FC Barcelona Discussion

[Cicero]

13 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Yeah and rumours just come in that there’s a Malcom + money swap deal. This is totally weird. 

Barca are just fucking odd these days. However we'd gladly accept this deal. 

[SirBalon]

24 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Barca are just fucking odd these days. However we'd gladly accept this deal. 

They are indeed. I honestly don’t remember any period in history other than part of Joan Gaspart’s tenure towards the end where he spent lots of money on mediocrity. But there was a reason for that stupidity which was that when Barcelona infamously lost Figo and received all that money for the buy-out clause, he got duped by clever agents and overode all of the board. He himself admits to this day that he was the worst president the club has ever had. He states that a football fanatic like him should never be permitted to preside over the club he loves. 

[Cicero]

Just now, SirBalon said:

They are indeed. I honestly don’t remember any period in history other than part of Joan Gaspart’s tenure towards the end where he spent lots of money on mediocrity. But there was a reason for that stupidity which was that when Barcelona infamously lost Figo and received all that money for the buy-out clause, he got duped by clever agents and overode all of the board. He himself admits to this day that he was the worst president the club has even had. He states that a football fanatic like him should never be permitted to preside over the club he loves. 

Think they are just desperate for the CL. Especially given Real's success. They want already established players to help them win it this season or next. 

[SirBalon]

4 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Think they are just desperate for the CL. Especially given Real's success. They want already established players to help them win it this season or next. 

But apart from Arthur (in the past two windows) nobody else is real Barcelona potential. This without disrespecting Lenglet who looks class but I’m talking midfield up into attack. 

[Cicero]

5 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

But apart from Arthur (in the past two windows) nobody else is real Barcelona potential. This without disrespecting Lenglet who looks class but I’m talking midfield up into attack. 

What out there is Barca potential? Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets set the bar high, and they are arguably once in a life time players. 

[SirBalon]

5 minutes ago, Cicero said:

What out there is Barca potential? Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets set the bar high, and they are arguably once in a life time players. 

Obviously that was an anomaly where potential football greats come along at one club at the same time more or less. But there are fantastic young players, players that can compete at the top end. But they have to be blooded into the big competitions and that takes at least a season. 

Everything in such a short space of time has become so competitive that the board feel under pressure to provide competitiveness to their head coach. 

[SirBalon]

With Leo Messi due to return against Real Betis this weekend after his arm fracture, now it's being reported that Philippe Coutinho has broken down in training with a hamstring injury that could keep him out from anything between 3 weeks to a month.

[Carnivore Chris]

Shit news as Coutinho is very important, although at the same time it could be a blessing going into the second half of the season and it also enables more chances for the likes of Malcom, who impressed mid-week when he came off the bench. I'd like to see more of him in a Barça shirt as players like him to come off the bench and make an impact or fill in for injuries has been lacking for a while. His goal was brilliantly taken against Inter as well.

Let's note that the tough run is almost over and there will be more of a breather after the Atletico game.

Rafinha will also get more game time now as well most likely and I believe he's done a good job as of late, he deserves a chance.

Edited November 8, 2018 by The Rebel CRS

[SirBalon]

40 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

Shit news as Coutinho is very important, although at the same time it could be a blessing going into the second half of the season and it also enables more chances for the likes of Malcom, who impressed mid-week when he came off the bench. I'd like to see more of him in a Barça shirt as players like him to come off the bench and make an impact or fill in for injuries has been lacking for a while. His goal was brilliantly taken against Inter as well.

Let's note that the tough run is almost over and there will be more of a breather after the Atletico game.

Rafinha will also get more game time now as well most likely and I believe he's done a good job as of late, he deserves a chance.

Rafinha was terrible against Rayo though mate. He was absolutely abysmal.  I hope that was a one off!

[Carnivore Chris]

@SirBalon  I'd even take Neymar back if the opportunity arose. He's a massive bellend, but one who turns it on when needed and can win you trophies. He can be a cunt all he wants if he performs to the standards he has been doing.

