Gerard Deulofeu

[NotInHere]

He'll make it, he has the it factor that a forward needs to lead the front line of a team like Barcelona, the kind of ability hat automatically makes defenders weary of him something tello and Cuenca don't have.

Cuenca was really good when he played for the first team, I thought we had a gem in our hands, but then he got injured and it went downhill from there

Sad, he had great potential

 

[Zangash]

That's the point you keep missing. It's not that he won't get minutes at Barca, it's the fact that those minutes might actually do him more harm than good.

If he's not ready playing for Barca in front of 80,000 expectant fans it is a hard place to be learning on the job.

Have you ever tried to teach a young child how to tie their shoe? It's time consuming and frustrating how they can't understand it the way you do when it's clearly so easy to you because you've seen it done so often. It's far more frustrating to discuss how to tie a shoe with a child because they are so far behind on knowing how to tie it that there's no point even trying to argue with them, but if you see someone else who ties their shoe a different way and can even double knot in different ways than you you're able to have a logical discussion with them even if you may have differing opinions. You are that small child, and I have taught too many kids how to tie their shoes to care about helping you.

Ok

But the trick is that Barca is a very expensive business.
For example, if you have Messi worth 200 Millions, Neymar worth 100 Millions, Suarez worth 80 Millions etc, then you just "must" win trophies every Season to get good deals from sponsors and similar things.
There is no room for bad Seasons and for too many experiments.

Depends. What constitutes a "Bad" season? In 2012 we won a single trophy. Under Tito we, also, won a single trophy. Under Martino we, interestingly enough, won a single trophy. Each season we won silverware. Not as much as we'd have probably liked and certainly not in the fashion we can all say we'd prefer, but we won them. Now tell me: What is the difference between the 1 trophy we won in 2012, a season that saw Pep utilize Tello, Cuenca, Thiago, etc. on a fairly consistent basis and also in the "big games", and the 1 trophy apiece that Tito and Tata brought us while flatly refusing to use players who weren't already worth your quoted player worth.

Now, in some Seasons, like in the last Season, 1-2 points decided La Liga champion (Atletico, Barca, Real).

Now, giving 10-20 Minutes to youngsters is possible only when you have injured players and you don't have other options, or when you are winning 3:0 in the 70th or 80th Minute. Or in the cup matches, Group stage CL matches, friendlies and similar.

If the matches are tight, like 0:0, 1:0, 2:1 and similar, you can't gamble and play with youngsters in the last 10-20 Minutes.

The way you use the word "Youngsters" here is almost as if you spit it out like a venom, a word that burns as it trickles out the mouth. It sounds like you're using it as a synonym for... useless. This would imply you are saying any and all players already established are the only means we have of winning anything, but that seems rather off base, if you ask me. We lose games 1-0 because of a mistake between Pique and Mascherano and then our front line of Neymar Messi and Pedro will fail to score. Pedro can go a string of 9 matches without scoring a single goal and will be shat on relentlessly by Culers everywhere but the moment someone suggests we take him off for, say... Tello? Well, you can probably predict the reaction on your own. We aren't gambling or taking a risk by using young players who are on our team. Oftentimes our star players are simply not doing anything for us. Not some of the time, but a lot of the time. If a match is 1:0 and we are trailing because our front line of Neymar Messi and Pedro sees Neymar and Messi getting marked out while Pedro fails to beat the opposing LB a single time how should it be considered a risk to sub Deulofeu on in hopes of him creating the spark we need? This is the philosophy both of our previous two managers had and the thought of refusing to "Gamble" on a youngster is why we found ourselves preferring to lose or tie on most occasions where we found ourselves in such situations.

Further, you can't just start La Liga match with Bartra, Montoya and Deulofeu on the field, for example.
There is a huge chance that something will go wrong and that you will end a match with 1:1, for example.

Why can't you? Bartra was arguably our best defender last season. Montoya, while not anything special in particular, has a propensity towards making effort on the defense, a quality Alves lacks so much that we essentially play most of our games without a RB there at all. Deulofeu, while young, brings a dynamic and direct playstyle to the team that we have sorely lacked and poses a threat that actually requires marking, something we did not have when playing with Alexis and Pedro. There is a huge chance something goes wrong in any particular game we play. We lost to teams that got relegated last season without a single young player on the pitch. We conceded goals within seconds of each other that were all down to the mistakes our veteran players made. Is there any difference between Bartra getting beaten for the other team to score after giving a hard fight and running his ass off to make up for his mistake and Pique raising his hand in hopes of the linesman bailing him out as everyone watches the goal go in?

