Deco

[khaled_a_d]

Now why he is even speaking to the media is the right question to ask.

Considering how toxic Catalan media are, it isn't bad to throw them a bone "interview " every now and then.

Annoying for the fans, though

 

[Temptation]

"Like a new signing"
- Decoratio 👏🏻👏🏻

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2005208801507676456

 

[Gnidrologist]

So many new signings.

 

[serghei]

I believe all these talks are connected to the money we have available. We are past the point of signing rejects and oldies for low fees. Problematic players our European competitors try to ditch and cut loose. We cannot compete with these clubs if we go after the crumbs they leave behind.

From this stage up, any actual or proper reinforcements we make will require serious sums to invest, in terms of both transfer fees or big salaries for top soon to be free agents.

No one in their right mind would consider or believe our defense doesn't need higher quality players. Apart from Garcia, our defense consists of one mentaly frail player who can't help from comiting game-ruining blunders in Araujo, a kid who doesn't know how to defend properly in Cubarsi, a perma-injured damaged goods player in Christensen, a fullback who even at his best is a defensive liability in Balde, and a fullback who is on and off and predisposed to wild fluctiations of form often during the same match in Kounde. That's about it.

The most consistent defensive player in the team at the moment, keeper excluded, is Garcia. It is by far and away the worst defense in the top 6-8 clubs.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Our attack is almost complete tbh. A Lewa renewal or low cost replacement along an extended loan/buy for Rashford and it is as good as anyone.

Any new signing there is luxurious. Yes, there is new levels to unlock in attack but it isn't a priority or a need. We are at 51 goals in La liga this year, no one is close in Spain and only Bayern is better in Europe. Anyone who think it is a priority is still stuck in the MSN/MVP eras and think we can reach those levels again, which is delusional.

Defense is where we need to allocate any resources we have to reinforce. The starting CB and fullback depth have been ignored for so long.

 

[serghei]

Our attack is almost complete tbh. A Lewa renewal or low cost replacement along an extended loan/buy for Rashford and it is as good as anyone.

Any new signing there is luxurious. Yes, there is new levels to unlock in attack but it isn't a priority or a need. We are at 51 goals in La liga this year, no one is close in Spain and only Bayern is better in Europe. Anyone who think it is a priority is still stuck in the MSN/MVP eras and think we can reach those levels again, which is delusional.

Defense is where we need to allocate any resources we have to reinforce. The starting CB and fullback depth have been ignored for so long.

Tbh, there was never a moment under Flick where I was dissatisfied with how our attack runs. We are dependent on Raphinha, since apart from Raphinha, the other players are on the softer technical side, so we need his fighting spirit and power in more difficult moments, as Rashford is fast and somewhat strong physically, but is not really a fighter or a leader.

Attack is fine and was fine for some years already. The issue for me is defense, always was for years, and this included the keeper and the DM position. We only fixed the keeper in 3-4 years and that's too little movement on the defensive end. It was treated as secondary or tertiary objective, but it has become painfully obvious that the defense lets down the overall team. Some of it can be attributed to Flick's style, but not all of it, some of the issue lie with the substandard defenders compared to other compartments. We are doing pretty damn well on the wings and in attacking midfield all things considered.

Issue is, because the defense is poor, there's very little we can do in terms of raising funds through selling players. Which is why I'd be open to listen to offers for both De Jong and Kounde. They're the only two defensive players we have on paper who are somewhat highly rated. The rest are not that good or not that special, and it is explainable for me why Kounde and De Jong are the only two players from midfield down who regularly play in highly rated NTs as starters.

De Jong himself is not as good as people believe. There's very little interest for him from top tier teams, it was not even a question of being in a position to sell him for a big fee. There was that interest from United mainly due to ETH who was his former manager and had a thing for him, but De Jong is generally not a player that can bring a big fee for us. Quite tricky to integrate in a midfield. Not gifted enough attacking-wise to be a box-to-box, not strong enough defensively to be a real DM. Somewhat of a luxury player that is and odd fit, serious qualities in some aspects, but he never was able to fix his weaker areas in many years. Good on the eye, but not an important structural piece for our midfield I think, and he's not young anymore. De Jong hasn't even got very close to the level of a Rakitic for us. Quite disappointed in him. Was expected to be a differential midfield transforming player, but just settled in his comfort zone, played on those terms, and never left it.

Both De Jong and Kounde frankly. Expected more leadership, but they are just regular good players like many are. Would be able to upgrade both, but while they are rated, I doubt they are rated at such big sums to move them on. Somewhat players of the associative type, players who would carry their weight when paired with better ones, but not the key pieces in their compartments to really make a jump of quality structurally on those compartments as a whole.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Tbh, there was never a moment under Flick where I was dissatisfied with how our attack runs.

