**Make Barca great again** Discussion, wishes, etc..

[Barca8]

we aren't even gonna spend half that much. I doubt even Madrid would spend that much all in one summer. Be realistic about our transfer options

As always gotta say I agree with DonAndres. Realistically all of those players aren't going to be baught in 1 season. I agree with most of the sales people have mentioned but I think only Valdes (7-10 mil), Afellay (9-12 mil), Alexis (18-22 mil I hope!), and depending on how management treat David Villa from here on he could leave for 8 to 12 mil. If David and Alexis go then I can see a new striker coming in. If either stay then no but if they go I think Aguero, Cavani, Falcao are out of the price range. Suarez could come for 30 mil and as I much as I like his skills he is a bit of an immature ass. Lukaku is a young versatile striker if Chelsea would sell.

Realistically I don't see Hummels leaving Dortmund. Maybe Vertonghen because he hasn't featured much for Spurs but then thats also why management might not go for him. Alderweireld is another bright Belgian on the rise and took over at Ajax where Vertonghen left off. He's versatile and strong. Another "tested" option I think we have is Sakho who is pretty solid.

As far as a goal keeper I have been really impressed with De Gea lately. He's young, tall (6'4), speaks Spanish, and plays for ManU who play a lot more high profile matches compared to Monchengladbach. Ter Stegen also hasn't looked that good lately. Lloris is highly unlikely as Spurs baught him for the future and Courtois is probably going to replace Cech soon.

All in all GK: 17 mil CB: 15 mil Fw: 20 mil could happen this summer. (on a side note it will be nice to have Blaugrana stripe home and Senyera away jerseys)

[darthvader7888]

As always gotta say I agree with DonAndres. Realistically all of those players aren't going to be baught in 1 season. I agree with most of the sales people have mentioned but I think only Valdes (7-10 mil), Afellay (9-12 mil), Alexis (18-22 mil I hope!), and depending on how management treat David Villa from here on he could leave for 8 to 12 mil. If David and Alexis go then I can see a new striker coming in. If either stay then no but if they go I think Aguero, Cavani, Falcao are out of the price range. Suarez could come for 30 mil and as I much as I like his skills he is a bit of an immature ass. Lukaku is a young versatile striker if Chelsea would sell.

Realistically I don't see Hummels leaving Dortmund. Maybe Vertonghen because he hasn't featured much for Spurs but then thats also why management might not go for him. Alderweireld is another bright Belgian on the rise and took over at Ajax where Vertonghen left off. He's versatile and strong. Another "tested" option I think we have is Sakho who is pretty solid.

As far as a goal keeper I have been really impressed with De Gea lately. He's young, tall (6'4), speaks Spanish, and plays for ManU who play a lot more high profile matches compared to Monchengladbach. Ter Stegen also hasn't looked that good lately. Lloris is highly unlikely as Spurs baught him for the future and Courtois is probably going to replace Cech soon.

All in all GK: 17 mil CB: 15 mil Fw: 20 mil could happen this summer. (on a side note it will be nice to have Blaugrana stripe home and Senyera away jerseys)

I believe our transfer budget will be 50m to start with. So we'll just about be able to spend that much (17m on a GK, 15m on a CB and 20m on a FW) without selling anyone. We should be able to pull off more expensive transfers after selling a few players. Especially if Juve really are willing to pay 25-30m for Alexis. If not, we could probably get 15-20m for him. I'd say we could get 15m for Villa, 5-10m for Valdes, and 5-12m for Afellay. Meaning we could get about another 50m from selling players.

[Barca8]

I believe our transfer budget will be 50m to start with. So we'll just about be able to spend that much (17m on a GK, 15m on a CB and 20m on a FW) without selling anyone. We should be able to pull off more expensive transfers after selling a few players. Especially if Juve really are willing to pay 25-30m for Alexis. If not, we could probably get 15-20m for him. I'd say we could get 15m for Villa, 5-10m for Valdes, and 5-12m for Afellay. Meaning we could get about another 50m from selling players.

I really really hope so man. I was thinking low end because with transfers that is usually what happens

[darthvader7888]

I really really hope so man. I was thinking low end because with transfers that is usually what happens

Well, like I said, after we sell a few players, I think we can make a few big transfers.
IMO, we should go for Hummels and Ter Stegen/Lloris/De Gea/Courtois. As well as someone to replace Villa if he leaves. Aguero would be the best, though he'd be expensive and hard to get. Neymar might be good, even though he's a risk. Some have mentioned Reus and Suarez, they'd also be good options.

