Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia This quote is the attitude that really pisses me off about Barcelona. All the "Mes que un Club" BS that permeates the organization aside (tell this Mes stuff to the Qatar Foundation), the other thing I despise about Barcelona is the transfer gossiping, tapping-up, and meddling that they peddle in. Wenger bought Cesc and gave him the chance that Barca didn't, and now that he's a proven product, they feel like they can have him back for less than any other club would pay (I am thinking of their paltry bid in the summer)? Give me a break. Barca IS trying to pry Cesc away on the cheap using head games, despite the fact that Arsenal gave him a shot, Wenger named him the captain, and Barca let him go. Barca has no "claim" on him any more that any other club who ponies up the cash at this point. I wonder what happens when Newell's Old Boys comes calling back for Messi. It's a credit to Messi that he is playing for Argentina and not Spain, considering all the lobbying and dirty tactics that permeates the sports culture and was probably directed at him.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia Yea, sorry about that... I just can't stand Barca. But they do develop players, so good on Ben for getting in! Hope he matriculates.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia I just don't see Barcelona being any more arrogant or dishonest than any other of the biggest clubs, despite the fact that, given their accomplishments over the past six years, if anyone had grounds to be at the top of the arrogance pyramid, it would be them. Anyway, whatever you think about the team's attitude, if you don't think they've got the best academy in the world, you're just kidding yourself.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia The 1 in a million shot is getting into La Masia. Getting into La Masia as a central midfielder is more like 1 in 5 million. Coaches do not give a kid an extended run there unless they think highly of him. That alone speaks well of his potential. As for the arrogance or humility of Barcelona, they are both. They are damn good and they know it. As a club and as players, they are extremely confident. They believe they are the best players in the world. But they are humble in the sense that club comes before the player, and that is drilled into their youth.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia They aren't really worse than any of the big clubs, but this all came up because somebody was implying that they were better than all other clubs in terms of arrogance.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia You're buying into the media hype. This is a golden age and once it passes Barcelona's academy will be looked at just like any other(like it should). They haven't achieved anything more then Madrid's academy, United's academy, Clairefontaine, etc. It's no different then any other youth academy. For every Xavi, Iniesta, etc there's three maybe even five failed La Masia products that are shipped off and never heard about again just like any other academy. The Neville brothers, Scholes, Giggs, Beckham, etc all broke through at pretty much the same time but United's academy doesn't get anywhere near the same amount of hype because it was never bigged up like La Masia was. It doesn't matter where he came from. If you want to sign a player whether or not he came from La Masia you don't do it by putting a Barcelona jersey on him and constantly making remarks about it by talking to the press. That's not really showing the "humility" that La Masia is supposed to instill in these "humble" players. ^^^See my first reply to gmonn^^^ Don't buy into the hype people!
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia Don't be silly. The team is managed by a youth product, starts 7 of their youth products, with more on the bench, with their top transfer target being another youth product. Eight of them won the last world cup, and another one won the last two balon d'ors, with two others coming in second and third the last time. Golden generation, sure. "Media hype" is absurd.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia So we know he was offered a 2 year deal but is he actually going to go? Or in other words are his parents willing to move to Spain to make it happen?
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia It is media hype. When Man United had their "golden generation" coming through United's academy was rarely mentioned if it all. La Masia is mentioned all the time when these players are talked about. It's funny you mention the balon d'or as proof that it's not hype when it was absurd Wesley Sneijder who was integral to Inter Milan winning a treble and leading his team to the World Cup final wasn't ahead of Xavi, Iniesta, and hell even Messi(it was a World Cup year after all and he didn't do shit with Argentina).
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia That is an absurd claim and is simply not true. I plead to you to drop this in this thread and let us focus on this youngster's great opportunity and recognize that it is indeed quite an achievement. Best of luck to young Ben.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia This has been a sustained pattern for like 15 years. Guardiola, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets. The only reason younger guys aren't making their impact is because their spots are taken... by former academy prospects. By all accounts, guys like Thiago Alcantara will be more than ready to fill the void if need be. There's just this fusion of Dutch and Spanish style that they grow there that is unique. And you also never know when a guy like Pedro will suddenly surface at the age of 21-22 seemingly out of nowhere from their academy. And you're probably right that Wesley Sneijder should have been in the top 3, but even saying that 3 of the top 4 are Barca products is pretty crazy.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia Yes it was mentioned at the time - non-stop. It hasn't been mentioned much in the 15+ years since because United's academy hasn't produced much in terms of starting XI regulars at United, or at any other top-flight club in England or abroad. John O'Shea and Wes Brown (when he's not crocked) and that's about it at United and Danny Pugh and Danny Higginbotham )now at Stoke)
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia When eight Man Utd youth help England win the world cup, let's have this conversation again.
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia Barca kids are very humbled exectly like the older squad . Knowing ben Lederman I can say that barca made a great choice by taking this kid. He is humbled with unbelievable talent with the best work ethics that older don't have. I hope for him that the family will make the move ,I said 2 years ago that he can be the next iniesta and I am not joking. He is playing on the best u 11 team In the southern california called LA SAMBA who played up at the last mic cup in Spain and lost quarter final to man u. Guys you should realy watch that kid and I hope he will stay humbled Very very very spacial kid
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia So. Anything new? Is Lederman there or did his parents decline (which I could never blame them for doing so.)?
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia Sounds like his parents are moving to Barcelona, and I wish I knew what a "prebenjamin" was: http://blogs.lavanguardia.com/esos-locos-bajitos/tag/ben-lederman/
Re: Ben Lederman at La Masia Here's an article with some good background info: La Masia: The school that produced Messi, Xavi and Iniesta