Tuesday 25 November 2008

Should Barcelona sign in January?

author: Ewan Macdonald
source:
goal
date: 20 November 2008
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com






With Barcelona out in front in the Primera, there is a case for saying that they have the strongest squad in the league, with Samuel Eto'o topping the 'Pichichi' standings to boot. Furthermore Lionel Messi and Xavi have enjoyed superb starts to the season so far.

But there is with all leading Primera sides the suspicion that a few injuries, squad changes, or losses of form can see it all crumble. Injury-prone Messi would be a huge loss, while the defence has proved very much changable since the season began. There is a case, then, for one or two January signings to steady the ship.

Goalkeeper
Victor Valdes has begun to silence some of his doubters. It is fair to say that he is improving as a goalkeeper. Whether or not he is good enough for a side that seeks the Champions League as well as the Liga is open to question, but it certainly seems that he is becoming more commanding. This, combined with his already-fine shot-stopping ability, means that replacing him is no longer a priority.

Defence
Here is a paradox of sorts: Barcelona signed more defenders than they did players of any other position during the summer, yet it is here that they could arguably use the most backup. Carles Puyol is shunted out of position with regularity while the centre-back pairing is a movable feast. Yet with Caceres set to return from his spell on the sidelines, and Dani Alves finally starting to show his true potential, the centre and the right seem to be OK - for now.

It is left-back that is a problem position. Eric Abidal is simply not shining. It was thought that he would settle in after that one sub-par debut season, yet he is still playing very much within himself. Perhaps he pines for the setup at Lyon, or he needs more coach support: whatever it is, things are not working out.

Sylvinho, a fans' favourite, is an ample deputy but not an option for the future. So, a new left-back may be on the agenda, and it's not impossible that Philip Lahm of FC Bayern could be on the agenda, given his versatility and relatively young age.

Midfield
With Deco and Crosas heading out over the summer to be replaced by and Seydou Keita and Aliaksandr Hleb, it seemed likely that there would be a sea change in tactics, the much-maligned "double pivot" coming into effect. In fact this largely has not been the case as new coach Pep Guardiola sticks with three up front, meaning three in the middle.

Hleb, troubled by injury, has scarcely had a look-in, while the rise to prominence of Sergi Busquets has even seen last year's excellent defensive midfielder Yaya Toure sidelined. Xavi and Andres Iniesta continue to have a stellar year, though, meaning that things are all well on the midfield front as far as the first eleven is concerned.

But is the depth really there? One wonders how happy Toure really would be sitting on the bench while Eidur Gudjohnsen, for all of his impeccable professionalism and versatility, is not viewed as a realistic midfield option. Iniesta's injury is another worry.

There is a case for saying that another attacking midfielder, at the very least, is required to fill out the squad for those games in which 4-4-2 is required - and even as cover for Iniesta or Xavi. Who is it to be? Werder Bremen's Diego is an outside bet...

Attackers
As this summer's favourite cliché went, Samuel Eto'o was the best signing of the transfer window. By keeping the Cameroonian, Barcelona have avoided the minefield of having to arrange for a new striker - something that, as Real Madrid are currently showing, is far, far, far easier said than done.

Barcelona simply cannot stop scoring goals, and this is even without the influence of Bojan Krkic, who has been largely kept out of first team duties after being thrown in at the deep end last season and netting ten times. Lionel Messi is recognised by many as the world's best, while even Thierry Henry is beginning to look the part.

Moreover the crippling sense of self-doubt that so haunted Eto'o and company last season has gone, being replaced with free-scoring exuberance. Nonetheless there is always room for improvement, particularly in a wide attacking position. Hleb is yet to make his mark and Henry would surely benefit from being allowed to move further inside.


read the original and full article here

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

We've already ripped this piece apart over at The Offside. It seems to be based on old data, since Abidal has been kicking out the jams this season.

