Saturday 30 May 2009

Guardiola wants larger squad and new players

Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola has said at a press conference yesterday that he wants to be able to count on a larger squad next season:

"Next season will be very difficult for all of us. The calendar of the season that comes will be very tight.

To start with, we could have five or six more top-level games due to the Spanish super cup, the European super cup and the World cup for clubs. Besides that, there's the African Cup of Nations and the season also will be shorter because of the World cup.

There almost won't be time to train, to work on new concepts because we will go from game to game. There will be around 70 games and I think it would be advisable to have a squad that's a little larger. I also think it's needed to bring in new people. You should always look to renew your squad little by little. We will sit down with Txiki and we'll have a look at the possibilities the market offers."

Read more:
A goalkeeper, a left back and a striker
Barcelona plans few changes in the summer
Txiki talks about the summer transfer market

60 comments:

Ramzi said...

In another words, this team can get even better!

Scary!

barca4life said...

Pep knows with the ACN coming up we need some more depth. Hleb Guddy Out Caceres out on loan and some new faces in

HouseMD said...

Yes... and just imagine to win Spanish super cup, European super cup and World cup for clubs... OMG.

I wonder who will come to club and who will go away. Can't wait.

My wishes for the next season:
LB: Adriano (Sevilla), 2nd option Taiwo
MC: Cesc, 2nd option Moutinho
LW: Ribery, 2nd option di Maria or Silva
ST: Benzema, no 2nd option

Anonymous said...

@house md: we need no striker like benzema we have etoo, henry and krkic and also benzema is too expensive! and the same with cesc, we dont need him we have thiago hopefully coming up, we will buy cesc when xavi retires!

Anonymous said...

Who will we be playing the Spanish super cup against, since we've won both League and Copa Del Rey? European super cup we play against Sahtjor, but can someone explain what happens with domestic Super cup if same team wins the League and Cup.

Thanks in advance

Anonymous said...

@the anonymous before me: i think against real madrid!

barca4life said...

We need more depth in the centre of midfield if guddy and hleb leave. I hope we renew sylvinho. He has done his job, he doesnt complain, he knows his role, he waits for his chances and he excecutes. As for strikers why benzema? We have Messi Etoo Henry 99 goals and then gai and bojan. Even if we do buy another striker somebody like benzema may want playing time that causes a conflict with etoo and henry. The same with ribery silva or di maria. The worst part is that silva or di maria could cause gai to move elsewhere. I think gai could be better than di maria and as good as silva. di maria smacks of quaresma to me. Great in portugese league but how will he do in spain? Why not give gai a chance first? I would not mind cesc but he would have to know that it will be like spain and he wont always start immediately. Once he understands that we should have no problems

HouseMD said...

@anonymous: mate, that's just my wishes, take a look again.

I know it's impossible to have them all, but as barca4life said we need some depth due to ACN. It's very important to secure Cesc for the next season and he'll be perfect for Barca. Anyway, just imagine midfield without Yaya and Keita next January! So, it's necessary to secure some young and good midfielder. The same thing for Eto'o (he'll be absent in January). Regarding Henry, he'll be 32 next August and it's an illusion to expect that he'll perform at the top level constantly. That's why I prefer Benzema. Bojan will surely get better every day.

barca4life said...

From wikipedia

* In 1984, 1989 and the cup was awarded to Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid and respectively as they had won La Liga/Copa del Rey doubles.

** However, in both 1996 and 1998 it was contested, even though Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona also won the double, respectively. The losing finalist in La Copa del Rey was selected to play and won both times. The cup was not contested in 1986 or 1987 as the clubs involved could not agree on dates.

*** In 2009 FC Barcelona won the La Liga/Copa del Rey double, however the adjudication of the Supercopa has not been decided. It is almost certain that as in both 1996 and 1998 the game will be played using the team that finished in second place in the Copa del Rey. Because the RFEF organizes both the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa, the second place in the Liga is excluded from consideration.

Anonymous said...

