Jordi Alba

[Raed]

So another Cesc-mouthed player to bring in hill culture to your club? This all depends on what you want to play though, and if Puyol is going to feature in your line up or not. Depends if Alves actually wants to leave or not. Depends on if Cesc is going to replace a striker in your formation or not.

It may work, but right now I cannot look past the whole Catalan banners here, maybe it is because I am waiting for you to fail with your obsession or maybe because it is true. For the price you are getting him, it is not bad at all but this will totally change your team's strucuter unless Alba himself develops into a much better defender/player. And it is fair to give him a chance before discounting him so quickly, because Abidal himself was decent at best for the first two years, before he really elevated his game.

 

[La Furia]

Except Abidal, for all his flaws, was exactly the kind of player we needed (big, physical defensive minded fullback whose technique was passable enough to not be a liability even before his experience here), while Alba is a skilled smurf who doesn't defend, but happens to have the right ethnicity.

 

[veryfatchocobo]

I remember when people did not like Abidal in the Rijkaard era. Boy has that changed under Pep. Like Furia and the other have said, this is a bad move for Barca. Plus, IMO it's better for Spanish teams to keep their star players. Then again, the economy outside Barca/RM is terrible.

 

[La Furia]

I remember when people did not like Abidal in the Rijkaard era. Boy has that changed under Pep. Like Furia and the other have said, this is a bad move for Barca. Plus, IMO it's better for Spanish teams to keep their star players. Then again, the economy outside Barca/RM is terrible.

Abidal was not great by any means under Rijkaard, and even in the treble winning season he was probably the weakest link.

He always gave us something we needed though, there was definitely a point where his lack of skill and positioning stood out and he's done a great job improving it. But we aren't talking completely revolutionizing his game, just refining and maturing it.

 

[FCBarca]

Lovely to have seen Abidal's growth as a player...Alba would be an upgrade over Adriano who is likely to depart so it'd be a positive overall, IMHO

 

[Co0ter]

Alba, I believe, if we sign, will not play as our left back in a 3-4-3. He would as a winger. I have already posted this opinion of mine in the other post. Also from next season I wont be surprised if we see a lot of change in the way we play. We would be having a new head coach with a new assistant coach and they would try to implement their own ideas to make the team better. I do expect few big guns to go out probably by the summer of 2013 if they are not able to cope up with Tito or if Tito is not leading the team towards the right direction.

We are going to witness something different from the first of July and Im certain we are also in the market for other players who would suit Tito's demands or Rosell's brazillian lust

Why do people want full-backs to be playing as our wingers? Messi already has to do all the scoring as it is, lets replace strikers who are struggling to score with full-backs who don't have natural scoring instinct?

::

 

[Pitbull2k4]

Why do people want full-backs to be playing as our wingers? Messi already has to do all the scoring as it is, lets replace strikers who are struggling to score with full-backs who don't have natural scoring instinct?

::

What do fullbacks/wb's have to do with scoring? They're there to stretch the field and assist (like Dani has done innumerable times with Messi). Having a 433 with alba and alves would definitely help with parked busses (but would makes us even more vulnerable).

Alba is not a bad transfer by any means but I don't really think it is what we need right now. There's obviously a limited budged and priorities should be to make strong defensive buys.

 

[Raed]

Except Abidal, for all his flaws, was exactly the kind of player we needed (big, physical defensive minded fullback whose technique was passable enough to not be a liability even before his experience here), while Alba is a skilled smurf who doesn't defend, but happens to have the right ethnicity.

Fuck my macbook, I pushed something and my post got deleted.

Anyway in short:

Abidal was poor because he was expected to open up space when his best attribute is to close it. With someone like Ronaldinho who never chases back, and his badly timed over lapping runs he looked way out of sorts. His mind was too distorted. An athletic defender yet is better at running into space than opening it, suffered a lot under Rijkaard. When Pep fixated him with his Italian tactics Abidal flourished and gained confidence. The rest was history.

And like I said I cannot look beyond the Catalan flagship on this deal even though his price is reasonable. What is not reasonable is to buy this player because he is Catalan, offensively cute, a midget, and most of all Cesc and Alexis both cost three times that sum. And they are in my opinion peripheral players. But if this were to happen you might want to consider a tactical change, that will cater to this purchase and Messi at the expense of a forward and a another purchase of another defender.

Valdes
Mascherano Pique Hummels (?)
Alves ----- Busquests ----- Alba
Xavi Iniesta
Messi
Villa
​

I put Villa there for you La Furia. Alexis and Fabregas to earn their stripes and their spot, to come off the bench or a change of tactic during games or when needed. Pedro's confidence is shot so he is nothing but a fence hopper, Tello and Cuenca to come just in time to dive for penalties. Fabregas to continue amuse me as a hill person.

May you finish fifth next year and never climb after that position ever again so I do not see your faces in the champions league ever.

 

[barcelonista]

You think Barcelona will have a starting XI with 3 centrebacks, 2 fullbacks and 1 defensive midfielder?

That would make the team extremely predictable. Only 2 goalscorers (instead of 3 in the 4-3-3) and both playing in the middle of the park. It would also kill our pressing game. Who do you think is going to close down from upfront? Villa on his own?

 

[Raed]

Considering Alves just hangs around the forward line and Alba will probably too, it is an overwhelmingly offensive formation.

 

[barcelonista]

Considering Alves just hangs around the forward line and Alba will probably too, it is an overwhelmingly offensive formation.

If that's the case I'd rather have 2 hardworking forwards playing that role instead of 2 fullbacks => Sanchez and Pedro / Villa for example. But then again it's nothing Pep hasn't experimented with. It's just the 3-4-3 / 3-3-4 formation we've seen so often this season. Except that in your lineup you'd have 2 fullbacks on the wings instead of strikers.

Alba and Alves will never contribute with more than 5 goals a season each. It's not as attacking as you think it is. No matter how far up the pitch they'll play, at the end of the day it would be 1 goalkeeper and 6 defensive minded players on the pitch.

 

[cro-man]

I am afraid that he is not even better than adriano. I dont think we should sign him.

 

[Alexis_9]

I am afraid that he is not even better than adriano. I dont think we should sign him.

I agree completely save the money spend it on someone else

 

[Raed]

If that's the case I'd rather have 2 hardworking forwards playing that role instead of 2 fullbacks => Sanchez and Pedro / Villa for example. But then again it's nothing Pep hasn't experimented with. It's just the 3-4-3 / 3-3-4 formation we've seen so often this season. Except that in your lineup you'd have 2 fullbacks on the wings instead of strikers.

Alba and Alves will never contribute with more than 5 goals a season each. It's not as attacking as you think it is. No matter how far up the pitch they'll play, at the end of the day it would be 1 goalkeeper and 6 defensive minded players on the pitch.

Considering you tried many different hard working forwards this season and got jack shit out of it but give up leads, I am sure you could use a more balanced formation. Plus it is so easily reverted back to a 4 3 3 so I see it a much better than 3 4 3.

 

[Barcaman]

Latest story from Sport says that Valencia are blocking Alba's transfer.