Defender for next season?

[0n0mat0p0eia]

and then alves should play on the wing and if we lose ball puyol will replace him and defence moves forward and messi will cover him and then they play tiki-taka and then iniesta will change with cesc and then on the other flank bale will do overlapping and underlapping runs and alexis will beat the defenders ther. also adriano will play ther and drop back and then pedro will come and beat everybody. just marvellous. and villa will hit the post and messi will score the rebound but then villa is offside and they will lose to real madrid and tito getting sacked and mourinho will come and bring neymar, zlatan and CR. marvellous.

What's the height of ignorance in Estonia? Not as tall as you!

 

[Keyjell]

This might be stupid as it is a thought that just jumped into my mind, BUUUUT... Mascherano did have a pretty awesome season as a CB even through he is short and not a natural CB. What if we got a new CB, and tried playing a 3 man defense which guardiola seems to like, and play mascherano as a DM that moves into a much more defensive role at times. This could free busquets when he is tired and barca need a DM, but without loosing the defensive aspect of the team. This is in case keita does leave and we don't have him to back up as a DM. Busquets is a great DM, but a 3 man defense with him as the buffer does seem to be less than optimal at times as he isn't the best tackler. Again, this is just a thought, and i know Tito is not going to come here for tactical advice, but I thought it sounded interesting and would like to hear what you all think.

 

[peleomessi]

Bartra and Muniesa are not good enough yet. The first choice to reinforce the defence is Thiago Silva as commomly known but who is the plan b, plan c,...

 

[Wouterinho]

This might be stupid as it is a thought that just jumped into my mind, BUUUUT... Mascherano did have a pretty awesome season as a CB even through he is short and not a natural CB. What if we got a new CB, and tried playing a 3 man defense which guardiola seems to like, and play mascherano as a DM that moves into a much more defensive role at times. This could free busquets when he is tired and barca need a DM, but without loosing the defensive aspect of the team. This is in case keita does leave and we don't have him to back up as a DM. Busquets is a great DM, but a 3 man defense with him as the buffer does seem to be less than optimal at times as he isn't the best tackler. Again, this is just a thought, and i know Tito is not going to come here for tactical advice, but I thought it sounded interesting and would like to hear what you all think.

I don't know about you, but I like Barcelona more when they're playing with 4 defenders (alves being one of them and spending most of his time as a winger).
I think a left back is our main concern. We've got a massive talent playing for juvenil A on that position (Grimaldo) but he's way too young so we need a quality player there.

 

[Puyol the wall]

and then alves should play on the wing and if we lose ball puyol will replace him and defence moves forward and messi will cover him and then they play tiki-taka and then iniesta will change with cesc and then on the other flank bale will do overlapping and underlapping runs and alexis will beat the defenders ther. also adriano will play ther and drop back and then pedro will come and beat everybody. just marvellous. and villa will hit the post and messi will score the rebound but then villa is offside and they will lose to real madrid and tito getting sacked and mourinho will come and bring neymar, zlatan and CR. marvellous.

Fifa12

 

[Puyol the wall]

Am I the only who isn't keen on the idea of puyol playing as a regular CB next season, he looked fallible on numerous occasions last season but people were more happy to lay the blame on Pique's door (though Pique did mess up too). He is 34 and has a major recurring knee injury. We shouldn't rely on him as a regular IMO.

He was the one who stood out for me last year in defense,just based on a few odd performances we cannot decide what kind of a season he had.

 

[SeloBarca]

The whole defence was quite shaky the whole season, when Pique for various reasons didnt play, and Abidal got injured, Puyol did his best, and quite well at that.
Yet hes not getting younger, and it might be time schooling in another CB to replace him, and nno, i dont thin Mascherano is good enough as CB, hes quite bad at reading games, and even though he has saved us from concieving some goals, he has been at fault for even more crucial goals.

 

[Cruijffista]

The whole defence was quite shaky the whole season, when Pique for various reasons didnt play, and Abidal got injured, Puyol did his best, and quite well at that.
Yet hes not getting younger, and it might be time schooling in another CB to replace him, and nno, i dont thin Mascherano is good enough as CB, hes quite bad at reading games, and even though he has saved us from concieving some goals, he has been at fault for even more crucial goals.

Mascherano has been feast or famine as a CB, at times he looks like Puyol's replacement but his positioning has given up goals in very crucial moments.

 

[barcelonista]

To be fair to Mascherano, he didn't even have a pre-season yet as a defender. He just started to play that role in April 2011 (first game at CB against Donetsk in the return leg of the CL quarter-finals if I remember correctly). That's only 13 months. For someone who just started to play this role he was immense so far since centrebacks usually need a lot of experience to reach their peak. He will have a full pre-season this summer and improve further. He makes a few mistakes but he'll get that out of his game with a bit more experience. He should also be partnered with Pique, not Puyol, as many people have already explained on this forum.

