Our front line can't be fine and we struggled to score in the important games last season. Tata was able to get something from the other forwards the early part of last season but they faded. Against the stronger teams in Europe we are impotent. Who are our go to guys when it comes to scoring besides Messi. Neymar is new, Pedro and Alexis are not firing as they ought to . In my opinion we can afford to have both Pedro and Alexis in the team. I do see however that both are not outside forwards/wingers hence why they are not performing. In any case we do need another true striker
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DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
That would be a huge step backwards. Pedro is very inconsistent, Deulofeu isn't ready for real responsibility, Neymar could get injured, and Adama has barely had half a season in Segunda. We're looking to gain squad depth and become a more stacked side, not bury ourselves in 'La Masia' idealism and sell everyone with the mindset of "oh it's ok, Bartra, Roberto, and Deulofeu can lead us to the treble".
What's with all these weird approaches to this transfer window from various people? It's absolutely crucial and possibly the only one we'll have to count on for over a year. It's no time to be selling off key players (Alexis, even if he's not perfect he's indispensable right now) and then be willing to waste loads of precious time to try to overpay by the 10's of millions for fantasy signings like impractical Aguero. This window is for squad rejuvenation and strengthening our team in every single position with good-great players.
Our attack is pretty much fine and already an improvement from last year with Deulofeu acting as a competitive backup. If we really absolutely needed some variation, then spend it on a signing that's frugal and without any time waste like Jonathan Soriano. Cheap, fits the profile, no useless drama, and we can move on and focus on key areas.
darthvader7888
Banned
Let's sell Alexis (arguably our best winger last season) and replace him with an 18 year old that just got promoted to Barca B #BarcaForumLogic
Trafalgar
Senior Member
Bertus
New member
i_bleed_blaugrana
Senior Member
Okay I feel like a lot of people misunderstood me here.
That post had more to do with the Reus rumors more than anything. I was stating a case for why another winger isn't what we need right now, if anything we have so much depth in that department either in the team or coming through the ranks that honestly we wouldn't miss either Pedro nor Alexis if we sold either of them and that we wouldn't necessarily have to replace them in the market.
We have Neymar, Tello, Deulofeu, Alexis, Pedro, hopefully Adama and if shit really hits the fan with injuries Iniesta, Messi and Rafinha. That is 9 players who can potentially play in those two spots. That's an embarrassment of riches in that department and specifically with Reus, I don't think he'd be more productive than Alexis and/or Pedro if they got the same amount of minutes Reus got if he came here. That was my point and no I am not advocating that we sell Alexis and replace him with Adama.
The wise thing to do is cut one of Tello, Alexis or Pedro. I would recommend it be Tello and possibly Alexis (but not for anything short of 40 million, this 25 million evaluation is bullshit and we should definitely keep him if that is all we are getting for him). I feel that overall Alexis can be just as inconsistent as Pedro but Alexis had a much better season overall than Pedro. But for me Pedro keeps the play flowing smoother than Alexis does at times and is more inventive on the ball. With Alexis in particular we can either a) hope he is finally over the hump here and hope he blossoms into the consistent score threat we need or b) cash in on him now while he has a very high market value. Particularly if he does well in the World Cup, we could really get a lot of cash for him. Same could be said for Pedro as well but Alexis has a much greater chance to make a big impact for Chile and Pedro doesn't necessarily have the same chance.
In my ideal world, we only sell Tello and instead of Pedro or Alexis, we sell Alves. As I've stated ad nauseam before, I want us to try a 3-5-2 and I think Alexis would flourish in this formation if he was the right-sided runner. He can do everything that Alves can do offensively and defensively he has the tenacity and determination to compensate for his increased defensive responsibility in tracking back.
If we are going to splash the cash this summer, it should be on defensive reinforcements only. As I've said earlier today, just pay the bloody release clause of Laporte and we move forward from there. Enough with Nasser's greedy ass.
Rakitic was a great signing and I don't think Bravo will be a bad move either. I'd love to see Aguero here but unless we sell another forward, he will probably be too expensive. As you stated as well, Jonathan Soriano would be a fantastic signing for us and would catch a lot of people off guard and surprised.
Also for people who don't think Adama is ready, Raheem Sterling says hi. He came into the PL younger than Adama would if he got promoted next season and look where he is two years later. I think he's got even more potential than Deulofeu. Better attitude and hustle on the pitch.
Kohe321
New member
Completely agree about your point about Adama. No one is expecting him to come on the pitch against La Liga opposition and boss it like the veterans in Barca, but is he ready for the top-level even at his young age? Absolutely. This idea of "he's not ready yet, need to play more against poor opposition to grow" doesn't necessarily apply to big talents. Perfect case in point is Raheem Sterling as you mentioned. At one point, only having to play against and drible past defenders in the Segunda Division could actually hamper his development as he could develop an overly big ego and start to rest on his laurels with his progress, and not work as hard to get better as he would if he faced harder opposition. And anyway, the harder the opposition is, the more he's forced to think about when to drible, when to pass and how to read the game. Raheem Sterling showed he was ready, he grew like crazy this past season in Liverpool - growth he would not have gotten if he only played against much weaker opponents. I am pretty sure it would be the same with Adama.
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By the way, wouldn't buying Laporte cost way more than just his buyout 42m because of taxes? How does that work again? I agree though, the rest of our budget this season should be spent on fixing our defence. Laporte, Benatia or Hummels. We just need one as we're keeping Mascherano as DM and he can play fourth backup. Bartra would get almost no gametime with two CBs costing 50m contending for the start 11.
