Spains next LB?

I think we're seeing that Capdevila's time (at least as first choice) coming to an end now. He's not even a guaranteed starter for Villarreal either now.

From the above options, there's hardly a standout that smacks 'Spains next LB' but I think they are currently the most credible candidates.

I would probably pip for Enrique. He's been very good this season.

P.S. Think by now, Puerta would have had this position nailed down.

Jose Enrique would be a good choice, personally I have been a big fan of Monreal in the last couple of years. I think he is just a very well rounded full back. Didac Vila maybe in the future, he's got the potential but I wouldn't think he is 'next in line' as it were.

Enrique is leaving in the summer, i'm sure the Spanish coach will start giving a shit about him then. Hopefully he gets a move to a CL club, not a team like Liverpool. Milan keep getting linked, that seems like the perfect move to me.

Yeah, Enrique is a good player but I don't know why Del Bosque ignores him. It's not like he's Arteta and there are 783621 other midfielders in the queue ahead of him.

But I think realistically, the next LB - at least in the short term - will be Arbeloa, so I voted "Other".


There could soon be a spot opening up for Pique's partner at CB too, given Puyol's injury trouble this season. Not convinced that Albiol is the long term solution.

fcb wrote:Yeah, Enrique is a good player but I don't know why Del Bosque ignores him. It's not like he's Arteta and there are 783621 other midfielders in the queue ahead of him.

It's the club he plays for. I've heard that Capello hasn't been to St James' at all this season, if the England coach doesn't take an interest in our players it doesn't surprise me that the Spanish coach isn't interested either.

Kimbo wrote:Enrique is leaving in the summer, i'm sure the Spanish coach will start giving a shit about him then. Hopefully he gets a move to a CL club, not a team like Liverpool. Milan keep getting linked, that seems like the perfect move to me.

Yeah let him move to a club who are only going to go backwards with all their aging players and that are becoming a joke in the champions league and who havent won the league in 7 years. Perfect move

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:Enrique is leaving in the summer, i'm sure the Spanish coach will start giving a shit about him then. Hopefully he gets a move to a CL club, not a team like Liverpool. Milan keep getting linked, that seems like the perfect move to me.

Yeah let him move to a club who are only going to go backwards with all their aging players and that are becoming a joke in the champions league and who havent won the league in 7 years. Perfect move

Time to stop the cliche about Milan being an "aging side". They aren't too different to any other top club nowadays (need a healthy chunk of players in their upper 20s, which gives you the right blend of experience and the player's peak years) and their average age will get younger this summer when several contracts expire.

As for not having won the league in 7 years - they'll win it this year, and will continue to challenge next year. They'll also challenge more in the CL, considering their owner is now refreshing the squad in a proper manner.


(btw, before you mis-interpret this post as well, let me make it clear that I'm not being anti-Liverpool or anything here. Enrique can join you or Milan or stay at Newcastle, I don't really care. Just arguing against your description of Milan)

Luis wrote:

Kimbo wrote:Enrique is leaving in the summer, i'm sure the Spanish coach will start giving a shit about him then. Hopefully he gets a move to a CL club, not a team like Liverpool. Milan keep getting linked, that seems like the perfect move to me.

Yeah let him move to a club who are only going to go backwards with all their aging players and that are becoming a joke in the champions league and who havent won the league in 7 years. Perfect move

They'll probably win the league this season. Milan obviously need to freshen up their squad and an athletic player like Enrique would be a great signing for them. For Enrique he would get to play with one of the REAL big clubs in football, he would definitely get noticed by the Spanish boss(i know this is important to him), and he would get to play CL football guaranteed. They're easily the most attractive club that he's been linked to.

Funny that as you were slagging Milan off the other week. Hopefully Andy has a word and he comes to still one of the biggest worldwide supported clubs, Liverpool FC.

fcb wrote:Yeah, Enrique is a good player but I don't know why Del Bosque ignores him. It's not like he's Arteta and there are 783621 other midfielders in the queue ahead of him.

But I think realistically, the next LB - at least in the short term - will be Arbeloa, so I voted "Other".


There could soon be a spot opening up for Pique's partner at CB too, given Puyol's injury trouble this season. Not convinced that Albiol is the long term solution.

Speaking of left backs whatever happened to Javier Garrido. He showed some potential, went to Man City, and I assume he is still rotting there?

It will also be interesting to see if Jordi Alba continues to play more as left back. He is a really good footballer, seems disciplined enough when he plays as full back.

As for centre backs, I think Pique-Albiol probably will become the pairing...although eventually one of them will have to become a real "leader" of the defense (as Messiah likes to say). But it is not just Puyol that needs replacing. Marchena won't continue on for much longer either. A really good crop of CBs coming up though with Mikel San Jose, Victor Ruiz, Alberto Botia, Alvaro Dominguez, etc that seem to have the potential.

Luis wrote:Funny that as you were slagging Milan off the other week. Hopefully Andy has a word and he comes to still one of the biggest worldwide supported clubs, Liverpool FC.

Andy Pandy will have been watching Carra smashing the ball here, there, and everywhere wondering why the fuck he decided to move. But then he will look at his bank account and be reminded.

Lewis, i see what you're getting at, you think Liverpool are a more attractive club than Milan. You're wrong, it's as simple as that, it's not even up for debate. Maybe Liverpool beats then in terms of fanbase, but really who cares about how many fans you have in China and Singapore? Milan beats Liverpool in EVERY other aspect, and i suspect Andy would be green with envy if Enrique got a move there.

