Re: What Next for Barça?

by alexjanosik Tue 1 Sep - 1:01:30

windkick wrote:I think Aouar would be great, but the thing is we have had zero links to him. I read Harvetz preffered destination was Madrid or Barca and neither moved for him so his next best location was Chelsea. There are great, young players out there but we keep going for old/not good enough players that we can't build on and are short term fixes. Lets face it, the board is gone next summer they dont care what the state of the club is in when they are gone that will be the next presidents problem to fix. They are just worried about balancing the books right now, not building a winning, long term project.

In other news, Rakitic is finally gone. He has been transferred for free to Sevilla, and he is currently going his medical. But whats stupid about it is, that we are probably going to turn around and replace him with soon to be 30 Gigi Wijnaldum (while Liverpool turn around and sign the superior player we should be looking at instead Thiago).

And more importantly, if we play Koemans Netherland formation, 4-2-3-1, then that means Planic and De Jong are going to be the 2 mids with Busqs coming off the bench (or starting in a 3 man midfield). So Gigi would be a power sub. We have plenty of young, energetic and exciting mids that can easily take up those power sub mins that have been waiting there whole life to make a mark in the team. So why take those sub mins away from them for a 30 year player? Just save the cash and promote one of Puig, Ilaix, Monchu or use Alena who just came back from loan and is probably ahead in terms of first team quality to the other kids I just mentioned due to his age and experience gained last season.

I have no idea what this board is trying to do. What the transfer strategy is. I read the want to terminate Suarez's contract to replace him with Debay. So our 2 strikers would be Braithwate and Depay.

Thats some Real Betis level bullshit.

Not sure we don't have money. if we offload all of the seniors (including Messi), then we have a ton of money. Offloading all of the seniors means freeing up $200m in wages or more. Plus, if we sell Messi for $100m, there is your money for transfers. Or better yet, a swap for Bernardo Silva. You get a young talented versatile midfielder.
I am caught in 2 minds about Wijnaldum. He is exactly the sort of midfielder we have lacked last 2 seasons. Great athlete, physical but good technique. He is 30 though. What we should do is scout for a younger midfielder like him. Don't think the midfielders coming through for us have his profile. I like Puig and I like Monchu even more and think both should get a shot. But we can give them minutes by getting rid of all 3 of Rakitic, Vidal and Busquets.

by futbol_bill Tue 1 Sep - 2:11:47

Have any of you financial geniuses accounted for the lost gate revenue (which should be in the neighborhood of 150- 180M) for this season?

by Casciavit Tue 1 Sep - 2:37:09

You guys will hate Wijnaldum.

If Barca fans had an issue with Arthur passing the ball sideways wait until you see Wijnaldum.

I don't think I've ever seen him pass the ball forward. He makes Arthur look like De Bruyne. I'm not even kidding.

Some Liverpool fans claim it's because he's playing in a tactical role under Klopp in which he has to be very risk-averse. Maybe I could buy that if you didn't have Mole complaining about the same exact thing when he was at Newcastle. Even if Klopp tells him "Georgino, keep it simple. Don't take risks" which is something I can buy because of the way Liverpool midfielders play, however, he takes that to a whole new different meaning. Good player, but if Messi's leaving, and the burden of creativity will be spread out more, he doesn't seem like the guy you would want at all.

by Myesyats Tue 1 Sep - 7:12:40

alexjanosik wrote:I am caught in 2 minds about Wijnaldum. He is exactly the sort of midfielder we have lacked last 2 seasons. Great athlete, physical but good technique. He is 30 though. What we should do is scout for a younger midfielder like him. Don't think the midfielders coming through for us have his profile. I like Puig and I like Monchu even more and think both should get a shot. But we can give them minutes by getting rid of all 3 of Rakitic, Vidal and Busquets.

Ilaix moriba is a great upcoming midfielder but only 17 (but so is Ansu Fati though). Reminds me of Yaya toure. He's part of the 1st team pre-season

by danyjr Tue 1 Sep - 14:23:19

Any of you worried by the Eric García rumours? I've watched him quite a few times this season and he hasn't shown to be anything special at all. The first things that stands out is his lack of physicality. Not strong, tall or particuarly quick. He is 19 but he doesn't look like a world beater. As mentioned with Wijnaldum, while he is a great player, recruiting him at this age is questionable.

I would say there are other areas that need strengthening more direly.

With Suárez leaving, you don't want to rely on Braithwaite to score you goals every match.
Wings need to be strengthened too, unless you're hoping for a 17 year old Fati and injury-prone Dembélé to bail you out like Messi did week in week out
LB needs to be looked at too, if the declining Alba gets injured and you have to rely on Firpo you will be in trouble.

