Gerard Piqué

[karthik]

kind of sucks for thiago don't u think? thiago outshines everyone in preseason, guides his national team to the under 21 world cup, has the whole world signing his praises, and he gets rewarded by.....having to compete with fabregas.

fontas doesn't go to the world cup, hasn't really impressed in preseason, but he gets to be youth team CB cover for the best team on the planet.

if i was thiago, i'd be pretty pissed!

True indeed it might be a pushback for the lad considering he is on the brink of first team action. But he isnt he promoted, already?. There is a difference between Fontas and Thiago with respect to the play time they might be getting this season because Fontas's contract is only till the summer of 2012 unlike Thiago's whose contract runs till 2015. Let us not forget the fact that Thiago is a boy and just 20. The expectations and hype on the lad is already huge and Pep is trying his best to protect him and make him the player he will become in the near future.

 

[karthik]

I like Maxi, I really do. But I think he's not good enough anymore and it's not worth it to have him around. Not every veteran is uncle Sylvinho!!

He is not that old either Estel

 

[Aryagorn]

He is not that old either Estel

yeah. But that's why it would be all the more trouble if he has to sit of matches frequently

 

[karthik]

i should hope he knows what he wants more than us. but the point is that if all arguments boil down to "well pep said so so it must be" then what's the point of discussing anything? let's just shut this forum down between may and september and only discuss day to day events and not discuss anything speculative. pep thinks that we don't need a defender, i along with several other people here disagree. of course us disagreeing doesn't mean that all of a sudden barca is going to buy someone but i would hope that people can come up with better arguements than "oh we don't need a defender,and that's the bottom line, because pep guardiola said so!". what has he become pep 3:16 or something?

Discussing would be better than throwing darts at the Mister

Honestly, if you do not think he is not Pep 3:16, just look back at the Ibra, Etoo cases. For this team he is the fucking master. Puto Amo.

Also the point is how impatient have we fans become asking for more, when we actually are in a situation which many clubs would dream to become.

This coach cares more for the success of this team than anyone else out there. We can discuss about his shortcomings but going bonkers over it is something unnecessary cuz we know that Pep is too intelligent to repeat his mistakes

 

[karthik]

yeah. But that's why it would be all the more trouble if he has to sit of matches frequently

Doors will be always open for the players who tend to create trouble for barca from the inside macha and Im sure there is a whole world out there who are ready to take that spot. Hopefully Max is not going to trouble and Pep knows Mino is a fatassbastard

 

[adil_909]

Discussing would be better than throwing darts at the Mister

Honestly, if you do not think he is not Pep 3:16, just look back at the Ibra, Etoo cases. For this team he is the fucking master. Puto Amo.

Also the point is how impatient have we fans become asking for more, when we actually are in a situation which many clubs would dream to become.

This coach cares more for the success of this team than anyone else out there. We can discuss about his shortcomings but going bonkers over it is something unnecessary cuz we know that Pep is too intelligent to repeat his mistakes

i'm not denying he won't repeat his mistake. but failing to sign a defender is not the same as signing ibra. so it's not repeating the same mistake as much as making a new mistake, and like you have said, he's not God, he can make mistakes. but yes, whatever we discuss makes no difference to who pep buys or does not buy so if everything is about "well pep doesn't like it so forget it" then there's no point discussing things. we should be able to discuss without using the arguments that whatever pep says goes, because that's pretty obvious, none of us have any real power about what happens, but if we're going to discuss things, then we should be able to do it without going there otherwise these discussions are even more pointless than they seem.

 

[Metaphysical]

let's just take Puyol out of the equation altogether.

Piqué can play CB (and without Puyol, too. I don't recall Puyol playing in the 2nd leg vs. RM or in the CL Final, and Piqué was great in both).

Mascherano can play CB.

Abidal can play CB.

all three to a VERY high level, as we witnessed last season. so if we have 3 players who can play CB to a VERY high level, and then Puyol who is shit-hot when he's fit, please tell me why we'd sign a CB? especially as we have Busquets, Bartra and Fontas available as well, who can do a decent job in that position as we've also seen before.