[SirBalon]

1 hour ago, The Rebel CRS said:

@SirBalon  I'd even take Neymar back if the opportunity arose. He's a massive bellend, but one who turns it on when needed and can win you trophies. He can be a cunt all he wants if he performs to the standards he has been doing.

The same way I wanted Lopetegui sacked because of what he did even though I knew it was seriously detrimental to Spain’s chances in the World Cup. I feel the same way about Neymar mate. He and his father are scumbags and I wouldn’t want him back ever. 

[SirBalon]

Jan Molina

don't forget the name...

FC Barcelona "Infantil 'A'" (one of the youth teams at La Masia) has a whole bunch of wonderkids coming through but the one that's been making all the headlines over the past 7 to 8 months is a 12 year old from Calaf in Catalonia called Jan Molina.

The kid has won the MVP of the past two La Liga Promises tournaments which are held every year ranging from South to North America and Asia.  So much impact has the youngster made that he has dedicated scouts following the child leagues in Spain from the Premier League and Serie 'A' with even an attempt by Real Madrid to try and snatch the boy this summer just gone.

He plays in midfield which is his natural position and has been tested already with the older youth teams two categories above his own where he has excelled in both.  Due to his sensational technical ability he can also play out wide in attacking positions and as an interior (Iniesta type position) both on the left and right due to being ambidextrous.

Ronaldinho himself attended a youth game only three weeks ago where he told a reporter that Jan Molina was the most similar thing to himself he had seen at such a young age.

Individual focus videos aren't permitted at those youth categories although there are plenty of highlight videos one can watch from the team on YouTube... I found this video with a top five ranking of goals for last season at Barça's youth level games including girls.  Molina's goal was ranked 4th.

 

[CaaC (John)+]

Lionel Messi: How Barcelona's 'alien' keeps changing, 15 years after debut

16 November 2018 | European Football

Lionel Messi (pictured here in 2005) broke into the Barca first team in 2004-05, having played in a friendly the previous year

Fifteen years after making his Barcelona debut in a friendly, Lionel Messi is still going strong. So strong there is a theory he is an alien.

Almost half a lifetime ago, Messi played against Porto at the Nou Camp - and has gone on to break countless records.

The record goalscorer for Barcelona (566), La Liga (392) and Argentina (65), the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has won 33 trophies with Barca.

Now 31, and showing no signs of slowing down, Messi has scored 14 goals in 13 games in all competitions this season - and is the joint top scorer in La Liga with a goal every 87 minutes - despite being out for three weeks with a broken arm.

But how does he do it?

One potential explanation was raised on Thursday's BBC Radio 5 live Football Daily podcast by Spanish football writers Andy West and Guillem Balague - who have both written books on the Argentine.

"There is a theory that he is an alien. How else could he do it?" said West. "Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is a particular proponent of that theory."

Balague added: "On the alien theory, I wrote in my book that there are 11 things you need to be Messi and that is why he must be an alien. Only an alien can have that.

"The right family and football context - his family almost emigrated to Australia. Had he been born there would he be Messi? I don't think so. In Argentina, yes. You have to have the motivation, the ambition, the regularity of effort, commitment, sacrifice, confidence, leadership, emotional intelligence, the genes and you have to have luck.

"Put all that together and you get Messi. Why have there not been any more Messis? Because it is impossible to have all that together.

"He was a rock falling down a mountain, there was no stopping him and he would have destroyed whatever came in his way."

How did the best get better?

Lionel Messi has won the Pichichi (Spain's Golden Boot) five times. Only Telmo Zarra has won it more (six)

Messi, who has set up 219 goals in 650 appearances for Barcelona, has played under six managers at the Nou Camp and is now the club's captain after the departure of Andres Iniesta.

West said: "He has been open to adapting to new situations, new coaches, new team-mates, new playing positions and I think that is so important.

