FC Barcelona - Campeones de España!

Still not sure that Caceres will stay. Nothing coming from the club indicates that. Let's wait and see.

But yeah, definitely more comforting to have another top experienced pro in the squad. I like how low the prices are as well. Looks like I was wrong about the quickness of it as well...all reports indicate a deal will be struck soon, possibly even today, between 15-20m euros, plus 5m in variables, or Hleb.



Meanwhile, Galliani comments that Milan are trying to make the Ibrahimovic signing happen

fcb wrote:Still not sure that Caceres will stay. Nothing coming from the club indicates that. Let's wait and see.

But yeah, definitely more comforting to have another top experienced pro in the squad. I like how low the prices are as well. Looks like I was wrong about the quickness of it as well...all reports indicate a deal will be struck soon, possibly even today, between 15-20m euros, plus 5m in variables, or Hleb.



Meanwhile, Galliani comments that Milan are trying to make the Ibrahimovic signing happen

Yes, if they get him on loan, and we pay his salary. It's Milan, don't forget.
If they end up paying us 35mill euros and up, then yes, i say sell him.

The only Milan will accept is probably paying 60% of his wages.. and if we are really lucky they will pay that in form of Boriello

I say hell no!

Negotiations will take place on Wednesday, when Milan come for the Gamper trophy.

Drug their food! Make them pay 45m for him!

if we do allow ibra to leave, i wonder who pep will replace him with, if anyone at all.

No one. He'll play Iniesta in attack more often.

Messiah wrote:if we do allow ibra to leave, i wonder who pep will replace him with, if anyone at all.

ROBINHO! ROBINHO! ROBINHO!

An excellent analysis of the club's finances, from a blog linked by Bluenine in the Inter thread:

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/08/whats-happening-with-barcelonas.html

It's not perfect because not all information is available, but in summary, it basically confirms what we all suspect - the club's financial position is not as good as Laporta said in June, and not as bad as Rosell claimed in July. Considerable politics involved.

Rosell basically made some very conservative assumptions in order to turn the profit into loss, and harshly pick and chose what accounting principles to follow in order to create a huge debt figure.

But overall, I don't see anything to be worried about. The wages/turnover ratio was over 60% last year, but will fall slightly this year thanks to the sale of some big earners. Provided of course that turnover doesn't fall drastically either. Smaller squad with more youth players means less wages. We also earned sizeable transfer fees from Toure and Chygrinskiy.

Also, the bonuses at Barça are also very very high compared to other clubs, and this won't happen every year (unfortunately ).

If there are problems with the TV contracts, then Rosell will probably opt for a shirt sponsorship, which I'm certain will be among the top 3, if not the highest, of any club in the world. Though with Herbalife and TV3 already on the sleeves, I do hope they hold out for as long as possible.

And finally, the debt is pretty high (even after removing Rosell's 'worst-case' assumptions) but as I've said before, for any big club, and especially for a social institution like Barça, debt means nothing. No Spanish bank will dare to threaten the club for outstanding debts, provided of course the team doesn't drastically spiral into a midtable side that doesn't win anything.

today marks the return of one of the greatest players to wear the barca shirt and one of the best players ever.

I'm so happy he will get a proper thank you from the fans

I hope he scores, the whole crowd will applaud

Victor Sanchez going to Getafe on loan. I don't know why we won't just release him on a free...he's clearly not good enough. I'm surprised he's even getting a move to Getafe, thought it would be another relegation club or he would stay with Barça B in the 2nd division.

yep he would be of better use to barca b, than any team in the first division, its funny how we are loaning out sanchez, yet allowed botia to leave on a free

------------------Pinto

Adriano-----Puyol---Milito---Abidal

------------------JDS

-------Iniesta-----------Maxwell

---Jeffern-----ibra----Villa

3-4-3, surely?

-----------Pinto
----Puyol-Milito-Abidal
Adriano-JDS-Iniesta-Maxwell
--Jeffren-Ibrahimovic-Villa

no thats why they have on barca TV

They even presented Caceres and Hleb as part of the squad...that's just cruel

Great reception for Ronaldinho, Messi, and the World Cup winning players, as expected.

Significantly, also a *huge* ovation for Ibrahimovic.

Lots of whistling when Laporta and Rosell came on together for presenting the Liga trophy to Puyol.

And speaking of that, on a day when Ronaldinho returns, Ibrahimovic is around, and Laporta returns...among the song choices on the stadium loudspeakers were "Bad Romance"

Almost time for the game.

its clear from the presenation that pep has a good relationship with laporta and is very cold with rosell

man every time a see those clips of dinho i fall in love with football all over again

They should take a picture of that goal against Chelsea and put it in the dictionary next to the word "genius".

Yeah, it's a 4-3-3. Jonathan as a DLP, and basically no DM!

I must say maxwell has been an absolutely great signing for us, one of the best in the pass few seasons

Now I want Ibrahimovic to succeed and all...but 1 min 40 seconds after he was subbed, Barça score

calidad will say thats why villa should play as a CF

Adriano's crossing is amazing, but he has a lot of work to do on his positioning in order to become a reliable fullback.

Jonathan has done reasonably well in the deep position. Don't want to see him there in any league or CL competitive game though.

As usual, not convinced by Jeffren. If Ibra leaves, we'll have just 4.5 players up front for 3 positions.

Do you think Messi as a 'false 9' will be the default formation this season (as some have suggest)?

I always think that it's a formation for the toughest, most cagey games, rather than a regular one. I think it can be a bit of a waste (and unnecessary) against most teams you play, but has real benefit in a tough game where there is less time and space for the traditional striker. Plus, a lot of its benefit comes from the relative novelty of the formation. The more it is used, the more teams will find ways of adapting to it.

Sheffield gunner wrote:Do you think Messi as a 'false 9' will be the default formation this season (as some have suggest)?

I always think that it's a formation for the toughest, most cagey games, rather than a regular one. I think it can be a bit of a waste (and unnecessary) against most teams you play, but has real benefit in a tough game where there is less time and space for the traditional striker. Plus, a lot of its benefit comes from the relative novelty of the formation. The more it is used, the more teams will find ways of adapting to it.

thiago has done more in his half than JDS

Stunning goal by Inzaghi.


@SG: Yes, I see your point...but they switch around during a game. And if teams get too used to Messi as a '9', then he'll just move back to the right and let Villa play in the middle. Then the opposition have to get used to that again

Has Seedorf ever made a penalty?