Matthijs de Ligt

[EdmondDantes]

Hmm, I strongly disagree. That would be the weakest central defence line in the top of European football.

De Ligt + Umtiti, with Lenglet as back up could be considered strong now and probably super strong in 2 years.

Imagine what the current Barca team could do if they had a good defence line... We are lacking hard in defence. Pique is weak as fuck, Lenglet is decent, we dont have a good rightback, and because of that Alba and Busi are not performing as good as they would be able to with a good defence line. De Ligt would solve most of our defensive problems and a good right back would turn our defence into a very good one.

Current Lenglet is better than current De Ligt. It's almost as if your bias is clouding your judgement, but go on...

 

[VN10]

Current Lenglet is better than current De Ligt. It's almost as if your bias is clouding your judgement, but go on...

Lenglet better than De Ligt currently

Remind me in a year, by that time you'll either be using superlatives if he plays for Barca or gathering the pitchfork-boys to get rid of Abidal when De Ligt plays superb for Juve/PSG (e.g.).

 

[Givenchy]

Lenglet better than De Ligt currently

Remind me in a year, by that time you'll either be using superlatives if he plays for Barca or gathering the pitchfork-boys to get rid of Abidal when De Ligt plays superb for Juve/PSG (e.g.).

nothing wrong with saying Lenglet is better than De Ligt currently, the latter has played in a meh league while lenglet played well for Sevilla in the CL and at 2 la liga teams

De Ligt has way more potential but his statement isn't worth a lol, lets see how he and Frenkie do vs Madrid, Ajax are an exciting team thats for sure

 

[Jair Ventura]

nothing wrong with saying Lenglet is better than De Ligt currently, the latter has played in a meh league while lenglet played well for Sevilla in the CL and at 2 la liga teams

De Ligt has way more potential but his statement isn't worth a lol, lets see how he and Frenkie do vs Madrid, Ajax are an exciting team thats for sure

Playing in a tougher competition doesn't make you a better player. That isn't how football works.

 

[Arizona Scott]

Playing in a tougher competition doesn't make you a better player. That isn't how football works.

But distinguishing yourself in a better league does yield more confidence you can play for a team as difficult to play for as Barca.

De Ligt is the highest rated CB prospect under 21 by a large margin. But whether he could walk into Barca and start right now is a big question. I think whether it is worth the 90some million is the question (and then figure more than double the wages of Lenglet for those most concerned about that). I think the Umtiti prognosis is huge in this calculation. Barca could also try to get the 22 year old Lucas Hernandez for that level in a buyout, and he can play CB with LB as a bonus and is proven for county and club vs much better competition.

So De Ligt is a stud, great player in his league, great prospect, no question, but whether worth the fee/wages vs alternatives for Barca is a very complicated question and not clear at all.

 

[soul24rage]

Playing in a tougher competition doesn't make you a better player. That isn't how football works.

C'mon man you seriously believe what you wrote? Tougher competition=more opportunities to play vs higher quality oppositions. Playing vs higher quality oppositions will help 'expose' more of what you are weak at and what you are strong at. Once you know that, you will work harder to improve your game season after season. This helps improve your confidence and confidence is arguably the most important trait you need to have to compete for the highest trophies.

 

[Arizona Scott]

C'mon man you seriously believe what you wrote? Tougher competition=more opportunities to play vs higher quality oppositions. Playing vs higher quality oppositions will help 'expose' more of what you are weak at and what you are strong at. Once you know that, you will work harder to improve your game season after season. This helps improve your confidence and confidence is arguably the most important trait you need to have to compete for the highest trophies.

"steel sharpens steel" is expressed all the time by top athletes

However I don't completely agree with you "confidence" point. Some players can't cope with steel, confidence is worse, and they play worse. As an example Gomes seems looks OK playing with iron (Everton), and Paco looks really good (BvB). Some players can be brought to face steel too soon, and it is bad for their development and confidence.

 

[soul24rage]

"steel sharpens steel" is expressed all the time by top athletes

However I don't completely agree with you "confidence" point. Some players can't cope with steel, confidence is worse, and they play worse. As an example Gomes seems looks OK playing with iron (Everton), and Paco looks really good (BvB). Some players can be brought to face steel too soon, and it is bad for their development and confidence.

