alexjanosik wrote: I think he has been our best midfielder this season and very consistent.

This doesn't say much though. I mean, I would look like a pro player beside Rakitic. And Busi goes under the radar, so yeah, it's hard for Iniesta not be the best if you take into account who he competes with...

Iniesta has easily been our best mid along with Busi this season. Both of them lost form in that spat when the entire team was playing bad, but even in the matches against Atletico it was Iniesta who was still playing hard.

Rakatic entered good and bad form through out the season, pretty inconstant but if I remember correctly had some injuries in the first half of the season.

Sergi played great this season off the bench, as did Rafinha when not injured.

Gumbau was trash and Samper failed to impress in his few chances.

Turan is the one that was pretty useless given his cost. We paid allot for him to be an impact player, and pretty much provided zero impact off the bench. He came on and looked like a beta version of whatever tired player he came on for. The few goals he scored came against teams we were either 1 man up on or already beating by a few goals and meant nothing.

So all in all, I agree we need to find a guy to start looking to replace Iniesta as he is getting older, but I don't think Iniesta needs to leave yet as he showed he is still playing at a top level. The funny thing is I think Turan was suppose to be that guy but he's only like 2 years younger than Iniesta so as soon as Iniesta leaves, we would already be looking for a Turan replacement because he is also getting old lol (and not even in Turans best days during his prime years has he ever been half as good as Iniesta, even at his current age)

Am not saying iniesta sucked or anything like that but the cracks have begun to show now that's pretty much sure as far as am concerned. Problem is who would be the guy that will "gradually" replace him? Eriksen comes to my mind the guy has Barca written all over him. Not sure about someone like mahrez though. Coutinho? Pjanic?

The sort of disturbing thing is we aren't hearing any solid rumors on Iniesta-like replacements.

Not sure if that is intentional, but I believe it shows the thinking (or lack thereof) with respect to this.

CM Pep wrote:The sort of disturbing thing is we aren't hearing any solid rumors on Iniesta-like replacements.

Not sure if that is intentional, but I believe it shows the thinking (or lack thereof) with respect to this.

Denis suarez, Rafinha? Maybe they count on 'em for now

I'm not convinced by the potential HBA purchase. His questionable temperament aside, his efficacy when not acting the focal player in the team remains to be seen. And whilst a player may or may not come with a high price tag, the pressure to perform at Barca remains, whatever the name or role. Those who deny, are oblivious to the workings of the catalan press. He will feel the pressure regardless of his free agent status. If he fails, which is quite likely, finding a suitor for a 30/31 year old without a great reputation to begin with, becomes problematic because no sane club would be willing to match his Barca wages, let alone pay a transfer fee. We end up sending him out on loan whilst bearing his wages until his contract invariably runs out with us. It's how we roll. Everything else is wishful thinking.

Marcus Aurelius wrote:

CM Pep wrote:The sort of disturbing thing is we aren't hearing any solid rumors on Iniesta-like replacements.

Not sure if that is intentional, but I believe it shows the thinking (or lack thereof) with respect to this.

Denis suarez, Rafinha? Maybe they count on 'em for now

The Denis Suarez rumours seem to indicate that he will be here in the summer and will then be judged. Hardly encouraging if they're considering him for the role. He's in the mix, but not a definitive go ahead from the club.

I don't see Rafinha replacing Iniesta. He can play the Rakitic role, but not Iniesta.

Lucifer wrote:Am not saying iniesta sucked or anything like that but the cracks have begun to show now that's pretty much sure as far as am concerned. Problem is who would be the guy that will "gradually" replace him? Eriksen comes to my mind the guy has Barca written all over him. Not sure about someone like mahrez though. Coutinho? Pjanic?

So your pick, right now, would be Eriksen?

I'm worried about the future of our midfield. I have heard good things about Carles Aleña, but it's hard to get excited w.r.t our canteranos these days. They all look promising until given a shot with the senior team.

Currently we got an elite MF in Busi, once-elite-now-oscillates-between-great-and-good-in Iniesta,-and-a competent one in Rakitić. Now replace them with jack of all trades master of none S.Roberto (who seems to 've acquired some kinda cult following amongst culés ), I'm perennially injured Rafinha, and flattering to deceive Denis Suarez, and Barca gonna be competing for Europa league spot in some years.

