Mehdi Benatia

catalinutzR80 said:

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Barca did not even try for Benatia. This one can be applied to Marquinhos and TS saga. Everyone saying we should sign Marquinhos when barca were trying to sign him and complaining about psg refusal. If barca tried for benatia i would have been truly disappointed for not going the distance considering we have bought mathieu for fucking 20M. Lucho did not go for him for a reason and i completely trust him as he knows better than me.

Bertus said:

I totally disagree with you.

Contrary to many people here that talk about what they don't know, I'll be honest and only compare with the TS from PSG since I admit i didn't fully follow him when he was at Milan.

Benatia is as good as TS first year at PSG, and definitely better than what TS did since then. Yet Barcelona harrassed us last year for TS, and nothing proves beside speculations that TS would have performed differently in barcelona than he did at PSG.

As for Marcos, in real life, logicially people prefer to splash 40M on the one of the best defenders of the year if not the best, instead of on an unproved young talent. As much as I like Marquinhos, he still didn't prove he's the next TS. And no, 27yo is not too old.

Now please tell us what "not fit for Barcelona" means? Because I don't see what benatia lacks.

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The main point I made against us signing Benatia, is one that seems you have misinterpreted. Yes, 28 is not too old –*but that's precisely the point. Had we signed him, there would be no place for anyone else in the XI in the foreseeable future which would've meant that we would've had to pass on other more promising prospects.

There's a reason why we went after TS & Marcos instead of say Hummels & Laporte. Hummels is a WC CB just like TS, but play him alongside Pique in a high line against any decent counter-attacking team and you would be condemning us to defend in slow motion against them. In many other teams that partnership would've been brilliant; but not at Barca due to our playing style and the set of players that play alongside them. So again, it seems that you misinterpreted my position. I didn't say he was "not fit for Barcelona", I said he was not a good fit and for a long term replacement we need a player who is both a WC CB (or at least has the potential to be so) and a good fit. TS & Marcos had both of these attributes that's why they were our first choices, and that's why we didn't go after Laporte even though in terms of potential he is in the same league as Marcos.

Not only did signing M/V cost less than Benatia, it gave us more depth while leaving the door open for a truly long term replacement.

Maria said:

So after not buying a CB since 2009 we chose Mathieu and Vermaelen instead of Benatia because in 2016 there might be a super prospect for the CB position and we wouldn't want to hinder his development?

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I wonder, were you advocating that we sign Benatia last season as well? If not, then you're probably in a better position that I am to answer your own question.

iamrohith said:

Everyone saying we should sign Marquinhos when barca were trying to sign him and complaining about psg refusal.

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Not many wanted Marquinhos, only the board. Most rather prefered Benatia or Hummels.

Unfortunally i think Spanish coaches and board are very bad at looking at other leagues and players.

the problem with barca is fixation and lack of alternative transfer which is evident in all the transfer we made this summer;we had to pay through our nose for Mathieu and bravo,players who should have cost half of what we paid for them,when we couldn't get marquinhos we didn't have another player with the same profile on our shortlist instead we paid 19m for an injured vermaelen,now that we can't get cuadradro we are buying Douglas Costa.If we had not been able to pull off Suarez and rakitic deal we would have gotten worse players to replace and I think the lack of alternatives is from we are barca,each and every club must succumb to our wish reasoning

Mythical Revolution said:

There's a reason why we went after TS & Marcos instead of say Hummels & Laporte. Hummels is a WC CB just like TS, but play him alongside Pique in a high line against any decent counter-attacking team and you would be condemning us to defend in slow motion against them. In many other teams that partnership would've been brilliant; but not at Barca due to our playing style and the set of players that play alongside them. So again, it seems that you misinterpreted my position. I didn't say he was "not fit for Barcelona", I said he was not a good fit and for a long term replacement we need a player who is both a WC CB (or at least has the potential to be so) and a good fit. TS & Marcos had both of these attributes that's why they were our first choices, and that's why we didn't go after Laporte even though in terms of potential he is in the same league as Marcos.

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Why is Laporte not a good fit for Barca?

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On Benatia, his potential move to Buyern is quite lamentable. I've had a feeling they will get far in the CL next season, now even more so.

Personally, I'd prefer MB head to the nearest railway track than join these salauds. Whatever.

If this happens, let it be known Benatia has disappointed the Ummah.

Sergi Domínguez ‏@FutbolSergi 31s
Mehdi Benatia has been excluded from Roma's squad that will face AEK tomorrow.

We wouldn need him anyway wev now got matieu an vermalen in this year for possibly cheaper than we would have got benatia also for the next few years wel have a few good la masia prospects coming through ie bartra le bagnack etc

Mythical Revolution said:

Hummels is a WC CB just like TS, but play him alongside Pique in a high line against any decent counter-attacking team and you would be condemning us to defend in slow motion against them.

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Right, because Germany did NOT play a high line in any of their WC matches???

And Dortmund also never play a high line?

That Hummels = slow argument hasn't gotten any less ridiculous in the past few weeks.

Ryu Hayabusa said:

Right, because Germany did NOT play a high line in any of their WC matches???

And Dortmund also never play a high line?

That Hummels = slow argument hasn't gotten any less ridiculous in the past few weeks.

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Yes they did, and look how vulnerable they were against Algeria. But that's not the point.

The point is that for us to play a high line with 2 relatively slow CBs would be close to suicidal against expert counter attacking sides like Real, especially given the non-existent support our fullbacks would provide them.

So I wasn't attacking Hummels per say, but merely illustrating my point by invoking Hummels as a CB who was passed over in favor of TS as a target – not because he is not a WC CB; but because even if he is as fast as you think he is, he's still not as fast as TS. Now pair him with another CB who is slower than both (i.e. Pique), and you wouldn't solve our vulnerability against counter attacks – one of our greatest weaknesses. TS by himself wouldn't have sold it either, but he would've mitigated it to a greater extent than Hummels; and the fact that he could partially made him a better fit for Barca which is why we went after him. It's also the same reason why we bought Mathieu/Vermaelen instead of other CBs of the same quality/price tag.

^ Hummels didn't play against Algeria.

DonAK said:

^ Hummels didn't play against Algeria.

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My bad, but they were still exposed against France even though they had an early lead. But that's beside the point because Barca will be facing much better counter attacking sides than any of the WC, and unlike Germany we won't be playing with 4 CB or 3+Lahm.

A better approximation to our situation would be the Spain vs Holland game where you had 2 Barca players in the back four + a CB who is as fast as Hummels if not faster against a expert counter attacking side and look what happened.

The point that I'm trying to make is that every team has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, a player who can provides better mitigate those weaknesses is a better fit for us compared to another player of the same quality whose attributes don't attenuate our weaknesses to the same extent. That's why TS was preferred to Hummels, even though both are WC CBs and equally unavailable.

CdS saying bayern lost interest in him, because the total sum of the transfer would be 75m (transfer fee + wages).

Flavia said:

CdS saying bayern lost interest in him, because the total sum of the transfer would be 75m (transfer fee + wages).

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Now people include wage in transfer price , let's see... DL's transfer should be around 100M then

zanela said:

Why is Laporte not a good fit for Barca?

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On Benatia, his potential move to Buyern is quite lamentable. I've had a feeling they will get far in the CL next season, now even more so.

Personally, I'd prefer MB head to the nearest railway track than join these salauds. Whatever.

If this happens, let it be known Benatia has disappointed the Ummah.

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Haha, love that last sentence.