Attack is fine and was fine for some years already. The issue for me is defense, always was for years, and this included the keeper and the DM position. We only fixed the keeper in 3-4 years and that's too little movement on the defensive end.

Attack lacked depth last year tbf, as Pau Victor and Fati were awful. We couldn't rest players due to that. Roony and Rashford are miles ahead of either. Now both Rashford and Lewa have no contact for next season, so some work is needed to retain that level.

But signing a Lewa replacement, and by that I mean a big signing isn't what we need atm. The likes of Gyökeres and Sesko has cost of 65M & 75M (along some big add-ons) and they have combined 9 goals in 2140 minutes this season. You can bet that this will be the prices of the likes of Samu Aghehowa, Panichelli or whoever new shiny toy in the market and will be as risky as the aforementioned names.

The sure things are Harry Kane who is too old, has massive wages and is more likely to renew, or Lautaro/Alvarez/Osimen who will cost 100M+ figures, or Guirassy who isn't so sure and will be 30 next.

So, it is either invest 60M+ on someone who could be even worse than Torres (like Sesko & Gyökeres so far) or splash 100M+ we don't have on elite one.

When you look at the state of defence, I know where we need to spend the money.

 

[serghei]

Attack lacked depth last year tbf, as Pau Victor and Fati were awful. We couldn't rest players due to that. Roony and Rashford are miles ahead of either. Now both Rashford and Lewa have no contact for next season, so some work is needed to retain that level.

But signing a Lewa replacement, and by that I mean a big signing isn't what we need atm. The likes of Gyökeres and Sesko has cost of 65M & 75M (along some big add-ons) and they have combined 9 goals in 2140 minutes this season. You can bet that this will be the prices of the likes of Samu Aghehowa, Panichelli or whoever new shiny toy in the market and will be as risky as the aforementioned names.

The sure things are Harry Kane who is too old, has massive wages and is more likely to renew, or Lautaro/Alvarez/Osimen who will cost 100M+ figures, or Guirassy who isn't so sure and will be 30 next.

So, it is either invest 60M+ on someone who could be even worse than Torres (like Sesko & Gyökeres so far) or splash 100M+ we don't have on elite one.

When you look at the state of defence, I know where we need to spend the money.

Depth is a luxury in current conditions. We have substandard starters in defense. Players that cost you in bigger games repeatedly.

Talking starting spots in attacking positions:
- Raphinha, Pedri, Yamal are irreplaceable at the moment.
- Ferran can be upgraded, but it's very hard and requires a very big investment.

We have one squad-building move in attack to make, and that is to try and move one of Olmo or Fermin for 40m+, probably Fermin even if it's harder, to invest that sum into a more defensive profile.

Other than that, there is nothing to be done for 1-2 years more on the attacking end, realistically.

On the defense, we have issues in starting positions in 3 out of 4 positions at least. We're talking starters in this team who should not be starters based on quality and who should be rotation players instead. That's a far more pressing need for me than depth in case Raphinha and Yamal get injured.

 

[Porque]

Ansu returning will be our new signing.

Siiuuu.

In all seriousness though, we will have to account for his salary mass next season after his Monaco flop. Not unless he has seen the light that his current level is barely MLS and Saudi league level.

In other news Hojmund is doing well at Napoli.

While Zirkzee looks to be heading to Roma on a loan + signing option.

These may be the type of opportunities we will have to go for in the immediate future- like Rashford.

Not necessarily bad as for every 10 big EPL signing, there will be a first time flop like De Bruyne (Chelsea) and Salah (Chelsea) who slip through the cracks.

 

[serghei]

Ansu returning will be our new signing.

Siiuuu.

In all seriousness though, we will have to account for his salary mass next season after his Monaco flop. Not unless he has seen the light that his current level is barely MLS and Saudi league level.

In other news Hojmund is doing well at Napoli.

While Zirkzee looks to be heading to Roma on a loan + signing option.

These may be the type of opportunities we will have to go for in the immediate future- like Rashford.

Not necessarily bad as for every 10 big EPL signing, there will be a first time flop like De Bruyne (Chelsea) and Salah (Chelsea) who slip through the cracks.

I'm afraid our possibilities are even lower than going after some EPL flops hoping that they have the required quality, but the moves happened too early for them in their career.

 

[serghei]

One thing's for sure. We have enough technical players who are good on the ball, and too few athletes who are very strong physically. We need more of the latter. It will do wonders to our football and our style if we can find at least one physical beast of a defensive profile.

 

[Porque]

I'm afraid our possibilities are even lower than going after some EPL flops hoping that they have the required quality, but the moves happened too early for them in their career.