Need to acquire a legit MF talent or two. But given Barca's lack of finances and of qualified football think-tank at the top, I foresee a gloomy future.

Marcus Aurelius wrote:

alexjanosik wrote: I think he has been our best midfielder this season and very consistent.

This doesn't say much though. I mean, I would look like a pro player beside Rakitic. And Busi goes under the radar, so yeah, it's hard for Iniesta not be the best if you take into account who he competes with...

No,you wouldnt. Rakitic is no Xavi but he plays a very underrated role in the team. Takes up positions depending on Messi's movements. Is also a defensive monster. It is not a glamour role but he is an invaluable member of the team.

À bout de souffle wrote:I'm worried about the future of our midfield. I have heard good things about Carles Aleña, but it's hard to get excited w.r.t our canteranos these days. They all look promising until given a shot with the senior team.

Currently we got an elite MF in Busi, once-elite-now-oscillates-between-great-and-good-in Iniesta,-and-a competent one in Rakitić. Now replace them with jack of all trades master of none S.Roberto (who seems to 've acquired some kinda cult following amongst culés ), I'm perennially injured Rafinha, and flattering to deceive Denis Suarez, and Barca gonna be competing for Europa league spot in some years.

Need to acquire a legit MF talent or two. But given Barca's lack of finances and of qualified football think-tank at the top, I foresee a gloomy future.

How many legit talents have been given a proper shot with the senior team? Halilovic wasnt. Samper isnt. I think it is more that the legit talents are not getting a proper shot.
Roberto's following surprises me as well. Guy is a scrub in every sense of the word. Have yet to see him execute a creative pass.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Lucifer wrote:Am not saying iniesta sucked or anything like that but the cracks have begun to show now that's pretty much sure as far as am concerned. Problem is who would be the guy that will "gradually" replace him? Eriksen comes to my mind the guy has  Barca written all over him. Not sure about someone like mahrez though. Coutinho? Pjanic?

So your pick, right now, would be Eriksen?

No I would love to have Pogba or Verratti or gundo I also would love to have blowjob from Emma watson, chances of both happening are near about same. Why I pick Eriksen? The guy is from Ajax so is clearly well educated in style we play, has all the attributes you need to have to play in Barca midfield like passing, off the ball movement etc. Most of all isn't diva so wont have problem rotating with iniesta and gradually replacing him.

alexjanosik wrote:

Marcus Aurelius wrote:

alexjanosik wrote: I think he has been our best midfielder this season and very consistent.

This doesn't say much though. I mean, I would look like a pro player beside Rakitic. And Busi goes under the radar, so yeah, it's hard for Iniesta not be the best if you take into account who he competes with...

No,you wouldnt. Rakitic is no Xavi but he plays a very underrated role in the team. Takes up positions depending on Messi's movements. Is also a defensive monster. It is not a glamour role but he is an invaluable member of the team.

I agree, Rakitic has been great imo and serves his role well. Also has a nice out side shot threat that most of our squad didn't utilize before.

The problem I see with our midfield is this (and hey, I'm likely super wrong but here it goes) : We have to many players in the same mold, and the majority of which aren't world class.

For example..

Best position is CAM:
Iniesta - 32 years old, still playing good but probably only has another year, or 2 at the most left with us
Turan - This guy isn't Barca good, and is pretty much a slower version of Rafinha
Rafinha - Can perfectly play the Turan role, as they pretty much both play in a very similar fashion, except Rafinha will only likely improve from here on out while Turan has already peaked. Either way, neither him nor Turan are good enough to be Iniesta's heir as our main starter, however I do believe Rafinha is an awesome bench player

Best position is DM:
Busq - Top class player
Masch - Will be 32 in a few months, and not good for us at DM, and like Iniesta I think his years with us are numbered
Samper - Failed to shine any time he played, which is worry-sum because it means that besides Busq, we don't have a player that we can rely on to rest Busq from time to time (and surprise, at the end of the season Busq lost form in our most crucial time of the season and the entire team went down with him)

Then we got these midfielders:
Rakitic - More of a B2B type midfielder as he tries to do allot of defensive/attacking work, but doesn't hold the ball well nor is he a overly great passer, but does all the dirty work needed on both ends and delivers his role well

Sergi - Jack of all trades who came along great this season in filling roles when the rest of the squad was injured and we still had the transfer ban. But lets face it, fact he had to play at RB/LB/CDM/CM/CAM/RW/LW means that THAT's actually how many positions need to be strengthened, if not we wouldn't need a midfielder to play all of those roles in the first place. All in all, he's a great impact player when needed to have on the bench, no gripes with him.