I don't want to be the one to see the cup half empty but I doubt we will have a season like this one again next season. Man U won the Champions League last season and FC Barca won this season. Now I think it is an Italian teams turn to win it. But I'm still hoping Barca win it! That is just my prediction.

barca4life said...

You are right, next season is going to be more difficult than this. No team since the champions league startedin in 1993 has retained in. This in 2009. Whats more no team had retained it from even before that since 1990. So we are on the verge of 20 years without a repeat champion.

Also before this year in the past 4-5 years no team that had won it the year before even got past the first knockout round. And even though we are euphoric we should remember that we got a big slice of luck against chelsea. On another day we could have had 2 penalties called against us or even at the end iniesta could have missed.

So while we celebrate and enjoy this success remember that since the european cup started in 1956 no spanish team had ever done the treble. Thats 53 years by my count. I know guardiola said 102 but the real european cup only started in 56. So enjoy this year but keep in mind that these sorts of things dont happen often and keep in mind what happened after the last time we won the european cup in 2006. Enjoy the moment while you have it

barSELOna said...

lb ; vargas
gk ; asenjo
mc ; moutinho or veloso or cesc
wing ; ribery
st ; benzema
cb ; bruno alves

barca4life said...

asenjo signed for atletico yesterday

Kxevin said...

Guardiola is absolutely right. Fabregas lovers can calm down, however. Where is he going to play? No way is he content with coming off the bench which, with Xavi and Iniesta in the house, is where he will be coming from. Plus he'll be rather expensive.

I think that Guardiola is spot on, but he also acknowledges the transfers that didn't work out, and players that need to be moving on.

You could see something like this:

Out: Sylvinho, Gudjohnsen, Hleb, quite possibly Krkic on loan and a diminished role for Henry. Abidal might also be on the block.

This means that Txiki/Guardiola are going to be looking for players that will fit into the system (as they thought Hleb would) rather than bank-breaking superstars. Can the starting XI be improved? Yes. A player such as Ribery would be great. But Bayern is interested in cashing in, and we just don't play that game, nor should we. And would Ribery be happy as part of a platoon system with the likes of Henry and Iniesta? Would we be happy spending that much money for a platoon player? Yes, he's one for the future, but in the present he will most likely cost north of 50 million. Ouch.

Manolo said...

Sell:
Guddy
Hleb
Joruqera
Sylvinho (Retire?)

Out on Loan:
Cáceres
Maybe Henrique, depeds on if Milito leaves.

Buy:
We need a good playmaker, we can't live on Xavi and Iniesta under 70 mathces.
What will happens if they get injured?

A good playmaker,

Fabregas is a good one but he is a "must-be-in-the-starting-eleven- player"

There is others as Arteta,Former Barça player and so on..

A winger like Ribery or Silva.

LB:Felipe Luis in Deportivo?
Adriano in Sevilla?

There is manny, I would go for a offensive not over 26-27 years old LB.

And maybe maybe we should buy a defensiv midfielder, depends on Toure,Keita Marquez and Sergi.B will do

barSELOna said...

then go for diego alves

JR said...

Guardiola speeks the truth. I never even thought we could win the treble with the small squad we had this season, but I was proven wrong in brilliant fashion of course.

Should be looking for a new left back, a new left winger, and the full-time promotion of Gai, Thiago, Pedro and possibly Muniesa.

HouseMD said...

I agree with JR. I was scared of some major injury, but goddess luck took care on Barca players.

@Kxevin: you're right about players to be out this summer. Gudjohnsen and Hleb for sure, Sylvinho will retire and I wouldn't mind to sell Milito and Keita if good offers come. Why not? Henry is another story. Regarding Cesc, I'm true admirer of his football abilities and I see him as successor of Xavi as much as I see Benzema playing for Barca one day when Eto'o retires.

Nerre barcaaa !!!! said...

I dont get it why people say if etoo leaves we need to get a young striker we already have Bojan and belive me in a couple of years he will be very good. If we are going to get a striker we need someone thats 26+. We dont need a lot of new players. maybe silva so he can switch with iniesta and xavi. When yaya and kieta play ANC we have marquez and busqetes as dm. if we get ribery and silva then we only need to promote gai,muniesa,pedro and thiago. :D My biggest wish would be if eto'o leaves and we replace him with Zlatan. Not that eto'o is not good but i think Zlatan can do a better job :) just my opinion dont go crazy now.