Yes, a backup for him is needed, since Sylvinho is terrible. He must be joking about Lahm.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, this article (taken from Goal.com) seems to get quite a few facts wrong as well as not being very accurate. Caceres is not injured, at least not as far as i know. He talks about Abidal like he has not watched a Barca game in the last 3 months and his general conclusions just seem a bit hollow. Poor article IMO. Typical Goal.com mess. The writer doesnt seem to like Barca much cos i have read of few of his articles before and they always lean on the negative side. He doesnt seem to like Messi much either.

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with Kxevin and Hilal.

Anonymous said...

IT IS SIMPLE YES THEY SHUD BUT ONLY IF QUALITY PLAYERS...WE NEED A BACKUP FOR ABIDAL, SYLVINHO GOOD BUT TOO OLD...WE NEED LEFT ATTACKER/MIDFIELD..TO BACKUP FOR INIESTA/HENRY...AND WE NEED A BACKUP FOR MESSSSIIIIII!!!! WE FREAKING PUT BOJAN IN MESSI' POSITION AGAIST GETAFE!!! BOJAN IS A CENTRE FORWARD!!

Anonymous said...

We are still missing someone like Sergio Aguero or Robinho on the left. everyone has seen during the getafe game that Hleb just cannot cut it and that he is just a fringe player like Gudjohnsen. every time he had the opportunity to shoot he tried to pass it to someone. Despite having a lot of depth in the squad this season, we are missing one or two world class players in attack and offensive midfield (to replace Xavi or play along side him).
also, what i have realized is that despite blowing other teams away with 5 or six goals per game, this team lacks something compared to the team of 05/06 when we won the double. Might you guess what or who it is?????
Simple!! It's a player like Ronaldinho who can penetrate stubborn defences like Getafe's who park their bus in front of their goal. despite the constant pressure during the second half against getafe, we only had two genuine shots on goal and that was the pique header and keita's goal. That is simply not good enough. We need a player who can run at defenders and create that open space between a packed defense and punish them instantly and ruthlessly like Ronaldinho was able to do it for us when he was on top of his game and the way Robinho has been able to do it for Real and now for Man City.
I am afraid that lacking a world class forward like Robinho or Ronaldinho (during his golden years) will cause us ultimately to lose out on the Champions League crown.
To solve this problem, I would suggest we get Sergio Aguero. He would be the ideal candidate in my opinion, although it is too late now anyway, since he already played for Atletico in the Champions League. And even though he would cost us around 40 to 50 million euros, the fact that he is only 20 years old would make it worth it in the long run if we keep him for another ten years.

Anonymous said...

i dont think we need any transfer during jan. we have a big squad i will go for oppurtunite if its possible only . maybe a left wing
or mid player
also on the side note
i hate see barca is nothing without messi shit this is really shit
they said that when we had ronaldinho but now he is gone so ? braca is still a super team
even if messi leave's will be a super team .
please we need to spread the message because i think this will effect the team moral bad.
thank you

Ramzi said...

We made a first round of analysis about this subject long time ago (international break), the members and I through a three parts article and we proved that we know about this club more than this Madrid fan, even if we had deferent opinions, this is the link for third part that also include a link to first two:

http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.com/2008/10/ramzi-rambles-new-day-has-come-part-3.html

But its always good to bring this topic again from time to time to see how the fans opinion change which reflect their satisfaction in the teams performance.

Some of pep posts here come in the right timing to give HINTS and Conclusions about the fans moral.

Anonymous said...

Barca should buy Marcus Berg from groningen or Lukas Podolski to cover up for Eto'o and Henry. Since Valdes is a bit shaky, but young, I think barca should buy Kristoffer Nordfeldt from Brommapojkarna, Sweden. He is born 1989 and is top 5 swedish goalkeepers already !!!

Peace

Anonymous said...

