Transfer Rumors

I think Valdes was the weakest keeper out of the final 4 teams of the Champions League last year. Even his great assets, his ball passing skills looked like crap when he got owned by DiMaria and might of been the wound that tooked the Cup away from us. He has been an amazing key player for us but just like every position and player we have had....sometimes it's ok to look ahead and try to find a piece for the future and congratulate him for all he has done for the club and wish him the best.

Any idea where Valdes might be heading to!!! I don't see any club that can afford & need him.

Honestly not sure but I can see a couple clubs wanting him just because he came off Barcelona and was part of a successful if not one of the most successful teams in the games history, and isn't about to retire.
hope PSG feel the need to buy a keeper xD

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do you think we might make a move for him?

Not good enough for me.

Madrid are more likely to I think, seeing as Iker is broken.

For us, no.

Isaac Cuenca in talks to join Ajax from Barcelona

Edit: Official: Isaac Cuenca has joined Ajax on loan from Barcelona until the summer

Cuenca gone? Good lord...

Well done

Though I would rather he go on loan than him just be ignored ala Bartra and Tello. I feel for them two, Alexis stinking the place out, Villa getting inconsistent minutes and STILL Tello dont play.

Meanwhile Mascherano is the looking like frecking Pascal Cygan and still Bartra dont get a chance.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, If Villa goes too we're screwed

Honestly, with Barta and Tello not getting minutes, Mascherano and Sanchez flopping consistently, Cuenca on loan, Iniesta on the wing meaning Villa on the bench... We will probably not win CL...

Wish we would just tell Cex he needs to rotate with Iniesta and he has to deal with it. Because he doesnt want to be benched, even though he should of know what to expect when he stepped in and broke up the great duo in midfield ever, we shouldnt bend over for him and in turn have Iniesta out left where we dont threaten the opponents RB with speed, and also Villa and Tello getting ignored. Lame.

My thoughts on Cuenca are well documented and I find it sad to see him not here at Barca for the time being, but I think overall this is good because he will see time there that he won't see at Barca.

Too bad. I'll have to catch an Ajax game or two.

It's only half a season to be honest, more minutes = fine by me we should only really be mad at Tito by not rotating youth more or stop favoring Cesc, I understand it's his first year and he has to prove a point by winning almost every match but he has to be more productive.

The Sanchez wrote:Honestly, with Barta and Tello not getting minutes, Mascherano and Sanchez flopping consistently, Cuenca on loan, Iniesta on the wing meaning Villa on the bench... We will probably not win CL...

All that are non factors. Only issue is Iniesta on the wing and Villa on the bench.

Having slept on it, and thought more about the Cuenca loan, this could actually be very good for him considering Ajax play sorta like we do, the passing game and they are in need of a RW so he will forsure get minutes and Cuenca just came from a long injury so if he isn't top preforming we wont play him at all.
not to mention Ajax handle their youth players amazingly.

'Sport' saying Neymar will join Barça in the summer after the Confederations Cup: http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/neymar-hace-las-maletas-2308541

Never going to happen. Cesc and Iniesta in midfield together.

The Franchise wrote:Never going to happen. Cesc and Iniesta in midfield together.

Yep, signing Neymar is all well and good but there needs to be a way to fit in Neymar, Cesc and Iniesta and a playmaker on top of it.

With Xavi eventually going only Thiago can fulfill his role or maybe Busquets if you change things tactically but Cesc and Iniesta are incapable of fulfilling said role.

Cesc is really the elephant in the room tbh, forcing Tito to play Iniesta out wide thus no Villa and with Neymar what do you do? i doubt Neymar can play wide right and Cesc and Iniesta can't play in the same midfield.

If Cesc wasn't signed it would be an easy choice but Cesc makes all these players difficult to fit in.

Such an unnecessary signing.

It's not like he's been unnecessary and performed fantastically either.

It was unnecessary and he's been fairly average since joining too.

I remember many opposing it all the way back in lithium. It's a shame.

I would like to understand why quite a few of you are saying Iniesta cannot play the Xavi role if ever needed and that Thiago and Busquets would definitely be a better choice than him in that role.

Cesc honestly is a perfect supersub, he done it for Spain and every time he does it for us he usually does well.

There is no question that he is fantastic at finding a hole in the defence late in games to make a pass.

Its a shame his ego would never accept such a role, not that I blame him for it.

