Ramos is an animal at RB for Spain. I won't argue against this because he's a Madrid player... the guy is just a beast.

It has nothing to do with fashion. I give credit when its due and also criticise when I see something wrong. Piqué has been lacking intensity and sharpness for a while and to say he has improved this Euros (which is still debatable) doesn't mean he is up to standards. He's got a lot to improve if he wants to be regarded late noughties' Piquenbauer again.

Agree, Arbeloa was bad. He seemed way too scared of Cristiano.

free_cat wrote:

danyjr wrote: not, that is all stats. I actually think he was the poorest CB in the game. In order, Pepe > Ramos > Alves > Piqué. I'm quite surprised some people find his display classy.

It's a new fashion nowadays to say that Pique is playing crap with Spain in the Euros and has been crap since 1, 2 or 3 years ago.

I'm amazed that Pique has been so bad in the Euros, although his team has only conceeded one goal and that was definitely not his fault.

Fashion.

This 100%

People are jumping on the bandwagon for fun. I see it during chat all the time.

He makes minor errors, every CB makes and he gets called out for it like noone else would.

He had double the amount of tackles as any other CB, but somehow he was the worst on display...really...

You didnt give credit were its due at all. You completely dismissed his 6 tackles, even before I told you 6 you said "a couple tackles on Cristiano".

I said a million times on here how much I hate stats, but I dont blindly ignore them. 6 tackles isnt anything to gloss over, not when the next CB made only half that amount.

And yet, Pique was apperently the worst CB the pitch.

Early on most of the attacks came down Pique's side and he did well to deal with the onslaught. Busquets put him in and Arbeloa in some bad positions early on.

You can go as far as to say Pique was our most important player for the first 20 or so minutes where the majority of those tackles came.

It's not about the tackles honestly, other people made many tackles, but he won important matchups, all the CBS from each team were great so not gonna bother ranking.

Didn't know a centre back's worth is measured only by the number of tackles he makes. Whatever suits you, but I can name 10 centre backs in this Euros that have been much better than Piqué.

And regarding the bandwagon, or fashion, or whatever you want to call it, if you go back I was the first person on this forum who criticised him and I'm still on it. Fine if you think he's had a great tournament, but it doesn't become a fact only because he has made X number of tackles.

Did I say thats the only measure? No, im saying you completely glossing over it.

I didnt even say he has had a great tournament, I said he had a great game yesturday. Nothing else.

But on the subject, he hasnt had a bad tournament either. He hasnt done much wrong at all. If this was just a normal CB who wasnt coming off a bad season, nobody would even make an issue about it at all.

In comparision Rami and Mexes, guys who all have had pretty good seasons have been pissed on all tournament long and not a word has been spoken about it.

On the other hand, Hummels is being talked as if he was some kind of semigod when he has been quite untested and he made an important mistake vs. Holand (RVP goal).

I agree to an extent with Danyjr. Pique has not been very sharp and he has been inconsistent. I found him to be slow in certain situations to react. I am only saying this because i have seen him perform much much better than this.

Incredible the best center back in the tournament. Such a great piece of defending in Italy's goal!

Definitely much better than pique.

Bartra +++ Hummels

Please, someone come here and hype up Hummels again. Please.

If that was Pique, the amount of stick he would of got would of been never ended. Cassano ripped him a new a-hole.

So we got Alba and Angel. Angel is going to the B's apparently...

Seriously, I'm getting in to a conclusion that we don't have to buy any CB...
Hummels? Javi Martinez? etc... very expensive, we don't know if they can be reliable in big matches either... they might flop... Giving the chance to Muniesa, Bartra, Sergi Gomez as 4th CB could be the best option... Free, homegrown, know the system... I'm sure at least one of them would make it at Barca... Pique+Puyol+Masche + (Batra, Muniez, Sergi Gomez or maybe Fontas as 4th and 5th CBs) we don't need more than that.. Just hope Pique is back to his best and stays fit (he's doing a godd job at the euros).

paxtonpale wrote:So we got Alba and Angel. Angel is going to the B's apparently...

We haven't got Angel... what are you talking about?

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/barca-b/detail/article/joan-angel-roman-b-teams-first-signing

As I said, he is going to the B's...

Khaled a CB is a must. First off we don't have enough depth, Pique and Puyol get injured too often, Abidal is gone and might not return. Second off we don't have enough quality, Masche has been found out and Pique is not playing at his top level. Third off the guys that could be promoted are too young by CB standards, and they will be given chances anyway. So we need CBs for sure, it would be suicidal for us not to.

If we can't find anyone in the European market then we could just go for Dede.

Exactly what BC said. We don't want it to be like this season in the attacking situation where we were missing Villa, Alexis, and Pedro at any point in time, and had to rely on Cuenca and Tello.

I mean, it worked (kinda), but it's far from an ideal situation, and it put a lot more goals on the shoulders of Messi, which we can't do every season (what if HE gets injured, or doesn't play well).

And Puyol playing at this age with his recent problems is always going to be a risk. I'd be surprised if he wasn't injured sometime during this season. We simply need more depth.

Apparently Lucio is up for sale, old but good cheap player do you think Barcelona would jump on it?

Lucio seems like an a-hole. More someone Madrid would sign. I'm hyped about Dede now after seeing all those vids. Someone needs to call Tito and tell him what's up.

You really wouldn't sign Lucio?

Fixes a plethora of problems , at the very least is excellent backup/competition for Pique....

So what if he's an asshole....you just signed Alba ffs.

I think the smart choice is to join in the bid for Lucio, he is the exact type of player you need.

Lucio.. on paper he looks pretty good. quick (but it wont last); good on the ball, very good in the air. isnt the tackler puyol or masch is, but hed help with alot of other much needed things

Lucio? At best he will play the role Carvalho played for Madrid. Both old. Both had a bad season (in Chelsea and Inter respectively). I don't think the solution is one for the future.

Lucio has experience and could be cheap, if we are interested in him and we can't get anyone else, I don't mind him though he isn't a future player as he is old...

In other news, Keita is still a Barca player :/

Jonathan28 wrote:In other news, Keita is still a Barca player :/

I really am hating this... The guy needs to go! We can get good money from him and get a decent defender!