Marc Bartra

[Cule4life]

That's why I have always said we need a physical no nonsense defender. The way pique gets bullied of the ball by any half decent attacker is hilarious and sad at the same time

 

[Alarcón]

I can't understand the amount of criticism he's getting. It wasn't his best game and he was clearly at fault for their 2nd goal but the rest of the defense were worse (especially Piqué and Adriano).

 

[Irish_Cules]

His worst performance of the season. Hopefully it's a valuable learning experience.

 

[Ghostmaster]

Kurt Zouma, 19 years old:

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Kurt Zouma looks like a beast, I thought maybe we can buy him but I see that Chelsea already did that.

 

[CatalinR10]

How tall is Zouma ?

 

[DonAK]

How tall is Zouma ?

1.87 m

 

[Stric]

This is the sort of hype that got people to believe that Pique was a world class defender in the past. Bartra showed some glimpses at the beginning of the season although even then it wasn't always flawless and all of a sudden the expectations are sky high and a performance like this comes as a total shock.

Fact of the matter is that Bartra still has the body of a child and not a top flight professional defender. Like last season, he still uses his arms to battle Sociedad attackers. Fact of the matter is also that a partnership of Pique and Bartra is recipe for desaster and always will be.

Kurt Zouma, 19 years old:

Marca Bartra, 23 years old:

If you don't remember - the Barca way is to show you can be successful based on your talent, skills and hard work, and not your physical attributes. That's the entire philosophy behind La Masia, and it has been successful.

And age has nothing to do with it. Pique is 27 and he's built like a stick. He's been an asbolute beast at CB for a big part of his career. Dante is a great CB and he's built like a stick, too. It's a genetic thing, a body type, not work or dedication or competence. Are these two not "top flight professional defenders"?

 

[Cule4life]

Dante a stick? I disagree. How many attackers bully him off the ball like they do with Pique(regularly) or Bartra (sometimes)?

 

[KingMessi]

If you don't remember - the Barca way is to show you can be successful based on your talent, skills and hard work, and not your physical attributes. That's the entire philosophy behind La Masia, and it has been successful.

And age has nothing to do with it. Pique is 27 and he's built like a stick. He's been an asbolute beast at CB for a big part of his career. Dante is a great CB and he's built like a stick, too. It's a genetic thing, a body type, not work or dedication or competence. Are these two not "top flight professional defenders"?

Dante's a stick? Then Pique and Bartra are like twigs.

 

[Sultan]

well compared to Akinfenwa he's a stick.

 

[Stric]

Maybe Dante is not the best example in the world, but the point stands. It makes no difference whether he's "like a stick" or slightly bigger. The point is, The Observer was talking about "the body of a child" which is bogus. It's called being an ectomorph and it has nothing to do with age. It's a body type, not a level of progress.

 

[Sultan]

It makes no difference whether he's "like a stick" or slightly bigger. The point is, The Observer was talking about "the body of a child" which is bogus. It's called being an ectomorph and it has nothing to do with age. It's a body type, not a level of progress.

I agree with you on that. On the other hand you must agree that if is very unlikely that he'll ever be a great CB without some strength.

 

[Stric]

I agree with you on that. On the other hand you must agree that if is very unlikely that he'll ever be a great CB without some strength.

That's true. And I'm not even discussing Bartra's strength or lack thereof. Now that you ask me, yes, I definitely think he needs to build more strength in order to improve as a defender. I'm just pointing out that the type of argument used against him is wrong. He can build strength and still look skinny. It's a matter of genetics. You can't compare Zouma and Bartra, just like you can't compare Messi and Ibra. Anyways, I don't see any particular reason why he couldn't become at least as strong as Pique, which is not exactly something phenomenal, but if his other skills make up for it, he has a bright future ahead. Strength isn't everything. After all, Pique is a EC, WC and 2x CL winner.

 

[e28makaveli]

That's true. And I'm not even discussing Bartra's strength or lack thereof. Now that you ask me, yes, I definitely think he needs to build more strength in order to improve as a defender. I'm just pointing out that the type of argument used against him is wrong. He can build strength and still look skinny. It's a matter of genetics. You can't compare Zouma and Bartra, just like you can't compare Messi and Ibra. Anyways, I don't see any particular reason why he couldn't become at least as strong as Pique, which is not exactly something phenomenal, but if his other skills make up for it, he has a bright future ahead. Strength isn't everything. After all, Pique is a EC, WC and 2x CL winner.

Agreed with some of what you've written but let us not forget that Pique won all of these medals with Puyol besides him. Puyol provided that strength, agility, focus as well as the additional attributes required of a Barca player; finesse.

I cannot see this team relying on Pique as the main CD winning the same number of medals.

 

[jamrock]

This is the sort of hype that got people to believe that Pique was a world class defender in the past. Bartra showed some glimpses at the beginning of the season although even then it wasn't always flawless and all of a sudden the expectations are sky high and a performance like this comes as a total shock.

Fact of the matter is that Bartra still has the body of a child and not a top flight professional defender. Like last season, he still uses his arms to battle Sociedad attackers. Fact of the matter is also that a partnership of Pique and Bartra is recipe for desaster and always will be.

Kurt Zouma, 19 years old:

Marca Bartra, 23 years old:

lol WTF, because nesta is built like a beast, or most other defenders. lol.

not saying bartra is the next nesta by the way