Ibrahim Afellay

[Mocro]

He can play CM, but also ACM, SMF, WF and SS. He's as versitile as Van der Vaart

Actually Afellay is more versatile than Van der Vaart. Van der Vaart is a true central midfielder. Afellay has the speed and passingabilities, which make him very dangerous on the left or right wing. Qualities that Van der Vaart doesnt have.

[Mocro]

His only great game in the dutch NT was against sweden.. depends on what your definition of 'not so weak teams' is..

Sure if we can get him for 2 mill i would always say go for it, thats peanuts for a player that wouldnt do bad as a backup but do we really want to hamper thiagos development.. there is no room for keita, mash, afellay AND thiago on the bench.. that would mean thiago gets relegated to the b team again pretty harsh on the kid especially after he has done so well.. i am simply against this because i dont feel like afellay is the type of player we need or someone that is worth putting in the squad before thiago

Thats not true. Afellay even played better games from Holland, then the match against Sweden. The only difference is that he scored twice. Can you give me one interland where he performed poorly? He never brought the level of the Dutch squad down. In fact it was always an improvement when he came on the pitch...afterwards often getting compliments from the analysts.

[Mocro]

lol at getting excited about signing afellay.. the kid is the definition of a headless chicken he gets the ball and then runs and THEN thinks what to do with the ball.. i look at this as a perfect business deal (due to his age and the fee) but on the pitch dont expect 2 much.. another average player that wont help us much..

Do you even watch the games? Seriously. Everything he does is functional...headless chicken? You are so going to eat those words once he has proven you wrong. :P

[shann]

“For 3-4M? Why the hell not?!”

I admit I'm, worried about what this means for Thiago, but after some thinking it’s not a bad move at all. First of all, Thiago is 19 years old. Still very young and needs development. Besides, both Affelay and Thiago are quite versatile, Pep can play either of them on the wings or way-up on the midfield. I haven’t watched much of Affelay’s matches except the ones he had with his NT, but in the case of Thiago, he can also cast a wider line in the midfield much like Xavi, or more defensively, like Busquets (as he did with Spain U21).

Anyway, the reality is we’ve got a small team; Xavi’s tendinitis is possibly recurrent in nature; and Iniesta doesn’t have the cleanest injury record; and we quite desperately need a fresh and creative attacking midfielder. Affelay captains PSV, which shows maturity, and he’s scored 6 goals in 10 matches so far. That’s not bad at all. And again, for a maximum of 4M? Bag it. The worst we can get out of this transfer is to prevent him from getting snatched by other clubs. Plus, if I’m not mistaken we still have about 12.5M left from this summer’s transfer budget. That and an also additional 50M for next summer. So, who knows…

All in all this is a non-risk buy.

[Panna]

We will see,what the future will bring.There is a change he will develop very well and adapt the Barça style at the time and there is a change he will flop.
This is how they think at Barça,they do not have any loss for 2-4 million.Nowadays 2-4 million for a player is a bargain.
Its nice too read you are a supporter Mocro but the fact there were a lot of clubs the last years which wants too sign him is not true.
Every summer they say,ibi will leave,but no club showed real interest.And if there was some interest of a little club he did not want to go because he thought he was too good for a little club.

[xboogiex]

Thats not through every year clubs were trying to get him but not of the caliber barcelona he rejected some teams because he thought psv was simply better than them.

I think Ibrahim Afellay will fit very well in barca hes is the player that gets better with good players around him look at the dutch squad at Psv the other players just cant follow his lvl of play.

I saw someone calling him a headless chicken and the only good game was vs sweden i laughed about this here is a number of clubs he crushed

1.Tottenham Hotspur he was a decease for there defends
2. Arsenal
3. Sampdoria though it was just 1-1
4. Mexico
5. Sweden

and ofcourse he crushed someone teams of the dutch league.