I agree that we'll need a CB in a year or so, because Bilal and Puyol aren't getting younger, but we don't need to sign one now only to make the poor guy "do a Caceres" throughout the season when Piqué isn't suffering from a minor niggle. do you all remember how butthurt Nolan was over that whole thing? do we want to put him through that again? I know I don't. I like Nolan.

in both our CL winning seasons under Pep, we've had defensive injury problems, but have succeeded anyway based on the strength (and versatility) of our midfield. the one season we didn't win the CL under Pep? it was our midfield weakness that slowed us down, made us easier to deal with.

if Mascherano wasn't great at CB, I'd agree we'd have a serious problem. but he is. so we don't.

 

[La Furia]

Mascherano can play CB.

But he is much better as a DM.

Yes it's great to know we can cope with injuries because of him, but assuming he's going to have to play in the back frequently before the season even begins is well, dumb.

 

[El Gato]

let's just take Puyol out of the equation altogether.

Piqué can play CB (and without Puyol, too. I don't recall Puyol playing in the 2nd leg vs. RM or in the CL Final, and Piqué was great in both).

Mascherano can play CB.

Abidal can play CB.

all three to a VERY high level, as we witnessed last season. so if we have 3 players who can play CB to a VERY high level, and then Puyol who is shit-hot when he's fit, please tell me why we'd sign a CB? especially as we have Busquets, Bartra and Fontas available as well, who can do a decent job in that position as we've also seen before.

I agree that we'll need a CB in a year or so, because Bilal and Puyol aren't getting younger, but we don't need to sign one now only to make the poor guy "do a Caceres" throughout the season when Piqué isn't suffering from a minor niggle. do you all remember how butthurt Nolan was over that whole thing? do we want to put him through that again? I know I don't. I like Nolan.

in both our CL winning seasons under Pep, we've had defensive injury problems, but have succeeded anyway based on the strength (and versatility) of our midfield. the one season we didn't win the CL under Pep? it was our midfield weakness that slowed us down, made us easier to deal with.

if Mascherano wasn't great at CB, I'd agree we'd have a serious problem. but he is. so we don't.

Not fully agreeing with this.

Pique and Abidal connection in the center was quite dodgy and caught up several brain farts eg. Arsenal at Emirates. It's not a perfect solution to the problem, but then again as long as Masch and Busi are fit, you don't have that much of a problem.

The thing is mostly about Barca having a stable pair of CBs which would result in fewer goals being conceded and right now it looks like it's about surviving with what you've got.

Again, not hugely a problem, but defo not a comfortable situation to be in.

(especially if Cesc saga doesn't actually end)

 

[Chainsaw]

Yep starting the season with 2 proper CBs for 2 CB spots make perfect sense! Oh and one of them is out due to injury right now, so a LB has to move to CB to fill his place, cause the other available CB has just promoted from the B-team! And what if the LB one gets injured?! Yes we have 2 DMs who could play as a CB!!

Wondering how the Cesc disciples ain't that precise about the midfield options the way they are about the defence!

 

[Metaphysical]

Mascherano can play CB.

But he is much better as a DM.

indeed.

but he's the backup DM, so him being able to cover more than one position makes him very useful.

Yes it's great to know we can cope with injuries because of him, but assuming he's going to have to play in the back frequently before the season even begins is well, dumb.

why is it dumb to make use of talent available to you? the whole point of him being able to cover CB when we have injuries is that when we have injuries, he can cover CB! and as we have injuries right now, he'll cover CB! jesus, man, it's not complicated.

Not fully agreeing with this.

Pique and Abidal connection in the center was quite dodgy and caught up several brain farts eg. Arsenal at Emirates. It's not a perfect solution to the problem, but then again as long as Masch and Busi are fit, you don't have that much of a problem.

Piqué/Bilal was our CB pairing for the majority of last season and they did a sterling job on many an occasion. and what brainfarts are you talking about at the Emirates? that was Valdés fuckup to let RVP's shot in at the near post. unless you mean the second goal, which was poor defending from everyone concerned, and not really indicative of anything.

