Transfer Rumors

JDS going to Ajax or Sevilla?

Albiceleste wrote:Song seems like such an unnecessary transfer obviously, the midfield is overcrowded as it is and I'm extremely skeptical about him possibly playing in defense. I don't even think Keita needed replacing and we also have Sergi Roberto which I personally think Tito should have just promoted.

Albiceleste is back Where have you been Albi? Ready for tomorrow Germany - Argentina friendly? Did you enjoy Brazil getting embarassed in Olympics Final? Cheers.

messixaviesta wrote:

RedOranje wrote:Agger doesn't want to leave and the club do not wish to sell... hence setting such a high price on the player. People seem to be assuming a lot of things that aren't true. Agger has stated (several times in the two months) that he's happy at Liverpool and the club itself has said it's not interested in selling unless a big bid (one at or upwards of £25-27m) comes in. That's the "lowered" price...

Interesting. In that case these persistent rumors are a little surprising. Why did the thought of selling him come to mind at all? There are so many players who are indispensable at their clubs and their names would barely even be mentioned during the entire transfer window. Why isn't Agger considered indispensable at Liverpool?

ManCity made a bid (well, several... that were all turned down). THAT'S where the talk started. Agger isn't indispensable because he's injury prone and we could get close to £30m for him with City interested. The clbu recognise that with £30m we could easily get a solid replacement as well as invest in other areas. It's not about wanting to part with the player, it's about realising that in the current market some bids would simply be too good to refuse. Even then, there's a solid chance Agger would reject a move. He's repeatedly stated he would like to stay this summer.

Are Barca really going to offer almost £30m for an injury-prone player this summer? Especially with the possibility of getting into a bidding war with City?

matpol wrote:

Albiceleste wrote:Song seems like such an unnecessary transfer obviously, the midfield is overcrowded as it is and I'm extremely skeptical about him possibly playing in defense. I don't even think Keita needed replacing and we also have Sergi Roberto which I personally think Tito should have just promoted.

Albiceleste is back Where have you been Albi? Ready for tomorrow Germany - Argentina friendly? Did you enjoy Brazil getting embarassed in Olympics Final? Cheers.

Hey matpol how's it going? I took a bit of a break from the forum as there wasn't a whole lot going on.

And you better believe I enjoyed Brazil's defeat

I did feel a little bad for Nerman though

go back to your hole shallow beast

matpol wrote:Did you enjoy Brazil getting embarassed in Olympics Final

I hope you're not serious.

Aparently we've offered Fontas and JDS to Ajax. Fontas has rejected Ajax. Not exactly a vote of confidence on their careers.

Also welcome back LM

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Also welcome back LM

Thanks BC!

On topic, been hearing more reports about Songs transfer and that it will include a player that is not Afellay or Tello, from rac1 radio.

Such an unnecessary transfer

Don't think Tito wants him as mainly a DM more of a CB who plays those occasional games at DM...

dani
Price apart why do you feel Song would be better than Martinez.
I dont prefer either but since our stupid management seems fixated on the two,I would prefer Martinez over Song.
Atleast with Javi,he can be expected to play a solid game.He wil stay in position and play the simple game.I prefer Javi over Song both in midfield and at CB.
Song thinks he is the second coming of Beckenbauer.He is never in position and doesnt play the simple game,always looking for the Hollywood pass.
Cesc Fabregas looked clueless and lost in our midfield.I shudder to think of the anarchy with Song in our midfield.

I fervently hope Pique drops the punk act and steps up this season.Else we are in for a long long season.But given the way he has played for a year and a half I am not getting my hopes up.

Well Alex, for 2 reasons.

The first being, Martinez and Pique to me sounds like a partnership made from hell. Martinez is basically Busquets in terms of athletic ability and frame. Perhaps he is slightly more aggressive, but all in all, we saw what happens when players like this play at the back. Song by comparison at least has the mobility to play at the back. Players arent just going to evade him with simple ease.

