Gerard Piqué

[Ghostmaster]

But with whom would you replace him? Tito wanted Thiago Silva, Silva isn't leaving PSG, Tito wanted Marquinhos, PSG bought him, Luiz also not going anywhere, top teams are not keen on selling their best defenders unless the price is crazy. We promoted Bartra so we would have La Masia defender, but he is not living up to expectations... So who then?

 

[Theconomist]

But with whom would you replace him? Tito wanted Thiago Silva, Silva isn't leaving PSG, Tito wanted Marquinhos, PSG bought him, Luiz also not going anywhere, top teams are not keen on selling their best defenders unless the price is crazy. We promoted Bartra so we would have La Masia defender, but he is not living up to expectations... So who then?

I hope no one brings up Balanta

on another hand, I think Mangala could be doable but he'd cost a bucket of money.

 

[Gascav]

But with whom would you replace him? Tito wanted Thiago Silva, Silva isn't leaving PSG, Tito wanted Marquinhos, PSG bought him, Luiz also not going anywhere, top teams are not keen on selling their best defenders unless the price is crazy. We promoted Bartra so we would have La Masia defender, but he is not living up to expectations... So who then?

Kompany, benatia, garay, mangala. There are many defenders. I dont want pique to be replaced. I want him to be chsllenged by a good defender and benched sometimes. He is too comfortable

 

[Gascav]

I hope no one brings up Balanta

on another hand, I think Mangala could be doable but he'd cost a bucket of money.

I hope so too. Unless we want to make him a defensive minded left back!

 

[The Observer]

I'd replace him with Hummels and go for Benatia to partner him. Both would be doable if Barcelona were aggressive and serious in their pursuit. Would cost € 80M probably but it would be worth it as both are fairly young (25 and 26), fairly complete and Barca compatible. The main problem would be to sell Pique to recoup some of the money. Frankly, I can't see any top club showing interest in him. Manchester United wouldn't take him back, Pep is the coach who sent a private detective agency on his ass to screen his off-the-pitch activities so he won't bother with him again, Real Madrid have Varane and Ramos who are superior and Pique isn't exactly popular in Madrid, Mourinho doesn't rate David Luiz so why would he rate Pique. Maybe PSG would show interest. Dunno. They could really do with the marketabily of his wife's ass in their quest to become a bigger club.

Obviously only a dream scenario. We'll buy some young, unproven player like Fabian Schär or Balanta, partner him with Pique who can't lead a backline and expect the defense to improve tenfold suddenly. As if those rumoured names would be a major improvent over Mascherano except in the air.

 

[Ode to Django]

Those posted stats are ridiculously meaningless. For instance it means feck all to make as many tackles as possible for a centerback. Positioning yourself in a way that you cut out passing lanes so you don't even have to get into a tackle is a far greater accomplishment than resorting to a tackle. Unfortunately positioning can't be quantified via Whoscored, yet it's the most important ability for a defender. It doesn't surprise me at all that Thiago Silva who has the best reading of the game has the lowest tackling rate whereas Ramos who charges into everything like a headless chicken has the highest.

I pitty the new habit in football forums to post Whoscored statistics and use it as an argument: "Pique has 0.456774 intercepted offside sliding tackles per game so he is better than Benatia who only has 0.38506."

Whoscored has a completely random algorithm anyway. I could make my own.

^

 

[Sasuke85]

Don't know why you guys still try desperately to defend Pique despite all his terrible mistakes. Some even compare him with Thiago Silva

 

[Neymessi]

Some even compare him with Thiago Silva

Nobody does that.

 

[CatalinR10]

 

[Semi-Neutral]

Positioning yourself in a way that you cut out passing lanes so you don't even have to get into a tackle is a far greater accomplishment than resorting to a tackle. Unfortunately positioning can't be quantified via Whoscored

Interceptions? Offsides won? Not to mention I'm pretty sure tackles only count if you win the ball, so why does it matter how you win it as long as you do it?

also no need to even go into them, just watch a few games of barca and a few games of other teams and compare pique to another defender, watch how many blunders and mistakes both make, then come back and we can all have a nice chat about how Pique is nothing but an average defender.
in b4 pique is good but its the other defenders that let him down and leave him alone and make him do blunders

As I've been saying since the start of this argument, I do watch other teams and games, and I do think that Pique is one of the better center-backs out there. Just because a player makes one or two more blunders than another doesn't automatically make him a worse player...

 

[The Observer]

Interceptions? Offsides won? Not to mention I'm pretty sure tackles only count if you win the ball, so why does it matter how you win it as long as you do it?

