FC Barcelona Thread

I completely understand you. I would like Neymar to play for Genk too (but we all know that will never happen). It's normal for a fan to want the best players for his team.

On the other hand, Barcelona let go the best striker of the last years: Eto'o. Do you know why they did that Alex? IMO he was a big loss and they still miss him, no matter how much Messi scores. With Eto'o you had a plan B (Messi).
 
You have a better attack than City and Chelaea Drekkard, quite comfortably, Real are the only ones who have more variety than you.
 
Maybe I explained myself badly. We have better starters, but we have no bench depth. I mean, our forwards in the bench this season have been Tello and Cuenca. Compared to them, City and Chelsea have better forwards in the bench. That's why if we sign Neymar we would improve the bench quality and quantity, and have more diverse players. Plus, we would need also a Larsson type of guy to have a plan B when the opponents play catenaccio in the last minutes.
 
gerd said:
I completely understand you. I would like Neymar to play for Genk too (but we all know that will never happen). It's normal for a fan to want the best players for his team.

On the other hand, Barcelona let go the best striker of the last years: Eto'o. Do you know why they did that Alex? IMO he was a big loss and they still miss him, no matter how much Messi scores. With Eto'o you had a plan B (Messi).
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Eto'o history is a long story. People really liked him, but many things made him go away.

Here are the details, gerd:

Eto'o was the third star in the times Rijkaard, alongside Ronaldinho and Deco (and a young Messi), and he had many problems with teammates, up to a point that when Guardiola was appointed as a coach, he tried to sack all 3 of them and make Messi the only star of the squad.

The reason why was that Pep wanted to do a fresh start in the team and have the homgrown players have more weight in the squad. Ronaldinho and Deco were instantly sold, but Eto'o asked Pep to have a second chance.

Guardiola really didn't want him in the team, but there wasn't a better striker in the market, so he decided to give him a chance.

Eto'o did a brilliant season showing he was the best striker out there, but he collided with Pep now and then, and worse of all, he had some encounters with Messi. He just couldn't cope with Messi becoming a superstar, and Guardiola wanted Messi to take a bit the role of Eto'o.

Plus, Eto'o didn't make it easy at all. He had only 1 year left in contract, and he didn't want to renew. And in case Barcelona tried to sell him, he wanted 15M€ for himself as part of the deal.

So, Barcelona had a player with only 1 year of contract, with a market value of 20-25 M€ (15 M€ of which had to go to Eto'o himself). It was a very difficult decision for Barcelona, but the best was to try to swap him for another great striker.

That's why the deal Eto'o - Ibra finally took place. Barcelona could value Eto'o at 40 M€ (even if in the market's logic no one would have paid more than 20 M€ for a player with only 1 year of contract) and offer it to Inter to get Ibra for 35 M€ (that is the sum that Barcelona ended up paying for Ibra).

I think it was a good move considering the situation, the problem was that Ibra had exactly the same problems with Pep and Messi and we ended up signing Villa, who in my oppinion, is the perfect player for us right now.

It was a pitty to loose Eto'o, who is a great striker, but the situation was unavoidable for all parts.
 
That makes sens Alex, thanks for explaining. I knew Eto'o isn't the easiest guy. I still think barcelona miss him a lot even if i rate Villa very, very high.
 
Hello guys! Need some help!

I have an opportunity to visit Barcelona between 5.10 - 8.10, that means only one thing: El Clásico 7.10.2012

Now how on earth I can get tickets in advance? The whole point of visit is El Clásico, but how I can guarantee myself a ticket?

Entrades.fcbarcelona.cat says nada... NO TICKETS.. anyone know when they start selling?
Shouldn't be more than 200-250€/ticket.

I should be already ordering accommodation and flying tickets as they get expensive every day.. but how I do that without being sure I get tickets :(

Thanks for any help!!!

ps. any suggestions where to sit :) ?
 
Yeah, crazy.. Camp Nou is almost 100.000 but still! :)

Maybe I should become Barcelona club member even from abroad :) Then I'll have 1% to get a ticket for reasonable price :)

Drekkard thank you very much!!!!!
 
drekkard said:
Maybe I explained myself badly. We have better starters, but we have no bench depth. I mean, our forwards in the bench this season have been Tello and Cuenca. Compared to them, City and Chelsea have better forwards in the bench. That's why if we sign Neymar we would improve the bench quality and quantity, and have more diverse players. Plus, we would need also a Larsson type of guy to have a plan B when the opponents play catenaccio in the last minutes.
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To my mind Barca has a good bench and they need to let the youg homegrown players play. The thing is Barca is to damn fucking high in depts they should try to reduce them and when they solid then they can try to get someone like Neymar. also barca has in the offense (Messi, David Villa, Pedro, Sanchez, Tello and Cuenca and they could let play Fabregas as a forward like del bosque did). I think Barca is just fine. The problem is the defense. They need to give some young players like Fontas a chance.
The really problem is they need to look for a successor of Valdes. He makes to many mistakes and Pinto is to bad and old for being the first man.
 
I don't agree with Valdes. He has 2 or 3 blatant errors each season (as most of the goalkeepers) but I can't think of any other gk in the world that could play with the feet as Valdes does. And don't forget Valdes is probably the best 1vs1 keeper in the world. His numbers in this department are absolutely amazing, but people just don't know it.

About Fontas, I disagree again. He has no quality to play in this team. No chance. He should be sold or loaned. And Bartra is still too young. We needed to sign someone like Thiago Silva (who doesn't?) or David Luiz, I agree with that, we need a replacement for Puyol and Mascherano and Song are not CBs. That could cost us the season.

