Radamel Falcao

[messi_xavi_iniesta]

It´s useless to talk about falcao at barça. Impossible. Tito does not want him and he´s to expensive.
CB is number one need.

 

[Malappapper]

It´s useless to talk about falcao at barça. Impossible. Tito does not want him and he´s to expensive.
CB is number one need.

Yes, because our forwards are scoring like crazy, what need do we have for the best striker on the planet???

 

[BarcaOG]

given our current situation id take a good cb over falcao any day. we've conceded too many goals this season. and we've only failed to score once. defense is a priority at the moment.

 

[PearLBLacK]

Yes, because our forwards are scoring like crazy, what need do we have for the best striker on the planet???

As long as Messi is given the priority that he is (which isn't a bad idea at all with the way he's playing), Falcao at Barca wouldn't perform like Falcao at Chelsea or Madrid-sans-Ronaldo.

Because we would be bringing him to do the same thing Eto did for us a couple of years back, which is to score goals, press the opponent's defense and create space for the rest of the team.
We create more goalscoring chances than any other team in the world, having someone other than Messi who can convert them just make us less reliant on Messi for goals; and having someone with pace and positional sense upfront can benefit Messi by opening gaps for him. If you want an approximate illustration of what I'm saying you can go back to one of the Classico games of last season when we played Alexis in front Messi.
Muller is another option IMO, but as I mentioned less realistic.

Might as well get Gomez then.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

You do realize that forwards not scoring does not equal the team not scoring, right? Our midfielders are all more than capable of scoring (especially Fabregas and Iniesta) and our fullbacks are good at putting it in the net as well. Not to mention that Villa has the second-most goals for the team, with five.

I would much prefer Neymar over Falcao; there is nobody better at playing centrally than Messi, and buying Falcao would almost certainly end Villa's career at Barcelona, which nobody wants.

 

[PearLBLacK]

You do realize that forwards not scoring does not equal the team not scoring, right? Our midfielders are all more than capable of scoring (especially Fabregas and Iniesta) and our fullbacks are good at putting it in the net as well. Not to mention that Villa has the second-most goals for the team, with five.

Except Falcao's position and gamestyle don't suit Messi's. One would have to make a sacrifice for the other to perform at 100%.

 

[Malappapper]

As long as Messi is given the priority that he is (which isn't a bad idea at all with the way he's playing), Falcao at Barca wouldn't perform like Falcao at Chelsea or Madrid-sans-Ronaldo.

You are making it sound like there is no room for Falcao and Messi on the same pitch. Sure Messi may score a few less if Falcao is brought in, but he will assist countless more, and he will have that vital space against the really strong teams. Like at United, Rooney started scoring more when CR7 left, but wasn't the United with both Rooney and CR7 much better than the United with Rooney only?

given our current situation id take a good cb over falcao any day. we've conceded too many goals this season. and we've only failed to score once. defense is a priority at the moment.

This obsession with goals conceded is a bit bizarre and ill-informed in my opinion. There are many teams in La Liga with better defenses than us (Malaga have the best) but they are all eating our dust. Why? Because we usually outscore the opponent! That is the most fundamental thing in football. Outscore the opponent, no La Ligas or CLs have yet been awarded for the less leaky defense. It is always about outscoring the motherfuckin' opponent. And, I have a serious hunch, that when we face someone like Madrid, Munich, Juve or United, Messi will be marked by 7 players (a la Chelski) and we will be in trouble again.

You would take a good CB over Falcao? Oh really? You would take whom exactly over Falcao? Please give me a list of all the good CBs that you would take ahead of Falcao? Football is not about buying where you have a lack only. Football is about buying the absolute best, and Falcao is the answer to our one-dimensional attacking style.

 

[PearLBLacK]

Sure, the team might perform better overall, but neither Messi and Falcao would perform at their 100% best. That's all I'm saying, really. In other words, Messi would not break Muller's record if accommodations are made for Falcao to perform at his best, and Falcao wouldn't annihilate Athletic, Chelsea, or score 5 in a game if Messi is accommodated as he is now. Why hinder the best player in the world when you can find other solutions and keep Messi at his best?

 

[Malappapper]

Sure, the team might perform better overall, but neither Messi and Falcao would perform at their 100% best. That's all I'm saying, really. In other words, Messi would not break Muller's record if accommodations are made for Falcao to perform at his best, and Falcao wouldn't annihilate Athletic, Chelsea, or score 5 in a game if Messi is accommodated as he is now. Why hinder the best player in the world when you can find other solutions and keep Messi at his best?

So are you telling me that if Atleti had Messi on the pitch against Chelsea, Bilbao and Depor they would have had more difficulties?

