Thursday 14 August 2008

Case closed: Silva

Valencia left winger and Spanish international David Silva (22) will not play for Barcelona as of next season, like had been strongly rumoured over the last months (read more here).

Valencia has officially announced a deal on a contract renewal yesterday. The duration of Silva's contract hasn't been changed (2013) but it is believed that the player will receive an important pay rise.

pep's opinion:
i don't really consider this a big loss, certainly not if it was planned to play him as a left wing attacker. in my opinion silva is more a versatile midfielder, he doesn't have the explosivity and the scoring ability to really make the difference as left forward in our 4-3-3 system. he would probably be better suited to pick up a role in our midfield, but we don't need any more players there.

let's see if they trust henry/hleb/iniesta (pedro/jeffren) for that spot or still try to get a player for whom this position is more natural. i think it's a necessity to bring in someone who really can keep the pitch wide on that side. if you have messi cutting in from the right and you have someone doing the same from the left, you're making it too easy for well organized teams. in the champions league games against manchester united last season the main problem was that, with messi and iniesta on the wings, everything went through the middle which made it very easy to defend. with alves we now have someone who can come over messi at the right, abidal cannot bring that on the other side, so a good left winger would be very welcome although they are extremely hard to find and even more so when the guy should also be able to score 10-15 (league) goals a year.

Read more:

Read everything on the Silva linked with Barcelona story




8 comments:

Unknown said...

This is actually not so bad news, I would say. Silva is undoubtedly quality player, but really not suited to Barca's left wing role. I would be very happy if there was a little bit of clairvoyance and sense in Barca's board. That would mean focusing on some other options such as this Thiago Neves guy. I watched him and he is a real threat every time he reaches the ball. He posses excellent technical ability and speed, great vision and tremendous free-kick ability. Moreover, he is pretty tall (6 foot, 1.83 cm) and could be considered as a physical player. His playmaking skills also make him a great choice for pure attacking midfielder. I don't have to mention that his price would be considerably smaller than Silva's. Since Eto'o is staying, Thiago Neves would be last player to arrive in order to complete this successful transfer window. He would provide Barca with that so appreciated 'Brazilian flair' and I really don't see any reason not to go for him. Silva's contract with Valencia might be actually one of the best things that happened to Barca.

Anonymous said...

Neves or Arshavin are better options since they score more than Silva. I think it's really as simple as that.

Anonymous said...

Thiago Neves !

Anonymous said...

thiago neves, thiago neves, thiago neves, thiago neves, thiago neves, thiago neves, thiago neves...

Anonymous said...

Now silva has renewed,i dont want to discuss what he woul be able to offer...i am more to focus on our own resources...but if it will b a choice between Arsgavine and nevez...well then I am a nevelist...i know lot of guys here will cause headache screaming for arshavine...but i think this is something we need to live with till transfer window close...

Anonymous said...

"they are extremely hard to find and even more so when the guy should also be able to score 10-15 (league) goals a year."

I think Neves would fit the above description. What do you think Pep?

pep said...

Don't know, Hilal. I should see more of him before I can make a judgment.

Anonymous said...

Good. The only thing Silva would have done is make Iniesta and Hleb sit on the bench more often.

Neves might be an option, if his price is right. Don't forget that Fluminense wanted to wait until after the Olympics to talk to anyone, in the hopes that his price would rise. That free kick against China was certainly a corker.

We were offering something around 10 or 12 million, as I recall, and Flu were wanting north of 15.

My hope is that Guardiola can get Henry to commit to left wing, now that Eto'o is staying. He showed very good signs in the Wisla match. He definitely isn't a playmaker in that Ronaldinho mode, but he is a threat and a spacemaker on the left. And he does score goals.

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