Signed to replace Larsson who'd just led to only the 2nd ever European championship = doomed to failure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiður_Guðjohnsen What was the old thread involving someone eating a laptop if Eidur did not score at least X goals in his first season with Barca? (I seem to recall it was a respectable # of goals, say 10-15 in Liga, or 15-20 overall; and the thread poster thought he'd achieve it - but I could have that all wrong). Meanwhile, per Wikipedia's player page he managed just 10 goals in 72 games over 3 seasons (but sometimes those Wikipedia stats are limited to Liga only, hard to be sure, point is that if I have the facts right a laptop should have been ingested. Eidur was also one of the latest Barca to Monaco players, pre Abidal and perhaps Valdes. Unfortunately, he seemingly had a gambling problem so maybe Monaco was not the best spot to be.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...-post-match-thread.417255/page-3#post-9704797 Note Lucho's reply immediately after. He certainly was never shy to offer his opinion on others. lol Some great posters in that thread that I'd forgotten about over the years.
Ibra my hero ... He's a classy guy in my eyes ! As regards the World Player voting , Ibra showed true class in voting for Ribery / Messi / Ronaldo ......so he voted for his three biggest challengers ! Many of the top players chose lesser rated players . Ronaldo didn't even have Messi in his top three !!!!
And Messi didn't have C.Ronaldo. lol I don't think either have ever voted for each other. Zlatan is fairly straight-up when it comes to voting for the Ballon. His previous votes... 2010: 1- Iniesta 2- Sneijder 3- Xavi 2011: 1- Messi 2- Rooney 3- Iniesta 2012: 1- Xavi 2- Pirlo 3- Messi
Is it foolish to dream that Eto'o could want to come back to play in Spain in his twilight years to play a rotation role a la Larsson? Although the way things are going today, maybe that player who returns to Spain is Fernando Torres.
Keita just signed to Valencia to finish out the year, option for one more year (presumably Valencia's option). Not expected to play this weekend (travel? too late to be included in match squad? still to take medical?). Welcome back Seydou, wish you'd never left, not that you could play on our D line any better than Song.
Yes! I'm a firm believer of 'Once a Blaugrana, Always a Blaugrana' insofar as I like to see former Barca players do well after they leave... except for some pig-faced mofo and any others like him.
I know we're kinda mad at him but seriously, he was the 4th of 6 attacking midfielders here (JDS and S'berto behind him, y'all know who in front) and we did get paid 8 figures for the first time since Yaya left (Zlatan does not count, as when you accept .33 cents on the dollar, paid over time, it can never be counted as getting paid). anyways, great goal: http://www.marca.com/2014/01/29/futbol/futbol_internacional/bundesliga/1391029686.html
So Keita's now played for 3 of the ostensible La Liga 'Big 4' (sorry Villarreal but you were relegated not too long ago and Atletico, you've been taking care of business lately but still aren't that far off from some truly stinky performances against LPB); has anyone in recent memory played for Barca, LPB, Valencia, and Sevilla in their career? Saviola is 3/4 also.
Well, Mendieta was at Bilbao, Valencia, and Barça. And I'd say historically Athletic is top 5 or 6 La Liga club.
Keita would have made a lot of sense as a loan deal for Arsenal which needs midfield depth. Oh well, their loss and La Liga's gain!
Jeffren Suarez to Real Vallodolid from Sporting Lisbon where he'd fallen so far as to be with their B team and still not playing. Good luck Jeffren. Another of the rare instances of Barca selling at the right time for a profit. Pretty certain we are not getting another penny based on the clause outlined below: From his Wikipedia page: On 4 August 2011, Sporting Clube de Portugal signed Jeffrén for €3.75 million, plus €200,000 in bonus. He penned a 5-year contract with a buy-out clause of €30 million. In addition, If the Lisbon club sold the player for a fee higher than €3.75M, Barcelona would receive 20% of the added value/differential value.[21][22] The Catalans also retained an exclusive buy-back option for €8million and €12 million, in 2012 and 2013 respectively.[23]
Wow... On Guardian Football Weekly podcast they had mentioned how he tends to have great debut seasons with new clubs then a terrible sophomore slump. Wonder where he'll pop up next--think his next move is "up" to a more prestigious club or "down" to a smaller club/league?