^^
I am afraid I don't share your enthusiasm.
I see another Robinho in the making. The best Brazil player I have seen this summer is Oscar, who has already been snapped up by Chelsea. Brilliant player.

It'll be a shame if Neymar ends up like Robinho. He promised so much, if he delivered so little, then it's really a pity! Well, i will see what Spanish Press,who see him as the best thing to happen to the world after Messi, will say of him tommorrow. They 'd have been hugely disappionted with what they saw!

I have also observed that Oscar. But it's my bet he'll struggle alot at Chelsea. He may end up being loaned.

Johnpaul88: It'll be a shame if Neymar ends up like Robinho. He promised so much, if he delivered so little, then it's really a pity! Well, i will see what Spanish Press,who see him as the best thing to happen to the world after Messi, will say of him tommorrow. They 'd have been hugely disappionted with what they saw!

I have also observed that Oscar. But it's my bet he'll struggle alot at Chelsea. He may end up being loaned.

On bolded, don't think so. The boy is good, and he's not flashy like most Brazillians. His game is quick, quiet, and efficient. He doesn't look like much on the pitch, but the guy delivers solid assists. He's potentially as efficient as any central midfielder can be.

Jonathan Soriano penalty for Red Bull Salzburg, LMAO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Jq287m0_j9Q

I no know say na so my people many here o

Welcome then...
Feel free to post comments on issues that attract your interest.
We 're all friends here.

Hi Guys,

Sup with the Song rumours. . .is it a done deal yet?

I don't think Song's deal is already done. But Catalan press claimed that Barthomew, Barca VP, was in London yesterday to negoiate with Arsenal and that €18M will be agreed soon. It claimed that personal terms with Song have been agreed already. €5M annual gross earning for 5 years.

But i some how pity Arsenal. They lose their best players every year. They have already lost RVP to Manchester United and will soon lose Alex Song to us, if the wind blow true. They seem to always do a Macabee dance - one step forward, three steps backward. That's why they end every season worse than they had started it. Shame...

Rumours today in Goal.com indicate that a deal has been struck at £15m.

Let's wait for confirmation, before we start analysing the dude.

Hmmmm, looking good for us.. with Song and Busquet, nice nice.

How about defenders? i mean a defender at least?

Dis thread is kinda dull recently! Anyway any prediction on our first match? Barcelona vs R.sociedad!

Yahoo1: Dis thread is kinda dull recently! Anyway any prediction on our first match? Barcelona vs R.sociedad!

I see 3:1

Yahoo1: Dis thread is kinda dull recently! Anyway any prediction on our first match? Barcelona vs R.sociedad!

I see a 10-0

I predict a 3-0 and a goal each from messi,Alexis and fabregas

Adriano..says Barca is ready for madrid.......the super copas on 23..dats thursday next week...

My Pple how una de? I cant wait foq the league to start o. Concerning our first game it will be goal festival to the lads. I pin my bet on 5-1 forza fcb!

Sociedad is a tough opponent. Being the first game at home, we should win. 3-0 from me.

The Return of Stealthy

Guys, I have been on an assignment by my company and as a result haven't been able to contribute to this forum or even read your comments over the last couple of months. Fortunately, I'm back just in time for the new season. Yipee!

I will contribute to the transfer suggestions shortly.

I also see there's a drive to form a penye in Nigeria - that's good. I'm not in Lagos presently but will certainly love to join so we can formalize this our passion for this club

Wow! Stealthy is back!

Stealthy: The Return of Stealthy

Guys, I have been on an assignment by my company and as a result haven't been able to contribute to this forum or even read your comments over the last couple of months. Fortunately, I'm back just in time for the new season. Yipee!

I will contribute to the transfer suggestions shortly.

I also see there's a drive to form a penye in Nigeria - that's good. I'm not in Lagos presently but will certainly love to join so we can formalize this our passion for this club

Welcome back bro

My transfer suggestions (long articles to come soon on the reason behind what I wrote):

In:
1. Alba (LB) 14m
2. Botia (CB) - 3m or Papadopoulous (CB) - 12m
3. Romeu (DMF) - 10m (can't afford him if papadopoulous comes)
4. Lewandowski (CF) - 18m
5. Rene Adler (GK) - 4m
Total: 49m

Out:
1. Keita (CMF) - free
2. Fontas (CB/LB) - 4m
3. Cuenca (RF) - 5m
4. Tello (LF) - loan

Total: 9m

With a transfer budget of 40m, the proceeds from selling the above average youth players Cuenca & Fontas will augment the budget.

