** Official ** Summer 2010 Transfer Thread - Signings, Sightings and Rumor's in Here

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He's got more goals and assists than them both combined probably whilst playing in a lesser team who didn't win 5 - 0 most weeks
 
The 3 don't even play in the same positions, Xavi sits so much deeper and Iniesta is thrown out wide. while Fabregas gets to wander wherever he wants. :confused:
 
Never mentioned that, he asked for stats and as far as stats go Fabregas has had a very productive season in comparison

Also people say Xavi sits further back, but for Barcelona he doesn't play that deep. He plays his game almost entirely in the oppositions half, hardly further back than Fabregas. He plays in a similar area for Barca as Fab does for Arsenal, however I concede that's in part because Barca push so high up the field and stay there, but Xavi spends a lot of his game close to the opposition's goal.
 
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because he plays further forward than Xavi.

Xavi sits in front of the back 4 gets the ball off them, does a swift turn - and makes an easy pass to an attacking player. he always has time, is never rushed or put out of his stride.

he is the ultimate holding midfielder who protects the back 4 and stops them from passing the ball wildly off the pitch. unlike all england midfielders who actually turn their backs and run away from the defenders, asking them to lump the ball 90 yards off the other side of the pitch for a goal kick.

Fab is a bit more attacking than that for arsenal. he carries the ball forward and is more likely to take someone on, or play a one two and keep running. different. effective but you still need one, and the other to make things work.
 
Xavi does play much further forward for Barca then he does Spain.

Still wouldn't say he sits in front of the back four all the time for Spain. He does go forward.
 
Exactly, Busquets is the man they seem to be talking about, he stays deep for almost all the game, Xavi is more box-to-box'ish like Fabregas
 
Nickg said:
because he plays further forward than Xavi.

Xavi sits in front of the back 4 gets the ball off them, does a swift turn - and makes an easy pass to an attacking player. he always has time, is never rushed or put out of his stride.
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Maybe if he played in a tougher league then he wouldnt get that time. :p

Fabregas gets the ball and unless he escapes normally gets the C### kicked out of him.

Personally I would have dropped Torres and played Fabregas. The team played better with him in it. And I dont see why the three couldnt do the same for Barca when he "eventually" goes there.
 
no like scholes, he MAKES the time, he just instinctively knows which way to turn.

watch scholes for UTD in his prime, picks it up, turns make a pass.

then compare to Xavi - note the similarities in composure.

then contrast to Carrick - note how the same turn takes 110% mental focus and time frame, as he is often robbed before he actually begins the turn.
 
lol, Xavi a holding midfielder, Xavi and Fabregas are pretty much identical players, Fabregas does a great job for us deep in intercepting when required, as much as people want to think he plays as an "advanced" midfielder, he plays central midfield, he gets forward more this year, because he's required to because of who plays on the wing and upfront, IE very little support in most games. Xavi used to do the same thing at Barca a few years ago when Messi played less and Ronaldinho crossed a lot and didn't always get in the box(because he's lazy more than anything) Xavi used to run in to support the attack and got a lot more goals than he has done recently. As for Iniesta, often last year it was Messi right, Ibra in the middle and Pedro on the left, Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets in the middle, INiesta plays most of his games in the middle and tends to get forwards more than Xavi these days, though Xavi had a lot more goals, 1 goal last season for Iniesta.

I also never said INiesta wasn't ever fouled, though VERY often you'll see Iniesta look for it and play for it, and he dives an embarassing amount. Frankly 10games into the season assuming Fabregas goes, he'll become first team over him, he's better than Iniesta, he's a better passer, he's stronger, he's a better runner, he's a better finisher and he's better defensively aswell. 23 goals, 19 assists, vs 1 goal and 7 assists with more playing time for Iniesta, through in the stats from the world cup and Fabregas is still leagues ahead as being a more effective player. What will most likely happen at some stage through the season is Pedro/Iniesta will be rotated on the wing, Fabregas will play most games but be rested with Iniesta playing when he doesn't, Villa upfront, Messi on the right and Ibra benched, because frankly he's crap and the team.

They've ditched Yaya, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Keita relegated to a non existant role like Henry was last year, or shipped out already. Before last season, in a 4-4-2 Fabregas never got forward as much as he did this season. Its about the team around you and the role you're required to do. In a different team Xavi used to play more like Fabregas did this year, in a different team Fabregas used to play more like Xavi does for Barca now.

