With Villa out for the rest of the season we are left with 3 established forwards for 3 spots.
Messi,Sanchez and Pedro.We also have Cuenca who has jjust come into the team so counting him thats four.
Now if we include Fab that makes it five which might seem enough but I dont think it is.
There are a few problems.
First Pedro is in nowhere near the form he was in last season.He is not scoring goals.
Sanchez is new to the team and though has performed reasonably well still cant expect him to score 20 goals.
CCuenca though impressive so far is just not ready to be thrown in the deep end though we may not have a choice in that matter.
Fab can surely help with his goals but there is a problem with that.
Iff we play 4-3-3 and Fab is to play as a forward,then he can only play false nine as he cant play on the wings.That mmeans Messi on the right which is simply not ideal for various reasons.He is best through the center,will keep coming in and will not track back.

Last problem is the over reliance on Messi.Now we will be even more dependent on Messi for goals.And just on cue he is running a bit dry on the goals front.I can see us dropping points against lesser teams away from home because of this.If Messi doesnt score we find it difficult to break teams down.

Simply put if we dont buy a forward I can see us losing the league.We will invariably draw or lose a couple more games away from home when Messi gets shut down.
Meanwhile Madrid will simply keep piling on the points so that the next Clasico becomes meaningless.

So imo if we are to win the league a goal scoring forward is a must in January to take some of the burden off of Messi and win us those crucial games away from home.
It might seem shortsighted as Villa will be back by the end of the season and so will Afellay but still a forward is a must if we are to retain the league.

Thoughts?
Oh and if you agree who should we buy?

Cuenca, Cesc, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro, Sanchez can all play in forward areas

Its not ideal but theres more than enough there to suggest no forwards are needed.....

Plus imo Cesc is a better forward than a midfielder for Barca currently.

I'd rather buy a defender tbh, but even that i dont think is needed in January.

You forgot Affelay.


I don't know when he is returning, but that is enough players lol.

Immaculate_Mole wrote:Cuenca, Cesc, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro, Sanchez can all play in forward areas

Its not ideal but theres more than enough there to suggest no forwards are needed.....

Plus imo Cesc is a better forward than a midfielder for Barca currently.

I'd rather buy a defender tbh, but even that i dont think is needed in January.

The thing is who is going to score the goals apart from Messi and Fab.
With the current forward line I can see us dropping a few more points away like against Getafe.
Meanwhile Real will just keep racking up points.Dont think we can avoid any more slipups before the next Clasico.We either need to be level or more or less the same 3 points behind.
So it will depend on us beating the small teams something which we have struggled with a bit this season, especially because of the over dependence on Messi to score goals.

Which is why I feel we need a goal scoring forward who can hit the ground running.

No, I dont think so.

I like Pedro in his last 2 games, he looking to get back to his old self and I feel he is coming back.

Messi, Cesc, Pedro, Sanchez and Cuenca are enough untill Affelay and then Villa comes back.

I dont believe in buying players to replace injured ones either, because once everyone comes back you got a problem.

EarlyPrototype wrote:You forgot Affelay.


I don't know when he is returning, but that is enough players lol.

I did'nt forget him, i was merely stating the players available for selection atm.

I feel really sorry for him tbh, he has the talent to succeed at Barca but has been struck with horrible luck with injuries.

TBF Alex in most of those games Barca struggled in, Sanchez and Pedro were not available and now they are.

Cuenca has also shown he has the ability to stretch defenses and either create or score goals.

Aslong as more injuries dont come i think theres enough there, btw does anyone know when Affelay is fit again?

The Franchise wrote:No, I dont think so.

I like Pedro in his last 2 games, he looking to get back to his old self and I feel he is coming back.

Messi, Cesc, Pedro, Sanchez and Cuenca are enough untill Affelay and then Villa comes back.

I dont believe in buying players to replace injured ones either, because once everyone comes back you got a problem.

Dont share your optimism.
I think we are naturally assuming that Messi will continue in his super human form.
But if he hits a goal scoring slump we are in trouble in the league.
Its not the number of forwards I am worried about.We have a sufficient number and they are of good quality.Its the lack of goals among our forwards that I am worried.Right now we are overwhelmingly dependent on Messi for goals.
I dont think the league this season will come down to the Clasico.I think it will come down to who picks the maximum points against the small teams and right now Madrid have the edge there.
If Pedro gets back to his goal scoring form then I wouldnt be worried.

alexjanosik wrote:

The Franchise wrote:No, I dont think so.

I like Pedro in his last 2 games, he looking to get back to his old self and I feel he is coming back.

Messi, Cesc, Pedro, Sanchez and Cuenca are enough untill Affelay and then Villa comes back.

