Ibrahim Afellay

[baconstrips]

We had Bojan and Jeffren and Afellay as subs last season and now we have Alexis and Afellay. That's one less forward. If anything, he'll play more than last year. He's not really competing with Cesc despite him possibly playing false nine because Messi almost play every minute of every game. He's competing with Villa and Pedro (and Alexis), and those players are always the first to get subbed out by Pep. Sure he won't start often but he'll play as a sub almost every game.

Pep could use Iniesta more as a winger and put Cesc in the midfield-spot as well, so in some way, signing Cesc has brought in another forward.

 

[Aryagorn]

We had Bojan and Jeffren and Afellay as subs last season and now we have Alexis and Afellay. That's one less forward. If anything, he'll play more than last year. He's not really competing with Cesc despite him possibly playing false nine because Messi almost play every minute of every game. He's competing with Villa and Pedro (and Alexis), and those players are always the first to get subbed out by Pep. Sure he won't start often but he'll play as a sub almost every game.

Jeffren was injured all the time and Bojan was busy crying all season... So not much competition from them anyway

We have to consider another development though... Compared to last season we now have two more wc mid fielders in our team, Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara. So it means Iniesta will have to ply some of his time playing as a forward. So yeah Afellay does have his chances reduced

 

[JonM]

Or Pep could just rest Iniesta instead of playing him as a winger just for the sake of putting him on the pitch. And even if he plays, one or two of the three forwards will get subbed out at some point and Afellay will come in.

 

[kaisers0ze]

Jeffren was injured all the time and Bojan was busy crying all season... So not much competition from them anyway

We have to consider another development though... Compared to last season we now have two more wc mid fielders in our team, Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara. So it means Iniesta will have to ply some of his time playing as a forward. So yeah Afellay does have his chances reduced

Hmm i dont think thiago is going to be a starter right away. Yes he had a great pre-season...but i dont think Iniesta is going to be pushed to the forward position by him cause of that.

 

[Aryagorn]

Or Pep could just rest Iniesta instead of playing him as a winger just for the sake of putting him on the pitch. And even if he plays, one or two of the three forwards will get subbed out at some point and Afellay will come in.

That's paper talk man, really.
Sure Afellay will get to play a few minutes here and there, but that's definitely not enough for such a high profile player. It's not even fair.

 

[JonM]

But is he really as high profile as we make him to be? And does he think he is?

The question is does he prefer to be the super sub at FC Barcelona or a starter on a lesser team. We don't know the answer. If it's option 2, then yeah we should sell him because he'll probably never be a first choice starter here.

 

[Aryagorn]

But is he really as high profile as we make him to be? And does he think he is?

The question is does he prefer to be the super sub at FC Barcelona or a starter on a lesser team. We don't know the answer. If it's option 2, then yeah we should sell him because he'll probably never be a first choice starter here.

People would kill to be the super-sub for this Barca... But he isn't that too. Cesc, Sanchez and Thiago; they are

 

[JonM]

I don't agree with that.

Pep has four players for three starting spots at the front: Messi, Pedro, Villa and Alexis. Let's say he goes with Messi, Pedro and Alexis. Then I don't think Villa will come in as a sub. That would go against the whole point of rotation and resting players. Afellay is still the super-sub at the front.

 

[Aasim]

I'm pretty sure that if he doesn't cement himself as a viable option to back up MVPA then we will see Cuenca, Kiko and Deulofeu get minutes ahead of him.

He's got this season to impress otherwise he could be off next summer. Hopefully he doesn't become a Hleb!

 

[luury]

Don't you realise the difference between a La Masia graduate and a starter of world's no.1 national team!? For the former you give chances once in a while, for the latter you play him regularly!!

I understand that Netherland is no1 NT in their ranking table, but please ... those rankings are a big joke and the real no1 NT has been Spain for a long time now

About Affelay ... I really like the guy and he has different style, but really can't see him getting almost any playing time unfortunately and that is not fair for him. But as long as he himself doesn't want to leave then it is OK I guess

 

[LaMessiah]

That's paper talk man, really.
Sure Afellay will get to play a few minutes here and there, but that's definitely not enough for such a high profile player. It's not even fair.

High profile? we bought him for 3M euros...

 

[Galning]

He won't become a new Hleb, we bought him for what 3M?

 

[Hete BLKSM]

But is he really as high profile as we make him to be? And does he think he is?

The question is does he prefer to be the super sub at FC Barcelona or a starter on a lesser team. We don't know the answer. If it's option 2, then yeah we should sell him because he'll probably never be a first choice starter here.

Dutch interviewers have asked him about this numerous times and everytime he replied the same. He'd rather play 5 minutes for Barça than a full 90 for any other team. With Sánchez and Fàbregas in the team his changes of getting playing time have diminished even further, so maybe his opinion might have changed a little. But everything he said in the past points to him being absolutely fine with being a super sub.

 

[Aryagorn]

High profile? we bought him for 3M euros...

The transfer fee doesn't always reflect the quality of the player... We got Lucho for free!!

 

[Aryagorn]

Dutch interviewers have asked him about this numerous times and everytime he replied the same. He'd rather play 5 minutes for Barça than a full 90 for any other team. With Sánchez and Fàbregas in the team his changes of getting playing time have diminished even further, so maybe his opinion might have changed a little. But everything he said in the past points to him being absolutely fine with being a super sub.

Sure. Sure he said that... But after that there's a lot of change in the scenario. We brought in two wc players who are set to steal his minutes(when compared to that scenario where he was our super sub) and Thiago has developed himself into a fan favourite!!
So his mind set is surely going to change... if not now, definitely a while later!!

I know I might be over reacting, but I think we need a defender more than we need Afellay. Just an opinion