urbaNRoots wrote:I think some Barca fans have a bad complex about Cesc. The OP didn't even mention him and yet he somehow gets bashed.

No. Alex has a complex about Cesc.

The rest of us just compare the two because its the natural thing to do. They are our two backups and many see them as our 2 future mids.

Oh, and I'm sure he would play loads of games if he was at Arsenal. In fact, now that I think of it... He'd definitely start over Arteta...

Of course he would play plenty of games, but because we have constant injuries. Don't get me wrong Thiago is one of the best youngsters in Europe but yet I don't think he can control the midfield like Arteta. If you watched Arteta at Arsenal he's playing more as a deep-lying playmaker than an attacking one and he's done great for us.

I'm baffled by this thread. Thiago has been good to very good this season, and especially his last two games vs zaragoza and Llevant have been some of his best performances.

Ok, vs llevant he missed 2 headers (none of them were that easy) and gave away the ball to kone (something that busquets did every match his first season). But that aside, he was mych betrer than every other midfielder.

Thiago is on his way to be a top player in the world.

urbaNRoots wrote:Of course he would play plenty of games, but because we have constant injuries. Don't get me wrong Thiago is one of the best youngsters in Europe but yet I don't think he can control the midfield like Arteta. If you watched Arteta at Arsenal he's playing more as a deep-lying playmaker than an attacking one and he's done great for us.

Yeah I have watched Arsenal, and I know that. If you watched Thiago at Barca more then you'd realise he sits deep quite often as well. This is why he's compared to Xavi more than other players. He has more flare than Arteta, that doesn't mean he's worse sitting deep. Arteta is an ordinary defensive player, its well known. Thiago is a better defender and has a better workrate. On top of this he's just as good a passer, a better dribbler and contrary to what you think he is certainly up to Arteta's level in controlling midfields.

Don't get me wrong, Arteta's a good player, and a great buy by Arsenal, but he's no better than Thiago. He's just more experienced. Thiago would start as many games, if not more, regardless of the injury situation.

danyjr wrote:Thiago is a player I like but his style is not suited for Barcelona. The truth is I don't want him to change his instinct and nature of play because he has plenty of qualities that a lot of teams would largely benefit from. I think he should go to Italy. He would succeed in a team like Milan - big time.

To be able to succeed in Barcelona, you need to have a great awareness of the play; look at Xavi, whether he is in possession of the ball or not, he is always looking around, for players, for spaces. Also you should be good at passing and his passes were very bad today, always miss-hit either too strong or too slow. And it is obvious he wants to play further up the pitch. Tonight, as a CM he didn't make himself available for the players to pass to as much as I would have liked him to.

For Barça, Javi Martínez would be a better suit.

We would take him, start him for every game and turn him into a superstar. We tried to buy him last season, but management blocked us. You can bet we'll try again next transfer season.

He will stay in Barca thankyou.

I think people were deceived by his appearances last season, when he scored a few goals and made a couple of good assists and tricks. But last season he had 0 pressure on him, coming on mostly as a sub and without much responsibility.

This season however he's 10th in number of minutes for outfield players, has started ~30 games (pretty much on par with Iniesta and Fabregas).

He's been given the responsibility of a senior player in one of the most pressure filled positions in world football in his debut season. That takes balls.

And frankly he's added a lot of layers to his game. IMO he's had a great season so far.

BarcaKizz wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:I think some Barca fans have a bad complex about Cesc. The OP didn't even mention him and yet he somehow gets bashed.

No. Alex has a complex about Cesc.

The rest of us just compare the two because its the natural thing to do. They are our two backups and many see them as our 2 future mids.

Oh, and I'm sure he would play loads of games if he was at Arsenal. In fact, now that I think of it... He'd definitely start over Arteta...

Hey,how do I have a Cesc complex?
I dont think maintaining that he cant control a midfield and plays poorly as a CM leads to me having a Cesc complex.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

The Franchise wrote:Im slightly (almost majorly tbh) baffled by this thread.

I felt he had a very good game, better than Xavi, better than Cesc, better than Iniesta, better than Busquets.

