Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[DonAK]

Just following the flow I guess.

 

[Flavia]

Both tabloids are as bad as each other. It's all bollocks to sell papers.

Sport, most likely. But md belongs to grupo godó, as rac1. And they were/are really close to rosell(backed him up and campained for him during the last elections), and thus, close to the board. But it could be just bs as well.

 

[Ursegor]

Is that 3-5-2 or a weird looking 4-3-3 with Bartra as RB?

It's a weird looking 4-3-3 with Bartra as right back.

And some impressive arrow drawing skills.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

Is that 3-5-2 or a weird looking 4-3-3 with Bartra as RB?

3-5-2 that can transition into a 4-3-3. Its actually very similar to the setup Ancelotti used at Juventus when he had Zidane, Del Piero and Inzaghi up top.

 

[Sumlit]

Those Martinez rumors tho...:tata1:

Him with Laporte would be absolutely beautiful. Honestly with Martinez, we could sell both Song and Mascherano and at least make back what we spend on Laporte. We could get at least 35 million for both Song and Mascherano and Laporte, Martinez would be massive upgrades.

Particularly since Martinez knows German and can help ter Stergen a bit with the language transition, if he is serious about wanting out, he would make a lot of sense. Plus we get a little payback for their Thiago snipe.

Give me this and I'm happy:
Make your football formation with this11.com

Something like this would eat Atletico's 4-4-2 alive. Assuming we lock down Laporte and Martinez, from there we would need to address what we are going to do with our right side. For all intents and purposes, Alexis, Pedro, Alves, Deulofeu are all too similar, so that's why I put a RW? there. For me, either Alexis or Pedro would be the best options for this role. Alves wouldn't be bad either but he is clearly declining. The crosses from him are mindnumbingly frustrating but when he plays with the ball on the ground, he can still deliver at times. I'd rather us sell Alves and keep Alexis but both are expendable, particularly if we get a proper 9 with Alexis' departure.

I'm really iffy on Agger, Cuadrado though and this Pelle guy. Personally I rate Luiz higher than Agger, Cuadrado would need to really up his defensive game to play in an Alves like role here and I'm unsure how willing he'd be with something like that and if we want a striker like Pelle, I'd rather have Ibarbo. Or give Adama a shot.

I think Laporte and Martinez though would be an excellent start. Any other signings should depend on the coach (whether it be Tata, Enrique, hopefully de Boer...) and who is hot after the WC.

One last thing, I agree with the idea what we should invest in a striker but a Mandzukic/Ibrah player isn't the way to go. I would someone who is dynamic and unpredictable but has sound technical ability with ideally some strength and speed. Aguero would be the best ideally.

With that formation someone like Cuadrado all of the sudden doesn't look like such a crazy idea. Cuadrado in that RW spot with his blazing speed and dribbling, and you got someone who can cover the wing defensively and really cause mayhem on offense.

Honestly, that not such a bad looking formation, though it'll need for Neymar to really step up his scoring play.

 

[Kohe321]

Why not save the money and just use Adama in that RW position? If we want someone with pace and dribling ability there that is. His ability to break through the defence and then pick out an awesome pass is great.

Just look at how Sterling improved in Liverpool at such a young age, why wouldn't Adama be able to step up his game as well after getting some matches for the first team under his belt? I think he's ready, no need to loan this guy out or let him gain "more experience" in the B team first - I'd rather promote him and let him get used to toplevel football sooner rather than later, he could be one of our big future stars.

 

[Ursegor]

With that formation someone like Cuadrado all of the sudden doesn't look like such a crazy idea. Cuadrado in that RW spot with his blazing speed and dribbling, and you got someone who can cover the wing defensively and really cause mayhem on offense.

Honestly, that not such a bad looking formation, though it'll need for Neymar to really step up his scoring play.

It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen because it's our current formation with a centerback replacing a winger and Neymar drawn a bit more centrally that is supposed to "eat Atletico Madrid alive". The amount of tactical wizardry on Barcaforum never ceases to amaze.

And now imagine wing-based teams like Real Madrid. Carvajal and Bale on one side up against Alba defending the whole flank on his own and Marcelo and Ronaldo facing a "RW" on the other side defending the whole flank on his own. Good luck. It inevitably pulls the formation apart. There is a reason 3 man defenses have died out except in the slowest and worst Serie A era I've ever seen, ranking behind Portugal in the coefficients next season. There are some sporadic instances where it might prove fruitful, e. g. Italy overloading the middle against a heavy central-based team like Spain. But that's about it. Juventus are flopping hard in international competitions for 3 seasons now and there will be unanimous agreement by almost all Juventus fans why they think this is: Conte's stubborn 3-5-2 formation.

 

[jamrock]

that formation would get murder on the counter a back three is a no go or anything like it

 

[DinhoR10]

Why not save the money and just use Adama in that RW position? If we want someone with pace and dribling ability there that is. His ability to break through the defence and then pick out an awesome pass is great.

Just look at how Sterling improved in Liverpool at such a young age, why wouldn't Adama be able to step up his game as well after getting some matches for the first team under his belt? I think he's ready, no need to loan this guy out or let him gain "more experience" in the B team first - I'd rather promote him and let him get used to toplevel football sooner rather than later, he could be one of our big future stars.

I also think loaning out all our brightest stars is sometimes misguided especially someone like Adama who will probably have to get used to playing against parked buses.

