Barcelona upgrades?

[Nikhil]

Is Zlatan Ibrahamovic going to Camp Nou? I've been reading up on the swap between Eto'o and Zlatan and my fellow analyst Naveen thinks its a pretty good move. I've also read that doing this may kill a David Villa acquisition for Blaugrana. Thoughts?

 

[MPElive]

Eto is much better player than Ibrahamovic and I think it will be a bad move. I am still not sure why they trying to get David Villa. Do you really think Villa will be happy coming off the bench?

 

[Nikhil]

What's goin on Atinder
I think Ibrahamovic is very skilled. Watching him play is like watching greatness in slow motion. He's got a lot of caution/poise in his step but he can change direction very quickly. The guy is a master dribbler and an amazing artist at deception (juking defenders). After watching extensive amounts of video on David Villa, I can only hope that they are pursuing him because he can create a lot of plays for others to score off of, as well as goals for himself. I think Zlatan is better than David though, so I hope they can get the better of the two for sure. As far as eto'o goes, I thought he played BRILLIANT in the Champions Final...he's very fast and he has his agenda whenever he takes the field is to go from A to B as fast as possible. The guy only goes North and South in my opinion which is great, because he doesn't waste time trying to be cute. He produced a lot this season so losing him would be significant. He's just been a nuisance so they HAVE to move him before the start of the season.

Barca has to pull the trigger soon, because La Liga is just around the corner, and like it or not, they have to play catch up to Real Madrid. Iniesta was saying that they just have to focus on themselves and not worry about anyone. WRONG MENTALITY. Madrid has a roster full of egomaniacs who will score a lot this season.

 

[- Raja -]

Ibrahamovic is a good move. 100$ says Madrid aint gonna do shit!

 

[Naveen Singh Khokhar]

ibra is much more skilled on the ball n most of his goals for inter r individually started chances where as etoo has a sick midfield to set him up. most of etoos goals r just tap-ins...i think its a good move

 

[MPElive]

Personally, I don't really like this move because it will hurt thier team chemistry. If Barca signs Ibrahamovic, it's gonna take him a long time getting use to La Liga Style Football and Barca don't have that much time to play around considering Madrid have signed some big named players and their will be playing with the attacking mentality throughout the season.

 

[Nikhil]

That is true. There is a very big difference between the style of play of Serie A and La Liga. Ibrahamovic is the lone star on Inter it seems, so trying to fit into an offense that is run by Messi will take maybe a third of the season (a generous estimate). I think that this move, compared to any one of the moves for strikers made by Real madrid is safer!

 

[shahzyy23]

i think C.Ronaldo's gonna have a lot of problems with real madrid....also the fact that real madrid's gonna have to change up their whole formation just to fit these two players in is gonna be mad tough, Zlatan to barcelona? it will only make the line up better if u have eto'o there too otherwise theres gonna be problems...zlatan doesnt run much from my opinion and to replace eto'o with him isint such a great idea..

 

[MPElive]

I agree with you Nikhil. Real Madrid has so much talent upfront but they are leaving the back exposed. When you look at Madrid Forwards: Ronaldo & Benzema with the addition of Midfielder Kaka, I can see the ego's kicking in at some point. On a side note, I don't see Dutchmen Huntelaar or even Nistelrooy staying at Madrid if they sign another big name forward.

 

[- Raja -]

I can see the ego's kicking in at some point.

exactly

 

[Navkarn]

I agree with you Nikhil. Real Madrid has so much talent upfront but they are leaving the back exposed. When you look at Madrid Forwards: Ronaldo & Benzema with the addition of Midfielder Kaka, I can see the ego's kicking in at some point. On a side note, I don't see Dutchmen Huntelaar or even Nistelrooy staying at Madrid if they sign another big name forward.

