Importance of Cesc Fabregas, and the curious case of Barcelona defender
10:49
It's time for a weekend. Every Friday/Thursday(In my case) after returning from my office, I feel quite relieved to share my thoughts and tactical ramblings in this blog of mine after crawling through the heavy traffic of Bangalore. Time to add yet another piece in my repository.
In a few days, FIFA World Cup tournament will start in Brazil. I am not much of an international football fanatic so I will talk about Barça. This is a much awaited summer for Barça. A chance for Barcelona board to act wise and buy some proper defenders. In the past few years, Guardiola's departure, Tito Vilanova's cancer remission have obscured Culés vision during summer. This time, the board will not get away, and our situation is also worse. I was very optimistic about David Luiz's transfer to Barça, but PSG lured him away. Barça are extremely meticulous, when it comes to defenders and Goal Keeper. Barça's system demands certain qualities from a defender, the defender should be comfortable with the ball. The Barça's defender should go higher up the pitch and initiate the attacks, when the opposition park the bus. John Terry, though exceptional in positioning and comfortable in the box will be the last one to enter Barça's eleven, because he is not comfortable with the ball, and his less pace means, he is always vulnerable.There are very few defenders who comply with Barça's requirements.Two defenders perfectly suit the system, they are Thiago Silva and David Luiz. They're gone now. Then, who?. We shall wait and watch.
I am seeing incessant transfer rumours on my twitter, thanks to @barcastuff. Some of them are outlandish. One of them is Ivan Rakitic's transfer to Barcelona. I still have no clue as how team's perforance will accrue in the presence of Ivan Rakitic. I think this particular transfer may seem unusual/strange because bolstering the midfield is not a primary concern for Barça, right now. I am quite aware that Cesc Fabregas may leave to Chelsea. Some Culés are showing strong aversion to this possible transfer, but I am not one among them. If I was in the Barça's board and some club would offer 30m and plus for him, I would have released Fabregas. Because he hinders our performance on the pitch. I had privilege to watch many Barça games, not once, but twice. What I've inferred from those games is that, both Xavi and Fabregas cannot play at the same time.If Fabregas plays, he will play in midfield.(For more detailed analysis as how Cesc's inclusion in midfield affected Barca, read HERE). Although many managers have experimented by playing him in False 9 role, he didn't really flare in that position It's not just my view, but it's a common notion among the Barça fraternity that he is a flop in that position. Our extraordinary expectations from that role really affected his assessment. Nevertheless, he didn't really contribute much to the team because he isn't the main player of the team anymore.
At Arsenal, he was the star player and they played in a way, which maximised his output. He is suited to more direct style of football and Barça aren't going to get affected if Fabregas leaves.In order to fit Fabregas in the starting 11, managers have changed the positon of two decisive players, Iniesta and Neymar. Iniesta is playing on the left wing and Neymar is playing on the right. We all know that Neymar is effective in the left flank and Iniesta is decisive and has a real impact on the game, playing in the midfield.If Barça are looking to sell Fabregas for 30m and replace him with Ivan Rakitic for 15m -20m, it's a fantastic business. Rakitic is a fantastic player and may perform better than Fabregas in other roles(From what I've seen). But I want to reiterate the fact that, midfield, right now is not a major concern.
Another rumour is about Alexis Sanchez and Juventus. I don't understand the need to sell Alexis Sanchez. Sanchez had a fantastic season in blaugrana colors. He scores, he assists, he works his ass off to track back. Alexis sanchez has been doing Messiesque stuff at Chile National team. I think he should stay.
Dani Alves may leave to PSG. Dani Alves is the best Right back in the world for me. He does things on the pitch which mesmerizes every football fan. Dani Alves had some great impact on Barça's success. As Michael Cox(@zonal_marking said, Dani Alves is the last person you want to face when you are down to 10). Cox was talking about Dani Alves's impact in the both legs vs Manchester City. If he is leaving Barça, it's not because of his lack of ability, but Barça are tweaking the philosophy.
In this post, I mainly focussed on the possible departure of Cesc Fabregas and how it impacts the team. The Culés, of all should realise the fact that Barça aren't going to play like Real Madrid or Chelsea to win trophies. Barça have their own philosophy, vision as how Football has to be played. Success comes in cycles. Players come and Players go, but our possession football remains intact. If Luis Enrique is shrewd enough, Barça's plan A will suffice. As far as the rumours are concerned, Barça are there for wrong reasons. Because, all we need now is a DEFENDER.
