Thiago Alcantara

BBZ8800

Senior Member
I don't agree at all. We are nowhere near being favorites to win the CL, unlike Man City and PSG, teams who don't rely on length/phsyique. Since the game against RM, people seem to have forgotten, but we were actually mediocre this season, winning without shining. I don't expect that to be enough to win the CL. Besides, I don't understand your logic about Man City and their "outdated" style. What makes you think that style wouldn't work in the CL, if it does in the PL? Actually it more than just "works", they're absolutely destroying the league... You're saying they don't stand a chance against physical teams, but do you realise that the most physical teams actually play in the PL?

About these "physical" players, I have an impression that some of you think that I would like to play with 195cm tall robots with insane muscles.
No.
But honestly, on a scale from 1 to 10, Xavi and Iniesta probably had physique (height, weight, stamina, pace, strength) around 2/10 or 3/10.
So, we don't need players with 10/10 in physique, but in general, a midfield with physically weak players never worked too well in our history (in terms of CL titles), except in era when we had Messi, so it is hard to tell whether short midfielders ALONE worked even then.

You are mentioning Psg as a team who doesn't rely on strength.
Sorry, but lol.

Our last match, last year, when we lost 4:0 is a perfect example of what I am talking about, when our team filled with technical, and yet short and physically weak players, is eaten alive by any stronger team with decent technique and far superior physical skills.
Out of 6 midfielders and attackers in that match:
Busi: slow as a turtle. He is tall, but he is physically weak and somewhat weak in duels against faster and stronger players
Gomes: the same story. Tall, but slow as a turtle and weak-ish in duels
Iniesta: short, slow, old, weak in duels
Messi: he doesn't defend at all
Neymar: when a wind blows, he will fall on his ass. No need to comment his height, strength and duels
Suarez: not defending too much, even though he is a strongest player out of these 6. He is slow, though

Now, Psg's midfielders and attack:
Verratti: stronger in duels than all of our 6 players
Rabiot: 191 cm tall. Stronger and better in duels than all of our 6 players
Matuidi: 180cm. A decent pace and strength, unlike Iniesta/Gomes/Busi
Draxler: 187 cm tall. Fast and stronger than our 6 players
Di Maria: 180 cm. Average
Cavani: 184: quite fast and strong

So, we had Messi and Neymar, but when you close down those two, our other 4 creators aren't ANY better than Psg's players.
So, outside of Messi's&Neymar's technique, we aren't technically better than Psg.

And then, look at pace and strength, how much better Psg is in that area than our team.
Psg 2017:
Don't you have an impression that you are watching the same match AGAIN and AGAIN?
Because, I have that impression.
The opponents always outplay us in the middle due to muscles.
We are neutralized and we can't do shit in attack, again because we are one dimensional and we rely only on scoring with feet through the middle (in attack).
Crosses: nothing
Long balls: nothing
Corners: nothing
Long ranged shots: we stopped trying them since Pep's era, lol

So, we are just trying a bunch of stupid actions through the middle. Smart big teams crowd their middle with 2 buses around their box to close down our predictable play through the middle with short passes (and they will leave their flanks "open" for crosses, since we'll never cross, or we have no one to score after crosses). We can't do shit. Then they outmuscle us in the middle and they score in attack, either on counters, or after crosses/corners, where we suck since always.
Now, take a look at these points which I have mentioned (how are we attacking and how easily neutralized we are. And yet, how are they attacking and scoring. And how are they physically stronger and faster in midfield).

Atletico 2016:

You don't believe me?
The same shit is repeating for the last 20 years.
2008 against Man Utd:
 
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BBZ8800

Senior Member
I can out only 3 videos in one post, so this is a part 2:
Chelsea 2005:

But hey, let's try the same recipe one more time.
Or imagine in post Messi era, when we'll be 50% weaker than today: let's try to revive a lineup with 6 short technical players in attack.

Yeah, that style will do wonders.
Just like in preMessi era, when we won 1 CL title in 100 years.
 

