In some respects this is very easy as there are some players who are clear choices. I think almost everyone will show the same back 5 (including GK), but the details in midfield and attack will be interesting. To make it more fun, include the bench. Most of you are more knowledgeable than me, so I'm interested to see your lineups. Here's a list of players (surely I'll be missing some) Valdes, Pinto, Jorquera, Rustu Reiziger, Belletti, Edmilson, Rafa Marquez, Puyol, Pique, Van Bronckhorst, Abidal, Sylvinho, Maxwell, Adriano, Oleguer (jk), Zambrotta, Thuram (forgot he played for us), Milito Cocu, Davids, Deco, Van Bommel, Busquets, Yaya Toure, Xavi, Iniesta, Thiago Motta, Luis Enrique, Keita, Mascherano Messi, Larsson, Eto'o, Villa, Ronaldinho, Giuly, Pedro, Saviola, Overmars, Sergio Garcia, Kluivert, Henry, Ibrahimovic I think everyone's starting 11 wil be almost identical, but the 7 subs will be interesting. [LINEUP-4-3-3]Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi, Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Xavi, Abidal, Puyol, Pique, Alves, Valdés[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Subs: Pinto, Marquez, Cocu, Deco, Larsson, Henry, and Edgar Davids just cuz I love him so much
I think it will be better when all players from 2003-present are named, as it is too hard to do a thorough job without having all the names. For instance none of my starting forwards are even in your list: Ezquerro, Maxi Lopez, and Eidur Gudjohnsen; and Motta is without his Edmilson which gave us the EdMotta DM tandem. Luis Garcia is missing, Marc Overmars is missing, Quaresma too. I added the initial squad list below. More seriously I think my starters would look much like yours but I'd give Busquets the nod over Yaya Toure, and give Gio Van Bronkhorst the nod over Abidal. My bench would then include Yaya and Abidal, with Pinto, Cesc, Larsson, Kluivert is my sentimental Dutch choice over your Cocu, leaving one more space for Deco (though I also loved what Davids brought his one half season with Barca). Toughest omissions include Villa, Pedro, Marquez, and Mascherano. Here's the 2003-04 team which will show some more missing players. No. Position Player 1 GK Rüştü Reçber 2 DF Michael Reiziger 3 MF Edgar Davids 4 DF Rafael Márquez 5 DF Carles Puyol 6 MF Xavi Hernández 7 FW Javier Saviola 8 MF Phillip Cocu 9 FW Patrick Kluivert 10 FW Ronaldinho 11 FW Marc Overmars 12 DF Giovanni van Bronckhorst 14 MF Gerard López 16 DF Pedro Mario 18 MF Gabri García 20 MF Ricardo Quaresma 21 MF Luis Enrique (captain) 22 MF Luis García 23 MF Thiago Motta 24 MF Andrés Iniesta 25 GK Víctor Valdés 26 MF Ramón Ros 27 DF Óscar López 28 GK Albert Jorquera 32 DF Oleguer 33 DF Rodri 36 FW Sergio García 37 FW Sergio Santamaría
[LINEUP-4-3-3]Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi, Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Xavi, Abidal, Puyol, Pique, Alves, Valdés[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Subs: Pinto, Abidal, Masch, Deco, Cesc, Henry, Larsson[/QUOTE]subs are tough. I went with Abidal and Masch defensively because of their abilities to play more than one position. Deco picks himself. he and Cesc would be perfect backups for 08-present Xavi and Iniesta. Larsson is another no-brainer, and the final spot was between Pedro and Villa...so I gave it to Henry. maaan...had REM's peaks ever coincided, we would've been absolutely murderous.
subs are tough. I went with Abidal and Masch defensively because of their abilities to play more than one position. Deco picks himself. he and Cesc would be perfect backups for 08-present Xavi and Iniesta. Larsson is another no-brainer, and the final spot was between Pedro and Villa...so I gave it to Henry. maaan...had REM's peaks ever coincided, we would've been absolutely murderous.[/QUOTE] Looks good but I see Abidal on the bench and on the pitch, so maybe you wanted to start Gio Van Bronkhorst? If so we have nearly identical starters except I start Busquets over Yaya.