Secondly. Just as Song isnt a DM and hasnt a clue about holding position, the same applied to Martinez. He didnt play DM for Bilbao either when we was in midfield, he had the same box to box freedom Song enjoys. I dont see any measure of discipline in his game, other than when forced to play CB.

Have I seen Martinez occassionally play smart, hold his position and not drive forward at a whim? Yes I have. But I also seen Song do that too.

Truth be told, neither of them are pivot players, or at least none of them have played that role. And Song's increased athletic ability (which isnt that great, but still superior to Martinez) makes him to me, the slightly lesser of two evils.

I think the only reason Martinez is known as the better fit is because he is Spanish and played for the Spain NT, but remove that and I dont think he is a better fit at all.

Dont confuse this as me saying Song is the better player though, he isnt.

The Franchise wrote:Well Alex, for 2 reasons.

The first being, Martinez and Pique to me sounds like a partnership made from hell. Martinez is basically Busquets in terms of athletic ability and frame. Perhaps he is slightly more aggressive, but all in all, we saw what happens when players like this play at the back. Song by comparison at least has the mobility to play at the back. Players arent just going to evade him with simple ease.

Secondly. Just as Song isnt a DM and hasnt a clue about holding position, the same applied to Martinez. He didnt play DM for Bilbao either when we was in midfield, he had the same box to box freedom Song enjoys. I dont see any measure of discipline in his game, other than when forced to play CB.

Have I seen Martinez occassionally play smart, hold his position and not drive forward at a whim? Yes I have. But I also seen Song do that too.

Truth be told, neither of them are pivot players, or at least none of them have played that role. And Song's increased athletic ability (which isnt that great, but still superior to Martinez) makes him to me, the slightly lesser of two evils.

I think the only reason Martinez is known as the better fit is because he is Spanish and played for the Spain NT, but remove that and I dont think he is a better fit at all.

Dont confuse this as me saying Song is the better player though, he isnt.

I agree that a Pique-Martinez partnership would be bad.
But I think Javi is positionally better than Song and under guidance could become even better.
I dont see the same scope for improvement with Song.
I also think you are overrating Song's atheltic ability and mobility to an extent.I dont think he has a significant advantage over Javi in that area.Song is very slow off the blocks and his top speed also isnt all that great.

Good discussion by you two. I tend to sit somewhere in between.

I do think Javi fits the bill better for the DM role and he's played CB a little more recently as well. Javi's played quite disciplined many times for the Spanish youth teams where he anchored for Herrerra and Thiago. I believe he can do it. That's not to say Song can't, nor that Javi is perfect at it. Both love to get forward, and in some ways... maybe this could be an asset as an alternative to Busi.

I do think Song is more mobile and quicker, but I wouldn't say Javi is equivalent to Busi. He's more robust and more athletic all round for me. Busi is really not a physical presence at all, but he's developed his game so this isn't a weakness in his role.

At the end of the day... I feel the only way this deal would ever be a good one is if he improves a lot at Barca and magically transforms himself into a player we need (ala Mascherano becoming a good CB when he sucked at DM). Either way... if I could take back the Masch purchase I probably would anyway, just my opinion.

To be honest, I dont care much about the DM position when we talk Martinez-Song. I doubt either would play anymore than 10-15 games in that position with a player the level of Busquets in front of them.

My main intrest is at the back. I think Song most certaintly has the better centerback tools.

Alex Song is a player whom when not under pressure looks impressive but put him under a little heat and he chokes, like the rest of Arsenal team.

On Martínez vs. Song argument, I regard both of them box-to-box players rather than DM (prefer Wilshere to both of them as a box-to-box by the way). Both fail as CBs. Javi is good in the air while Song is not. Both have questionable positioning when defending. None have an understanding of offside trap and are too aggressive and impatient to ever become a world class CB. For driving forward, I would take Song over Martínez. Martínez is more experienced in playing possession football and playing simple passes while Song is more attack-minded and is ambitious with his passes (and it sometimes backfires).