The current line up, as it stands, looks Europa League worthy at best

by Winter is Coming Tue 1 Sep - 17:50:37

He's 19 and still developing if we can get him between 10-15m I wouldn't mind it he'll either get good or at least a decent rotation option, anything between 20-30m I wouldn't go for it. I'd much invest a little more for Kounde or Upamecano.

by neuro11 Tue 1 Sep - 18:56:24

danyjr wrote:Any of you worried by the Eric García rumours? I've watched him quite a few times this season and he hasn't shown to be anything special at all. The first things that stands out is his lack of physicality. Not strong, tall or particuarly quick. He is 19 but he doesn't look like a world beater. As mentioned with Wijnaldum, while he is a great player, recruiting him at this age is questionable.

I would say there are other areas that need strengthening more direly.

With Suárez leaving, you don't want to rely on Braithwaite to score you goals every match.
Wings need to be strengthened too, unless you're hoping for a 17 year old Fati and injury-prone Dembélé to bail you out like Messi did week in week out
LB needs to be looked at too, if the declining Alba gets injured and you have to rely on Firpo you will be in trouble.

The current line up, as it stands, looks Europa League worthy at best

It does not look that bad tbh if you replace Alba, Breathwaite and Dembele

We can't rely on Dembele. The guy had on average 17 appearances per season in the last three league season. Also, why dont you count on Coutinho, he is supposed to return for next season, right?

by Myesyats Tue 1 Sep - 19:06:59

There are some up and coming talents in Masia, what better time to give them a chance than now. We can only gain from giving them playing time next season since nobody will have any expectations anyway without Messi.

Braithwaite as main striker does sound depressing though. Suarez is finished though and I have no hope that this rubbish board of directors will bring anyone worthy of the starting spot over Braithwaite no less.

by danyjr Tue 1 Sep - 22:07:53

neuro11 wrote:
danyjr wrote:Any of you worried by the Eric García rumours? I've watched him quite a few times this season and he hasn't shown to be anything special at all. The first things that stands out is his lack of physicality. Not strong, tall or particuarly quick. He is 19 but he doesn't look like a world beater. As mentioned with Wijnaldum, while he is a great player, recruiting him at this age is questionable.

I would say there are other areas that need strengthening more direly.

With Suárez leaving, you don't want to rely on Braithwaite to score you goals every match.
Wings need to be strengthened too, unless you're hoping for a 17 year old Fati and injury-prone Dembélé to bail you out like Messi did week in week out
LB needs to be looked at too, if the declining Alba gets injured and you have to rely on Firpo you will be in trouble.

The current line up, as it stands, looks Europa League worthy at best

It does not look that bad tbh if you replace Alba, Breathwaite and Dembele

We can't rely on Dembele. The guy had on average 17 appearances per season in the last three league season. Also, why dont you count on Coutinho, he is supposed to return for next season, right?

Where would Coutinho play? It is either him or Griezmann behind the striker. We know both of them are shit on the wings.

by alexjanosik Wed 2 Sep - 2:53:33

Myesyats wrote:
alexjanosik wrote:I am caught in 2 minds about Wijnaldum. He is exactly the sort of midfielder we have lacked last 2 seasons. Great athlete, physical but good technique. He is 30 though. What we should do is scout for a younger midfielder like him. Don't think the midfielders coming through for us have his profile. I like Puig and I like Monchu even more and think both should get a shot. But we can give them minutes by getting rid of all 3 of Rakitic, Vidal and Busquets.

Ilaix moriba is a great upcoming midfielder but only 17 (but so is Ansu Fati though). Reminds me of Yaya toure. He's part of the 1st team pre-season

I like the kid from highlights. I watched a lot of the B last season but missed games towards the end when he started coming into the team. So cant pass judgement based on full games. From highlights, he looks a very good talent. Great passer, physical, good athlete. Looks like he has all the tools. But he is still a few years away whereas we need the profile now.

by alexjanosik Wed 2 Sep - 2:57:01

Myesyats wrote:There are some up and coming talents in Masia, what better time to give them a chance than now. We can only gain from giving them playing time next season since nobody will have any expectations anyway without Messi.

Braithwaite as main striker does sound depressing though. Suarez is finished though and I have no hope that this rubbish board of directors will bring anyone worthy of the starting spot over Braithwaite no less.

This. Think of this season as a youth season. Similar to Lampard at Chelsea last season. Blood a few youngsters and get them experience. They and we will be better the next season.

by neuro11 Sat 5 Sep - 9:15:37

I guess our performance would be worse this season. There is a new coach, few new players, no connection between captain and president. Signings had not been upto the mark.
Messi said he would give his best but not sure how would that be possible in this situation considering the current circumstances.

by danyjr Thu 10 Dec - 14:34:19

The more one reads about the presidential candidates, the more any sign of hope dies for this club.

Jordi Farre wrote:I would go as far to say that if we win the elections, Messi will renew his deal. His renewal would be incurred automatically on January 25 if I win the elections the day previous.

Neymar’s signing will be cheap because the investment will be greater than the outlay.

Penning an extension deal with a visibly declining player who wants to leave the club + signing a 29 year old who is going to cost far more millions than he would be worth it. The worst nonsensical decisions a president can make without any logic behind it, other than to play with the voters' emotions to gain enough votes.

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