21 - Frenkie de Jong

soul24rage

Senior Member
It doesn't work this way, player's age and experience plays a role no matter how good they are, and when they are playing with couple of other young players there are more issues and it can be difficult for everyone to reach his potential.

If they aren't good enough what is the solution? It is the sporting department job not mine, what is your solution then?

Age and experience does play a role, but if you are good enough and can offer something immediately to the 1st team then age and experience are not that important. If we had this type of belief then Messi wouldn't have been a first team player at age 18-19.
 

khaled_a_d

Senior Member
Age and experience does play a role, but if you are good enough and can offer something immediately to the 1st team then age and experience are not that important. If we had this type of belief then Messi wouldn't have been a first team player at age 18-19.

FDJ and Arthur aren't Messi's level, and Messi didn't have a young attackers playing beside him

Of course it works that way. If the player is actually really good and has the right mentality, they will find it easy to adapt to the team. Just like with Umtiti for example who did not need the four years of "developing" like some people claim is needed. Its not like our team consists of 11 players who are 20 years old. We have a large number of aging stars who offer a lot of experience. We dont need more 30 year olds now. We have plenty of that.

You are the one who are so concerned but do not offer any alternative solutions. If you cant think of anything better, what you criticize is probably not such a bad idea as you think it is.

You give Umtiti as an example, but I said it is about developing "several" players at same time whose playing time are related because they are playing in same line (2 defenders, or 2 midfielders etc)
And I am not sure what is this line last is about? are you claiming that FDJ is our only hope for replacing Busquets? We should just give in for whatever demands Ajax are going to make otherwise we are screwed so we shouldn't criticize the option of buying FDJ? what logic is that?
 
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soul24rage

Senior Member
FDJ and Arthur aren't Messi's level, and Messi didn't have a young attackers playing beside him

the point I'm making is not that they aren't at Messi's level. What I'm trying to say is that if they play and gets result immediately, then age and experience doesn't matter as much. Arthur is young and inexperienced in Europe, but we look much better with him when opponents try to pressure us (example: spurs).

Your other point of having to develop 2 players in the same line. Let's say we buy De Jong in the summer 19 and it would take about a year of adaptation (coming off the bench, playing copa del rey or whatever). By the end of that adapting year, Arthur would have 2 years of experience playing in the Barca's first team if he keeps playing regularly (which I think he will). When De Jong plays in a mid with Arthur and Busi for the season 20/21, Arthur and Busi will help De Jong adapt without having to the worry of adapting both midfielders at the same time. Plus we'll have to replace Busi and Rakitic eventually so let's make the transition easier.

Even if De Jong has shown he is ready to be a starter for season 19/20, Arthur looks like he has adapted our style of play and will have 1 year of exp if he keeps playing like he has recently and we can help focus more on helping De Jong adapt during 19/20.
 
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Jombi

New member
FDJ and Arthur aren't Messi's level, and Messi didn't have a young attackers playing beside him



You give Umtiti as an example, but I said it is about developing "several" players at same time whose playing time are related because they are playing in same line (2 defenders, or 2 midfielders etc)
And I am not sure what is this line last is about? are you claiming that FDJ is our only hope for replacing Busquets? We should just give in for whatever demands Ajax are going to make otherwise we are screwed so we shouldn't criticize the option of buying FDJ? what logic is that?

Umtiti is an example because its not about "developing" players while the team suffers as a result. We dont have time for that. Its about playing players who are already good. How many years did we develop Umtiti for before he became good? One game? Or four years? If Arthur sucks for the remainder of the season and isnt even good enough to be a backup at the end of the season, then he's a flop like Arda Turan. Simple as that. Age or "developing" has nothing to do with it. Busi will still be around, but he should get competition and be gradually phased out. Raki probably as well.

I never said De Jong is our only hope or give Ajax whatever they want. In fact, I say the opposite, the price is getting out of control if we are to believe the tabloids. But simply criticizing with no better alternative isnt constructive. Half our team is 30+. We dont need anymore experience now. There is plenty of that.
 
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khaled_a_d

Senior Member
Umtiti is an example because its not about "developing" players while the team suffers as a result. We dont have time for that. Its about playing players who are already good. How many years did we develop Umtiti for before he became good? One game? Or four years? If Arthur sucks for the remainder of the season and isnt even good enough to be a backup at the end of the season, then he's a flop like Arda Turan. Simple as that. Age or "developing" has nothing to do with it. Busi will still be around, but he should get competition and be gradually phased out. Raki probably as well.