You can see I like Bundesliga players: they are cheap and generally good quality. Real Madrid can testify: Ozil, Khedira, Sahin, etc. Also Man U: Kagawa. Arsenal: Podolski.

Compare the price of any of these players with the 29m + 11m options Barca paid for Sanchez.

For the goalie, we need someone young who can challenge Valdes. Adler in a member of the German national team and he can replace old man Pinto. Bundesliga probably has the highest collection of good goalies in Europe.

medjai: Wow! Stealthy is back!

honeric01:

Welcome back bro

Lol, thanks guys.

Now my long articles follow...

[center][/center]Solving Barcelona’s Defensive Problems

Barcelona has been in the market for a defensive minded player since Keita left this summer, and rightly so too. There is no cover in the defensive midfield area and even in centre defence there are issues: the club’s stalwart defender, Puyol, has been battling with injuries over the last year. He missed several matches last season and missed Euro 2012 due to injuries. In addition, Puyol is 34 and is surely in his last couple of seasons for Barcelona. He is more liable to injuries at this age and it will be a welcome surprise if he is able to play more than half of Barcelona’s matches this new season.

The club has spent most of the summer transfer period chasing Javi Matinez of Athletic Bilbao and later, Alex Song of Arsenal. The premise is that Martinez can play both as a defensive midfielder and a centre back. The premise for Song is that he is a combative midfielder who can be used as back up for Busquests. Bilbao demanded €40m for Martinez while Arsenal has reportedly refused to let Song go for anything less than €18m.

It is surprising that the club has not considered that there is a player who can play as both defensive midfielder and centre back, yet will not cost the club anything. His name is Javier Mascherano. Masche was arguably Barcelona’s best CB last season. He started more league matches than any Barcelona player except Messi and Valdes and he played a crucial role in the season for Barcelona. Masche is also a solid defensive midfielder: he is the best tackler in the Barcelona side and he is excellent at distributing long range passes from the back. He is also an excellent shooter of the ball, being one of the few players who bothered to attempt shots in the UCL semi final exit to Chelsea, while his racked up high possession stats without shooting much at goal. Masche should be the player to rotate the defensive midfield role with Busquests, rotating between DMF and CB.

This brings one dilemma however: Masche is needed in central defence. If he is to cover defensive midfield as well, then surely the club needs to invest in another centre back. For this, there is a La Masia graduate: Alberto Botia. Botia played for Barcelona up to 2009, when he was loaned to Sporting Gijon. The deal was made into a permanent one in 2010, with Barcelona retaining a buy-back clause on the player for 3 years. There is a little snag though: Sporting sold Botia to Sevilla last week and it is unclear whether Barcelona retains any right to buy him anymore. Botia is 1.89m tall, which makes him taller than everyone in the Barcelona squad except Pique. Unlike Bartra and Fontas, Botia has played in nearly 80 La Liga games, bringing valuable experience to the team. He was a regular starter for Sporting in his time there and has been a regular in the Spanish U-21 and U-23 teams. Even if he turns out not to be a great defender, surely this deal will not be like any of the recent disastrous transfer deals, e.g. Chygrynsky bought for €25m and sold for €15m the next summer, or Caceres who was bought for €16.5m and sold to Sevilla for €3m (Sevilla sold him a year later for €8m!).

Alternatively, Barcelona can purchase the Greek international defender Kyriakos Papadopoulous from Schalke. He is a strong defender, a regular scorer from corner kicks (a valuable skill to bring to this team) and is one of the hottest young defenders in Europe, highly regarded after his performances in Euro 2012. Barcelona can purchase him for about €12m, much less than Martinez or Song would cost.

With another CB in the squad, Barcelona can actually deploy Masche in defensive midfield when playing against park-the-bus teams, with the tall CBs Pique and Botia/Kyriakos neutralizing the aerial threat posed by giant strikers such as Llorente, Andy Caroll or Gomez. Against park-the-bus teams, Masche’s speed, tackling, shooting and long range distribution may be more useful than Busquests’ calm, controlled, possession-assuring presence in DMF.

