Xavi Hernandez To Nycfc?
- Thread starter BxLio91
- Start date
Or, to give it a slightly biblical slant, "The Villa That David Has Built".
Which will undoubtedly be a headline in our future.
Midas Mulligan,Have to take umbrage with some things you've written. Granted, you've made some valid points, but I think you're being exceedingly harsh in your appraisal of BWP.
What really got to me was that he wasn't in the top 20 strikers in MLS. Hyperbole at its finest...at least I hope that's what it was. If not, start naming them.
I've watched what could be considered excessive and unhealthy amounts of not only NJRB, but MLS in general this season and the above claim is insulting to BWP.
Yes, it's been proven that playing with Henry is a tonic for goal-shy strikers. But it seems that there are more people using this as a catch-all to undermine BWP's skillset and what he's done this season than there are people who actually give him the credit he deserves.
BWP's off-the-ball movement alone puts him within the upper echelon of MLS strikers. He has a certain canniness about him brought about by experience that seems to befuddle MLS defenders.
Henry hasn't figured in the majority of BWP's goals this season. Henry has laid on a fair few, but you have to remember also that MLS also keeps secondary assists, when every other league that I know of doesn't which may skew the argument slightly.
Where you may have a point in saying that his totals are inflated is due to the amount of penalties he's converted on this season. Think he's knocked in 4-5 from the spot. But as MB showed recently, those are far from a sure thing.
Another thing that I have to disagree with you on, and this is wholly unrelated to the BWP debate, is your assessment of Kekuta Manneh.
I know he has the benefit of age on his side, but, in my estimation, Kekuta Manneh is one of the most frustrating players to watch in the entire league. He may be one of the least proficient attacking players I've ever witnessed from a technical standpoint. He has blazing pace, but once he gets into the attacking third, I've hardly ever seen a more clueless or incapable player. I've seen him ruin countless Vancouver counterattacks and attacking moves by virtue of his terrible decision making or just outright terrible execution.
Darkhorse candidate for 2018? Besides the fact that he is Gambian, if Kekuta Manneh ever suits up for the United States, we are in deeper trouble than any of us could have ever envisaged.
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As far as the actual Xavi debate is concerned, while I'd have certainly embraced his arrival because he is the best midfielder of his generation, I'm actually far more ambivalent towards whether he eventually signs for us or not than I ever thought I could possibly be.
With arrival of Lampard looking increasingly likely, failing to land Xavi could actually be a blessing in disguise. The way I look at it, having to accommodate both Lampard and Xavi's aging legs in a midfield setup would shackle us tactically. Tactical flexibility is very important and with the two of them signed, we'd have none, unless we planned on benching one. Playing both would necessitate us playing a 3 man midfield, but even more so, that this 3rd midfielder be a box-to-box type, blessed with a combination of stamina and overall skill that is extremely hard to find.
Ideally, I'd sign Xavi and pair him with two younger central players to be his legs and just let him dictate things.
Given that it looks to be Lampard only who is coming, I'd play him exclusively as a CAM with 2 pivots in behind him, David Villa nominally wide left and tucking in to combine with Lampard and cutting in onto his stronger foot.
Have to take umbrage with some things you've written. Granted, you've made some valid points, but I think you're being exceedingly harsh in your appraisal of BWP.
What really got to me was that he wasn't in the top 20 strikers in MLS. Hyperbole at its finest...at least I hope that's what it was. If not, start naming them.
I've watched what could be considered excessive and unhealthy amounts of not only NJRB, but MLS in general this season and the above claim is insulting to BWP.
Yes, it's been proven that playing with Henry is a tonic for goal-shy strikers. But it seems that there are more people using this as a catch-all to undermine BWP's skillset and what he's done this season than there are people who actually give him the credit he deserves.
BWP's off-the-ball movement alone puts him within the upper echelon of MLS strikers. He has a certain canniness about him brought about by experience that seems to befuddle MLS defenders.
Henry hasn't figured in the majority of BWP's goals this season. Henry has laid on a fair few, but you have to remember also that MLS also keeps secondary assists, when every other league that I know of doesn't which may skew the argument slightly.