I never said De Jong is our only hope or give Ajax whatever they want. In fact, I say the opposite, the price is getting out of control if we are to believe the tabloids. But simply criticizing with no better alternative isnt constructive. Half our team is 30+. We dont need anymore experience now. There is plenty of that.

We are clearly not going to agree about the youth thing and we both sound repetitive already so I will move on, we simply agree to disagree here...
I am not sure what" constructive" are you talking about? you realize we are in a fans board? I don't even need to be constructive or find alternative man. I said I do like FDJ but I've concerns, I am talking about a player we are linked to and not even on our whole transfer targets and I talked about what I like and my take on him. I don't need to offer anyone an alternative and neither do you if you criticize anyone.
 

Jombi

New member
We are clearly not going to agree about the youth thing and we both sound repetitive already so I will move on, we simply agree to disagree here...
I am not sure what" constructive" are you talking about? you realize we are in a fans board? I don't even need to be constructive or find alternative man. I said I do like FDJ but I've concerns, I am talking about a player we are linked to and not even on our whole transfer targets and I talked about what I like and my take on him. I don't need to offer anyone an alternative and neither do you if you criticize anyone.

Then lets agree that it is a bad idea to sign De Jong but it is the best idea.
 

George_Costanza

Active member
The issue with signing him with reasonable price is his agent who is whoring him to EPL teams. We need to think of him as Busquet's long-term replacement.
 

FCBarca

Mike the Knife
The issue with signing him with reasonable price is his agent who is whoring him to EPL teams. We need to think of him as Busquet's long-term replacement.

Nonsense. His agent is not like Pizza boy who happens to be De Ligt's agent. Frenkie's agent is the father of a player that played at youth level comparable to De Jon, he befriended the family & Frenkie - the player & his family have every confidence in him to do everything in the best interests of the player and what his wishes are. Important to realize, Frenkie will decide what he does next not his agent, not Ajax or anyone else. This is a level headed kid
 

George_Costanza

Active member
Nonsense. His agent is not like Pizza boy who happens to be De Ligt's agent. Frenkie's agent is the father of a player that played at youth level comparable to De Jon, he befriended the family & Frenkie - the player & his family have every confidence in him to do everything in the best interests of the player and what his wishes are. Important to realize, Frenkie will decide what he does next not his agent, not Ajax or anyone else. This is a level headed kid

https://www.sport-english.com/en/ne...to-sign-de-jong-and-de-ligt-from-ajax-7088228
 

khaled_a_d

Senior Member
Sport is not a basis to draw conclusions from. Moreover all the article points to is what I already posted, the player will decide his future. His agent will not be a hurdle unlike Raiola, who actually will whore hs clients to the highest bidder

Raiola isn't De Ligt agent actually, but he is asked by his agent to act as a mediator for future deals. This will limit the Raiola effect
 

FCBfan22

Senior Member
If you have time, turn on the Ajax-Benfica and watch this man play. Wow. Him and Ziyech...

Frenkie is playing LCM.

(P.S. they are both playing high-line so it's quite entertaining)
 
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wisconsincule

Senior Member
First time I’ve been able to watch a full 90 of his. All I can say is wow. His highlight videos don’t even do him justice. I will be very very upset if we would not buy him. Seems tailor made for us. Get this done this winter and let him finish the season with Ajax.
 

FCBfan22

Senior Member
I don't care if we need to find another CB to sign instead of De Light (I think Ajax won't sell both to us), but we just can't pass of Frenkie. Great passer, great tackler, can play CDM or LCM, doesn't lack strenght, has great vision, can start counters out of thin air with one pass and can also fill at CB.

We need to get this guy next summer.

De Jong----Arthur
-----Busquets----

or

Coutinho----Arthur
-----De Jong-------
 

Xaviniesta

Senior Member
Great passer, great tackler, can play CDM or LCM, doesn't lack strenght, has great vision, can start counters out of thin air with one pass and can also fill at CB.

He's also got good stamina/work-rate. Post-match stats showed he ran the 2nd most between both teams
 

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