Transfer Rumours

Probably have to pay more than 14 mil for Agger. Need to spend at least 25 mil to get them interested...

And his successor with a much better team managed to get fired at mid season.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina (30) will join Napoli on loan this season. Next year, he will move to Barcelona on a permanent deal. [md]

Khaled wrote:Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina (30) will join Napoli on loan this season. Next year, he will move to Barcelona on a permanent deal. [md]

Dont understand why Liverpool is sending their no.1 keeper on loan, do they have a quality replacement???

They've just signed Mignolet.

What about Papadopolous ? Btw, IMO you need 2 CBs and a tall, true LB/RB.

We need at least 1 CB and a tall defending fullback. The summer has been very disappointing so far. I'm really worried about Bayern game next wedensday. Anybody know if the internationals will be back before Wednesday?

barcaholic wrote:We need at least 1 CB and a tall defending fullback. The summer has been very disappointing so far. I'm really worried about Bayern game next Wednesday. Anybody know if the internationals will be back before Wednesday?

Internationals wont be back until the 29th.

I too, fear a humiliation at the hands of Bayern next week. I hope Roura is in charge and plays Barca B, mostly. At least that way we'll have an excuse. I have watched 2 of their last friendlies and they have already started to press like crazy. I addition, Thiago and Pep have a point to prove.

God help us.




---tello---------dongou-------alexis-----

-----espinosa----------Sergi Rob---

----------------Song--------

planas----masch--------batra----adriano


after 60 mins

-----roman-------messi--------kiko-----

----------samper---------patric----

------------------JDS---------------

planas-------masc------gomez--------illie

Khaled wrote:Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina (30) will join Napoli on loan this season. Next year, he will move to Barcelona on a permanent deal. [md]

Better be coming as nothing more than to become the new Pinto.

The Franchise wrote:

Khaled wrote:Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina (30) will join Napoli on loan this season. Next year, he will move to Barcelona on a permanent deal. [md]

Better be coming as nothing more than to become the new Pinto.

You know I've got a feeling he's not.

Barcelona signing a 31 year old keeper. Gotta love Rosell the undercover Madridista

I have a feeling we have a deal in place for Marc-Andre ter Stegen next year.. and Reina will serve as the starter until the young German is ready.

Donuts wrote:I have a feeling we have a deal in place for Marc-Andre ter Stegen next year.. and Reina will serve as the starter until the young German is ready.

Agree, Reina+ter stegan would be a good plan since Valdes is leaving!

barcaholic wrote:We need at least 1 CB and a tall defending fullback. The summer has been very disappointing so far. I'm really worried about Bayern game next wedensday. Anybody know if the internationals will be back before Wednesday?

Agree, we need 2 defenders to play the roles of Puyol and Abidal.

World Class CB and a defensive minded FB (RB/LB).

There were rumors that PSG are interested in Dani Alves, if thats true and they offer 25+M.
I would sell him and buy someone like Ivanovic (10-15M).
1- We'll have the balance we need in the defence with Iva+Alba and Montoya/Adriano as backup.
Also, we'll be better at set pieces (defending/attacking)
2- We'll have extra 10-15M to spend on World Class CB.


Iva/Montoya - Pique (Bartra) - CB (Masche/Puyol) - Alba (Adriano)

The perfect CB: Thiago Silva (won't happen).

All defensive problems solved... offcourse the new coach should also work on the press and how to defend as a team (Pep Era 2008-2011, excluding his last season).


note: I don't think Rosell will consider selling Alves now especially with the arrival of Neymar (maybe next season).

Ivanovic aint good enough for Barca.

He has the skills of a centerback.

I want a "new Abidal" too but Abidal is and was a far better ball player.

I wont even bother repeating why I object to selling Dani Alves.

The Franchise wrote:Ivanovic aint good enough for Barca.

He has the skills of a centerback.

I want a "new Abidal" too but Abidal is and was a far better ball player.

I wont even bother repeating why I object to selling Dani Alves.

Adriano just renewed until 2017, I would have though about selling him and buy a defensive minded LB (new Abidal).

Anyway, I think Barcelona will just buy a center back and that's it.

New contract to me just means we dont have (though probably still would) to sell him for cheap yet.

I agree, nothing will happen this season anyway.

I agree on selling Adriano for defensive LB/Rb
but it seems our board doesn't trust Montoya, and rely on Adraino for the CB spot.

Adriano signing a new deal is just Barcelona confirming they will continue to provide medical treatment for him.

Damn, I wrote a huge post about the future and it asked me to Log In again and I lost it all... I'll just put it into dot form instead.

