Joan Laporta

[Barcilliant]

Bartomeu said the same thing last summer. In the end he could only push out foreigners like Suarez and Vidal (and tbh with Suarez leaving locker room became 30-40% less toxic) while all Catalan amigos have stayed. I expect the same will happen now.

Or maybe Messi will decide to leave while we'll be stuck with Pique and Busi for two more years. This would be great.

Perfectly said. Heads have to roll. Not only because it is necessary but the club has to use these "legends" as an example and show them we mean business. No more freebies and bloated salaries, no more excuses for humiliations. Perform or get kicked out.

 

[Windhook]

About time. Actually those reforms should have started after Anfield disaster, but Fartomeu and co. thought better.

 

[malvolio]

getting rid of pique and roberto this summer would still be good. they didn't provide much this season anyway, with all the injuries they had.

busquets can still do a job in most matches and is a good rotation option. only him moving to japan or something would make us release him this summer.

we won't move alba just yet.

otherwise we still have to clear out half of the squad. monumental task for laporta.

 

[Andresito]

Problem with kicking players out is that they need replacing. Oldies can be kicked out and the only thing we'll gain is not paying their salaries. So who'll come instead?

Pique - Garcia
Busi - Wijnaldum/Nico
Alba - Gaya
Neto - Inaki Pena

Not a list of new CL winners is it.

Still we have ter Stegen, Lenglet, Firpo, Pjanic, Roberto etc who need replacing in the squad.

Problem is we haven't had players that were able to overtake the Amigos. Firpo is nowhere near Alba. At Madrid Mendy wasn't clear cut from the start but surpassed Marcelo over time.
Only one that looks like a natural phasing out is Araujo for Pique. Dest is looking to do the same with Roberto but that's mostly because Roberto is shit and not because Dest is WC.

It's been this way since Puyol. We knew he'd need replacing but a promising CB was never bought to phase him out.
Thiago was on his way being groomed to become a starter but we got rid of him to afford Neymar.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Pique and Roberto are the easiest to remove, Busquets is surely getting another year along with Alba.

As Andresito said, the tough job is to adequately replace them, otherwise in 2 years we will be in the market again for replacements
Remember when Andre Gomes was replacing Iniesta? Mina was replacing Pique? Paco was eventual Suarez heir, Dembele is the Neymar replacement, Coutinho was Iniesta heir volume 2
The list goes on

 

[malvolio]

Problem with kicking players out is that they need replacing. Oldies can be kicked out and the only thing we'll gain is not paying their salaries. So who'll come instead?

Pique - Garcia
Busi - Wijnaldum/Nico
Alba - Gaya
Neto - Inaki Pena

Not a list of new CL winners is it.

Still we have ter Stegen, Lenglet, Firpo, Pjanic, Roberto etc who need replacing in the squad.

Problem is we haven't had players that were able to overtake the Amigos. Firpo is nowhere near Alba. At Madrid Mendy wasn't clear cut from the start but surpassed Marcelo over time.
Only one that looks like a natural phasing out is Araujo for Pique. Dest is looking to do the same with Roberto but that's mostly because Roberto is shit and not because Dest is WC.

It's been this way since Puyol. We knew he'd need replacing but a promising CB was never bought to phase him out.
Thiago was on his way being groomed to become a starter but we got rid of him to afford Neymar.

this has always been the problem over the last 5-6 years. we bought lots and lots of shitty players, some of them for huge amounts.

why would we replace ter stegen? there are at least 10 players that have to be sold before him.

 

[serghei]

Adequately replace them? These guys aren't some good veterans that are so hard to replace. Alba and Busi are the ones who continue to contribute to some extent, so yes, in their case it's somewhat true.

But Pique, Roberto, Umtiti? These guys add nothing at all. Almost anyone could replace them. Mingueza, Garcia for Pique and Umtiti. Emerson for Roberto. Done.

 

[mc_lovin]

Problem with kicking players out is that they need replacing. Oldies can be kicked out and the only thing we'll gain is not paying their salaries. So who'll come instead?

The sad thing is that we can kick out like 10 players, who just offered nothing and wont really need to be replaced, because they weren't a factor anyway. Umtiti, Firpo, Roberto, Fernandes, Pjanic, Coutinho, Braithwaite and Pique. I don't think any of them would have been missed this season.

If you are fine with Busquets and Alba for another season - like me - then most of the transfer business doesn't look too frightening. Emerson, Garcia and Depay is a good start.

 

[malvolio]

Adequately replace them? These guys aren't some good veterans that are so hard to replace. Alba and Busi are the ones who continue to contribute to some extent, so yes, in their case it's somewhat true.