In that regard both will be stupid signings for Barcelona no matter where you want to play them. Midfield is too congested and backline needs someone world class which none of the aforementioned are by any standards. No point arguing who is better as CB, they are both shite in that position.

Heard Agger said the only team that could tempt him away from Merseyside is Barça.

Well there you are... Barca need to step up with a bid for Agger if he is open for a transfer to us...

Reports are #Barca and #AFC have agreed a 15m pound deal for Alex Song. #fcblive

danyjr wrote:Alex Song is a player whom when not under pressure looks impressive but put him under a little heat and he chokes, like the rest of Arsenal team

What utter horse shit. Please actually try watching the player before opening your pie hole

Dear lord

I apologise to Arsenal fans for some of the crazy, uninformed comments from a few Barca fans about Song. Their opinions are born out of ignorance from not actually watching him play, but still judging him anyway. Most of us are not like this, so don't paint us all with the same brush. Sadly, its a bad habit among football fans, calling someone crap when their linked with you then suddenly becoming their number one fan when they join. Thankfully, we have non-hypocritical fans like Dani, who stills hates Cesc lol. Just joking man, don't ban me.

Song chokes under pressure...mother of god...

Well I just think Song sucks pressure or no pressure LOL

Song is going to be the new Cesc

And for some reason I think you're sarcastic. The Ordinho I know would never apologize to Arsenal fans.

Anyway, still hoping the Song to Barca rumors all transpire into a glorious death.

Lex wrote:

danyjr wrote:Alex Song is a player whom when not under pressure looks impressive but put him under a little heat and he chokes, like the rest of Arsenal team

What utter horse shit. Please actually try watching the player before opening your pie hole

Talk for yourself. I watch Arsenal matches whenever I can, been to Highbury and Emirates plenty of times (in fact watching the opener against Sunderland in the stadium over the weekend). Come back when you got a valid argument or shut it.

Song doesn't choke under pressure, the man has great ball control for a big guy. One can say Song is clueless without the ball, lazy and tactically inept - but saying he chokes under pressure is just pushing it.

urbaNRoots wrote:Song doesn't choke under pressure, the man has great ball control for a big guy. One can say Song is clueless without the ball, lazy and tactically inept - but saying he chokes under pressure is just pushing it.

I'm talking about mental pressure, not being pressured by opposition players.

danyjr wrote:Alex Song is a player whom when not under pressure looks impressive but put him under a little heat and he chokes, like the rest of Arsenal team.

On Martínez vs. Song argument, I regard both of them box-to-box players rather than DM (prefer Wilshere to both of them as a box-to-box by the way). Both fail as CBs. Javi is good in the air while Song is not. Both have questionable positioning when defending. None have an understanding of offside trap and are too aggressive and impatient to ever become a world class CB. For driving forward, I would take Song over Martínez. Martínez is more experienced in playing possession football and playing simple passes while Song is more attack-minded and is ambitious with his passes (and it sometimes backfires).

In that regard both will be stupid signings for Barcelona no matter where you want to play them. Midfield is too congested and backline needs someone world class which none of the aforementioned are by any standards. No point arguing who is better as CB, they are both shite in that position.

Heard Agger said the only team that could tempt him away from Merseyside is Barça.

Yeah i agree with what you wrote about song mostly. I think where some arsenal fans disagree is that he doesnt exactly choke under pressure, but at the same time he is nowhere near busquets/barcas level of composure and awareness on the ball

Jonathan28 wrote:Dear lord

I apologise to Arsenal fans for some of the crazy, uninformed comments from a few Barca fans about Song. Their opinions are born out of ignorance from not actually watching him play, but still judging him anyway. Most of us are not like this, so don't paint us all with the same brush. Sadly, its a bad habit among football fans, calling someone crap when their linked with you then suddenly becoming their number one fan when they join. Thankfully, we have non-hypocritical fans like Dani, who stills hates Cesc lol. Just joking man, don't ban me.

Song chokes under pressure...mother of god...

Love this comment

Apparently we have agreed a 15m deal with Arsenal over the transfer of Song. More crap or is this true?