You're correct, although I do think that playing vs tough opponents and training with the likes of Messi, Suarez, Iniesta still helped improve their game than if they had stayed at Valencia. They are unfortunate that you still need that extra talent and confidence in yourself to deal with the huge pressure at big clubs like Barca, and Real and etc. Every player has his limits, but there is no doubt that playing in tougher competitions help improve your game.

 

[Jair Ventura]

C'mon man you seriously believe what you wrote? Tougher competition=more opportunities to play vs higher quality oppositions. Playing vs higher quality oppositions will help 'expose' more of what you are weak at and what you are strong at. Once you know that, you will work harder to improve your game season after season. This helps improve your confidence and confidence is arguably the most important trait you need to have to compete for the highest trophies.

Your mistake is assuming that because Barca and the Madrid's are awesome that their level extends to the rest of Spain. It doesn't. Nor is there's anything supporting the notion that the mid and bottom table clubs in Spain are superior to their French, German, or Italian counterparts. I.e. Playing against Getafe or Leganes isn't going to inherently make you a better player than someone who developed playing against Angers and Caen. Otherwise how do you explain the success of the French development system, which is far and away better than its neighboring countries?

 

[Bulgroz]

Playing against Leganes won't make you better than playing against Amiens, true. But playing UCL every year, and training with the best players in the world will sure help.

 

[Jair Ventura]

Playing against Leganes won't make you better than playing against Amiens, true. But playing UCL every year, and training with the best players in the world will sure help.

Only three clubs from Spain play in the UCL every year. The problem is many posters here want to take the success of Barca and the Madrid clubs and extrapolate their level to the rest of Spain.

 

[soul24rage]

Your mistake is assuming that because Barca and the Madrid's are awesome that their level extends to the rest of Spain. It doesn't. Nor is there's anything supporting the notion that the mid and bottom table clubs in Spain are superior to their French, German, or Italian counterparts. I.e. Playing against Getafe or Leganes isn't going to inherently make you a better player than someone who developed playing against Angers and Caen. Otherwise how do you explain the success of the French development system, which is far and away better than its neighboring countries?

I agree that there is no notion in supporting that the mid to bottom table clubs in Spain is superior to France just as there is no notion in supporting that the mid to bottom clubs in France is superior to Spain so I don't think your point of French development system doesn't work here. (Unless they make a European League for 7th-20th)

But you have to admit that playing regularly against 1st-7th Spanish clubs will bring more challenges to the player (challenges bring more to player's development) more than playing regularly against 1st-7th French clubs.

I don't believe that the French league is a farmer's league, but imo playing in La Liga does bring in more to player's development than vs in Ligue 1

 

[Jair Ventura]

I agree that there is no notion in supporting that the mid to bottom table clubs in Spain is superior to France just as there is no notion in supporting that the mid to bottom clubs in France is superior to Spain so I don't think your point of French development system doesn't work here. (Unless they make a European League for 7th-20th)

But you have to admit that playing regularly against 1st-7th Spanish clubs will bring more challenges to the player (challenges bring more to player's development) more than playing regularly against 1st-7th French clubs.

I don't believe that the French league is a farmer's league, but imo playing in La Liga does bring in more to player's development than vs in Ligue 1

I’m going to pose a very simple question that people here regularly fail to answer: How is the French development system so successful if Ligue 1 is so bad? How are their players becoming so good, so regularly, if the football they’re playing is so poor? Why aren’t English academics similarly successful in terms of talent development if the level of their football is so much higher?

The logic doesn’t add up.

 

[Gaudi]

I’m going to pose a very simple question that people here regularly fail to answer: How is the French development system so successful if Ligue 1 is so bad? How are their players becoming so good, so regularly, if the football they’re playing is so poor? Why aren’t English academics similarly successful in terms of talent development if the level of their football is so much higher?

The logic doesn’t add up.

Croatia is producing a lot of talent and league is poor. Actually I think for developing talents it's better the league is not super competitve or hard, coaches tend to give more time to youngsters and also if many clubs prefer to be sellers their main vision is to create, overhype and then sell players.

Having said that I don't think french league is poor but PSG is competing with big boys only because of Qatar, as simple as that.

 

[Jair Ventura]

Croatia is producing a lot of talent and league is poor. Actually I think for developing talents it's better the league is not super competitve or hard, coaches tend to give more time to youngsters and also if many clubs prefer to be sellers their main vision is to create, overhype and then sell players.

Having said that I don't think french league is poor but PSG is competing with big boys only because of Qatar, as simple as that.

Croatia’s talent development isn’t anywhere close to France’s. Your argument falls flat there.