I personally felt he was imprecise when he needed to be decisive. He had two very clear chances early in the game, and gave the ball away to Kone which resulted in their best chance the entire game, and probably would've scored had it not been for Puyol. In addition to that I seem to recall some imprecise passes, but he was very composed on the ball. I personally felt like this wasn't his best game in a while, but he wasn't terrible by any means.

I dont remember many give aways at in. in fact I know for sure Xavi gave the ball away more in just his 45 minutes.

And his chances were not even real chances, both were difficult headers which I realistically didnt expect him to put away.

matpol wrote:

The Franchise wrote:Again, im very confused by this thread. Perhaps someone can explain what he did wrong today and overall how he hasnt had a good season.

He missed 3 very good chances before Levante scored and didn't care. He looked just like in Milan game in 1/4 of UCL when he missed sitter - yeah, who cares we will win anyway. I don't like his attitude. Some sloppy passes, give away ball to Kone, who would have scored if Puyol didn't stop him. His last really good game was at San Siro UCL Group stage vs Milan, he is average for months with no end product and sloppy passes. He will give rest one of Xavi/Iniesta/Cesc during Rayo game when he will probably start, now 3 games in the row of riding the bench for him. Legrester :dance:

P.S When Busquets arrived, I knew that he will make it and be a starter in this team. With Thiago I don't feel it. Hopefully he will prove me wrong, but I think of him as a squad player. I wouldn't be surprised if he moves to the other team in 4-5 years due to still not being starter there. Hopefully he will prove me wrong and justify hype surrounding him.

How were they very good chances..what game were you watching? And what do you want him to do after he missed? break down in tears? How about when others miss, like Messi..the same reaction.

I think your just hatnig on him because some of us feel he is a way superior midfielder to Cesc.

Albi, I know you said this wasnt about todays game and I wasnt trying to target you in saying that. I meant the comments coming form your post more than your post.

I just dont get people comments on todays game.

People mention he gives the ball away, however Xavig ave it away more and for the season Thiago is passing at over 90%. How can anyone possibly be saying he gives it away too much when he is passing over 90%..im literally stratching my head.


Others are talking about missing chances...when first of all, when do we judge midfielders on that..and second,...Iniesta...HELLO?!

People are saying he gave it away to Kone in a dangerous positon...Busquets and Dani Alves do that too.

Then we have "no vision"..because apperently if you dont have the vision of Xavi you have no vision lol

He has had many great games this season, Osasuna when EVERYONE was playing poor and he was the single player playing at a high level both in effort and ability.

Then we have Zara, where he wa excelent and then vs Levante, he wasnt magic, but he did a good job I felt. And many other games this season where he has done a very good job.

Overall, as I said before im very confused by this thread. His season has only viindicated my first beliefs and thoughts, he is a BIG part of the future.

I dont see what more he could have done this season other than maybe show the goalscoring he showed preseason, which is a bonus...when you say breakthrough Albi, that was never going to happen the moment we signed Cesc. I am relieved he is even playing a much as he is and on top of that showing surprising consistancy for a young player who is used to intermittadly.

Urban he would atleast start in the mean time over Ramsey who is really overhyped.Thiago has a better workrate and dribbling than Arteta. and has more flair.I belive with more experience he would control the midfield better than this and he could also learn from Xavi.

The Franchise wrote:I dont remember many give aways at in. in fact I know for sure Xavi gave the ball away more in just his 45 minutes.

And his chances were not even real chances, both were difficult headers which I realistically didnt expect him to put away.

I was honestly much more bothered by the chance he gave to Kone than the missed headers.

Either way I don't want to make it seem like I'm overly critical, I don't think he has been disappointing at all, I was just annoyed at some aspects of his performance yesterday. But I was also annoyed by nearly everyone else except Cuenca.

Alex, I just meant that you are clearly the most vocal in criticism against Cesc. I don't think the majority of the forum has a problem with him like you do. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, in fact I wouldn't argue with you at all. I agree with you almost always on football matters. Just using his word of 'complex' to define your long tirade against the 'Lost Puppy' lol.

