Cesc Fàbregas

[khaled_a_d]

:cesc:

Alexis could very well be the one mentioned

 

[Hamzah]

:cesc:

Please don't tell me that's from Balagues book.

 

[Ursegor]

No, it's from Marti Perarnau. Pep's best bud.

 

[Flavia]

Considering Iniesta's poor form right now, our more "direct" playstyle and Rakitic's presence helping our defense, Cesc would absolutely have a place in our team right now. He wouldn't be stuck at false nine or left wing facepalm, he'd be feeding extremely in-form Messi and Neymar and soon-enough Suarez, and thanks to our more compact formation and Rakitic in the team he wouldn't have to carry the burden of defending. And his presence would probably motivate Iniesta to play better, since there would be someone in the team who could challenge his spot in the starting XI.

Iniesta is having to defend too, though. I really can't see Cesc thriving in Lucho's current setup, covering for the fb's.

 

[Ursegor]

lol Cesc-Rakitic wouldn't even work in a double layer Inception dream, let alone a normal dream, let alone in real life.

 

[serghei]

Considering Iniesta's poor form right now, our more "direct" playstyle and Rakitic's presence helping our defense, Cesc would absolutely have a place in our team right now. He wouldn't be stuck at false nine or left wing facepalm, he'd be feeding extremely in-form Messi and Neymar and soon-enough Suarez, and thanks to our more compact formation and Rakitic in the team he wouldn't have to carry the burden of defending. And his presence would probably motivate Iniesta to play better, since there would be someone in the team who could challenge his spot in the starting XI.

Absolutely spot on. On paper, our midfield is weaker than last year.

lol Cesc-Rakitic wouldn't even work in a double layer Inception dream, let alone a normal dream, let alone in real life.

Of course it wouldn't. And Iniesta Rakitic works so well, that we couldn't even shoot on target against a mediocre Malaga side. Oh, please, your proclivities regarding Fabregas are well known.

 

[linetty]

We could use Cesc now because Iniesta is playing total crap.

Maybe Rafinha is ready to step up.

 

[serghei]

Maybe Rafinha is ready to step up.

He's not.

 

[te amo barca]

He's not.

How do you know this?

 

[Flavia]

He's not.

He can defend and is faster. For the way Lucho is setting up the midfield, Rafinha's more suited to it. I really don't understand how you and semi can think cesc would thrive in the way our midfield is playing right now, they are defending more than creating.

 

[serghei]

He can defend and is faster. For the way Lucho is setting up the midfield, Rafinha's more suited to it. I really don't understand how you and semi can think cesc would thrive in the way our midfield is playing right now, they are defending more than creating.

For me, it's pretty simple. He is a great midfielder, and I believe we are in a transition period anyway, so the "doesn't fit" thing ain't valid anymore. Xavi is on his way out, and we should've kept the creative players we had. Now with Iniesta fading, the only one creating something is Messi. If teams close down Messi, we're gonna be in deep shit. Rakitic isn't even in the same league with Cesc as far as playmaking abilities are concerned. With the declining of Xavi, I would've made the midfield around Cesc. Maybe play a double pivot Mascherano - Busquets behind him.

 

[GoobiePls]

Cesc is controlling the game and defending just fine playing next to Matic. Ofcourse he doesn't have the speed to make last ditch tackles but neither do to likes of Xabi, Modric, ...

 

[Flavia]

For me, it's pretty simple. He is a great midfielder, and I believe we are in a transition period anyway, so the "doesn't fit" thing ain't valid anymore. Xavi is on his way out, and we should've kept the creative players we had. Now with Iniesta fading, the only one creating something is Messi. If teams close down Messi, we're gonna be in deep shit. Rakitic isn't even in the same league with Cesc as far as playmaking abilities are concerned. With the declining of Xavi, I would've made the midfield around Cesc. Maybe play a double pivot Mascherano - Busquets behind him.

He is a great midfielder. But he can't defend, and I really doubt Lucho would change his system to accomodate Cesc. Xavi's declining for 3 seasons now. Cesc was here during 2 of those. The only way to fit Cesc and 2 dm's would be benching Messi, or playing him in the right, as Cesc'd be playing in Messi's position. And Messi behind the strikers >>>...>>> Cesc behind the strikers.
Anyway, Cesc is not that good to completely change a system for him.

 

[serghei]

He is a great midfielder. But he can't defend, and I really doubt Lucho would change his system to accomodate Cesc. Xavi's declining for 3 seasons now. Cesc was here during 2 of those. The only way to fit Cesc and 2 dm's would be benching Messi, or playing him in the right, as Cesc'd be playing in Messi's position. And Messi behind the strikers >>>...>>> Cesc behind the strikers.
Anyway, Cesc is not that good to completely change a system for him.

Playmakers don't need to know how to defend very well. And plus, Mourinho seems to think he can defend fine, since he is playing him in a double pivot with Matic. Cesc just needs to be the orchestrator in the midfield, and not the third wheel. And since neither of our midfielders is playing better than him, I think making Fabregas the no1 playmaker and keeping Messi closer to the goal would've been the way to go.

I would've wanted Barca to look like this, especially considering Iniesta's poor form and Busi's inability to protect us on his own down there in DM area:

 

[Darko]

That would be a pretty sick formation, but since Cesc has failed us in big games time and time again, I can see him being marked out of the game by class DMs. Plus no room for Iniesta in that formation, still one of the best midfielders in the world.