İlkay Gündoğan

[Jombi]

Say we buy Kovacic as a starter....That is Kovacic, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta and Rafinha....then Gundogan/Alan/Granit.....? All three of those players will want to START. Not be rotation players or sit around waiting for one of the starters to get hurt.

Same with all those young strikers I mentioned....it's just not realistic. They know they can start and get high wages at most major teams around the world.

The biggest mistake we have made is "fixing" things when they are not broken. We win the CL in Pep's first season....we trade Eto'o and bring in Ibra....We win the CL with MVP.....We buy Sanchez, a young talent who WANTS TO START immediately and Cesc who was also a young STARTER who never even played in our midfield and was forced into our attack, fucking everything up.

We are having a fantastic season and our players are playing very well together. Honestly our biggest weakness has been Iniesta. He has been declining for years now and he isn't best suited for the way Lucho has designed the LM position for us. The only other position needing reinforcement immediately is RB, and after the GREAT season (didn't start too great though) Alves had for us, and him staying a little longer....we have time to make sure we buy the right player to replace him.

Kovacic, Allan, Gundogan, Xhaka, these players complement our team and give us depth and alternatives, they are not superstar "cracks" that will cost an arm and a leg and demand to start every game like Ibra, Cesc or Neymar (Cesc always played in the midfield btw, except the few games Messi was injured). Pogba btw is a different story, he would come as an expensive superstar and will be forced to play every game and it can be very bad. Besides, look how often Lucho rests Rakitic this season. We dont have a proper replacement for him when Xavi leaves. That wont change even if Kovacic are bought. Rafinha? I dont know, I dont think he is good enough tbh, but who knows, I guess he'll stay.

The same with attack, we need some depth up there, and competition cant hurt either. What exactly do we do if all three superstars up front are injured/suspended? Thank goodness we have avoided major injuries this season. I dont want us to play CLsemis with Sandro and Munir up front. That's why I think to buy a versatile forward is a good idea, someone who can play whenever any of MSN are out, giving them quite a lot of playing time. Felipe Anderson can play on both wings for example and Messi can be moved to the middle if Suarez is out.

 

[Co0ter]

Kovacic, Allan, Gundogan, Xhaka, these players complement our team and give us depth and alternatives, they are not superstar "cracks" that will cost an arm and a leg and demand to start every game like Ibra, Cesc or Neymar (Cesc always played in the midfield btw, except the few games Messi was injured). Pogba btw is a different story, he would come as an expensive superstar and will be forced to play every game and it can be very bad. Besides, look how often Lucho rests Rakitic this season. We dont have a proper replacement for him when Xavi leaves. That wont change even if Kovacic are bought. Rafinha? I dont know, I dont think he is good enough tbh, but who knows, I guess he'll stay.

The same with attack, we need some depth up there, and competition cant hurt either. What exactly do we do if all three superstars up front are injured/suspended? Thank goodness we have avoided major injuries this season. I dont want us to play CLsemis with Sandro and Munir up front. That's why I think to buy a versatile forward is a good idea, someone who can play whenever any of MSN are out, giving them quite a lot of playing time. Felipe Anderson can play on both wings for example and Messi can be moved to the middle if Suarez is out.

Cesc always played in the midfield for us?!

 

[Jombi]

Cesc always played in the midfield for us?!

Yes, of course he did when Messi was fit. Messi played false 9 and Cesc in midfield.

 

[Co0ter]

How many times did Messi start as false 9 and Cesc was played alone in the midfield with just Xavi/Busquets or Iniesta/Busquets? He was repeatedly inserted in the starting line up with Xavi/Iniesta/Busquets also in the starting line up. They may have said Iniesta was on the left wing, or they maybe said that Messi was false 9....but the fact was Cesc played WAY UP the pitch and often shared the same space Messi was in....which is why Messi spent so much time dropping back into the midfield to create.

Cesc did everything except play as a standard Barcelona midfielder, or in any kind of organized system. He was thrown into a starting line up with Xavi/Iniesta/Busquets also in it and it was a mess, especially against tough opposition.

 

[Jombi]

How many times did Messi start as false 9 and Cesc was played alone in the midfield with just Xavi/Busquets or Iniesta/Busquets? He was repeatedly inserted in the starting line up with Xavi/Iniesta/Busquets also in the starting line up. They may have said Iniesta was on the left wing, or they maybe said that Messi was false 9....but the fact was Cesc played WAY UP the pitch and often shared the same space Messi was in....which is why Messi spent so much time dropping back into the midfield to create.