My point is, from 10 youngsters that we have today:
-- the 1st will be worth 0 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 2nd will be worth 0 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 3rd will be worth 2 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 4th will be worth 2 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 5th will be worth 2 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 6th will be worth 2 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 7th will be worth 3 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 8th will be worth 5 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 9th will be worth 5 Millions in 3 Years
-- the 10th will be worth 20 Millions in 3 Years

Imagine if Adnan Januzaj was from La Masia. He'd be on the B team right now and you would be saying he will be worth 0 million in 3 years, and that we're getting too hyped.

Now, people will say: Ok, even if one turns out to be a 20 Million player, that is awesome.

But the thing is that people would want to give chances to all 10 players, to see which one or two of them will develop into a 10 or 20 M player.
But let's go back to the beginning, Barca is a huge and expensive business.

You don't have too much time and opportunities to test which one out of 10 players will turn into something.
To "earn" minutes in the first team, a player needs to be:
1. a beast in younger teams
2. very good whenever he gets a chance in the first team
3. and then he needs some luck and a lot of other factors to continue showing good displays whenever he gets a chance in the first team

1. Deulofeu has been very good in the younger teams. That's why he was sent on loan at 19.
2. He has yet to receive his chance in the first team. A few 20 minute spells in friendlies with mostly B team players is not the first team, by the way.
3. His luck is having Luis Enrique as his manager, helping develop him and train him to be the player this club needs him to be.

Imo, Deulo hasn't done anything special in Everton, he hasn't earned a chance there to play for Barca in this moment.
And then, if he plays poorly/average/or if he is lacking is some crucial skills in Barca's friendlies, there isn't too much time/opportunities left for him
= and that is totally understandable

The team can't give an unlimited amount of chances to players like Deulo, Montoya, Roberto and similar if they don't deliver anything special when they play.
You can't waste Messi's, Iniesta's or Suarez's best years and lose trophies by 1-2 points because you wanted to see whether something will turn out from players like Deulo, Montoya and similar.
-- so, you can't gamble with players worth 400 or 500 Millions, to see whether one young player will be worth 0, 2 or 10 Millions

What are you proposing? That we use Neymar, Messi, and Suarez exclusively in every single game to ensure we have maximum efficiency? What if Suarez gets a cold? What if Neymar breaks his spine? Do we play Pedro? That's been tried and tested for the past 3 years now and we know it won't be effective. That'd be like refusing to gamble so you just don't buy a ticket at all. Or do you play Deulofeu, and see if he can help? I suppose this also extends to Rafinha as well. He was impressive with Celta but why should we ever consider giving him even a single minute when we have superstars like Xavi, Iniesta, and Rakatic who are all worth so much more money? After all, Barcelona is more than a club, it's a "Business", as you say.

You get 2-3-5-10 chances:
= you either have to show IMMIDIATELY that you deserve more chances
= or you will have to go on loan and be the best player there to earn yourself another chance at Barca.

He hasn't played a single game for our first team. Not. A. Single. One. I don't understand where all these chances he is ruining are coming from. You are aware he went out on loan prior to earning promotion, right? And you are aware he only went out on loan because he was too raw for the first team yet far too talented for the B team, right? He didn't go out on loan to impress us enough to consider accepting him back. He went there to develop. Bojan, Cuenca, Afellay... they went out on loan to possibly show us they deserve to come back. Do you see a difference?

Deulo hasn't done anything in Everton and is showing nothing special in Barca's preseason friendlies.

He ripped apart the defense of several BPL teams, including Arsenal and Liverpool. At 19. He isn't a 25 year old hoping to come back to the team, he's a youngster working to improve. Even in this preseason, he has been our most constant threat in front of goal, and his selfishness and tracking back are both something that I'm certain will be answered when the actual season starts.

Just a small reminder, Xavi and Messi looked much better whenever they had an opportunity with the first team.
Deulo currently looks more like another Tello than a new first team player.

The fastest way to invalidate any argument you have is to try and compare a player's ability and progression to Xavi and Messi. Gee, I wonder why Deulofeu isn't impressing us as much as two of the greatest players of all time. I dunno. He must suck I guess.

Pedro Rodriguez Ledesma is a first team player and when facing goal he is not half the danger Deulofeu is. Alexis Sanchez scored 3 UCL goals in his time here against weak teams and went the entirety of the first half of the 2012/13 season without a single goal in the league despite being a consistent starter. Cesc Fabregas was able to start in a False 9 position and do a whole lot of nothing while we lost game after game yet threw fits when he got subbed off. Don't tell me playing young players will cost us trophies, because doing what we're doing is what's costing us trophies.

 

[BBZ8800]

Why can't you? Bartra was arguably our best defender last season.

Only to fans who are blindly in love with La Masia and everything what our youngsters do.
He is still extremely average and yet has to prove will he ever be good enough for the Barca's first team.

But for the first team who wins Trophies (La Liga and Champions league), not (only) copa del rey.
For the first team which constantly slips and loses key trophies by 1-2 unlucky Goals, yes, he is good enough.