"If even the greatest player in history has to be open to changing the rest of us should be. He had to abandon the false nine role in which he scored 91 goals in a year [2012] because it stopped working.

"Consistently, every two or three years, he has taken on a new role, new team-mates. He hasn't chosen these. It hasn't been part of a big master plan, he has had to react to circumstances.

"In the early days he was a dribbler - he could do other things as well, and I'm simplifying a bit - whose instinct was to get the ball and run as quickly as possible towards goal.

"The Spanish word 'pauza', where you just stop and take in the game - he didn't have that, he was a bit head-down. But you can see now how, over the years, he has developed other aspects to his game. He can still dribble but he has a much greater passing ability.

"He doesn't maybe still have the capacity to run past players from the halfway line, like in his famous goal against Getafe in 2007, but he can pass through teams. He is a more complete player and I think this is something we will see more of in the coming years."

How can you give Messi instructions?

Such is the influence of Messi at the Nou Camp, even manager Ernesto Valverde sometimes accepts his captain knows better.

Balague said: "Right now, Messi is the solution man. He understands the game in a way many don't.

"One thing that Valverde told me is that Messi delivers commentary on the bench. There was a game against Sevilla where he came on for the last half-hour and changed the game completely.

"Valverde started to point things out to Messi - 'You know Leo, you should... you... oh, do whatever you want.'

"He looked at him and thought 'what am I going to explain to this guy?'"

What does the future hold for Messi?

This picture of a mural of Lionel Messi as a kid was taken at Newell's Old Boys' sports complex as he returned to his hometown to get married last year

 

Messi is on a break from Argentina duty, having failed to win any senior trophies with his country in 128 caps, losing four finals. He is contracted until 2021 to Barcelona and says boyhood club Newell's Old Boys are the only other team he could see himself playing for.

West said: "Messi's story tells us that it would be foolish to try to predict what he will do in the future.

"The changes that have happened have been forced on him. We don't know how this Barcelona team is going to evolve. If Ousmane Dembele is going to become an important player then it will force Messi to change the way he plays."

But it could all have been so different...

Imagine Lionel Messi leading Como to victory against Barcelona in the Champions League final.

It sounds ridiculous but, according to Italian football journalist James Horncastle, things could have been very different for Messi.

"He found the right club, environment and education because that can so often stunt a player's development," he said. "You always have to stimulate players' interest in the game.

"Fabio Capello tells a story when Juventus went to play Barcelona, he saw Messi and said: 'I want to take that player, I want him on loan'. Ultimately, he was frustrated.

"The president of Genoa claimed he had Messi on trial when he was at [now Italian fourth division side] Como and if Como signed him, the club would be champions of Europe and the world.

"It would have been interesting to see how he would have done under the tutelage of Capello and whether it would have worked out."

Messi is unlikely to play in the Premier League now but Balague added: "I asked Messi about people in England saying: 'You would not do so well on a cold, wet night in Stoke.'

"He said: 'They should have seen the pitches I played on in Rosario.'"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46240995

[CaaC (John)+]

Neymar won't return to Barcelona – Xavi

Dejan Kalinic      7 hrs ago

Barcelona great Xavi believes there is no chance Neymar will return to the LaLiga champions.

Neymar is in his second season at Paris Saint-Germain after leaving Camp Nou in 2017, but the 26-year-old is already linked with a return to Barca.

The Brazil star reportedly met with Andre Cury, an advisor to Barca in terms of signings, during the international break.

But Xavi – who won eight LaLiga titles and four Champions Leagues at Barca – dismissed any suggestions Neymar could return to the club.

