Pep plays a lot of midfielders. It's not about wingers it's about drilling your players and patterns of play. If xavi can teach them that he'll succeed. If not...
Barcelona: Charged with corruption .... again!
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Pep plays a lot of midfielders. It's not about wingers it's about drilling your players and patterns of play. If xavi can teach them that he'll succeed. If not...
5 is a bit too much. But I'll bet gavi, Ansu and pedri are special. It's their luck I guess.
Maybe with healthy forwards Koeman would still be coaching. Who knows.
Barcelona have 2 difficult matches in the remainder of the first round, Villarreal and Sevilla ahead. The first 4 have to face each other and there they will lose points.
Fati and Braithwathe will return soon, Aguero could have been important.
Top 4 will be very tight
Finishing third and going to the Europa League may be a better option right now than finishing second and almost certainly being eliminated in the next round.
They'd be lucky if 2 of them actually reach the highest level (meaning starter in a top club). As mentionned several times here, there's a huge gap between "good talent" and top player and people tend to quickly forget the endless list of players who showed great things at 18 and ended up doing nothing. Camavinga did amazing at 17 for a couple of months and is struggling since. He might be a good player in a couple of years but these things take time. It's normal for fans to overhype homegrown youth players but they can't all be Haaland or Mbappé (i've seen people here pick Greenwood over Mbappé) and it's amplified at Barcelona because of their history.
Young players are often irregular, because of their immaturity and because they need to learn.
On the other hand, Gavi has 4 games with the Spanish national team and several with Barcelona being the best or in the top-3.
Nico exactly the same, making excellent matches one after another. And that's what's unusual about the 2 of them, with those ages playing as top players.
Same case as Pedri last year.
Gavi was starter in the semifinals and final of the nations league and starter in Barcelona, that's the highest level. And Nico will soon be called up to the national team.
The case of Camavinga is different. his style of play is different, he was neither in a top club nor in a top league.
Midfielders with the technical quality of Nico and Gavi is harder to fail.
Camavinga is technically much more limited and that type of player usually loses presence.
That’s the danger Barca now face. Youth can blind you if you focus too much on what a player can do at a young age. Progress isn’t lineal.
With their current financial situation, they really have no choice but rely on homemade talent and the eventual high profile transfer in case they get rid of Coutinho or Umtiti.
United’s economy and wage structure is out of whack moving forward though if you see the tweet posted before
The things we tell ourselves to sleep better at night.
C’mon, don’t fall into the media’s narrative that Barca are set for the future with all these youngsters. Don’t get me wrong though, (I hope not to come across as biased, btw
), I do believe there is some talent there to be excited about but their future is still uncertain, independently of how good they play at such young age.Football has taught us in the past to be patient and careful with all these young prospects before overhype/overrate them which is what the media its been doing and plenty of people are eating this all up with spoon.
I guess, this is all about perspectives, but I don’t see these “5 future greats.”
Fati definitely look class and Araujo is a nice prospect of a CB. Now in midfield Nico to me is the better player out of Pedri and Gavi. He feels like the type of player that can adapt to different styles and be more differential than the other two. In fact I think Gavi edges Pedri who to this day I don’t understand the hype around him.
The size of our wage bill being on par with Barca's doesn't mean anything, because we're not near bankrupt and our wage bill/net transfer spend isn't being limited by the FA because of it.
