Mehdi Benatia

[Icarium]

If it was 35M i would be truly disappointed for not trying but Mathieu is not that bad and Vermalen is not completely lost cause yet.

 

[SeloBarca]

Mathieu is better for us than Benatia. Get over it lads.

lul? becouse he knows the league? Benatia is a much better defender, and younger.

We should have spend the money we spent on Mathieu and Vermaelen on Benatia.

 

[te amo barca]

lul? becouse he knows the league? Benatia is a much better defender, and younger.

We should have spend the money we spent on Mathieu and Vermaelen on Benatia.

Benatia was unstable at Udinese, and had only one good season under Rudi Garcia, who made Castan look like Puyol. Mathieu plays multiple positions, he's a leftie, he has proven himself for 5-6 years as a fast and solid defender, and he won't spoil Bartra's development.

 

[KingMessi]

Benatia was unstable at Udinese, and had only one good season under Rudi Garcia, who made Castan look like Puyol. Mathieu plays multiple positions, he's a leftie, he has proven himself for 5-6 years as a fast and solid defender, and he won't spoil Bartra's development.

It also allows for the likes of Ie, Tarin. Juanma, Vilanova, Quintilla, etc. to come in later and fight for a spot in the team.

 

[Barcaman]

I don't think 90 percent of people here ever watched full Roma match.
Simeone makes Godin and Miranda look like world class defenders. And that's exactly what Martinez did to Benatia.
Mathieu ticks all boxes minus age factor but Benatia is only few years younger anyway.

 

[NotInHere]

That's because people like riding hype trains.

 

[KingMessi]

I don't think 90 percent of people here ever watched full Roma match.
Simeone makes Godin and Miranda look like world class defenders. And that's exactly what Martinez did to Benatia.
Mathieu ticks all boxes minus age factor but Benatia is only few years younger anyway.

Rudi Garcia made Castan look world class, when only two seasons ago he was horrible. I think a lot of folks got caught up on the hype train and the great game Benatia had against Real just solidified their opinion.

 

[te amo barca]

I think a lot of folks got caught up on the hype train

I think they are just in panic. Considering the lack of top central defenders in the market, all they wanted was to splash the cash on Benatia/Thiago Silva/Laporte/Marquinhos, but we got Mathieu and Vermaelen instead (which is not that bad as they make it out to be). It's understandable. But I'm not convinced Benatia is truly world class, not yet. He has to prove it in the CL during the upcoming season. I reckon he won't fail under Rudi Garcia due to his balanced tactics - not like Zeman's or Bielsa's crazy styles.
p.s. the ban is another reason btw

 

[beautifulgame]

Rudi Garcia made Castan look world class, when only two seasons ago he was horrible. I think a lot of folks got caught up on the hype train and the great game Benatia had against Real just solidified their opinion.

ugh no. Castan has been superb for some time now. He was phenomenal for Corinthians before roma

 

[KingMessi]

ugh no. Castan has been superb for some time now. He was phenomenal for Corinthians before roma

Castan was bad under Zeman though. At least in the games I watched.

Never watched him at Corinthians so I wouldn't know about that.

 

[DonAK]

Castan was bad under Zeman though. At least in the games I watched.

Never watched him at Corinthians so I wouldn't know about that.

Castan wasn't bad once he settled in, but Marcos def overshadowed him. Castan isn't that good either under Rudi's system as being said. He is definitely better, but he still makes silly mistakes.

I think Benatia has been overrated and I myself have prob played a big role in it, but he is def world class and has been a consistent v good performer since his early Udinese days. He would be the best CB in Barcelona if he had arrived.

 

[beautifulgame]

Castan was bad under Zeman though. At least in the games I watched.

Never watched him at Corinthians so I wouldn't know about that.

Sure but Zeman had his issues. Anyway, Castan is very solid. I would have gladly had him in the last few years

 

[Daemul]

I don't think 90 percent of people here ever watched full Roma match.
Simeone makes Godin and Miranda look like world class defenders. And that's exactly what Martinez did to Benatia.
Mathieu ticks all boxes minus age factor but Benatia is only few years younger anyway.

I would be surprised if 10% of people on this forum have ever watched a full Roma match, it's probably closer to 1%.

 

[Bertus]

You guys are having fun belittling what people think about Benatia just to try to prove Barcelona dodged a bullet by not buying him.

As someone who watched him at Roma (since Garcia was appointed as coach, i followed them last year), I will still say what i said here, Benatia is a very good defender and I don't see why he would not have been fit to join Barcelona from what I've seen.

Buying him would not have been more crazy than buying Marquinhos.

 

[ebieymjunior]

You guys are having fun belittling what people think about Benatia just to try to prove Barcelona dodged a bullet by not buying him.

As someone who watched him at Roma (since Garcia was appointed as coach, i followed them last year), I will still say what i said here, Benatia is a very good defender and I don't see why he would not have been fit to join Barcelona from what I've seen.

Buying him would not have been more crazy than buying Marquinhos.

He's a great defender indeed. But I for one am happy we got two left-footed defenders (though I like Benatia a lot), cause we have Bartra.
If the reports had been true that Pique would be sold and Benatia bought, I'd have been the happiest person right now.

And I was one of the people against buying Marquinhos, so sure am relieved we didn't get him!