21 - Frenkie de Jong

DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
imo overhyped.
if he didnt play at ajax and wouldnt be wanking about barca in every interview, no one would notice him.
madness to pay like 75mio for him.

Good logic. Must be why Pep has personally talked to him already and other clubs want him too. Because he plays for Ajax and likes Barcelona.
 

Sorin

Well-known member
Xavi has been a flop IIRC. The dude was part of that legendary early 2000 Barca team that achieved fuck all. Should've sold him when we had the chance, small and too weak to carve out a decent career.

Some of you would have sold players like Puyol, Iniesta or Xavi without second thoughts. Again and again, I'm wondering why the hell do you support a club like Barca and not some Italian team? It's ok, you can change teams, who the fuck cares but at this point it seems like unnecessary suffering on your part having to support Barca with mostly technical players.
 

DonAndres

Wild Man of Borneo
Lol BBZ clowning even more here. He should quit while he's behind.

Imagine using pub league football to analyze how to succeed in actual, top flight, professional football. If this is where BBZ draws most of his beliefs from on how football should be played then no wonder he thinks everyone needs to be a 190cm jacked bodybuilder to succeed. Pub league football has no technique really at all. Possession changes hands every other second and clearances are super common. By virtue of that, OF COURSE there are gonna be an insanely high amount of 1v1 duels to win the ball and physicality matters more. There's no room for lengthy buildup or playing based on space management and tactical passing.

That's why there's a shit ton of physical duels in the MLS, where American athletes are without a doubt far superior to most European athletes. Also in the earlier days of EPL where it was always end to end and dominated by crossing, physical duels were the crucial aspect of winning the midfield battle.

At the highest level these days, however, sheer physical size is not even the most important PHYSICAL factor for players to have let alone football factor. Stamina/workrate/mobility is far more important in positions like central midfield and for fullbacks. No one has ever said they want 1.70m Bartra clones at CB or 11 Riqui Puig's on the field. Everyone understands that at positions like CB, ST, and CDM you do need an imposing physical presence.

But this idea that tall = good is just outdated and delusional. It's exactly why BBZ thought Gomes was a great player before he got exposed in a longer run of appearances, why he thinks Rabiot is some great player now. He also said that Kroos was a "workhorse" simply because of his size even though he's lazy and a traffic cone on defense, while Modric was classified as a "schoolboy" even though he runs his ass off all the time in the CL and in the WC.
 

Jombi

New member
Its not about technique. Hundreds of players have great technique and passing abilities. Its about intelligence on the pitch, composure, bravery and providing a sense of calm in the whole team. Ability to see the game way ahead of other players and finding solutions like other technical players dont.
 

BBZ8800

Senior Member
We'll probably buy both De Jong and Rabiot.
Rakitic, Rafinha, Samper, Denis will be sold.

If Coutinho will continue with his current form, I won't be surprised if we will sell him also in a summer of 2019 or 2020.
Busi gone soon, Vidal gone soon, Rakitic gone soon, Coutinho questionable, Rafinha not good enough.

That is basically 5-6 "free" spots in our rooster longterm, with having only one younger midfielder, in Arthur.
 

Givenchy

Senior Member
We'll probably buy both De Jong and Rabiot.
Rakitic, Rafinha, Samper, Denis will be sold.

If Coutinho will continue with his current form, I won't be surprised if we will sell him also in a summer of 2019 or 2020.
Busi gone soon, Vidal gone soon, Rakitic gone soon, Coutinho questionable, Rafinha not good enough.

That is basically 5-6 "free" spots in our rooster longterm, with having only one younger midfielder, in Arthur.

I don't see Raki being sold unless EV leaves aswell. i think Vidal will be the one to go although i prefer he stay and we sell Rakitic at this stage. Coutinho can be sold next summer to PSG if we can recoup money, great player but he isn't going to succeed here imo especially considering Messi and Suarez must play.. i rather we give Dembele his deserved spot in the lineup to keep him progressing

Busi, Vidal, Frankie, Arthur, Alena, Rabiot, Oriol with possibly Puig to come

get De Ligt aswell and maybe a backup striker and we are set
 

DonAndres

Wild Man of Borneo
He's picked up a knack for goalscoring recently with like 3 in the last month. I always thought he'd be very capable of setting himself up to shoot/score because of his other abilities, finally he looks confident enough to do it. Surprised how quickly it's come, don't think FDJ had scored more than 1 prior to that in the Eredivisie.

This is his first 4-5 months playing as a midfielder at the top level and he has some pretty impressive things to show for it, even though he's made rookie mistakes. He has shown a talent for dribbling, passing, tackling, pressing/intercepting, and now scoring as well. He does not shy away from aerial duels either. We'd be lucky to have a player this well rounded.
 

khaled_a_d

Senior Member
I don't see Raki being sold unless EV leaves aswell. i think Vidal will be the one to go although i prefer he stay and we sell Rakitic at this stage

EV likely to leave at summer or in 2020 at most. And even if he stays there is a clear disconnection in transfer decision making between him and Abidal-Segura.
If Raki gets a decent offer (30M+) I think he will leave. He wanted his final pay rise and the club didn't want to give it to him so that will play a role while Vidal just arrived and would likely welcome staying for another season before going to MLS/China
 

Raketa10

Senior Member
We'll probably buy both De Jong and Rabiot.
Rakitic, Rafinha, Samper, Denis will be sold.

If Coutinho will continue with his current form, I won't be surprised if we will sell him also in a summer of 2019 or 2020.
Busi gone soon, Vidal gone soon, Rakitic gone soon, Coutinho questionable, Rafinha not good enough.

That is basically 5-6 "free" spots in our rooster longterm, with having only one younger midfielder, in Arthur.

What are you talking about? We for sure won't sell Coutinho in summer of 2019.
 
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