Maybe Frenkie will be open to moving to UTD now that they are a CL team and ETH proven he is a better KO manager than Charvy.
200m salary mass reduction almost achieved with that one sale.
Liga Round 23: Almeria - FC Barcelona 1-0
- Thread starter Barcaman
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Maybe Frenkie will be open to moving to UTD now that they are a CL team and ETH proven he is a better KO manager than Charvy.
200m salary mass reduction almost achieved with that one sale.
Givenchy
Senior Member
Yeah he's gonna have to leave this summer, if we are being realistic. 100mil transfer fee + the salary off the books would be a massive help and whilst I'd be sad to see a world class player leave, this isn't a Messi situation, Frenkie could never justify being on those wages, it's not as if he carries the team. If not United (who could sell out to Qatar) then I'm sure Chelsea will be spending big again.
Club is at a crossroads. More papering over the cracks with Lewa type signings and we'll sink sooner or later into a situation we can't get ourselves out of. Think we all need to accept Barca aren't going to challenge in Europe with our current methods. A sensible rebuild is needed and I thought we were actually going the right way about it until Laporta flipped a switch and started pulling levers, hijacking transfers etc
Xavi for sure needs to go. Such a shame Klopp is likely burned out and not the same man.. getting rid of Lewa, Alba and Busi and giving Klopp a young team to work with here would be a dream, he likes being the underdog also unlike Pep and will please Laporta's German manager fetish.
ajnotkeith
Senior Member
Lewa was really a terrible signing.
A lot of money spent in wages and somewhat fee for a 34 year old striker who isn't improving Aubameyang much in this system. And the thing is, he will only get worse from here on out.
A lot of money spent in wages and somewhat fee for a 34 year old striker who isn't improving Aubameyang much in this system. And the thing is, he will only get worse from here on out.
Gari
Active member
Why do we understand this, but they do not? Not complicated things. Maybe they have a different goal? More noise?
I'm not sure though that Aubameyang would have continued his form this season. He has not been good at all for Chelsea. Looked shot even. And even for us he had quite a few games where he didn't do much then popped up with a goal (well, you could argue that with Lewa too I guess).
Saying all this though, looking around Europe who could have been a good in hindsight signing?
Lacazette? -game very suitable for Barca. 18 goals for Lyon so far, a Auba mark-II?
Kolo Muani? - 10 goals, 12 assists at Frankfurt. Another free signing. Now I never watched him at Nantes for obvious reasons, but for those that did, and undeniably talented footballer and someone the whole of Europe missed.
So it didn't need to be Lewandowski for such a big fee+wage. But we wanted the perception of a crack.
EDIT
And the fact that it was Lewandowski means we couldn't have failed twice in Europe.
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JohnN
Senior Member
The board wanted fans to believe something new is cooking and boost those social media and attendance numbers to attract sponsors. That's the logic. Also, sporting wise, he has helped us for the lead in the title race, so it does make some sense. People forget we touched middtable last season.
ajnotkeith
Senior Member
Well, Xaviball has a simple aim when it comes to striker. Players like Luuk or Auba who have not been that good elsewhere have played in this system and scored a lot of goals. The only thing the striker is expected to do is press and score in the box, striker linkup or holdup ala Benzema or Kane is pretty much non existent. It is a system built for a physical poacher like Auba.
For a long part of the season, despite not using it as much anymore, our 4-3-3 is literally built for the sole purpose of getting crosses into the 9, who just sits around the box waiting to get onto the end of one. Even our 4 box still is in part like we saw with Almeria..
Luuk (6'2) - goalscorer in Eredivisie but bad with Sevilla, came here and did well - pretty much a big poacher who's great in the air. 6 goals in 640 LaLiga minutes.
Aubameyang (6'2) - elite athletic poacher in his prime, also great in the air, fell off by the time we got him but still did great. More threatening to big teams than Lewandowski is. 11 goals in 1092 minutes (no pens).
Lewandowski (6'1) - world-class poacher, who's a little more technical than the other two, but physically worse likely due to age, despite seeming to have a great physique. (important point).. 15 goals in 1592 minutes.