If we sell a few players, I think we can pull it all off.

[AnfieldEd]

I would change formation:-


-------------------------Ter Stegen-------------------------


-----Alves----------Pique---------De Vrij---------------Alba-------



--------------------Xaxi---------Busquets----------------------


--------Messi-------------Fabregas------------Iniesta-----------


--------------------------Cavani-----------------------------------

[LaPulga]

Knowing we might again have several positions we need to / might improve, I just hope we do not again fail to land a real central defender. Past years this was our priority, and we failed to get one because of the price tag, and the 'need' to also sign people for other positions.

So, please get a central defender, no matter what, and only then look at budget left and possibly get a GK or attacker.

I'd go for Marquinhos, seen him play, and looks like a complete defender, + he's young and as such can be molded better into a Barça player the coming years. Yes, he's not as experienced as other options (eg Hummels), but he is proving himself this year in Roma.

Btw, no Hummels for me as for me he is Pique2.0, and we actually need someone to partner Pique in the long run, and not find a replacement for Pique.

GK : Valdes/Pinto (I don't think Valdes will move already during summer)

Defense : Alves/Montoya Pique/Puyol/Abidal/Bartra/Marquinhos Alba/Adriano

Mid : Busquets/Song/Xavi/Iniesta/Thiago/Cesc

Forwards : Messi/Villa/Alexis/Cuenca/Tello/Pedro/Deulo

This is the minimal scenario I'd like to see, bring in CD Marquinhos, and let Masch go (since I think Song is better on DM than Masch)

In case some money left over after Marquinhos buy, I wouldn't mind getting rid of either Alves, and getting an Abidal type of RB, since Alba is our better attacking side-back. It would be great to have that stability Abi provided us previous years when Alves went forward.

Getting rid of either Cecs (won't happen), Villa or Alexis or Pedro, and look for a versatile attacker. I'm not clear on who would be good for this, as I think Falcao/Cavani ain't gonna happen, Neymar I'm not particularly fond of (just another to pass-pass-pass, and we need a direct player). Maybe Jackson M. (won't be cheap either I know). I also like Reus, he's not a typical striker, and even plays wide, but he has that directness towards the goal which I definitely like.

But more important than maybe fresh blood next year, have some variation in line-up, like this :

-----------------Valdes-------------------
Alves-------Pique---------Marq-------Alba
-----------------Busi---------------------
------------Thiago-------------Iniesta----
------------------Messi------------------
-Tello---------------Villa/Jackson---------

Leave the left flank open for Alba, have a striker up front with Messi close-by. In dispossession Iniesta can provide some assistence to the left-flank.

[Barcaman]

I would change formation:-


-------------------------Ter Stegen-------------------------


-----Alves----------Pique---------De Vrij---------------Alba-------



--------------------Xaxi---------Busquets----------------------


--------Messi-------------Fabregas------------Iniesta-----------


--------------------------Cavani-----------------------------------

I think we've established that playing Iniesta on the left hurts us. I don't know who De Vrij is but it's not important.

Reason I'm quoting is...

1. Double pivot system - We do have players to carry it (even Mascherano can be utilized there partnered with a creative midfielder) and we'd have more balance when playing with 2 attacking full-backs.

2. Tall striker up-front - Messi said so himself that he had more space when we had Villa occupying 2 central backs. We'd also add another dimension to out attack and more options for our wide players. Nowadays they can't do anything but cut in and that makes us too predictable. Ideally, it would be a mobile striker like Cavani or Mandzukic, not a standing tree like Gomez or Ibra.

[Barca8]

I think we've established that playing Iniesta on the left hurts us. I don't know who De Vrij is but it's not important.

Reason I'm quoting is...

1. Double pivot system - We do have players to carry it (even Mascherano can be utilized there partnered with a creative midfielder) and we'd have more balance when playing with 2 attacking full-backs.

2. Tall striker up-front - Messi said so himself that he had more space when we had Villa occupying 2 central backs. We'd also add another dimension to out attack and more options for our wide players. Nowadays they can't do anything but cut in and that makes us too predictable. Ideally, it would be a mobile striker like Cavani or Mandzukic, not a standing tree like Gomez or Ibra.

De Vrij is a young Dutch defender playing for Feyenoord. He's like Pique though so if no Hummels because he's too similar to Pique then no de Vrij.
I think we should pair Pique with a strong Puyol-esque CB who can strike some fear into opposition forwards. Marquinhos & Sakho are probably the best option for that.

