₦airaland Forum

glitest: Very true...Its really sad when i think about it ...I blame Beckham for that though.

I know Beckham was a Footballer turned Model in his early career and that generated his monetary value which has really gone a long way in the Footballing world today as it is the case with most players if not all...


Players take club for ransom now...

glitest: Gosh!!... I sometimes do feel like we've had and seen the best of futball... Its so sad.

Unfortunately, i agree with you on the bold...

---- Most players if not all are in for the money...

glitest: Hr sure is...It's been a while since I've heard of any news about Ronaldiho..I miss him.Carlos, Roberto, Beckham, Fernandes, Giggs, Kaka, Beto etc..I really do miss those guys.

Unfortunately, we can never have these guys play football "forever" but we only hope to see new guys "step up" but i doubt if we ever see guys with "gifted talents" as theirs as a result of the "wealth factor" involved in this present football era...

Tval:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnD7A95jNXE

The most skillful player ever to play football...

The transfer is a dubious one on many levels. Firstly, his age. The most expensive signing of a defender age 30 or over in history, --- almost doubling what Real Madrid paid for Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 — and he would win the Ballon d'Or that year.

(1) Why is Barcelona making a Record for all the wrong reason...

(2) Why take this long to sign a defender?

(3) Why is Zubi still the Sporting Director? --- Call for his immediate Resignation...

Barcelona's transfer policy goes from bad to worse

The five-year wait for the Catalan giant to sign a center back is over, but the capture of Jeremy Mathieu is indicative of wider problems at Camp Nou


After four summers of threatening to do so, Barcelona has finally, at long last, signed a center back — the first purchase in that position since Dmytro Chygrynskiy from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2009.

It was hardly worth the wait.

The arrival of Jeremy Mathieu from Valencia for an excessive fee of 20 million euros feels like nothing more than tokenism, an upgrade in height (an area in which Barca has struggled in recent years), but in reality nothing more than an additional body. And the fact that the club has opted for this signing, at that price, for a 30-year-old is yet another significant change in direction from what made the modern Barca so revered.

The doyen of the perfection of the past few years, founder of a project that was 40 years in the making, Johan Cruyff's scathing criticism appears more legitimate with each passing day. Speaking to a Croatian newspaper in April, the Dutchman sneered: "Barca are vulnerable because of catastrophic failures in the last four or five years. I'm not surprised that there isn't continuity. There isn't a plan. There aren't rules."

It's unlikely that there will be a tickertape ceremony to welcome Mathieu to Camp Nou. After the Neymar debacle, Sandro Rosell's departure and what fans feel is an accelerated erosion of the club's values, former center back Rafael Marquez seemed to sum up the consensus of opinion: "I don't think he has the profile to play for Barcelona and even less so for this price."

Player Stats — Jeremy Mathieu

General

Games Played -- 32

Minutes Played -- 2,822

Starts -- 32

Interceptions -- 80

Substitution On -- 0

Substitution Off -- 2

Duels Won -- 61.4%

Aerial duels won -- 58.7%

The transfer is a dubious one on many levels. Firstly, his age. The most expensive signing of a defender age 30 or over in history, --- almost doubling what Real Madrid paid for Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 — and he would win the Ballon d'Or that year.

What's more, he has signed a four-year deal with the option of a fifth — lengthy considering his relatively modest top-level experience. And to top it all, his release clause last summer was 10 million euros before signing a new deal in July. At that price, and a year younger, the deal might have been more palatable.

Secondly, Mathieu is a left back by trade, and was even employed as a left winger by Valencia. Only in the past two seasons has he regularly featured in the center, and he will still probably begin the campaign as the club's fourth best in that position after Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra and Javier Mascherano. The overriding concern has been the shoehorning of the likes of Sergio Busquets, Alex Song and Mascherano in alongside Pique or Bartra — essentially taking players out of their natural habitat. It's difficult to recognize the difference here.

Then we must bring Luis Suarez into the equation. An 88 million-euro integration into a team that scored 148 goals in all competitions in 2013-14, with all the baggage that he brings with him, seems to be a monumental and avoidable risk made all the more galling considering the middling option taken on Mathieu. Barca has had the opportunity to prove how serious it is about building a team again. There are options out there, many of them. Mateo Musacchio delivered another excellent campaign for Villarreal, is 23 and would have cost less. Matija Nastasic may well be surplus to requirements at Manchester City, but is 21 and has years to develop.


BARCA SIGNINGS IN THE POST-PEP ERA


Player -------- Year -------- From -------- Fee

Jordi Alba -------- 2012 -------- Valencia -------- €14m -----

Alex Song -------- 2012 ------- Arsenal -------- €19m -----

Neymar -------- 2013 -------- Santos -------- €57m -----

Alen Halilovic --------- 2014 --------- D. Zagreb --------- €2.2m -----

Ivan Rakitic ---------- 2014 --------- Sevilla ----------- €14m -----

Ter Stegen ---------- 2014 --------- Gladbach -------- €12m -----

Claudio Bravo ------ 2014 -------- R. Sociedad ------ €12m -----

Luis Suarez -------- 2014 ----------- Liverpool ------- €88m -----

J. Mathieu --------- 2014 ----------- Valencia ----------- €20m ------


At the high end of the market, Mats Hummels remains one of the best defenders in the world. Given what's just been thrown to Liverpool in exchange for Suarez, a bid to at least test Borussia Dortmund's resolve could have led to his capture. The argument, one that's been peddled for five years now, is that there are no center backs out there good enough for Barcelona. It's patently not the case in the current market.


http://m.goal.com/s/en-us/news/4981263

mukina2: Barca and 419

whose arm have you been twisting? or did you send messi to go smile at Sepp?

