EPTOn July 14 2013 12:11 WillyWanker wrote:
Thiago cannot play Xavi's role... If you had to find him a spot in Barcelona's 11 right now, he would play in Iniesta's role. The best replacements for Xavi right now would be Veratti or Gundogan, OR Jonathan Dos Santos that has been on the 1st team squad for 2 years now but hasn't had any chance to play for some obscure reasons...
They can easily replace Thiago with his brother Rafa Alcantara, and Sergi Roberto, both probably better than him (from what I've seen). Rafa has been loaned but I have no doubt they will take him back next year to integrate the first team.
Maybe I'm wrong about Thiago and he will become this huge star in Bayern, but I think he's overhyped and 22M€ for him would be a greaaaat deal for Barcelona.
Thiago cannot play Xavi's role... If you had to find him a spot in Barcelona's 11 right now, he would play in Iniesta's role. The best replacements for Xavi right now would be Veratti or Gundogan, OR Jonathan Dos Santos that has been on the 1st team squad for 2 years now but hasn't had any chance to play for some obscure reasons...
They can easily replace Thiago with his brother Rafa Alcantara, and Sergi Roberto, both probably better than him (from what I've seen). Rafa has been loaned but I have no doubt they will take him back next year to integrate the first team.
Maybe I'm wrong about Thiago and he will become this huge star in Bayern, but I think he's overhyped and 22M€ for him would be a greaaaat deal for Barcelona.
Yea I really like Thiago but hes more of a straight swap for a role Aimar used to play for Valencia rather than a Xavi, so yeah the closest he would get would be iniesta or maybe a reserved false 9 which isnt really a position in my book so I dont know why I just made it up. Theres plenty of players with his skillset in Spain, perhaps not as good but thats not something Barca will find themselves short of so..
I dont think hes overhyped though. For a team that can use his talents hes worth the money. Its just a matter of the fit.
On July 14 2013 16:56 sharkie wrote:
yeah but Barca's football requires all to press 90min, you need great stamina or you will hinder the team
yeah but Barca's football requires all to press 90min, you need great stamina or you will hinder the team
pretty sure Xavi still covers more ground than most world midfielders. Just a matter of managing his games, which was done somewhat well last season.
That having been said, managing his schedule isnt really a long term solution.
Also interesting thing to note, Silent Stan and Shahid Khan are not on very good terms. Expect a few more twirls to the mustache if Fulham win a derby.
and those moustaches are a dime a dozen.. I think hes just trying to throwback to some heritage and get some cool points because its not particularly common here.
Funny how everyone is creaming their pants in my hometown (where hes from) because everyone watches the PL and no ones ever heard of the Jags so now all of a sudden Shahid Khan is a hero and an inspiration, Apparantly being a billionaire doesnt cut it, but buying mid level football team doesn.
Point being thats how big football is. All of a sudden the whole world knows this dude who cant run sports teams for shit.