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:Funny that as you were slagging Milan off the other week. Hopefully Andy has a word and he comes to still one of the biggest worldwide supported clubs, Liverpool FC.

Andy Pandy will have been watching Carra smashing the ball here, there, and everywhere wondering why the fuck he decided to move. But then he will look at his bank account and be reminded.

Lewis, i see what you're getting at, you think Liverpool are a more attractive club than Milan. You're wrong, it's as simple as that, it's not even up for debate. Maybe Liverpool beats then in terms of fanbase, but really who cares about how many fans you have in China and Singapore? Milan beats Liverpool in EVERY other aspect, and i suspect Andy would be green with envy if Enrique got a move there.

You really are such a bitter twat sometimes Kimmy.

Clearly your post was to dismiss Liverpool as not an attractive option for him. What you're forgetting is that Liverpool is far more attractive than Newcastle. You haven't been in European competiton for fuck knows how long, you got relegated, you're run by a clown and as soon as you have a player that's any good you look to sell him on as quick as possible. Don't you see how small time you've become?

I don't think we're a more attractive club than Milan at the moment. Any club that's playing in the CL is more attractive than a club that isn't. I think there's still a lot of positives to joining Liverpool though. Clearly we're making good advances and looking to build for the future. Our new owners are promising to invest more money into the squad to add to the 6 or 7 quality players we already have. We're still the most successful club in English history, we're still a massively well respected and known club throughout the world. Why do you think a quality player like Suarez joined us? You can pretend Caroll moved purely for money all you want, the fact remains we have a far better chance of challenging for 4th place within the next season or two and challenging for trophies than you do. Enrique will be tempted to move to us if an offer comes along and I don't think Milan having their first good domestic season in 7 years due to Serie A being piss poor and the demise of Inter after the special one left them for dead will make them head and shoulders above us.

Luis wrote: You really are such a bitter twat sometimes Kimmy.

Clearly your post was to dismiss Liverpool as not an attractive option for him. What you're forgetting is that Liverpool is far more attractive than Newcastle. You haven't been in European competiton for fuck knows how long, you got relegated, you're run by a clown and as soon as you have a player that's any good you look to sell him on as quick as possible. Don't you see how small time you've become?

I don't think we're a more attractive club than Milan at the moment. Any club that's playing in the CL is more attractive than a club that isn't. I think there's still a lot of positives to joining Liverpool though. Clearly we're making good advances and looking to build for the future. Our new owners are promising to invest more money into the squad to add to the 6 or 7 quality players we already have. We're still the most successful club in English history, we're still a massively well respected and known club throughout the world. Why do you think a quality player like Suarez joined us? You can pretend Caroll moved purely for money all you want, the fact remains we have a far better chance of challenging for 4th place within the next season or two and challenging for trophies than you do. Enrique will be tempted to move to us if an offer comes along and I don't think Milan having their first good domestic season in 7 years due to Serie A being piss poor and the demise of Inter after the special one left them for dead will make them head and shoulders above us.

Suarez played in Holland and no one else was in for him, his signing isn't that impressive.

And the rest is the same old rhetoric, we'll challenge for 4th, we'll challenge for trophies, blah blah blah. I'll eat my fucking face if Liverpool finish top 4 next season.

Enrique i'm sure will go to Liverpool if an offer is accepted, they still have some money and the biased media still hype them up as big boys, but the fact remains, like Carroll, he can do alot better. I view Liverpool as a pretty shit option for him, the minimum requirement for him should be CL football.

Jaime wrote:Speaking of left backs whatever happened to Javier Garrido. He showed some potential, went to Man City, and I assume he is still rotting there?

He joined Lazio last summer as a replacement for Kolarov.

F*ck off!!!! Now I just read Liverpool are being linked with Monreal. It will be a real shame for the league if we lose yet another good young player to the premiership.

Cesc Soler wrote:

Jaime wrote:Speaking of left backs whatever happened to Javier Garrido. He showed some potential, went to Man City, and I assume he is still rotting there?

He joined Lazio last summer as a replacement for Kolarov.

Ah, cheers. Looks like he has made a grand total of one appearance. Should have stayed in Spain.

Luis wrote:Funny that as you were slagging Milan off the other week. Hopefully Andy has a word and he comes to still one of the biggest worldwide supported clubs, Liverpool FC.

That'll be because they were losing to Spurs the other week. You know Kimbo and moving those goalposts

Noah and the Bale wrote:

Luis wrote:Funny that as you were slagging Milan off the other week. Hopefully Andy has a word and he comes to still one of the biggest worldwide supported clubs, Liverpool FC.

That'll be because they were losing to Spurs the other week. You know Kimbo and moving those goalposts

My criticism of Milan was legit, and pretty common. They know their squad needs investment.

Anyway...

Luis wrote:Well Spurs and Milan aren't that much better than we are from what I can see.

Lets have a go at Kimbo.

Jaime wrote:F*ck off!!!! Now I just read Liverpool are being linked with Monreal. It will be a real shame for the league if we lose yet another good young player to the premiership.

I also heard that Bilbao wants to solve their LB problem (which is going on for a few years now) and sign him, continuing momentum they have with signing Herrera. But I guess for Athletic buying player from Osasuna won't be easy.

Also, I don't think that Capdevilla position within Villarreal is in any danger, he is probably rotated more aften these days, because he doesn't have legs to cover left flank by himself every week. And Villarreal system needs just that from their full backs.

I really don't see anything special in Jose Enrique, so Arbeloa, Monreal or just Capdevilla would be my vote.