The thing is mostly about Barca having a stable pair of CBs which would result in fewer goals being conceded and right now it looks like it's about surviving with what you've got.

we defend with the ball.

midfield is key.

again:
healthy midfield + defensive injury problems = Lliga + CL won
midfield injury problems + healthy defence = Lliga won

 

[El Gato]

Piqué/Bilal was our CB pairing for the majority of last season and they did a sterling job on many an occasion. and what brainfarts are you talking about at the Emirates? that was Valdés fuckup to let RVP's shot in at the near post. unless you mean the second goal, which was poor defending from everyone concerned, and not really indicative of anything.

we defend with the ball.

midfield is key.

again:
healthy midfield + defensive injury problems = Lliga + CL won
midfield injury problems + healthy defence = Lliga won

Pique + Abidal started to be a regular pairing ever since Puyol got injured in mid-January. The scores weren't brilliant, play was often dodgy and it's exactly that time when Pique was having a fuckup after fuckup against Bilbao (if I remember well) and whoever else. Abi did his job for a majority of time as a CB, but Pique was different. He isn't a reliable tool without Puyi and unless he changes that then stability at the back will be a concern since the most important players to your system are getting older (that is Puyi, Xavi, Abi, even Alves but he has more seasons to go than them).

About those Emirates brain farts, generally a very average showing from Pique and Abi as a unit, but Valdes fuckup and Maxwell's idiocy didn't help.

Barca does defend with the ball, but then again, when Jan-Feb-Mar period comes by defensive stability becomes more important since not everyone has the fitness (and with the strikes delaying the fixtures which will probably cause more games in midweek) to contain possession at all times.

And quite honestly I believe this season will be different for Barca than the others, for whatever reason, whether it's Cesc or injuries.

 

[Metaphysical]

Pique + Abidal started to be a regular pairing ever since Puyol got injured in mid-January. The scores weren't brilliant, play was often dodgy and it's exactly that time when Pique was having a fuckup after fuckup against Bilbao (if I remember well) and whoever else. Abi did his job for a majority of time as a CB, but Pique was different. He isn't a reliable tool without Puyi and unless he changes that then stability at the back will be a concern since the most important players to your system are getting older (that is Puyi, Xavi, Abi, even Alves but he has more seasons to go than them).

Piqué didn't play that well last season (he didn't play BADLY), whoever his partner was, until Pep made the comments about how he'd only stay on if the players continued to show him the same hunger and drive they have shown in season's past. and that happened in Jan/Feb, and Piqué's form picked up, to the point where he was downright flawless in April and May, again, regardless of opponent.

the most important players to our system are Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and Busquets. and we've taken steps this summer (signing Cesc) to ensure we'll be in a good position to transition away from Xavi's reign. Dani is very important too, but he's supremely fit so there's no worry about him, not for a while yet.

Abidal isn't crucial beyond being a very good defender. we can and will replace him.

Puyol isn't crucial to the system, but he is fundamentally crucial to our strength of performance. I don't know that we'll be able to replace him at all. Coates could give us the heroic defending, but could he be a unifying force? we have some excellent young defenders coming through La Masia, but will they have the balls that Puyi does? it's very hard to say. we'll definitely lose some bite, some edge, when Puyol retires. I think that is inescapable. we just have to hope that we can sign/promote defenders which enable us to keep Puyi on a limited schedule, thus extending his career and his influence at the club.

Barca does defend with the ball, but then again, when Jan-Feb-Mar period comes by defensive stability becomes more important since not everyone has the fitness (and with the strikes delaying the fixtures which will probably cause more games in midweek) to contain possession at all times.

which is why we've reinforced the midfield so that doesn't happen!

Xavi + Iniesta + Cesc + Thiago means, barring a horrific injury crisis, we should always have a fit and fresh midfield.

 

[El Gato]

Yeah, and I think that injuries can infact be a factor with Barca more often than not. With only 1, maybe 2 players out of your crucial 4 being able to go a lengthy period with no injuries doesn't really help. Cesc isn't a tank either, but with the amount of time he will get starting off at Barca early on he will be ok.

After all how many players of your squad are Messi-esque? Not a lot. But then again, Cesc balances your squad out even more fitness-wise.

This season will be different, but we are yet to see by what means.

 

[Myrmecophile]

He's available for Sunday.