In a few days, FIFA World Cup tournament will start in Brazil. I am not much of an international football fanatic so I will talk about Barça. This is a much awaited summer for Barça. A chance for Barcelona board to act wise and buy some proper defenders. In the past few years, Guardiola's departure, Tito Vilanova's cancer remission have obscured Culés vision during summer. This time, the board will not get away, and our situation is also worse. I was very optimistic about David Luiz's transfer to Barça, but PSG lured him away. Barça are extremely meticulous, when it comes to defenders and Goal Keeper. Barça's system demands certain qualities from a defender, the defender should be comfortable with the ball. The Barça's defender should go higher up the pitch and initiate the attacks, when the opposition park the bus. John Terry, though exceptional in positioning and comfortable in the box will be the last one to enter Barça's eleven, because he is not comfortable with the ball, and his less pace means, he is always vulnerable.There are very few defenders who comply with Barça's requirements.Two defenders perfectly suit the system, they are Thiago Silva and David Luiz. They're gone now. Then, who?. We shall wait and watch.
I am seeing incessant transfer rumours on my twitter, thanks to @barcastuff. Some of them are outlandish. One of them is Ivan Rakitic's transfer to Barcelona. I still have no clue as how team's perforance will accrue in the presence of Ivan Rakitic. I think this particular transfer may seem unusual/strange because bolstering the midfield is not a primary concern for Barça, right now. I am quite aware that Cesc Fabregas may leave to Chelsea. Some Culés are showing strong aversion to this possible transfer, but I am not one among them. If I was in the Barça's board and some club would offer 30m and plus for him, I would have released Fabregas. Because he hinders our performance on the pitch. I had privilege to watch many Barça games, not once, but twice. What I've inferred from those games is that, both Xavi and Fabregas cannot play at the same time.If Fabregas plays, he will play in midfield.(For more detailed analysis as how Cesc's inclusion in midfield affected Barca, read HERE). Although many managers have experimented by playing him in False 9 role, he didn't really flare in that position It's not just my view, but it's a common notion among the Barça fraternity that he is a flop in that position. Our extraordinary expectations from that role really affected his assessment. Nevertheless, he didn't really contribute much to the team because he isn't the main player of the team anymore.
At Arsenal, he was the star player and they played in a way, which maximised his output. He is suited to more direct style of football and Barça aren't going to get affected if Fabregas leaves.In order to fit Fabregas in the starting 11, managers have changed the positon of two decisive players, Iniesta and Neymar. Iniesta is playing on the left wing and Neymar is playing on the right. We all know that Neymar is effective in the left flank and Iniesta is decisive and has a real impact on the game, playing in the midfield.If Barça are looking to sell Fabregas for 30m and replace him with Ivan Rakitic for 15m -20m, it's a fantastic business. Rakitic is a fantastic player and may perform better than Fabregas in other roles(From what I've seen). But I want to reiterate the fact that, midfield, right now is not a major concern.
Another rumour is about Alexis Sanchez and Juventus. I don't understand the need to sell Alexis Sanchez. Sanchez had a fantastic season in blaugrana colors. He scores, he assists, he works his ass off to track back. Alexis sanchez has been doing Messiesque stuff at Chile National team. I think he should stay.
Dani Alves may leave to PSG. Dani Alves is the best Right back in the world for me. He does things on the pitch which mesmerizes every football fan. Dani Alves had some great impact on Barça's success. As Michael Cox(@zonal_marking said, Dani Alves is the last person you want to face when you are down to 10). Cox was talking about Dani Alves's impact in the both legs vs Manchester City. If he is leaving Barça, it's not because of his lack of ability, but Barça are tweaking the philosophy.
In this post, I mainly focussed on the possible departure of Cesc Fabregas and how it impacts the team. The Culés, of all should realise the fact that Barça aren't going to play like Real Madrid or Chelsea to win trophies. Barça have their own philosophy, vision as how Football has to be played. Success comes in cycles. Players come and Players go, but our possession football remains intact. If Luis Enrique is shrewd enough, Barça's plan A will suffice. As far as the rumours are concerned, Barça are there for wrong reasons. Because, all we need now is a DEFENDER.
This entry was posted by Kishore Katarki
and the curious case of Barcelona defender,
Importance of Cesc Fabregas
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8 June 2014 at 21:38
Agree with your views but I don't see Rakitic will fit our system. He is also Fabregas kind of a MF.
Yes no point in selling Alexis & getting Higuain or Aguero for CF, Alexis can do it too.
New defense, new GK's its gonna be a tough season for Barca.
9 June 2014 at 09:45
Fabregas was not so vital. He is a good player, but he didn't really fit in. But what bothers me a lot is that, we didn't buy a MUCH NEEDED DEFENDER still, and are trying to bolster the midfield :-/