New look line-ups for next season?

Desgraciats wrote:Based partly on speculation:

--------------------Valdés-----------
--Alves--Puyol-----Caceres---Abidal
---------------touré---------------
------Xavi-----------Keita----------
-Messi---------------------Iniesta--
------------Henry------------------

This of course supposes that Caceres and Alves are signed. If we manage to bring in another AM, striker and winger this line up may look very different.

Milito is not there due to his injury and I expect Keita to be a starter.

As of now, with the Spain players yet to get some minutes, I'd say:

Valdes
Alves-Puyol-Pique-Abidal
Toure
Xavi-Hleb/Keita
Messi-Etoo-Iniesta

I don't know why, i just don't like the idea having Iniesta there...on the wing. I think he will be useless (end product).

Me too, but until Arshavin is signed there's not much else we can expect. Iniesta or Hleb, that's who it'll be up there.

Well we can take comfort in the fact the we went on our best run and played our best football last season with Iniesta on the left.

Messiah wrote:Well we can take comfort in the fact the we went on our best run and played our best football last season with Iniesta on the left.

Wasn't that just a couple of matches, one the infamous Levante game where Henry got a hattrick, and the other at home (when we were unbeatable in the 1st half of the season) against some midtable team. Later in the season when he played there things were messed up already.

kas wrote:

Messiah wrote:Well we can take comfort in the fact the we went on our best run and played our best football last season with Iniesta on the left.

Wasn't that just a couple of matches, one the infamous Levante game where Henry got a hattrick, and the other at home (when we were unbeatable in the 1st half of the season) against some midtable team. Later in the season when he played there things were messed up already.

yes but we need to look at the positive until we sign someone to play on the left.

-------------------------Reina---------------------------
-Arbeloa------Carragher----Agger--------Dossena--
---------------Mascherano--Alonso-------------------
-----------------------Gerrard-------------------------
-----------Keane------Torres-------Babel------------


League winners

FC Porto 2008/2009

------------------------------------Helton------------------------------------
Sapuranu--------------Bruno Alves----Pedro Emanuel------------Fucile
-------------------------------------Guarin-----------------------------------
---------------------Lucho Gonzalez-----Raul Meireles--------------------
Ricardo Quaresma-----------Lisandro Lopez------------Cristian Rodriguez

Or
*Lino instead of Fucile
*Fernando or Bolatti instead of Guarin
*Tarik or Mariano instead of Quaresma if he is sold or even "Hulk" in the middle and Lisandro goes for the right wing

Our first eleven is not clear at the moment, plenty of indefinitions mainly the Quaresma soap opera that seems to go on and on and on and with many implications both in the team and in a new possible signing if any.

Cant tell yet, but against PenisV I think it wil be something like:

---------------------Timmer------------------
------------Vlaar---------------Hofland--------------
----Fer---------------------------------------de Cler
--------------------El Ahmadi------------------
-----Wijnaldum--------------------------------Gio
----------------------Bruins-------------------------
----------Tomasson-------------Janota

-------------Doni---------------
Cici---Mexes---Juan---Riise
-----De Rossi---Aquilani------
Taddei----Perrotta----Vucinic
------------Totti----------------

Need a couple of wingers and a Striker.

Updates?

kas wrote:

Desgraciats wrote:Based partly on speculation:

--------------------Valdés-----------
--Alves--Puyol-----Caceres---Abidal
---------------touré---------------
------Xavi-----------Keita----------
-Messi---------------------Iniesta--
------------Henry------------------

This of course supposes that Caceres and Alves are signed. If we manage to bring in another AM, striker and winger this line up may look very different.

Milito is not there due to his injury and I expect Keita to be a starter.

As of now, with the Spain players yet to get some minutes, I'd say:

Valdes
Alves-Puyol-Pique-Abidal
Toure
Xavi-Hleb/Keita
Messi-Etoo-Iniesta

Barça's is:

Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Marquez, Abidal, Toure, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Etoo, Henry

i.e. after spending almost 100M€, we have changed Zambrotta for Alves. What a waste of money altogether. O, and we have half a dozen central defenders available to substitute Marquez (since Puyol would never be rotated).

I feel a little bit sickly tbh. I see another season where Abidal and Henry are going to have more opportunities to show their rubbishness with our coach being the only one who doesn't see this. We cannot play Xavi and Iniesta in midfield together, not last year or before and less so now that Alves has come in at RB. He leaves tremendous gaps at the back and these two aren't going to be the ones filling in the holes. If we play like this, we need to have both Toure and Keita playing.
And it may be a 4-3-3 in name, but there is no width whatsoever. Henry doesn't go wide for love nor money, and if he doesn't get enough of the former from us fans, he gets more than warranted of the latter. Quite clearly the system isn't working and isn't going to work, especially against these "small" teams. We need to have a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 if we want to make an impact. Henry in this system to play wide left. On the sideline, that is.

Pep just needs to drop Henry and put Hleb or Iniesta (or even Boan or Pedro) in as left wing. Hopefully he will realise that soon enough.

As for formation then we need to take a look at Sevilla, meaning that Touré or the DM needs to drop back and cover for Alves when he goes rampaging. If we reign him in then there is no point in having him since he is very good at going forward. The DM can either act as a temporary sweeper (meaning that Márquez goes close to the striker) and Puyol out right or the DM drops in as RB. I prefer the first option since both Keita and Touré are strong in the air. Alternatively Márquez could play as DM and Piqué/Caceres in as CB.

That would lead to something like this ideally which might just work:

Defence:
--------------------VV------------------
-Alves--Puyol---------Márquez--Abidal
-----------------Touré-----------------
--------Xavi-----------Keita------------
-Messi------------------------Iniesta----
---------------Eto'o---------------------


Attack:

-----------------VV--------
--------Touré------Márquez----------
-Puyol-------------------------Abidal--
-----------Xavi--------Keita-----------
-Alves-------------------------Iniesta-
----------Messi-----Eto'o-------------

Take out Xavi for Iniesta/Hleb

-----------------Notario--------------

Edu Moya-Ruben--Noguerol----Lago

D. Abalo--Oubiña-Trashorras--Danilo

-----------Ghilas-----------------------
------------------D. Rodriguez---------