free_cat wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

Sir_Psycho_Sexy91 wrote:http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20111201/fc-barcelona/samper-el-pirlo-de-la-cantera_54238716855.html

http://www.totalbarca.com/2011/youth/sergi-samper-la-masia%E2%80%99s-next-big-thing/


Article(s) on Sergi Samper Barça Juvenil A player... now being dubbed the Pirlo of La Masia. Prospects that tender do not need all this. Folks should let them enjoy what they do IMO.

BTW: Go and google Sergi Samper, and count how many times Wenger's face shows up under images.

I have heard a lot about this kid.Heard that he is the most highly rated player in the system and our best midfielder to come out of the system since Iniesta.
Also that he has been earmarked as Xavi's heir.That got me piqued.
Can someone like kizz,khaled,free etc shed some light on Samper?How good is he?Is the hype justified or will he turn out another Gai Assulin?

I've watched several games from Samper with the Juvenil A. He has a super long and short pass and a great technique. He doesn't look at all like Xavi's heir, but he could be a new Busquets. He plays the DM role, he is tall, weak & slow, but intelligent, and as I said, a great passer. He is 16 and playing vs. 19 year old guys. He has already improved a lot in this half a season, as he wasn't really a starter at the begining, and in his first games he was good on the ball, but terrible defensively, and he has improved a lot his positioning and intercepting abilities in only few games. IMO, the hype is justified, but you never know at this age.

Thanks for the info man.
So he is not a Xavi heir.
More of a heir to Busquets which is good to know though.Now the important thing is to keep Wenger away.
Heard he was in for Samper and I am sure he will be again if the kid is as good as he is hyped up to be.
BTW who is the closest youngster to Xavi in the youth system?Just curious to know.

IF hes 16 and playing against 19 year olds, free_cat he will get much stronger then you think. I play against older people my age and because of that I'm easily the weakest guy on the field, or one of them.

Oriol Romeu + Sergio Busquets = Oriol Busquets is 12, 13 next month.
He's huge for his age and can play CM or DM. [ via migerucb] #lamasia

--------------------------

FCBarcelona 3 -2 Dortmund ( U-14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxzh9d0urxo&feature=youtu.be

You have a player named Oriol Busquets? :lol!:

lol

Holy god are you sure he's U-14? I'm U-16 and 177cm.. hes huge

http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/barca-calabazas-betis-por-tello-1297281

Honestly shaking my head at Pep's decision here... I don't say that much.

But to me consistent top level football beats out week-in week-out second division football and an odd 5-30 minute appearance for the first team every now and then. It would be a tremendous experience and potential learning curve for Tello. Plus we can't make excuses and say we don't have enough players to slot in the front three. When Adriano, Cesc, Iniesta (even though it diminishes his game), and even Thiago are all fully capable of playing in attack. And of course there's still Messi, Pedro, Alexis, and Cuenca.

Sir_Psycho_Sexy91 wrote:http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/barca-calabazas-betis-por-tello-1297281

Honestly shaking my head at Pep's decision here... I don't say that much.

But to me consistent top level football beats out week-in week-out second division football and an odd 5-30 minute appearance for the first team every now and then. It would be a tremendous experience and potential learning curve for Tello. Plus we can't make excuses and say we don't have enough players to slot in the front three. When Adriano, Cesc, Iniesta (even though it diminishes his game), and even Thiago are all fully capable of playing in attack. And of course there's still Messi, Pedro, Alexis, and Cuenca.

It's probably to keep some quality players at the B team too. Cuenca will always be with the first team since Villa was injured. Jonathan Soriano might also be promoted. The B team would only have Deulofeu, Femenia, Rafinha and Rodri up front, and both Rodri and Femenia have been meh.

They don't want to risk the B team going down.

Folguera (director youth residence): "At the Masia, there are now players from SEN, NIG, CAM, DOM, ARG, BRA, SWE; and KOR." [la vanguardia]

Not official though it seems like B-Squad player Martí Riverola is on his way to Bologna (who are currently in 16th place in Serie A) on a four year contract.