In the offense department, Pedro is a shadow of himself lately, Villa has been injured a whole season and we Tello and Cuenca are just youngsters and can be used now and then, but they won't be key players. I think Neymar will come next summer and I think it's a good piece, because we need more players that can dribble (the only dribler forward we have is Messi) from the wing and cut inside, and Neymar does exactly that.

If Neymar and Messi end up together and they understand each other it can be something to be seen...
 
Hi Alex,

As a neutral fan (who actually likes Barcelona a lot) i would be gutted if Neymar would join Barcelona. Both Neymar and Messi seems an "unfair" advantage. Of course as a fan of Racing Genk i would like to see both play for them (one can always dream), so i understand you.

And let's be honest, what would be the alternative? Neymar playing for Man City, PSG or Real Madrid...that's not better. Where is the time that those players started in Europe with a smaller team (hell, Zico played for Udinese)?
 
I was half kidding. He plays well enough. He's a good player and I think fits in nicely. Still adapting of course too... he'll gain more confidence with each passing game and month.

It's just with Pique and Puyol both out now, Mascherano and Song play CB.

Busquets is always gonna be #1 DMF for Barca.
 
PLF said:
I was half kidding. He plays well enough. He's a good player and I think fits in nicely. Still adapting of course too... he'll gain more confidence with each passing game and month.

It's just with Pique and Puyol both out now, Mascherano and Song play CB.

Busquets is always gonna be #1 DMF for Barca.
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Busquets is and going to be #1 in the world for quite some time :)
 
If it weren't because of his theatrics and feigning now and then, he would surely be #1.

I think most of the "bad reputation" that Barcelona has in terms of theatrics is because of Busquets and Alves. Most of Barcelona players are quite fair (specially compared to the average player in La Liga), but some are definitely beyond acceptable (to me: Pinto, Alves and Busquets).

But on the other hand, Busquets is quite fair in terms of cynical fouls. Most of the DMFs in the top clubs do a lot of cynical fouls to stop counters (Xabi Alonso does an average of 3 or 4 per match, to establish a good comparison). Busquets hardly does any, he's hardly booked for doing them. That's due to his good positioning most of the time, but when he looses position, he hardly stops the potentially dangerous counters with cynical fouls.

In fact, that's one aspect that people ignore quite a lot, and the absence of cynical fouls by our midfield (Xavi, Iniesta and Thiago aren't too prone to do them neither) is one of the reasons behind our defense being more vulnerable the last 2 years. And it has costed us a lot.

Take as an example the CL last year. Chelsea had 3 chances against us in 180 minutes and scored all 3. In 2 of them, a Barcelona player could have easily done a cynical foul to stop the counter but didn't.

Concluding, Busquets should do less theatrics and (oh irony) kick some legs now and then to be a better player and have a much better reputation.
 
Yep, he's a GK, but he's definitely a very unfair player. He has a long history behind him. He got quite famous one or two years ago because of his ability to imitate the referee whistle and confuse opponents who thought offside had been awarded... Concluding: he's a jerk inside the pitch.

His role in the squad, though, seems to be quite important. He's one of those players loved by everyone who makes the team gather and keep united, and apparently he's an incredible showman. He has his own record label and produces his own music at his own studio at home, and he also produces very alternative bands.

Strictly as a GK, he's not that bad, he's a good back up. He usually plays the Cup matches.
 
drekkard said:
Yep, he's a GK, but he's definitely a very unfair player. He has a long history behind him. He got quite famous one or two years ago because of his ability to imitate the referee whistle and confuse opponents who thought offside had been awarded... Concluding: he's a jerk inside the pitch.

His role in the squad, though, seems to be quite important. He's one of those players loved by everyone who makes the team gather and keep united, and apparently he's an incredible showman. He has his own record label and produces his own music at his own studio at home, and he also produces very alternative bands.

Strictly as a GK, he's not that bad, he's a good back up. He usually plays the Cup matches.
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Well , he sounds like a dream ... GK need that imo like Lemon :P biggest cock at Arsenal and I loved him too, until his natural abilities started to fade I still got love for him. Hated the fact he got red on the final in '06.
 
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Pinto is a jackass like Alexis said. Even before his Barca days, he was an asshole.

He had a couple GREAT years at Celta Vigo I remember. For a brief period, he was a great goalkeeper making incredible saves!

Not bad for a backup these days and he's experienced which you need.
 
And yeah Busquets is one of the very best! A lot of people don't like him but there's no doubting, he's a TOP top player!!

I bet nobody expected him to be that good coming through as a youth. They probably thought he'd be a decent squad member but not World Cup winner and automatic first choice for Barca and Spain and drive out players like Mascherano (to CB and Yaya Toure outta club)

His dad's the goalkeeping coach for Barca so he obviously has his 'connections' as well and extra 'support'. ;)
 
Busquets is very, very good. I'd go as far as saying he's the next best midfielder worldwide after Xavi and Iniesta.
 
PLF said:
And yeah Busquets is one of the very best! A lot of people don't like him but there's no doubting, he's a TOP top player!!

I bet nobody expected him to be that good coming through as a youth. They probably thought he'd be a decent squad member but not World Cup winner and automatic first choice for Barca and Spain and drive out players like Mascherano (to CB and Yaya Toure outta club)

His dad's the goalkeeping coach for Barca so he obviously has his 'connections' as well and extra 'support'. ;)
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that is the best validation in proving his importance.
 
Busquets is a great player even if i don't like his attitude much...his dad has to be among the worst GK's from really big clubs.
 
Busquets is exceptional DMF, if you can't value his skills and vision you obviously do not have enough football knowledge. That's why DMF players usually do not get the recognition they deserve. Most of football fan mass do not understand game well enough to make proper conclusion about importance of DMF players. IMHO
 
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