| PLAYER (27) | POS. | AGE | ANNUAL SALARY | WEEKLY SALARY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | F | 36 | £26,520,000 | £510,000 | |
| David De Gea | GK | 31 | £19,500,000 | £375,000 | |
| Jadon Sancho | F | 21 | £18,200,000 | £350,000 | |
| Raphael Varane | D | 28 | £17,680,000 | £340,000 | |
| Paul Pogba | M | 28 | £15,080,000 | £290,000 | |
| Edinson Cavani | F | 34 | £13,000,000 | £250,000 | |
| Anthony Martial | F | 25 | £13,000,000 | £250,000 | |
| Marcus Rashford | F | 24 | £10,400,000 | £200,000 | |
| Harry Maguire | D | 28 | £9,875,000 | £189,904 | |
| Bruno Fernandes | M | 27 | £9,360,000 | £180,000 | |
| Juan Mata | M | 33 | £8,320,000 | £160,000 | |
| Luke Shaw | D | 26 | £7,800,000 | £150,000 | |
| Frederico de Paula Santos | M | 28 | £6,240,000 | £120,000 | |
| Victor Lindelof | D | 27 | £6,240,000 | £120,000 | |
| Nemanja Matic | M | 33 | £6,240,000 | £120,000 | |
| Donny van de Beek | M | 24 | £6,240,000 | £120,000 | |
| Dean Henderson | GK | 24 | £5,200,000 | £100,000 | |
| Alex Telles | D | 28 | £4,840,000 | £93,077 | |
| Aaron Wan-Bissaka | D | 23 | £4,680,000 | £90,000 | |
| Eric Bailly | D | 27 | £4,160,000 | £80,000 | |
| Mason Greenwood | F | 20 | £3,900,000 | £75,000 | |
| Phil Jones | D | 29 | £3,900,000 | £75,000 | |
| Jesse Lingard | M | 28 | £3,900,000 | £75,000 | |
| Diogo Dalot | D | 22 | £1,300,000 | £25,000 | |
| Scott McTominay | M | 24 | £1,040,000 | £20,000 |
Lingard, Pogba, Cavani, Mata contract will be up at the end of the season and because of the size of our squad we won't need a lot of replacements. That's a drop of 40m. We only have one gaping hole in the squad and that's DM, which means the wage bill improves next year.
DDG, Ronaldo, Jones, Matic and Dalot's contracts expire in 2023 for a combined 55m. Obviously some of those will have to replaced but it's unlikely they'll be on DDG/Ronaldo type wages.
Maguire has value because he's English and a contract 'till 2025. The only unmentioned top earner is Martial ('till 2024), who obviously doesn't justify his wages.
| Player Name | Weekly Wage | Yearly Salary | Age | Position | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coutinho | £380,000 | £19,760,000 | 29 | AM LC | Brazil |
| Ousmane Dembélé | £287,000 | £14,924,000 | 24 | AM RL | France |
| Samuel Umtiti | £263,000 | £13,676,000 | 27 | D C | France |
| Sergio Busquets | £253,000 | £13,156,000 | 32 | DM | Spain |
| Jordi Alba | £231,000 | £12,012,000 | 32 | D/WB/M L | Spain |
| Sergi Roberto | £164,000 | £8,528,000 | 29 | D/WB R, DM, M RC | Spain |
| Frenkie de Jong | £164,000 | £8,528,000 | 24 | D C, DM | Holland |
| Memphis Depay | £158,000 | £8,216,000 | 27 | AM LC, F C | Holland |
| Sergio Agüero | £158,000 | £8,216,000 | 33 | AM/F C | Argentina |
| Marc-André ter Stegen | £141,000 | £7,332,000 | 29 | GK | Germany |
| Gerard Piqué | £103,000 | £5,356,000 | 34 | D C | Spain |
| Neto | £98,000 | £5,096,000 | 31 | GK | Brazil |
| Martin Braithwaite | £98,000 | £5,096,000 | 30 | AM RL, ST | Denmark |
| Clément Lenglet | £97,000 | £5,044,000 | 26 | D C | France |
| Ansu Fati | £69,000 | £3,588,000 | 18 | AM RL, ST | Spain |
| Sergiño Dest | £64,000 | £3,328,000 | 20 | D/WB RL | U.S.A. |
| Riqui Puig | £64,000 | £3,328,000 | 21 | AM C | Spain |
| Eric García | £51,000 | £2,652,000 | 20 | D C | Spain |
| Ronald Araújo | £35,000 | £1,820,000 | 22 | D C | Uruguay |
| Pedri | £32,000 | £1,664,000 | 18 | AM RLC | Spain |
| Luuk de Jong | £25,000 | £1,300,000 | 30 | ST | Holland |
| Óscar Mingueza | £19,000 | £988,000 | 22 | D RC | Spain |
Meanwhile Barca have multiple finished players on the books because they needed to extend for their pay cuts in order to to meet the FA's regulations, like Pique and Alba 'till 2024..There's overpaid shite like Coutinho 'till 2023 on 20m a year. There's deadwood like Umtiti on 13m a year 'till 2023.