Sir_Psycho_Sexy91 wrote:Not official though it seems like B-Squad player Martí Riverola is on his way to Bologna (who are currently in 16th place in Serie A) on a four year contract.

its seems that he could join them in the summer...

Soriano already joined Salzburg (Austria) its official for 0.5 + 0.5 M variables!

NEXT GEN SERIES 2011/2012
QUARTER FINALS

QF1 - Tuesday, 25.01.2012, 19 CET
Villa Park, Birmingham (ENG)
ASTON VILLA (ENG) vs OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE (FRA)

QF2 - Tuesday, 25.01.2012, 19:30 CET
Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria (POR)
SPORTING CP (POR) vs INTER MILAN (ITA)

QF3 - Tuesday, 01.02.2012, 19 CET
White Hart Lane, London (ENG)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (ENG) vs LIVERPOOL FC (ENG)

QF4 - Tuesday, 08.02.2012, 20 CET
Mini Estadi, Barcelona (ESP)
FC BARCELONA (ESP) vs AJAX FC (HOL)

I think Soriano could have made a better move... He could have succeeded with an EPL team, a Portuguese team or a La Liga team. I hope he lights up Salzburg and makes a big move in a year or so.

BarcaKizz wrote:I think Soriano could have made a better move... He could have succeeded with an EPL team, a Portuguese team or a La Liga team. I hope he lights up Salzburg and makes a big move in a year or so.

He is 26. He was probably getting the biggest offer from Salzburg (Red Bull, big $$), and it is not like he can plan a long term career. Needs to cash in right now.

On other note, watched today's Barça B win over Xerez 2-0. We offered a completely dominant performance with more than 20 shots on goal and only a few conceded. We hogged the ball and played very well. MOM was Cristian Tello, who is improving a lot. He scored a wonderfull first goal that you should watch, and assisted the second after a run and a ground cross that Rodri tapped in.

Rafinha and Marti Riverola were also very good. A pity my "friend" Marti is leaving, he looked very improved as a player today. Muniesa played as DM and he did a hell of a job, much better than his latest performances as LB. Bartra was really good defensively (finally!) and on the ball. Femenia and Rodri (although he scored) were poor.

Deulofeu came in for Femenia the last 20 minutes, and although he wasn't very involved he made 2-3 great dribling runs and almost scored from a free kick. He should play more in order to keep developing.

Has anyone seen any Barça B matches lately? I heard Dongou was promoted to Barça B and I'm really interested in how he's been coping with playing at this new level. Would be awesome if he would be able to shine right from the start (considering his age).

EDIT: @ Khaled: Isn't Feb. 8th on a Wednesday?

Hete BLKSM wrote:Has anyone seen any Barça B matches lately? I heard Dongou was promoted to Barça B and I'm really interested in how he's been coping with playing at this new level. Would be awesome if he would be able to shine right from the start (considering his age).

EDIT: @ Khaled: Isn't Feb. 8th on a Wednesday?

I reported last weekends' Barça B match just above your post..... O_O'

Dongou has not been promoted to Barça B, he was with the team only yesterday because Cuenca and Tello went with first team. He played only 5 minutes.

I couldn't watch the match, but Barça B won 4-2 vs. Huesca. Deulofeu created the first goal with a good play and a shot from outside the box that hit the crossbar, and Marti Riverola tapped in. Rodri scored two (he seems to start scoring after a terrible start of the season) and Femenia profited from a GK mistake.

Oh, and Dongou played 5 minutes coming in for Rodri.

Ah, didn't read your entire post. I figured it was entirely about Soriano. My bad. Anyways, too bad they didn't promote him. Won't Soriano leaving result in a situation in which Barça B will be able to score hardly as much as they used to? Sure, he hasn't played a lot this year anyway, but we don't have a prolific goalscorer in Barça B anymore.

