Ok! Think Mascherano is the huge blow of those three (despite the world class quality of the two others as well), but my general feeling is still as mentioned in the first post.
La Liga 2016/17
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Ok! Think Mascherano is the huge blow of those three (despite the world class quality of the two others as well), but my general feeling is still as mentioned in the first post.
Bilbao is always a tough venue for Barcelona but confident mainly due to depth and how good they've looked even without Iniesta & Neymar
Mascherano & Mats are apparently expected to get their medical green light ahead of the encounter, after all.
Mascherano & Mats are apparently expected to get their medical green light ahead of the encounter, after all.
Haha, there you go, nothing to worry about
But to be real; away vs bilbao is tough venue for all teams, but as long as there are 2/3 of MSN there, and one of those 2/3 is Suarez, then Bilbao really have to be aggressive and top of their game, and don't know if basques are ready for it. This gameweek might have come too early for them. But we'll see, predictions is not my thing most of the time.
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Neither team is really in ideal form, it's the start of the season
Forecast is cloudy, humid and 25°C but rain always a chance in Basque country, never seems like ideal weather conditions
Remarkable that Laporte is already back from injury and starting
Forecast is cloudy, humid and 25°C but rain always a chance in Basque country, never seems like ideal weather conditions
Remarkable that Laporte is already back from injury and starting
Samper out on loan to Paco Jemez at Granada, joining his former teammate at La Masia, Jon Toral (Also on loan). I like this move, certainly more than him going to Valencia. Meanwhile, Munir on loan to Celta Vigo, also a good destination. Been a good summer for Robert, the SD for Barcelona, apart from Alcacer which I am skeptical about - would've preferred even Deulofeu to him, especially at that price (30m). Douglas to Sporting Gijon
You can't be serious, right?
@SfcNervion
Apparently Sevilla is going to loan Sirigu, while Konoplyanka and Iborra (Sunderlands is interested) might be on their way out. Selling Konoplyanka would make sense, but Iborra has to stay.
Apparently Sevilla is going to loan Sirigu, while Konoplyanka and Iborra (Sunderlands is interested) might be on their way out. Selling Konoplyanka would make sense, but Iborra has to stay.
Let's not get carried away, apparently Barcelona are having to incentivize the loan - paying all his wages for a start. Great summer for Robert & board, but same board that bought Douglas and balked on Asensio who wanted to come to Barcelona
What's the point of loan then if we pay all his wages? The Douglas saga is just ridiculous. There was rumor that he wants to stay in Spain to gain citizenship or something of that sort.
BTW, @SfcNervion I like your posts
Has Konoplyanka been a flop in Spain? Always thought he was very impressive when I watched Ukraine and that he was highly rated.
Flop would be too strong of a word. Considering his play time his goal+assist tally is quite good. Despite the lack of competition, he struggled to nail down the starting spot last season. In the end Emery often used players who are willing to do work for the team. He was too individualistic and lacked the necessary work-rate/discipline to really justify his inclusion; a lack of talent is not the problem. He is a great impact sub, but he won´t be happy with that role. It is just a rumor that he leaves, so he might stay; still in my opinion, Sevilla should sell him if they get a good offer.
That is just my opinion and other people might have a different one.
That is just my opinion and other people might have a different one.
I'd rather see Umtiti get more games and form a good pair alonside Pique than having to rely on Mascherano for another year.
I love Mascherano and he could still get a lot of minutes playing as the 3rd centreback, 2nd DM and as an extra DM helping Busquets close some hard games but if Umtiti has a breakthrough as the one Pique had 8 years ago that would do wonders for the team
Two years ago we already had Lucho's crush (Rafinha), Dennis Suarez and just signed Halilovic, even Deulofeu seemed like a good prospect so not pursuing Asensio was the right move at that moment. It could even be that Asensio saw more chances to shine being the key player in RM Castilla/loaned than having to fight for a 1st team spot against all those players
The Asensio sale only failed due to how Barcelona wanted to structure the payment, backloading it to cook the books to speak. They aren't really pursuing sporting goals but fiscal ones.
That is true @PedroMendez, intead of Alves we are getting Sirigu. Can't match what Valencia are asking for. With Sirigu on loan, I don't know what it means for Rico. But wouldn't be surprised if he is stepped aside, that is what the talks have been about all along - else why this intense search for a keeper in the first place? I am not sure if this is an upgrade (as the case would be with Alves), but my knowledge of Sirigu's skills are limited. Only seen him few times at PSG before being stepped aside for Trapp.