And someone said next year we might not win as much :) everybody said the treble has never happen :P but guardiola did it :) thats why i belive we will win next season too :)

Anonymous said...

houseMD wants to sell Keita. crazy. left winger, striker is needed.

and let us think for a moment, that messi and xavi both get injured for 3 months. do we have the necessary backup, or will all our ambitions go down the toilet if that happens?

Iason said...

With Keita's age and the African Cup of Nations coming up next year, we should probably sell him. I love Keita and he has been amazing this season not only with his defensive displays but scoring crucial goals (He seems to be the only Barca player willing to fight for every header and shoot from outside of the box) but with Busquets, Toure and maybe Xavi Torres, we don't need anymore DM and since he has been so good this season, a few good offers could come up. But anything less than 18 Million Euros is not acceptable.

HouseMD said...

@anonymous: Iason explains great what I'm trying to say about Keita. I'm not sure about his price, but 15M will match.

i_love_boobs_and_barca said...

Whatever Guardiola decides, I'll agree and trust him. I'm sure he will bring the best players that suit our way of playing. I'm sure he's thinking about everything, and he'll choose who he wants, and Txiki will bring them.

barca4life said...

Ok i understand the need for depth but why in the world would we pretend messi and xavi are both injured for 3 months? So what are we supposed to do? Buy 2 expensive players for them to sit on the bench and be angry like hleb when they dont play because messi and xavi are not injured?

Anonymous said...

We need to sell jorquera, sylvinio gudjonson, hleb, and if a huge offer comes in for eto'o him also. we should promote more youith academy players such as muniesa(for silvinio) xavi torres, assulin. we should buy a playmaker who can play in the midfield. my choice would be anderson. supposing eto'o leaves we should go for villa. and we need a new left midfield. i would go spanish and buy silva. just in case we should also promote thiago from the academy. for the upcoming season, i really feel we need quantity as well as quantity.

Dolce said...

Barca´s starting line-up is almost ideal but the brutal truth is that our bench boys cant match for example United´s and Chelsea´s back-up players. We have quality but not enough quantity what comes to attacking options, thats why Hleb´s fiasco season was an extra burden. Iniesta was crocked over 3 months but luckily Xavi was amazing and Busi´s arrival gave more pivote options. Its interesting to see how many reserve players Pep promotes, but its obvious that players like Pedro,VicSan,Xavi Torres and Jeffren likely WONT have great future so its stupid to have any blind faith in them. Only Bojan and perhaps Gai & Muniesa can make it but they still have a lot to learn. I am a bit worried that we just wait in Eto'os and Valdes´ cases and watch how other teams land big name players. We can forget deals like "20M plus Hleb for Ribery" because Bayern can easily get at least 40 million for Ribery. But seems that we are not really willing to spend on new players, our superb cantera helps a lot but after 2004 Barca has signed only two mega signings(Alves and Henry). If we dont act now, then we can forget players like Zlatan, Aguero, Keirrison, Tevez and Villa for ever. In 2006 Barca board made a huge mistake by finding a replacement only for Larsson by signing Guddy(the second best should never be enough for Barca), then in 06-07 the team found out how disastrous Eto'os and Messi´s injuries were because Barca didnt have any good back up players. And this weeks CL final would have been a much harder if Iniesta and Henry couldnt start. Eto' o and Henry should stay and if Barca signs a new striker then the team can send Bojan on loan and if we buy a playmaker, then Iniesta can play often as a winger. Surely there is room for Cesc and Villa etc.

jordy said...

