Nico Williams

[jamrock]

He's a mediocre player, who are we kidding?! Even as an attacking midfielder, he's EL level or CL group stages level at best.

How much games in Germany did you watch olmo play? How many his entire career outside of Spain? I'm guessing under 7?

 

[jamrock]

I don't mean he's good enough for a CL team that goes deep into the knockouts. Even a EL level player can be a quality player imo. It's like how Dalot is a decent player but would get nowhere near a team battling for the PL or CL.

It's all relative - I agree he's not world class or anything, but there's a big gap between world-class and mediocre. Probably splitting hairs. I get the feeling you think I am implying he's a top level player, I'm not though.

Anyway he impresses me when I watch him. But as I said before I am probably fortunate to catch him on good days. I agree he's not good enough to radically change Barca's attacking fortunes.

Ignore malvolio, even when Barca were at their best, he always had a stick up his butt, so you can only imagine now. Lol

 

[Maradona37]

Ignore malvolio, even when Barca were at their best, he always had a stick up his butt, so you can only imagine now. Lol

Fair enough lol

I think mediocre is very harsh of him to say. He's a good player, on his day very good. Yes he's not one of the best players in the world, and isn't transformative like a world-class player would be, but he could do a good job as a supplementary player at a top club. However, I guess the transfer fees and potential wages being thrown around suggest a player capable of more than that and make it very difficult for Barca to sign him. I haven't kept up with the saga, though.

For what it's worth I don't think Williams is world-class either, and have doubts if he ever will be. But his style of play and position would help Barca a lot. They both fit in well for Spain - true it's only a month long tournament but they helped Spain do really well even if they aren't superstars individually. It's not always about someone being an amazing player, but how they fit into a team and how they gel. I think Olmo and/or Williams would fit in quite well at Barcelona.

 

[jamrock]

Fair enough lol

I think mediocre is very harsh of him to say. He's a good player, on his day very good. Yes he's not one of the best players in the world, and isn't transformative like a world-class player would be, but he could do a good job as a supplementary player at a top club. However, I guess the transfer fees and potentially wages being thrown around suggest a player capable of more than that.

For what it's worth I don't think Williams is world-class either, and have doubts if he ever will be. But his style of play and position would help Barca a lot. It's not always about someone being an amazing player, but how they fit into a team and how they gel. I think Olmo and/or Williams would fit in quite well at Barcelona.

Olmo is in no way mediocre, he's not world Class, but a step or step and a half down, with good potential if he stays injury free.

Yea Williams isn't either, but for his price and skill set, in today's market for 60m you can't do much better.

He's probably a 45-50m player, but could develop into a 100m played by 25.

Last season he had 8 goals and 14 assist are something like that, and showed up against Madrid, barca, in the Copa finals and Euros, nothing more you can ask for from a 21 year old(last season) that plays for bilboa, he would definitely improve the team

 

[Maradona37]

Olmo is in no way mediocre, he's not world Class, but a step or step and a half down, with good potential if he stays injury free.

Yea Williams isn't either, but for his price and skill set, in today's market for 60m you can't do much better.

He's probably a 45-50m player, but could develop into a 100m played by 25.

Last season he had 8 goals and 14 assist or something like that, and showed up against Madrid, barca, in the Copa finals and Euros, nothing more you can ask for from a 21 year old(last season) that plays for bilboa, he would definitely improve the team

That's basically what I was saying yeah. £100m sounds a lot for a guy like Williams if he continues to develop it isn't really. Defensive midfielders who are good not great are moving for that these days. He's definitely worth £60m now in this inflated market, and like you say you won't get better than him for that price.

I agree Olmo is good and a step or two down from world-class, like you say that isn't mediocre. Being a good player at a great team or a great player at a good team is still being a high quality footballer.

Williams would improve Barca I agree. He's one piece that would be good to have.

 

[Birdy]

Can't believe there are so clueless people in here thinking that this guy, with this technique and shooting, can't play AM for Barca or that he is 'EL level' ...

In a team that will provide him also the right tactical setup (with Flick) with other players taking different responsibilities
Leipzig, mind you, had only two ways of attacking last season: 1) give the ball to Olmo to do something, 2) give the ball to Simmons to do something
Kinda of us under Xavi, give the ball to Dembele to do something

 

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

Who needs Nico? Fermank Lampez got us covered.

 

[Maradona37]

Can't believe there are so clueless people in here thinking that this guy, with this technique and shooting, can't play AM for Barca or that he is 'EL level' ...

In a team that will provide him also the right tactical setup (with Flick) with other players taking different responsibilities
Leipzig, mind you, had only two ways of attacking last season: 1) give the ball to Olmo to do something, 2) give the ball to Simmons to do something
Kinda of us under Xavi, give the ball to Dembele to do something

I agree he can play for Barcelona, but to be fair YouTube videos are by their design intended only to show the good parts of a player.

He's obviously not world-class, but he could be a good, supplementary player for a team like Barcelona.

As I have said many times though, he impresses me every time I watch him. His goal vs France was elite level world-class ability with the touch.

 

[Birdy]

I agree he can play for Barcelona, but to be fair YouTube videos are by their design intended only to show the good parts of a player.

He's obviously not world-class, but he could be a good, supplementary player for a team like Barcelona.

As I have said many times though, he impresses me every time I watch him. His goal vs France was elite level world-class ability with the touch.