Gumbau - No clue what business he did playing a single second for us. So no comment

CM -
ZERO - That's right, we have zero true CM's since Thiago/Xavi left and that's something we need to address. While I agree we don't need to go back to full blown possession football like we did under Xaviesta, we do need help in holding the ball in the middle of the field which will in turn help prevent 1) counter attacks which will help our defense and 2) prevent Messi from having to fall so far back to help the midfield win the ball back, which in turn keeps him away from the goal. All of these players like D.Suarez, Halilovic, and the rumored Coutinho...are all still CAM's. Which means we are STILL only looking for players in a mold we already have. not in a mold we need.

I mean I think things aren't dire or anything, we just need to make a smart purchase here and there and we should be fine. The issue though as mentioned, is that we aren't looking at the right type of midfielders, and are only linked with guys that fit roles we don't need to strengthen. I mean imagine if Busq's or Iniesta (or both) get injured early in the season or something? We would be stuck with Turan/Masch/Rakatic. Dafuq is that? How did our holy of all holiest midfield went from being considered the best 3 piece of all time to THAT?!

I'm looking at the people running the club and Lucho.

windkick wrote:

alexjanosik wrote:

Marcus Aurelius wrote:
This doesn't say much though. I mean, I would look like a pro player beside Rakitic. And Busi goes under the radar, so yeah, it's hard for Iniesta not be the best if you take into account who he competes with...

No,you wouldnt. Rakitic is no Xavi but he plays a very underrated role in the team. Takes up positions depending on Messi's movements. Is also a defensive monster. It is not a glamour role but he is an invaluable member of the team.

I agree, Rakitic has been great imo and serves his role well.

I do acknowledge that. I just don't think it is enough for a club like Barca. I think our overall passing game is better with Rafinha on instead of Raki btw.

Rakitic looks like a world beater when MSN do all the work up front. But sometimes they need service and I just don't think he can provide that on those rare but extremely tough occasions.

HBA being rumored is an "ugh" for me. Club must start renovating the squad. Messi is about to turn 29, he won't be around to rescue Barça forever. Need to start looking at younger players. Or we might witness the club going down the path milan did, in a few years.

None of this Mahrez and Eriksen bullshit. They're good players but not top players you'd want for a world class team. I would also vote against Pogba, he's a freak of a talent but I think he has mentality issues in terms of putting hard work on the pitch.

Bring back Thiago, sign Verratti (and I would have signed Modrić if I could but he's old and a Madrid player).

You'll thank me later.

Sign Verratti? Do you live on the moon? Do you realize where he is playing and that he just signed a new contract?

Sign Thiago? People still (over)rate that dud? 3 years ago he didn't manage to earn a place ahead of Fabregas. Okay, people blamed it on Tito/Roura "mishandling" him. What's his excuse, 3 years later, to be sitting on the bench behind 35 year old Alonso under his favourite coach?

According to the Mundo Deportativo, David Alaba really, really wants to play for Barca.
Guess that imminent, strong, passionate urge must have developed after he extended his contract a couple of months ago.

Lucifer wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Lucifer wrote:Am not saying iniesta sucked or anything like that but the cracks have begun to show now that's pretty much sure as far as am concerned. Problem is who would be the guy that will "gradually" replace him? Eriksen comes to my mind the guy has  Barca written all over him. Not sure about someone like mahrez though. Coutinho? Pjanic?

So your pick, right now, would be Eriksen?

No I would love to have Pogba or Verratti or gundo I also would love to have blowjob from Emma watson, chances of both happening are near about same. Why I pick Eriksen? The guy is from Ajax so is clearly well educated in style we play, has all the attributes you need to have to play in Barca midfield like passing, off the ball movement etc. Most of all isn't diva so wont have problem rotating with iniesta and gradually replacing him.