[sukhy]

What I think it will be -

Courtois
Alves/Montoya---Pique--Hummels--Alba
Thiago--Busquets--Iniesta
Pedeo--Messi--Neymar

[Barca8]

I just wanted to ask what would be the big deal if we cleared out some of the players who have run their course?
Pep came in and cleaned house (Ronnie, Deco, Toure etc) so why can't we for the progression of our team?

[darthvader7888]

I just wanted to ask what would be the big deal if we cleared out some of the players who have run their course?
Pep came in and cleaned house (Ronnie, Deco, Toure etc) so why can't we for the progression of our team?

Yeah, we should sell some dead wood IMO. Don't sell any starters atm (except Valdes since he wants to leave), maybe bench Pedro (or rotate him with Tello, Cuenca, etc) and Cesc (he's good, but Xavi/Iniesta in midfield is better, though we should try to see if there is a position we could start him at while having Xavi/Iniesta in midfield). Sanchez has been crap, and Afellay isn't really needed any more. There are definitely some players we could/should sell. I don't think we should sell more than we need to though (so don't sell anyone unless they want to leave and/or we will use the money to buy someone else).

Also, we should start transitioning from Xavi to Thiago IMO (well, I suppose this is already happening, with Xavi being subbed off for Thiago pretty often). IMO, Thiago could be ready to be a starter by the season following the next one. Might wanna give it one more season though. Nothing against Xavi, he's a legend, but he's just getting old, and we should give Thiago a good bit of playing time to make sure he's ready by the time he replaces Xavi.

[oz187]

I just wanted to ask what would be the big deal if we cleared out some of the players who have run their course?
Pep came in and cleaned house (Ronnie, Deco, Toure etc) so why can't we for the progression of our team?

Pep made the decision that Messi was the future of the team and so was prepared to clear out the big players(Ronnie, Eto'o, Deco). Messi is still the future of the team(along with Iniesta and Busquets). Any clearout is of much lesser value. Pep also built the team around Masia players so didn't have to worry too much about integrating players successfully. If we sell players now, most likely they'd be replaced by outsiders who could take a season or two to fully adapt.

If they wanted to do something drastic they could do the following:
Money in:
Annual Transfer budget: 50M
Cesc: 40-60M
Pedro: 15-20M
Alexis: 15-30M
Afellay: 5-10M
Money out:
Falcao: 60M
Neymar/Aguero: 40-50M
Hummels: 30M

[Barca8]

Yeah, we should sell some dead wood IMO. Don't sell any starters atm (except Valdes since he wants to leave), maybe bench Pedro (or rotate him with Tello, Cuenca, etc) and Cesc (he's good, but Xavi/Iniesta in midfield is better, though we should try to see if there is a position we could start him at while having Xavi/Iniesta in midfield). Sanchez has been crap, and Afellay isn't really needed any more. There are definitely some players we could/should sell. I don't think we should sell more than we need to though (so don't sell anyone unless they want to leave and/or we will use the money to buy someone else).

Also, we should start transitioning from Xavi to Thiago IMO (well, I suppose this is already happening, with Xavi being subbed off for Thiago pretty often). IMO, Thiago could be ready to be a starter by the season following the next one. Might wanna give it one more season though. Nothing against Xavi, he's a legend, but he's just getting old, and we should give Thiago a good bit of playing time to make sure he's ready by the time he replaces Xavi.

Yeah we can definitely lighten the luggage. One thing I was thinking about is how many World Class CBs are there right now? Pique, Ramos, Hummels, Badstuber, Chielini, Barzagli, Vidic, Subotic? Who is to say Bartra or Muniesa can't be added to that list soon? Instead of Macherano, Bartra and Muniesa should be given more time so management can assess if we really have to purchase another CB. It will take a season but thats what Puyol's contract extension was for.

I think we should wait on a CB and get De Gea & Cavani this summer with Valdes, Mascherano (we have Busi/Song), Afellay, Alexis, and Villa going out. Promote Deulofeu and play Messi - Cavani - Pedro up front with Cuenca, Tello, Deu, and even Fabregas (False 9) as subs. Hummels is an "artist" type of defender like Pique or Vertonghen and we need a rugged workhorse like Puyol so Subotic would be a better fit.