This thread reminded me of an article from a year or so ago about Barca's team of the decade 2000-2010, since that almost works for our purposes (Rijkaard started in 2003 and we are now into the start of 2011-12). Plus it truly works as Sid Lowe's Barca team of the decade includes no players who really made there mark pre-Rijkaard. He winds up thusly vv Belletti-P-P-GVB X-Deco-I M-E-R Biggest quibble is of course the Alves omission but Dani had only played 2 seasons when this was compiled (trouble with that logic is that it doesn't disqualify Pique). Other biggest quibble is 3 midget attacking midfielders with no DM - sure EdMotta was so so, but Pep or Cocu or Yaya or Busquets would make for a more realistic squad. Here's the article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sid_lowe/01/03/barca.alltime/index.html A year earlier Goal.com did one as well, same GK and 5 attacking players there but they included Pep at DM, Reiziger at RB, and Marquez beside Puyol, plus GVB at LB. All good fun: http://www.goal.com/en/news/2517/go...369317/barcelona-team-of-the-decade-2000-2010 One more with Real for comparison: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jonathanstevenson/2011/04/real_v_barca_teams_of_the_cent.html
I'm 100% agreement with your starting XI. My bench would be different bigtime though... Subs: Pinto, Gio, Deco, Busquets, Fabregas, Masch, Henry, Larsson, Pedro
To be completely honest, I have to go with our first choice lineup from last year. Yes that means Villa, Pedro, and Busquets as starters. But our form in the first half of last season cant be ignored. Subs: Pinto, Marquez, Masch, Deco, Larsson, Dinho, Eto'o
Well I figured Masch can fill in at CB and so can Abidal, sub Gio in and put him left. Puyol can also fill in for RB and Masch could swap in at CB there, too.
i know you were just kidding, but it's an interesting question too - barca players under pep and rijkaard who just weren't good enough: ---ezquerro----zlatan----quaresma--- -----------hleb--------gudjonson----- navarro---------motta---------oleguer -------chygrinskyi----caceres--------- ------------------rustu-----------------
Are we not counting Saviola as a Rijkaard player, cause boy he would certainly be a sub for the "not good enough" team. Maxi Lopez too...what ever happened to that cat?
I like that squad but as bad as the juju between Zlatan and Pep, and between Zlatan and Messi per Zlatan's latest rants, ever got he could not hold a candle to Maxi Lopez as the CF of that squad. I similarly disagree with Saviola's inclusion, 49 goals in 123 games, many important goals. Not his fault, nor Zlatan's that we paid too much for their transfers and their salaries, both could play better than the worst of the 2003 - 2011 eras. Otherwise that's a pretty darn good first take at the not good enough squad. One question is whether the Henriques and Keirrisons of the world are eligible - signed during that era but never even played beyond preseason in Henrique's case, not at all in Keirrison's case. Maxi Lopez is in his 3rd season at Catania in Serie A, 22 goals in 57 games, he has also toiled at Gremio (Loan from Moscow), FC Moscow, and Mallorca (loan from Barca). The church of Maxi Lopez is an Argentine phenomenon and he is called the "white drogba": Maxilopezian "Church" Lopez's surprising change of luck from being a criticised forward in River Plate to being signed by world's giants FC Barcelona made him an Internet meme in his native Argentina. Satirical blogs were created lobbying for his inclusion in the Argentinean squad for the 2006 World Cup. After the Argentinean elimination of the cup (With Lopez getting any caps at all) the nature of the meme changed to a series of reasons explaining his lack of time play on Barcelona with hyperbolic claims about Lopez's virility, skilfulness and a supposed affair with the wife of Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkard which closely resembled Chuck Norris Facts. In interviews, Lopez has stated that he is ok with this unexpected following and the Church of the "White Drogba". (As he is known after missing a crucial Penalty kick for River against Arch-enemies Boca Juniors on the same week Didier Drogba missed one against Egypt in the final of 2006 African Cup of Nations). Maxi Lopez is also married to Wanda Nara a 'page 6' type model in Argentina whose sister was engaged to Forlan before Forlan lost his juju. So don't cry for Maxi Lopez.