 

[Ursegor]

that formation would get murder on the counter a back three is a no go or anything like it

Yes, that too. Barca will be on the front foot most of the time. So both wide players will inevitably push high up to provide the width. Which, in that lineup, leaves Busquets, Martinez, Pique, Cesc to defend counterattacks. The slowest group of players ever assembled on a football pitch which I have ever seen in my lifetime. And I was alive when young Di Stefano got promoted to River Plate's La Maquina team back in the 40s.

 

[jamrock]

the three man defense can work sometime, like when pep played the 3-4-1-2 against madrid, but even then he has alves playing on the right of the four and actually started and finished the game with a back four by simply having alves going back into position.

and XI which is flexible enough to switch to a back three when needed is good and could work, but actually playing like that most times is suicide

 

[DinhoR10]

the three man defense can work sometime, like when pep played the 3-4-1-2 against madrid, but even then he has alves playing on the right of the four and actually started and finished the game with a back four by simply having alves going back into position.

and XI which is flexible enough to switch to a back three when needed is good and could work, but actually playing like that most times is suicide

You're forgetting Alba can be by the opponents box and run back fast enough to help defend if needed so he will be the Alves in the situation you described.

 

[pEllee]

The three-man defense is not necessarily a bad thing and I think it can still be successful but in this case, it most definitely is a bad idea. The players needed to play that kind of system are not even available at this moment and neither Iniesta or Cesc are suited as central midfielders in that formation. Without wide-men you're always going to need mobile and hard working midfielders that can quickly and efficiently cover lots of ground and help out defensively in wide areas. Cesc is a turtle and he can't really do that and I wouldn't trust Iniesta to do that either. That leaves you with Busquets covering too much ground and he's hardly known for his mobility.

I wouldn't really say that a three-man defense is the key to breaking down a defense sitting deep. If anything, that's what Juventus has struggled with in Europe and even occasionally in the Serie A as well.

 

[Sumlit]

It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen because it's our current formation with a centerback replacing a winger and Neymar drawn a bit more centrally that is supposed to "eat Atletico Madrid alive". The amount of tactical wizardry on Barcaforum never ceases to amaze.

And now imagine wing-based teams like Real Madrid. Carvajal and Bale on one side up against Alba defending the whole flank on his own and Marcelo and Ronaldo facing a "RW" on the other side defending the whole flank on his own. Good luck. It inevitably pulls the formation apart. There is a reason 3 man defenses have died out except in the slowest and worst Serie A era I've ever seen, ranking behind Portugal in the coefficients next season. There are some sporadic instances where it might prove fruitful, e. g. Italy overloading the middle against a heavy central-based team like Spain. But that's about it. Juventus are flopping hard in international competitions for 3 seasons now and there will be unanimous agreement by almost all Juventus fans why they think this is: Conte's stubborn 3-5-2 formation.

Firstly, there is not need to come at people with that aggressive and condescending tone. No one here is a master football tactician nor genius football mind, so there's no need to shoot down others ideas with such venom just because you disagree with them.

Secondly, wasn't me who said the "eat Atletico Madird alive", I was just commenting on the formation. That formation btw, is a good plan B formation to counter bus parking. Bus-parking teams won't hit you from the wings, but from the center with long balls to CF and from counters. Playing 3 CBs along with Busquets through the middle gives you more security against counters from the bus, and allows the rest of your players to devote themselves entirely to offense.

Obviously against normal offensive sides that formation won't work as well because it's true they'll exploit the wings, but I don't think the original poster was suggesting this formation become the standard formation, but merely giving a plan B type to counter defensive sides.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

Juventus struggles to break down defenses because they don't have nearly the sort of quality out wide we do, nor do they have as good as striking talent as we do. Llorente-Tevez vs Neymar-Messi. While they have more defensive solidity in the midfield with Pogba and Vidal, we have more creativity and attacking flair in that department.

@Ursegor not sure why you are claiming its the "dumbest thing on here" when we have people asking for Micha Richards...on an actual tactical level, we wouldn't be nearly as stretched on the counter as you think. If we lose the ball, we have four defenders in position to stop the CA instead of only 2.5 which we have now with our current formation. Bartra and Pique would spread wide to cover Ronaldo and Bale, Martinez/Laporte covers the striker and Busi can cover any late runners. And even if either Bartra or Pique get beat, Martinez/Laporte still can cover at the last minute. As far as overlapping runs from their fullbacks, Alba is fantastic with his recovery running and would be great at intercepting CAs as long as we have someone covering the initial attack.

A 3-5-2 provides us with more defensive cover to absorb CAs, puts players in their natural positions and still allow us to dominate possession through aggressive, attacking and pressing football. Also, someone with Alexis's workrate would provide a lot more cover on the wings than you realize on the right. Also, note that I have Rafinha in before Cesc. This is because he a) a bigger defensive workrate than Cesc and b) he can spread wide and beat markers from the right side with his dribbling. If your worried about Ronaldo, I think Bartra can at least force Ronaldo wide, while Rafinha and Alexis drop to provide support.

So if you actually think about how it would play out instead of unnecessarily bashing a formation just because its unconventional, you would realize this is a good look for us. Since both Madrid teams run a 4-4-2, just numerically speaking we have a numerical advantage off a quick counter with a 3 on 2. Still have the MF advantage and it puts our players in their natural positions. Not sure why you wouldn't like it.