The Barca squad is massively unbalanced. There's no pace on the wings because Fati and Dembele are always injured. The only good players that can stay fit are the midfielders, Ter Stegen, Araujo and Memphis. There's no money to buy top players, which means selling good players like De Jong or getting bosmans in the Memphis category.
https://salarysport.com/football/la-liga/barcelona/
https://www.spotrac.com/epl/manchester-united-fc/payroll/
https://www.transfermarkt.com/manchester-united/berateruebersicht/verein/985
https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-barcelona/berateruebersicht/verein/131
Are those salaries net?
Yeah... no. Not even close. Being a starter in nations league and in this Barcelona team is not the highest level. Unless you think players like Sarabia are top players as well (hint : he's not). I actually see more potential in Nico than Gavi. Lets see how Gavi looks if Bayern plays the next game seriously.
And calling La Liga a top league this season is a bit of a joke as well, it's the worst it's been in decades hands down, the overall quality is poor compared to the amazing displays we could see week in and week out like 5 years ago.
Always the same thing with La Liga players, especially spanish players. They play pretty, nice technical abilities sweet touch, vastly overhyped but most of them lack what it takes to be dominant. They often have the same profile, not really a winger, not really a n°8, not really a n°10, and they often have a hard time fitting in modern football long term.
Pedri looks like that real deal but it takes far more than 1 good season to establish yourself as a top player, they have to work hard for years to deserve such description.
C’mon, don’t fall into the media’s narrative that Barca are set for the future with all these youngsters. Don’t get me wrong though, (I hope not to come across as biased, btw
Football has taught us in the past to be patient and careful with all these young prospects before overhype/overrate them which is what the media its been doing and plenty of people are eating this all up with spoon.
I guess, this is all about perspectives, but I don’t see these “5 future greats.”
Fati definitely look class and Araujo is a nice prospect of a CB. Now in midfield Nico to me is the better player out of Pedri and Gavi. He feels like the type of player that can adapt to different styles and be more differential than the other two. In fact I think Gavi edges Pedri who to this day I don’t understand the hype around him.
No way, pedri is easily the best of the youngsters bar Fati…with all due respect
Looks gross to me, that's typically how they're reported I think.
I really don't see how people can doubt a good midfield will come out of Pedri, Nico, Gavi, Puig and De Jong in a few years? Yeah they might not all make it as top level starters, but you only 2 need of the kids to make it as a starter and Pedri arguably might have already. Busquets is still good for at least a season.
Their problems lie elsewhere. They need a first choice CB next to Araujo, fullbacks that aren't fossils and forwards that can stay fit.
Lingard on a free would be massive for them. That's the Memphis category of players they need to get. Not quite good enough for a top club, but happy to go to Barca because it's Barca.
They just need to finish top 4 for 2 or 3 seasons 'till they get their finances in order.
I agree with your statement, i'm just saying that people can't expect the 5 of them to end up being starters at the highest level in a couple of years. De Jong is already a great player in my book. The fact that Gavi started for a weak Barcelona and a pretty weak national team (in terms of individual qualities) indicates nothing.
Agreed. It's typical academy hype from academy clubs like Barca, Ajax, Utd. It's good for their value and it pleases the fans.
Bit dim that comparison.
Here you say that for you to reach the highest level is to be a starter in a top club.
And here you deduce because a player who is not top and plays that type of matches and the match itself is no longer the highest level.
If we follow that reasoning as long as there is a non-top player playing that match it is not the highest level. Then there will be no matches at the highest level because not always all players are top.
