Well since am bored and have time in my hands I figured we could all give our Barcelona All Time XI. You can go with any formation. Here is my highly offensive XI: --------------Andoni Zubizaretta----------- Alber Ferrer--Carles Puyol--Miguel Nadal--Sergi Barjuan Rivaldo------Cruyff------Kubala--------Ronaldinho -------------Hristo Stoichov--------------------- ----------------------Samitier------------------- This was really hard i mean players like Guardiola, Laudrup, Judas, Koscis, Platko, Xavi, Messi, Maradona etc.... were left out.
looks like fun. but i'm only going to include players that i've actually seen - so in the past twenty-ish years. ---ronaldinho---ronaldo---messi--- ---------------rivaldo------------ ------iniesta------------xavi------ ---------------guardiola---------- ---sergi-------puyol-------alvez--- ---------------valdez------------- coach: cruyff bench: koeman bakero cocu laudrup stoichkov romario
It`s hard to pick when you have only watched a small portion of Barcelona matches throughout it`s history. One thing is sure for me though. Sergi has no place in there.
Just so there's no misunderstanding, the player listed is Sergi Barjuan, not Sergi Busquets. If you're aware of this and still disagree with the choice, what player would you have at left back? Sergi was a mainstay in the team throughout most of the 1990s and, since that list only includes players within the past twenty years, who else is there to put at that position. My main disagreeement with his team is the choice of Valdes in goal. Zubizarreta is obvious number 1, imo.
former club captain, sergi barjuan definitely is not out of place there, i loved that guy! and valdes, yeah i knew someone would complain about that. just my opinion, but i just can't say that i ever felt confident about zubi, especially towards the end of his career, which remains fresher in my mind than when he was at his prime.
I'll go with a favorite 11, using their play in one season, since I can't really judge an all-time: ------- Ronaldinho (05-06) --- Romario (93-94) --- Messi (08-09) ----------------- Laudrup (93-94) --- Xavi (08-09) ------------------------------- Schuster ('84-85) V Brockhorst (04-05) -- Puyol (05-06) -- Koeman (91-92) -- Alves (08-09) -------------------------------Valdes ('04-'05)
I cannot believe that even within barcelona supporters, this guy (http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/club/historia/jugadors_de_llegenda/schuster.html) is ignored.
He's part of the reason why I became a Barcelona fan. I started off as a Köln fan and Barcelona's win over Köln's bitter rivals at the time Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1979 was the starting point, but Schuster's transfer in 1980 strengthened my opinion of Barça. Problem is Schuster left the club not in the best of terms (not the first and certainly not the last player to have done so). As I recall, he was the only player to break ranks when the squad tried to oust club president Josep Lluís Núñez in 1988 and, with his contract due to expire, ended up signing for Real Madrid before the season had ended. At least, that's how I remember the chronology of events playing out. But no doubt he was one of the club's best ever and most remembered players, as you've linked us with his "legends" profile on the team's website. Not even Figo has gained that kind of status. Given their 110 year history, ommitting Schuster from the starting lineup of an All-Time XI shouldn't really be regarded too much as a snub.
just to make it clearer , i meant squad not starting XI, of the past 30 years as these squads are. He was one of the top handful of playmakers in the world in the 1980s and led barcelona for 7 years like gerrard leads liverpool. I think it's just ignorance these days.
Ah, okay. Yeah, I would say he definately belongs in a squad from recent history (30 years). Do you know his reasoning for why he refused to play for West Germany during the 1980s? At the time I had heard that he didn't get along with coach Jupp Derwall but even after Derwall left Schuster still never played his country.
I never knew Schuster came out of your other Love...you must have loved him until 88 huh? Bernd's wiki page has a good explanation of why he retired at 24.
in the early 80s it was kind of frowned up to go from the bundesliga to anywhere else because it was considered the best league, so when players like schuster and stielike moved to spain the national trainers wouldnt make allowances for them to arrive in time for DFB training and for them to leave before sunday games for their clubs. This became a point of agrievement, and then schuster's wife gaby who was his de facto manager got really involved and it all blew up with derwall. After that he probably really wanted to play but they could afford to not call him up I guess. He still says he would have loved to have got more caps than the 21 and that he was really honoured to play for Germany. In my opinion he'd have equalled or surpassed beckenbauer if he didnt have problems with his coaches. They were cut from the same cloth on the field.
My main disagreement would be with any player who only had one season or less with Barca, like Alves and Ronaldo. Especially Ronaldo with such good alternatives to choose from at striker.
I agree. Ronaldo had a great season with Barca but it was only one season. Me personally, I wouldn't include Romario either. To be in an All-Time Select a player should have put in at least 4 years with the club, imo.
these are some highly disappointing XIs... to me romario, stoichkov, kubala, puyol, koeman, cruyff, and zubizarretta are givens, then fill in the rest with your choice out of maradona, laudrup, rivaldo, ronaldinho, ferrer, xavi, guardiola, figo (if you can get over the bitterness)...and soon to be iniesta and messi.
So looking at all these lists it's obvious that at forward and midfield there are tons of good choices. However, if we include the 4-season minimum (which I agree with), who do we even have to choose from for the back 4? Left: Barjuan Center: Koeman, Nadal, Puyol Right: Ferrer Marquez and van Bronkhorst have also been mentioned but they don't strike me as "legends" the same way.
---------------zubizarreta------------------ ----puyol--------koeman-----------sergi---- -----------------guardiola------------------ ---cruyff--------------------------iniesta--- ------------------xavi---------------------- ---messi---------kubala-----------rivaldo---
Well, I go back 30 years following the team. Migueli and Jose Alexanco were mainstays in central defence throughout the 80s and are very much club legends, especially Migueli. Gerardo occupied right back during much of the same period. He's one worth considering. Left back is the tough spot. Sergi is pretty much the only one worthy.
Would you say left back could be Abidal's if he plays two or three more years and we win a few more trophies?
I'd think he'd have to play more quality than he has been so far. But that's just me. From wikipedia, Sergi apparently played at least 31 matches each season between 1993/94 and 1998/99. He won three Liga titles, two Copas and one European Cup Winners Cup. He also played for Spain in the '94 and '98 World Cups as well as the EURO 96.