1-2 key/lucky/unlucky Goals and 1-2 points is a difference between very good and world class players (winners).

 

[linetty]

Only to fans who are blindly in love with La Masia and everything what our youngsters do.
He is still extremely average and yet has to prove will he ever be good enough for the Barca's first team.

But for the first team who wins Trophies (La Liga and Champions league), not copa del rey.
For the first team which constantly slips and loses key trophies by 1-2 unlucky Goals, yes, he is good enough.

LOL he saved our asses thousand times while midget Mascherano has been missing headers and Pique slipping under pressure

 

[BBZ8800]

LOL he saved our asses thousand times while midget Mascherano has been missing headers and Pique slipping under pressure

He lost a cup in a one man show, with a rookie mistake.

It works both ways.
Depends on how do you want it to see.

You can even say that he was equally good/bad as Pique or Masch.
It still doesn't mean that he was good .
He was good as as Cb who lost his motivation and as a guy who is not a Cb.

But still, he was weaker than those 2.

 

[linetty]

He lost a cup in a one man show, with a rookie mistake.

He scored a goal that have put us level in that game. Lost a sprint with arguably the fastest footballer on the planet while being injured.

 

[BBZ8800]

He scored a goal that have put us level in that game. Lost a sprint with arguably the fastest footballer on the planet while being injured.

He should have made a foul in the first seconds of that duel.
He would probably earn only a yellow.

That is a difference between experienced players and youngsters.
This is why you can't play youngsters against bigger teams.

People will now probably reply: But even experienced players make mistakes.
= True, but youngsters make much more mistakes.

People will then ask: But how will you get the experience for younger players if you don't play them?
= then we are back at the beginning, and the board and a coach will risk with youngsters and give them chances ONLY:
1. if the coach thinks that the player has the potential to be a great player one day
2. the coach knows that playing with youngsters will probably cost him a few points and he will sacrifice those points
(so, that the risk of losing key points is worthy)

Then, go back to our current 10 young gems, and you will understand why only 2-3 of them will get some chances, and why they won't get too many chances if they won't respond in a right way, right away.

We don't have the unlimited amount of free minutes and free points to lose (when we give the chance to youngsters).
We are the best, or one of the 2-3 best teams in the World.

 

[Behrox]

He should have made a foul in the first seconds of that duel.
He would probably earn only a yellow.

That is a difference between experienced players and youngsters.
This is why you can't play youngsters against bigger teams.

People will now probably reply: But even experienced players make mistakes.
= True, but youngsters make much more mistakes.

People will then ask: But how will you get the experience for younger players if you don't play them?
= then we are back at the beginning, and the board and a coach will risk with youngsters and give them chances ONLY:
1. if the coach thinks that the player has the potential to be a great player one day
2. the coach knows that playing with youngsters will probably cost him a few points and he will sacrifice those points

Then, go back to our current 10 young gems, and you will understand why only 2-3 of them will get some chances, and why they won't get too many chances if they won't respond in a right way, right away.

He improves every game you just don't want to see it and are extremely stubborn on some things

 

[te amo barca]

don't know why you spend your time arguing with that closet madridista - he is always critical of our players

 

[Zangash]

Only to fans who are blindly in love with La Masia and everything what our youngsters do.
He is still extremely average and yet has to prove will he ever be good enough for the Barca's first team.

But for the first team who wins Trophies (La Liga and Champions league), not (only) copa del rey.
For the first team which constantly slips and loses key trophies by 1-2 unlucky Goals, yes, he is good enough.

1-2 key/lucky/unlucky Goals and 1-2 points is a difference between very good and world class players (winners).

I spent the better part of a half hour replying to you in depth but you ignore pretty much all of it to tell me Bartra wasn't good last season.

Have a nice day my friend. Your trolling was excellent.

 

[Adversus]

In fairness it was too long to read

 

[DonAndres]

Some good, some bad. He was passing more often than not today, but it wasn't really purposeful and he was idle about it sometimes. Also was pressing more and moved back to the defensive areas but wasn't entirely consistent with it. At one moment he was dribbling 6 guys like Messi, at another he was going catatonic Walka-Walka like Messi. He seemed either mopey and in a down mood or really tired.

 

[Egert]

Luis Enrique: "Deulofeu's position is difficult? Difficult...? He's at the first team of Barça! Players should earn their place in the team"

 

[Frejsgodes]

Luis Enrique: "Deulofeu's position is difficult? Difficult...? He's at the first team of Barça! Players should earn their place in the team"

 

[Ini8]

Luis Enrique: "Deulofeu's position is difficult? Difficult...? He's at the first team of Barça! Players should earn their place in the team"

When you consider his previous comment about Deulofeu, he isn't satisfied with his defensive contribution. Lucho seems to demand much from his players. I like it.