didn't mean to make it seem as if he never had talent yet suddenly exploded this season. That being said, he was fairly inconsistent during his time at the B team. He got better towards the end of the year but overall his contribution was pretty much just in decisive moments (much like a certain Cesc that I know you love to criticize ). Rafa put up good numbers but didn't really offer much more in terms of overall play and wasn't dominant for us in midfield. As a midfielder seemed limited at times and he had an inconsistent output. He always looked great at youth levels but his time at the B team was more of a culmination of semi-impressive moments and impressive stats than it was actual development for him. He was amazing at youth levels but I don't think he was all that for Barca B, he stagnated a bit there in my opinion.

His time at Celta has made him blossom. Under Lucho, he's developed so many more dimensions to his play. His workrate is much, much higher than before. He knows how to be involved in buildup and actually offer some supporting quality in a midfield role rather than just decisive moments. He can contribute to both attacking situations and picking the ball up from deep to transition forward. The fact that he looks so much better in his first season in Primera than his previous two seasons in Segunda (even stepping it up vs. some bigger opponents such as RM) gives a testament to how much he developed. This is an immense improvement to being a player who would regularly turn off against donkey Segunda teams and who's biggest claim to fame was scoring 5/10 of his goals as headers from set pieces . He's added so much more to his game, it's pretty obvious to see that he's had quite a bit of a reboot.

 

[onzeXI]

Valverde is not coming, people here don't like De Boer either, I doubt they're gonna give Paco Jemez the job, none of the elite managers are coming.

I don't know guys.... Who are left? Eusebio lol?

There are alternatives. If Enrique has crossed someone's mind for some unknown reason, then Michael Laudrup, Roberto Martinez, or Antonio Conte should be considered. They are far more capable than LE.

 

[Egert]

How is that Laporte rumor coming along, any truth to it?

Seems that it is true. But i never knew that City wanted to buy him.

 

[Trickykid]

There are alternatives. If Enrique has crossed someone's mind for some unknown reason, then Michael Laudrup, Roberto Martinez, or Antonio Conte should be considered. They are far more capable than LE.

Please don't even bring Laudrup's name into this discussion. Sure, he's got the attacking, possession based play style locked down, and he knows the club well obviously, but aside from that he's really a mediocre tactician and a plain bad man manager. He's pretty much left all his clubs in smoldering ruins, and I have no doubt he'd do the same if he came back to Barça.

I love the man to bits, don't get me wrong, and that's another reason I'd hate to see him fail here. Sure, some would argue that he already tarnished his reputation here, what with him going to the capital and all, but I bet most Culès know how that went down back in the days, and still appreciate him and the legacy he left behind.

 

[Lomar1o]

either tata stays or klopp comes. everything else will be a total ruin for barca.

 

[LMessi85]

lololololololololol.....lololol Micah Richards at Barca...

We should move quickly however and decide soon. The manager will need as much as time as possible to prepare for the summer revamps and it would be best to get a coach prior to the WC so he can observe and scout potentials targets there. de Boer I think has a bit of the tactical mind plus the ability to develop youth talent as well so he makes the most sense out of all the candidates.

Plus he knows the club.

Unfortunately, De Boer is being linked to Tottenham. He won the dutch competition for the 4th time in a row. He's done great things in his first 4 years coaching. He won from Milan, Man City and Barca (I don't wanna hear anything about the game against Barca tho') with his team which is obviously from another level. If Barca would do its best he might come but otherwise he's going to Tottenham. Old Barca player Koeman will be free (who has done a good job as starting coach aswell).

 

[BarçAjax8]

Unfortunately, De Boer is being linked to Tottenham. He won the dutch competition for the 4th time in a row. He's done great things in his first 4 years coaching. He won from Milan, Man City and Barca (I don't wanna hear anything about the game against Barca tho') with his team which is obviously from another level. If Barca would do its best he might come but otherwise he's going to Tottenham. Old Barca player Koeman will be free (who has done a good job as starting coach aswell).

This board doesn't want a manager who will "shake things up" and make the necessary changes in order for us to compete again. They want a puppet who will stay out of matters so they are free to do whatever underhanded BS they want.

I wish they considered De Boer.