re: Barcelona confirms Neymar exit ETA: PSG confirms they have signed Neymar

quote:

---

Barca have major issues to address to catch back up with Madrid.. their personnel decisions the last couple of years have been terrible.. and their best players are on the wrong side of 30.. Losing Neymar doesn't help either..

---

Christiano is 32.
Benzema is 29.
Bale is 28 but has a 35 year old's injury problems.
Marcelo is 28.
Modric is 31.
Ramos is 31.

Real Madrid's best players are old getting old too, but I would still rather have RM's roster.

yeah, but their starting 11 is better top to bottom and their second team is a lot better... they've also had much better buys in recent years..

I actually wasn't intending to compare the two squads directly, more so just using Madrid as a touchstone for where they should be... it only takes a few bad summers of transfers ora bad coaching hire and a club can go into a tailspin that takes a while to get out of it... granted, those depths are all relative...

All the Atleti ultras I follow are worried about Griezz possibly going to bartha. I really hope he doesn't pull an Arda Turan (don't think he will, just felt like sticking my proverbial dick up in this thread)

quote:

---

There really isn't a comparison between Pool's roster and RM's

---

I don't know who is doing that...

There was a guy earlier in the thread. Jackwoods brought him up. I swear I'm not making things up to insult Liverpool.

quote:

---

Barca have major issues to address to catch back up with Madrid.. their personnel decisions the last couple of years have been terrible.. and their best players are on the wrong side of 30.. Losing Neymar doesn't help either..

---

quote:

---

Christiano is 32.
Benzema is 29.
Bale is 28 but has a 35 year old's injury problems.
Marcelo is 28.
Modric is 31.
Ramos is 31.

Real Madrid's best players are older or getting old too, but I would still rather have RM's roster.

---

Yeah, the earlier question "how many world class players under 30 does Barca have" desperately needs to be qualified by the fact that Busquets, Messi, Suarez, Pique are still playing at such a high level.

As crazyforlsu points out, Busquets, like Messi and Suarez, is world class and then some.

That said, I do agree with TFTC that they have done an exceptionally poor job of bringing in quality younger players aside from Neymar to this point.

In that regard, I get the point being made, to a degree. As a Roma fan, I'm not certain who of their younger players, aside from Umtiti, I think would be likely to start and also an upgrade at Roma. That alone is saying something for a club with the cache of Barcelona.

The rest of this transfer window will put that clout to the test as to how effectively they'll be able to cherry pick 2 or 3 superstars from other CL level clubs.

I think it's also fair to say that if they don't do that, Barca would begin the season a bit closer to the PSG/Atletico tier of CL favorites than Real, Juve or Bayern.

I think Rise was talking about Barca, not RM...

His point of view is extreme, but I *think* the point he was trying to make is that Barca today, is not the same as it was even a couple of years ago... the overall talent is not as strong and their best players are getting old... plus their purchases have been absolutely average...

All that goes back to, if we lose Phil next season... I'd be more worried of losing him to PSG, than Barca..

I still think Barca is closer to RM's level than Pool is to Barca. Outside of Mane and Coutinho, I don't see anyone on that Pool's roster who is close to Barca's level.

I'm not really comparing the rosters I accept we are not there yet, but we're getting there... slowly...

I just said I would not be afraid to play this Barca team... Its the type of team we play best against..

And with Salah on the other wing... we now have too electric wingers that like to run on to the end of balls, that Phil and Bobby excel at...

Firmino doesn't get near the credit, regarding how fricking good he is... not the right fit for all teams, but perfect for us...

quote:

---

I accept we are not there yet, but we're getting there... slowly...

---

I don't think there is any team in England that is close to Barca's level, even if they are on the decline. I think that poorly of the pattern of play in the league, and have been pretty consistent on that since tactics in the league cratered in 2013 ish.

quote:

---

Firmino doesn't get near the credit, regarding how fricking good he is... not the right fit for all teams, but perfect for us...

---

I feel the same way about Santi Cazorla. His first three seasons in the league he outperformed all the major starlets, and in two of those seasons he played deeper than similar players and created chances at around 2.3 a game. Super underrated and important.