"I don't see it. I don't see it. I also think it didn't work out well, I don't see it in any way," he told Cadena SER on Thursday.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/la-liga/neymar-wont-return-to-barcelona-–-xavi/ar-BBPZYvR?ocid=chromentp

[SirBalon]

7 minutes ago, José said:

La Guardia Urbana  my respect to them! Pique is such a fucking cunt that believes he doesn't have to obey the laws like the rest! Typical mentality around the tax avoiding Catalonia   this incident and the one in 2015 were pique confronted and abused 2 agents of the Guardia for doing their job. I don't blame pique though, that type of mentality is common in that squad. (Rakitic heavily cussing A. Pereira during a match is another example) vile club with no principles 

Mossos D'esquadra who are Catalan police and those culpable for hiding and deporting before captured those politicians that escaped punishment from the Spanish authorities for their rebellion in executing an illegal referendum on independence.

This isn't a Catalan issue... It's an individualistic issue regarding someone that feel he is above the law.

[Carnivore Chris]

[SirBalon]

27 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

Finally! Finally!

Finally a lingering suspicion I've had for over 15 years has manifested itself and I now KNOW Lionel Messi is a total hoax!

I was hoping it would never occur and that it was all a very real 15 years that I've lived through by witnessing the most singularly talented footballer the world has ever seen.  That even this issue of the older he gets he just changes into something else and dominates that sphere too...

But it can planly be observed on that video you've offered us mate, that it's all been trickery and to be honest it couldn't have come from a more apt person as yourself seeing as you're a witch, something I've been causing you of for many a year now and of which you've been lucky that the inquisition is no longer active.... 

TOTAL SORCERY!

WITCHCRAFT!

Thats what we've been fed...

In that video if you observe closely you can witness that indeed Messi attempts to execute some sort of an action with his feet as the ball finally comes down from a very high headed control... But if you watch very very closely, the ball does its own thing and Messi's leg and foot action aren't in synchronisation with the ball's subsequent change of direction to go between the opponent's legs.

So what we clearly have here without a shadow of a doubt is plain old devilry in motion.  The man (Messi) is in league with something otherworldly, something either celestial or hellish... Choose what you will but there are other forces at work there.

 

 

What a marvellous piece of football action.  What a small moment of pure unadulterated magic with the control of the sphere we call a football and understanding, knowing and predicting (with his back to him) what his opponent will do so as to execute it all.

Be it magic, be it real, it doesn't really matter because you've all been enjoying something for a decade and a half that you won't see in your lifetimes again.  Make the most of it, savour it and don't let up watching him for a split second as this piece of footage proves or you may miss something you thought wasn't possible.

[JoshBRFC+]

8 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Finally! Finally!

Finally a lingering suspicion I've had for over 15 years has manifested itself and I now KNOW Lionel Messi is a total hoax!

I was hoping it would never occur and that it was all a very real 15 years that I've lived through by witnessing the most singularly talented footballer the world has ever seen.  That even this issue of the older he gets he just changes into something else and dominates that sphere too...

But it can planly be observed on that video you've offered us mate, that it's all been trickery and to be honest it couldn't have come from a more apt person as yourself seeing as you're a witch, something I've been causing you of for many a year now and of which you've been lucky that the inquisition is no longer active.... 

TOTAL SORCERY!

WITCHCRAFT!

Thats what we've been fed...

In that video if you observe closely you can witness that indeed Messi attempts to execute some sort of an action with his feet as the ball finally comes down from a very high headed control... But if you watch very very closely, the ball does its own thing and Messi's leg and foot action aren't in synchronisation with the ball's subsequent change of direction to go between the opponent's legs.

So what we clearly have here without a shadow of a doubt is plain old devilry in motion.  The man (Messi) is in league with something otherworldly, something either celestial or hellish... Choose what you will but there are other forces at work there.

 

 

What a marvellous piece of football action.  What a small moment of pure unadulterated magic with the control of the sphere we call a football and understanding, knowing and predicting (with his back to him) what his opponent will do so as to execute it all.

Be it magic, be it real, it doesn't really matter because you've all been enjoying something for a decade and a half that you won't see in your lifetimes again.  Make the most of it, savour it and don't let up watching him for a split second as this piece of footage proves or you may miss something you thought wasn't possible.