Being a starter in Spain and Barcelona is the highest level. These teams have little patience and a very high demand, therefore a huge pressure.
If you say that the Spanish league is not top then there is only one that is the premier.
Also in Spain it is more difficult to play, the teams park the bus and it is difficult to find spaces.
Playing in the German or Italian league nowadays for a striker or offensive player is easier, many spaces.
Many times it is confused to play ugly or boring with not being competitive.
If you think that Barcelona is currently a top club, there's not a whole lot we can agree on.
I was originally quoting someone who said Barcelona could sell De Jong to sign new players because of all the talent they have in midfield. He's the oldest of these players. The next oldest is Puig, who doesn't seem like he'll ever break through or will be good enough.
That leaves three players who are 19 (Pedri turns 19 tomorrow so I'll count him there) and 17. Needless to say, a club at the level of Barcelona can't be regularly fielding two 20 year olds in midfield and expect to win anything. The club can't afford to just not win major titles for multiple seasons, and crucially, the players might not want to stick around either.
Oh yeah, they definitely won't be winning anything any time soon. My definition of succes for them is consistently qualifying for the CL while they balance the books.
Can't afford to not win major trophies for multiple seasons? We must be in our 9th quite year (or is it 8th?, I've lost track) and are doing fine financially and still attracting good players. It'll depend on the contract negotiations. Barca have already extended Pedri and Fati 'till 2026-2027. If they can do the same with the Nico, Gavi, Araujo, Puig they can easily afford 2 or 3 years quite years. Ter Stegen has a contract 'till 2025, FDJ 2026 and the rest needs replacing anyway. Guys like Memphis are happy to play for "the great Barca", he'd never be a guaranteed starter for a real top club. I don't see him walking, although he might expect a raise on his next contract.
Puig I don't think he plays much with Xavi, he is a technical player with the ball but nothing more.
Also in a few years more midfielders will come from youth teams.
Lingard doesn't have the level for Barcelona, he's a mediocre player.
It is not a matter of age, if they perform well they will play and if not then to the bench
Also in a few years more midfielders will come from youth teams.
Lingard doesn't have the level for Barcelona, he's a mediocre player.
It is not a matter of age, if they perform well they will play and if not then to the bench
It's different in a two-team league, and it's different when the club is led by a democratically elected president.
How is it different in a two-team league?
They'll elect a new president. Then what?
If they don't win the president gets the boot
Obviously those young Barca players can flat out ball, we've seen enough from them to know that's the case. Their issue is the forwards and that all those kids are extremely young. Hard to expect consistency from them at the highest level. Also doesn't help when all the defenders at the club are suspect defensively.
Hard to do any long-term 'kids' project when the people in charge can get ousted.
In a two-team league, your loss is usually your hated rival's gain, which makes the environment more toxic.
Ah I got ya. I still think that's their path as they don't have a choice.
They might kick the president and the next president is going to to say a bunch of gibberish while he's doing the same thing as his predecessor until their finances improve.
To be honest Pedrerol is not really much of a journalist and more of an entertainer. It's ridiculous to judge Xavi either way after two games in charge.
I can see this guy joining his wife's meetup with her friends somewhere and start gossiping seamlessly regardless of him being the only male in the group.
Does this clown know they’ve lost Messi and have bums up front compared to what they had previously? Did he expect Xavi to transform them overnight?
Imagine they turn on Xavi in two games
Getting rid of Griezmann was insane. And they're paying for it already.
Messi will be back at Barcelona in the summer. Mark my words.
It was actually a masterstroke. Griezmann was not and is not a barcelona type of player. He just didn't fit. If he had stayed any longer, he'd be another coutinho. Instead they made the best of a bad situation. Cut your losses, get 50 mil and get a proper player next summer.
Mate, Griezmann won them the Copa title last season + a decent amount of goals in LaLiga (Top3). Getting rid of Messi AND Griezmann in the same transfer window was all kinds of insane.