I'm not sure if I'm reading the situation correctly, but PSG buying and being interested in so many CBs could be a sign that they may relent in their stance on Thiago Silva. Or at the very least, they are pushing Sakho out of the club.

Sakho is a terrific prospect, good in the tackle, tall, strong, aggressive and fairly quick. I wouldn't mind grooming him into our Puyol replacement as he has the raw tools and natural physicality. The only problem I see is that Pique's ego will never let Sakho lead him as Puyol has in the past - either way Pique needs a strong kick up the ass.

Make no mistake about it, we as a club are going through a transitionary period - the whole spine of our club is being stripped. No Coach, Valdes is leaving, Puyol's body is betraying him and Xavi is slowing or will slow. Over the next 2-3 years, the 3 captains and the recent great coach's will all be gone. What we do in this transition will determine our immediate and future success.

With all this in mind, I believe we need fresh ideas and a new spin on our ideology. I hear many calling for a double pivot, I'd prefer something like this in the future;

------------New GK------------
-----New CB------New CB-----
-------------Pique--------------
-----Busquets-------------Alba
Alves--------------Iniesta-----
-------------Cesc---------------
---------Messi---------Neymar

• We need a new GK - world class shot blocker, 1 on 1 and playing the ball - no idea who
  
• We need two new CBs - I'd like Sahko for the left, not sure who on the right, preferably Varane but good luck with that one free haha.
  
• I believe a lot of Pique's recent demise has been due to a lack of focus and falling off from his peak athleticism from his youth. He no longer posses that huge burst of speed and therefore dives into tackles alot. Put him in a position to succeed as a sweeper during the defensive phase and let him bring the ball up into DM in the attack phase. He has better pace than Busquets, is a great passer and enjoys pushing forward.
  
• Move Busquets into CM. Allow him to hold possession, recycle the ball, continue defending, push the balls to the wings, Iniesta and Messi. In general, be an all around CM. Moreso, his lack of pace won't be as much of a problem at CM due to his tactical nature to stay back at the same time he won't be part of the last line of defence.
  
• We utilise our wingbacks and their attacking potential by allowing them to move forward with 3 at the back. As well, during the defensive stage due to their fantastic engines they can fall back into a defending 5 at the back, providing further protection.
  
• Iniesta continues being Iniesta.
  
• Cesc starts as the #10. The position where he is a great player, allow him to impact the game in a more direct way as he did at Arsenal. Let him assist, score, make forward runs and interact with the wingbacks, neymar and messi.
  
• Messi needs to improve tactically. Teams have figured him out, man mark him out of the game as noone else can score and don't allow him the ball in dangerous places, make his teammates beat you. Reminds me of how Chicago Bulls play defence on Lebron. So he needs to improve his off-the-ball movement. Make more runs off the ball, move into space, stretch the defence - Cruyff could teach him a thing or two and most of all PRESS. For the love of all things good - PRESS!! Ideally, with Cesc behind him, we can have them swap positions and let Messi drop to the top of the diamond, turn with Iniesta to his left, Neymar and Cesc in front of him and Alba and Alves storming the wings, so he can pass, he can dribble and play 1-2s.
  
• Neymar needs to become a poor man's Ronaldinho. Something akin to Henry, where he doesn't quite fit the team model but can rather dribble, pass and score as the opportunities present themselves. But he MUST press.

All in all, we need to become a more dynamic team, more vertical and use space far better. We need to improve our defence and thats where I believe we should defend with 6 in a formation of:

Alves - CB - Pique - CB - Alba
------------Busquets
And then unleash a devastating counter-attack with these 4 just like we use to in 08/09 with:
----------------------Iniesta
-----Cesc
------------Messi
------------------------Neymar

It's a shame Thiago is gone, we could have put him where Busquets is and he would of been ideal there. Then we could of had Busquets and Pique fight for the DM spot with Pique as the 3rd CB when necessary. Furthermore, if Cesc doesn't work out, we could always put Messi into his position and Alexis/Pedro in front or a new forward.

Either way, we are some tactical innovation (pressing) and about 4 players away from once again being at the top of our potential. One of these has been purchased in Neymar for the LW - hopefully he will work out and score goals (although I would of gone for Suarez), another will need to be a GK and we should ideally purchase 2 CBs, hopefully one being Sahko.

It's amazing to think of how important Xavi was to our team - one of the most unique players of all time and was the King of Football for a while domestically and internationally. In my opinion, we played Xavi's football for the last 5 or so seasons, it's a shame he never won a Balon D'or - he deserves it. We are going to have to change our team as he fades because noone can replace him.

