Our XI for 2019/20

LABarcaFan said:

Four forwards? No way Jose. That can not happen. And when I have seen the name of Suarez there, I have spilled my cup of coffee from "excitement".

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Yea, 4 forwards. But it's more about the system and the right coach to make the system work. We used 3 defensive midfielders against Liverpool and still lost 4-0. So much for balance eh. Regardless of whoever is there, the 4-2-3-1 is the ultimate counter-attacking shape, good for both defending and attacking and even possession depending on who the holding midfielders are.

Tite won the Copa with 4 attackers in a 4-2-3-1. Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, Everton, Coutinho. Deschamps won the WC playing mostly 4-2-3-1. Giroud of all people as the focal point, Griezmann as the #10 and Matuidi playing in an advanced role on the left and Mbappe on the right.

The main problem for me is where to fit Greizmann. He is not a 9. People need to understand that. He is a lethal finisher, but still, neither Simeone or Deschamps made him the focal point in attack. He is better off playing just off a 9 as a second striker or a very narrow winger. So, IMO the only logical place for him is on the wing, allowing Messi to play exclusively as the #10. He would have more defensive duties but he would still be able to use his lethal finishing in the final third.

That's the best we could do right now as far as it see it. The only downside is both Dembele and Greizmann would have alot of defensive duties. But like i said it's down to the coach to get the players to 'work' the system.

Messi983 said:

He can play on the left but he's RW for me. He is playing better there than on the left.



Pepe is playing for Ivory Coast NT.



This XI would maybe be good or even great offensively but very vulnerable in defense. I haven't watched Pepe much so don't know how he's defensively but Dembele would need to improve a lot to cover for lack of Messi's defending alongside with Griezmann.



I don't like this either when we're leading (unless it's a big lead so everyone can play more relaxed) but when we needed a goal Pique going forward often brought results.



He was shit at the start of last season but improved a lot in second half. We don't have anyone younger and better at his position. If we would get MDL then he could challenge Pique but as of now his starting position is assured. Hopefully Todibo will still get some playing time though.



Busi and Suarez should rest more but they will still be important players next season.

Agreed about Neymar.



I don't know if their market is really as good. With Chelsea having a transfer ban and United not playing in the CL PSG is probably the only realistic option for Coutinho.

Everton and Arsenal are interested in Malcom but from what I've read they only want him on loan. Which is understandable because they know we want to get rid of him.

Rafinha is injury prone and has just 12 months left on contract. Valencia is lowballing us but there doesn't seem to be other interesting clubs so we'll have to take what we can get.

Raki doesn't want to leave and no club would pay more than 40-50M (if at all) for Umtiti given his injury problems.




I didn't suggest we should sign a veteran. Junior Firpo seems to be our primary option right now so that's a good news although his injuries are concering.




Arthur, Dembele and Lenglet all played important minutes and were starters when healthy. Malcom is the only young player who was blacklisted by him.

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If you check the site transfermarkt.com, which is the most accurate to days, you will see Dembele listed as a left wing. But, yes, he can play at the right also, because his strongest foot is the left. Unfortunately, it will create a havoc on the right side with Messi, Malcom and him.

When I said "french nationals trio" I meant that they are french citizens and will have no problems to comminicate.Pepe is from Ivory Coast descent, but he was born in France. Having dual citizenship allows him to play for Ivory Coast (now) and very soon, for the French national team. I just pray our board of directors can get him before someone else grabs this talent. But, of course, he is not the only one. There are many other young forwards, who can help the team.

The good news today is that Bartomeu bought back the left back Marc Cucurela (20) from Eibar. He is a product of La Masia. So now, we have a solid back-up for Alba.

As of the players we should sell:

Rakitic has very big interest from Inter Milan. Coutinho can go back to Liverpool. Umtiti is a question mark. There are few teams that want his service and PSG was one of them. They have agreed to take him in the deal for Neymar. But, as of today, things got changed. Prince Nasser A-Khelaifi does not want any players from Barca. His asking price for Neymar is 220 million of euros and not a penny less. To me, that is a great news, since I don't want to see the Brazilian clown back. I don't think Barcelona's board will agree to pay that much money for him.
Umtiti, Rafinha, Coutinho, Malcom and Rakitic can be sold in a week, if Bartomeu lowers a little bit the asking price. We want other teams players for less money, but we are trying to sell ours for the top possible price. It won't work like that. The other teams presidents are not stupid. They know we don't need this players and we try to get rid of them. So a reduced price tag can make a big difference.

One thing Greizmann will not be is a problem. He is a solution, will fit in multiple roles.

He will not start ahead of Messi, or ahead of Neymar. Not sure if he would supplant Suarez in the first 11. The other spot where he could fit in the first 11 would be as attacking midfielder. Would he be the choice instead of Arthur? I think Yes.

Neymar gets hurt almost every year, he is not 60 games a year. It must be time for Suarez to go down to 45 games max a year max. Messi should be willing to decrease to 55 games a year. That's approximately full time work remaining for Greizmann, playing only at forward. Mix and match up front, bring on a super duper sub in most games. The highest scoring group of forwards on one team ever.

jairzinho said:

The main problem for me is where to fit Greizmann. He is not a 9. People need to understand that. He is a lethal finisher, but still, neither Simeone or Deschamps made him the focal point in attack. He is better off playing just off a 9 as a second striker or a very narrow winger. So, IMO the only logical place for him is on the wing, allowing Messi to play exclusively as the #10. He would have more defensive duties but he would still be able to use his lethal finishing in the final third.

That's the best we could do right now as far as it see it. The only downside is both Dembele and Greizmann would have alot of defensive duties. But like i said it's down to the coach to get the players to 'work' the system.

