I mean, didn't we think this same thing about Fati about 6 years ago? Setting aside Fati's injuries, Flick HATES making substitutions, and lives to run his 1st XI into the ground. Even when games are done and dusted, he's just gotta wear 'em out. And the club is stoopidly having Yamal speak to the press, when it maybe should be better to let the teenager focus only on his play. I hope you're right, but I have my worries about his future, if they don't take into consideration these aspects of Yamal's role. Possibly? But we can't ignore that Raphinha's game depends on him having a high VO2 max, and a high workrate. And, these are two things that decline with age. Sure. Fix the finances, and then depth can be found or developed. To your point, the margin for error in this club is razor-thin, not just up front, but also in the FB positions. Also, the GK group aren't exactly youngsters, either.
I'm semi hopeful Valle is ready to be a reliable back up to Balde next season already. Balde could maybe fill in occasionally for Raphinha, if that happens. Even if its just for the last 20 minutes of a game. I liked what I saw during the few moments he played up there this season. But might have to hit the market for a reliable forward. Raphinha and Yamal can't play 4500-5000 minutes every season, but atm Flick's hand is forced since there are no decent alternatives.
Interesting, in that I'd mind-holed the existence of Alex Valle. I dont much rate the Scottish league, but he's had a decent amount of minutes for Como. The difficult thing is that the bench FBs are both young guys that need minutes. To that end, Eric wasn't well-regarded going into this season, but then his time at Girona seems to have boosted his confidence. I think I'd like an experienced utility FB, who was comfortable coming off the bench, and could play on either flank. And then, loan out either Fort or Martin next season. And again, partly due to the finances, the rotational players are younger guys, once you get past Fati and Ferran. Problem again is that both Torre and Victor need time, but they won't get it here. Also, they both seem to he comfortable in the center. I dont even know how they could address it at the moment.
Not sure when this happened ... but Lamine aka Ryan asked by a group of women to take a picture of them. 1920987177636306998 is not a valid tweet id
In other news, Yamal and a few other Barca players cheered on Barca Atletic on Saturday, but to no avail. They lost anyway, which confirms they will be relegated to the fourth tier.
Disappointing, but on the other hand, in a more rational time, perhaps some of the younger players on the 1st squad might still be with Atletic. I wouldn't mind some investment to reinforce that side, and get them back up to La Segunda in time.
It's so easy to forget that at the midpoint in the season in December, after jornada 19, we were in 3rd, 6 points behind the leaders LPB. We had lost at home to Leganes and then again at home to Atleti. Then came the winter break, and... We've gone 15 W, 2 D, 0 L in the league since.
We also started the season with 11 out of 12 wins with the one loss coming against Osasuna in that Match Flick didn't start Lamine nor Raphinha. If you remove that weird stretch of losses and draws, Barca went 26W, 2D, 1L.
I know social media is BS and all, but anyone else seeing the photos of Camp Nou circling? Looks just as it did before construction began. Long way to go on that project. I also see that Barca is asking that their first 3 matches be played away next season. 3? Don't they mean 15? I am expecting another half season in Montjuic.
Pretty incredible that Flick, having no past connection to Barca, came and in his first season had all the players buy into his philosophy and rowing the same way. He basically improved the performance of every player on the roster except for probably Ansu, Araujo, and Gavi (the last 2 injury played a role). From experienced players like Lewy and Martinez to Raphinha who was literally looking for a transfer out, to Kounde, Eric, Frenkie and etc ... all had big or at least some improvements compared to last season. Who would have thought that one Xavi comment changed the course of the team. Nobody knows how a season with Xavi would have gone, but it's clear that he wouldn't have made the tactical and personnel moves Flick made ... the big one being a higher tempo play and how Raphinha was deployed. And there is no doubt that those two were probably the top two most consequential changes on the team this season. I was definitely skeptical of Flick when he was signed on. I remember seeing a tactical analysis of his previous work and the main thing pointed out is that it required the back line to be composed of fast players to cover the space left behind ... something we arguably did not have. It proved to be a theme all season long with the offsides trap. We've been critical of Laporta, but we have to give him credit here. He made a ballsy move that paid off. Even the Olmo signing ended up working out. Lets hope it only gets better next season.
@inswinger I think it's time to bring back the end of season poll. I know you used to post them. Do you want to do the honors ? Could be later or before the end of the season as the season is technically over.
Thanks everyone for a fantastic season. Now let's rest. And then in summer there are still a lot to do. Other clubs are already active with their transfers. We need for a few more new signings (a fullback, a winger, a striker...).
Apparently the Spanish 2026 super cup semis have already been set: Barca v Athletic Club, Madrid v Atleti.
Good opportunity to check out Alex Valle today as his team hosts Inter Milan in a potential title decider.
Don't think so. We are in the market for another LW to help in the rotation ... not one to replace Raphinha. We do need another winger IMO. The alternative today is to play Ferran on the wing and he isn't really good doing that. And that's assuming Lewy is healthy. Ferran has shown to be a good backup 9. As it stands, we lose a lot of offensive output if Raphinha or Lamine are unavailable. Which would lead us to try and time managing their load by subbing them out early in games. I know you always call for those subs, but look at how many matches late in the season we had that were 1 goal difference affairs. I think it's unrealistically to count on subbing them out on the 60th min for a lot of games and have no decent backup options.
Eh, I'd be OK with bringing Nico Williams in, because of his qualities, and the fact that at his age, there's still potential for resale, if he doesn't work out, or the manager changes, or for any other reason. But, I concede that this is unlikely, and probably not the ideal use of scant resources. I HATE the Diaz "rumour," for rough 85 million or more reasons, plus he's about to turn 29. Ideally, a utility winger on a free, or a loan move for a utility winger or a youngster from La Masia would be ideal. Rotational players are important, but they're not "€85MM important." Spending big money NOW on a backup is moronic, instead of saving cash to eventually replace Lewandowski, Ter Stegen, and Iñigo.
I see that Rashford's sale price is about €47mn at most (could probably be negotiated down to 30). Better than the Diaz "offer" but unfortunately Rashford's salary is over €20mn per year. My God!
Only catching this message now - busy week! I don't remember ever doing this! I know we had done the wrap-ups and final tabulations for our Prediction threads at the end of past seasons. I think it used to be maybe @unclesox or @Gilmango , but I could post a poll tonight ahead of the final jornada. I can't find an example of past polls searching the forum... can you?