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BarcaJack
New member
Talents like Adama and Munir should be given minutes in first team. Of course they are not supposed to take responsibilities. If they play really well, then it may be their career breakthrough; if they play awfully, they will LEARN their weakness, which can not be revealed playing against a weaker side.
DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
There's no way that selling Alexis would be an action without large negative consequences. Whatever depth we may have in numbers, we'd lack in quality. Other than Neymar (who isn't a reliable finisher himself) we'd have one massively inconsistent support player who makes a habit of going invisible in games that aren't against the likes of Rayo, one brainless roadrunner with no skillset, two brutally raw young players who's idea of teamwork is trying to make a pass after attempting to dribble 3 men, a series of midfielders/pseudo-wingers, and our much needed false 9.
We can fault Alexis for a lot of things but he delivers the goal/assist output that we need from our wide forwards with a workrate, and does it in crucial situations (vs Madrid, Atletico, Sevilla, carried our goalscoring output in Messi's absence, etc.). We can rely on him as a starter, Pedro however has been regularly abysmal for the past 3 seasons and occasionally wowing in low tier games. He's a useful squad player but not a starter.
You can try to take him from Athletic but he'll cost 42m plus heavy taxes. The CB situation seems to be up in limbo right now, so I'll just wait to see what comes of it.
Yes we can afford to bring up a player that young but what you're forgetting is that at this point, Deulofeu is essentially about as raw as Adama and will be our 'Sterling' for this season. There's no point in doing that with both of them as we need to focus on one at a time with Deulo being the senior one at the moment. Of course Adama can be called up and played, but Deulo is the one who will be a constant part of the first team and develop as our current young star.
Besides, Adama isn't close to as well rounded as Sterling was. Adama doesn't have the level of involvement in buildup and team play that even a raw Sterling had. Every action he did was 'try to dribble 3 guys->shoot/cross' which showcased his insane talent but lack of maturity and understanding of the game as a team player. He'd track back more than Deulofeu did but other than that had little participation in buildup play.
He'll have to spend some time humbling up in callups to train with the 1st team which essentially means that he won't be 'adding' to our attacking depth but rather be brought up simply to progress his own growth.
Barcilliant
Senior Member
Holy shit, when is the Rakitic signing going to be official?
Seems like theyre still at the negotiating table.....
Seems like theyre still at the negotiating table.....
i_bleed_blaugrana
Senior Member
I simply disagree. For a couple of reasons but the biggest is that if we sold Alexis for say a big name striker like Aguero, Jovetic or Higuain then I don't think he would be missed nearly as much as you say. But for that type of player is the only situation in which I'd support selling Alexis. Selling Alexis for a Reus or Cuadrado does nothing in my opinion. We should only sell Alexis if we are going to get an actual 9.
If anything, I would support selling Tello and Pedro and keeping Alexis if we are going to get a 9.
I think you are being a little hard on Pedro however. When he is sharp, on form and most importantly getting consistent minutes, he has shown his class before. I think him struggling the last couple seasons has more to do with our coaching woes, an overall dip in form with the team across the board and Cesc inexplicably starting before him as a forward than his deficiencies as a player. The WC will be very telling but particularly if Pedro starts and performs well, he will show that he still has it.
I am just afraid that we will either a) go for some hot talent that emerges in the WC and turns into a complete flop or b) we won't sign anyone and Bagnack and Edgar Ie will be our "signings". I don't trust that this board wouldn't just try to restructure the team in every other department besides defense because its easier to get the targets we want.
I won't necessarily disagree with you here because you do make a solid point of Deulo being just as raw as Adama. But I think both will benefit tremendously in their development particularly with the mental aspect of the game if they were training constantly with the first team and being nurtured under Lucho. We saw what he did with an incredibly raw Rafinha and I think both Adama and Deulo could progress in the same way he did. If anything having both in the squad will push both of them to be better. Who is growing more? Who is working harder in training? Who is applying what Lucho is instructing them to do on the pitch more effectively? Having a player in the same situation as you are will either a) make them naturally close where they push each other to get better or the opposite b) they end up hating each other and each tries to outdo the other and muscle the other one out. Either way, you get motivated players.
For me the most important aspect in both is who will be more receptive to the instructions Lucho gives them. I have a hunch Adama will be but if Deulo can leave his ego at home and come in hungry and humble every day at training, he can grow. We should give chances to players who are ready to make the jump and I think both are.
F
Flavia
Guest
The board can't say Ie and Bagnack are the signings. They would have to resign if they did it.
fcbdna
Banned
Clumsy Sanchez was never and will never be "Barca material". Heck some teams in the EPL wont be contempt with his performances. A player runs with the ball and never looks up until the ball stops moving, our best winger? No wonder our attack's been firing blanks like an impotent guy on Viagra!
Don't get why most of you here love him. . . He is far from prolific, shambolic off and on the ball, still doesn't have perfect Sync with Messi after 3 seasons. The disconnect in our attack stems from Alexis, and thus should be seen as a bad investment. The Ideal thing to do now, is manage our losses on him and him cut off. As bitter a pill to swallow this is. . . Its the simple truth !
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CatalinR10
Senior Member
it's the truth in the world you're living. He was our 3'rd best player this season. Don't like him , fine , you have your reasons but don't talk rubish like he scored 5 goals all season and was missing in all important games. Whatever...some fans really wanted Messi gone because he was sudenly not good enough for Barca so you're not the only one going kokoo around here.
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