Stop this nonsense. With your way of "analysing" centerbacks Mascherano is the best centerback in the world by a distance as he is averaging 3.5 tackles per game (more than anyone else on your list by far, 3.5 times more than T. Silva) and 2.9 interceptions per game (also higher than anyone else on your list).

Your statistics don't even take into account that all those players play in different leagues, for different teams with different styles, against different teams that set up differently. How can you even compare the amount of interceptions Dante makes in Bundesliga at Bayern who are averaging > 70 % possession and press high up the pitch and cut out most of the danger before it reaches the backline with the amount of interceptions Cahill makes in the Premier League playing for Chelsea? A team sitting deep, playing on the counter and playing a completely different style of defense. Does the average Premier League player attempt the same quality of throughballs as the average Bundesliga player? Do your statistics take into account the quality of each individual tackle? Obviously not every tackle has the same quality. And so on and so forth.

According to Whoscored Thiago Alcantara is now a better dribbler and better passer than Messi.

Just ... stop it.

 

[Gascav]

Interceptions? Offsides won? Not to mention I'm pretty sure tackles only count if you win the ball, so why does it matter how you win it as long as you do it?



As I've been saying since the start of this argument, I do watch other teams and games, and I do think that Pique is one of the better center-backs out there. Just because a player makes one or two more blunders than another doesn't automatically make him a worse player...

I'm sorry but i think you gotta get your act together, you are not making any sense at all!!

 

[FiReFTW]

According to Whoscored Thiago Alcantara is now a better dribbler and better passer than Messi.

But he is ! Thiago Alcantara, best player that ever played the game of football, the undisputed king of the game, Messi who?

But now seriously, Pique is average at best, he would probably look even a bit better in a different team but in Barca who play high up the pitch you need speed in ur backline ( which Pique very much lacks ). We also need jumping because we lack ALOT in that department ( he lacks that aswell ).

We need to make serious positive changes in our defence (changes we need for a long time now) or this era of Barca as the giant of europe will be officialy over very soon.

How can anyone deny the problems in defence, lets look at goals against in La Liga in the past 5 seasons ( tho im not a fan of making such comparisons as again more factors come into play, but still it does show some kind of picture )

2010 - 24
2011 - 21
2012 - 32
2013 - 40
2014 - 20 ( still 13 matches to go )

And mind you, Valdes has been in the form of his life this season, saving us countless times at the start of the season.

Also according to whoscored : Mascherano, Alves, Busquets, Montoya, Bartra, Song, Adriano... are all ahead of Pique in Interceptions and Tackles. Lets put Montoya and Adriano as our CB's, according to whoscored they are great !

 

[Ghostmaster]

Kompany, benatia, garay, mangala. There are many defenders. I dont want pique to be replaced. I want him to be chsllenged by a good defender and benched sometimes. He is too comfortable

City won't sell Kompany, that's for sure and Garay wasn't even good enough for Real, I don't know about Benatia and Mangala, never seen them play, but are world class? Neither of them played CL nor they have a lot of international experience, so they are not tested in big matches and could become another flops like Chigrinskiy was.

 

[zanela]

Some splendid posting by The Observer (not just on here).

The excuses given for Pique, so far: Shakira, CB partner, Alves, Alba, Valdes, Busquets, Referee, pitch conditions, weather .....I'm sure as we go along, there will more additions to that list.

And there are some who are lauding him for having a "good season". Talk about lowering standards. A club of this stature demands consistency, and absolute commitment. Piqué offers neither. That he required Pep and Puyol to discipline him, then be outshone by a converted CB, currently hoping a new acquisition baby-sits him, is all one needs to know about Piqué the defender. His game lacks tact or any sense of discretion. Even worse, is when he runs his mouth after a defeat. Neither his game nor personality is inspiring.
There is a notion that he's God's gift to Barca, and there isn't anyone who could 've done better. I don't see why with similar endless opportunities, and backing Piqué received, a defender with sound fundamentals, and heart wouldn't 've delivered or even proved better. Its not like there is any one particular trait of Piqué that actually stands out. He's no leader, organiser, or displays an impeccable game reading, not a clean tackler, or even potent in the air. As a pure defender, he's average. Yes, he can make those diagonal passes, but so can mascherano, and better. Some culés are just way too sentimental regarding some Barca players, and fail to admit their failings even if its blatantly evident.

I find semi-neutral's fascination for mediocre players, quite bizarre. Player in the avatar not included, though that's one punchable face I've seen of Iker.