Because I often read interesting comments on the blog but at the same time feel it's not easy to fully enter an issue because there are always fresh new rumours who shift the attention away, I'll put now and then an item up for the discussion.
Before we look to the future, it might be a good idea to make an evaluation of the four transfers of last summer: Thierry Henry, Gabriel Milito, Eric Abidal and Yaya Touré.
What is your opinion about the season of these four players? Who disappointed you, who pleasantly surprised you, were they worth the money we spent, should they stay,... ?
Thursday 22 May 2008
DEBATE: The summer 2007 transfers
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13 comments:
I wouldn't mind Henry leaving this summer, he doesn't fit the system. Touré was the best buy, no doubt.
My points (on 10)
Yaya: 9
Milito: 7
Abidal: 6
Henry: 4
Abidal: Should good stuff at the first half of the season, then, like some others, his form faded away. The last months were awful...
Henry: Yeah, I know he had some back problems and he was played out of position many times, but I was really annoyed with his moaning all the time. Has to step up big time if he wants to stay imo. No way he should be before Samu in the pecking order.
Milito: Like Abidal, until the Celtic game away he was our best defender, probably the best in LaLiga. Don't know what happened after this game, but our defence as a whole became awful most of the time.
Finally...
Yahya Touré: Damn, how I love this guy. Ultimante commitment, plays a third of the season with a slipped disc and even then he was one of our best players. Can't wait to see him in a functioning team and fully fit, maybe a bit more unleashed, because this guy has some tremendous football in his boots.
Tackles, unbelievable power, vision, shoots, classy passes, headers, freekicks, he is the full package.
Best signing over the last years for Barça, no doubt. Best LaLiga signing this year together with Seydou Keita.
Abidal added a strong defensive presence at left back. He was fairly consistent and seemed to work hard. I think we got the best value from him.
I was a little concerned about reports at the end of the season that he asked not to be included in games because he was injured.. barcelona players should want to play for the club on pain of death... I am not being naive... puyol xavi and inesta and olegeur would never ask to be excluded.
Yaya toure had a good season. He is a fine defensive midfielder. His distribution is a bit poor.. sort of like a poor man's makalele. I like that he adds some height and physical prsence to our short and sometimes oft midfield but he is waaaaaay to injury prone to a be my first choice midfield volante. But still we got decent value here.
Titi henry was injured all the time.. when he came on we put him in pergatory on the left wing. He needs to start in the middle upfront by himself and be allowed to roam and interchange with the right and left attacking midfielder/winger/forward particularly the one on the left. I think we bring in a quality left winger and pair henry with messi and the left wing we would be fearsome!!... that being said.. only decent value here.. but it wasnt all his fault. I rate him overal as a disappointment .
I dont like gabby milito.. I think he plays like a poor man's puyol justa abit taller and more fragile. He does not read the game as well as marquez does and his distribution is not as good as marquez. He lost concentration too much and left us exposd. He was a poor compliment for puyol and the backline really was very unsettled when he was included...very poor choice poor value and a total disapointment
I have read your comments and i agree with most of you Toure was by far the best player(and best value for 9 mil Euro) I agree that Abidal and Milito's performances droped and I noticed in Gabi's case just as Anonymous mentioned the Celtic game was the turning point for him. And Henry has been bellow par to say the least but he did improve drasticly towards the end of the season.
If it was up to me I'd keep faith with the new signings and step up the disciplne from what I read the players need to act more professionaly and perhaps be kept on a tighter leash. Between 2003 and 2006 Henk ten Cate was the bad cop to Rijkaard's good cop and when he went one of the 3 reasons to Barca's Demise was a lack of diciplne the second were bad signings and the third was a horible medical staff. Let's hope Barca can turn it around next season with a few key signings namley Alves(Zambrotta) Piquet(thuram) Keita(Edmilson) Elfelay(Deco) and Guiza (Gudjohnson) I also would promote Gai, Vasquez and Pedrito.