It's not so improbable for you to sign Pogba. Lot of times it was insinuated it has practically already happened
Eriksen is a good player and not a bad shout.

Have you ever thought about Götze as Iniesta replacement?
Serious question btw, not a joke.

I have legit said it atleast in 5 post that the most perfect iniesta replacement would be Mario Gotze. So it's quite funny u should ask me that question. Either that or I smell foul play , u just came across my such posts and now are trolling me

Surely that's a risk though, considering how awful he's been the past two seasons

It is indeed a risk and I know lot of people consider him to be fraud but then again in GL Universe who isn't fraud. But atleast as far as am concerned there was never doubt about his abilities. I have seen him play quite few games and I just love the ease with which he plays. There is nothing forced in his gameplay eveeything is so fluid. So sad he went to Bayern would have been ruling world along with neymars and pogbas if he would have stayed at BVB.

alexjanosik wrote:

À bout de souffle wrote:I'm worried about the future of our midfield. I have heard good things about Carles Aleña, but it's hard to get excited w.r.t our canteranos these days. They all look promising until given a shot with the senior team.

Currently we got an elite MF in Busi, once-elite-now-oscillates-between-great-and-good-in Iniesta,-and-a competent one in Rakitić. Now replace them with jack of all trades master of none S.Roberto (who seems to 've acquired some kinda cult following amongst culés ), I'm perennially injured Rafinha, and flattering to deceive Denis Suarez, and Barca gonna be competing for Europa league spot in some years.

Need to acquire a legit MF talent or two. But given Barca's lack of finances and of qualified football think-tank at the top, I foresee a gloomy future.

How many legit talents have been given a proper shot with the senior team? Halilovic wasnt. Samper isnt. I think it is more that the legit talents are not getting a proper shot.
.

I actually do rate Samper. Not so much Halil. The former's devt has slowed down, and I have read suggestions of the player being a mental weakling. I'd love to see him deputize Busi in future, but currently his off-ball awareness need significant tuning.

Hapless_Hans wrote:According to the Mundo Deportativo, David Alaba really, really wants to play for Barca.
Guess that imminent, strong, passionate urge must have developed after he extended his contract a couple of months ago.

Why quote MD sources for transfer news when they are as unreliable as they come? Must be lonely in the Buyern section.

I've always perfer ed Verratti over anyone else, but that's a pipe dream.

I was wondering if we had a choice to give them one of MSN in a potential deal for Verratti would you guys be up for that? If yes who would you give?

All tho I think if it was offered I think PSG may listen to it.

danyjr wrote:None of this Mahrez and Eriksen bullshit. They're good players but not top players you'd want for a world class team. I would also vote against Pogba, he's a freak of a talent but I think he has mentality issues in terms of putting hard work on the pitch.

Bring back Thiago, sign Verratti (and I would have signed Modrić if I could but he's old and a Madrid player).

You'll thank me later.

This post is wrong on so many levels. Let's see, you say Eriksen and Mahrez are not top players and shouldn't be in world class team but u do want Thiago back  hmmm intersting. Last time I checked both Eriksen and Mahrez played crucial roles in winning league and becoming runner ups respectively while we can barely remember when was the last time thiago had great season or even half one or even a single decent performance in big match. So on what basis you come to conclusion that Thiago is more "world class" than those two remains mystery.

Now regarding Pogba having mental issues, No he doesn't have any the guy is more grounded and humble than likes of Neymar and his work ethic has NEVER been in question. Don't let his fancy haircuts let fool you the guy is as  professional as they get.

Regarding Verratti, everybody from Xavi to fans on this forum and worldwide want him to play for Barca but is very difficult to sign him due the fact Futbol explained above.

Lucifer wrote:I have legit said it atleast in 5 post that the most perfect iniesta replacement would be Mario Gotze. So it's quite funny u should ask me that question. Either that or I smell foul play , u just came across my such posts and now are trolling me

sorry I didn't know or remember those posts. But it's woth a thought no?

À bout de souffle wrote:
Why quote MD sources for transfer news when they are as unreliable as they come? Must be lonely in the Buyern section.

Good observational skills. It is indeed lonely in the Bayern section. That's with an 'a', by the way, not an 'u'.

For some reason I thought you might be German so you can imagine my surprise at your not being able to spell the name of Germany's greatest football club right.