Cesc did everything except play as a standard Barcelona midfielder, or in any kind of organized system. He was thrown into a starting line up with Xavi/Iniesta/Busquets also in it and it was a mess, especially against tough opposition.

When Iniesta played, Iniesta was played on the left, just like he was for Spain by Del Bosque. Of course Messi played false 9. Messi scored a gazillion goals in the years Cesc played in midfield for us. More goals than ever in fact. I didnt like the Cesc purchase either, I dont think he was technically good enough for us, as he has too much EPL in him, but he did play in midfield for us, Messi did not.

But this is the Gundogan thread so lets get back to that topic.

 

[Irish_Cules]

People who are writing him off as not being the same player as he used to be are jumping to conclusions far too quickly. He is only 24 years old and if he has no more serious injury problems for a while then there is no reason why he cant regain his form. Lets remember he has returned to a Dortmund side that has had a disastrous season. Hardly anyone has seriously impressed for them this season. Its hard to gain any sort of consistent form in a team that is that low on confidence. If he was struggling in a team that was generally playing really well and having a good season then there would be more of a reason for concern. I'm fairly confident that he'll do well next season wherever he is playing. A good pre-season and a fresh challenge (not necessarily a new club, just being involved in a season that isn't as doomed as this past Dortmund season has been) will lay a solid foundation for him to get back to his best.

 

[Frodo_FCB]

Barcelona are still interested in Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (24). Could join in summer and only train or go on loan until Jan. [as]

 

[mark1nhu]

Many laughed at Rakitic signing and now many others are doing the same with Gundogan.

I hope we sign him and he prove them wrong.

He is young, talented and smart. He is also healthy know and close to be fully fit.

He just need a proper team where every cog works perfectly in the machine, different from that messy Dortmund.

He is a perfect fit for us.

 

[Bran the Greenseer]

Many laughed at Rakitic signing and now many others are doing the same with Gundogan.

I hope we sign him and he prove them wrong.

He is young, talented and smart. He is also healthy know and close to be fully fit.

He just need a proper team where every cog works perfectly in the machine, different from that messy Dortmund.

He is a perfect fit for us.

Everyone said Raki would be rotational to keep Xavi fresh and ended up being our most pivotal signing imo even more so than Suarez.

 

[Gasgas]

And people are still looking for a prime xavi , prime iniesta incarnates while we dont even use a style that fits players in those moulds

 

[kozza]

He has reached a decent level this season but still far from his best, and not good enough for Barça, nothing guarantees he will reach again his excellent level in 2012.

 

[Vegeta]

Yeah, but at his current level he is fine as a rotational player. Who else is available?

 

[Jombi]

The main attraction of Gundogan is that his contract expires so he will be much cheaper than normal, and he is not CL tied either.

 

[raskolnikov]

Cheap gündogan who has the style most similair to Xavi at this point is the best option. We are still strong with Msn upfront with Rakitic/Iniesta/Gündogan/Rafinha behind it.
We can easily remain competetive in la liga and the cl with that midfield/attack for a few years and then the whole market might have changed again with different players.
Maybe even youth stepping up, Messi dropping back, who can tell?

All we know for sure is that at this moment 18m (e.g.) Gündogan is the most realistic best option we got, Pogba will cost 100+ mil and might not even fit us, Koke is 60+ mil and doesnt want to leave Atleti, Veratti is psg bound and 50+ mil.
At best he will regain form and be great, at worst he will be like current Xavi or even if that totally fails he would still be cheaper than Vermaelen, definitely worth the risk.
Its best to use the money in a smarter way, like reduce debt for example, no need to go all galactico like Real Madrid spending tax payers money.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Many laughed at Rakitic signing and now many others are doing the same with Gundogan.

I hope we sign him and he prove them wrong.

He is young, talented and smart. He is also healthy know and close to be fully fit.

He just need a proper team where every cog works perfectly in the machine, different from that messy Dortmund.

He is a perfect fit for us.

Let's not go to the "Many laughed" route .many laughed at Neymar and his price tag just like Pogba.does this mean we have to buy Pogba over Gundogan? . this argument can be made about any player that some of us don't like
Also Rakitic was coming from one of his seasons in his career .I used to like Schalke during 05-09 and I watched Rakitic from the beginning and he is a player who kept improving every year until he reached gr8 level in his last season with Sevilla
Gundogan is talented and relatively young ,but the question marks about his level after his injuries are legit . There is a good chance he can answer the critics .and there is also a chance he never be the player he was b4 injury