Ernesto Goes to Work: The 2018-19 Season Thread [R]

YAY!

Official ☑️ | Philippe Coutinho will wear Number '7' pic.twitter.com/H1b0ywnUUd

— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) August 9, 2018

 

Philippe Coutinho finally has his EU status. The Brazilian was given his Portuguese passport with less than 42 hours before the Spanish Super Cup, solving the problem that had presented itself to Ernesto Valverde. Beyond the Super Cup this was critical for Liga registration of Arturo, Malcolm, and Arthur. https://www.sport-english.com/en/ne...-counts-as-an-eu-player-for-barcelona-6984021

 

So Craperto is given the fourth captain spot after Messi-Busi-Pique .... Alba must be pissed

 

Isn't captaincy in Spain based purely on how long you've been with the club?

 

Yes. Traditionally in Spain the captaincy is based on tenure with the club.

 

But while tenure with the club is generally a huge factor, isn't it voted on by the players? And don't other factors come into play like leadership skills, quality of play / importance to the team, being a good role model, etc.?

Weird that they are saying we broke a record for sales revenue, since Neymar alone brought in far more money last summer, but they are saying that was not a "sale" done voluntarily but rather a contract buyout. Thankfully the transfer window is still open and we can earn even more from selling players like Marlon, Samper, Paco, Rafinha (if sold), Munir (if sold), Cucurella from Barca B, Arnaiz from Barca B, etc. I do hope Munir re-ups his contract with us and stays, and hope Rafinha stays too:

What is really remarkable is that we are slightly ahead in terms of sales outpacing purchases:
OUT: Deulofeu - €13m Paulinho - €50m Digne - €20.2m Vidal - €8.5m Mina - €30.25m Gomes - €2.25m loan Total: €124.2m
IN: Lenglet - €31.9m Arthur - €31m Malcom - €41m Arturo Vidal - €18m Total: €121.9m
Of course that relies on our counting the Paulinho 50M before we actually get it.

 

Well I have my quibbles with where some folks are placed (in terms of primary position and also ranking therein) and a few of these players will/should be sold in the next week or two, but this is food for thought:

I found it on youngcules twitter, not clear if one of them made it or found it elsewhere.

 

Sergio Roberto as a captain? Seriously? Guess it's cause he's from La Masia.

 

🤩 Leo #Messi 💪
👑 The words of our captain 🙌
🔵🔴 #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/qJYgPa1fIR

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 16, 2018

 

🔵🔴🏆 El Barça lluirà el nou símbol de campions de @LaLiga durant tota la temporada https://t.co/dQszeSmFxx#ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/bS5qmPliXT

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) August 16, 2018

 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45209407

"La Liga to stage competitive match in USA"

ugh! And perhaps as early as this season. Not a fan of this idea. Hope Barca isn't involved in that match.

 

Wouldn't they have to have FIFA approval? I thought that was the reason why the Premier League's idea to stage a 39th round across the world was quickly shot down a day or two following the announcement.

 

Hope you're right and I hope they shoot it down again. Logistically the super cup in the USA makes more sense anyway.

 

i think it's connected somehow to the 2026 Canada/Mexico/USA World Cup.
so FIFA might be more likely to see is as being in their interest.

 

The only teams that will be involved are Barca and LPB, maybe.. maybe ATM. No one wants to see Villareal Asspanyol.

 

First Valladolid, now Real Sociedad?

This is the current state of the Anoeta. We play there on September 15... pic.twitter.com/3wjk66qsAj

— total Barça (@totalBarca) August 27, 2018

 

To be fair to Real Sociedad, the Anoeta is going through a renovation period that began at the end of last season and is expected to continue until Autumn 2019. When finished the stadium's capacity will be increased by 10,000+ and the athletics track around the pitch will be gone.

 

Good info. Also they have more than 2 weeks to lay new sod, let it take root, etc. with no one playing on it till our match there on the 15th of September. Jornada 3 they are away at Eibar, then there is the dreaded international break (when most of our players travel and theirs mostly do not), so turf should be fine, hopefully most of our players are too and thankfully we have better depth this season.

 

Have you seen the goal from
Huesca against bilbao yesterday ? Wow just amazing...

 

yeah, great goal, here's a link, probably belongs in the other teams thread though:

 

Dude chill we got the own goal and VAR on our side [emoji23]