Barça's Transfers and Rumors

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

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.

Thank you.

I think this, a double-pivot system for more offensive teams and our false 9 4-3-3 should all be formations we should become comfortable with. 3-5-2 for bus teams (Atletico, Chelsea etc.), double pivot for more dangerous teams (City, Liverpool) and our normal 4-3-3 when we have a clear advantage.

But for the 4-3-3 in particular, I want a real striker who can interchange with Messi on the right side. Thats the key, the striker needs to be able to beat markers and score from the right too. That's why a Mandzukic type striker really won't work. I liked him at first but after seeing what he did against Madrid, a mobile, strong, dynamic player like Aguero (and what Eto'o was) is whats needed.

 

[SeloBarca]

We shouldnt start with 3 defenders. Were already extremly vulnrable to counter attacks.

 

[Sumlit]

Thank you.

I think this, a double-pivot system for more offensive teams and our false 9 4-3-3 should all be formations we should become comfortable with. 3-5-2 for bus teams (Atletico, Chelsea etc.), double pivot for more dangerous teams (City, Liverpool) and our normal 4-3-3 when we have a clear advantage.

But for the 4-3-3 in particular, I want a real striker who can interchange with Messi on the right side. Thats the key, the striker needs to be able to beat markers and score from the right too. That's why a Mandzukic type striker really won't work. I liked him at first but after seeing what he did against Madrid, a mobile, strong, dynamic player like Aguero (and what Eto'o was) is whats needed.

I've always liked a dynamic forward over a tall poacher. The latter makes your offense too one dimensional and predictable while the former makes it more dynamic and dangerous. The main problem is dynamic forwards are terribly expensive because they are such game changing talents.

You can see even with a past his prime player like Fernando Torres how much damage a dynamic forward does to opponents. Even the Torres of right now was giving Atletico Madrid a lot of problems in that first half of the second leg, though he was just too alone and obviously got tired in the second half. A dynamic forward capable of also attacking from the wing with efficiency, playing with Neymar and Messi, is going to drive defenses off their minds. It would be far more effective than a simple tall poacher to latch onto crosses would ever be.

Though getting one with world class quality is almost an impossible feat unless you grow them from your youth system, identify him early on in his development, or have the cash flow of the PSGs and Citys and Madrids.

 

[KingMessi]

Though getting one with world class quality is almost an impossible feat unless you grow them from your youth system, identify him early on in his development, or have the cash flow of the PSGs and Citys and Madrids.

Youth System? Dynamic Forward? Munir El Haddadi is our man.

 

[aaron101]

Why are the board so obsessed with Agger? He's 29. Whe should look for a 21-27 yrs old CB and get a promising CB like Laporte.

 

[DinhoR10]

Youth System? Dynamic Forward? Munir El Haddadi is our man.

Its a good thing he loves the club, has buckets of talent. The best thing for him is that we currently only have winger starlets (Deu, Adama) and have no one like him that can play acros the front line with direct threat and long shots. Hopefully next year even though he'll be a full member of the B squad I hope we begin to give him games with the first team.

I'd also like to say that not ALL of our B members have to be loaned before they come back to the squad I believe they should be given a chance before the season we decide to loan them out, look at Adnan and Sterling, Neither of them are more talented than Deu but look at them now.

 

[Cule For Life]

Koke is a diehard Atletico man i think so thats a no go.

I still think he can be lured.

 

[Xavinho]

Why are the board so obsessed with Agger? He's 29. Whe should look for a 21-27 yrs old CB and get a promising CB like Laporte.

If we did that then it would be a complete waste of time and money to buy Laporte. Pique would start most matches with the new CB, and Bartra and Laporte would have to fight for minutes. We need a spread of ages so they can all progress without blocking each other.

 

[icemanbrfc]

We could hardly defend with 4 defenders, and Busquets. Now people are suggesting 3 defenders and Busquets.

Ter Stegen
RB Laporte Pique Alba

Martinez Busquets

Pedro Neymar Iniesta

Messi

While some wont like it, and some might see it as an ultra defensive formation, its not.