I can't wait to see how Arsenal will fare next season...

Tval: Disgrace to the game


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmSPejqhuXA

Smh...

Smh...

chelseabmw: Iheanacho scores for city. 4 - 1 win

I watched the game... The guy is so good

He played the full game

lalaboi: Hype. . .

"B" Team Shirt is guaranteed...

Luis Suárez could play in first 'Clásico'

Controversy is in store following the publication of the fixture list for the coming 'La Liga' season, with the first 'Clásico' scheduled for the weekend when Luis Suárez's ban expires, 25th-26th October. If the game takes place on the Saturday, the Uruguayan won't be able to play, but if it's held on the Sunday, he could make his Barça debut in the biggest of matches.


http://www.marca.com/2014/07/24/en/football/barcelona/1406204462.html

What's up with all these talk about Vidal this Vidal that?

I had to confirm to check if he is already a Man Utd player but reports reaching me now is that Liverpool are ready to hijack him with some cool cash...

What do you all wanna do?

Every Politician are now being targeted here and there...



Its like they don't even recognise their sponsors anymore... Buhari was targeted too...



May The Lord Heal Our Land Of All These Blood Sucking Demons...

Let Season begin!


If he is not relegated to the "B" team, then .........

glitest: I want to know what Coded01 thinks about this topic ?.

Cute...


Honestly, it is interesting seeing a child of his age having such fun...


---- I will just laugh and Happily lift him...

glitest: Coded01: Would love to meet you in person someday
BykeByke : Seems like I know you.(Trying to figure you out).

Same too my luv...

glitest: Nope!!...the baby looks like an albino.....I do think I've seen Rihanna's pics as a baby, and she did look like an alafin. .

Smh...

dmcdad: Haba! I wasn't insinuating it to be an unfriendly chat... Just trying to get around you. Sorry if you felt offended.

No problem my guy, i said give me names and let's break them down...

glitest: The question said to guess who?...All I did was guess now

Cos the baby look latino? Huh!

glitest: Rihanna.

Smh...

dmcdad: I thought you were the one that said there was a case... Cause I never said there was any case.

Seems like you shooting yourself on the foot.

No one is shooting anything...


I said give me some names and i will see what to say about them not necessarily accusing you of anything...


Just a friendly chat broda, we are not other fans you know...

dmcdad: And like I stated, you and I know them...

Since you can't name them, there is no case my broda...

dmcdad: List them...? Seriously? That would be redundant I think. You and I know quite alright that there are lots of defenders out there (natural defenders and not converts, lol) who we can get, but then I ain't the sporting director and of course I wouldn't be as stupid as Zubi as he never sees such defenders, and it's to Barca alone that defenders have become very scarce.

Like i said, list them...

dmcdad: I think we should adress our main problems and leave others for now... The guy ain't no CB and for the positions he does occupy, we have got ourselves covered which are DM and LB. Must we sign players and always play them out of positions? What's wrong in getting players who play in their natural positions? This is the same reason I am being sceptical about the potential acquisition of Cuadrado.

Enough is a word for the wise.

List those players ...

dmcdad: Hehehehehe. His vacation is over already and I guess he already left or will ve leaving maybe tomorrow or thereabouts.

What position do you need him to occupy?

Anyone is ok as far as he is capable!

DM, Left Back or CB! ---- Maybe a Super-Sub or Alternate Positions...

Like i said, wherever he is capable...

5-3-2

dmcdad: Your opinion is spot on. It would have been a disaster if we had brought in Hummels. You know why? The answer is Piqué! Although Hummels is a better version of Piqué, that doesn't hide the fact that they are both slow players.

Don't get me wrong people! Hummels is a decent defender with a wealth of experience and good positional play. And one would wanna argue that for one who was great for Germany throughout the World Cup, it would have been a great signing. But honestly, the reverse would have been the case here as Germany play a different kinda football compared to Barca. In a team like Madrid, he would thrive greatly because they play counter-attacking football and as such doesn't keep the backline exposed as opposed to us. We maintain a highline at the back to combine well with the midfield and join in the play. The downside of this is that it exposes us to counter-attacks. And so, we need rather fast players. If we have not got Piqué, then Hummels wouldn't have been a bad idea with his good positional play and experience. But we can't have two snails as CBs or it would be suicidal.

Ever wonder why Piqué and Bartra played very limited matches together last season? It was mostly either Piqué - Mascherano or Mascherano-Bartra.

The same Hummels, Messi outplayed...


The same guy that was running behind Messi...


Please, when is BLIND coming jare? I learnt he is having fun @ barcelona beach...



http://www.totalbarca.com/2014/news/the-front-mundo-deportivo-20-7-2014/