Had no idea about Konoplyanka and Iborra, but it would be typical example of Darwin theory, but with money - 'the survival of the richest'. The worst possible team of an underperforming league can easily lure players from Sevilla FC. It is understandble though, if it is happening. No matter how much one might like these two players, non of them fall into Sampaoli's template of typical-Sampaoli-player. Iborra was a great player to have under Emery, but under Sampaoli he might look like a scandinavian among south americans, in terms of finess and efficency with handling the ball. Konoplyanka's problem is his inconsistency. A great player when he is in 'that' form, but then there are games of him being completely out of pace and lazy, which also was the reason of him never be an original starter under Emery. He reached his top quite early last season. Against Benitez's Real was his best performance...but it was vs Danilo on the wing...And it was against a team ruled by Benitez (should be emphasized
) , after that game he mixed his performances, and during the spring he was never part of the starting eleven because of is inconsistency and laziness in tracking back. But I guess Sampaoli had decided on beforehand to not include him in his plans. It would be a shame though, if he left. A great jokes to throw in when you need to change the game, and a phenomenally ice cold penalty taker.
Tremoulinas also leaving, but that was stated already in the beginning of the summer. I don't understand why we are forcing Christoforo out, thought he would be a great two-way player or a terrier in the midfield. From the few times he played, and wasn't injured, he was always playing like a great warrior.
But I am guessing that the rumours of our transfers are right; that we need to sell some players to make room for the ones Sampaoli wants. In this case we have lot of midfielders (even without Konoplyanka and Iborra), and Sevilla are trying to add the defender Caio, who is close to become the 10th or 11th new signing of the season. Problem with the negotiations of Caio is that these brazilian players tend to be partly owned by companies, which means lot of headache in trying to get 100% ownership of that player in question. If we sign Caio he might become the most expensive defender Sevilla have ever bought (think around 12-15 million euros). Considering today's ridiculous market that price is nothing, but for Sevilla standards it is huge, hence we really must want that defender if we ought to pay 'that much'. I have no idea about his talent or qualities though, but he should be fine
Thank you @CLARiiON, that is very kind and I am humbled On the Douglas note: I don't think anybody get the riddle that is Douglas role at Barcelona (and his role as an ambitious footballer in general) but there been some talks before, that Rosell&Bartomeu and their junta really went all possible lenghts with signing Neymar; except for the ones that we hear about today (Neymar Senior making wierd demands in negotiations, and all the middlehands that the junta paid for, which makes the original price exceed somewhere between 85-100 million euros), there been some claims that Douglas was part of the Neymar deal. It is far-fetched, since Neymar belonged to Santos and Douglas to Sao Paulo, so that connection doesn't make any sense. But in a conspiratorial way it could explain the junta's and Zubi's delirousness in this signing (I think this happened before Zubi left?), in a world of Neymar and Douglas being true BFF:s. If Barca succeeds into fooling Gijon of getting this player on loan then the club - or at least specifically the board- deserve some acknowledgement, possibly a symbolic trophy. The best possible prank since Real Madrid fooled Napoli into giving loads of money for Albiol.
@Ishdalar Well he is young, and certainly better option than Mathieu, Vermaalen and whatever their names are. But it would be interesting to see how he handles his responsibility and pressure in games vs. Bilbao away (if he starts), or possibly in even tougher games than that. If he is as great as the praises claims then it also opens up the alternative of moving Mascherano to the defensive midfield position for some games.
Had no idea about Konoplyanka and Iborra, but it would be typical example of Darwin theory, but with money - 'the survival of the richest'. The worst possible team of an underperforming league can easily lure players from Sevilla FC. It is understandble though, if it is happening. No matter how much one might like these two players, non of them fall into Sampaoli's template of typical-Sampaoli-player. Iborra was a great player to have under Emery, but under Sampaoli he might look like a scandinavian among south americans, in terms of finess and efficency with handling the ball. Konoplyanka's problem is his inconsistency. A great player when he is in 'that' form, but then there are games of him being completely out of pace and lazy, which also was the reason of him never be an original starter under Emery. He reached his top quite early last season. Against Benitez's Real was his best performance...but it was vs Danilo on the wing...And it was against a team ruled by Benitez (should be emphasized
) , after that game he mixed his performances, and during the spring he was never part of the starting eleven because of is inconsistency and laziness in tracking back. But I guess Sampaoli had decided on beforehand to not include him in his plans. It would be a shame though, if he left. A great jokes to throw in when you need to change the game, and a phenomenally ice cold penalty taker.Tremoulinas also leaving, but that was stated already in the beginning of the summer. I don't understand why we are forcing Christoforo out, thought he would be a great two-way player or a terrier in the midfield. From the few times he played, and wasn't injured, he was always playing like a great warrior.
