sne Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 40 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Hasn't Costa scored about 5 goals in last two seasons? A bit more but not much, been constantly injured or unfit. Still only 31 thou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 2 goals and an assist for Luis Suarez today in a 6-1 win for Atletico. Wonder if they might challenge for the title this season? Looking at their squad it looks really strong, especially since Joao Felix has started to live up his potential. Barca are a mess and Real have some really young players and some quite old but not that many in their prime. They are still favorites thou I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedClaretAndBlue Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Costa and Suarez are the ultimate shithouse frontline 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguin Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 1 hour ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: Costa and Suarez are the ultimate shithouse frontline Wonder what odds I’d get from them to have a scrap on pitch before Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 2 hours ago, sne said: 2 goals and an assist for Luis Suarez today in a 6-1 win for Atletico. Wonder if they might challenge for the title this season? Looking at their squad it looks really strong, especially since Joao Felix has started to live up his potential. Barca are a mess and Real have some really young players and some quite old but not that many in their prime. They are still favorites thou I guess. Barca 4-0 up at half time. If Koeman can get half decent seasons out of Coutinho and Griezmann they may be alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 1 minute ago, sharkyvilla said: Barca 4-0 up at half time. If Koeman can get half decent seasons out of Coutinho and Griezmann they may be alright. Fati with 2 goals, not bad for a 17 y.o kid. Still think they'll have a difficult season but maybe all the nonsense has pulled the squad together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 5 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: Costa and Suarez are the ultimate shithouse frontline did you not see the Villa front line of Sinclair and Gestede. Puts shithouse on a new level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted September 28, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted September 28, 2020 They still finishing outside the top 4 then? Said it before and I'll say it again: they're a mess, but that isn't happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 22 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: Costa and Suarez are the ultimate shithouse frontline I just saw this quote from Costa Strike partner Diego Costa, added: "He is very good, one of us can do the fighting and the other can do the biting." 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted October 5, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted October 5, 2020 Barca announcing they have 820m in debts. Crayz figures but not in breach of FFP. Ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 2 hours ago, Rds1983 said: Barca announcing they have 820m in debts. Crayz figures but not in breach of FFP. Ridiculous. They can cover it by selling Messi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 On 05/10/2020 at 21:04, momo said: They can cover it by selling Messi Nobody will pay his release clause of €700 at his age and 1 year on his contract. He’s probably worth similar to what Ronaldo went for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 What a complete mess Quote Barcelona's transfer blunders bite back on dreadful deadline day Barça were left scrabbling for a deal to balance broken books after years of waste on bad signings and mindbending wages By the time the transfer window closed, Barcelona had seen Luis Suárez go to Atlético Madrid, Ivan Rakitic to Sevilla, Arturo Vidal to Internazionale, Rafinha to Paris Saint-Germain and Jean-Clair Todibo to Benfica in return for a grand total of €3.5m – and that is the players they managed to get rid of. A couple of hours earlier, the club had been trying to force Ousmane Dembélé to go to Manchester United. He had cost €105m plus a further €45m in variables three years ago; now they hoped to raise €0, but did not manage that either. Left without the money to make them happen, nor did they succeed in signing Memphis Depay and Eric García. The lights were still on at the Camp Nou offices well after midnight on the frantic final day of transfer business, but it wasn’t because they were closing the deals their coach, Ronald Koeman, requested, his revolution gathering pace. Instead it painted another portrait of their crisis, Barcelona were stuck, another failure consummated. Koeman admitted this was not the squad he planned for but it is the one he will have to work with. Late last week Barcelona unveiled Sergiño Dest, yet he would prove to be the last signing, not joined by the striker and defender they need. “We