Thiago and Jonathan return to Barca Atletic
The two January ‘signings’ of Pep Guardiola for the first team, have returned to the reserves. Thiago Alcantara (18) and Jonathan dos Santos (19), were both seen training under the command of Luis Enrique at the Ciutat Esportiva on Monday morning and will be available for Barca Atletic’s next game against third division club Denia.
Earlier this year Pep Guardiola called up the two midfielders, along with Victor Vazquez (22) and Gai Assulin (18), to cover up the absences during the African Cup of Nations. Gai and Vazquez spent two weeks with the first team before eventually returning to the reserves, while Thiago and Jonathan continued for two more weeks (read more here).
The return of Keita and Touré from the Africa Cup of Nations, in good condition and the recovery of Sergio Busquets from the left kidney brusing he suffered, eventually led to the return of both the homegrown youngsters to the reserves as their chances to gain minutes with the first team have decreased considerably. Guardiola feels its better for the duo to continue accumulating minutes with the reserves rather than staying inactive for too long.
Thiago and Jonathan now return to the Atletic with high morale and a lot of confidence after gaining some invaluable experience during their month long stint with the first team. Both the players also had the opportunity to play in an official game with the first team. Dos Santos started in the league match against Villarreal at the Nou Camp, while Thiago had his chance in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey tie against Sevilla when he started the game before eventually being replaced by Xavi in the 70th minute. Both the games were against big rivals which shows Guardiola’s confidence in the youngsters.
Barring any new injuries, the duo are expected to take over the midfield role for Barca Atlétic in the coming weeks. Luis Enrique has high expectations from the duo and will expect them to help Barca Atletic in their quest for promotion to the Second Division.
thiago stay in barcelona!!!
They cant just stay to train they should get some matches with the atletic team to gain experience,they are both awesome but they arent ready yet,though I beleive they will be at end of season.
let's say now we don't sign cesc in the summer, will they get more minutes in the team?
i doubt it cos even now, pep doesnt want to sub xavi or iniesta and give them(thiago & jds) some minutes.
I agree with u totally but I think signing Cesc would harm Iniesta more,didnt u guys notice that most Barca players expressed their desire to see Cesc back except Iniesta he knows he will play more on LW where he hates,also I see pep favouring Cesc over Iniesta.
pep did not play thiago and dos santos more because they are still young. see hoe he prefers playing pedro and jeffren who are both 22 over JDS and thiago?
he seems to prefer playing relatively older players ( that may explain bojan's case)
next season, pep will surely play them. if we sign cesc, it shall discourage all the la masia youngsters who play in the midfield. it would be ideal if we could sign cesc 2 years later when xavi starts wearing down a little (if thats even possible!) but then cesc has already stated he doesnt mind going to real madshit so 2 years later no cesc for us.
i think thiago is gonna get promoted next year for sure..dont know about jds,fabregas gonna crush jds chances of being promoted…i rate sergi roberto as a mixture of iniesta and xavi…even though thiago and jds are back,sergi roberto has proved he deserves to be a starter.
thanks for the crotch grab
THiago has a better chance of staying with us instead of JDS whether cesc comes or not, i think it wou;d be a bad example to la masia if we buy cesc, they will think they can join other clubs, perform well and barca will buy them back for 50 mill. LEt cesc make history at arsenal while our youngsters who have been working hard get their chance.