you present a convincing argument in favour of Maxi, my friend. i still feel, however that zlatan really belongs on this lineup, simply because he has done more damage to the club than probably any other player ever. he is not responsible for the amount of money we paid for him, but he is fully and solely responsible for his behaviour once he arrived, and is therefore responsible for the considerable financial loss. i just posted some more quotes from his book over in the former players thread, which give some more insight into what was going on behind the scenes and shows how he was actively undermining the whole team with his petulant behaviour, and even physically threatening pep with violence. what i'm thinking now is that i'll add maxi as CF (to honor his finishing abilities), drop ezquerro to the bench (his natural position afterall), and put zlatan out of position on the left wing (to maximize his ability to destabilize the team unity) ---zlatan-----maxi-----quaresma-- ----------hleb------guddy----------- navarro------motta--------oleguer ---------chygy-----caceres--------- ---------------rustu------------------
fair enough, if you ever watch old videos that happen to show Maxi Lopez playing you will likely see Eto'o actually 'steal' the ball off Maxi (or intercept passes to Maxi) before Maxi can blow it in front of the goal
Gotta have Reiziger in that back line imo. Along with Caceres, Chiggy, and Oleguer that is a fearsome foursome. My dream team, assuming they are all 100% fit and in form and Ronaldinho is 2005 Ronaldinho: [LINEUP-4-3-3]Ronaldinho,Messi,Eto'o,Deco,Marquez,Xavi,Abidal,Puyol,Pique,Alves,Valdes[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Subs: Pinto, Busquets, Yaya Toure, Iniesta, Pedro, Larsson, Villa With this lineup I'm looking for crazy amounts of shots on goal, with Xavi keeping the clock and Messi being the false 9---- setting up Dinho, Samu, or Alves to slash in or laying it off for Deco or Rafa to have a shot long range. Or just give it to Ronaldinho and have him pull off something insane and magical while everyone else finds space. Subs I had to think about. I really want to start Deco and Marquez in there not just for offense but for the "dark arts." Of course the Pale Rider comes on early in the 2nd to run the other team absolutely ragged. Pedro comes in for one of the WF's for a more vertical presence. Villa is a straight swap for Dinho. Larrson could come in for Eto'o at which point Larsson and Messi switch up front. Serge B and Yaya can both cover a CB or Marquez at DM. I was thinking of including Van Bronckhorst to cover LB but Puyol can slot over there any time. And then Pinto is Pinto.
Inspired choices, I especially like Marquez at DM, shame he never played there as much as he could have (given that his heyday was the EdMotta era = that's the Edmilson and Motta sharing DM era for the noobies). He was great there for Mexican NT (as they needed more offense and playmaking from him). I like the dark arts comment too. Still think Busquets is underrated on most of these posts - and is certainly a dark arts talent (as is Masch).
I was too afraid of what the multiplier effect would be if I had Serge B out there with Deco at the same time... have you ever seen Deco and Crissy play on the Portuguese NT together?? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCBG9Ta8AP4"]Re: Diving Deco Portugal vs Holland World Cup - YouTube[/ame]
[LINEUP-4-3-3]Ronaldinho,Messi,Eto'o,Deco,Davids,Xavi,Abidal,Puyol,Pique,Alves,Valdes[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Subs: Pinto, Busquets, Yaya Toure, Iniesta, Deco, Larsson, Villa This only differ from mutante's lineup with Davids instead of Marquez at DM. His January signing marked our ascent in 2003(?), and we've never looked back, even though he didn't stay long. Edgar brought the 'tude that backed up the style. It was hard not to include Cocu, who was one of the most versatile players we've ever had. He was a proto-Iniesta.