Where you may have a point in saying that his totals are inflated is due to the amount of penalties he's converted on this season. Think he's knocked in 4-5 from the spot. But as MB showed recently, those are far from a sure thing.
Another thing that I have to disagree with you on, and this is wholly unrelated to the BWP debate, is your assessment of Kekuta Manneh.
I know he has the benefit of age on his side, but, in my estimation, Kekuta Manneh is one of the most frustrating players to watch in the entire league. He may be one of the least proficient attacking players I've ever witnessed from a technical standpoint. He has blazing pace, but once he gets into the attacking third, I've hardly ever seen a more clueless or incapable player. I've seen him ruin countless Vancouver counterattacks and attacking moves by virtue of his terrible decision making or just outright terrible execution.
Darkhorse candidate for 2018? Besides the fact that he is Gambian, if Kekuta Manneh ever suits up for the United States, we are in deeper trouble than any of us could have ever envisaged.
-----------------------------------------------------------
As far as the actual Xavi debate is concerned, while I'd have certainly embraced his arrival because he is the best midfielder of his generation, I'm actually far more ambivalent towards whether he eventually signs for us or not than I ever thought I could possibly be.
With arrival of Lampard looking increasingly likely, failing to land Xavi could actually be a blessing in disguise. The way I look at it, having to accommodate both Lampard and Xavi's aging legs in a midfield setup would shackle us tactically. Tactical flexibility is very important and with the two of them signed, we'd have none, unless we planned on benching one. Playing both would necessitate us playing a 3 man midfield, but even more so, that this 3rd midfielder be a box-to-box type, blessed with a combination of stamina and overall skill that is extremely hard to find.
Ideally, I'd sign Xavi and pair him with two younger central players to be his legs and just let him dictate things.
Given that it looks to be Lampard only who is coming, I'd play him exclusively as a CAM with 2 pivots in behind him, David Villa nominally wide left and tucking in to combine with Lampard and cutting in onto his stronger foot.
He's a professional soccer player. Getting to the right place should be the bare minimum. Though a bit different, he's about as good as Wondo. Similar value to me.
Anyway, what I actually said was top 20 forwards. And I'll stand by that.
That's a really damn long post to say you disagree with my take on an RBNY player. I watch all their matches, too, and attend a few (where I find insufficient beer service and access to pissers). He just has a lot of crap misses. I watch most MLS matches via the Live subscription, and I haven't seen anyone miss so many good chances.
Manneh has tremendous physical skills. He'll be in a tough position to make the US team unless some of our more heralded fwd prospects flame out. When a kid is that young and raw, it's just fun to keep an eye on him. Drogba didn't really come around until his mid-20s. Not saying that will happen, but I watch soccer for fun. Seeing tremendous athletes is fun to me, just as seeing polished masters is fun in a different way. Or alternatively, just like watching BWP miss sitters makes me laugh out loud and my wife wonder if I've lost my mind.
Most of the reports I've read use the curious word, U-Turn in the body of the text. Seems strange to me and makes me think that most of what we've read comes from the same source. And if it is that twitter account barcanews, I'm not thinking it is totally reliable. Still holding out hope. Would love to see Xavi in NYC
Yeah, it doesn't make sense that all these news outlets were reporting that he had agreed to a deal with NYCFC, and they were going to announce soon, and then all of a sudden he's going back to Barca? Obviously, one of the rumors isn't true. He probably was never close to signing with NYCFC, just talking with them and the media made a big deal of it.
Price was not an issue on the Barça side of it because Xavi is still under contract there. It's not like he is extending his contract with Barça -- He's just agreed to stay 1 more year under his current contract which I believe actually has 2 more years left. Barça had previously said that Xavi has earned the right to decide his future so they were going to let him out of his current contract if he had chosen to leave.
I've also read in the last 2 days that Xavi may stay with Barça until the January transfer window and then make the move to NYCFC. This may actually be the best move for both sides.
Unless the move has already been agreed.
Not that I think it has, but stranger arrangements have been made.