I honestly don't get some people on here. I have never quite understood the vilification of Pique from last season. While I agree that he did have some mental lapses of concentration and wasn't as sharp as he usually was last year, that by no means qualifies him as shit. Pique is EASILY one of the best CBs in the world. As a CB, no one in the planet (yes including everyone's beloved Kompany that some people delusionally believe Barca should get) has better technique than Pique. His ability and composure on the ball is second to no one, as is his ability to move the ball from the defense to the midfield smoothly and efficiently.This, along with his towering height and excellent ability to read the game and intercept with a well timed tackle is why he will be the best defender in the world once he hits his peak. (he is already top 5 imo)
You have to take it with a pinch of salt. It's common language use on forums (and not only there), for example:
Player performs great: Then he's either god himself or, in other cases, "just" fuckin awesome.
Player performs sub-par (always measured by past performances which have no binding at all ): "He' s shit/full of shit !", "Sell him!", always connected with a player to buy in a (not necessarily) similar position who's either - at least according to the author - "god" or "fuckin awesome"
Also, people in general have a tendency to exaggerate; for example:
A certain player makes 100 passes while completing 85 of them: "He can't get anything straight !" "His passing is shit !", optionally connected with praising another player (with a tendency to EPL players) who completed 86 out of 100 passes and therefore is either "god" or "fuckin awesome". With Piqué, it's a special case, because Shakira is apparently the reason for his "shit/full of shit" performances, thereby willfully ignoring the fact that he's still seen as one of the best, if not the best CB the world has to offer in professional circles.
Really, dont take such statements serious or you won't be able to read more than three pages in the players section without a heartattack or your head going boom.
Let me be perfectly clear: our best starting CB pair is Pique-Puyol. Period. If we do buy anyone this summer (which I really don't think we need to), they should be the fourth option behind Pique, Puyol and Mascherano. In my ideal world next season, Pique and Puyol will start all of our most important games (El Clasico, competitive CL games, etc.) and Mascherano will fill in for Puyol when he needs a rest. Barta deserves the chance to be able to step up and truly show his quality should either Pique, Puyol or Mascherano go down due to injury or suspension. Keep in mind, we hopefully will have Abidal back for the second half of the season (read online that he wants to play before the end of the year, I think late January-early February is more realistic) who could be our deputy defender and come in if we need him. With Abidal and Barta backing up a three man rotation between Pique, Puyol and Mascherano, we shouldn't have any defense problems this year.
Trust in our players, particularly Puyol, Pique and Barta. They are born and raised in our system: Puyol is our Maldini, Pique is our Kompany, Barta can be as great as Puyol and Pique if we give him a real chance.
Am I right?
I partially agree, but I don't think Abi will be back to his former self by the beginning of the next year and is therefore a backup option only. We'll definitely need someone to amend the squad, preferably a "natural" CB and not a converted DM, who's at least halfway on par with Masch. If Puyol and Pique get injured next season (and they will) we can say goodbye to La Liga and CL. Or do you want to see Dani, Alba, Masch/Busquets and Bartra defending set-pieces? I sure as hell don't. Look how many games developed into draws after a lead last season because of bad set-piece defending/bad defending in general, which cost us the title. Our makeshift-defense will then either have to pull over-the-top performances which means playing above their possibilities or we'll need lots of luck. I wouldn't rely on any of it.
Because of Barcas' reputation and status, it's much easier for us to lure players here than it once were and we should use this as long as it lasts. I've always opted for Chiellini, which is more of a fantasy. But someone like Hummels, Subotic, Daley Blind or Yanga-Mbiwa should be in reach for the club.