goalkeepers
VV, Pinto, Oier(but he should play regularly in the athletic team too)
defenders
alves henrique , pique marquez, milito puyol, abidal and e new left back defender. i like clichy but also maxwell looks fine because of his great passing ability
midfielders
toure (renew him!) busquets xavi iniesta keita sanchez
I would also promote vazquez, one of the best of the atheletic team but he was injuried a long time.xavi torres hasn't done a bad job so far neither. maybe another more physical player. that makes 8 players, seems enough to me.
attack is the most difficult, what if eto'o or henry leave? well I think one of the strengths of barça is that eto'o and henry always try to get the ball behind the last defender.our midfielders and messi are masters to put the ball there too. messi and iniesta can do the job before the last line of defenders. so whe shouldn't lose that.Our opponents don't know what to do with that. Such strikers are pato and benzema. I would surely like pato to replace henry if he goes for example. If possible i would get ribery but that's a hard nut to crack.promote pedro and jeffren. pedro is perfectly both feeted and has a lot of talent. jeffren also has potential.a player who tries to find the center. Bojan can replace eto'o when he goes to the african nation's cup..also henry can play as centre striker.

Anonymous said...

You're totally right Dolce. I also think David Villa is the best way to create more depht in the offensive. Again this year he was playing for a Valencia team that sucked many times and finished 6th.....Beside that he has managed to score 26 goals in la liga. I don't think the signing should depend on a Eto'o or Henry transfer, that I really dislikes. Eto'o can play the left wing too, as we have seen him switch position with Henry many times during the games this year. It's the same with Cesc, Iniesta, Xavi, where Iniesta also can play the wings with success.
The rotations are the keyword for the next season, and with the two signings there will be guarantied the same high quality in the offensive every game.

Anonymous said...

barca4life: just ask yourself the question. we have been lucky that xavi and messi havent been out this season. we need reliable backups. if we sell hleb and gudjohnsen, good players must replace them. and we have 70 games next season plus keita and yaya out for a month in january. a great left winger is needed in addition to replacements for the ones who leave. henrique and milito are additions in defence, probably caceres. i think sylvinho should get one more year. a great person and backup.

Anonymous said...

probably caceres should go on loan was the full sentence.

Anonymous said...

this what i hope next seasons line up will look like-
GK-VALDES
RB-ALVES
CB-PIQUE
CB-PUYOL
LB-ABIDAL

RCM-XAVI
DM-TOURE
LCM-INIESTA

RF-MESSI
ST-VILLA
LF-SILVA

SUBS-
GK-PINTO, OIER/MINO
RB-PUYOL CAN PLAY ALSO GO FOR DEPORTIVO'S BARRAGAN
CB'S-HENRIQUE,MARQUEZ,MILITO
LB-MUNIESA

AM'S-FABREGAS,ANDERSON,THIAGO
DM'S-KEITA, XAVI TORRES, BUSQUETS

RF-PEDRO
ST-HENRY,BOJAN
LF-ASSULIN

Anonymous said...

i am so happy barça won treble this year.But thats all that's part of history now.what next seasons .im sure with this team barca cant to much next season.Real madrid is going to be stronger and they had great season at second part of season they even had to much injured players and played good .what if they bye some great players as they said KAKA RONALDO VILLA and meyebe IBRAHIMOVIC and even RIBERY.could barca compete to this team next season i dont think really Im barca fun but this is to much .if we would not bye any great player as fabregas vidic and ribery it would be to hard.meybe henry is going somewhere and he did'nt play such good on that position if barca would bye ribery we could have 2 great wide creators and hopefull great finisher as eto'o .barca must bye 2-3 great players to play as this season.

TakeBackTheCity said...

guys dont sell keita for max one month, we can deal with it.keita is superb player.

gk:VV,Pinto,Oier sell Jorquera

dfndrs:Alves,Sanchez,Henrique,Milito,Marquez
Pique, Puyol,Abidal,Caçeres out:sylvinho

midfielders:Yaya,Sergio B.,Keita,Iniesta,Xavi,one transfer,
promote one out:guddy

attackers:Messi,Etoo,Henry,Bojan,Pedro,one transfer,promote one, sell:hleb

so,2 transfer a must,third one better.

sylvinho,hleb,guddy,jorquera out
henrique,one midfielder,one forward,2-3 promotions, in.