alright since it seems like im the only hardcore real madrid fan on here, heres my two cents. the team just went through a massive makeover and i don't understand how everyone expects instant greatness. soccer is heavily based on team chemistry. lobs, through passes, free kicks, and so on are created successfully once players get to know one anothers play style better. training camps can only do so much to improve chemistry, it's when they actually take to the field and are put in real situations do one's true play style come out. Everyone's giving us crap cause we only beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in a friendly with the new lineup ... but being a whole new squad, it's impressive and just a start. As for the point made about them having a star studded front field, and a mid field that will hurt them ... trade deadlines arent over yet, and Real Madrid is still in the chase for Xavi Alonso who would nicely fit that midfield gap. Iker Casillas in goal and the already solid defense are the same as they were. Roll back a few years to when Real Madrid had the star studded line up with Zidane. Back then they were full of stars and it proved to be successful with their multiple La Liga Championships and I guarantee with the acquisition of Kaka, Ronaldo, Benzema, and those to come ... Real Madrid will be an unstoppable force once again. As for the dutch players you mentioned, i'm deeply saddened that it's inevitable that Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Klaas Huntelaar will be forced to move on unless they enjoy riding the bench all season. However, Van de Vaart and Arjen Robben are amazing players who i feel will be kept and will mesh with the new players eventually. Robben cries for playing time and has had an injury plagued past, I wouldn't be surprised if they let him seek another team (he'd make a great replacement for Adebayor at Arsenal), but Van De Vaart is young and the future of the Dutch National team (HUP HUP HOLLAND! ... yes i'm a Netherlands freak!) With all that said, I cannot wait to see UCL come around and watch Real Madrid trample those who actually questioned the ability of this new powerhouse.

 

[gifty]

Real will suck the start of the season.
Real will be decent come mid season.
Real will tear up the La Liga and possibly the Champions League by the end of the Season.

Real will make 30 mistakes by game 1
Real will make 15 Mistakes by game 10
Real will make 5 Mistakes by game 25
Real will make 0 mistakes come last game.

The more they play together, the better they will get. CR9 has grown up, Kaka is always team first, and Benzema is a kid who will not have a big ego. With Robben, Van Der Vaart, Iker Cassiles (sp?) this team is WAYY to strong not to cause damage in the La Liga, even if they don't win it this year, i put money down with the same squad they will sweep every trophy possible the next.

Also on a side note,

Navkarn, have you followed Fredrico Mercheda from Man U? Possibly the next CR...hmm i think so =). And hey, look next for a Elia/RVP combo at the WC that will see Nederland win it all =]. Oranje voetbal, hup hup HOLLAND!

 

[Naveen Singh Khokhar]

haha if u suck in the beginnin of champs league tho ur gona get knocked out theres no second chance in champs league. real madrid will take time to get sick i agree but they r gona hav so much tension cuz of all the players that were on the team before the massive spending and all of the new players. Also, players like kaka n ronaldo r used ot being the sole focal point of a team whereas itll prolly b very different. i think of all of reals signings that benzema will end up being the best. about ibra i think hed end up fittin well. etoo is good at tap ins but if u watch some of the games of barca esp towards the end of the season where all the second team midfielders were put in with etoo still there etoo didnt do shit...ibra is much more talented n altho the system works now it never hurts to try n make it even better with a more talented player. esp when teams like real madrid r upgradin where simple tapins r unlikely to happen.

 

[[Sher] Imran]

Damn it I hate how man u keeps losing it's great players- but we keep winning biotches! Man how the F does real stay in business me and my coworker were talking about it last night I would love to see their financials

 

[Nikhil]

Damn it I hate how man u keeps losing it's great players- but we keep winning biotches! Man how the F does real stay in business me and my coworker were talking about it last night I would love to see their financials

I would drool to see them too. They are most likely the real life influence for all those Guy Richie robbing spree films...

 

[Saab]

I believe right now that Man U is operating in the red.

The first thing I would do as Real with that lineup is try to keep a lot of possession to stave off chances into the back line and use the possession to hopefully build chemistry

 

[gifty]

Damn it I hate how man u keeps losing it's great players- but we keep winning biotches! Man how the F does real stay in business me and my coworker were talking about it last night I would love to see their financials

Real is owned by banks in Madrid.
Real's fan base is gigantic.

 

[smehta]

Eto'o is a really good player, but he wasn't producing at all.... if u look at his stats, the amount of chances he has vs. scoring goals is ridiculous... he should score so much more, especially in a league where spanish defense is weaker than most other countries (england, italy, germany), just because they are less physical and smaller in size..it fits for eto'o. As for Ibra, he will do great... look at ruud van nistelrooy on real, i believe he was the top scorer in la liga after his transfer from manchester. He's got the same build as ibra, but ibra has more skill and technicality, a good fit for barca. He'll hold the ball up top and distribute from his back to the goal really well and juke defenders easily... this guy has scored some of the craziest goals i have ever seen.