I dont believe in buying players to replace injured ones either, because once everyone comes back you got a problem.

Dont share your optimism.
I think we are naturally assuming that Messi will continue in his super human form.
But if he hits a goal scoring slump we are in trouble in the league.
Its not the number of forwards I am worried about.We have a sufficient number and they are of good quality.Its the lack of goals among our forwards that I am worried.Right now we are overwhelmingly dependent on Messi for goals.
I dont think the league this season will come down to the Clasico.I think it will come down to who picks the maximum points against the small teams and right now Madrid have the edge there.
If Pedro gets back to his goal scoring form then I wouldnt be worried.

Good luck finding someone who can carry Messi's form when he himself aint fit.

I don't think it's going to happen.
At the start of last season, guardiola said that he prefers a small squad. We had like 22-23 players and we won the champions league and la liga.
Guardiola has again reiterated that having a small squad is more beneficial for barca than having a big squad. Even with Villa/Afellay injured, we still have more depth than last season. Granted, Pedro isn't on the form of last season, but I can assure you that when we face the business end of the season, these players will get back on form.

The only thing that worries me is if we pick up additional injuries AFTER the transfer window has closed.
What will we do if Sanchez or Pedro get injured in February?

franchise also made a good point about to do when the injured players come back...

So I don't think we should buy another striker, though I do share some of your concerns and see where you're coming from. The good news is that this barca team is so flexible and innovative in their strategies and tactical adjustments (especially this season). I'm not too worried. Hopefully Villa and afellay will be back sooner than expected.

Btw, which forward do you think we should go after?

Nah,Hleb is back in January.

Not unless it's Godolski.

Messi, Pedro/Fab, Alexis will start
Cuenca & Afellay will sub

6 players for 6 positions. We are fine.

alexjanosik wrote:

The Franchise wrote:No, I dont think so.

I like Pedro in his last 2 games, he looking to get back to his old self and I feel he is coming back.

Messi, Cesc, Pedro, Sanchez and Cuenca are enough untill Affelay and then Villa comes back.

I dont believe in buying players to replace injured ones either, because once everyone comes back you got a problem.

Dont share your optimism.
I think we are naturally assuming that Messi will continue in his super human form.
But if he hits a goal scoring slump we are in trouble in the league.
Its not the number of forwards I am worried about.We have a sufficient number and they are of good quality.Its the lack of goals among our forwards that I am worried.Right now we are overwhelmingly dependent on Messi for goals.
I dont think the league this season will come down to the Clasico.I think it will come down to who picks the maximum points against the small teams and right now Madrid have the edge there.
If Pedro gets back to his goal scoring form then I wouldnt be worried.

If Messi hits a slump, we will struggle Villa or no Villa imo.

I think Messi will score a crazy amount of goals, I think Cesc can end the season on 12-15 goals and I believe Pedro will get back to his old self.

Would you agree, if Pedro gets back to his old self, Cesc continues to score goals at this rate and Sanchez (who has scored 3 games running not counting the CWC) can chip in like he is we wil be fine?

I think all those things can and will happen.

If we dont win those games against small teams, I dont think a lack of goal scoring other than Messi will be the downfall. I think at least just as likely it would be taking our foot off the gas in games which arent won yet.

Overall, I think Pedro will get back to his goalscoring ways and Cesc looks like a good goal threat.

Also, whats the other option?

If we sign someone, then who would it be in the Jan window? Whoever it is, will be under instant pressure to score goals aswell as fitting into a difficult style of play all without a preseason to do it in.

VibeTribe wrote:Nah,Hleb is back in January.

The Franchise wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

The Franchise wrote:No, I dont think so.

I like Pedro in his last 2 games, he looking to get back to his old self and I feel he is coming back.

Messi, Cesc, Pedro, Sanchez and Cuenca are enough untill Affelay and then Villa comes back.

I dont believe in buying players to replace injured ones either, because once everyone comes back you got a problem.

Dont share your optimism.
I think we are naturally assuming that Messi will continue in his super human form.
But if he hits a goal scoring slump we are in trouble in the league.
Its not the number of forwards I am worried about.We have a sufficient number and they are of good quality.Its the lack of goals among our forwards that I am worried.Right now we are overwhelmingly dependent on Messi for goals.
I dont think the league this season will come down to the Clasico.I think it will come down to who picks the maximum points against the small teams and right now Madrid have the edge there.
If Pedro gets back to his goal scoring form then I wouldnt be worried.

If Messi hits a slump, we will struggle Villa or no Villa imo.

I think Messi will score a crazy amount of goals, I think Cesc can end the season on 12-15 goals and I believe Pedro will get back to his old self.