Anonymous said...

we should also remember that marques and pique can play the DM. pique has lots of experience on the DM position. yaya also has alot of offensive qualities, so he can play with busquets (busquets as the defensive one, and yaya as a box-to-box midfielder similar to Lampard or Gerrard for example).

Anonymous said...

i agree with take back the city that keita played good this season and scored some important goals he even is the only midfilder who plays good with had .but for player who will be promoted i doubt as i her only gai asulin is going to be promoted next season while most of barca athletic players will leave the club .

Anonymous said...

HouseMD: Keita plays as CM with yaya or busquets as DM. Keita does not play as DM. So Keita gives us heading, shooting and goalscoring abilities (his runs inside the box is important). Very important against defensive teams to have such players. His technique and passing is also good enough. he can not be sold

bojan! said...

Pep is right, we need more quality players so I prefer

AML Ribery is a must ( henry will play as ST when Eto'o is on ACN)

MC Hernanes and Juninho(lyon) he can be usefull for free kiks and he can accept bench role

DC Even if Henrique returns this summer I think we need another RB to be back up for Alves and LB if Sylvinho leave us!

And also Keirison is a possibility, I want that kid and if we sign him he can be loan for one season..

But first we need to get rid of
Hleb, Guddy, Milito, Jorquera!

Anonymous said...

GK: Valdes, Pinto
RB: Henrique, Dani Alves
CB: Puyol, Marquez, Milito, Pique
LB: Abidal, Sylvinho, Muniesa

DM: Busquets, Yaya
CM: Iniesta, Keita, Xavi, Thiago

RF: Messi, Jeffren
CF: Eto'o or Ibrahimovic, Bojan
LF: Henry, Ribery

barca4life said...

Ok Henrique and Puyol can both play RB so i dont think we need anybody else to back up Dani. In the midfield we have sergi xavi iniesta yaya and keita. We need another. thiago is class but we may need one more experienced player in the middle for january when ACN comes around. As far as up front Messi etoo henry bojan gai. We could use a trezeguet.Big tall something differnt to head in dani's crosses.

Anonymous said...

GK: Valdes, Pinto
RB: Alves, Henrique
CB: Puyol, Pique, Marquez, Milito
LB: Abidal, Maxwell
DM: Toure, Busquets
CM: Xavi, Iniesta, Keita, Thiago
RF: Messi, Pedro, Assulin
CF: Etoo, Krkic
LF: Henry, Silva

IN: Maxwell, Thiago, Assulin, Silva
OUT: Jorquera, Sylvinho, Caceres on loan, Guddy, Hleb

Anonymous said...

if pep do what you guys said barca will be doomed for sure

Anonymous said...

Why?

HouseMD said...

I don't think that Keita MUST be sold, but I'd take 15M right now is someone offers. Although, I wouldn't change current team much. Xavi Torres could replace him and Yaya during ACN and still, Barca have Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets as midfielders. Anyway, Barca will probably buy one midfielder, especially if (when) Gudjohnsen and Hleb find another club.
I agree with someone above who said that this is time for Barca to buy big. Definitely. I presume it'll be left winger. Ribery would be hard to get, but Silva could be easier target due to Valencia's bad financial status. So, 25-30M will do. As I said, there's no need to change current squad, especially defense. Muniesa and Botia will play more and more and Caceres will prove his worth very soon and Henrique will maybe come from loan. There are few players which could replace Alves, so the weakest part needs patch, that's LB.
Regarding attack, no need to change, especially if Eto'o stay at Barca.

Let's be patient and most important let's enjoy Barca's success. There's no club in the world like Barca.

Iason said...

I think Muniesa getting minutes next season is a must. Puyol can be our regular LB with Abidal the back up and Muniesa and Marquez/Milito/Caceres competing for the CB alongside Pique. Puyol at LB is very great defensive and contributes going forward plus that way we will have the kind of LB everyone wants, very solid and can play anywhere along the back four. Abidal can also play at CB. Don't worry about the height because Puyol can still out jump players like Cristiano Ronaldo that are twice his size!

