Thiago Alcantara

[oz187]

Last season Thiago played more minutes and Barca won neither of the big tournaments. This season he played less and Barca equalled the La Liga points record as well as winning La Liga by a record margin.

 

[darthvader7888]

Last season Thiago played more minutes and Barca won neither of the big tournaments. This season he played less and Barca equalled the La Liga points record as well as winning La Liga by a record margin.

He should still have been played more, especially considering that we won the league by December. Not to mention he didn't start in 3 of the pointless games we played after we already won the league

 

[psychotsek]

He has the potential but it remains to be seen wether he can become a future Barcelona star.I would like the club to offer him a new deal but should he choose not to accept it then fine.Use the money to buy Isco and problem solved.
BTW who in the club is responsible for negotiating the contracts.I mean a young (not starter) player's value to come down to almost a fifth of his buyout close due to lack of playing time?

 

[frostdude1]

This is a summer of transition. The club needs to make Thiago the prominent starter next year and have Xavi come off the bench.
It takes care of both problems of Thiago wanting more minutes (deservedly) and saving Xavi for bigger European games and decreasing his chances of injury.

But knowing our retarded club, they will sell him for 18M and Xavi will play all the matches and be injured by November while our coach goes away for treatment for a few months during the middle of the season

 

[Jaguar]

This is a summer of transition. The club needs to make Thiago the prominent starter next year and have Xavi come off the bench.
It takes care of both problems of Thiago wanting more minutes (deservedly) and saving Xavi for bigger European games and decreasing his chances of injury.

But knowing our retarded club, they will sell him for 18M and Xavi will play all the matches and be injured by November while our coach goes away for treatment for a few months during the middle of the season

Basically we will be left with an injury prone old timer who when fit no longer has the cutting edge to do it in the really big games and no future world beater that can replace him, it's a scenario that the club will be left with if they sell this guy.

 

[Jadentheman]

Basically we will be left with an injury prone old timer who when fit no longer has the cutting edge to do it in the really big games and no future world beater that can replace him, it's a scenario that the club will be left with if they sell this guy.

Yet there are few people are claiming Cesc will do fine anyways :cesc:

 

[Armando929]

Yeah Thiago and Cesc need to be rotated more often with Iniesta and Xavi, otherwise were gonna have injuries pile up on us again. And while on the subject, Messi needs to be rotated more often too. He's not super human even though he seems like it at times. His injuries really cost is in the CL this season and it happened because he was overplayed.

 

[i_bleed_blaugrana]

This is a summer of transition. The club needs to make Thiago the prominent starter next year and have Xavi come off the bench.
It takes care of both problems of Thiago wanting more minutes (deservedly) and saving Xavi for bigger European games and decreasing his chances of injury.

But knowing our retarded club, they will sell him for 18M and Xavi will play all the matches and be injured by November while our coach goes away for treatment for a few months during the middle of the season

+1

Couldn't agree more. Xavi especially is the kind of player who can come on at any time and instantly have an impact on the game. Perfect impact sub who can either slow a game down with his possession if we have a lead or be stable, yet cutting edge player we need if we aren't in control or chaising.

Furthermore he is matured enough to know exactly how he needs to play too.

Thiago becoming a starter over Xavi in all games except knockout CL games and clasicos makes a lot of sense to get the best out of both

 

[Gooch]

Exactly. Iniesta, Xavi, and Messi need to be played far less often. Especially now with World Cup qualifiers and the World Cup coming up. This rotation will also make Barca more difficult to play against because it will make them more unpredictable. Age and predictability have been the main reasons for their decline.

 

[oz187]

Messi only runs around 4 miles per game. He doesn't need to be rotated. The others, yes there should be an increase in the rotations. But that was always going to happen naturally as Cesc and Thiago gain experience with the Barca first team.

 

[Dan1983]

Keep both Cesc and Thiago and just rotate them. Only idiots would sell one of their best young players.

 

[Gooch]

Messi only runs around 4 miles per game. He doesn't need to be rotated. The others, yes there should be an increase in the rotations. But that was always going to happen naturally as Cesc and Thiago gain experience with the Barca first team.

Four miles x 50 or so matches is too much even for 'superman'. He's already lost some speed, which should not be happening at his age. It's overuse and too much time dedicated towards match play rather than body rehab and conditioning.

Second, they've been too predictable and unimaginative recently, by their standards. Playing Messi less would refresh everyone, especially Messi himself.

Third, it would better prepare the team to play without him if he were injured.

BTW, I've really enjoyed watching Barca these past few weeks playing without Messi. Refreshing

 

[MagicianMessi]

If Tito promise that he is going to give him more minutes next season,then there is a good chance he will stay.But I am doubtful about that.It seems like Tito don't believe in him like Pep did.Otherwise atleast he should have started all the matches from the moment we know that we won the league.

 

[ThwiX]

BTW, I've really enjoyed watching Barca these past few weeks playing without Messi. Refreshing

You're hopefully the only one. These last few matches without Messi have been nothing but extremely boring.

 

[Catorce]

Four miles x 50 or so matches is too much even for 'superman'. He's already lost some speed, which should not be happening at his age. It's overuse and too much time dedicated towards match play rather than body rehab and conditioning.

Too much? 4 miles = 6.4 kilometers. I have seen basically nearly every player in the CL make around 8k+ each match. 6.4 is not that much for a professional athlete playing 90 minutes each time. I've even seen players who were subbed off around the 10k mark.

Difference is Messi has adapted and now walks most of the time, to preserve energy to make important runs and dribbles. You can argue that approach, but saying 6.4k is too much is a statement I can't agree on.