want Depay to come to Barcelona and he wants to come,” Koeman told Dutch TV at the start of deadline day but by the end of it the forward was still in Amsterdam. García, meanwhile, was left at Manchester City for another year. Koeman always knew that was a possibility, saying: “We have to sell before Depay comes. The financial situation is very difficult.” At €25m, Depay was already a climb down, albeit one to the manager’s taste: all year the talk had been of Lautaro Martínez, a €116m target from Inter. Reality had finally intervened, its logic as simple as it was inescapable: Barcelona do not have the money. The club director Jordi Moix announced that with income €204m down on the projected figures, Barcelona had made an after-tax loss of €97m over the past year, despite saving €79m through cost-cutting following the restart, and that the outlook for this year is even bleaker. Players will be asked to take another salary reduction. Yet Covid only explains part of it: even without the health crisis, Barcelona had one of their own and it was huge. They were barely projected to make a profit at all pre-pandemic – despite foreseeing an income of more than €1bn. No sign of peace at Barcelona as Messi simmers and Suárez says goodbye Read more In 2017 Barcelona sold Neymar, not only a player but their succession plan, and the €222m they received for him from PSG was gone within six months. They tried desperately to replace him, to the extent that they ended up trying to get him back – but did not have the money to do so. Instead, they stumbled from one short-term solution to another, the long-term situation leaving them on edge until Covid came along and tipped them over it. What was it Lionel Messi had said? Ah, yes: “For a long time now, there has been no project or anything. They go around juggling, trying to fill in the holes as they go along and things happen.” Since 2015 they had spent almost €1bn on players, none of whom have been an unqualified success, the greatest contribution to a wage bill that had become unsustainable. Meanwhile, those who had performed, those who had won, had grown older and better paid. In total, Moix said, Barcelona’s debt is just short of €500m. Faced by the prospect of being personally liable, the board reacted. Or tried to. At the same time as it decided it was time to lead a revolution. Beyond Dest, who started his Barcelona career out of position, this market has produced other arrivals and money spent on signings, largely on deals already set up or driven by finance as much as football. Pedri came from Las Palmas for €5m in an agreement signed off 12 months ago. Twenty-year old Francisco Trincão joined for €31m after 48 senior games at Braga – a signing sealed in January. And they paid €7m plus €3m in variables for Matheus Fernandes, who they had signed from Palmeiras in January too and was immediately loaned to Valladolid, where he played three games. Then there was the deal agreed with Juventus for Miralem Pjanic, with Arthur Melo going in the other direction at the end of June, just before the close of the financial year. Officially, Pjanic cost €60m and Melo €72m. In reality, this was a deal rooted in accountancy more creative than either player. Another hole filled, for now. Bread for today, hunger tomorrow, as the Spanish phrase has it. Marc Cucurella also officially departed, his €10m move to Getafe finalised a year after actually going. But the only significant sale in terms of generating revenue was Nélson Semedo for €30m to Wolves. Sevilla got Rakitic for €1.5m with a potential €6m in variables. Vidal cost nothing up front and €1m in variables. Arda Turan was finally released three years after he last actually played for Barcelona. They paid for Suárez to go. Having told him to leave, they handed over half of the €14m salary – an agreement they momentarily reneged on when they realised Atlético was his destination. Suárez, Rakitic, Vidal, and Rafinha: almost half a team for €1.5m. “Barcelona have given [them] away to Champions League teams and for zero cost. It’s hard to believe,” one journalist here noted but there was a reason – unexpectedly and simply laid bare by Celta Vigo’s Iago Aspas. “You’re forgetting the more or less €70m in salaries and the difficulties clubs have with salary limits this season,” he replied on social media. ppiness index – Football Weekly There was a saving but it was not enough. Public desperation is never a good bargaining position, while the biggest earners were in no hurry to head off. Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué: none had been declared untouchable, but none had buyers. Philippe Coutinho has been given another chance, at least in part because the offers were insufficient or nonexistent. Junior Firpo and Martin Braithwaite cost €18m each. Who would pay that now? Alena and Riqui Puig were told they wouldn’t play either, but decided to take that chance. Options reduced, Barcelona were open to approach: Semedo had initially been included in the list of “untransferibles” until the only concrete offer changed that. Once Semedo had gone, Dest could come. But there were others they wanted and as the final day accelerated, as Depay and García watched time slip away, desperation deepened. Books had to be balanced, wages cut, money raised. Any money, anyhow. How tempting it must have been for Europe’s clubs to knock at Barcelona’s door with a knockdown bid for ... well, just about anyone really. Everything must go; everything that could go anyway. Barcelona were left scrabbling around for a deal, any deal, accepting whatever they could get. They had originally demanded €18m for Rafinha. In the end, and it really was the end, his flight leaving Barcelona for Paris at 9pm, they were grateful to be able to let him go at all. He went for free, a maximum €3m in variables and a 35% share of any future fee. They had claimed to have a similar €18m fee lined up for Todibo to go to Fulham, but that didn’t happen either: instead, they got €2m from Benfica in return for him leaving on loan. Dembélé, for whom Barcelona had hoped to close a loan deal with United once they had accepted that they were not going to raise a transfer fee, refused to depart. So did Samuel Umtiti. The club are furious with them apparently, a narrative of blame set to build – as if it is the players’ duty to step aside to facilitate signings that the men responsible could not. They didn’t want to go. Perhaps only one man really did, and they wouldn’t let him. His name is Lionel Messi. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/oct/07/barcelonas-transfer-blunders-bite-back-on-dreadful-deadline-day 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 As much as barca have declined that starting 11 for Spain last night was rough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Could actually be interesting La Liga season this year. La Real (Sociedad) and Villareal joint top. Actually surprised how good the Villareal squad is nowadays. Pau Torres, Raul Albiol, Parejo, Cocquelin, Chukwueze, Kubo, Paco Alcacer and Moreno all really good players so think they can finish top 4 and be a contender for europa league given Emery is managing them now. Real Madrid were woeful yesterday losing to newly promoted Cadiz and surprise surprise Barca aren't doing much as soon as they play a competant defensive team. Don't think Koeman will even last the season. Would have Atletico as favourites but still the feeling they'll just draw too many games to win league due to the low scoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Could actually be interesting La Liga season this year. La Real (Sociedad) and Villareal joint top. Actually surprised how good the Villareal squad is nowadays. Pau Torres, Raul Albiol, Parejo, Cocquelin, Chukwueze, Kubo, Paco Alcacer and Moreno all really good players so think they can finish top 4 and be a contender for europa league given Emery is managing them now. Real Madrid were woeful yesterday losing to newly promoted Cadiz and surprise surprise Barca aren't doing much as soon as they play a competant defensive team. Don't think Koeman will even last the season. Would have Atletico as favourites but still the feeling they'll just draw too many games to win league due to the low scoring. Weaker than it used to be? Haven't really watched it since Sky stopped broadcasting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 1 minute ago, PaulC said: Weaker than it used to be? Haven't really watched it since Sky stopped broadcasting it. Considering the bottom half teams don't have half the money prem ones do to blow 20m on average players there's still plenty of good quality around outside the usual suspects. Think Granada, Real Sociedad and Villareal will all make knock out round of europa. Valencia back in crisis mode. They might not be far off relegation this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 ex Baggie Allan Nyom had an interesting game against Barcelona, accused Fati of diving and then had a go at Koeman who felt disrespected Valencia are in chaos again, Peter Lim has been a disaster of an owner for the club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Barcelona gave Pique a 4 year contract 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted October 24, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted October 24, 2020 On 23/10/2020 at 12:14, Zatman said: Barcelona gave Pique a 4 year contract Based on him playing a certain number of games from what I've read. And he's still a good defender and figurehead too. Obviously whether he's at the level they should be is a different question though. Today just exposed Barca's massive problems in moving forward even more - they're trying to bring through young players which is good to see (Dest in particular is looking impressive) but players who should be approaching or in their prime who cost astronomical sums (Griezmann, Dembélé) aren't even deserving of a place in the first XI. Interesting to see Messi playing an even deeper role too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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