Rory said...

changes are always made, but think about last transfer window...in terms of bringing new blood in, barca made one big splash and a couple smaller moves. Another season like that would probably be the best option.

I agree that Ribery as our big splash transfer is the ideal. I'd also like a big splash defender--but only if abidal or marquez transfers out.

Depth needs to consider both the current need for next season's intense 70 matches, but also to make sure we don't block the three or four atletic players (muniesa, gai, thiago specifically) that warrant first team appearances.

someone mentioned Juninho as a target...i think looking at that level is a smart move...veterans willing to play less regularly in order to play for a historically good squad. Ribery and two or three of those makes a lot of sense to me.

Anonymous said...

i think juninho has retired. i think ribery might be too expensive. he could cost maybe 70m-80m euros. perhaps silva and a striker that can head the ball like veteran trezeguet could be good. veteran sylvinho i think should get one-year extension.

Anonymous said...

i hava an off topic question: how is it about the financial status of barca ?? or have we debts or how many have we!!!

Anonymous said...

it is very good, debt is under control, we also get alot of extra money with the Treble.

kamikaze kontiki said...

I am not sure Pep is the sort of coach who can work with a very big squad. I think this season has proved that:
1. He is going to count for most part on the big names who he trusts and who are already part of the squad.
2. The sort of bench players he prefers are of the less glamourous Keita variety.

Unless he has a defnite preference for a Ribery or a Silva we might see a signing from a much smaller club and rely more on the cantera products coming through. In fact, I am betting that he will end up going with Gai and Pedro while retaining Henry.

I think we might see a key signing at left-back and another back-up midfielder. Xavi Torres for me, was very unconvincing but since he is 22 and cannot continue in the B squad much longer he is likely to get promoted. At least, he is a tough player, stronger than Busquets and may play a more versatile role. I would also like to see a back-up centre-forward from on of the smaller La Liga clubs.

Here is a thought, how about Juan Mata as LW. He is a former Madrid player but so was Luis Enrique. Can score, can play behind the CF too.

Iason said...

How much money does winning the treble get us?

Anonymous said...

I think kamikaze is a genius. Mata would be great! pep should listen. Xavi Torres is awful. He needs to go.

Anonymous said...

winning the treble will get alot of sponsorship money now and in the future, plus prize money in the CL. dont know if there is prize money for La Liga and copa.

Anonymous said...

Gk:Valdes,Pinto,Oier
Rb:Alves,Henrique
Cb:Pujol,Pique,Botia,Caceres
Lb:Maxwell,Munesia
Dm:Hernanes,Toure
Rm:Xavi,Thiago
Lm:Iniesta,Jonathon dos Santos
Lw:Messi,Jeffren
Rw:Ribery,Gai
St:Keirrison,Bojan

Anonymous said...

no time for training? that can't be good. for a perspective, how many games have we played this season?

peter said...

If that is the case we really should hold on to players like Guddy and Sylvinho who KNOWS how Barca play. We want those experienced players who don't mind to sit on the bench.

If they want to stay that is.

Sylvinho will absolutely not retire. He has said himself that he can keep going for many years and that his physique is really great. His expereince and attitude could serve very well if we get many new players from juvenil or athletic.

Evinho said...

Atleast 4 players will go out(Jorquera, Sylvinho, Guddy, Hleb, maybe Caceres on loan and maybe Eto), so for next season we need atleast 6 new players. Players who barca will buy for big money, have to be good so they can be equally in starting eleven. Bayern wants €100m for Ribery and that is too much for barca. City can buy him with their £250m transfer money. Eto will probably will leave because 2nd half of the season was very poor. He is too unstable and depend on other players. Henry will stay for one year. Keirrison is too young to replace Eto, we already have Bojan. So we need an experienced striker wo can score solo, with head and also can score from distance. It`s important when barca is playing against full defence (like in semi-final against chelsea), so if we can`t get into through the defensive wall, we have to attack from outside with great shot. For now only 2 names are coming to my mind:Ibra and 2nd choice Villa. A great replacement for wings and midfield would be Silva.
Gk:Valdes,Pinto IN:maybe promote Oier OUT:Jorquera
Df:Alves,Puyol,Pique,Abidal, Marquez,Milito,Sanchez, Muniesa IN:LB(Maxwell),Henrique OUT:Sylvinho
Midfield:Toure,Xavi,Iniesta, Keita,Busquets IN:promote Thiago plus another player OUT:Guddy
Strikers:Henry,Messi, Bojan,Pedro IN:Ibra/Villa,Silva,promote Gai and maybe Jeffern(both can play also in midfield) OUT:Hleb,Eto
Another alternatives would be Fabregas, Agüero, di Maria but a little bit too young. Too bad that Zarate already mad a contract, he would be great.

