Sevilla beat Rayo 2-0 with D. Suarez playing the whole match and Deulofeu coming on in the 62 minute. I missed the game but saw these tweets from David Cartlidge, a soccer journalist: I think Deulofeu's flaws go a lot deeper than lack of confidence (e.g., attitude, arrogance, lack of being a team player) and hope we dump him in the summer for whatever we can get for him. Iago Aspas, who is the other one who has been bitter towards Emery for lack of playing time, also came in as a sub today.
Valeron-esque? That's high praise for Denis Suarez. Looking forward to seeing him in blaugrana next season
Tough 30 minutes for Deulofeu who has barely gotten in the match squad since January, much less on the pitch, his team was up 2-0 but seemed he pressed to hard taking on defenders off the dribble, he also misses a one-on-one. Not sure what we do with him but I'd sell, just fear his price has dropped. IF Pedro goes (won't re-sign so is sold this summer) we have Sandro, Munir, Adama, and Dongou in Barca B plus Rafinha can move up. It is not like SNM come off the pitch unless injured or lead secured. Tello return is the other option but I'd only pursue that if (1) Pedro left, and (2) we did not sign any forward who we would then register in January.
Such a telling quote: “He has incredible qualities but lacks others. Put him out there, one on one and ... pfff,” Emery told Sid Lowe. “But make him play football with teammates, on a big pitch, and it’s hard. He doesn’t have the maturity or capacity for sacrifice yet. "I told him: 'There are players here who aspire to a contract like yours, men with less talent but more hunger: Iborra, Carriço, Vitolo. They know what it costs. You haven’t experienced that. When you do, you’ll grow. I hope you get that. If not here, somewhere else.'" The 21-year-old is expected to return to Camp Nou in the summer, although another loan move shouldn't be ruled out. http://www.sport-english.com/en/new...e-maturity-capacity-for-sacrifice-yet-4224875
Deulofeu was quoted as saying earlier in the year as saying no more loan deals. If he does come back, I worry about him being a distraction if he doesn't get playing time (unlike pedro who's been a good soldier). The only reason to bring him back in my eyes is if pedro leaves in the offseason. By the way, deulofeu didn't make the match squad for the EL final while denis suarez was an usused substitute.
If Pedro leaves I'd rather have Tello than Deulofeu as 4th forward till January. I'd sell Deulofeu at this point, sadly he would've fetched more before this season than after it.
i agree that tello (and possibly munir and adama) is ahead of deulofeu atm. but i wouldn't sell deulofeu just yet. i think him being dropped at Sevilla is exactly what he needed at this stage in his development - he needs to be humbled. so that's just part of his development. he already has the ability, he just needs to grow up and mature. but when (if) he does, he might have a higher ceiling than the others mentioned above. some people just need more time, especially someone who has been so hyped from such a young age.
Yeah, but not being "the man" and the leading scorer at Everton, and not being even a starter, or even on the bench often at Sevilla should have done it too. Sure, maybe Lucho and playing next to the hustle and heart of Suarez, Messi, Neymar, and all our other players could do it. But Deulofeu is not a kid anymore. IF we could get 8-10M selling him outright I'd do it in a second, no buyback option needed.
Good overview on all loan outs: http://www.sport-english.com/en/new...eweight-for-early-denis-suarez-return-4256720 With Pedro re-signed but a transfer ban in place the only possible player we might want back would seem to be Denis Suarez (given Xavi gone), but I think another year in Sevilla would do him good and that Rafinha and Sergi Roberto could probably take up Xavi's minutes at least till January.
he looked better as a backup for Busquets than when played further forward. I'd like to see D.Suarez brought back.
Exactly what I was thinking, he was likely on his way out till he showed he could play DM for us quite well. Probably worth keeping around for that purpose alone. Though if D. Suarez doesn't come back this summer, then he will likely still get some minutes, at least till January, at attacking mid too. As we'd only have 3 attacking mids without Xavi if Sergi Roberto did not also back that spot up as the 4th attacking mid. Big question is whether we sign an attacking mid who can join in January (or who is poised to join next June as has been rumored in the case of possible Pogba move - seemingly as Pogba doesn't want to miss the CL group stage with Juve or elimination stage with Barca as he cannot do both). If we do I'm inclined to let Denis stay at Sevilla. If we do not then I think Denis could be 4th attacking mid for us and Sergi Roberto can stick to backing up Busi.
I wouldn't be surprised if Samper is with the big club (maybe Munir, Sandro or both too). None of them seem very likely to be with Barça B in the Segunda B, so I'd guess either A team or loan.
Yes, Samper, Munir, Sandro; possibly Halilovic, Adama, and/or Grimaldo too. All can play in La Liga whether or not for Barca, some have value in loans or sales, not sure how much more they get from 3rd division play but then how much PT can they get on the big team. It is a tough call. Of all of them who is most likely to be a contributor to the big team?
well, there's also the option of moving Messi back to midfield and playing Pedro out wide, as Lucho has done on a handful of occasions this season. it's worth considering if we were missing iniesta/rakitic for a Classico, instead of playing rafinha/roberto/d.suarez.
wasn't Samper kind of disappointing this season? i think he was benched most of the second half of the season. i don't think he's any better than s.roberto just yet. Grimaldo might have a good shot at backing up Alba, if Adriano leaves or plays on the right side and Mathieu stays central. Adama and Munir also look like they could be useful as well, as we lack depth up front.
having said that. i just remembered that Samper was included in the squad for the UCL final and was included in all the celebrations. so Lucho does rate him very highly. i think he'll probably be loaned out for a bit though since we have the DM position well covered at this point - maybe to sevilla in exchange for an early termination of D.Suarez's loan?
because if iniesta and/or rakitic are unavailable then it's a question of putting out the best possible TEAM, not just the best possible front three.
It is when they are so deadly and effective . It's laughable to consider dropping Messi into midfield to accommodate Pedro ( of all people ).
OK, if you say so... you'd rather start Roberto in a Classico over Pedro? and Messi bosses wherever he plays.
From what I read (didn't watch any games) Samper's benching didn't seem to be warranted because of performance but was just the coaches trying to mix it up. It seems like the B team just had a pretty horrible season (lots of line-up changes and players being played out of position) and you can't really rate anybody based on their performance. I'd certainly trust Lucho compared to Vinyals.
Yes, they loved the youngster at RB, Palencia, which left Patric, one of the captains and veterans of the squad, and stronger, more physically mature players without a place so he was moved to DM as more of a destroyer type while still having good technical skills. They were desperate for points to avoid relegation and thus mixed it up this way and put a bit more "steel in the middle" as Samper lacks that "man strength" in comparison but has the vision and touch which mark him as a future crack. Or so that's what I've read. I too haven't watched too much Barca B.