Dreading the day he retires. How privileged to watch this man week in week out since i was a young teen.

[CaaC (John)+]

 

[CaaC (John)+]

Barcelona has banned Ousmane Dembele, 21, from turning off his phone after he turned up two hours late for training on Sunday. (Marca)

Meanwhile, Dembele has been fined 20,725 euros (£18,618) for failing to reply to a civil suit brought by his former landlord because the France forward never returned to his house in Germany after leaving Borussia Dortmund for Barcelona.(ESPN)

[SirBalon]

1 hour ago, CaaC - John said:

Barcelona has banned Ousmane Dembele, 21, from turning off his phone after he turned up two hours late for training on Sunday. (Marca)

Meanwhile, Dembele has been fined 20,725 euros (£18,618) for failing to reply to a civil suit brought by his former landlord because the France forward never returned to his house in Germany after leaving Borussia Dortmund for Barcelona.(ESPN)

After everything's that's been said and written all over the place.  He does it again...  There's no way around it and at least I have made up my mind.  Ousmane Dembélé is stupid, I mean really stupid.  He needs to be taught all over again right from the start because it's obvious he never learned anything at school and at home discipline wasn't something on the menu.

He's had some brilliant performances recently but the truth is that those performances mean very little if he can't understand and execute the basics.

[SirBalon]

MARCA (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaɾka]) is a Spanish national daily sport newspaper owned by Unidad Editorial. The newspaper focuses primarily on football, in particular the day-to-day activities of Real Madrid, Atlético Madridand Rayo Vallecano. It has a daily readership of over 2,500,000, the highest in Spain for a daily newspaper, and more than half of sports readership.^[1]

MARCA’s first ever publication  front page in fascist Franciost Spain. 

 

Addresss:

Avenida de San Luis, 25, 28033, Madrid, Spain

[SirBalon]

5 hours ago, José said:

Those two preferences have also affected another player who appeared untouchable in the form of Arthur Melo, who initially lost his place to injury and has struggled to regain it.

 

From Valverde's plan A, he now only features as a substitute late in the second half when called upon.

 

Beyond those two, the remaining Brazilians in the squad are Rafinha, who is highly unlikely to play again this season after another serious knee injury, and Malcom.

The forward was the club's biggest signing this summer but has yet to get a regular run in the side due to injuries and failing to impress, scoring just once, against Internazionale.

Silly me, forgot the rest of the article that adds even further prove. In a world full Of Trump Wana bS that target a certain media/newspaper instead of looking at the facts. Given how much Barcelona paid for Cou, three consecutive snubs by the coach should raise some concerns. 

One goal for malcom?? Are the die hard fans going to allow the current leaders of the team destroy it's foundation LA MASIA and be content/ignore shady ass transfers like Paulinho and the back up GK.. 

Coutinho is a brilliant player and he's got a long future ahead of himself at Barcelona. If Inietsa who is an authentic football legend of the worldwide game had to wait an age to become an authentic first team player, then Coutinho will pribably have to be five times more humble and wait.

It almost sounds or reads like Ernesto Valverde has some sort of xenophobic hatred against Brazilians 

Trust me, and use common sense in an age where human beings vote for racists, for racist and xenophobic mantra that Valverde is only and singularly concerned with winning things. If he chooses any particular first XI for any given game, it's because he thinks that team has the best chances of winning or in some cases because Barça compete on all fronts, in all competitions with the objective of winning, then at times there are rotations.  But I don't see Valverde as having a Brazil based phobia. You don't get the privilege of being like that at clubs like Barça or Real Madrid.  They're watching  you with judgmental eyes...  Nobody's job is secure at coaching level with these types of sides.

[SirBalon]

Every single time Barcelona look to sign, or sign someone.... Hey presto!  We get exactly the same post popping up. 

[CaaC (John)+]

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has yet to inform the Spanish club whether he will take up the option of a third year on his contract at the Nou Camp. (Marca)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/gossip