Thiago Translantara

[JamDav1982]

Exactly.

I can understand why Barca fans want to keep Thiago, but this is Xavi we are talking about! ...football fans are so fickle.

Who wants to get rid of Xavi?

But if there is a decision on what is best for the next ten years of the club it may mean Thiago takes over.

 

[DonAndres]

There isnt, these players want to play the top games and prove themselves.

The manager has to put out his best team in these games and not choose players because it is their turn or dramatically change position to fit the players in.

It is impossible to keep them all happy.

You say they're all of great quality then say not all of them are good enough to play in big games, make up your mind!!! They all play with each other often, it's not like playing a slightly different lineup in a big game will make it look like they're foreign players to each other.

Guys like Xavi won't be able to play 55-60 games a season (he shouldn't be anyway with fatigue/injury problems) but it'd be a pretty decent amount.

 

[JamDav1982]

You say they're all of great quality then say not all of them are good enough to play in big games, make up your mind!!! They all play with each other often, it's not like playing a slightly different lineup in a big game will make it look like they're foreign players to each other.

Guys like Xavi won't be able to play 55-60 games a season (he shouldn't be anyway with fatigue/injury problems) but it'd be a pretty decent amount.

You say they're all of great quality then say not all of them are good enough to play in big games, make up your mind!!!

They all play in the same position and are all top quality center mids, no idea what your point is.

You would play a different line up in a big game even if it was not considered the strongest just to fit them in?

 

[MessiDinho10]

You say they're all of great quality then say not all of them are good enough to play in big games, make up your mind!!! They all play with each other often, it's not like playing a slightly different lineup in a big game will make it look like they're foreign players to each other.

Guys like Xavi won't be able to play 55-60 games a season (he shouldn't be anyway with fatigue/injury problems) but it'd be a pretty decent amount.

He will play 60 games next year

 

[DonAndres]

You say they're all of great quality then say not all of them are good enough to play in big games, make up your mind!!!

They all play in the same position and are all top quality center mids, no idea what your point is.

You would play a different line up in a big game even if it was not considered the strongest just to fit them in?

No, you take it game by game you don't just stick with a single lineup blindly for a big game randomely (that's one of our major problems from this season). It's not just about fitting them in because they each add something different which could be useful. Cesc has directness, Thiago flair, Xavi control, and Iniesta fluidity. It doesn't always have to be Xavi+Iniesta just because they're the most merited players.

 

[Irish_Cules]

I agree. If I was Tito or one of the TPTB I would seriously flat out say to Xavi:"Either take a huge reduction of playing time or just flat out retire. You are taking time away from our youth"

It's not that simple though. Xavi has achieved everything with this club and its clear that both he and the coaching staff think that he still has a lot to offer. They are obviously going to treat him with the highest level of respect. Personally I do think that we should start the transition into the post-Xavi era now as we are going to have to do so eventually and we might as well begin it while we have Thiago. However, you can understand the clubs reluctance to bring the era to an end.

If Thiago does leave then I will understand his decision but I will be disappointed in him. He should have played more this season but he is still getting a considerable amount of playing time given the quality of players in that midfield. He knows that he will eventually become a starter for Barcelona for a very long time but it appears he doesn't have the patience to stick it out. I posted on this forum a few months ago about the problem of having both Cesc and Thiago in the squad and that one of them would have to leave within 3 years or so. I didn't think it would happen this summer though.

 

[JamDav1982]

No, you take it game by game you don't just stick with a single lineup blindly for a big game randomely (that's one of our major problems from this season). It's not just about fitting them in because they each add something different which could be useful. Cesc has directness, Thiago flair, Xavi control, and Iniesta fluidity. It doesn't always have to be Xavi+Iniesta just because they're the most merited players.

The best players will play and Xavi and Iniesta are still the best two.

It would only be worth putting Thiago ahead of Xavi to plan for future which the club wont do.

There is virtually no club in the world that can keep two world class players in the same position happy, it is nothing unique to Barca.

 

[Flavia]

Who wants to get rid of Xavi?

But if there is a decision on what is best for the next ten years of the club it may mean Thiago takes over.

Thiago would take over in around 2 seasons. The point is he doesn't seem to want to wait.

 

[Jadentheman]

I feel like something is gonna happen on the 21st of June

 

[DonAndres]

The best players will play and Xavi and Iniesta are still the best two.

It would only be worth putting Thiago ahead of Xavi to plan for future which the club wont do.

There is virtually no club in the world that can keep two world class players in the same position happy, it is nothing unique to Barca.

Always playing the same lineup was one of the biggest problems yet you want to keep it going with the most superficial reason of "They are the best players so they will always play." You're really just disagreeing for the sake of it when you know it's not that difficult to accommodate that many players into the team. It's not always just 2 positions as Iniesta can play on the wing and Fabregas as false 9 occasionally.

 

[JamDav1982]

Thiago would take over in around 2 seasons. The point is he doesn't seem to want to wait.

I dont blame him one bit, he is world class and would start for just about any other team and has intl football to think of.

He wants to be a footballer more than a Barca player.

 

[spark]

I don't think it's THAT hard to accomodate both players into the rotation schedule. Pep did a great job rotating in 08/09, giving several players in each position a ton of games. At the very least they could sub in Thiago after halftime or at the 60th minute much more often. The point is that it doesn't have to be one or the other, using both players is valid

Actually once Pep chose his line up by December the only rotation was in the copa games. Injuries saved us from issues like this over the years. When Rafa and Pique became the first choice defense, Puyi's agent was dropping messages in the press. Rafa got injured and that solved that. But it didnt go away in the summer when Chygrinsky was signed.Luckily he was too bad to challenge Puyi. This is basically the Yaya saga of 2010 but with less cause for complaint because Thiago only played 1 game less than Yaya did that year even though he missed 15 games to injury.

 

[JamDav1982]

Always playing the same lineup was one of the biggest problems yet you want to keep it going with the most superficial reason of "They are the best players so they will always play." You're really just disagreeing for the sake of it when you know it's not that difficult to accommodate that many players into the team. It's not always just 2 positions as Iniesta can play on the wing and Fabregas as false 9 occasionally.

Fabregas wont play false nine in big games and Neymar is better out wide than Iniesta who is needed in the middle.

It is impossible to keep them all happy.

 

[DonAndres]

Actually once Pep chose his line up by December the only rotation was in the copa games. Injuries saved us from issues like this over the years. When Rafa and Pique became the first choice defense, Puyi's agent was dropping messages in the press. Rafa got injured and that solved that. But it didnt go away in the summer when Chygrinsky was signed.Luckily he was too bad to challenge Puyi. This is basically the Yaya saga of 2010 but with less cause for complaint because Thiago playing 1 game less than Yaya did that year even though he missed 15 games.

Good point but even injuries didn't force some common sense in this time with Xavi playing through fatigue and ankle troubles on painkillers in the Clasico.

 

[JamDav1982]

Actually once Pep chose his line up by December the only rotation was in the copa games. Injuries saved us from issues like this over the years. When Rafa and Pique became the first choice defense, Puyi's agent was dropping messages in the press. Rafa got injured and that solved that. But it didnt go away in the summer when Chygrinsky was signed.Luckily he was too bad to challenge Puyi. This is basically the Yaya saga of 2010 but with less cause for complaint because Thiago only played 1 game less than Yaya did that year even though he missed 15 games to injury.

Dont shatter the illusion that Pep would have masterminded this situation to keep everyone happy.