BarcaKizz wrote:Alex, I just meant that you are clearly the most vocal in criticism against Cesc. I don't think the majority of the forum has a problem with him like you do. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, in fact I wouldn't argue with you at all. I agree with you almost always on football matters. Just using his word of 'complex' to define your long tirade against the 'Lost Puppy' lol.

Well didnt like his signing in the first place as he was comepletely unnecessary and he has done nothing since to prove me otherwsie.

alexjanosik wrote:

BarcaKizz wrote:Alex, I just meant that you are clearly the most vocal in criticism against Cesc. I don't think the majority of the forum has a problem with him like you do. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, in fact I wouldn't argue with you at all. I agree with you almost always on football matters. Just using his word of 'complex' to define your long tirade against the 'Lost Puppy' lol.

Well didnt like his signing in the first place as he was comepletely unnecessary and he has done nothing since to prove me otherwsie.

Haha I love the truth when it's spoken like this.

I agree 100%

Again takes time... Really hasn't someone create a thread about Thiago. Can't we discuss it there. It's simple. Needs more time!!!

No the thread wasnt about time or even his development. It's about his impact this season he had, i was simply asking what others thought about his performance overall this season and how he faired according to their expectations.

Well in that case, the only way he will have an impact in games is TIME!!!

Thiago will only be useful as a substitute. Cesc, Iniesta and Afellay are our most viable midfield options post-Xavi. Thiago lacks the vision and composure of all the aforementioned midfielders.

I don't think anyone can really criticize Thiago's composure of all things, that's one of his main assets..

Thiago lacks vision? that's a new one. are we talking about directness, the through balls or the ability to see the floor and find space in between the lines?

Thiago's vision and composure are fine.

In fact, his composure is ridiculously good. Like, better than the majority of midfielders.

Thiago has a bright future ahead of him. I would 1000000% prefer him over Cesc in the midfield. Even now (and he's shown to be much better than Cesc in the midfield)

Albiceleste wrote:No the thread wasnt about time or even his development. It's about his impact this season he had, i was simply asking what others thought about his performance overall this season and how he faired according to their expectations.

He's done great. People should really see things in perspective. This kid is 21 years old, is now playing in the best team of the world on one of the most important spots in our team. We all know how important the midfield is to the way we play and we can hardly expect this kid to do on his age in his first real year with the team what the great Xavi and/or Iniesta have done in the last couple of years for us. Because that is the standard which we expect from our midfielders and it isn't realistic. I remember when Pep started pushing Busi on the team instead of Yaya. Sergio was dodgy in his first year. He played good to great in one game and very average in the second. But in his second year he found his consistency and that's when I really understood why the great Yaya (of whom I was a big fan at the time) was being benched. Even Cesc, who is playing decent to good games in his first year back is being regarded as a waste of money, even though his age indicates he is hardly at his peak. Let's give them both some time to develop, especially Thiago.

I see that there is room for criticizing and improvements, but saying disappointed for a young player in the first year of "real" first team action is a bit too much. I mean he was not consistent, but i do not think he was our worst player on the pitch either. As Hete BLKSM said, he has to fill in some very big shoes, so we judge him more harshly.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:What Dani said lol, plus he's just a kid his finishing aside which is far from the most important thing as a CM he's been great IMO.

Also he was better than all the midfielders as Dani keenly pointed out.

Another id like to point out before Iniesta came on he was better than Messi tonight who was average until Iniesta came on.

Seriously i wonder what goes through peoples minds sometimes..... Cesc? he's utterly useless for Barca if he doesnt score.

I would really like to know what more you expected from Thiago? he's been great imo.

Also one more thing what was Xavi and Iniesta doing at Thiago's age?

Yh that's what i thought.

He's top 10 in La Liga in assists too...

If you prefer Thiago to Fabregas because you think Fabregas messes with the teams flow and style of play thats fine and all

But claiming he's "utterly useless when he doesnt score" when he's in the top 20 in the league for goals and the top 10 in the league for assists in his first season in a new league on slightly limited starts is just dumb, frankly