[el tren]

I dont really know the player as he only played a few minutes during the WC, but considering the current situation with the lack of really creative midfielders apart from Xavi and Iniesta, who either has troubles with injuries or occasionally playing in a more advanced role and the young guns of Thiago and dos Santos, who, while obv talented, can not be taken as reliable, it seems like a no-brainer deal for that sum. And while i generally like Keita as kind of an 'option-player', he cant fill that creative gap imo.

SO there is absolutely no financial risk involved, and when he is decribed as being rather humble (according to Mocro) there also shouldnt be dressing room issues, as he should know what role he is going to take over here. He still has a solid chance to play a good amount of games, just see how many minutes Keita gets and got over the years.

According to football-lineups (http://www.football-lineups.com/footballer/1133/) he plays in the RCM spot in a 4123 at PSV, while occupying the right and lately the left winger/OM spot in the 4231 of the dutch NT and being a starter in the past 2 qualifier matches, socring twice and assisting once vs sweden. So from the stats he seems both versatile, skilled and can fill currently vacant spots. So there is hardly any argument against his transfer ...

Oh and Hamburg was really interested during the summer, but Afellay turned the offer down. Although Afellays arguments (that Mocro posted) seem a bit strange, as Veh (Hamburgs coach) likes a shortpassing offensive style, which was a main reason for their interest in Afellay - he failed with implementing that at Wolfsburg, who were used to a long-ball game which also suited their players (Dzeko, Grafite and then Misimovic) much better.

[Barcilliant]

Prefer to see Thiago develop-Afellay is waaaayy overrated-paying 2-4 million for a bench warmer will only be good business if we can sell him for 7-10 million-hopefully to Inter.

[Jonathan28]

He is very humble off the pitch. Still lives in the old neighbourhood, even though he is the best paid PSV-player. Iv seen Afellay debut in 2005 and have literally watched every game he played @ PSV since. His development has been remarkable. Year in, year out he dealt with every point of criticism and improved substantially on every aspect. Never complains and is a true winner. All that matters is winning and showing off his skills...but always functional, never just to humiliate his opponent.

In my opinion PSV would be better off to keep Afellay till the summer instead of the 2-4 million that Barca is willing to pay. He is the architect of our midfield. He is a true box-to-box player. He doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. You can see him defending in the own box and 3 seconds later, after he helped our defenders, you can find hem rushing to the other side to give an assist or score a goal. He can play at any position on the midfield and on the left and right wing. The only player that I know that is even more versatile is Cocu himself.

He has all the qualities to become a sensation in Spain. Every transfer period I was hoping and praying that he wouldn’t leave PSV. Lots of clubs showed interests throughout the years, but he always said that he wouldn’t leave PSV for just any club. Last summer HSV offered 10 million, but he passed. Even though they offered him 3 times the salary he made at PSV. Afellay said he didn’t want to leave, because their coach prefers a defensive play. While he himself wants a coach and club with an attacking philosophy.

IF Afellay has to leave PSV, well then Barca is THE club to go. I would be very proud as a fellow Dutch-Moroccan and as a PSV-supporter if he would be given a change to display his technique and style at a worldclass club like Barca. I just hope it will be after the summer. If all goes well, Ill definately visit a game next season.

Thanks very much for the info mate, it looks as if Afellay has the perfect attitude of a Barcelona player.

Actually Afellay is more versatile than Van der Vaart. Van der Vaart is a true central midfielder. Afellay has the speed and passingabilities, which make him very dangerous on the left or right wing. Qualities that Van der Vaart doesnt have.

Yeah, I know what you mean, Afellay is absolutely rapid, I've actually watched a few PSV games, including the 10-0 one and I was extremly impresses with his movement and versatility, and if he's even more versitile then Van der Vaart thats even better.

[el tren]

Prefer to see Thiago develop-Afellay is waaaayy overrated-paying 2-4 million for a bench warmer will only be good business if we can sell him for 7-10 million-hopefully to Inter.

While i can see Thiagos potential and how euphoric the imagination of Thiagos rise to world class is, i have a totally different idea about how to develop high potentials. I think there is no doubt that Xavi and Iniesta could leave a gap through possible injuries at the moment. And i at least dont see an established player to fill that gap with the necessary creativity. That rules out mostly Keita (who is the natural replacement there) but also Mascherano.

