Transfer Rumours

Because Mascherano was so good at set pieces?
we went downhill on those when Puyol got injured, the man jumped higher then Pique despite being half a foot shorter.

No but my point is that if we're weak at something the player you bring in should aim to fix that deficit.

set pieces wont be fixed by just one player though.
what can be fixed is the bad positioning.. or actually playing a natural centerback.

TBH, I dont think simply addding one extra player capable in the air will fix anything. It will help no doubt, but I think the entire team was been been poorly drilled at defending them, often its free headers not just getting beat in the air.

Also, we have gone from Henry, Ibra, Keita, Yaya, Marquez/Pique, Puyol and Abidal to Pique and......Busquets?

This is why I have some sympathy for Pique at set pieces. I cant image the pressure of having to win every single set piece defensive header.

Puyol was majorly underrated on set pieces though, for his body build, people overlook him.

that's the legend jumping over Pique

Spoiler:

His organization as well. Puyol also scores more from set pieces than Pique.

Mou on David Luiz bid: "It's lost time for them. My advice to them is to go to the second player on their list because they are wasting their time," he said. "We don't want to lose our best players. No chance."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/08/chelsea-manchester-united-wayne-rooney

Also our bid was rejected instantly

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/07/chelsea-barcelona

I would include Puyol in the list of players with Pique who realistically can win aeriall balls..but he barely plays so counting him would be a lie.

But yeah, Puyol is of course better than Pique in the air. Its not even a surprise to me.

Pique is 1.92, Puyol is 1.78. Thats 14cm difference, which is about 5 inches. Im sure Puyol's vertical leap is comfortably more than 5 inches over Pique's.

Plus add in Puyol's desire to win the ball, he do or die style...compared to Pique's...yeah, not that surprised.

I don't know why the club believes they can land high profile centerbacks from sugar daddy clubs like PSG or Chelsea.

futbol wrote:I don't know why the club believes they can land high profile centerbacks from sugar daddy clubs like PSG or Chelsea.

No harm in trying. Some players might try push a for a move if a bigger club comes in for them.

Cannavaro was even shorter than Puyol (1.76m) yet he was one of the best headers of the ball.

Miss that guy...

David Luiz is happy with the offer of Barcelona and is willing to do everything possible to leave Chelsea. He will meet with the leaders of the London club on Monday to ask them to let him go.

Source: Mundo Deportivo
Thursday, August 8, 2013 18:19

I am reading 2 different things.

1. Mascherano got some intrest, but in the end no offers were made. But Mascherano is willing to go if we dont want him.

2. Napoli and Rafa made an offer but we rejected.


Anyone able to sheed some real light?

Mascherano is buddies with Messi and thus won't leave. Especially since his other buddy is already on his way out next season. We have to deal with it.

The Franchise wrote:I am reading 2 different things.

1. Mascherano got some intrest, but in the end no offers were made. But Mascherano is willing to go if we dont want him.

2. Napoli and Rafa made an offer but we rejected.


Anyone able to sheed some real light?

According to Il Mundo and Il Mattino, Napoli have made an offer to sign Mascherano but Barca rejected it. Il Mundo say it was 20 million offer.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

neuro11 wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:We are now rumored to have bid 20m € for Agger, on top of yesterday's bid for Luiz. We are finally getting to business.

i thought we are finally getting into a mess.....In almost the middle of August we are trying to snatch top teams main CBs with half the money(considering present market)

It's a beginning bid. No one goes into a negotiation and offers the maximum they're willing to pay the first time around. You offer the minimum plausible amount.

@Dani: We're going after 2 players so that we can use that as leverage. If we only go after 1 player then Chelsea will charge us exhorbitant amounts since David Luiz would be our only target. Pretty sure Luiz is our first choice by far.

I, though not so much, can atleast understand how buisness plays. But thats not my major point to focus. Its 10th, you have to consider why a top team would like to sell their players without any alternatives for them available. Another option is to lure the player so that he can force a transfer even for that you need time. Look at the case of Bale, Suarez, Rooney for example.

RedOranje wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:We are now rumored to have bid 20m € for Agger, on top of yesterday's bid for Luiz. We are finally getting to business.

Is it really "getting to business" when you're bidding for unrealistic targets though?  That would be like us claiming Liverpool are "Getting to business" by bidding for Mata...

The Franchise wrote:Need to forget Agger.

I like him, but hes 28 with a history of injury.

Then on top of that, Liverpool are losing Suarez and he is a die hard fan of theirs.

I just dont see it all coming together.

With David Luiz, I see some hope because I have a feeling Luiz would perhaps push for that move.

Suarez doesn't appear to be going anywhere.  Agger certainly isn't.

Ofcourse he is leaving. With his current relationship with Rodgers i cant see him playing anymore with Liverpool. Same goes for Rooney as wel... Anyway, thats an offtopic here.

The Franchise wrote:TBH, I dont think simply addding one extra player capable in the air will fix anything. It will help no doubt, but I think the entire team was been been poorly drilled at defending them, often its free headers not just getting beat in the air.

Also, we have gone from Henry, Ibra, Keita, Yaya, Marquez/Pique, Puyol and Abidal to Pique and......Busquets?

This is why I have some sympathy for Pique at set pieces. I cant image the pressure of having to win every single set piece defensive header.

exactly.....one player can never help you saving the goals from set piece. Its an combine effort. Everyone has their part. Other than being smaller on our average heights, we seem simply clueless on setpeieces about our duties.

You might want to read the comments made today. Suarez is already backtracking and the club have taken an "unequivocal" stance regarding his immediate future.

29/06/2010: Mourinho is a confirmed admirer of [David Luiz], who is in line to make his full Brazil debut next month, but the Portuguese said: 'I like him a lot, but he won't come to Madrid this year. It will be very difficult for him to leave. I'm not thinking about him at all this year. There was some contact, but the price is prohibitive. After what was invested in Madrid last year, we won't spend as much now.'

TLDR You won't get Luiz, period  

Not selling Mascherano is awful.

He's 29, a poor defender and the man who probably rates him as high as anyone on the planet wanted to spend money on him.

I dont care how "thin" we are back there, keeping him doesnt make us any better.

i also don understand barca Love for Mashcherano, just as i did not understand similar for Keita and the opposite for Yaya. I understand he is loyal, but certainly he cant improve us in any way. Moreover he said yesterday that he will leave the moment after the club thinks they don need him anymore. So certainly its the club that want him stay. It seems to me that we are developing a piquliar nature about whom we like and whom we dont

20 milion for Mascherano is an unrejectable offer.
It's one of the dumbest decisions of all time not to sell him for 20 milion.

Agger officially announced as Liverpool's new vice-captain. He's going nowhere.

At this point I don't want him anyway.

He was never going to move though. Happy he's staying at Liverpool, it's in his blood.

What do you guys think of clubs holding players against their will?

My thought is that as far as possible this should be avoided. A healthy spirit is great to have. Yet at times clubs are helpless because letting the player go would be too big a loss.

Fans usually want the player out that minute but the board needs to be more practical.

e.g. Suarez at Liverpool, Bale at Tottenham, Rooney at ManUtd, Lewandowski at BVB, etc.

These sagas are expected to run right till the end of the transfer window and we can take bets on who among these are staying and who are leaving.

at this point, I prefer not to buy anyone!
Improve the pressing, defend as a team and rotate more to keep players fit!