And why would we care so much about Messi scoring 90 goals per season? Sure he can get by with 70 and also have Falcao score 40 or something like that. The point being, that Barca as a team would much more formidable with both Messi and Falcao on the pitch. And that is all that matters if you want the best for your team.

 

[PearLBLacK]

So are you telling me that if Atleti had Messi on the pitch against Chelsea, Bilbao and Depor they would have had more difficulties?

And why would we care so much about Messi scoring 90 goals per season? Sure he can get by with 70 and also have Falcao score 40 or something like that. The point being, that Barca as a team would much more formidable with both Messi and Falcao on the pitch. And that is all that matters if you want the best for your team.

Wow, you're quite good at twisting words. Who mentioned anything about Messi with Atletico?

Falcao is at his best when he's the main man. Bring him alongside Messi and he'd underperform or have a hard time playing to his true potential, unless you take Messi back to the wings. Which would hurt Messi's performance. Falcao can't be just a direct replacement to Villa or Pedro, as he can't play on the wings.

 

[Malappapper]

Wow, you're quite good at twisting words. Who mentioned anything about Messi with Atletico?

Falcao is at his best when he's the main man. Bring him alongside Messi and he'd underperform or have a hard time playing to his true potential, unless you take Messi back to the wings. Which would hurt Messi's performance. Falcao can't be just a direct replacement to Villa or Pedro, as he can't play on the wings.

Why put Falcao on the wings? Put him in the number "9" position, and Messi can either be a classic number "10" or on the right wing. Where is the problem? I think Messi would be able to see the rationale for this move.

 

[PearLBLacK]

Because Messi on the wings or as a classic #10 isn't the same as Messi as a false-9 with all the freedom in the world.

 

[Malappapper]

Because Messi on the wings or as a classic #10 isn't the same as Messi as a false-9 with all the freedom in the world.

Messi on the wings will surely score less than he is currently, but he will assist a hell of a lot more, and create acres of space for Falcao. But remember that Messi played a free role, even when we had Eto'o and Ibra in our team.

 

[footyfan]

A good offensive game will work only when there is a good defence built behind it. This should be really obvious. In 2010/11, we conceded I think 21 goals across the entire Liga season. Contrast it to this season, where we have already conceded 17. Xavi, Iniesta, the wingers - everyone will be slightly hesitant to try the riskier pass in fear of a counter. You can already see it happening every week with Xavi. What's even more fundamental is that once the opponent scores, they can easily just shut up stop. Scoring first is absolutely necessary in every Barca game. And that can only happen consistently if our defence steps up (well, not literally).

IMO Barca has very little chance of winning CL this year if they don't sort out the defence soon. And no, it's not as simple as get Pique-Puyol back - because even with them, we have been very leaky in terms of chances conceded. Alba and Adriano are nowhere close to being Alves, Abidal defensively. They are just so bad at carrying out a simple offside trap. Sure, they've been helping the team in times of injury and trouble, but they're not the permanent solution.

We definitely don't need Falcao because Messi is miles ahead of him anyway. We just need a player who plays on the wings and has a very good goal scoring ability. Doesn't need to be Falcao level. And we have two of the best already - Villa and Sanchez. If we can't find a solution with them, then we can't with Falcao either. Falcao does not have the passing-pressing game required to play on the wings anyway. Unless you want to shift Messi to RW permanently, which is truly idiotic IMO.

Tito should focus on getting Villa and Sanchez's concentration and motivation up. They are the ones who can benefit us the most at this current stage. If, for whatever reason, it still doesn't work out - then Neymar, Gotze or Reus are great options.

But, like I said, defence over everything else.

 

[Malappapper]

I think that the weakness of our defense has been greatly exaggerated. 4 of those goals were conceded in that insane Depor game. A nonexistent penalty, an unlucky deflection, a nonexistent foul on the edge of the area that resulted to a goal via an excellent free-kick, and a brain-fart of epic proportions by Alba when we were wrongfully playing with 10 men. Remember also the Getafe goal we conceded? It was a freakish double-deflection. Mallorca also got a rather soft penalty against us.

The only teams that had a host of chances against us and did not convert them were Spartak in Moscow, and Betis recently. I do not remember any other game where a team got unlucky against us.

But I agree that Alba is not as good as Abidal defensively (well, the Abidal of 2010 and 2011 that is, for before that he was utter tosh)

Alves has had lots of injuries this season, as was the case with Pique and Puyol, so that affected our defense massively.

I agree that we need a good defender, but that should not cost much more than 10 to 20m max. We have saved some money this summer, and we can certainly go for a big attacking signing next summer, which is for my money at least the number one thing. I am really tired of waiting each and every game for Messi to save our asses. I am also very tired of teams being able to throw 2,3,4,5 sometimes even more defenders against him, and us being unable to screw them a 1000 times over with the rest of our forwards...