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If R.Koeman was our coach, he could do them play defense, but Valverde does not care about it.It seems that he is OK with Pique and Alba consistently leaving their spots during the game. Any other coach will take them to the bench for that, but not Valverde.

jairzinho said:

The main problem for me is where to fit Greizmann. He is not a 9. People need to understand that. He is a lethal finisher, but still, neither Simeone or Deschamps made him the focal point in attack. He is better off playing just off a 9 as a second striker or a very narrow winger. So, IMO the only logical place for him is on the wing, allowing Messi to play exclusively as the #10. He would have more defensive duties but he would still be able to use his lethal finishing in the final third.

That's the best we could do right now as far as it see it. The only downside is both Dembele and Greizmann would have alot of defensive duties. But like i said it's down to the coach to get the players to 'work' the system.

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That is not a problem at all because Griezmann is a versatile player. The real problem is named Luis Suarez.Just a year ago, I was still one of his big supporters, but soon have realized that he is done. After I watched the entire Copa America, I am sure that Suarez should sit on the bench. In a 4-4-2 system, we can have Dembele and Griezmann as attacking duo with Messi,Vidal, Arthur and De Jong as a midfielder.

Poor_Sunyol said:

View attachment 8503

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Other option would be something like this.

What do you do with Coutinho?

serghei said:

Other option would be something like this.

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I like that actually. Perhaps with Roberto instead of Vidal in midfield? My only concern would be the lack of width, although Alba and Semedo could provide it.

Poor_Sunyol said:

I like that actually. Perhaps with Roberto instead of Vidal in midfield? My only concern would be the lack of width, although Alba and Semedo could provide it.

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Yea, but lack of width is kind of a given considering all 3 of our forwards are actually strikers more than wingers. And also considering Dembele who is our only real winger is not playing very well. Having an in form and mature Dembele would help us a lot, but it doesn't look like it will happen too often this season.

We can compensate that by pushing Alba and Semedo up as you say, especially Alba.

Greizmann is pretty effective on the wing.

What do you guys think our actual starting line up will look like, considering the squad stays as it is now?
Maybe we could differentiate predictions according to the game in hand.

For Example:

• Home vs Strong team
• Away vs Strong team
• Home vs Mid team
• Away vs Mid team
• Home vs Weak team
• Away vs Weak team
• CDR

I am expecting to see something like the following:

Home vs Strong team

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

--------------------Pique----------------------Lenglet-------------------

------Semedo-------------------------------------------------Alba------

--------------------------------Busquets---------------------------------

--------------------Rakitic----------------------FDJ----------------------

----Messi-------------------------------------------------Griezmann----

----------------------------------Suarez----------------------------------


Away vs Strong team

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

--------------------Pique----------------------Lenglet------------------

------Semedo-------------------------------------------------Alba------

---------------------------------Busquets-------------------------------

----------------Arthur/Vidal-----------------------FDJ------------------

----Messi-------------------------------------------------Griezmann---

----------------------------------Suarez---------------------------------


Home vs Mid team

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

------------------Pique----------------------Umtiti/Lenglet------------

------Semedo------------------------------------------------Alba------

------------------------------------FDJ----------------------------------

------------Rakitic/Arthur/Vidal-------------Coutinho-----------------

----Messi-------------------------------------------------Griezmann---

----------------------------------Suarez---------------------------------


Away vs Mid team

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

------------------Pique----------------------Umtiti/Lenglet------------

------Semedo------------------------------------------------Alba------

--------------------------------Busquets--------------------------------

----------------Arthur/Vidal----------------------FDJ-------------------

----Messi-------------------------------------------------Griezmann---

----------------------------------Suarez---------------------------------



Home vs Weak team

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

------------------Pique/Todibo-----------------Umtiti/Lenglet---------

------Semedo/Wague---------------------------------------Alba/LB---

-------------------------------Busquets/FDJ----------------------------

-----------Arthur/Vidal/Sergi-----------------Coutinho----------------

-----Malcom-----------------------------------------------Dembele----

---------------------------Griezmann/Perez?--------------------------


Away vs Weak team

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

------------------Pique-------------------------Umtiti/Lenglet---------

------Semedo---------------------------------------------Alba/LB-----

--------------------------------Busquets/FDJ---------------------------

---------------Arthur/Vidal-------------------Coutinho-----------------

----Messi---------------------------------------Griezmann/Dembele--

-----------------------------Suarez/Griezmann-------------------------


CDR

-----------------------------------Neto---------------------------------

-----------------Todibo----------------------------Umtiti--------------

--------Wague--------------------------------------------------LB-----

----------------------------------Vidal----------------------------------

-----------------Aleñá/Sergi-----------------Coutinho/Puig-----------

------Malcom-------------------------------------------Dembele------

---------------------------Griezmann/Perez?--------------------------


Writing this post I realized how stacked our midfield is, and how hard it must be to fit all those players.

Based on EV's comments on Bob, I expect him to be in one of the three starting midfield positions.

Besides him, EV will most likely play De Jong.

The third midfield position will go to one of Busi/Rakitic/Vidal/Arthur.

JohnN said:

Writing this post I realized how stacked our midfield is, and how hard it must be to fit all those players.

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Rakitic and Rafinha will leave, most likely. Still Alena + Puig will have some way to the minutes as long as Roberto is also an option there.

soul24rage said:

Based on EV's comments on Bob, I expect him to be in one of the three starting midfield positions.

Besides him, EV will most likely play De Jong.

The third midfield position will go to one of Busi/Rakitic/Vidal/Arthur.

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Why would Roberto be a starter? There is no signs of that, imo. He will probably take minutes from Puig and Alena, but not De Jong/Busquets/Vidal, only maybe from Arthur, but judging from last season Valverde loves Arthur, so I think Roberto will get mostly playingtime against weaker opposition + when Semedo is injured.