FC Barcelona B (Barça Atlètic)

[Porque]

What do you think of Emre Demir? Didn't play the game but seems he had decent pre-season.
Also, who do you think has 1st team potential? Obviously odds are always against those kids but is there is one there?

I only saw his last friendly in the Catalan Cup and he looked good. Very poor opposition though. He was playing interior so let's see if he can be the success there that Kays Ruiz wasn't.

First team potential outside of the expected (Balde, Pablo Torre)
Chadi Riad - *
Alex Valle - ***
Marc Casado - ***
Txus - **
Ilias - ***
Estanis - *
Fabio Blanco - *

Out of 5.

Right now I don't see anyone arriving and staying, especially because of the added quality now compared to when Pedri and Gavi broke.

Casado and Valle scored higher because they are in problem positions.
Chadi there if we can have a Araujo type explosion but never really seen the big fuss with him.
Txus should be higher if he can show he has a dominating game for the B without ignoring central midfield duties
Estanis I like, Fabio I don't particularly like but he has solid numbers and will probably end a better player.

So low expectations but a fun group to watch grow this season which will tell us more in half a years time.

 

[Messi983]

2-0 win in 2nd round of Copa Catalunya against Badalona, Estanis with both goals.


Arnau Tenas; Diounkou, Chadi, Mika (?lvaro N??ez, 80'), Ndiaye; Casad?, ?lvaro (Carbonell, 61'), Txus Alba (Emre Demir, 61'); Ilias (Fabio, 71'), Roberto (Victor Barber?, 71') y Estanis.



Didn't even knew we were playing.

 

[Porque]

Nice win. Here are the highlights.

Estanis crack. He and Ilias are looking very good this pre-season. Finally B will be exciting to watch again this season.

 

[JamDav1982]

Said it before and I will bloody well say it again.

Estanis has similar playing/running style to a young CR7.

 

[Porque]

Fermin Lopez gone on loan to Linares.

One of those talents from the few games I seen that has everything technically and physically but perhaps lacks the brain.

 

[Messi983]

We're playing in the 3rd round of Copa Catalunya against San Cristobal.

Game starts in less than 10 minutes and could be watched here.

 

[Messi983]

1-0 loss, poor game.

 

[Porque]

Luismi Cruz signing for Barca Atletic on loan, with 2-3m buy option.

Don't understand the decision if it is for midfield (Txus) but then I read he can also play False 9 and right wing.

 

[Messi983]

He's 21 so I guess Marquez wanted a bit more experience for a very young team. Has played 2 games in La Liga already (granted only 11 total minutes though).

We'll probably never use buy option but doesn't hurt to have it. And also the last player we've loaned out from Sevilla for Barca B (Luis Alberto) turned out pretty good.

 

[Porque]

Well he looks talented to be fair. And no one from Sevilla ATL has been promoted by Lope so it may not be a case of him not having the required quality but him wanted to focus on a more mature squad.

Hopefully he can be another Jutgla example.

 

[Messi983]

With latest reports of Pablo staying (and most likely playing for Barca Atletic if we don't want to fully ruin his development sitting on the bench of first team) I think signing Luismi makes less sense. Unless they see him as a striker/false 9 or RW and Ilias will be used as false 9 (Marquez tried him there in preseason).

What would be your strongest possible lineup?

I think something like this.

Nil Ruiz
Nunez - Dionkou - Riad- Valle
Txus - Sanz - Emre
Blanco - Roberto - Pablo

We already have a lot of players for attacking midfield position so wouldn't surprise me if Pablo would be used as LW. Not at the start of the season though as he didn't even train with Barca Atletic yet AFAIK so unlikely he'll just go into the team. Really interested (and a bit worried tbh) how we'll handle him this season. Training with the first team and playing for BA looks good in theory but it's hard to play with a team you have no chemistry with if you don't train with them.

And reserves:

Arnau Tenas
Rosanas - Casas - Roman Vega* - N'Diaye
Casado - Carbonell - Aranda
Luismi - Ilias - Estanis

*I've read last week that Vega will travel to Barcelona this week to finalize loan deal but no news since then unless I've missed something. I assume he's seen as a replacement for Marmol who will go on loan or be sold with buy-back. The last I've heard was his negotiations with Girona have broken down a few weeks ago but there are other lower table La Liga and some Segunda teams interested.


Likes of Zacarias, Hiroki Abe and Juanda Fuentes are also there as attacking options. Could see Juanda going on loan, Zacarias should be back from injury soon and stay, not really sure what's going on with Abe though. Didn't see him playing in preseason, is he injured again or Marquez not counting on him?

Victor Barbera will probably return to Juvenil A. I wasn't too impressed with him in a few preseason games I've seen but could still see him getting minutes for BA during the season.

Then there is also a strange case of Diego Almeida who also wasn't part of the preseason. Maybe because he didn't renew his contract yet? Or Rafa just doesn't rate him.


Not really a big fan of either of "experienced" DM's Carbonell or Sanz but we'll have to go through the season with them. Casado can also play DM but from what I've seen was mostly used as CM in preseason.

Overall I think this is a talented young team with pretty good depth and also versatile players who can cover different positions in case of injuries or suspensions.

With improved depth in first team don't expect any of the players except possibly Pablo being called up by Xavi either (well, maybe for a few early round Copa games but those are played in midweek when BA doesn't play anyway) so Marquez should have a lot more time to work with a complete team than Sergi had last season.

 

[Porque]

Good post. I think this is the strongest lineup.

Nil Ruiz/Arnau
Nunez - Dionkou - Riad- Valle
Txus - Casado - Torre
Ilias - Roberto - Estanis

But I think alot of rotations and Marquez to probably add an experienced midfield starter in.

I haven't worked out if Nil is better than Arnau yet. Tenas should probably be sent on loan considering he has been in the B for a few years though, and he was LaLiga potentially (though not for us).

 

[khaled_a_d]

Moussa N'Diaye to Anderlecht

 

[Messi983]

And Marmol to Andorra.

 

[Messi983]

Luismi Cruz official, loan with buy option.