But Pique, Roberto, Umtiti? These guys add nothing at all. Almost anyone could replace them. Mingueza, Garcia for Pique and Umtiti. Emerson for Roberto. Done.

if we're talking about just fielding 11 players and just making 3rd-4th place every year or competing for Europa League, then yes. otherwise we have to start transferring some good players.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Adequately replace them? These guys aren't some good veterans that are so hard to replace. Alba and Busi are the ones who continue to contribute to some extent, so yes, in their case it's somewhat true.

But Pique, Roberto, Umtiti? These guys add nothing at all. Almost anyone could replace them. Mingueza, Garcia for Pique and Umtiti. Emerson for Roberto. Done.

Which is irrelevant, bad players needs to be upgraded, otherwise you are shooting yourself in the foot and deciding to continue being mediocre.
Garcia could be something, but there is a serious chance he is worse than Pique (past few games he looked worse than Umtiti) and Emerson might be good, I like him but he isn't a sure thing
If we are in the market in 2023 for a CB to replace Garcia and RB to replace Emerson, then nothing is done, we just wasted another couple of years in mediocrity, just like we did with Semedo and Lenglet

 

[mc_lovin]

Which is irrelevant, bad players needs to be upgraded, otherwise you are shooting yourself in the foot and deciding to continue being mediocre.
Garcia could be something, but there is a serious chance he is worse than Pique (past few games he looked worse than Umtiti) and Emerson might be good, I like him but he isn't a sure thing
If we are in the market in 2023 for a CB to replace Garcia and RB to replace Emerson, then nothing is done, we just wasted another couple of years in mediocrity, just like we did with Semedo and Lenglet

Even if we had tons of cash I dont think we could find significant alternatives than going into the season with Emerson and Dest at RB.

CB is a different situation though, because there are exciting options. If we can manage just one expensive transfer it should be a defender. If not shit happens. We are not entitled to have the very best players. Especially since our situation is self inflicted (and a sprinkle of Corona).

 

[Raketa10]

Problem with kicking players out is that they need replacing. Oldies can be kicked out and the only thing we'll gain is not paying their salaries. So who'll come instead?

Pique - Garcia
Busi - Wijnaldum/Nico
Alba - Gaya
Neto - Inaki Pena

Not a list of new CL winners is it.

Still we have ter Stegen, Lenglet, Firpo, Pjanic, Roberto etc who need replacing in the squad.

Problem is we haven't had players that were able to overtake the Amigos. Firpo is nowhere near Alba. At Madrid Mendy wasn't clear cut from the start but surpassed Marcelo over time.
Only one that looks like a natural phasing out is Araujo for Pique. Dest is looking to do the same with Roberto but that's mostly because Roberto is shit and not because Dest is WC.

It's been this way since Puyol. We knew he'd need replacing but a promising CB was never bought to phase him out.
Thiago was on his way being groomed to become a starter but we got rid of him to afford Neymar.

Gaya won't be an improvement over Alba. He is just an average player. Wijanldum on the other hand is washed up player who will bring nothing. We should look elsewhere.

 

[Andresito]

Gaya won't be an improvement over Alba. He is just an average player. Wijanldum on the other hand is washed up player who will bring nothing. We should look elsewhere.

I don't think so either, I just listed the most likely replacements.

Bottom line is, squad can't improved with the means we have. It can improve to an extent, but I don't see any of those guys I listed as starters for the coming 5-10 years. We're fixing holes in our walls with tape, tape that we don't even know will hold or not.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Should go all in for De Ligt if they miss out on CL.

 

[serghei]

Which is irrelevant, bad players needs to be upgraded, otherwise you are shooting yourself in the foot and deciding to continue being mediocre.
Garcia could be something, but there is a serious chance he is worse than Pique (past few games he looked worse than Umtiti) and Emerson might be good, I like him but he isn't a sure thing
If we are in the market in 2023 for a CB to replace Garcia and RB to replace Emerson, then nothing is done, we just wasted another couple of years in mediocrity, just like we did with Semedo and Lenglet

Sure, we'd all want to switch the veterans with top class players who could elevate us instantly. But it's not realistic. Which is why we need to get rid of them even if the replacements are far form ideal. They can still run, be focused, and look fit at least.

I'll take even this basic form of improvement over watching our slow-ass veterans how they mimic playing football.

There's no other way to improve right now than by upgrading the manager and working really well on the scouting department. Really try to find ways to bring good players that are not highly rated by everyone already.

We have blown the chance to replace the veterans and have a seamless transition with quality class players under Bartomeu. About 3-4 years ago, when we started to pick up 3-0, 4-0 losses in CL like they were nothing. Back then we had a lot of money, revenue was closing in on 1bn, perfect time to upgrade the team in a smart way. But we had idiots in charge who sucked up to the veterans 24/7.