HOF's worst eleven to wear the Barcelona jersey in this decade.

G.J said:

Fernando Navarro is/was not bad at all. He's part of Spain's championship winning squad.

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he gained confidence at Mallorca. At Barcelona, he was pretty poor but not as poor as oscar lopez.

I never understood how Barca could have bought Andersson. You didnt have to see much of him to know that he was slow like a slug. It worked out for Bayern, that played very deep back then with their CL winning squad (they basically countered everyone out), where he was allowed to work withing a 30 metre radius. But it was very much supposed to fail in Barcelona.

God-these guys bring back some HORRIBLE memories. Puyol wsnt that great either when he started off. Of course his lack of a decent partner didnt help. Oleguer may be the worst player to ever put on a Barca jersey. During those lean years I think Rivaldo was the only shining star ( I know Barca fans preferred Figo at the time) but Rivaldo truly was the best Barca player than. I didnt have much time for Kluivert either. I know he scored goals but he missed a TON of chances. He would fall over his gangly legs all the time. Seriously we had no stability and all Van Gaal did was bring in every Dutchman and his dog.

Midfield- I am going to chunk the 3 positions into one post for my worst 3 central midfielders that ever put on a Barcelona jersey. Before the riches that current Barcelona side has in terms of a central midfield, we also had a period where many came with huge names and prices only to fail tremendously. Its even admirable to know how bad Barcelona management is when it comes to fortifying 2 of the 3 spots as one spot was guaranteed to either Cocu or Xavi. Joan Gaspart had made his name by being the first to implement his Barcelona project of assembling "young talent" at exuberant prices on the reports from our South American scout (I am glad that I dont know who he is otherwise he would be getting Overbo style death letters threats). One of these recommendations was none other than Fabio Rochemback. Costing Barcelona a cool sum of 9m euros, he was supposed to replace Guardiola and was labelled as the next "Emerson." But he crumbled under pressure each time, he got onto the pitch. He further onwards started developing a liking for cards and unprofessional attitude. He played 45 games for us but I cant remember one game where he left his mark on the pitch and not in the referee's book. Never recovering from his hype, he has continued a downward trend in his career by now playing at Gremio.

During the same time, we also had another "gem" from the South America who turned out to be a massive pain in the ass for Louis Van Gaal, Juan Roman Riquelme. Riquelme was a signing that Gaspart made for 11m euros without consulting Van Gaal and damn, did it hurt the Dutchman's ego. Truth be told, Riquelme had no place in the team of 02/03 with Cocu and the emergence of Xavi in the previous season however Gaspart wanted something to please the fans after his failures in the first two years. Van Gaal knew Riquelme didnt fit the system and when he played him, it was on the left hand flank where Riquelme's pace meant that he was a bystander. He continued to be a bystander for many games and collected a huge pay check. Riquelme wanted the team to be built around him and when that didnt happen, he went directly to the media. All in all, he was a waste in the Barcelona jersey but one man's trash is another's treasure. He was shipped to Villarreal where he excelled and we recouped our money. Thank God for that.

One player that I wished that we recouped our money for was- Gerard Lopez. FC Barcelona has a major achilles heel when it comes to cantera players who were let go, only to see them succeed overwhemingly at other clubs. It almost becomes an obsession for the management to get back the kids that we lost because they didnt believe in them. Gerard Lopez was one of them who left Barcelona Athletic (then Barca B) to go to the greener pastures of Valencia. He became an inspired signing for Valencia as he became a vital cog in Hector Cuper' side of 99/00 by winning Spanish Super Cup and then, coming second in the Champions Leagure. Barcelona couldnt contain its lust anymore and splashed a whopping 21.5m euros to get their gem and a massive salary, only for him to alternate his years at Barcelona between the bench and the treatment table for 4 years that he spent here. It was between him, Demetrio Albertini and Thiago Motta that I had to make a decision for who was the worst, and fiscally speaking, Gerard was absolutely horrendous.

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Nice ones so far, fully agree with you on the selection.

I don't think that Reiziger was bad. It was just that Gaspart era that was so awful. Petit, Gerard, Rochemback, Saviola, Riquelme, Gabri, then Mendieta loan not to mention the likes of Bonano etc.. and mostly important - Rivaldo's exit. I think that Barca at that time was very average team, we didn't have a true Ronaldinho/Messi talent superstar type of player. I just feel sorry of Puyol, Xavi, Rivaldo, Enrique, Kluivert and maybe Overmars who were great players but were surrounded by bunch of average or below-average teammates.

Ole wasn't that bad, i actually like him alot.

i could tell why... you must have felt a divine connection with him.

forwards will be done soon as soon as i recover from my cross-fadedness

Bonano is the current goalkeeping coach for Catalunya now lol.

Excellent thread, man!

Wingers- Barcelona' system required wingers at all times- let it be out and out wingers or inside forwards that is the signature of the current Barcelona team. Gaspart thought that he was playing Championship manager when he decided to shell out massively for an unproven Brazilian talent. I am pretty sure that he did it on the reports from the same scout that has managed to bankrupt Barcelona. This talent is none other than Hull City's Geovanni who at the age of 21, cost Barcelona 21m euros. Barcelona's fans were excited as the amount of superlatives being thrown at Geovanni's from the Barcelona commentators were massive. "The Next Rivaldo" was the most popular tune that even Rivaldo had to know what was going on.

Geovanni stepped on the pitch and Rivaldo smiled. Geovanni had the hype but didnt possess the goods. Brazilians are known for their ball control, Geovanni had none. He just did tricks without any end result. Spent two seasons at Barcelona from the bench and a goal to his hand. His appearances cost Barcelona 1m euros/per game. Shows you exactly why we should all go and maim our South American scouting team. Shipped off to Benfica where he did something and eversince that, he has become a nomad with Hull City being his latest home.


Mr. Burns realizing that he just made a massive mistake

The next player might be a surprise to most of you... thats only despite spending 5 seasons with Barcelona and being a cantera graduate, he managed to achieve nothing more than 6 games. He became another reason for my belief that to play for Barcelona either you have to be really good at football or you have to be Catalan/academy graduate. His name is none other than Sergio Santamaria and the only achievement that he has done so far is to beat Santiago Ezquerro and Sergio Garcia to get this spot.



Oh yah, he has a website too- www.sergiosantamaria.com. Be sure to visit it to know more about him and comment on the worst player designed website.

Striker- For the worst striker to play in the Blaugrana, I think my words would be ridiculously hollow. So, I am presenting a photo montage for him.



















[youtube]UJkwSdbg26I[/youtube]

Very Chygrynskiyish.

how is ricardo queresma not talked about in here more?????????