To add further depth to the squad, Barcelona should invoke the €10m buy back clause for Oriol Romeu from Chelsea. Romeu would have learnt a lot in the one year of playing with a top English team and with Chelsea buying a host of players in the summer, he will have limited opportunities to play, so might as well return to Barcelona. If he manages to play as often as Keita did last season, Romeu may start 14 league games, which is 3 more than he managed at Chelsea last season.

Barcelona needs a deeper squad than the 19 players used to prosecute the last campaign. A deep squad is always an asset unless it is not well managed – Chelsea won the UCL in May because they were able to call on 2 quality centre backs in David Luis and Gary Cahill even when their captain Terry and Ivanovic were suspended. If Pique and Puyol are suspended for a match, Vilanova will need to pair Mascherano (a converted midfielder) with an inexperienced CB, a recipe for disaster. Barcelona can deepen its squad, re-affirm its faith in La Masia and strengthen the defence, without breaking the bank, by purchasing the players suggested above.

[center][/center]Who Will Score For Barcelona This Season?

The question above may sound odd or irrelevant. After all, Barcelona is a team that scored 110 league goals and 34 UEFA Champions League goals last season, beating its own recent scoring records in both competitions. Barcelona also boasts of Messi, the player who could not stop scoring last season, breaking virtually every goal scoring record at club level. Surely there should be no questions asked of Barcelona’s scoring prowess.

Messi both a strength and a weakness
A careful analysis of last season shows that Barcelona should indeed be worried about its attack. In the league, Messi scored 50 out of Barcelona’s 110 goals. In UCL, Messi scored 14 out of Barcelona’s 34 goals. These are phenomenal figures for a single player; however for the squad the numbers are worrisome. A team cannot consistently rely on one player to score over 40% of its goals. While Messi’s 50 goals accounted for 45% of Barcelona’s league goals last season, Christiano Ronaldo’s 46 goals only accounted for 38% of Real Madrid’s 121 goals. Barcelona is more reliant on Messi than Real Madrid is on Ronaldo.

A look at Barcelona’s fantastic 2008-09 season shows that the goal distribution among the forwards was much better, with Messi scoring 30 league goals, Etoo 23 and Henry 19. Last season, Sanchez (12 goals) and Xavi (10 goals) were the top scorers after Messi, with most of the attackers misfiring when they were not injured. It is interesting to note that in the 2011-12 season, Barcelona only won competitions where Messi scored far less than 40% of the goals (ie the scoring load was better distributed).

Messi is Barcelona’s strongest point but over-reliance on Messi makes the team weak. There were periods last season when Messi could not perform at his best due to fatigue; yet he had to play 90 minutes in virtually every match. Messi played the more minutes than any Barcelona player including Valves. Teams will learn from the Chelsea playbook and realize that if they manage to stop Messi, the chances of Barcelona scoring are reduced by nearly 50%! The other attackers do not shoot or score enough to worry opposing defenders. Often, it is apparent that the other Barcelona attackers are looking to pass to Messi to score – they are too conservative to take a risk by going for goal themselves. Even David Villa, who was a prolific scorer for Valencia, has been surprisingly guilty of this.

Lack of Cutting Edge
A review of the distribution of Barcelona’s league goals last season shows that the team still struggled against defensive minded teams. While teams like Osasuna and Rayo Vallecano were blown away with high score-lines, Barcelona actually failed to score in more matches than in any other season under Guardiola.

Tactical teams such as Chelsea and recently Real Madrid have figured out a way to frustrate the 4-3-3 and the risky 3-4-3, by neutralizing the False 9. With Messi playing in the centre forward role, it is easy for these teams to mark him effectively without compromising their defensive formation. The solution for Barcelona would be for Messi to play a free role against these teams, much as he was deployed in 2008-09 when Etoo or Henry could slot into the CF position. Currently, only Messi plays as CF. It will be interesting to see how defences react if Messi moves to the right wing and a few defenders need to move from the centre of defence to try to neutralize him. However, someone else will need to step up to score when Messi creates. Who will this be?

Neither Sanchez nor Pedro has ever scored up to 15 goals in a league season; therefore it is difficult to see any of them scoring the 20+ goals that a second striker needs to score to shift some of the burden off Messi. Many people would argue that with Villa back in the squad, he will provide the alternate scoring route to Messi. However, this is a very optimistic position: Villa has not played a competitive football match in over 6 months and he is now on the wrong side of 30 – it is not realistic to expect him to light up La Liga and UCL this season. In addition, Villa was not exactly having a stellar season before he broke his leg last December. In the 15 league matches he played last season, Villa scored only 5 goals – if he went on to play 30 matches at that rate, he would have managed only as many goals as Xavi.

