The 2010/2011 Season Thread Pt. 1 | The team of 8 World Champions... plus Messi!

Well, sure, it's hard to argue with THAT picture.

 

Man, bad news on the Alves contract front, I really hope they did not insult him by offering him close to BUT NOT AS MUCH AS Xavi, Villa, and Iniesta AND calling it their FINAL offer. Hopefully this all gets settled with him making the same as those guys, and a shade below only Messi. According to below they did offer less but did not close the doors by saying final offer.

http://www.totalbarca.com/2010/news/dani-alves-rejects-last-contract-offer/#more-57624

Good news on the Copa front, Bilbao will not be easy at all but after that tie the winner would have a pretty good path to the final, with Real Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, AtMadrid, Villareal, and Espanyol all on the other side. Nice draw!


"If Barça advance against Bilbao, their next opponents will be either Betis or Getafe in the quarter finals, which would be played during the weeks of January 12th and 19th, with the first leg again at the Camp Nou.

If that tie is won, Barça could face Almeria, Mallorca, Cordoba or Deportivo in the semi-finals, set for the weeks of January 26th and February 2nd.

This season the Cup Final will be played on the 20th of April and if Barça make it all the way, they could be up against Valencia, Villarreal, Real Madrid, Levante, Atlético de Madrid, Espanyol, Sevilla or Malaga, who are all placed in the other half of the draw."

Read more: http://www.totalbarca.com/2010/news/barcelona-draw-athletic-bilbao-in-next-copa-round/#ixzz15eJDg2Gc

 

Sheezus, that means it's possible to have three classicos in a single week.

 

Is it really? Seeing Barcelona beat Madrid three times in one week. Talk about priceless...

 

What's the holdup here?

Barcelona's dalliance on wonderkid Thiago Alcántara could prove costly

 

There were talks about him being promoted permanently to the first team in January.

 

yes, Totalbarca had the same article, no doubt translated from EMD. It was the first I'd heard of that sort of contract clause and, while I thought it made obvious sense to "lock Thiago up" so to speak by promoting him (presumably with an increase in his wages and buy out clause), I felt it would be terrible for Barca to add that clause to too many Barca B player contracts.

Already this summer we saw a big trend of Barca B players re-signing (joy) but only for 1 year (yuck); 1 more year to showcase talents but if they did not make the leap (heaven forbid), they had suitors elsewhere who were seduced by them, even if the Barca squad they grew up in was really their best chance of integrating without missing a step and playing for the biggest trophies (trouble is that takes patience, god forbid).

Already the spotlight is so bright on Barca's youth players, everyone wants the next Cesc or Pique or Messi or Pedro, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Puyol, Valdes, etc. To get them on the cheap ala Cesc and Pique is the ideal for clubs all over Europe. These players (and their agents a/o parents) know that, so instead of waiting patiently, as Johan suggests, they say play me or let me be free. But while Thiago is ready to start at most (Europa but not CL) clubs, or be seduced by $ but still not start at say a Chelsea, he finds PT hard to come by at Barca. Thiago we really must keep but seriously, we have so much talent, we will not be able to keep all the vultures away...

That is good for the players but bad for the clubs, most of all Barca. We are not Ajax, who make $ exporting talent to bigger clubs, yet we still lose talent right and left because (1) we have too much, and (2) see #1, not enough PT to go around on the best club in the world. I guess it is a good problem to have but damn I don't want to watch our heir apparents leave home, much less for small compensation because they are still on youth contracts or low buyout contracts.

 

Here's a question I've been wondering....do you think in the case of most (but not all obviously) of the young starlets the Barcelona system may make them appear to be better than they actually are? Perhaps its just the familiarity with the system and knowig their teammates while growing up in La Masia? I'm not saying they are not good, but there may also be some hometown bias for some of these youngsters and we all think they are really good. Put them on another team in another country or league and....who knows?

I mean is Jeffren really as good as some people think he is? Personally I don't think he's Barcelona quality. Some of these youngsters need to look at what Drenthe did and play for a team where they can get guaranteed first eleven playing time, that will help them a lot. I mean look what happened to Gio....and I'm not sure how good Gai will be either without our system to fall back on. He could prove me wrong....but what do you guys think?

Thiago I think is the real deal.

 

Barca compared to other teams produce a higher amount of solid talent, however just like other teams most players are average or decent. Jeffren is not a great talent, Gai had potential but he seems to have lost something. Bojan needs decent minutes to make a conclusive take on him, he has potential but I haven't noticed a big improvement since his debut.

 

I think it is the system, but at the same time, the system just happens to be one of the most technically demanding to ever exist.

To me (and my limited technical knowledge of football), the FC Barcelona system is the New York City of systems..."if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere".

It's why our guys are such hot commodities.

But yes...the glut of talent is definitely a 'problem' but one that I'm sure we'll all agree we'd rather have than the alternative (see: guys who wear white)

 

The proof of quality in Barcelona's youth system is the constant interest from other clubs in our players, not just one or two but dozens. How often do you hear of a big club being interested in other teams youth players? Very infrequently. Unfortunately, this only works against Barca and the youth players. Other clubs want to buy and develop the next Cesc for cheap but that is very hard to do. Look at all the other players who have left, they gave up the Barca education and are languishing deep on a bench somewhere, even Pique. Hopefully other youth players realize that the best thing for their development is to stay here and learn, play in the Segunda, and gain experience with the first team when they are 22-24.

The system does make them look better to some extent. For the most part the players have been well coached and playing the Barca system for many years. The overall above average talent level also improves lesser players.

Jeffren is not the best example however. He has been injured a lot recently and has been fairly average though remember Pedro was also considered an average prospect before his breakout season. Players like Thiago, JDS, Muniesa, and even much younger players like Deulofeu have been stand outs for club and country for awhile and have much higher expectations, they are also much better than the average player their own age. There are also players like GDS, Pacheco, Merida who were great at Barca and then did not do as well elsewhere. This could be a result of either a different system, lack of playing time, or else.

I think what really makes some youth players seem better than they really are is the success of Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, etc. We see these world class youth products in the first team and want to believe that the current youth players can be that good also.

 

I think that is what is great about la masia. It doesn't just train them to be great players; it trains them to be great Barcelona players. If you took some of the youth products out and played them at other teams, I don't think they would be as effective, but that's because their skills complement each others' so well. To use a related example, look at Silva at Man City. He's still a great player, but nowhere near as effective as at Valencia or the Spanish NT, because he's trying to play one-touch, pass-and-move football with Barry, De Jong, and Yaya.

Also, our youth products don't have to "learn" that much tactically when they get promoted, because they are playing them same system that they have as youths. It lets them slot into the first team without looking lost. They know when and where to press, how to circulate the football and space themselves off the ball, and how to cover for the other the players that get out of position attacking and pressing.

In short, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

 

Re: Messi Christmas!

Aren't the caganers supposed to be wearing barretinas?

 

Re: Messi Christmas!

The celebrity ones almost never have them.

 

Anyone else see his plea for donations to "Jump" during the classico? I can't remember the exact number, but I think he owes about €100,000 in fines from his previous "jumping" activities.

 

indeed. their fans have had rather a lot of shit to put up with lately...