Saturday, 23 August 2008

The first league game team

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that this is the team that will play the first league game against Numancia next Sunday (7pm barcelona time) :


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25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shouldn't Marquez and Puyol switch places there?

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

I would prefer Xavi in the middle and Yaya behind him and Iniesta

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

If this would be the trend, Yaya would hand in a transfer request (off to Arsenal) next season and I trust Barca board, they are so bad in business he would go for peanuts. Enuff said

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

@ PEP
Is there any truth in what Mustapha Riga(Levante) now of Bolton said? He is saying Raul and Xavi have said that the Liga wldnt start until their payment(levante) issues are resolved. Please comfirm..
Tnx m8

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

looks strong squad and whats the most important, is that barca has very good subs on the bench. I think barca can win something this year.

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

yaya will have a difficult season with guardiola. a pity because he is a very good player! and younger than keita..
noubarça could be right on this one. though it's more guardiola to blame..
if we want to win something, capel or di maria would be welcome.
jordy

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

I am a bit worried about Hleb and Toure, they are not players that should stay on the bench. Hleb is simply amazing and could do great things with barca. As it is with Toure he is proven in our system and Keita is not. even if Pep would want to give a first elven chance to Hleb he has to take Iniesta off, and thats not a smart idea.

Anyway we are headin to a very long season so there will be a place for everyone, i just hope they dont get upset.

Visca el Barca

granche

23 August, 2008
Ramzi said...

I think if pep had any doubts in yaya qualities he would put him as an incentive in his attempt to buy Ade (a player he was crazy to get), I am sure Arsenal would have considered the deal then because they need a yaya as much as they need ade, while its easier to find an ade (hauntler,berba....)than finding a yaya.
knowing that pep never considered this option means that yaya presence in the team is a certainty. Now i am not sure if this is the right formation, and i doubt that Guardiola know already whom he will select(he probably have senarios and more focussed on CL away game), still too early for him to make the final decession, but one thing for sure is that he will select 11 players out of 25(or more),so certainly the majority of the names will b benched, will that mean 14 players will request transfers?thats not really a realistic way to c things.
yet i admit i am curious to know how pep is planning to satisfy all the players, barca already have a BIG squad, but still tooo early to expect anything, for sure he has a rotation strategy, and i hope it work.

23 August, 2008
Subramanian said...

Guys,relax.I heard Yaya is still nursing an injury and i dont think Guardiola would have the same line up all year long.Toure had an injury and it is ok,if he comes in as a sub or starts matches later.I am sure,we would even play Toure+Keita sometime.There will be injuries and we know how it works,it is walys good to have people around.

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

Ramzi, it might not be realistic to you. But ending the last season as the best or 2nd best player in a team and straight to the bench in the new season would make you think twice. Bojan(age), Henry(age/competetion with Eto), Marquez(performances), Sylvinho(age & not competetion), Hleb(new boy status/competetion), Pique(competettion), Caceras(competetion) wouldnt make 14 players hand in transfer requests.
But I still reason with you cos if Pep Guard. doesnt rate/want Yaya, he would have used him as part exchange for Ade. So we would have to wait and c what pep does.

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

Relax, everyone. It's a long season that will be contested on three fronts: Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey. That's a lot of matches against a lot of different sides. I wouldn't put too much into any lineups, real or imagined.

The most difficult a coach has in assembling a talented squad that is capable of competing on three fronts is making sure that players understand that there will be horses for courses.

That will be the sternest test for Guardiola. Yaya is used to automatic first-team slotting. But maybe there are some sides for which Keita is better. There might even be some sides for which Marquez finds his way into defensive mid.

As long as the players understand that it's for the good of the side, and the coach helps them to understand that, it's all good.

If they don't, you get a Robinho.

The same starting XI is in part what led to so many injuries last season. If you look at Chelsea, they are at least two players deep at every position, so they can contest all four tourneys in England (Carling, FA, Premiership, Champions League).

We aren't that deep yet, preferring to stack the midfield. But a couple more signings or promotions would fix that problem, and serve us well this coming season.

But rest assured, Guardiola knows that Yaya is the best defensive mid in the world.

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...
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23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

Xavi in a more central position would make more sense to me. As for Keita or Hleb starting, I haven't watched them nearly enough in actual league matches to know too much about either one so it's a toss-up. Line-up looks good, although anytime Marquez is on the field I always feel a little worried.

23 August, 2008
Ramzi said...

Kxevin how do u mean that barca dont have enough depth yet?
1)barca has 3 GK.
2)have alves as RB + payol/pique as back ups.
3) Marquez, payol, caceres, pique and later milito for CB (2 positions)
4)abidal as LB, silvinho as back up + caceres when needed.
5)Yaya as DM + keita + marquez/pique if needed.
6)xavi, iniesta, hleb as midfielders + godi if needed.
7)iniesta, hleb, Henry as LW (i dont mind getting a natural LW thoug)
8)Messi as RW , hleb for back up (i believe bojan can perform there if needed)
9)strikers:eto, henry, bojan (gudi if needed)i wish if barca sell gudi and get crespo...better as a tactical option.

plus loads of young Barca B players who can take minnor roles along the season specialy in the cup to rest the first team players.