Yannik

Senior Member
Draxler: 187 cm tall. Fast and stronger than our 6 players

Draxler is tall, yet quite lanky and not particularly stronger than most midfielders.
Let's make a thought experiment, what would you think of a midfield consisting of Thiago-Busquets-Milinkovic-Savic?
 

jamrock

Senior Member
Find the statistics against all the big teams you like to talk about and let us see the record against them, you are the stats guy and stop pointing to a few games here and there where those teams where simply better than us for a miriad of reasons and the result would be no different with paulinho and the likes.
 

hulinat

New member

he was supposed to get enough minutes according to his contract for him to renew and actually have a important place in the team, but Tito wouldrather play Fabregas and at the end of the season the club let him go since it seemed clear to Thiago he had no future there over Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas, etc
 

xXKonan

Senior Member
Kicker is considered reliable and Alfredo is reliable as well.

The better question is would Bayern sell him? He's a totally different Midfielder to the likes of Goretzka,Vidal,Tolisso etc and a pretty valuable one at that. I would assume the likes of Vidal would be on his way out over Thiago.
 

YodaMaster

Member
About these "physical" players, I have an impression that some of you think that I would like to play with 195cm tall robots with insane muscles.
No.
But honestly, on a scale from 1 to 10, Xavi and Iniesta probably had physique (height, weight, stamina, pace, strength) around 2/10 or 3/10.
So, we don't need players with 10/10 in physique, but in general, a midfield with physically weak players never worked too well in our history (in terms of CL titles), except in era when we had Messi, so it is hard to tell whether short midfielders ALONE worked even then.

You are mentioning Psg as a team who doesn't rely on strength.
Sorry, but lol.

Our last match, last year, when we lost 4:0 is a perfect example of what I am talking about, when our team filled with technical, and yet short and physically weak players, is eaten alive by any stronger team with decent technique and far superior physical skills.
Out of 6 midfielders and attackers in that match:
Busi: slow as a turtle. He is tall, but he is physically weak and somewhat weak in duels against faster and stronger players
Gomes: the same story. Tall, but slow as a turtle and weak-ish in duels
Iniesta: short, slow, old, weak in duels
Messi: he doesn't defend at all
Neymar: when a wind blows, he will fall on his ass. No need to comment his height, strength and duels
Suarez: not defending too much, even though he is a strongest player out of these 6. He is slow, though

Now, Psg's midfielders and attack:
Verratti: stronger in duels than all of our 6 players
Rabiot: 191 cm tall. Stronger and better in duels than all of our 6 players
Matuidi: 180cm. A decent pace and strength, unlike Iniesta/Gomes/Busi
Draxler: 187 cm tall. Fast and stronger than our 6 players
Di Maria: 180 cm. Average
Cavani: 184: quite fast and strong

So, we had Messi and Neymar, but when you close down those two, our other 4 creators aren't ANY better than Psg's players.
So, outside of Messi's&Neymar's technique, we aren't technically better than Psg.

And then, look at pace and strength, how much better Psg is in that area than our team.
Psg 2017:
Don't you have an impression that you are watching the same match AGAIN and AGAIN?
Because, I have that impression.
The opponents always outplay us in the middle due to muscles.
We are neutralized and we can't do shit in attack, again because we are one dimensional and we rely only on scoring with feet through the middle (in attack).
Crosses: nothing
Long balls: nothing
Corners: nothing
Long ranged shots: we stopped trying them since Pep's era, lol

So, we are just trying a bunch of stupid actions through the middle. Smart big teams crowd their middle with 2 buses around their box to close down our predictable play through the middle with short passes (and they will leave their flanks "open" for crosses, since we'll never cross, or we have no one to score after crosses). We can't do shit. Then they outmuscle us in the middle and they score in attack, either on counters, or after crosses/corners, where we suck since always.
Now, take a look at these points which I have mentioned (how are we attacking and how easily neutralized we are. And yet, how are they attacking and scoring. And how are they physically stronger and faster in midfield).

Atletico 2016:

You don't believe me?
The same shit is repeating for the last 20 years.
2008 against Man Utd:

Screw you and your:
1. Statistics
2. False facts
3. Your mathematical approach to football.
Because you don't do maths with art.

Statistics say CR7 is the best player in football history.
Statistics say Gomes is the best passer in Europe.
Facts say Portugal was the best team in Europe cause they won Euro 2016.

