Not official, but Sport is claiming this and they also correctly called Alexis' injury.

Barca site says the same i believe.

Very bad news, especially because when Iniesta starts to get injured... he doesn't stop.

We have Cesc..... but oh well, I guess Pep will play Keita in Iniesta's position and move Cesc elsewhere, like false 9 or something.

free_cat wrote:Very bad news, especially because when Iniesta starts to get injured... he doesn't stop.

Yes even though he is not quite Robben like in this respect, Iniesta rarely has an injury free season. 2010-11 went a bit too well for him from this perspective but even there he missed the UCL semi final first leg. A repeat of such an injury free run for him is not very likely.

With these injuries its getting ridiculous.I hope Afellay is back fit as soon as possible..

free_cat wrote:Very bad news, especially because when Iniesta starts to get injured... he doesn't stop.

We have Cesc..... but oh well, I guess Pep will play Keita in Iniesta's position and move Cesc elsewhere, like false 9 or something.

I will shoot someone if that happens...

free_cat wrote:Very bad news, especially because when Iniesta starts to get injured... he doesn't stop.

We have Cesc..... but oh well, I guess Pep will play Keita in Iniesta's position and move Cesc elsewhere, like false 9 or something.

:lol!: F**ing hell...Keita love

I've talked about it before that Iniesta is injury prone and thats why we need another quality CM. We now have Cesc and Thiago, so while Andres is incredible, this is what depth is for.

I think this is bad. Very bad.

One thing I noticed about Cesc v Iniesta which I already knew but is not confirmed.

Iniesat was playing poor before we went off if anyone noticed, some bad passes, lost balls and just things werent coming off for him.

However, he adds ball carrying and dribbling in the midfield. When he gets it, if there is an opening he will take on players. There was a point where he took on about 3 Milan players.

When Cesc came on, nobody in the midfield had that ability. When Cesc got it, he didnt try, his idea was to play a 1-2 with Messi and try and get on the end of it. It was his first plan.

Not saying Thiaog is better then Cesc, but when he plays he has the aggresion and ability to dribble and take on players. Cesc doesnt have that.

In short, Thiago would give us more of what we lack when Iniesta is out then Cesc.

Not saying we should play Thiago instead (though we all I know me and Alex probably would) but just making an observation.

That's a great point Dani.

It's the affect both Messi and Iniesta have...the fact that they both have a willingness to run at players and dribble at players is always going to have a positive effect on the rest of Barcelona even if they don't play well. As long as they don't lose the ball every time they dribble. It opens up space for the rest of Barcelona, and that's partly what makes Barca tick, is how wide we spread, and how much space we create, and in that space comes lots of forward runs and movement.

That's partly why when Barca loses Iniesta or Messi, we just seem...a bit less fluid, a bit less dynamic. When Ibrahimovic played with us, that's the effect he had on the team, he didn't create space, and that didn't tick with us.

IMO, Cesc is a great player and great asset, but he will never be an Iniesta, he won't ever be that player. That's who Thiago needs to be. Personally I heir with Dani and Alex when I say I would prefer Thiago played, and Cesc on as a sub, if Iniesta is going to be out.

That being said, Cesc makes great forward runs and ticks well with Barca, however...that's not what we need. We need both Iniesta and Messi (or players like them...if that's possible) for Barca to be in tip top shape.

I hope what I said makes sense.

That being said. A quick and speedy recovery please Iniesta! We need you!

great season start... oh well Thiago and Cesc should compensate

The Franchise wrote:
However, he adds ball carrying and dribbling in the midfield. When he gets it, if there is an opening he will take on players. There was a point where he took on about 3 Milan players.

When Cesc came on, nobody in the midfield had that ability. When Cesc got it, he didnt try, his idea was to play a 1-2 with Messi and try and get on the end of it. It was his first plan.

Not saying Thiaog is better then Cesc, but when he plays he has the aggresion and ability to dribble and take on players. Cesc doesnt have that.

In short, Thiago would give us more of what we lack when Iniesta is out then Cesc.

Excellent comments. I have been saying since time immemorial that a quality midfield needs a dynamic component and Iniesta is that for us.

Also I agree that Thiago is the best replacement that can give us that on the ball movement and dribbling that is needed to have enough dynamism in midfield.

CBarca wrote:That's a great point Dani.

It's the affect both Messi and Iniesta have...the fact that they both have a willingness to run at players and dribble at players is always going to have a positive effect on the rest of Barcelona even if they don't play well. As long as they don't lose the ball every time they dribble. It opens up space for the rest of Barcelona, and that's partly what makes Barca tick, is how wide we spread, and how much space we create, and in that space comes lots of forward runs and movement.

That's partly why when Barca loses Iniesta or Messi, we just seem...a bit less fluid, a bit less dynamic. When Ibrahimovic played with us, that's the effect he had on the team, he didn't create space, and that didn't tick with us.

IMO, Cesc is a great player and great asset, but he will never be an Iniesta, he won't ever be that player. That's who Thiago needs to be. Personally I heir with Dani and Alex when I say I would prefer Thiago played, and Cesc on as a sub, if Iniesta is going to be out.

That being said, Cesc makes great forward runs and ticks well with Barca, however...that's not what we need. We need both Iniesta and Messi (or players like them...if that's possible) for Barca to be in tip top shape.

I hope what I said makes sense.

That being said. A quick and speedy recovery please Iniesta! We need you!

CB, wonderful views.

The best example to explain this is the first half of the match vs. Sociedad when both Messi and Iniesta were missing. Yes we scored two goals but you might find it hard to recall last when Barcelona moved so poorly on the field.

Fabregas is a very different player from Iniesta. Some say he is similar to Xavi but not that much either. Anyway he is even more dissimilar to Iniesta. I agree with you all that the club is looking at Thiago to be the eventual successor of Iniesta while Fabregas is meant to take over from Xavi in the next three years at most. So if we stay firm on our principles, now is the time when it's Thiago who deserves the minutes rather than Fabregas.

Oh I want Iniesta back more than anyone. My heart is not as much in a Barcelona or Spain match if he is not on the pitch.

Let's look on the bright side, we have the best replacements that you could possibly have, Thiago and Cesc.