Transfers and Rumours - old thread

JamDav1982

Senior Member
Yes mr.own goal, how many own goals has he scored?
I would rather have Bartra at CB than Masch.
As I said his positioning is very bad, and if you have good enough position you don't even need to have pace.

Read back and see what Guardiola thought of him.

He is in a different class to Bartra!

His positioning is not bad at all. He is given the role to step out from the back three and try to win the ball back early. Sometimes this will not come off but the amount of times it does outweighs the bad.

He has been a phenomenal signing for Barcelona.
 

Meitux

Active member
I am sure everyone would love Silva no doubt about it, but would you break the bank for him and give him more money then Iniesta and Xavi?
I dont know how much would his salary be,but i think judging by the current situation in defense i would pay much to get him cause after all he can offer his best for like 4 seasons and by then we can have more options than now but now its the problem
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
i dont know how much would his salary be,but i think judging by the current situation in defense i would pay much to get him cause after all he can offer his best for like 4 seasons and by then we can have more options than now but now its the problem

Offer his best for four seasons? How can you know that?

He only played 22 league games last season.
 

Semi-Neutral

Sir Alupp Heynrguson
What Pep said several seasons ago may not be true about Mascherano anymore. He's 29 years old, I would sell him for 25 million or so without a second thought.
 

Meitux

Active member
Offer his best for four seasons? How can you know that?

He only played 22 league games last season.
I dont think because he was injured much last season it will repeat the same way again,i know its propably a risk but what can we do,our other options are only very young defenders
 

Stric

New member
Disagree . You don't spend all that money on Neymar and then move him out if position to accommodate a youngster who CAN operate really well on the right anyways .

You don't have to tell me that. I've said it numerous times, every single one of our forwards (excluding Messi) is better on the left. Including Neymar and Tello. But if I had to put the two of them on the pitch at the same time (which I'd usually avoid), I'd put Tello on the left. Many people, including me, think that Tello doesn't work well at all on the right (so it's a huge difference in opinion to start with), and that Neymar would work better on the right than Tello (although both are at their best on the left). But when you go and bring money into it, of course it doesn't make sense.

Would you not rather sell one of the midfielders or attackers which the team have too many of than sell one of the best defenders in the team and someone who is supposedly s massive influence on and off the pitch.

Not long before Pep left he named Mascherano up there as his best signing, the best defender at the club and a massive influence of the pitch and one of the most important off it.

He needs to stay unless a huge offer comes in.

Sell who? Our only extras are JdS, one of the wide forwards (who's making way for Neymar, so you're back to the start when you sell him) and the guys on loan. Besides, you'd have 5 CBs then. It's overkill.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
What Pep said several seasons ago may not be true about Mascherano anymore. He's 29 years old, I would sell him for 25 million or so without a second thought.

Pep said that about Mascherano little over a year ago.

You don't have to tell me that. I've said it numerous times, every single one of our forwards (excluding Messi) is better on the left. Including Neymar and Tello. But if I had the two of them on the pitch at the same time, I'd put Tello on the left. Many people, including me, think that Tello doesn't work well at all on the right (so it's a huge difference in opinion to start with), and that Neymar would work better on the right than Tello (although both are at their best on the left). But when you go and bring money into it, of course it doesn't make sense.

Sell who? Our only extras are JdS, one of the wide forwards (who's making way for Neymar, so you're back to the start when you sell him) and the guys on loan. Besides, you'd have 5 CBs then. It's overkill.

I would sell either Thiago or Cesc, Alves, Sanchez, Tello, Pedro, Villa, Song ahead of selling Masch.

Bartra could go on loan and Puyol should be relegated a bit.
 

Semi-Neutral

Sir Alupp Heynrguson
A year can be quite a bit of time in football. Look, I'm not saying Mascherano is bad (nor is anyone really except the guy calling him Mr. Own Goal) but I don't see Mascherano's career as a CB continuing too much longer. He relies more on being fast enough to get close to the opposition and slide tackle them, whether he will be able to adapt to the more positional side of the game older defenders have to take is not something I'm confident about. At 29, he will probably have one more season playing at this level, and his price will drop. Also, the prices on the young CBs will only get higher, so the earlier we buy them the better.

Btw, I'm not advocating buying Thiago Silva, for similar reasons to what I've said. If we want to go for an experienced, veteran defender, my number one pick is still Ramos, and Vertonghen after him. If we can't get either, get Inigo (get him regardless) and keep Mascherano for another season. By next season, Bartra will hopefully have matured enough (provided he gets regular playing time) to be a full-time starter.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
Seriously Thiago? no way

Of course Thiago should stay but would rather have Masch here than Cesc AND Thiago sitting on the bench for all the big games.

Too many midfielders should be taken into account before selling players who have done a job in a position that is a weakness.
 

Stric

New member
Iniesta, Xavi, Cesc and Thiago are not too many for two positions. Especially when you consider that Xavi is 33.
 

JamDav1982

Senior Member
A year can be quite a bit of time in football. Look, I'm not saying Mascherano is bad (nor is anyone really except the guy calling him Mr. Own Goal) but I don't see Mascherano's career as a CB continuing too much longer. He relies more on being fast enough to get close to the opposition and slide tackle them, whether he will be able to adapt to the more positional side of the game older defenders have to take is not something I'm confident about. At 29, he will probably have one more season playing at this level, and his price will drop. Also, the prices on the young CBs will only get higher, so the earlier we buy them the better.

Btw, I'm not advocating buying Thiago Silva, for similar reasons to what I've said. If we want to go for an experienced, veteran defender, my number one pick is still Ramos, and Vertonghen after him. If we can't get either, get Inigo (get him regardless) and keep Mascherano for another season. By next season, Bartra will hopefully have matured enough (provided he gets regular playing time) to be a full-time starter.

Masch at 29 is a massive issue yet everyone seems to want to spend huge on Thiago Silva who is not far off the same age. Added to that Masch has a very good injury record.

He has been the best defender this season and his positional play is nowhere near as bad as people make out. He is given the job to go and step out from defence and try to win the ball early, sometimes it wont come off.

Iniesta, Xavi, Cesc and Thiago are not too many for two positions. Especially when you consider that Xavi is 33.

Thats not what Thiago and Cesc seem to think. Do you think both will be here by the end of the summer?

I think the club should have started Thiago taking over from Xavi last season but they have left it too late. Also dont think Xavi is given any signals to the younger players that he even wants them stepping up to take over from him. Different argument though.
 

Stric

New member
Still, you can't have only the remaining three. Then you'd again need to buy/promote someone else who's willing to warm the bench as much as Thiago has been warming it.
 

Semi-Neutral

Sir Alupp Heynrguson
Masch at 29 is a massive issue yet everyone seems to want to spend huge on Thiago Silva who is not far off the same age.

Again, I'm only speaking for myself, I personally don't want Thiago Silva at our club because of his age problems.

He is given the job to go and step out from defence and try to win the ball early, sometimes it wont come off.

This season, that hasn't really worried me because he is normally able to recover in time; as he gets older though, he will have more and more problems doing that, until a misstep from trying to win the ball in such a fashion will leave us with three at the back, especially against sides like Madrid.
 

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