I read this forum every day and I'm so tired of your posts and the way you tell trash things thinking you're fookin Nostradamus.
We won 2 CL's with Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta aka "the weak players" and went each year to semi-finals with them. And in 2011 when we saw the best Barça ever, Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta had Messi-Villa-Pedro in front of them. That's 5 players who are 1,70m + Busquets "the weak one". The best right-back in our history was another 1,70m "weak" guy in Dani Alves. You're so wrong it isn't even funny dude. I guess the 92 Dream Team had also weak players in Pep, Eusebio, Laudrup, Juan Carlos, Goikoetxea, Bakero,... The Real Madrid team who won 3 CL's in 4 years also had "weak players" right ? You know them Modric, Kroos, Isco, Marcelo, Carvajal, Benzema.

The only fact here is that you don't know what you're talking about. Small guys are simply the best in football. Who are the best players in football history ? Pele, Maradona, Messi. 1,70m guys. That's enough proof. Why isn't England national team doing well with all their physical players ?

Paulinho is shit. We don't need him in the starting 11. What did his physicality bring ? He loses all his duels, he never gets the ball from the opponent, the small weak Iniesta and Busquets bring more defensively than this guy. I have nothing against physical players as long as they are great with their feet.

I can't believe that this BBZ guy is a Barça fan and at the same time is a "physical players" fan. Are you aware that this club historically has shined the most with small technical players, not with big muscles guys like Paulinho ...? Do you want me to show you videos of small weak Barça guys making fun of big physical players like Xabi-Lass-Khedira (5-0 Clasico) or Carrick-Rooney-Valencia-Park (3-1 CL final) ?

Why don't you talk about the 6-1 vs PSG ? Because in that match the weak Barça players ate alive the strong PSG midfielders. Barça's problem is not lack of physicality. The problem is the lack of quality midfielders. The only top midfielders we have are Busquets and Iniesta who'll turn 34. A midfield made of Thiago-Busquets-Verratti wouldn't be physically strong but despite that it would be the best midfield in the world easily. Miles better than Paulinho-Rakitic-Gomes (3 physically strong midfielders).

And dude you were the one hoping that Barça brings in Griezmann and now you're like "we can't play with Coutinho, Iniesta and Dembélé because we need Paulinho and Rakitic in the 11". How bringing in freaking Griezmann will help ? Do you plan on benching 2 or 3 players who cost 150 millions each ? What's wrong with you Mr.Logic ?
 
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tacticvarium

New member
I would welcome Thiago only if he overcomes his injury-prone glass body and when we manage to sell Gomes, Denis, Paulinho successfully.
 

Givenchy

Senior Member
tbh I rather we look elsewhere, Thiago is a great player when fit but the dude bailed on us first chance he got and iirc he recently signed a new contract. Bayern are more likely to get rid of Vidal i think
 
Kicker is considered reliable and Alfredo is reliable as well.

The better question is would Bayern sell him? He's a totally different Midfielder to the likes of Goretzka,Vidal,Tolisso etc and a pretty valuable one at that. I would assume the likes of Vidal would be on his way out over Thiago.

They won't force him to stay PSG style if he wants to leave. They will demand a large fee though.
 

khaled_a_d

Senior Member
Injury prone player who is in middle of his career while being barely able to stay healthy in the most "player friendly" league in the top 5 leagues. Left us b4 and would be expensive. Would be leaving because of competition in Bayern?
Even if rumors are true and he wants to leave, we shouldn't even think about him.
 
M

MessiCam

Guest
I wish [MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION] would stop making things up. The statistical facts are that Iniesta, Busquets, Messi, Neymar win a higher percentage of their duels than either of those PSG players he mentioned. Hell these lightweights win a higher percentage of their duels than their own "physical" teammates like Gomes, Suarez and Paulinho.

Winning duels is not all about physical prowess. Technical ability wins over physicality every time.

Look who the weak link in midfield is against PSG. Andre Gomes at RCM as it had been pretty much all season with Rakitic... Why? because he was covering for RW Messi so it was easy to attack that right flank. They murdered Roberto too because he had no cover.
 

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