Fantastic post man.Such a shame that you dont post more.
Most points I agree with.On Messi,forget it.Most here refuse to accept that he needs to improve tactically and that he needs to put in a shift.
I like your 3-5-2 variation.Just one issue.Who is going to make the off the ball runs?Messi wont.
Sure we can instruct Neymar to make the runs.But that would be a waste of his talents to just turn him into a poacher.Cesc will but again I dont think its enough.Ideally I would have a proper 9 if we play a 3-5-2 variant.
On 2 CB's I agree.I dont think one is enough and we need to give Pique more competition.

On Xavi,completely agree.We did indeed play his football.Is on his last legs but I still think he has fight left in him and can contribute.

Thanks Alex! It's been a while, I still read all your posts always learning a ton from your knowledge.

Unfortunately we created this beast that is Messi. We have put pressure on him to score 65+ goals, 25+ assists, dribble teams on his own and lead us through all the big games. I find this so unrealistic, this coming season I expect Messi to score 30-40 goals and get 10-15 assists - these are ELITE numbers. But I would hope that he leads by example - in particular off-the-ball; press, makes off the ball runs, fall back and stretch defences. Everytime you write Messi could learn from Cruyff I can't help but agree.

Who makes the runs and who scores the goals is just an issue I can't seem to solve. In theory it works in my head, but in real life it won't work unless we have a coach who can convince the players and keep them focused - something which we have lacked since our success.

Ideally we end up with the wingbacks making runs on either side, Neymar making runs through the middle. Messi dropping deep and turning, Cesc pulling the defenders away. Something like this:

Alves-----------Iniesta-----Alba
-----------------------------------
------------Cesc------------------
-----------------------------------
-------Messi-------------Neymar
-----------------------------------

Transitioning into this:

-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
-----------Messi-----Iniesta-----
------Cesc------------------------
-------------------Neymar-------
Alves------------------------Alba

The wingbacks pull the fullbacks out, neymar takes one of CBs attention, Cesc the other CBs. Then the DM picks up one of Messi and Iniesta. Either way Messi or Iniesta should have the ball with some space in a dangerous area, both are great at 1-2s. Like I said, the movement works well in theory. It's going to come down to either Messi making off the ball runs or us replacing Cesc.

The issue with my 3-5-2 is we don't have many goal scorers on the field. Unless Cesc puts in 15, Neymar above 20 and Messi 30-40. We still need more goals from somewhere, because we can't just rely on those 3. Hopefully smarter minds than mine can come to some solutions.

Hopefully we can rest Xavi a little more this season and have him at his best so we can enjoy these last few seasons properly!

Thanks for explaining.
Now I am assuming that even in this formation,we play our normal possession game.
Assuming that I see one problem.Their fullbacks dont have to cover our wingbacks.Their wingers can cover our fullbacks.That leaves the fullbacks free to assist the CB's deal with Neymar and Fabregas.Now as you rightly mentioned,this leaves Messi and Iniesta with space in dangerous areas(facing just their 2 midfielders).Could work but again kind of doesnt make the best of Neymar.

Another issue I have is that again the backline will have just one dangerous player to worry about(last season it was Messi) in Neymar.Assuming Messi plays behind and is covered by the midfielders.I think that would be a repeat of this season's fault.That the opposition defense just has one player to worry about(and sometimes even none as Messi was usually found at the halfway line and was the worry of the midfielders).

I think we need 2 cracks in the forward line to occupy defenses more.That is why imo Messi and Neymar should play in the same line as part of a 3 man forward line.That way there are 2 cracks iin the forward line for defenses to worry about.Messi just has to stay patient that he will get the ball in the right areas(and with quality of our midfield he will more often than not).

What do you think?

Twitter says the appointment of Gerardo 'Tata' Martino has already been made. Not sure if it is jumping the gun too soon but it goes on to say that a three year deal will be made.

Now even more reliable sources are confirming it the latest being Graham Hunter. Martino will be joined by his assistant Jorge Pautasso and physical coach Elvio Paolorroso.

I dont agree with the sell Adriano for a more defensive LB, its a joke! Hes a top player and were a top performer last season, and is flexible in a number of positions, LB, LM, RB, CB. Hes not the best defensively but overall and his offense is amazing.

messixaviesta wrote:Twitter says the appointment of Gerardo 'Tata' Martino has already been made. Not sure if it is jumping the gun too soon but it goes on to say that a three year deal will be made.

Now even more reliable sources are confirming it the latest being Graham Hunter. Martino will be joined by his assistant Jorge Pautasso and physical coach Elvio Paolorroso.

yeah, both ED and Marca reports of his assignment. Marca says he is going to sign a three year contract....