Arsenal completely relied on Fabregas getting on the ball and creating chances from perfect passes in behind the defence, Barca rely on Xavi doing the same job.

Who starts for the national team means, quite literally, nothing, for any country. does Heskey starting ahead of Bent make Heskey better, no, does Fabregas not starting games mean he wouldn't start at another club, no, its ridiculous to suggest so.

Fabregas was the most effective person in the Euro's and was also used primarily as a sub in that tournament, not because he wasnt' fit, or doesn't have the same impact over an entire games length but because thats the setup the manager went with, right or wrong. Same goes for the world cup, managers don't always make the right choices, more than likely the manager simply saw more football in Spain, and knew the players better and thought they were better, it doesn't mean they are better.

Fact is Guardiola is phasing out non spanish players, I'm expecting to see Ibra, Keita phased out this season. Henry(look at his stats in the Champs league winning season, he was simply awesome, his second best season of his career but from the wing rather than main striker), Marquez, Yaya, he's clearly ditching what are better players than those who replaced them, with worse, yet Spanish players. Marquez and Yaya are so massively better than Busquets/Pique and probably Puyol, Marquez is fantastic in defence or as a defensive midfield, Pique makes a tonne of mistakes and was quite frankly embarassing in the world cup getting so many things wrong.
 
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Classy.

Apparently Barca have Friday down as the day they want a definitive yes or no from Arsenal for Cesc. I'm fairly sure Arsenal gave that answer sometime ago.
 
That was gross but still funny to see Fabregas and Pique laughing like school girls. Fabregas' face when it hits is classic
 
Shamikebab said:
I'm a bit concerned by how much of a **** he seems to be. Fergie would have to kick the crap out of him really. I mean can you imagine any United players wearing a City shirt?
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He's a black kid who grew up in one of the single most racist citys, with a huge contingent of incredibly racist and violent fans, who call him racist and other names every day of his life since he can remember. He's generally thought to be incredibly calm for all the crap he gets on a daily basis. Most black players in the Italian league grew up elsewhere, your Davids or Seedorf, they were more experienced men and grew up in not very racist area's.

He's supposedly had an incredibly tough time living and training for a club where half the fans would beat the crap out of him if they caught him in a dark alley.

A lot of people have suggested he'd be way calmer and be a much happier and better player pretty much anywhere but Italy. It still surprises me just how racist the Italians still are, and also quite surprising he hasn't left for another club before now.

The question is will he still continue to act out when he's not been hounded by the racist fans on a daily basis, he probably won't, but he might just have developed an incredibly bad attitude by now.
 
drunkenmaster said:
He's a black kid who grew up in one of the single most racist citys, with a huge contingent of incredibly racist and violent fans, who call him racist and other names every day of his life since he can remember. He's generally thought to be incredibly calm for all the crap he gets on a daily basis. Most black players in the Italian league grew up elsewhere, your Davids or Seedorf, they were more experienced men and grew up in not very racist area's.

He's supposedly had an incredibly tough time living and training for a club where half the fans would beat the crap out of him if they caught him in a dark alley.

A lot of people have suggested he'd be way calmer and be a much happier and better player pretty much anywhere but Italy. It still surprises me just how racist the Italians still are, and also quite surprising he hasn't left for another club before now.

The question is will he still continue to act out when he's not been hounded by the racist fans on a daily basis, he probably won't, but he might just have developed an incredibly bad attitude by now.
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You beat me to it, Ballotelli has been abused by opposition and his own fans virtually every game, because he is black, He is still a child and is under an incredible amount of pressure.
He is as has been said, "crazy good" for his age and would be outright one of, if not the best striker in the league within 3 seasons if he came over.
 
Gooner14 said:
#Pique video#
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Grr :( It really bothers me that guy's won a world cup, two champion leagues, La Liga and the EPL. He's so average it's ridiculous. He turns like the titanic and makes nearly as many fouls/mistakes as Jamie Carragher. He's very lucky to play in teams that protect him so much yet he's got an opinion on everything and generally acts like he really thinks he went from 4th choice centre back at MU to the best in the world over night.

Anyway, back on topic - Balotelli could be an exciting player to see in the PL, as long as he see's it as a fresh start and works hard with no trouble.
 
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