Thiago Alcantara | Signed for Bayern Munich

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Also, if Pep does pinch him, it's a bit of a cnutish move when you consider the fact he was manager at the club when Thiago had that clause installed.
 
The Wizard said:
Bigger club alright you are correct there, but the Bundesliga has it's fair share of great teams, and it's not by chance that two German teams competed in last years CL final; so I don't know if I'd call the Prem better at the moment.
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I thought I'd put it out there just to see who would disagree. It wouldn't be hard not to see why he wouldn't choice Bayern. But no one can tell me the German league is better and more popular than ours neither that Bayern are a bigger club. Yes they did well in the champions league but we are probably the only league that can produce champions league winner that aren't even competing for the EPL. A team like Bayer or Schalke would never win the champions league.
 
Bestie07 said:
We never used to be in for these kind of players, so we haven't lost the attraction, we never had it in the first place. Best non-British players have always played for continental sides, and it will continue to be like that.
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Thats a bit too simplistic. Plenty of "the best" non-British players have come over to play for English sides.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Thats a bit too simplistic. Plenty of "the best" non-British players have come over to play for English sides.
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Arguably not when they've been "the best", though. Not all, but most, seem to either be on the way up or the way down.
 
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Pexbo said:
How the feck could he possibly give him assurances that he will play most games when they have Schweinstiger and Martinez who have formed a genuinely great partnership and any of Kroos, Gotze and Muller to keep happy playing ahead of them. You could push Muller or Gotze wide but where would that leave Robben and Ribery? Two other great functions of a great team.

I'd understand if Pep really does rate him so highly that he thinks he is a must but if he's trying to be smart he'd better be fecking right because its a move that would take balls like coconuts to start messing around with that team and upsetting settled players who have just won the treble.
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Well he must have been. Thiago won't go from demanding clauses in his contract to all of a sudden being happy with being a bit part player. He must have been given assurances. He clearly wants to play more or he would just stay where he is.

Pep is going to make his own changes to that team. It's not as if Thiago is going in determined to mess up the whole place. Pep will do his thing. I would expect a usual Pep formation that would have 3 centre midfielders. Plenty of room for Thiago.

As as a poster mentioned above, Guardiola has a tendency to play midfielders at centre back. I wouldn't be surprised if Martinez moved back, since he is just as good there and exactly the type of player who Pep loves to play.
 
http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/11/thiag...-join-pep-guardiola-at-bayern-munich-3878007/


Thiago Alcantara has snubbed a move to Manchester United in favour of linking up with old boss Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich, according to reports.
The Barcelona midfielder is also said to have rejected an offer from La Liga rivals Real Madrid, in favour of a switch to the European champions.
According to Spanish radio station Cadena COPE, the 22-year-old was convinced to move to Germany following a phone conversation with Guardiola, where he revealed his plans to drop Javi Martinez to centre-back in order to accommodate Thiago’s arrival.
Journalist Juanma Castano, said: ‘This is from a very credible source, a source that is, let’s say, directly linked to the footballer.
‘First, we have been told that Thiago Alcantara’s future is not at Barca. Second, we have been told the club he has chosen. The club Thiago has chosen is Bayern Munich.
‘There are various factors. There have been several offers on the table. From Manchester United and Real Madrid.
‘The bid from Real Madrid was rejected because Thiago does not want to close any doors on a return to Barca in the future.
‘Therefore the two offers on the table was from Bayern Munich and Manchester United. Thiago considered both closely.
‘Thiago knew that there were several players in his position, but was told by Pep Guardiola on the phone that he was moving Javi Martinez to centre back as Marcelo Bielsa did with him at Athletic Bilbao.
‘I’m being told that the deal is absolutely closed and can be confirmed in a matter of hours.’
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Could be bollocks, but it's being recycled across all the papers now..
 
We were never in for this guy if we were it would have been done long ago. Long drawn out sagas in the press are a dead give away in situations like this. 350 pages of twaddle to be fair.
 
why all the doom and gloom on here? has there actualy been something concrete that says he's going to Bayern not United or are you going on blind faith like usualy?
in which case, there's no need to kill yourself just yet.
 
Brophs said:
Arguably not when they've been "the best", though. Not all, but most, seem to either be on the way up or the way down.
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I did consider this, and would say that is more the general rule, but there are top players that come here whilst they're still top players. Maybe not the best 4 or 5 players in the world, but in recent years people like Aguero, Hazard, Yaya have come across (for money mainly - but still) and do well.
 
So everyone's back to being hysterical little girls again then?

One completely unsubstantiated article in a small Spanish sports publication and suddenly every other post is 'I always knew he'd probably end up going to Bayern, listen to all the reasons I've just thought up...'

Balu said:
We played a 4141 which looks in possession like the 343/344 he played at Barca at the beginning of his last season there. Martinez won't be a centerback, he'll be a defensive midfielder who drops back in a ridiculously high positioned 3 men defensive line. When the opponent has the ball, he plays the exact same role as last season. Thiago played some of his best games in that formation and we need a lot of midfielders for it, so it might actually make sense. I don't really like it, because I have massive doubts about how to use our wing pairings in that formation, but that's what Guardiola is training and playing in pre-season games at the moment.
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Bear with me a little, because I'm not entirely sure I get quite how that formation works yet. Are you saying Martinez is one of the CBs in the 4141? And how does a 4141 become a 343? Also presumably whatever you do with this formation, which essentially drops a CB to make room for Thiago, you still have to bench either Muller, who I gather is pretty talismanic for Bayern and a fan favourite, or Gotze who you just spent €37mil on?

I still think it would be a very bad move not only for Thiago, but for Bayern too. Pep might like the idea of having Thiago back, but the transfer would probably do more harm than good to Bayern.
 
All the papers are doing is quoting that one radio call. You could have every single paper in the world quoting it but it doesn't give it any more substance. Now if you had the papers coming up with their own sources etc and all coming to the same conclusion of him signing for Bayern then it would be time to throw in the towel.
 
I've been quietly following this threat for almost two months, refreshing it every 10 minutes or so.
It has gotten to the point where any farm animal would be a better employee than me.

If Bayern manage to hijack this transfer I will go mental, but not in any funny or cute sense - I will actually go mental.

feck.
 
Brightonian said:
So everyone's back to being hysterical little girls again then?

One completely unsubstantiated article in a small Spanish sports publication and suddenly every other post is 'I always knew he'd probably end up going to Bayern, listen to all the reasons I've just thought up...'



Bear with me a little, because I'm not entirely sure I get quite how that formation works yet. Are you saying Martinez is one of the CBs in the 4141? And how does a 4141 become a 343? Also presumably whatever you do with this formation, which essentially drops a CB to make room for Thiago, you still have to bench either Muller, who I gather is pretty talismanic for Bayern and a fan favourite, or Gotze who you just spent €37mil on?

I still think it would be a very bad move not only for Thiago, but for Bayern too. Pep might like the idea of having Thiago back, but the transfer would probably do more harm than good to Bayern.
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Two wide mids push forward to attack, two fullbacks push forward to mid, and the DM drops in between the two CB's. Or, the two fullbacks overlap the wide midfielders like Evra and Rafael often do for us.
 
Im gonna get slated for this .... but the lure of Guardiola beats Moyes, especially since Thiago already knows him.
 
Martinez has stated that he much prefers playing DM as well hasn't he? I'm sure I've read a quote saying he doesn't like being at centre back. Could be wrong. I'm trying to be objective but I feel like Thiago to Bayern just makes no sense at all. None. Not for Thiago or Bayern. He'd be better staying at Barcelona.
 
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