Would you agree, if Pedro gets back to his old self, Cesc continues to score goals at this rate and Sanchez (who has scored 3 games running not counting the CWC) can chip in like he is we wil be fine?

I think all those things can and will happen.

If we dont win those games against small teams, I dont think a lack of goal scoring other than Messi will be the downfall. I think at least just as likely it would be taking our foot off the gas in games which arent won yet.

Overall, I think Pedro will get back to his goalscoring ways and Cesc looks like a good goal threat.

Also, whats the other option?

If we sign someone, then who would it be in the Jan window? Whoever it is, will be under instant pressure to score goals aswell as fitting into a difficult style of play all without a preseason to do it in.

If pedro gets back into goal scoring form and Cesc continues as he has,while messi doesnt slow down,then i think we will be fine.Then the current squad would do.But thats a big if.
As to who we should sign no idea whatsoever.

Alex you have to consider that signing someone also creates future problems. Doing that would mean we would now have 7 players for 6 positions, and Guardiola prefers short squads. That's too much depth for him, and someone would have to be sold, which has the potential of destabilizing the squad.

Besides, signing someone for the possibility of Messi losing form might be hedging too much on the low side. Even when Messi doesn't play well he still manages to score.

Additionally, is there anyone in the market right now that would be even worth looking into? Not many names besides Podolski come up, given that Barca would have no interest in Tevez.

I really doubt it.

If this is asked because of the villa situation, id say he wont be missed much.

You have so many offensive varieties, that it can easily take care of it self if done right...

This is too premature.

It depends on Pedro though.

If Pedro can't score goals, we may be in a problem.

Overall I think-as Dani said- buying players to replace injured one is not the best because then you have a player in a club that is serving little to no role other than that time span where the other player was injured.

THAT'S ASSUMING HE EVEN PLAYS WELL too.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Alex you have to consider that signing someone also creates future problems. Doing that would mean we would now have 7 players for 6 positions, and Guardiola prefers short squads. That's too much depth for him, and someone would have to be sold, which has the potential of destabilizing the squad.

Besides, signing someone for the possibility of Messi losing form might be hedging too much on the low side. Even when Messi doesn't play well he still manages to score.

Additionally, is there anyone in the market right now that would be even worth looking into? Not many names besides Podolski come up, given that Barca would have no interest in Tevez.

Hedging on the low side.Sure Messi scoring 50 odd a season is far far far more reliable than Italy or Greece or Spain not defaulting on their loans.
It seems the Euro zone debt crisis has caught up with even us Barca fans.LOL.
Overall I can see what you all are trying to say but still I am a bit worried.
I think we all agree that Pedro simply has to start scoring again.

I'm an economics-finance major, sometimes I use that kind of language in daily life

I was reading on Bleacher Report about this same issue and personally we don't need any strikers or anyone in fact. We have more than enough depth with players like Pedro, Alexis, Cesc, Inestia, Cuenca, Messi and even Thiago. Even if we do get more injuries we can always rely on the B team for back up. There is no point on getting another striker as they won't have enough time to develop in the Barca system and as it is apparently we are in a crisis with the amount of money. This gives Cuenca and other B players to have more time for the A Team!

Yes but who?

Pedro is getting back to his old, Sanchez has adapted very well he is going to blow now, Messi as we know him.

I don't think we need another forward. I think people are forgetting that Pedro has been injured and it's not that his form just fell off a cliff.

Pedro will be fine and in a weird way I think Villa's injury will solve a lot of rotation problems and team friction.

I'm not saying the injury is a good thing at all, but benching Villa was becoming an issue and now there is a more natural rotation as IMO Villa plays like crap when he comes on as a sub. Some players play great in a substitute role but Villa becomes more selfish and just looks for goal scoring opportunities for himself when he doesn't play like that as a starter.

Now on the other hand if we get another injury or two up front that we would be very thin indeed.

I don't think we need to buy anyone, any new player will need 4-5month to adapt, in that time Villa will be back ..
I prefer giving chance to Cuenca & maybe some playing time for Rafinha vs small teams..

Plus Adriano could be very useful on RW..

Pedro/Cuenca - Messi/Cesc - Alexis/Adriano

Iniesta & Thiago can also help on the wings..
-----------------

Btw according to mundo deportivo, Barcelona B forward Soriano(26) could be promoted to the first team.

alex, that's a really difficult question. On one side I do feel that the main aspect of the current team that is seeing us not perform as brilliantly as last year and before is the forward line. On the other hand I can hardly think of a suitable name that I could buy, fit in well into our formation and style and expect to deliver big in double quick time. Hence overall I am just puzzled.