I think Henry's was a "lustfull" signing by Barcelona. Adding him was an embarrasment of riches! We clearly didn't need him, but Laporta and Co. couldn't stand to see him go somewhere else, shudder Real Madrid. While he voiced his displeasure here and there I don't think he was anywhere near as a disruptive force as Eto'o. And being a veteran, and legend at that, I can more "stomach" his grumblings versus those of say, Dos Santos who hasn't proven anything yet.
Like one of the commentators above mentioned I too was and am not a big fan of Milito. If you ask me I think Barca went after the wrong Milito! lol! While some will say he had a "solid" season, he also made some disastrous decisions(especially towards the latter half of the seaon.)
Abidal also had his ups and downs but I won't lay all the blame on his shoulders. There's a pattern here of defensive players making the move to Barcelona and for some reason struggling or unable to capture the same form they had established with their previous team. Perhaps with a year under his belt Abidal will be more comfortable in the Barca's system.
I concur with what everyone else has said that Toure stands out as the best signing of the four. Sheer will and determination aside, he was a bedrock at the back and without him I'm confident in saying that Barcelona would NOT have qualified for Champions League play next season. It's just too bad that his courage and spirit didn't rub off on some of the other, already established players on the team.
Milito and Abidal have proven for half a year they can deal with the level, so when the team will be better nex season they will be up for it. And Abidal needs a good winger playing in front of him, not Henry or Iniesta.
Henry was a mistake and I would sell him back to England if we get 20 million euro for him, but who knows what will happen if he stays. But he can only stay f the system changes cause that 433 just doesn't suit him.
I liked Yaya a lot. And for 9 million euro, that's only one third of what Madrid paid for Diarra!!! If he gets fit, he'll crash the Liga next season.
Those pictures hurt!!! :(
I just thought we had a great transfer summer last year, but it all turned out totally the other way. Something went wrong...
Why are you guys Hammering Henry soo much? DId you forget he's coming for a diffrent League, and a diffrent position further away from goal, Yet he is still our Top Scorer and Top assister in all competitions?
im not hammering Henry he did good to me! he scored goals when we needed them, he was the reason we did so good in the champions league! yes it was all him!! he put the ball in the net when it was needed! Keep Henry! he'll be way better next year now that he knows the system and the club.
Abidal was awesome until that celtic game, he really disappointed me after that but he's still a great back to have.
Milito was very good to, dont think as great as abidal but he came threw when needed, as did any other defender we had, so he doesnt suprise me too much but he definitely should stay with us!
Toure! awesome signing, great midfielder, no doubt best deal that was made last year! hope he retires with us!
toure and milito are great players.
abidal hasn't convinced me. his centers are horrible. I don't like henry. I prefer ronaldinho staying.
jordy
IMO, all four signings had a decent if not good season.i personally think toure was a revelation and by no means should be sold to anybody.henry can, to some degree be excused because of injuries and being played out of position.i remember at the start of the season when eto'o was injured and he played the central role, him and messi were ripping defences apart.big wins against sevilla and atletico madrid are proofs of this. milito too had a reasonably good season. like henry, he started off excellent and then sort of dipped down.he may be a little slow and may not complement puyol as well as marquez used too but hes still a world class defender. abidals season was a carbon copy of militos season with the form dying down at the end. i must say though, abidal though strong at the back, seriously needs to improve his crossing.imo, the only reason sylvinho got a renewal was the fact that his crossing was a million times better than abidals. another i should say is that barcelona really dont need a complete upheaval of their defence.the players in the back line are all world class.the reason behind our backline breaking down can be attributed to the system.almost all the time we would face a situation when the opposition strkier would drop deep and their midfield would push up and basically walk through the defnce.the game at the vicente calderon is a great example of this.i think that what guardiola should really do is to not let the central midfielders push up that much as it is from their zone that most opposition attacks start from.
Abidal is the best. (H)
Milito and Touré were awesome buys, they had a good performance in spite of their injuries. They are young and may have a good progression.
Abidal was not as good as it seemed at the very beginning. But I believe he still can make it well, when training improves and keeps him in fit. He should train hard centering...
Henry could have done much better, but taking into account its his first year, and he played off his natural position (mid forward) approx. 20 goals it's a not a bad thing, however people have in mind his great performaces in Arsenal (where team played for him) and the fact that he cost 25M€. I would give him a last chance.
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