blaugranafan said...

"if pep do what you guys said barca will be doomed for sure"

This is the sanest comment in this thread.

Thanks to whoever pointed out that Keita usually does not play DM for us. He plays CM with a lot of forward runs. He almost never subs for Yaya or Sergi; instead, he typically comes on for Iniesta when Andres starts in the middle. The man is brave as hell.

"Thiago is class" What is your evidence? He is is a good prospect, but I can't see how you can say he is class. He gave the ball away more times than I could count when he was given his debut a couple weeks ago. And Thiago is not a playmaker like Xavi or Cesc.

thebackseatstrangler said...

valdes, pinto, oier

alves, henrique

puyol, marquez, pique, caceres, milito, muniesa

abidal, maxwell/chivu

toure, sergi busquets, xavi torres

xavi, hernanes, iniesta, thiago-alcantara, keita

messi, pedro, eto'o, henry, silva, bojan, gai

hopefully the added revenue brought about by the trinity could facilitate these movements in the transfer market... the key signing would be silva, i think, as he would play on the left and also drift into the deep number 9 role just as messi did against real madrid and later man united. this would enable henry/bojan to do the same(play both as the spearhead of attack & on the wing).

although the purported 100 mil for ribery is little more than posturing by bayern munich, i believe the kid from valencia's cantera would gel more quickly and be a better buy than the frenchman, as well as give more of a chance for gai assulin. valencia's president can't bank on loyalty to one's childhood club to keep silva there this time around, especially when not being able to offer him champions' league football or the guarantee of his salary being payed on time.

hernanes would bring much needed cover for xavi as would thiago-alcantara for iniesta. they should be bled in slowly of course.

a left-back is not that much of a priority but should at least be considered. maybe alternating between a wing back on the right and a more solid tackler on the left(alves & abidal) and the converse(puyol/caceres/henrique & maxwell) would be a good balance.

hop to it pep ;^)

Aussie Barca Fan said...

Well we will be playing in 6, count them 6 competitions. For mind we can't rely on the cantera products only as back up. We should have brought Asenjo but now that is history.

I am a big fan of bringing into the squad Gai and Thiago and possibly Oier as back up keeper.

We should bring back Henrique and look for another L/B. Muniesa is not really a L/B. Someone like Maxwell could be ok.

Here is my prospective team:

GK - Valdes - Pinto - Oier
RB - Alves - Rafinha or Henrique
CB - Puyol - Pique - Botia - Milito - Muniesa - Marquez (Caceres to go on loan)
LB - Abidal - Maxwell
DF - Yaya - Sergi B - Maschereno (if possible)
CM - Xavi - Iniesta - Keita - Thiago - Javi Martinez
RAM - Messi - Sanchez - Gai
LAM - Henry - Ribery - Mata
STR - Eto'o - Bojan - Llorent or 'Kerrieson'

New Signings:
Rafinha
Maxwell
Maschereno (if possible)
Javi Martinez
Ribery
Mata
Llorent or Kerrieson

Out:
Jacquera
Guddy
Hleb
Caceres - loan

It is going to be a big, long season and it's a World Cup year hence there will be allot of games. I think Pep will have no choice but to go for a big squad to cover injuries, suspensions etc.

Anonymous said...

it's good if barcalona get mourad meghni players algerie and club lazoi roma is a good player for me u have to watch all his videos in youtube and u will see that

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