Cesc Fàbregas

[BarçAjax8]

Cesc has been nothing short of brilliant this season! I think this will be his breakout season as his vision/final ball are perfection.

With that said I think getting the best from Cesc requires he play alongside a Controller/Distributing midfielder (i.e. Xavi). If anyone else watches the Eredivisie (Netherlands) you can see our midfield against Valencia was similar to the way a lot of teams play with 1 holding midfielder and 2 attacking. A good example was the PSV-Milan CL qualifiers where PSV played with Maher & Wijnaldum in midfield. This is a pretty naive lineup as Milan were content to with an away goal but destroyed PSV at home. With Iniesta & Fabregas together there isn't a distributing-mid and this will also cause us to get hit on counters a lot more which is how Valencia got back into the game. One player's game will also suffer as both do their best work roaming and creating chaos in the opposition's final third.

I think being "the next Xavi" shouldn't be thrust onto Cesc anymore. Sergi & Dos Santos should be given an opportunity and if they don't cut it, Oliver Torres already looks the part.
Visca Barça!

 

[Jaykob]

Cesc has been nothing short of brilliant this season! I think this will be his breakout season as his vision/final ball are perfection.

With that said I think getting the best from Cesc requires he play alongside a Controller/Distributing midfielder (i.e. Xavi). If anyone else watches the Eredivisie (Netherlands) you can see our midfield against Valencia was similar to the way a lot of teams play with 1 holding midfielder and 2 attacking. A good example was the PSV-Milan CL qualifiers where PSV played with Maher & Wijnaldum in midfield. This is a pretty naive lineup as Milan were content to with an away goal but destroyed PSV at home. With Iniesta & Fabregas together there isn't a distributing-mid and this will also cause us to get hit on counters a lot more which is how Valencia got back into the game. One player's game will also suffer as both do their best work roaming and creating chaos in the opposition's final third.

I think being "the next Xavi" shouldn't be thrust onto Cesc anymore. Sergi & Dos Santos should be given an opportunity and if they don't cut it, Oliver Torres already looks the part.
Visca Barça!

True neither Cesc nor Iniesta fit into that distributor role, Sergi Roberto also isn't really that kind of player and Dos Santos lacks the talent to be a starting player at Barca.


Could be a Problem in the next years

 

[Stric]

Can we just pay Cesc extra to work as our scout?

 

[Armando929]

Lets hope he's tapping him up. Casillas to Barca would be revenge for Figo.

 

[Hamzah]

Keep it up agent Cesc!

 

[CatalinR10]

 

[Mythical Revolution]

Cesc has been nothing short of brilliant this season! I think this will be his breakout season as his vision/final ball are perfection.

With that said I think getting the best from Cesc requires he play alongside a Controller/Distributing midfielder (i.e. Xavi). If anyone else watches the Eredivisie (Netherlands) you can see our midfield against Valencia was similar to the way a lot of teams play with 1 holding midfielder and 2 attacking. A good example was the PSV-Milan CL qualifiers where PSV played with Maher & Wijnaldum in midfield. This is a pretty naive lineup as Milan were content to with an away goal but destroyed PSV at home. With Iniesta & Fabregas together there isn't a distributing-mid and this will also cause us to get hit on counters a lot more which is how Valencia got back into the game. One player's game will also suffer as both do their best work roaming and creating chaos in the opposition's final third.

I think being "the next Xavi" shouldn't be thrust onto Cesc anymore. Sergi & Dos Santos should be given an opportunity and if they don't cut it, Oliver Torres already looks the part.
Visca Barça!

Why not use Busquets in Xavi's role? The problem is we would have to play a double pivot, something that I don't mind when playing tough away games like Valencia since it would make us less vulnerable on the counter, more defensively solid overall for the price of a sacrificing Pedro or Alexis.

 

[BarçAjax8]

Why not use Busquets in Xavi's role? The problem is we would have to play a double pivot, something that I don't mind when playing tough away games like Valencia since it would make us less vulnerable on the counter, more defensively solid overall for the price of a sacrificing Pedro or Alexis.

I think your idea is pretty close to what might happen. Unless we can get another Xavi-esque player, we'll have to innovate the team's tactics a little. In order to play both Cesc & Iniesta, Busquets could become a deep-lying playmaker (which he is perfectly capable of) similar to the way Pirlo is used. Getting hit on the counter is still going to be a problem so to stop that we'll need to purchase a proper CB and a defensive minded R/L back. Right now when we are in a full on attack only Pique, Mascherano & Busquets hang back with teams taking advantage of our wide open flanks. With an Abidal type back and a proper CB we'd have coverage leaving our 6 attacking players to create problems in the opponents final third.

 

[barca7788]

.

some nostalgic name mate:beer2:

 

[CatalinR10]

Nice assist.

 

[Stric]

Damn, what a pass.

 

[Vapor]

Cesc is looking like he's in the form of his life. I believe that this is the beginning of his "ascent" at Barcelona. I think it's only going to go up from here. His potential is starting to shine through and it is awesome!

You guys have some great ideas up there by the way. Busquets as a deep lying playmaker, a double pivot... I think those are all very interesting options that we should explore and experiment with to give us more tactical variation and versatility in the upcoming years as teams continue to figure us out more and more.

I think Pique/Puyol, a new proper CB, an Abidal-like defensive R/L back and an attacking Alves or Alba would make a very solid defensive life. This would give us more versatility to experiment with playing Busquets in the holding role and having Iniesta, Fabregas, Messi, Neymar, Alves/Alba and Tello/winger creating havoc up front.

It appears to me like our attack is looking VERY solid right now, especially with new and improved Fabregas starting to shine and Neymar and Iniesta up front. Some strengthening in our back and some more defensive-minded tactics to keep us alive in tough situations (such as vs. Valencia) and I feel we would be virtually unstoppable.

So far Tata has impressed me with his creativity and ability to try new things, I only hope that continues to evolve as time goes on and he starts experimenting with these new and different variations... they really have the potential to do a lot for us.

 

[coura]

Insulted many times by many fans...

 

[Vapor]

He was getting tons of shit here ever since I came to the forums, and I literally got laughed at for suggesting that he had massive potential. I can't help but laugh looking back now lol

 

[Faceless]

He was getting tons of shit here ever since I came to the forums, and I literally got laughed at for suggesting that he had massive potential. I can't help but laugh looking back now lol

I got a feeling some of are still not really convinced of his presence in barca. Either ways, looking back on those days, all the ruckus seemed uneccesary.. Lets hope this will last for the whole season; this attitude towards Cesc.