Fellow Blaugrana supporters, let's put the disaster of the final stretch of the season **edit: disaster near the end of the season that almost cost us the league** behind us and get this thing started! We we're all secretly expecting a back to back treble but a double is still awesome.
Key points, rumors, and questions going into the season:
1) Of utmost concern is depth at CB. There are rumors floating around for Marqinhos and Umtiti. While Marquinhos' quality is undisputed, he would cost a fortune. I'd personally prefer the latter. I've heard Man United's Eric Baily as an option as well.
2) Alba needs some actual competition at the LB after a lackluster season. Lucho continues to rely on Mathieu as his backup where he singlehandedly dropped points in a few games over the course of the season. I'll never forget his 2015 El Clasico goal (which I actually saw in person ) but it's time about time for Lucho to recognize he's more of a liability than an asset to the team.
3) Related to the above points, will we continue to buy injury prone, out of form defenders at a price twice as much as other teams are willing to pay? Vermalean was bad enough, and the shady Douglas purchase is actually laughable at this point. Time to rid ourselves of the deadweight and properly address our depth issues in all positions on defense.
4) Props to Lucho for bringing Pique back to peak form the last 2 seasons after a few mediocre years. And an obligatory shoutout for entertaining us with your Real Madrid banter (and in particular Arboloa "the cone" burns), periscoping, as well as shots of your smoking hot wife. And Masche, please don't leave as you bailed us out multiple times this season.
5) Midfield happenings: Busquets' renewal was well deserved and long overdue for the world's best DM. Really nothing more to add here other than him continuing to be criminally underrated or said better, not praised enough. In addition to Iniesta's form that gives no reason to expect it to drop this year, the return of Denis Suarez after his excellent spell at Villarreal is huge for us.
6) As Messi continues to perfect his new role, all we can ask from Suarez is to finish half of his chances, provide his relentless work rate, and just generally cause havoc and he'll run away with the Golden Boot. I don't have any doubt the world's best striker will continue to perform.
7) Neymar, bro - don't "pull a Cesc" again. You were incredible the first half of the season and helped carry us with Messi out, but returned from Brazil half the player you were when the season began. Seems to be a pattern with Brazillians honestly but I haven't lost faith just yet. Just please keep the selfies with Bieber at a minimum.
8) Ter Stegan should be the undisputed starter in all major competitions next season. He has ice in his veins, out of this world distribution (something we heavily rely on) and potential to be the world's best keeper down the road. Let's not screw this one up. While we're on the topic of GKs, shout out to Bravo for a solid season.
9) It's time to move on from Aleix Vidal and Turan. The former has yet to gain confidence from Lucho and the latter has consistently severely underperformed in virtually every game.
10) The #10 spot is reserved for Messi. I can't do him justice so let's just continue to witness the best player of all time do all things Messi while we can. D10S indeed.
11) Thank you Dani Alves for an incredible spell at Barcelona. Not bad to go out with a few trebles, doubles, league wins not to mention leaving as all-time leading assister to Messi. I hope for the best for him at what looks like Juve.
And most most importantly, Visca el Barca i Visca Catalunya!
Key points, rumors, and questions going into the season:
1) Of utmost concern is depth at CB. There are rumors floating around for Marqinhos and Umtiti. While Marquinhos' quality is undisputed, he would cost a fortune. I'd personally prefer the latter. I've heard Man United's Eric Baily as an option as well.
2) Alba needs some actual competition at the LB after a lackluster season. Lucho continues to rely on Mathieu as his backup where he singlehandedly dropped points in a few games over the course of the season. I'll never forget his 2015 El Clasico goal (which I actually saw in person ) but it's time about time for Lucho to recognize he's more of a liability than an asset to the team.
3) Related to the above points, will we continue to buy injury prone, out of form defenders at a price twice as much as other teams are willing to pay? Vermalean was bad enough, and the shady Douglas purchase is actually laughable at this point. Time to rid ourselves of the deadweight and properly address our depth issues in all positions on defense.
4) Props to Lucho for bringing Pique back to peak form the last 2 seasons after a few mediocre years. And an obligatory shoutout for entertaining us with your Real Madrid banter (and in particular Arboloa "the cone" burns), periscoping, as well as shots of your smoking hot wife. And Masche, please don't leave as you bailed us out multiple times this season.
5) Midfield happenings: Busquets' renewal was well deserved and long overdue for the world's best DM. Really nothing more to add here other than him continuing to be criminally underrated or said better, not praised enough. In addition to Iniesta's form that gives no reason to expect it to drop this year, the return of Denis Suarez after his excellent spell at Villarreal is huge for us.
6) As Messi continues to perfect his new role, all we can ask from Suarez is to finish half of his chances, provide his relentless work rate, and just generally cause havoc and he'll run away with the Golden Boot. I don't have any doubt the world's best striker will continue to perform.
7) Neymar, bro - don't "pull a Cesc" again. You were incredible the first half of the season and helped carry us with Messi out, but returned from Brazil half the player you were when the season began. Seems to be a pattern with Brazillians honestly but I haven't lost faith just yet. Just please keep the selfies with Bieber at a minimum.
8) Ter Stegan should be the undisputed starter in all major competitions next season. He has ice in his veins, out of this world distribution (something we heavily rely on) and potential to be the world's best keeper down the road. Let's not screw this one up. While we're on the topic of GKs, shout out to Bravo for a solid season.
9) It's time to move on from Aleix Vidal and Turan. The former has yet to gain confidence from Lucho and the latter has consistently severely underperformed in virtually every game.
10) The #10 spot is reserved for Messi. I can't do him justice so let's just continue to witness the best player of all time do all things Messi while we can. D10S indeed.
11) Thank you Dani Alves for an incredible spell at Barcelona. Not bad to go out with a few trebles, doubles, league wins not to mention leaving as all-time leading assister to Messi. I hope for the best for him at what looks like Juve.
And most most importantly, Visca el Barca i Visca Catalunya!