Making Changes Upfront
Barcelona needs to invest in a proven striker w[b]ho can score 20 or more goals a season (and also head the ball[/b], a skill all too lacking in current Barcelona forwards), but also willing to accept that he will not start every match. It would have been interesting to see how Soriano (who scored 33 goals with barca B in 2010-11) would fare with the senior team – unfortunately, the club sold him in the January transfer window, even though Villa broke his leg in December and Pedro was having fitness issues. Most potential strikers in Europe are either too expensive (Hulk, Falcao, Llorente, Cavani) or unlikely to fit into the Barcelona system. There are still some good options that would not break the bank though:

• Klass Jan Huntelaar: He has really matured in his time with Schalke and is currently one of the most prolific strikers in Europe – he was top scorer in the Bundesliga last season, marginally beating “Super Mario” was on good form. With his contract set to expire next summer, he can be bought for less than €20m. However, he is an ex-Madrid player and Barcelona may not want a player “stained” with the white of Madrid.
• Papiss Demba Cisse: The top scorer in the Bundesliga in 2010-11, Barcelona could have got him from Freiburg for about €12m last summer. However, he has moved to Newcastle and has been a wonderful revelation in the English Premier League in his first season. Any attempt to buy him now will cost about €20m. However, he can be lured with the prospect of playing UCL football.
• Robert Lewandowski: He currently plays in Dortmund, a team which plays an exciting, fast paced version of tiki taka. He is tall, good in the air and good with both feet. Like Huntelaar, his contract expires next summer and he can be bought for under €20m. This is probably the best option for Barcelona as he can be useful for a Plan B, while also performing well in the current system as a back-up to David Villa.

Buying a new striker will mean that one of the general purpose attackers will have to be released. The club should consider selling Cuenca who is not an exceptional player – he provides width, but Afellay also provides width and is better at shooting and dribbling. Tello should be loaned to one of the smaller clubs in La Liga or to Ajax. His game is currently too one-dimensional; however, he is clearly a skillful player with a lot of potential and playing in a smaller club that can guarantee constant playing time, without the pressure of Barcelona, will certainly do him some good.

In 2013, it is likely that the club will buy Neymar, considering all the comments coming from Barcelona-aligned papers in Spain. Villa may well leave in 2013 as well, considering he will have turned 32 and is unlikely to be operating on a level high enough to justify constant selection. Bojan is also scheduled to return to the club in 2013; however with his unimpressive performance so far with Roma, it will be best for Barcelona to sell him to a suitable buyer.

If Barcelona makes the right choice, the club and its supporters can look forward to a season where Messi will not be expected to repeat the unbelievable haul of 72 goals he scored in all competitions last season. The club can be assured of goals even when Messi is not scoring. In addition, the enlarged squad will ensure that the team is well rested at crucial stages of the season and the coach will not have to rely on desperate tactics like deploying inexperienced youngsters to face Real Madrid or forcing wingbacks to play as wide attackers.

Yeah,i been saying we need someone 2 take the scoring burden off messi,but honestly i dont think the club will sign a striker,T.vilanova already said we dont need anoda striker,and the way i see it,we are not even searching for one.

Welcome back, Stealthy

Nice write-ups there.
I have an alternative theory to your buying propositions: This is probably considered an incubator season, and there will not be too much pressure to win trophies.
Rather the focus will be on integrating the new promotions to the squad. If I was Rosell, that would be my position. FIFA Fair play is coming, and I would rather build a very competitive senior squad for the next three to four years.

It is very difficult for FCB to sign players. In fact, a TotalBarca article dealt with this in detail. Any player who attracts Barca's interest usually has his price instantly increased astronomically - the price of success. That is coupled with the fact that the players are generally touch and go, where Barca's system is concerned. Imagine that the likes of Henry, Ibra and Villa are considered to be flops by the majority of Barca fans. These are players who are legendary in their own right.

I would rather back the new promotions (Montoya, Batra, Muniesa, Dos Santos) to do well. These boys have a lot of potential. Batra has been good at preseason, so I think he can withstand the league's challenge. I hope he gets his chance. Better him than a new center back from wherever. I am backing Tello as well, though I think he should go back to Barca B. Holding down a starting lineup in Eusebio's squad is going to be tough this year, so he will have a good challenge there. If we're not going to get a lot of money for him, I would rather we don't sell him.

