Deco
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
ZenI
Well-known member
Nah, dude probably doesn't give a fuck - they'll all blame Flick if this season goes to shit.Deco on September 2.
thestig
Well-known member
I also think so and I like both him and Gordon but it's not acceptable those two are our only signings.
ZenI
Well-known member
MANY targets probably got tired of waiting for us until we finish monitoring Alcatraz and signed contracts already. We should have had the LCB and 9 in the bag first couple of weeks of the window... Like what are they waiting for, for Alcatraz to change his mind about trying to escape Atletico?? He hasn't yet and he won't - he knows they'll ask crazy money for him and it doesn't make sense for him to stick his neck out... like +150m or something, which we probably can't afford (and he'll probably also question if we could register him lol).
Draconifire
Well-known member
Even with Rodri, we need a ST & CB. No need a world class one, but a good enough one.
MonteCuler
Well-known member
The Rodri deal is taking time but our other two deals have been closed in less than a day. So I don't see reasons to panic
It is important to mention also that these were your expectations. What the club expects and what the fans expect is often very different, and there is no argument as to what holds more significance
Where the club and the fans agree is that we need a striker. That will probably get done until end of the window.
Club also believed we need a LCB, but considering the options they probably believe Rodri can replace the LCB signing in terms of defensive solidity
Before you say that is an excuse used in the media to mask their incompetence, every reliable journalist including the international ones agree that Flick is the one who said no to Romero
From club side, we've never heard anything about fullback being a priority. They would be open to selling Kounde if offers arrive but as of now they are absolutely counting on him
ajnotkeith
Well-known member
Forget world-class alternatives, we are due to be left with no serviceable natural strikers.
In that light, the likes of Osimhen or even Fernandez Pardo, Asllani and these B tier names would be better.
But what if we had put similar effort into going for other names? We could have had Osimhen or even Lautaro done by now with the figures we've been putting on the table for Alvarez.
The two major free transfer options (Vlahovic and Nunez) who would have been serviceable (and for Nunez I actually think he would do well here) have already signed with other clubs.
We are going to have to scramble even to find a B tier option.
We will never scramble to find options like Asllani, Pardo, Vlahovic or Nunez
You just suggest blind actionism. Also the other guy complaining about having just 2 transfers done. Rodri and Cancelo will 99.9% come. And I am certain we will get another transfer in (or even 2). No need to panic just yet. If I had to take a wild guess I think Tresoldi is the plan B.
MonteCuler
Well-known member
If you ask any reliable international journalist at the moment if they believe Barça will sign a striker until end of the window they will answer positively. There are alternatives that club will move for when they give up on Alvarez.
Vlahovic and Nunez are not Barça level strikers, getting them and selling Ferran would be an absolutely idiotic move.
Osimhen is an option club has rejected since the beginning. His wages and his personality are a big problem, and there are probably other things involved. If no top club shows even a little bit of interest in a player of his talent, it tells you all you need to know if you think with your head.
Lautaro was never a realistic option. Inter has no reasons to sell, Lautaro definitely wouldn't push for a move and if Inter opts for negotiations their asking price would be enormous.
So, no. We didn't miss out on anyone while we chased Alvarez. If you can prove with arguments otherwise I will change my mind.
There are also still several options left, which makes your confident belief that we will not sign a striker baseless.
There is no point spending alot on a bad option when modern football is very forgiving to false 9s and bringing in the wingers.
It's a good sign we pivoted to sure up Rodri once Alvarez was dragging on and Frenkie went down. Imo.
We started a season with Pep with Cesc as false 9. He was serviceable for a few months, but we can't do worse then that can we know
Btw, keeping Alvarez flooding the papers while working on other strikers, finalising Rodri and looking at CBs is a good move. Even if it is very frustrating for us as fans.
It's a good sign we pivoted to sure up Rodri once Alvarez was dragging on and Frenkie went down. Imo.
We started a season with Pep with Cesc as false 9. He was serviceable for a few months, but we can't do worse then that can we know
Btw, keeping Alvarez flooding the papers while working on other strikers, finalising Rodri and looking at CBs is a good move. Even if it is very frustrating for us as fans.
ajnotkeith
Well-known member
It wasn't me suggesting that. I was arguing that we should never have pursued Alvarez.We will never scramble to find options like Asllani, Pardo, Vlahovic or Nunez
You just suggest blind actionism. Also the other guy complaining about having just 2 transfers done. Rodri and Cancelo will 99.9% come. And I am certain we will get another transfer in (or even 2). No need to panic just yet. If I had to take a wild guess I think Tresoldi is the plan B.