Do we need a tall striker, when Messi still contributes so many goals? Maybe a striker to come off th bench yes, but not to start. Our biggest issues were defence, sort that out 1st. With Martinez and Busquets sitting deep, it will allow the likes of Neymar, Iniesta and Messi to express themselves. This season, because we were all over the place at the back and conceding for fun, it made things extra hard for our attackers, because they were forced to help out in defence.



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[ivan_barca]

We could hardly defend with 4 defenders, and Busquets. Now people are suggesting 3 defenders and Busquets.

Ter Stegen
RB Laporte Pique Alba

Martinez Busquets

Pedro Neymar Iniesta

Messi

While some wont like it, and some might see it as an ultra defensive formation, its not.

Do we need a tall striker, when Messi still contributes so many goals? Maybe a striker to come off th bench yes, but not to start. Our biggest issues were defence, sort that out 1st. With Martinez and Busquets sitting deep, it will allow the likes of Neymar, Iniesta and Messi to express themselves. This season, because we were all over the place at the back and conceding for fun, it made things extra hard for our attackers, because they were forced to help out in defence.



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I like that formation very much.Martinez and Busi are perfect together,Neymar behind Messi would be awesome.

 

[KingMessi]

We could hardly defend with 4 defenders, and Busquets. Now people are suggesting 3 defenders and Busquets.

Ter Stegen
RB Laporte Pique Alba

Martinez Busquets

Pedro Neymar Iniesta

Messi

While some wont like it, and some might see it as an ultra defensive formation, its not.

Do we need a tall striker, when Messi still contributes so many goals? Maybe a striker to come off th bench yes, but not to start. Our biggest issues were defence, sort that out 1st. With Martinez and Busquets sitting deep, it will allow the likes of Neymar, Iniesta and Messi to express themselves. This season, because we were all over the place at the back and conceding for fun, it made things extra hard for our attackers, because they were forced to help out in defence.



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The 3-5-2 described earlier isn't really a three man defense per say. When we're defending, the lb drops back (Alba's pace will help) and the player behind Busquets (Martinez or Laporte) will also drop back to make a four man defense. And if needed, Busquets can also track back.

Our defense right now is only a four man defense on paper. In reality, Pique and Mascherano/Bartra are left to cover basically the entire field while Alves is playing Right wing and Alba may or may not make it back in time, when the opposition attacks. A 3-5-2 will take discipline, drive, and energy to pull off, but I think we could do it if we could get the right coach.

That said, I like your formation too. And I think the team should grow comfortable with multiple formations and tactic sets in order to have better chances at nullifying the opponent.

 

[Trickykid]

Why are the board so obsessed with Agger? He's 29. Whe should look for a 21-27 yrs old CB and get a promising CB like Laporte.

If (that's a BIG if of course) we fork out 35ish million on Laporte, it means he'll claim a starter spot sooner rather than later. Piqué is a given, which would mean someone like Agger would be 3rd or 4th pick, alongside Bartra, but I'd easily trust to play him as a starter CB. It makes perfect sense in my world. He's experienced, would come relatively cheap and his skills would fit us like a glove. Heaps of experience, strong header, hard tackler and pretty good ball control and passing up the field. The obvious if is his injury history, but that wouldn't be much of a problem, if he came here mostly for backup purposes.

Laporte (or another world class talent OR an already proven rock solid hardass CB like flavour-of-the-month Benatia) plus someone like Agger would probably be my dream scenario for the summer.

 

[FCBarca]

If we're to believe that some looming announcement is on the horizon for Monday and that it's indeed to push for much needed elections, I fear the fallout of what that that will mean for our transfers...The last time we had a contentious election, we had players like Cesc poached and Leo very nearly gone as well....And judging by how poorly most things have been handled with this board, I am not confident that they will handle this any better

 

[fcbdna]

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.

The emboldened just shows how old you or your brain is. . .
BTW in accordance with Ursegor, I have to say your tactical suggestion wasn't bad. . . . It was just a little dumb, considering its vulnerabilities.

 

[LMessi85]

I'd happily take Courtois.

I read about Courtois aswell on dutch sites. He was a Barca supporter in his childhood it seems.
I'm sure Chelsea wouldn't let him go tho'. Such a great talent.