Comments on: The Front: El Mundo Deportivo (31.08.2010)

By: Fenderek

Fenderek — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:13:53 +0000

Because Txiki was a sporting director. That's not the first time something like this happened in Barca, unfortunatelly not the last. That's the difference between England and Spain- in Spain coaches have less to say in this regard… Not always- but even Di Maria wasn't bought by Mourinho but by Perez. Mourinho only said that they should buy him if the price is right- was it? We'll see- but Di Maria WASN'T chosen by Mou.
Both Henrique and Keirrison weren't chosen by Pep. Would you believe that Pep asked for Keirrison and than gave up on him even without one pre-season game?

By: David

David — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:00:44 +0000

How could Txiki sign Herique and Keirrison without Pep's will, Pep is the coach…

By: avito1985

avito1985 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:53:22 +0000

I totally agree with you. He is exactly that, a beast! Watching him against Racing, that guy was relentless! He was everywhere, and the great assist to Villa was awesome. And watching him celebrate when his teammates score is a joy.

By: Fenderek

Fenderek — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:41:22 +0000

Pep did not buy Henrique- Txiki. did. Pep never wanted Henrique in the first place. Probably the very same goes for Keirrison.
Why Brazil? To get his confidence back. So far his spells at Fiorentina and Benfica were pretty terrible- he needed to go to a familiar environment and get himself sorted out… He would be very unhappy in the second division IMO, just as he didn't want to join a weak La Liga side… there's two to tango- Keirrison chose Benfica himself, actually…

By: avito1985

avito1985 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:34:58 +0000

So you are saying that class act players can ONLY play in their specific positions. These guys train playing at EVERY position. You will even see guys training as the goalie. And the coaches can SEE in practice if a player has potential to be used in another position. And later, they try players when the match is not as risky and there is room to improvise. That is exactly how talents open up and get seen. If everyone followed a strict position assignment, there would be no way Barca would have the fluid game it has!

Come on now, we even saw Pique play up front in last season's CL against Inter. And he didn't a bad job eh. At least, you can't say that we lost because of him!

And as far as the injury fear, I like what Cruyff said (in another post on this site), you cannot predict your injuries, so you cannot base your signings on that. What you can do though, is "prevent" injuries. And Barca has a great team that surrounds our players that take great care of them. We played a fantastic opener without Puyol, and we substituted Xavi out of precaution. That is how injuries get prevented.

I think we have a great squad and the numbers game is tricky. You can sign an extra 4 players "just in case" and them have a horrible case of some virus and have all of them benched due to illness. Or you can have a smaller squad, but take care of them, and with a little bit of luck, they will be fine.

By: kla

kla — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:01:28 +0000

Messi only plays as a "false 9" when we play with another striker (either Villa or Bojan) in the forward lineup. He can not play that position when we dont play any CFs in the forward lineup.

Do you think it is unlikely that Bojan and Villa are out at the same time? We have always had 3 CFs to count on. Every season. This season we have only 2. Just wait for the screams to arrive here when Bojan gets his usual injury and Villa are out for a couple of games.

By: Write_theFuture

Write_theFuture — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:26:08 +0000

Its sorta amazing how good alves is in barca for a non canterano. yes, his playacting bugs me, but he is so great. Its sorta like he was designed especially for barca. How is it possible that we can buy a player for RB that has such a great work rate, links with messi and xavi, runs up and down the flank so much it seems like we have 12 players, good crosses, good passing, can cut inside and play throughballs, scores goals, dribbles etc, etc. It will be a sad day when alves leaves barca, because i really cant think of anyone who will do everything he can.

By: Write_theFuture

Write_theFuture — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:22:40 +0000

the squad isnt too small. Besides henrique didnt look too good when we faced racing. As a cb i saw him doing stepovers when in the wrong situation, and he let in numerous times, including the 1st goal.

By: David

David — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:19:30 +0000

Well, I agree with the promoting from time to time thing but I just feel it is not fair for Henrique, he is a good player but did not get a chance to prove himself. He had been good in Racing which means he probably adapted to Spanish football. We need to give him a chance to see if he can play in Barca.

By: NewGuy

NewGuy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:15:12 +0000

Hleb aeay on loan
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/08/31/birmingha…?

By: NewGuy

NewGuy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:14:22 +0000

Keita signs extention:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12875_6350…?

By: Now_we_are_free

Now_we_are_free — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:12:45 +0000

" keep him in the B team" and "Fontas and Muniesa aren't getting promoted"

You can't keep a player with a contract in the B-team… Also, Muniesta and Fontas must play so that when the "ageing" Puyol and Milito leave, they will be ready…

Pep didn't promote the youngstars so that they can play week-in week-out with Barca B and get promoted from time to time when we really need them or just to take part in "easy" games…

I'm happy as this was the squad I wanted from the beginning… Maybe not Ibra leaving but since we bought Adriano then I'm not complaining!

Let me tell you why: Alves rarely misses games and since we have 2 LB's, Adriano can play on the wings.

By: Fenderek

Fenderek — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:50:02 +0000

Why people insist on Hleb when we have Thiago?
Why people insist on Caceres when we have Fontas?
Why people insist on Henrique when we have Muniesa and Bartra?
And than there is Jonathan…

Bloody hell- we don't need flops so that our team doesn't appear thin- we have young, extremely talented guys already here who are not going to complain about sitting on the bench and will take every single minute that is going to come their way with extreme joy and will try to grab their chance with both hands,,,!

By: Arvine

Arvine — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:28:15 +0000

We wish you the best of luck, Masch! Go on and show them what you can do!

By: culé007

culé007 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:11:08 +0000

welcome masch!