Gerard Piqué

[barcanuck]

I laugh at the morons in here who used to say this guy is a great defender. I wonder for how long these guys have been actually watching football. Anybody that saw Serie A back in the late 80's, 90's and early 2000's would know what a great defender plays like.

The days of insanely great defenders are pretty much over amigo. Maldini / Puyol types are very rare. Even rock solid defenders like Vidic, Nesta, Kompany have had sub par years. Pique is still in the elite category he just lost alot of focus having a cougar Columbian pop star for a girlfriend.

 

[Robbie]

He's still a class defender, but seems to have gotten very complacent. It's like he doesn't have that hunger to win anymore, after already winning everything possible

 

[Jaguar]

Physically he loses out to agile attackers, and mentally he's all over the place, only technically is he any good.

 

[Aryagorn]

I laugh at the morons in here who used to say this guy is a great defender. I wonder for how long these guys have been actually watching football. Anybody that saw Serie A back in the late 80's, 90's and early 2000's would know what a great defender plays like.

Okay elderly man... We understand you been watching football from 80's and you must know a hell of a lot more than us, the morons, who supported Pique when he was being a wall for Barca and Spain. And of course Pep Guardiola the master himself and Vicente Del Bosque who figured he would be a starter for teams good enough to win Champions League, European Championship, WORLD CUP are morons too. As are the professionals who voted him for FIFA/FIFPro World XI, UEFA Team of the Year for three straight years

 

[unknowngenius10]

He's the Oleger of this generation. Not good enough for Barca ( or spain).

 

[hellsangel1]

Okay elderly man... We understand you been watching football from 80's and you must know a hell of a lot more than us, the morons, who supported Pique when he was being a wall for Barca and Spain. And of course Pep Guardiola the master himself and Vicente Del Bosque who figured he would be a starter for teams good enough to win Champions League, European Championship, WORLD CUP are morons too. As are the professionals who voted him for FIFA/FIFPro World XI, UEFA Team of the Year for three straight years

That really hurt so bad???

And btw I only started watching football since the early 90's but have seen plenty of videos of earlier matches to make that comment so I ;m not that old kiddo.

 

[hellsangel1]

The days of insanely great defenders are pretty much over amigo. Maldini / Puyol types are very rare. Even rock solid defenders like Vidic, Nesta, Kompany have had sub par years. Pique is still in the elite category he just lost alot of focus having a cougar Columbian pop star for a girlfriend.

I know that guys like Maldini etc are a rare breed and those are exceptional cases but I was just talking about the general standard of defending and not just at the very top. There are very, very few elite level defenders any more and just the general standard is not that great either. I really cringe every time some one refers to Ramos or Pique as 'great' defenders, I never believed it even when Barca were winning the major trophies. I'm not going to say that he is terrible but anybody who ever thought he was a great defender, I really wonder how long they've been watching this sport. I think we should have sold Pique a couple of years ago during Pep's last season (when he got benched a couple of times), when Pique's value would've been high and used that money to go after the likes of Thiago Silva and more reliable and consistent defenders or just used better scouts so we can discover players like Varane, etc. The CB has been a pressing issue for quite some time now and our coaches just didn't seem to have the foresight to deal with it before the situation got worse and we had to use a debutant in the CL.

I guess you could say that the game is less physical now than it used to be, defenders were allowed to do certain things back then (like two-footed tackles) which they can't do now but I generally see the problem a little more differently and it has less to do with how less physical or rough defenders have gotten . Generally what I'm seeing is a lack of positional and tactical awareness by the defenders, bad decision-making and not spotting danger early enough.

 

[DonAndres]

The days of insanely great defenders are pretty much over amigo. Maldini / Puyol types are very rare. Even rock solid defenders like Vidic, Nesta, Kompany have had sub par years. Pique is still in the elite category he just lost alot of focus having a cougar Columbian pop star for a girlfriend.

It's been around a 5-7 year drought of insanely great defenders and there are many more youngsters who are rising up right now and will easily go down in history. Sitting here to name them all would be a waste of time.

 

[Aryagorn]

Pique's decline did start two seasons ago what with him winning every thing there is to win and that cougar girl friend of his... He just hasn't got the fire left in him anymore. We should have cashed in on him then itself, but the board suffering from the OCD which makes them give more than enough importance for home-grown players prevented them from doing it. The reason we went overboard to sign Cesc was the same OCD!!

 

[hellsangel1]

I just find the Shakira comments to be tasteless and crass really and I'm not pointing at any one person here.

If your gf (regardless of who she might be) can turn you into a bad defender than you weren't really that great to begin with.

 

[Aryagorn]

I just find the Shakira comments to be tasteless and crass really and I'm not pointing at any one person here.

If your gf (regardless of who she might be) can turn you into a bad defender than you weren't really that great to begin with.

If your GF leads a glittering life style, that will hurt your performance... Happened with Beckham, I reckon it did with Pique too

 

[0n0mat0p0eia]

Do you think that if we had Thiago Silva alongside him, Pique could/would get back to the form of a coupla years ago?

 

[Gaudi]

Do you think that if we had Thiago Silva alongside him, Pique could/would get back to the form of a coupla years ago?

not sure, could be but no guarantees. What worries me is his physical shape. He looks a bit like a blubber to me, all over the place.

 

[ZenI]

If your GF leads a glittering life style, that will hurt your performance... Happened with Beckham, I reckon it did with Pique too

It should be in the contract of all new players, our players should not be allowed to have girlfriends (or boyfriends), kids or any other distractions - they should all be practicing the healthy mental lifestyle of monks. For best group cohesiveness they should also live in the same house 24/7 ALWAYS wearing the Barca kit.

 

[adil_909]

It should be in the contract of all new players, our players should not be allowed to have girlfriends (or boyfriends), kids or any other distractions - they should all be practicing the healthy mental lifestyle of monks. For best group cohesiveness they should also live in the same house 24/7 ALWAYS wearing the Barca kit.

can't tell if this lad is serious or joking. sad thing is that i'm pretty sure he's serious. brilliant plan my son, you deserve a medal!