But then i dont like the idea to rely on an 18 yo in decisive games vs spanish or european top clubs, that has to be won and that in fact rely on the playmaking abilities of the central midfielders. Its not that i generally question Thiagos current ability, but you cant take for granted, that he performs on a high level in any given match. There is just no prove that he could pull that off vs top level opponents, esp. when they know about Barcas key positions, trying to cut them down.

And then, thinking further, these possible bad performances could majorly harm the kids mental development. It just cant be good for a youngsters confidence to fail under such heavy pressure (even from himself probably) ... and that sort of demotivation could influence his longterm development very badly. Instead i like to give youngsters easy matches and easy situations, where they cant lose much and just get some experience, when they are still in their, perhaps decisive, learning phase.

That is the reason to get an experienced player in, that should know how to deal with these situations from 1st league and european cup matches, and those with the NT. You dont know how it will exactly go, but for that price, it doesnt matter much. At least he is mentally just much more mature, and you dont risk to unnecessarily waste a talent so early.

[Mocro]

Great info Mocro, thanks

My pleasure.

We will see,what the future will bring.There is a change he will develop very well and adapt the Barça style at the time and there is a change he will flop.
This is how they think at Barça,they do not have any loss for 2-4 million.Nowadays 2-4 million for a player is a bargain.
Its nice too read you are a supporter Mocro but the fact there were a lot of clubs the last years which wants too sign him is not true.
Every summer they say,ibi will leave,but no club showed real interest.And if there was some interest of a little club he did not want to go because he thought he was too good for a little club.

You are saying the exact same thing as I am. There were clubs that wanted to sign him, but not the clubs that he had on his wishlist. Once he mentioned that there are 4 or 5 clubs that he couldnt say no to.

@El tren: Thats what he said. Perhaps he based his opinion on the clash between PSV and HSV last season.

Prefer to see Thiago develop-Afellay is waaaayy overrated-paying 2-4 million for a bench warmer will only be good business if we can sell him for 7-10 million-hopefully to Inter.

I have to be honest. I don't know this Thiago player very well, and I understand the youth-development argument. But to say that Afellay is waaaaay overrated is ridiculous. If you can survive in a worldclass midfield of the Dutch squad and even excel, then how can you be overrated?

[Jesse1509]

How about his goalscoring-abilities: If he'd play on LW (instead of Iniesta), he'd score more goals there than Iniesta I guess?

His Cruyff already commented on the potential transfer? We know that Cocu thinks that he has the tools to succeed at Barca, but what about Cruyff?

About the first question:
I think so, because Afellay is quicker than Iniesta, and Afellay is more direct in his way of playing. Afellay's mind is always on the goal.

Don't know about Cruyff. I think he's too busy with moaning about Ajax at the moment..

[Mocro]

How about his goalscoring-abilities: If he'd play on LW (instead of Iniesta), he'd score more goals there than Iniesta I guess?

His Cruyff already commented on the potential transfer? We know that Cocu thinks that he has the tools to succeed at Barca, but what about Cruyff?

Cruyff was the one that handed Afellay 'the talent of the year'-award years ago. I remember that he complimented him on his superb skills and style. He was in that jury himself and the decision was unanimous. Not sure if that means that he believes that Afellay can make it at Barca, but I know that he has been very positive about Afellay.

[Jonathan28]

About the first question:
I think so, because Afellay is quicker than Iniesta, and Afellay is more direct in his way of playing. Afellay's mind is always on the goal.

Don't know about Cruyff. I think he's too busy with moaning about Ajax at the moment..

Yeah, Afellay is very direct, something we have needed since Henry left since everyone else bar maybe Pedro wants the ball to feet whilst Afellay will run onto it and score.

[Robbie]

During the world cup he was a bit of a ball hog. That might've been him just trying for some glory in the tournament though. Still he's a great talent and already far too good for the Eredivisie.