But I am guessing that the rumours of our transfers are right; that we need to sell some players to make room for the ones Sampaoli wants. In this case we have lot of midfielders (even without Konoplyanka and Iborra), and Sevilla are trying to add the defender Caio, who is close to become the 10th or 11th new signing of the season. Problem with the negotiations of Caio is that these brazilian players tend to be partly owned by companies, which means lot of headache in trying to get 100% ownership of that player in question. If we sign Caio he might become the most expensive defender Sevilla have ever bought (think around 12-15 million euros). Considering today's ridiculous market that price is nothing, but for Sevilla standards it is huge, hence we really must want that defender if we ought to pay 'that much'. I have no idea about his talent or qualities though, but he should be fine
BTW, @SfcNervion I like your posts
Thank you @CLARiiON, that is very kind and I am humbled
On the Douglas note: I don't think anybody get the riddle that is Douglas role at Barcelona (and his role as an ambitious footballer in general) but there been some talks before, that Rosell&Bartomeu and their junta really went all possible lenghts with signing Neymar; except for the ones that we hear about today (Neymar Senior making wierd demands in negotiations, and all the middlehands that the junta paid for, which makes the original price exceed somewhere between 85-100 million euros), there been some claims that Douglas was part of the Neymar deal. It is far-fetched, since Neymar belonged to Santos and Douglas to Sao Paulo, so that connection doesn't make any sense. But in a conspiratorial way it could explain the junta's and Zubi's delirousness in this signing (I think this happened before Zubi left?), in a world of Neymar and Douglas being true BFF:s. If Barca succeeds into fooling Gijon of getting this player on loan then the club - or at least specifically the board- deserve some acknowledgement, possibly a symbolic trophy. The best possible prank since Real Madrid fooled Napoli into giving loads of money for Albiol. @Ishdalar Well he is young, and certainly better option than Mathieu, Vermaalen and whatever their names are. But it would be interesting to see how he handles his responsibility and pressure in games vs. Bilbao away (if he starts), or possibly in even tougher games than that. If he is as great as the praises claims then it also opens up the alternative of moving Mascherano to the defensive midfield position for some games.
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Caio is really a defensive midfielder who also plays CB although im not sure what position he played at the Olympics. It's the same guy who failed a medical at Valencia last year. Although i thought it was a bit harsh. I forgot the details and medical terms but basically he had a serious knee injury when he was 15 and has a break in the patelle of his right knee that will never be normal. Something like that but he's been playing well and it doesn't seem to affect him. After failing his medical at Valencia his agent Deco(yes that Deco) took him over to Atletico Madrid(who originally wanted to sign him before Mendes scooped in last minute to take him to Valencia, Deco seems to be part of Mendes network as well), they agreed to sign him but only on loan one year as precaution. He refused a loan and returned to Brazil. Looks like he's been doing well though as he's in the Brazil team that just won the gold. Good for him.But I am guessing that the rumours of our transfers are right; that we need to sell some players to make room for the ones Sampaoli wants. In this case we have lot of midfielders (even without Konoplyanka and Iborra), and Sevilla are trying to add the defender Caio, who is close to become the 10th or 11th new signing of the season. Problem with the negotiations of Caio is that these brazilian players tend to be partly owned by companies, which means lot of headache in trying to get 100% ownership of that player in question. If we sign Caio he might become the most expensive defender Sevilla have ever bought (think around 12-15 million euros). Considering today's ridiculous market that price is nothing, but for Sevilla standards it is huge, hence we really must want that defender if we ought to pay 'that much'. I have no idea about his talent or qualities though, but he should be fine
@prarek that is interesting, thank you !
Alarm clocks should always go off when Mendes is involved, however; despite the knee, Caio could be worth a shot. History suggests that I should trust Monchi's men 9/10 times when it comes to signings. Since they are working their ass off to accomplish a deal with Sao Paulo and the other party that owns him then he should be worth it. Fingers crossed.Madrid's game is on Sky Sports Mix (Ch 407)
Not the best game so far
Modric aside Madrid are offering nothing going forward.
When's Ronaldo back?
When's Ronaldo back?
In 2 weeks probably.
Morata, get in, son!
Is he injured or being rested?
Injured
Thought he might be but think I've seen pics on instagram of him training.
Either way, I look forward to his return!
Great tackle & pass by Kroos, Morata almost with his second goal.
It's the MCL injury that made him limp off in the Euro final. They wanted him to take a full month rest and then not rush his rehab/pre-season.
Celta equalise
Great goal
Go celta
Go celta
Oh ffs, here we go.
What a stunner.
Really bad positioning from the GK there.
Horrible goalkeeping from Casilla.
Hold on Celta
Shocking decision making from Diop, should have lead to 2-1 Celta.
Bale needs to bury that header, but a winner is coming.
Boom. Nice run and placement by Kroos.
Quality finish.
great finish from Kroos
What a finish.
Great placement by Kroos there.
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