Yes, I know YT highlights pick best moments.
But I have watched a few Leipzig games last season (CL + Bundesliga), where I can assure you he was their best player together with Simmons,
and the recent Euro, where he showed again he can play for any top team that wants to dominate the ball and break buses

PS: I know there are objections, like money or potential overcrowded md, which I acknowledge
But saying he doesn't have the quality to play for Barca is beyond ridiculous

 

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

Olmo could be at the level of AC Milan Kaka ( my favourite attacking mid of recent years ) and I still wouldn't pay 60m for him because of his injury record.

And that is before he even came and played here, with our physios who cant keep anyone fit.

You buy Olmo and in 6 months you will have a No Melanin Ansu on your hands.

 

[Maradona37]

Yes, I know YT highlights pick best moments.
But I have watched a few Leipzig games last season (CL + Bundesliga), where I can assure you he was their best player together with Simmons,
and the recent Euro, where he showed again he can play for any top team that wants to dominate the ball and break buses

PS: I know there are objections, like money or potential overcrowded md, which I acknowledge
But saying he doesn't have the quality to play for Barca is beyond ridiculous

Fair enough, I tend to agree as I am impressed every time I watch him.

I think the overall point is that, no player, no matter how good (unless Messi or Maradona or Pele), can improve a team to massive levels. Barca need to improve to beat RM to the title, and that will only come with becoming a better TEAM. Signing technically gifted, smart players like Olmo helps that but he is not gonna transform them himself. You need to build a team with good chemistry.

All the stuff about fees, wages, whether Barca can afford him, his injury record, I am not abreast with as much. But purely as a footballer, I think he could definitely play for Barca. However, for Barca to be an elite team, he wouldn't be one of the best four players in the side imo. Like how Busquets or Alves were brilliant but they still had Xavi, Messi and Iniesta who were a level or two up on even them, who were already great players in their own right.

This Barca team is obviously nowhere near that level, but the same principle applies. Olmo for me can be a good supplementary player in a top team.

 

[Birdy]

Fair enough, I tend to agree as I am impressed every time I watch him.

I think the overall point is that, no player, no matter how good, can improve a team to massive levels. Barca need to improve to beat RM to the title, and that will only come with becoming a better TEAM. Signing technically gifted, smart players like Olmo helps that but he is not gonna transform them himself. You need to build a team with good chemistry.

All the stuff about fees, wages, whether Barca can afford him, his injury record, I am not abreast with as much. But purely as a footballer, I think he could definitely play for Barca. However, for Barca to be an elite team, he wouldn't be one of the best four players in the side imo. Like how Busquets or Alves were brilliant but they still had Xavi, Messi and Iniesta who were a level or two up on even them, who were already great players in their own right.

This Barca team is obviously nowhere near that level, but the same principle applies. Olmo for me can be a good supplementary player in a top team.

He could be one of the best mds of a great Barca.
in the AM role, there is only Pedri, and Gundo IMO who have the level RIGHT NOW
All the rest are below par in technique and ball manipulation in tight spaces to play there

Of course, what you say about chemistry, and there being no magic solutions is right.
That's where we hope that Flick will do serious work

 

[Maradona37]

He could be one of the best mds of a great Barca.
in the AM role, there is only Pedri, and Gundo IMO who have the level RIGHT NOW
All the rest are below par in technique and ball manipulation in tight spaces to play there

Of course, what you say about chemistry, and there being no magic solutions is right.
That's where we hope that Flick will do serious work

Yeah I agree he could be one of Barca's best players right now. But I just mean, for Barca to get back to the level you wanna be at, you need to A) sign really top players or more likely B) keep developing these La Masia products to the level they reach their potential and become better players than him. I much prefer Barca to RM so I am hoping you succeed.

It sounds a bit like I am talking him down - I am not, as I really like watching him. I am just suggesting caution as there's so much that goes into being a successful team. He is a quality player who I like though, and he does have things I value the most in a footballer - technique, passing quality, intelligence and ability in tight spaces to evade the press.

And yeah, there's no magic solutions. Barca are not a club like Real Madrid who can play ugly and fluke wins (I know you sort of did it last time you won La Liga, but generally). So you need to get back to playing the beautiful passing, dominating football. Olmo can certainly help with that, as can Williams in a different way through being direct on the wing.

 

[Maradona37]

Olmo could be at the level of AC Milan Kaka ( my favourite attacking mid of recent years ) and I still wouldn't pay 60m for him because of his injury record.

And that is before he even came and played here, with our physios who cant keep anyone fit.

You buy Olmo and in 6 months you will have a No Melanin Ansu on your hands.

True, that's another issue entirely.

He's obviously a good player but his injury record is a red flag too.

It always seems a waste when someone is talented but cannot stay fit. Lisandro Martinez is one of the few Man United players I actually rate fairly highly but the guy is injured often.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

Going from Nico Williams to Dani Olmo LW is such a downgrade lol. If we are gonna buy Olmo just to use him as a LW only shows we never learn and are always making the same mistakes. We bought Coutinho and Griezmann and tried to use them as LW.

Dani Olmo is a CAM not a LW, Flick sees Pedri as his CAM which probably means Olmo is his LW if Nico doesn’t come. Also another season no proper DM. We never learn do we.

Bingo. This would be a huge mistake.