I blame the players and I play our management for Cesc coming, the players shamelessly longed for him and our management weakly made it happen. I also am a little unhappy with Pep for it too, he seemed to push this move when it got to the later stages too. Its rather frustrating how he made that push, had him for a year and has now gone to Bayern while we are stuck with the mess..and while I say mess, I mean that in the most positive term because Cesc is still a fantastic player in the right role.

I think he has done okay individually, but I dont see how anyone could possibly make a reasonable claim that he has been worth this problem we have.

Some of have said for years, literally going on 5 (the first talk of him coming back to Barca) that it wont be a good thing and here we are.

Iniesta playing the Xavi role? It would be a waste of his talent, a huge waste JD. The role requires an immense discipline and restricts you greatly.

No more dribbling, no more risk taking, no more weaving through traffic...much of the game dropping deep to build up play, always being available for a pass, backing up play, playing the low-risk pass so we can advance our play..and so much more.

It just wont work and its not a surprise to me at all that despite Iniesta's form and Xavi's advancing years, Cesc and Iniesta have never played any meaningful time together in a classic 433. It wont work.

No question to me Thiago and Busquets would be better than Iniesta. They have many more of the attributes required. Iniesta is a free spirit in many ways, he enjoys the freedom, he can go a little bit wider if he needs to, he can drive at 2,3 defenders. Thiago can do that too mind, but he equally looks a natural deeper, plus he had a natural athletic ability about him which also is a plus for the position.

messixaviesta wrote:I would like to understand why quite a few of you are saying Iniesta cannot play the Xavi role if ever needed and that Thiago and Busquets would definitely be a better choice than him in that role.

Well maybe can't is the wrong choice of words, maybe a huge waste of his skillset would be better.

dani and mole, thanks for your replies. We are very much on the same page and I am glad that is so. My feeling was exactly the same. Iniesta can play the Xavi role but it would take away something from his natural game and ability. Of course no one can play the Xavi role as well as the maestro himself and I stick to my comment made some time earlier that Barca will find it hard to reach the same level of greatness once Xavi is not there in our central midfield.

The Franchise wrote:
I blame the players and I play our management for Cesc coming, the players shamelessly longed for him and our management weakly made it happen. I also am a little unhappy with Pep for it too, he seemed to push this move when it got to the later stages too. Its rather frustrating how he made that push, had him for a year and has now gone to Bayern while we are stuck with the mess..and while I say mess, I mean that in the most positive term because Cesc is still a fantastic player in the right role.

Who do you think really wanted him that badly? The management? Its rumored Rosell didn't want this move. Pep? What could he get out of it if he had already planned to end his tenure at Barca? I can think of only one thing and that is fulfilling his childhood promise to Cesc that he will one day wear Pep's no. 4 Barca shirt. The players? Maybe but would seasoned professionals really do all that just to get a long lost friend back? No it seems to me they expected some special value add from him. I remember a comment from Xavi saying that he would retire in a few years and it was important for Fabregas to be ready to take over his duties in time. I guess what they hadn't then realized was that playing the way he has played the last few years Cesc wouldn't fit into that role. I still think if Fabregas were to give up his desire to go forward and score goals he could try to rediscover the way he used to play around 2006 and then perhaps we could make better use of him but thats really difficult.

The Franchise wrote:
No question to me Thiago and Busquets would be better than Iniesta. They have many more of the attributes required. Iniesta is a free spirit in many ways, he enjoys the freedom, he can go a little bit wider if he needs to, he can drive at 2,3 defenders. Thiago can do that too mind, but he equally looks a natural deeper, plus he had a natural athletic ability about him which also is a plus for the position.

Interesting. In this sense I agree Busquets suits the role best. About Thiago I have always seen him as more about adventure than about discipline but now that you say this I will keep a closer eye on him to understand how well he can possibly fit the Xavi role. Good point about his athletic ability. Still would a young prodigy, part Brazilian at that, want to continue to play conservatively during his prime footballing years?

Another thought I had was that we are talking about the time when Xavi retires or is close to retirement. Consider Iniesta's age at that time. In his advancing years isn't it possible that he would prefer to dribble and run less and gradually move towards a more conservative role? Wouldn't it suit him more than playing left winger does?

Poor Iniesta cannot play in his natural position so everyone can feel happy, and has yet to complain as far as we know.