I cant c any other team having this verstility and depth. unless if you thing we need at least 2 players for each position and they just play in "that position", then u will have 30 players in ur squad (keeping in mind u have more than 2 players for each midfield and CB position.
in football its reccommended not to have more than 25 players in ur squad, or else both picking and training sessions will get complicated.
the team has more than enough, If i want to be creative i would wish if barca make an attempt to switch Kasper Schmeichel for Gudi, and either get LW or put henry there and buy crespo.

23 August, 2008
Jnice said...

It's one game. I'm sure Yaya will end up starting more than Keita anyway. The midfield is not one that is set in stone, Pep adjusts it to fit the style of team Barca are playing. I bet Yaya is still not 100% yet but either way, that is not the linuep for all 38 games. Relax. Pep even came out and said Yaya is an important part of his plans and he was the one that wanted Hleb so why all the worrying?

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

"I wouldn't put too much into the line-ups". Alright, well what exactly should we be concerned about except for the starting 11 that are going to play the majority of the game?

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

Touré is just coming back from injuryn, he had surgery in mid-season so no need to risk things. I'm pretty sure he'll take that defensive midfield position pretty quick. Guardiola himself said he had bought Keita in the first place for the left offensive midfield position (Deco).

23 August, 2008
barca nike said...

I Think this is a excellent formation except in the defensive midf. role id prefer to have Toure and then Kieta in the second half if needed.

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

this formation would be usefull in the moderate home matches, in rhe harder away mathes or after securing the result he can shift to 2 DM like Tore' and Marguez or Tore' and Kieta

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

maybe this lineup is because Numancia are crap and both Iniesta and Keita are attack-minded players who like to push up and look for goals.

against tougher opposition Yaya and Hleb, who excel in getting and retaining possession and working the passing lanes would get the start.

it's not Frank Rijkaard, cookie-cutter-setup-for-every-game and bring-on-subs-at-63-minutes-regardless-of-who-is-playing-or-how-badly time anymore. Pep is a strategist and does his homework, and against different opponents you'll see some different sets of players, even some that might seem odd.

23 August, 2008
Jnice said...

exactly ba. well said. Pep will model the team around the opponents style of play and what they need that game. I'm sure even Gudjohnsen will get starts.

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

Ramzi, I think that in terms of absolute quality, we are short at RB, LB and LW. Outside of the starter, we have makeweight. Puyol can make do at right back, but the dropoff is enormous from Alves. Other players can make do at left wing, but again the dropoff from Henry is significant. Even Henry isn't a real left winger. And Sylvinho is in his last season of significant usefulness for us, and he'll be hanging on at that.

The left side of our attack is not as potent as the right, and it should be. That was kind of what I meant.

I'll be curious to see how the Guardiola system works, but we're depending on players remaining injury-free in a couple of key positions, something I don't think you can count on over the course of a very long season.

23 August, 2008
Ramzi said...

Kxevin I agree with you that its not a "perfect" squad, but my case is that if u get two more full backs then u will have more problems satisfying your CB players where you already have 5 players for 2 positions, the same for LW, if u get a LW to rotate with henry then iniesta, xavi and hleb will compete on one position (keeping gudi aside) no matter how long the season will be, still too much competetion and as u know dissatisfaction is like a snow ball when it start it keep getting worse and worse till it crush the squad stability.
In the begining of transfer season my perfect senario was getting 2 CB + Alves + lahm (who can rotate with both alves and abidal), a DM + ribery and may be if selling henry or eto and getting a big guy in the box. but now i cant c whom u can buy for RB/LB now , i cant find serious names in the market, keeping in mind that u cant think of a player who can match alves quality (like micon)and expect he will accept to be a back up.
satisfying the squad already have will be challanging enough for pep, i believe if they get a RB/LB (kiriakov/rofinha) then bye bye milito, gudi need to be offloaded to give space for young players to have more time, and if its still possible to get ribery(unlikely)i would sacrifice henry and get crespo,but since henry played in CL then thats all fantacy.

23 August, 2008
Anonymous said...

i don't think we're going to pay 20m+ for Philly Lahm so he can sit on our bench.

24 August, 2008
Ramzi said...

BA first i dont mean doing it now, but before he renewed his contract with byern, he was cheaper, and secondly when he rotate with abidal and alves he will b playing about 20 games a season, that worth signing him right?but now its too late anyway, he renewed his contract and he is too expensive to get, too hard to tempt.

24 August, 2008

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