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I'm pretty sure Alexis is just a better overall striker than Pedro, Tello and Cesc. Hell I think he is better at everything than Pedro, including pressing and doing the "dirty work". And I was a huge Pedro fan two-three years ago, when he scored goals with his ass. Tello is a good shot and fast, but very one-dimensional. He will get solved quite fast by defenders and lacks positional play, opening spaces for Messi, pressing... Still would keep him as a second half replacement wildcard. Cesc simply does not belong in the striker line and is not better than 4 other barça midfielders, maybe even 5 (Sergi Roberto will be the new Xavi).
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It's just that for me, we won these CLs as a team, and we lost the trophies the 2 last seasons as a team. There is no player on which you can input the defeat or the drop in level, it just seemed like they all went down physically and psychologically. And if it is a team problem, you can analyze every player's performance, but in the end, if player A or player B played worse this season it's probably because the team was performing worse.
And I think you're being really harsh with Pedro. He played a lot less games the 2 last seasons because we have too many players for the same position. Messi always plays, then you have 2 spots. Last season we had for these 2 spots: Afellay, Villa, Pedro, Alexis, Cesc, Cuenca, and Tello. How can you get confident when the coach makes rotation every game because he has to keep a certain balance in the minutes played? In 2010-2011 we had Villa, Pedro, Bojan and that's IT! They played every game and thank god weren't injured, and that gave them this boost in confidence and teamplay that made them awesome. Pedro wasn't in the starting 11 in the European Championship with Spain but he gradually became essential for the team, the same thing that happened during the WC 2010. But we're talking about 2012-2013, and this season he's also the best goal scorer for Spain! If he scores in the Confederation Cup he can have the best goal record for one season with the national team, better than Villa. That just shows how important this guy is for a team with the tactical style of Barcelona/Spain: dirty work, endurance and lethal in front of the goal. In Barcelona he doesn't even try to shoot at the goal :s
So for me, it's more of a team problem than an individual problem (with Pedro or Alexis). If Barcelona wants to keep playing the football that made them godlike the last years, they should keep Pedro (and Alexis, and Tello). If they want to change their style and go for a more direct and spectacular style, they should sell him because he's not for flashy style... They should buy Bale, Neymar and put Deulofeu. They won't win anything with this though...
edit: I agree with the above post 100%. Alexis SHOULD be better than Pedro. What makes Pedro awesome is that he knows perfectly Barcelona and is willing to die (maybe not, ok ) for the team, so they're evenly good for me. Also if we talk about Xavi's position: Xavi > S. Roberto > Cesc > Thiago. Iniesta's position: Iniesta > Rafinha > S. Roberto > Cesc > Thiago. So if Man. United is willing to spend as much as 50M€ for Cesc (as I can read in some newspapers), it would be just aweeeeesome. With the money buy Veratti and we're good for the next 10 years :D
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Maybe i'm being a little harsh on pedro, but it's because of the amazing season he had on the cl winning team. He was just scoring like crazy. I remember a shot he took that seemed like it was going to baloon out of the stadium, but dropped and went in. But to me, there is no doubt that he has been less of himself compared to that season. He played in the biggest games of the season this year, and quite often has disappointed except that goal against psg. But remember, he wasn't a threat until messi got on the field.
And besides last season with guardiola, he has had plenty of time time to play this year under vilanova. of those names you mentioned, afelly hasn't played for two years, villa was injured a lot during the last two years and was on the bench often after his injury. Alexis got lots of playing time i think due to his enormous price tag imo. cesc hasn't been deployed on the wings since guardiola left. cuenca has been loaned, and tello, i think should have gotten more playing time. So really, all those names you mentioned, most haven't been playing a lot or are/were gone.
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Last season there was too much turnover, nobody could predict who Guardiola would put on the field. This season Pedro played more but the team almost never played the real 4-3-3 style. The first 6 months they played with Cesc in the attacking line and Pedro was isolated on his right wing, with Alves being worse than the Alves we've been seeing the last seasons. The last months were clearly a physical deficit for the whole team, and Pedro was always fighting for a spot against Alexis, Villa and Cesc. Of course a part of his drop in level should be put on himself, but I think the main reason are the tactical changes, the fatigue on the team, and the lack of continuity in the choice of men on the field in these positions.
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On June 11 2013 00:47 WillyWanker wrote: Last season there was too much turnover, nobody could predict who Guardiola would put on the field. This season Pedro played more but the team almost never played the real 4-3-3 style. The first 6 months they played with Cesc in the attacking line and Pedro was isolated on his right wing, with Alves being worse than the Alves we've been seeing the last seasons. The last months were clearly a physical deficit for the whole team, and Pedro was always fighting for a spot against Alexis, Villa and Cesc. Of course a part of his drop in level should be put on himself, but I think the main reason is the tactical changes, the fatigue on the team, and the lack of continuity in the choice of men on the field in these positions. Actually, wasn't it more iniesta on the attacking line (left mid) instead with fabregas playing in midfield? And yes Pedro might have been fighting for a spot but he usually got the nod above them and played, which doesn't excuse his bad form.