So from this we can see Xaviball has a type and it's pretty simple - physical big poachers that sit in the box who can get on the end of the many crosses we attempt every game. Because the system is so 9-centric with hardly any other goalscoring sources in the rest of the team, any player who plays in this role is likely to have good goalscoring stats just by virtue of being the sole outlet the team looks for most of the time.
The role of the striker is essentially score in the 6 yard box and press, you will be given 20-30 crosses a game directly into the box to aid you in this aspect. Because the striker in this system is in such close proximity to the centre-backs 99% of the time and pinned to the 6 yard box (unlike say a system like Arsenal's where they are playing with false9's moving into different channels, or Madrid's where Benzema can be anywhere on the field at a given time to help with buildup) it is vital that the striker is a physically dominant one who can overpower the 1v1s or 1v2s with the opposing centre-backs.
Auba despite his old age was still very fast and athletic and great in the air - gave a world-class level. Luuk despite his huge flaws is one of the best aerial threats in the world, that's the only thing he's good at, but this simplistic poacher system could show that in an amazing light. Both despite not being close to world-class gave amazing levels here for this reason, it is a system built for an athletic poacher.
And on the other hand, as I said above... Lewa is not that physical and athletic anymore despite appearances. He's becoming more of an old technical striker who needs other people to get him involved and do the dirty work for him.
Most CBs are faster and stronger than him and he gets bullied a lot in duels and in the air. It's rare to see him win a header these days, with the game vs Almeria highlighting that perfectly - when Araujo was stuck in the box, he managed to get his head to 3 or 4 crosses straight away near the end of the game whilst Lewa hadn't made one good header the whole 90 minutes. He is not a good fit for the athletic poacher role this system demands and can't leverage 1v1s with CBs the way Auba and Luuk can, ironically. That type of close proximity duel as he competes for the 10-20 crosses we make every game doesn't suit him and it's becoming very clear.
Therefore, despite it sounding comedic, Aubameyang is probably better than Lewandowski in this system. The striker's role is almost entirely based on 6 yard box physical fights with defenders with almost no other tactical responsibility than to press high all game (something that suits Lewandowski even less as those 34 year old legs get older and older). The pace of Auba was also a good way to keep defensive lines honest whilst Lewa is slow as a snail.
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Birdy
Senior Member
I acknowledge all his shortcoming picked out by Ajno above.
But to be fair to him, he scored consistently and many difficult goals before the WC, and gave us many 3pters by himself.
The goal for instance he scored vs Mallorca is truly WC move all the way.
Still, it was a mistake to transfer a slow, not pressing, 34yr old on a 3+1 year contract.
I think the first step to correct the mistake would be to sign Thuram in the summer. Free agent, low wages, must be doable.
It would appear as a depth transfer that would not affect Lewa's status. But, soon in the season, if Lewa continues on the current path, Thuram should be a starter in all demanding games, having intensity, pressing, pace, physicality, etc
Then, in 2-3 years from now, the club can look into a marque 9 at prime age
But to be fair to him, he scored consistently and many difficult goals before the WC, and gave us many 3pters by himself.
The goal for instance he scored vs Mallorca is truly WC move all the way.
Still, it was a mistake to transfer a slow, not pressing, 34yr old on a 3+1 year contract.
I think the first step to correct the mistake would be to sign Thuram in the summer. Free agent, low wages, must be doable.
It would appear as a depth transfer that would not affect Lewa's status. But, soon in the season, if Lewa continues on the current path, Thuram should be a starter in all demanding games, having intensity, pressing, pace, physicality, etc
Then, in 2-3 years from now, the club can look into a marque 9 at prime age
Auba was crap for 2 years before joining Barcelona
Can't make the Chelsea team that needs goals.
Literally nothing to suggest he'd be as good as lewa was before the world cup, he just has a nice purple match being in a new environment at Barcelona.
Too busy doing it for the crap to be a consistent class player these days.
Luuk would have been good to throw come crosses at when we need a goal towards the end of games, good option to have that's it.
Can't make the Chelsea team that needs goals.
Literally nothing to suggest he'd be as good as lewa was before the world cup, he just has a nice purple match being in a new environment at Barcelona.
Too busy doing it for the crap to be a consistent class player these days.
Luuk would have been good to throw come crosses at when we need a goal towards the end of games, good option to have that's it.
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