[DonAndres]

I believe our transfer budget will be 50m to start with. So we'll just about be able to spend that much (17m on a GK, 15m on a CB and 20m on a FW) without selling anyone. We should be able to pull off more expensive transfers after selling a few players. Especially if Juve really are willing to pay 25-30m for Alexis. If not, we could probably get 15-20m for him. I'd say we could get 15m for Villa, 5-10m for Valdes, and 5-12m for Afellay. Meaning we could get about another 50m from selling players.

Just because we sell players doesn't mean that all the money from the transfers goes to the new budget. We have a set transfer budget and the coaches seriously observe a player for a while and ensure that they are exactly who we want. This summer the coaches are going to scout around for good CB's and a goalkeeper. De Gea is a great option but if we don't get him, Guaita is definitely really good too. Reina is the only one i would hate to have. As for CB, Hummels is far too expensive and you should know that the club would rather buy a better fit, less famous player than some huge media-hyped one. When the club was searching for a left back, we were heavily linked with Bale. Instead we went with Alba and look how amazing he's been. Don't always buy into a players hype. Good CB options would be: Inigo Martinez, Jon Aurtenexte, Marquinhos, Botia, Alderweireld and a few others.

As for a forward: We absolutely do not need one. Especially if Neymar is coming. Tello and Cuenca are growing into great players and Deulofeu is also improving and almost ready for the first team. The only problem we have in attack is the system as we don't use enough attacking outlets and more often opt for players who are playmakers or don't try to get into attacking positions.

[Theconomist]

Let's talk about what we're going to do next season. I'm not a member of the doom squad but anyone considering that our style does not need refreshing is deluded.
Inter,Chelsea,Milan,Madrid can attest to that.

If we play the way we want to we are the most lethal team in the world bare none. 2008-2012 we were the best team in the history of this beautiful game even with deep issues with our defence that were never treated in the latter parts of the era.

Anyway, any person that follows Barcelona knows these things.

I'd like to know what you guys think we need to do next season. To those that will say nothing I'd like to point out that all the teams in Europe are strenghtening, we simply cannot stagnate with another fluke buy or two.

Here is what I'd like to see and I'll try to stay as realistic as possible:

1- a coach; Tito was just starting to get the hang of things and the unthinkable happened, he cannot be blamed however if he cannot make a full recovery then he should do both him and the club a favor by stepping down. Roura is a joke.

2-Some players need to leave and I'll outline why:

1-Valdes- his desire , nothing to add, he frustrates me from time to time but so does any other keeper, depending on who we get we might regret him leaving us or not.

2- Sanchez, pretty self explanatory, tired of giving him more chances

3- Pedro, same as above, the only reason he's still here is because he's masia and still riding his previous glory

4-Mascherano/Song; while I like both very much the sale of one of them will free up some much needed funds. I'm leaning towards Masch because he cannot play DM for us whereas Song could play a useful part if we decide to go back to 3-4-3 from time to time.

5-Alves: a lot has been said about him, let's just say that Alba+Alves doesn't work and Alba is better than Alves any way you look at it right now.

Not sure on the next one:

5-Villa,He is a very valuable squad player but we can't rely on him to be a started, he won't want to play that role besides his sale will free up much needed funds.

We also need some much needed rejuvenation to our squad.
Hopefully with Abidal coming back we'll have one extra squad player that can help with the defence however this is something that EVERYONE will agree with me on: WE NEED A NEW DEFENDER.

I don't care who as long as he's a CB that's PROVEN in a top league.

TWO wingers. Tello should have a much bigger role to play next season and with Deulofeu promoted we'll have Tello,Deulofeu and two more wingers in case Villa leaves or just one if he stays. To not turn this into a flame war about which one of Aguero,Suarez or Neymar we should spend 50 million on I'll suggest a player that's very versatile, that can play in both wings and that we could get in case we don't have a lot of money to spend on a winger this summer : AUBAMEYANG .
If you don't watch the French league then please do not comment, he could potentially be world class for us and as is he's much better than our wingers (bare top form Villa but when do we see that anymore).

A new goalkeeper; again the jury is out on this one as long as he is good, not very error prone (I know all GKs are error prone but you get what I mean) and playing in a top league then it's fine. Ideally we should get a young goalkeeper that will last us a decade; we've got no promising GKs coming through in la masia as far as I'm aware.

A new RB that Montoya will play with. Ideally Łukasz Piszczek or we could make the coup of the century and actually sign the player we need: Sergio Ramos.

My ideal squad for next season:

De Gea,Ramos,Pique,Subotic,Alba,Busquets,Iniesta,Xavi ,Aubemayang,Messi,Suarez.