Anyways I gotta go to bed now. It's 1 am here in Korea. Maybe I'll talk to u more tomorrow
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You're right about Iniesta on the left wing, I forgot that part :D It started with Cesc in the 9 position, and then he went back a bit with Iniesta on the left side. At that point nothing went through the right wing because Iniesta/Messi/Xavi/Cesc were playing everything through the middle and the left side with the addition of Alba... It worked well but Pedro was left alone most of the time... I don't know I really like this player and I feel that if he leaves it would be the start of the end of the Barça I loved with all these players running everywhere to get the ball back... Pedro, Busquets, Alves... 
Good night, here it's only midnight :D
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On June 11 2013 00:23 Salteador Neo wrote: I'm pretty sure Alexis is just a better overall striker than Pedro, Tello and Cesc. Hell I think he is better at everything than Pedro, including pressing and doing the "dirty work". And I was a huge Pedro fan two-three years ago, when he scored goals with his ass.
I really think Alexis' finishing is poor and he has no 'clutch' gene. He is kind of like Walcott. Although Walcott's finishing is pretty good but he has other holes in his game which seem to not want to disappear.
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On June 10 2013 18:36 Zeo wrote: According to Serbian media, the president of Partizan has stated that Lazar Markovic will be going to Benfica as a Chelsea player. Apparently Chelsea want to loan him out to them for 2 years, maybe to help fill the void that Matic going to Chelsea would leave, all this is different to what the Portuguese media was saying the past few days about how Markovic will be theirs outright.
All in all even though Partizan sold the rights to the player a year ago for 7 million euros I think they have a better idea where he will end up. Also I find it cute that most Chelsea fans want Markovic just because of the pet names they can give him (Lazer Sharkovic) The dude has been presented as a Benfica player. Newspapers are now announcing a 5 year contract with a 40M release clause, after having published earlier the news about Partizan's president's comments. Anyhow, Benfica is a listed company so these contracts will become public sooner or later.
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51480 Posts
News!
Florentino Perez admits Real Madrid would have no qualms paying big money for Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale, but he says they need to wait for their new coach to be appointed before making any moves.
Cesc Fabregas is seemingly ruling out any move back to England insisting he won't leave Barcelona unless they tell him he is not wanted.
Jose Mourinho wants Fernando Torres to stay at Chelsea and admits he is a big fan of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.
David Moyes has launched a £15million bid to sign Barcelona youngster Thiago Alcantara with the new Manchester United boss sending chief scout Jim Lawlor to set up a deal for the Spain Under-21 skipper
Sam Allardyce admits that wrapping up a permanent deal for Andy Carroll remains West Ham United's 'first priority'.
Real Madrid have signed Brazilian midfielder Casemiro on a permanent deal after impressing on loan last season.
Real Betis have signed former Charlton goalkeeper Stephan Andersen, the Primera Division outfit have announced.
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Absolutely crucial game coming up for Korea against Uzbekistan in about an hour. Korea need to win one of their two games to qualify or rely on luck.
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On June 11 2013 18:45 Tazza wrote: Absolutely crucial game coming up for Korea against Uzbekistan in about an hour. Korea need to win one of their two games to qualify or rely on luck.
Well the game against Uzbekistan is surely the hardest for korea in the group. I was really happy when japan qualified in the earlier round before the game vs them
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51480 Posts
Speaking to the German Press Agency, DPA, he said: "I do not think that this is the final decision of the board of directors and I expect the situation to change shortly.
"I am enjoying my holiday for now, but I hope things move forward pretty soon and the situation changes. I do not get upset about anything
Lewandowski desperate to move xD
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51480 Posts
Jesus Navas signs for Man City for £14.9million Source
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Navas is sick.
Why is city so bad in cl btw, I don't get it, you could figure with the players they have they could reach at least to quarters easy.
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Too bad Van Ginkel would have been a nice addition to Ajax and I think it would have been better for his development as a player instead of benching at Chelsea. He could've played at Ajax for like 2 years and then go to a club like Chelsea anyway just like Eriksen does.
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Netherlands13554 Posts
Afaik van Ginkel wasn't opposed to a transfer to Ajax but Vitesse blocked it. They don't want to sell to teams in their own country.
I've also read that the construction of the transfer is that van Ginkel will stay at Vitesse for a year longer on loan and move to Chelsea after. Not sure if this is true though.
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That sounds like a really good deal for Vitesse, but for Van Ginkel's development pretty bad news. He is a great player, but Chelsea have so much talent in midfield he is unlikely to get much playing time.
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On June 12 2013 05:09 Twisted wrote: Afaik van Ginkel wasn't opposed to a transfer to Ajax but Vitesse blocked it. They don't want to sell to teams in their own country.
I've also read that the construction of the transfer is that van Ginkel will stay at Vitesse for a year longer on loan and move to Chelsea after. Not sure if this is true though.
Yeah, that's the speculation. He wouldn't get to play at Chelsea aside from some cup cameos...
On June 12 2013 04:38 Steveling wrote: Navas is sick.
Why is city so bad in cl btw, I don't get it, you could figure with the players they have they could reach at least to quarters easy.
Because Mancini sucked.
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On June 12 2013 04:38 Steveling wrote: Navas is sick.
Why is city so bad in cl btw, I don't get it, you could figure with the players they have they could reach at least to quarters easy. It's because they haven't played in Europe that much before the monies came in, so they were always in the 4th pot. Being in that pot meant that any group they would land in became the group of death.
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