Comments on: Welcome Back, Pep

By: ballbeav

ballbeav — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:12:32 +0000

you guys really think we would take back quaresma? when he was playing with barca before he was a one-trick pony. fast but very unpolished, a bit off in his own world at times, and his crossing was shit. i havent seen him play lately but maybe he has matured.

By: Citizen

Citizen — Sat, 17 May 2008 06:31:41 +0000

Guardiola rejects Barça’s offer! (their “primera oferta” – first offer) He seems to want more independence from the Godfather, which makes me think that he’d be a good coach. A good comparison may be Camacho of Atlético, who was mentioned in the article.
(link in Spanish)
http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/futbol-guardiola-rechaza-primera-oferta/dasftb/20080517dasdaiftb_57/Tes

By: Ciaran

Ciaran — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:54:33 +0000

Surely Yaya has the first shot at the DM position for the start of next season. He’s been awesome. Keita is good defensively but I would rather have someone more creative further forward. Another option may be Zapater of Zaragoza, if they get relegated. (not that I think it is good to get relegated but his name has been mentioned before.
We need more numbers of possible starters in midfield. We had just 4 real options this season and one spent a long time injured. You should have 2 for most positions.
Valdes/Pinto Alves/Pique/Puyol/Garay/Milito/Abidal/Sylvinho
Toure/Keita/Xavi/Iniesta/Lucho/V.d.Vaart
Messi/Giovani/Henry/Bojan/Palacio/Quaresma

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:44:13 +0000

Ach. I was really thinking that Keita would be precisely that, and that this was the reason behind his dissatisfaction with Yaya, who makes excellent passes to start attacks, but really isn’t a true ‘pivote.’ Hell, Xavi would make a very good ‘pivote,’ except he isn’t a ball-winner like Keita.

By: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com

fcbtransfers.blogspot.com — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:31:22 +0000

Keita would apparently come to replace Deco, so playing higher up the pitch.

If the ‘pivote’ (which is something like “a playmaker before the defence”) would come back, that would mean Xavi or Iniesta pull back a line and play before the defence. That’s the position Guardiola played himself and the positon players like Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc and Crosas grew up with at the cantera.

Rijkaard deleted the pivote after half a year at Barcelona, moving Xavi forward and putting a real “defensive” midfielder before the defence (first Cocu, I think, then Marquez, Edmilson and now Touré)

(tcfkap)

By: Colin

Colin — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:18:39 +0000

That’s a great detail about Pep as a kid and how much a cule he is at heart. The dynamic with Cruyff will be very interesting, they should be on the same page tactically but Pep will have to update the classic Barca style for the modern game, and to accentuate Messi. Next season should be fun, and interesting.

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:16:36 +0000

I like, I like, Ciaran. And you’re spot on about Deco. I’m on the record as believing that he’s a bigger miss than Ronaldinho.

Word is we’ve already agreed to terms with Pique. Garay is a weird one. We loved him, then Rijkaard said we didn’t, and we’re keeping Marquez. Dunno ’bout that one.

What are your thoughts on the other folks being bandied about, such as Dani Guiza? And last I heard, Dos Santos was being shopped, with Chelsea a likely landing place, dependent upon the results of his ankle surgery.

By: Ciaran

Ciaran — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:30:06 +0000

Hey everyone. After a long absence due to me moving town and a delay in getting internet up-and-running again.
Firstly, congratulations to Pep for his promotion.
We’ll miss you Frank and thanks for the trophies.
Many things up in the air at the moment. Giovani has said he is staying. Deco has said that he has permission to look elsewhere. Reports say that Bojan has pulled out of Euro2008.
We’ll have the job of replacing a load of mediocre players in the off season and supposedly changing a few of the better players with bad egos. Here’s what I’d do:
Zambrotta – Dani Alves
Alves is the obvious replacement. Better going forward and still covers fairly well defenseively. Squad imporvement but expensive.
Lilian Thuram – Ezequiel Garay
Garay has a bright future and has the physical abilities to be a great defender. We be a first-teamer for years to come in a top class side.
Oleguer Presas – Gerard Pique
Pique would fill the void left by Oleguer like a full body cast for a papercut. Better in every way.
Edmilson – Veloso/Keita
Veloso would be a more longterm player and would be fantastic purchase but young portugese players demand very high transfer fees. Keita of Sevilla would be very good and has an affordable buy-out clause. The better option.
Deco – Rafael Van Der Vaart
Deco will be a massive loss. The best midfielder over the past 5 seasons in Europe. V.d.Vaart has the aggression and the ability just needs Deco’s consistency.
Eidur Gudjohsen – Lucho Gonzalez
Lucho wins hands down for so many reasons. Better defensively scores more goals from midfield and is a leader. We need the unpredictability of long range shooting.
Ronaldinho – Ricardo Quaresma/Mancini
No one can replace Ronnie but we can change our style to fit. I would love to see Quaresma but I don’t expect it. Mancini would be another good option as a left winger. I would keep Henry as my first choice however.
Samuel Eto’o – Rodrigo Palacio
I do not want Eto’o the player to leave but the ego is always his stumbling block. If he is sold than Palacio has the tools to repace him, the blistering pace, coolness in front of goals and a good shot. We would make a lot of money from this and that may make Laporta’s narrow mind up.
And last and certainly least…
Ezquerro – Gai Assulin
Ezquero could be easily be replaced by a trained monkey but Gai should be ready to make the step-up. Has more pace, better ball control and is an intelligent young player. Ezquerro would be better off back at Athletic.

Feel Free to disagree

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:25:24 +0000

Crap. AND we’re playing catch-up. If the EE really signed Juan Vargas (defender, rockin’ free kick taker), that’s a hell of a deal for them, filling in some of their wants.

We have to GET ROLLING!

By: Kxevin

Kxevin — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:20:33 +0000

And look on the plus side. We could be doing this:

http://tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=93202

That’s right. Thaksin wants to sell EVERYONE at Citeh.