Afellay is fit now, and I'd like to see him play some more. Xavi and Iniesta are turning the corner soon. Xavi is already showing the signs.
And I have thought about the possible signing of Song. It's not bad. He's aggressive, strong, and has shown interesting assist capability. Then of course, he's an African brother , so he has some backing from me. If he does come to Barca, he'll be a welcome addition, and will come in handy for those sticky games against stubborn sides.

We still have a small side. But we do have at least three options for every position except the keeper (Though Oier will likely join the squad next season). Lets look at the various positions and options we have for a second:

Keeper: Valdes/Pinto
Right Back: Alves/Montoya/Adriano/Dos Santos
Left back: Alba/Adriano/Fontas (Fontas, being a left-footed defender with decent passing skills, though short on pace, may be considered in this position)
Center Backs: Puyol/Pique/Batra/Fontas/Mascherano. Puyol will get lots of rest this year
Holding midfield: Busquets/Mascherano/Song(?)/Dos Santos/Thiago
Central midfield:Iniesta/Cesc/Xavi/Thiago. We have seven midfielders and we play a minimum of three in every game.
Attack: Messi/Villa/Pedro/Alexis/Cuenca/Afellay.

Despite the numbers, the attack is where I think we are a bit short. The pre-season indicates this as well. But I am reluctant to buy players here, what with the talent we have coming through from the B team in a couple of seasons. Rafinha and Dongou are some players that will do the business up front in the future.

Besides, who would we buy in attack? If I could buy a player, only one comes to my mind, a crazy signing if ever there was one - Carlos Tevez. He's a raging bull, that can cause chaos among defenders, while the trigger men like Messi could finish things off.

The key players this season for me would be the following:

1. Valdes - He's still the keeper, and he needs to improve his covering average to keep us from conceding unnecessary points. His average was 69% last season, making him the worst keeper in La Liga statistically. That is despite conceding the fewest shots and goals.
2. Alves - Our man needs to keep bombing down the flank and providing width, when the opposition decides to choke their defences with players.
3. Pique - He's going to have to lead the back line this season. Puyi will watch most games from the bench.
4. Iniesta - Our genius midfielder has a container load of tricks - that is why we love him. But he needs to stay healthy, as he will be the key man in the middle this term.
5. Alba - We are going to need his ability to get behind defences like magic. Like I said with Alves, width will be key this season. All that triangular passing from Xavi to Iniesta to Messi, we have seen the result of that against stubborn and physical teams like Chelsea. We will have to go direct a lot of times, sometimes in two or three crucial moves. Let's hope the attackers can finish off whatever he gives them.
6. Messi - Need I say more. The boy has to play like never before, create like never before, torment the opposition like never before. He's done it all anyway, he just needs to do it much more this time.

Whatever happens, those six men have to stay fit, as they are most likely to determine the outcome of this season.

Good articles, guyz. . And a big welcome back to Stealthy. He ' s been missed and we now see why. We hope to have you guys around to keep us up as the most valuable thread in this forum.

Even when the prospect are not entirely exciting, for a new season , i am nonetheless, excited. But if anything is important, it is the need for our other attackers to step up and share the scoring load with Messi. We should not be doomed if Messi does not score . This is my biggest concern going into the new season and i dully hope that Pedro and co are reading me and are ready to address that .

WB stealthy, Am all fired up for the new season, the marital life is kinda like swindling my enthusiasm off footie made by Barca,but hell naw that aint happening . I wont under-estimate any team this season, we jst need to play our game and win as usual. I hope yall are ready for the team, cos they arent the only ones playing, we are also playing with them.

Forza Barca!!

EKU ILE
SHE ALAFIA LE WA NIBI YI.

eyin eyan yi eda ju sha etun fegba Orin(Songi) lowo clubu onibon ni.

e jowo e sha nu fun baba to di owo ni north-london yen jare.

usbcable: EKU ILE
SHE ALAFIA LE WA NIBI YI.

eyin eyan yi eda ju sha etun fegba Orin(Songi) lowo clubu onibon ni.

e jowo e sha nu fun baba to di owo ni north-london yen jare.

And what on God's name is this now. I hope no one is coming here to curse we honourable barcelona fans. Pls take notice that this thread is not for illiterates. We're all learned and will like to read in english only. Everybody has their local language.

Its a done deal.Song has signed for Barca.