I thought we would need a new centreback during the season but now that it's over and everything is cooling down a bit, I'm realising how awesome Mascherano actually is and that we don't necessarily need one. The only CB who could immediately improve us would be Thiago Silva anyway and he's not for sale / too expensive. Kompany is also ungetable. So fuck that. Anything else wouldn't be much of an improvement over Mascherano.

 

[Barcilliant]

We need a new CB and left back. Puyol getting older, slower and more injury prone. Not everyone is Paulo Maldini. When are some of you fanboys going to realise that??

Mascherano-jury is still out on him. Was immense at times but still prone to making defensive errors. The games against Chelsea were very good examples.

Pique has been up and down this last season and his head doesnt seem to be in it. I wouldnt be surprised if his form gets even worse next season. He's too distracted by the celebriety party scene.

Alves is another who seems to lack focus at the moment but he is so fundamental to the side that we can cut him slack-for now.

So yes-with Abidal out and the others shaky we need some competitin for places in defence.

 

[estranged]

He was the one who stood out for me last year in defense,just based on a few odd performances we cannot decide what kind of a season he had.

We shouldn't mistake his huge heart, leader mentality and huge balls with him still being a 100% capable center back though. Yes he stood out on many occasions when the team needed somebody to step up and do something, that can't be forgotten....but I just never felt comfortable seeing him defending against pacy forwards, he made more mistakes last season than in recent years (06-11 he was a total beast in that sense) but I felt I saw lots of shades of the old Puyol that made clumsy mistakes last season, old age and a niggling knee injury could account for that. My point is we definitely need a center back and a left back, since Alba looks like a done deal, I wouldn't mind 2 center backs/capable defenders. Masch was a boss most of the season but got found out in bog games (Chelsea and Milan) and he doesn't have the positioning ability of a true center back but he is a total boss in a 4 man defense, as we saw in 2010/11 when he played alongside Puyol and Pique in those clasicos.

Having said all that, whose to say maybe we wouldn't need so many defensive signings if our midfield stepped up to the level of 08-11 and controlled games in such a resolute and authoritative manner that our defense would not have to deal with so much pressure.

 

[Puyol the wall]

We shouldn't mistake his huge heart, leader mentality and huge balls with him still being a 100% capable center back though. Yes he stood out on many occasions when the team needed somebody to step up and do something, that can't be forgotten....but I just never felt comfortable seeing him defending against pacy forwards, he made more mistakes last season than in recent years (06-11 he was a total beast in that sense) but I felt I saw lots of shades of the old Puyol that made clumsy mistakes last season, old age and a niggling knee injury could account for that. My point is we definitely need a center back and a left back, since Alba looks like a done deal, I wouldn't mind 2 center backs/capable defenders. Masch was a boss most of the season but got found out in bog games (Chelsea and Milan) and he doesn't have the positioning ability of a true center back but he is a total boss in a 4 man defense, as we saw in 2010/11 when he played alongside Puyol and Pique in those clasicos.

Having said all that, whose to say maybe we wouldn't need so many defensive signings if our midfield stepped up to the level of 08-11 and controlled games in such a resolute and authoritative manner that our defense would not have to deal with so much pressure.

Yup i believe that too i feel if the midfielders step up and play to their level the defense will get better.

 

[Maria]

Having said all that, whose to say maybe we wouldn't need so many defensive signings if our midfield stepped up to the level of 08-11 and controlled games in such a resolute and authoritative manner that our defense would not have to deal with so much pressure.

You are right, but even then Pique or Abidal were complete beasts..we can't relly on Messi or Xavi forever. We needed a defense exactly for moments like this, when the midfield can't deliver perfect performances(the El Clasico where we won with Ibra's goal is a perfect example of how a defender can be as decisive as a forward).

 

[FCBarca]

I just feel the team cannot go into next season without a reinforcement at CB...An aging Puyol, an inconsistent Pique, a converted CB in Mascherano and an unproven youngster in Bartra...We used to build a lot more attacks from our centerbacks and that has waned in the past season...I did like seeing Mascherano's longballs but that seemed to come later in the season

Of course, if Bartra follows in the footsteps of other cantera kids to make that jump to the first team, it would be a fantastic addition...Just seems risky to head into the season and face similar scenarios to what went down this past season with insufficient depth

I can't recall the matches where Tito coached for a suspended/injured Guardiola, does anyone remember which matches they were?...Curious about how he used subs

 

[Puyol the wall]

You are right, but even then Pique or Abidal were complete beasts..we can't relly on Messi or Xavi forever. We needed a defense exactly for moments like this, when the midfield can't deliver perfect performances(the El Clasico where we won with Ibra's goal is a perfect example of how a defender can be as decisive as a forward).

You are right Maria but can you tell me a player better than what we have in defense who comes at a good price that we can afford and can play football like the ones we have now.