I imagine we will have a better picture of our situation if we manage to get Camp Nou to 60k for the new year and get Lewandowski off the books.

If it is as you say this time next year, then we are beyond salvaging.

Surely no reason we couldn't repeat a Rashford esque deal next season which is what Hoj or Zirk are. Maybe the Gyok with a loan plus buy option if he doesn't turn around his Prem life.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Depth is a luxury in current conditions. We have substandard starters in defense. Players that cost you in bigger games repeatedly.

Talking starting spots in attacking positions:
- Raphinha, Pedri, Yamal are irreplaceable at the moment.
- Ferran can be upgraded, but it's very hard and requires a very big investment.

We have one squad-building move in attack to make, and that is to try and move one of Olmo or Fermin for 40m+, probably Fermin even if it's harder, to invest that sum into a more defensive profile.

Other than that, there is nothing to be done for 1-2 years more on the attacking end, realistically.

On the defense, we have issues in starting positions in 3 out of 4 positions at least. We're talking starters in this team who should not be starters based on quality and who should be rotation players instead. That's a far more pressing need for me than depth in case Raphinha and Yamal get injured.

We have a fairly solid starting Fullbacks all things considered. Nothing fancy, but likely around top 10 in their positions. We aren't going after a starting LB or RB. Kounde had solid December and might be back to where he was last year. Blade lacks same end product, and dome defensive lapses but still a very solid one considering the market for those positions.

CB is where we need reinforcement(s) badly, either a game changing starting CB, or a solid starting one. The former will do magic to the entire team. One good starting one would still elevate it.

So, for me it depends in the resources we have. We need a starting CB as no1 priority.

After that it is retaining one of Lewa or Rashford, or a cheaper but equally good replacement (some interesting names mentioned by @Porque ) to retain the level of attacking line.

Then a backup fullback, then another backup fullback, then another attacker.

I know CDM is something you really hope for, but I don't see it happening in the near future. The club will look at how Bernal fairs next year at least.

 

[TheStig]

One thing's for sure. We have enough technical players who are good on the ball, and too few athletes who are very strong physically. We need more of the latter. It will do wonders to our football and our style if we can find at least one physical beast of a defensive profile.

Who are those great technical players in our squad? We have a couple but the technical level of the squad is horrible for Barca's standard. It's mostly Yamal and Pedri, to some level FDJ and Raphinha. You can add Cubarsi and Eric that are good standard for defenders, that's it.

 

[serghei]

We have a fairly solid starting Fullbacks all thibgs considered. Nothing fancy, but likely around top 10 in their positions. We aren't going after a starting LB or RB. Kounde had solid December and might be back to where he was last year. Blade lacks same end product, and dome defensive lapses but still a very solid one considering the market for those positions.

CB is where we need reinforcement(s) badly, either a game changing starting CB, or a solid starting one. The former will do magic to the entire team. One good starting one would still elevate it.

So, for me it depends in the resources we have. We need a starting CB as no1 priority.

After that it is retaining one of Lewa or Rashford, or a cheaper but equally good replacement (some interesting names mentioned by @Porque ) to retain the level of attacking line.

Then a backup fullback, then another backup fullback, then another attacker.

I know CDM is something you really hope for, but I don't see it happening in the near future. The club will look at how Bernal fairs next year at least.

I would say maybe the fullbacks are overly exposed because of lack of proper CBs and no shielding from a DM, because... the closest thing we have of a DM is Eric Garcia.

But the issue is neither is that great. Kounde is so superficial at times, it's quite incredible how relaxed and how casual he can defend. Luckily for us, he tends to be focused in the bigger games, as he's somewhat of a headcase, the good comes with the bad in a single package (not many FBs can score the goal he scored vs Madrid in Cop final for example, but also not many fullbacks can go from shit to great in the span of 1 minute like he does constatly).

Balde on the other hand, the man can't defend. I don't think I've ever seem him carry a game out without some type of defensive fuck-up. Even at his best he's such a poor defender that he'll somehow need to become an incredible offensive beast like a Marcelo to carry that kind of defensive weakness around. Hard to think he can improve that much, especially considering how one-footed he is.

Starting CB is a must for years. But the club has to be prepared, and most importantly able, to spend. You don't land these players on the cheap. You can land some filler defenders for cheap for depth and such, and they will do a decent or even good job comparative to the sum paid for them. Just not the main man in the entire defensive structure. For leadership and quality there, you simply pay top money.

I am worried that, parallel to the finances thing, the club undervalues that and the purely offense-minded manager doesn't help. I hope Deco can step in here. It's his main job if you ask me. He was part of an era that had many top class defenders, mid 00s, and even played with some. He should know just how important that position in the team really is. If he was a big part in the decision-making regarding Joan Garcia, then it is a good sign.