Hmm I have to agree to some degree with BarcaFan (BiH) about Sergio Aguero.. I've always had a thing for his play-style and I've always consider him great Barca-potential, just call it a man-crush if you like ;)

The reasons why i think Sergio Aguero would fit so well in the Barca-team are many, especially when Guardiola seems to continue the same tactics when Messi are injured as when he's on.

1) He would be great to have in situations when Messi are injured as he can almost play the exact same role. I have no doubt he would be able to play as a right winger the same way Messi does. Messi's position is a right winger yes, but he cuts in every single time and tends to become a secondary striker, his starting position out on the right side simply stretches the defence and makes more room for the rest of the team. Alves has proven his worth and basically takes care of every crossing from the right side. Aguero would be able to play this semi-offensive midfielder/attacker roll to A+.

2) We won't have a problem when Messi isn't injured, the two players know eachother and can do magic when paired, anyone remember the Olympics?

3) He's only 20 years old and has already proven his abilities in La Liga + Internationally, meaning that he only has to get used to Barca-football - not the whole league.

4) I could get my man-crush dream fulfilled.... ;)

I am aware that we could also use a tall, strong attacker to make full use of Alves' crossing, but having Aguero would not only give us extra depth. He would also mean that we could spare Messi more often in the league, so he can focus more on CL.

Regarding the midfield, I have no doubt that Hleb is going to work just perfect when he gets back into his usual game, we should have no worries there.

Anonymous said...

Sholud buy???
Only a new (Sergio Asenjo)goalkeeper.

Iurisimo said...

just trie to imagine Aguero---Eto'o---Messi in atack! He and Messi on the flangs and Eto'o in center. Aguero is defenitely Barca material, go for him! ( sorry for my english )

Tohar Investment Limited said...

i think we just need two players in the transfer window.a left wing attacker like andrie ashavin,and a left full back cover up for abidal. may if possible patric evra of manchester united.

Anonymous said...

Evra is not on the market, Lekan. And don't think he would accept to be back-up for Abidal...

Anonymous said...

We dont need any new signing in this transferwindow, mainly because you will never get a quality player who can play in Champions Legue, unless u can find a player like Zarate deep in the middle east footballfield. What we should do is to start looking at various players around the world today, so we can sign them i the summer instead.

So think that we shouldnt buy any1 i januari and if we get som keyplayers out, we should bring the lads from Atheltic B.

Anonymous said...

players barcelona should look at:

Gk: boruc really good keeper underated just needs strong defence

Gk: asenjo cmon hes a star next casilas we need him!

DEF:wats his name argentina u23s left back olympics team hes good

MId:
diego: very good player

thiago neves: good on the ball nice skill and can also fill left wing spot

attack:
Benzema: hes fat and quick has a lethal shot and is good in the air he would go good with dani alves crooses also he reads the game realy good

ribery:
perfect left winger he can shoot and pass and hes speed and dribbling is world class

Next years line - up

boruc// asenjo back up
defence
alves//puyol//pique//caceres
mid//busquests or toure//xavi//and diego//
forwards// messi//benzema//ribery

strong team. sell etoo henry ..sylvinho, abidal, gudjohnsen..

buy other players listed also buy lavezzi or zarate

Anonymous said...

puyol isnt getting any younger and make's many many mistake's he should be replaced and who care's if he catlan we need someone younger better and faster then him

Anonymous said...

im a big barca fan. we need a young and very gd player on the wing i sugest arshavin with him and messi,xavi,eto and henry we will be unstopible i sugest playing 4-2-2-2
Line up:
Dani alves - puyol - pique-caceres

S.Keita - Xavi

Messi - Arshavin

Eto'o - Henry


players can change like:
Messi/A.hleb - Arshavin/Iniesta
Eto'o/pedro - Henry/Bojan
Xavi/Busquets - S.keita/yaya toure
the def you decide thats my best i think if we buy arshavin we will do better we only need a winger dont waste money. :):):):) :P:P:P

Custom Search
 
Custom Search