But it is the board who will have to do that if we are left with no strikers approaching the deadline, so this is a form of blind, reactionary searching, as they never established actual alternatives or contingency.
As some have mentioned here, the "contingency" is probably arguing that we don't need a striker. But I don't see how we can go into a season in 3 competitions without a single natural striker on the squad (with the exception of Hamza from Juvenil..) that seems like a recipe for failure.
ajnotkeith
Well-known member
Flick does not strike me as the type to willingly play with a false 9. This system with very fast transitions favours more physical, clinical players at the end of chances. A false 9 system should usually be more possession based, as the striker is dropping deep to construct play.There is no point spending alot on a bad option when modern football is very forgiving to false 9s and bringing in the wingers.
It's a good sign we pivoted to sure up Rodri once Alvarez was dragging on and Frenkie went down. Imo.
We started a season with Pep with Cesc as false 9. He was serviceable for a few months, but we can't do worse then that can we know
Btw, keeping Alvarez flooding the papers while working on other strikers, finalising Rodri and looking at CBs is a good move. Even if it is very frustrating for us as fans.
However, I also don't think Gordon and Adeyemi are particularly suitable as false 9 either, neither is Raphinha. We would have to play either Yamal or Olmo there, in my view.
And all of it seems like a makeshift solution. If we don't bring any starting striker, we should really have kept Ferran.
That's mostly your assumption. There were always reports we have alternatives lined up if Alvarez doesn't join. We shall see.
I don't want to put my faith blindly in the board, but complaining with two weeks to go we didn't sign any servicable B tier striker is a moot point. We will easily get one of those. Especially in the ballpark of the names you mentioned.
ajnotkeith
Well-known member
Why did we have to sell Ferran anyway? It was entirely possible to renew him or even keep him in the last year of contract.
In this current market, Ferran is superior to most options, if we aren't getting Osimhen or Alvarez, I doubt we are bringing someone considered better than him. I would have kept him as starting 9 for this season and signed cover (like Nunez, who is not anywhere near as bad as what you say).
Nunez, if he is still in competitive shape as he was at Benfica and Liverpool, is absolutely a valid option for Barca, if not as a fixed starter, but definitely good enough to be part of the rotation. For example, he is at minimum equal in contribution to someone like Adeyemi and better in my view.
However, he would be only cover for me, we would need a better starting striker, and I think we need to sign 2.
MonteCuler
Well-known member
We let Ferran go because we will sign a striker. That was the club's plan.
There are options at the moment that would fit the club probably better than Nunez. Nicolas Jackson, Mikautadze, Tresoldi, Oyarzabal are some of my own suggestions. Club probably has more players on the shortlist.
I am sure Nunez himself would be shocked if anyone from Europe called him right now, let alone Barça. He didn't even play in Arabia, I remember there were some news of him being left out of the squad. He is at a very low point in his career, I am really not convinced and I don't think you can blame the club if they are not either.
MonteCuler
Well-known member
This is the answer.
Is it better to let Ferran go and maybe get a slightly worse player as striker (no guarantees his replacement will be worse, we are yet to see, ferran is not world class) or renew him with more money than he deserves, making him a financial problem if we sign a starting striker next summer as we probably would
Because right now he would demand starter salary, because he would be starter. And already next season, if we buy striker, he is back to the bench. So he gets more money than he deserves
And don't get me started on if all the clauses mentioned that Alemany put were actually true. But more likely they were not
True, Flick likes to play with a striking reference like Lewandowski. I don't really think Ferran is the typical Flick striker either but when Lewy started to degrade, he quickly switched to that option.
So if we don't bring in a striker and bolster other positions Flick would have to find that again. I'm guessing it would be Gordan having previously played as 9 in his youth. His finishes can be shocking, but so was Dembeles, until it wasn't.
So yes we could go to the typical dated false 9 such as Olmo, but I'm more using the term in case of playing someone there who is not a typical striker. Lamine, Tunkara, Gordan, Adeyemi.
For sure we will sign someone, but we would also probably find a better solution in-house than the plan B options mentioned too.
Khaled_a_d
Well-known member
Both aren't true strikers, though.
Niether is Ferran, who was a wing whom we transformed into CF/false 9, just like Sociedad did with Oyarzabal.
If anything, those names suggest we don't need those B tier strikers.
That was correct around a decade and half ago, now it is the opposite. A more direct team does better with false 9 (winger) as they interchangeable and more fluid, that is one of the reasons Ferran (a false 9) was suited for Flick system better than Xavi's. Ancelotti did great with Bellingham being false 9 after Benzema departure, and he was far from possession system.