#FCBarcelona B Stats in Segunda 2011/12 [Week 22]: 10th with 30pts | 8W, 6D, 8L | Goal Difference: 36-32 [+4]

Watched 30 minutes of Barça B vs. Vila-real. Deulofeu was a starter but he was subbed when I started watching. We played vs. 10 most of the second half and should have scored. We were very unfortunate not to score. Bartra had a one on one and in a header he hit the cross. I was again impressed by Muniesa playing as DM: tidy passing, lots of recoveries. Rafinha was very good again as CM. Bartra was immense going forward but as usual he made a defensive mistake that almost cost us a goal. Carlas Planas surprised me and gave the best performance I've seen from him. Up top, Rodri and Femenia were useless and were finally subbed by Espinosa (played very well) and Dongou (3 minutes).

A request, if its possible could anyone who gets a chance to watch Barca B to post to the starting 11 and how they line up. Again, if its not to much trouble. I think that would be good.

Rafinha as a cm, thats intresting Free. How would you compare him to a younger Thiago in this position?

The Franchise wrote:A request, if its possible could anyone who gets a chance to watch Barca B to post to the starting 11 and how they line up. Again, if its not to much trouble. I think that would be good.

Rafinha as a cm, thats intresting Free. How would you compare him to a younger Thiago in this position?

They always line up in a 433. The starting 11 changes every week though. The last 2 games I watched it was this:

vs. Xerez
Masip
Montoya - Armando - Bartra - Carles Planes
---Riverola - Muniesa - Rafinha
Femenia - --------Rodri - --------Tello

Sergi Gomez came in for Armando, Deulo for Femenia and Espinso for Tello.

vs. Vilareal B:

Oier
Montoya - Bartra - Armando - Carles Planas
--- Rafinha -- Muniesa--- Riverola
Femenia --- Rodri ---- Deulofeu

When I started watching. Deulofeu was subbed by Lobato and Espinosa for Femenia.

I didn't watch Thiago when he was only 18, as Rafinha is. However, I did watch Thiago at 19-20, and my impression is that Rafinha does slightly better than Thiago. Thiago used to lose a lot of balls and didn't make as much the difference Rafinha does. Rafinha can boss the midfield any game, scores more, and has a much more "European" style than Thiago. This makes him look like he is less talented, but I don't think that's the case. He is just more Barça indoctrinated than Thiago was at 19.

Great post Free, thanks for the take on Rafinha and Thiago.

Do you think Muniesa will become a fulltime DM? Of course he was best known as a centerback but him moving forward he seems to have impressed according to what I read here so thats an intresting move

The Franchise wrote:Great post Free, thanks for the take on Rafinha and Thiago.

Do you think Muniesa will become a fulltime DM? Of course he was best known as a centerback but him moving forward he seems to have impressed according to what I read here so thats an intresting move

The thing is that Muniesa has barely played in his natural position (CB) in the B team. He has almost always been played as LB. Hence, I can understand why he is playing much better as a DM than as a LB. I think that adapting your game from playing centrally to playing on the wings is harder than adapting your game from playing slighly upwards (CB to DM) generally.

Me myself I've always played through the midle, and while I can adapt well playing in a numerous positions in the center, I'm lost if playing wide.

So, I don't know if Muniesa will become a DM, but IMO this suggests that he should not plays as LB anymore, but focus on playing as CB or DM in the future.

Yeah I agree, good point. It must be harder moving from wing to center, no question.

I'm annoyed I havent caught as much of the B team this year. I think its that some of the players that appealed to me have left.

Anyway, great info. I'm interested as to why Muniesa plays DM and not Bartra. Considering Bartra is famed for his skill on the ball rather than his steely defending, I would have thought he'd be more likely to play there.

I think its good learning for Muniesa though. He should still be seen as a CB, but playing at LB and DM will improve his game. I just hope he gets some time eventually at CB so he can grow into the player we want him too. I still have highest hopes on him out of Bartra, Gomez and himself.

F**ing hate Armando...