Martín Cáceres: blauguayan
Martín Cáceres: blauguayan
A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of [...]
A big welcome to Martín Cáceres, unveiled today, who has too many accents in his name for easy typing on an American keyboard. But he sure is Uruguayan and he sure is a defender, which is nice to see. Central D was our big failing last year, in my estimation, because of the lack of depth; this year he’ll be standing in (or replacing outright) Gabi Milito, who is going to be injured until sometime around when the cows come home. Which is, unfortunately for the beef eaters out there, not until March or so.
The vital stats for Cáceres: 6′0″, age 21. Born in Montevideo, plays for the Uruguay national team, and has Sergio Ramos hair. For my money he looks like Javier Bardem’s younger, more athletic, less ruthless brother. And yeah, I’m acting as if the only movie Bardem has been in was No Country for Old Men cause I’m a jackass American.*
I expect big things from Cáceres, but I don’t expect him to start automatically unless he somehow has a great report with Puyol. I do expect Márquez to start alongside Puyol at first, but Guardiola may take advantage of his grace period and really just experiment with the lineup a little, including putting Cáceres in the starting 11 from the get-go. We’ll have to wait and see.
And I still very much dislike the new home jersey.
*For the record, I really liked Mar Adentro and I was so-so on Carne trémula, but I haven’t seen Before Night Falls, Love in the Time of Cholera, or actually anything else Bardem’s been in. And I didn’t even like No Country all that much, but only because I got bored by the end.
Seydou Keita: Official Presentation
Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though… Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May [...]
Seydou Keita was officially presented to the press today. The FCB official has all the pics, of course. While he doesn’t have a number yet, neither his international number (12) nor his old Sevilla number (21) are currently in use at Barça. Maybe he likes a different one, though…
Regardless, welcome to the club, Keita! May your stay be wonderful and full of more goals against Real Madrid!
It’s official: Dani Alves is in the house
Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.” He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. [...]
Yessss! Cue my Darth Vader voice as I am saying, “The plans are almost complete.” Daniel Alves da Silva is official, and this shot is for the ladies in the house. I believe Alves is saying “I know that Yaya’s bicep is bigger. It’s supposed to be.”
He’s 24 years young, and almost 5-foot-8 inches tall. And he’s our most exciting signing of the summer transfer season. He’s also the most expensive defensive transfer ever. Is he worth it? Time will tell.
Interested fans will recall that some of us were saying that Mr. Henry was the most exciting transfer of last summer, and one Toure Yaya turned out to be in fact the most exciting signing of the summer, in the 20/20 goodness that is hindsight.
Be that as it may, I repeat:
This is the most exciting signing of the summer season. Davi Alves is considered by most to be the best right back in the world. He is a terrier on the pitch, who seems to take losing possession of the ball personally, as does our very own Leo Messi. The road was long, which began with our offer of a lot of money, and Sevilla’s own Skeletor saying “For 25 million, I will send them Alves’ boots, so that a junior player can wear them.”
And so it went. We don’t have exact numbers, but figure he’s a 30 million Euro man, by the time the incentives, etc are finished.
A quote from the very geeked Mr. Alves: “I am hungry to start playing and the sooner the better so I can show they did not make a mistake with me.”
I like to hear that. It’s hunger, the same kind of hunger that makes him the fittest player on the Brazilian national side, the same kind of hunger that made him a thorn in the side of every Liga team for season after season.
I’m not big on stats, so I won’t bother with them, because he’s starting from ground zero with us. But the question is demanded: Why did we sign him?
Well, we had a pretty good right back, Gianluca Zambrotta. But he wanted to go home and frankly, he would have been sent home anyhow after this signing. Alves is faster, better with the ball, a better shooter and an exceptional crosser of the ball. He’s also one of the world’s best free kick takers, not quite up there with the soon-to-be-gone Gordinho. It is a significant upgrade for the position, and more importantly makes us verge on unplayable.
Last season, Zambrotta was an excellent defender, but not really a threat. This season, Alves can stop an attacker, steal the ball, lead the break, lace in a cross or take the shot himself. The other big part of his game is free kicks, which means the “when in doubt, foul Messi” program is officially at an end. Who’s more dangerous, Messi in the box or Alves over a dead ball, just outside the box?
“I am happy to be living this dream,” says Alves.
So let’s all join in a rousing Blaugrana welcome for Dani Alves.
P.S. Yes, the plan is almost complete, because there’s still that striker complexity.
It’s now official, so welcome, Gerard Pique!
“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.” Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the [...]
“I am proud and happy to say I am a Barca player, and I would like to retire here.”
Strong words from Pique on his homecoming day. Yes, we signed him from Manchester United, where he had something of a difficult time getting a consistent first-team place. But that doesn’t mean that the homecoming for the defender, who was signed away when he was 17 years old from our youth ranks, isn’t any less sweet.
And now, the stats. He’s just 21 years old and can play center or right back (for those wondering about the Alves stand-in). He’s 6-foot-4 inches tall, and is known for his good head. The fiscal deal isn’t really all that well-known, but as has been reported earlier, it’s probably something around the bargain price of 5 million.
He gives us size, he gives us pace, and on set pieces he’s a real threat with his height and size. This is no Crouch. Pique has some meat on his bones, and gives us much-needed defensive depth. It goes without saying that he can defend with his head as well, and you’d need to be one hell of a leaper to outdo him.
Are we as excited about this signing as the others? Not quite, because I don’t figure Pique to have a regular spot in the starting XI. But as well all saw, depth was a huge problem for us last season. As back line players got tired, the folks that were brought in weren’t quite up to snuff. Thuram worked hard and knows a lot, but he isn’t anything vaguely approximating the man he once was. So there was lots of flailing. As the season wears on, easy controls of counterattacks become just a step behind the attacker, which leads to goals. Depth is critical, and Pique is part of that program.
He’s Catalan, so he understands what it means to wear the shirt.
Pique continued, “My desire to play for this club is unlike that I have for any other.”
I have no doubt that he’ll show it. Man U sold him at a good time for his development. He’s going to become one hell of a defender, and like all good young’uns coming up in Catalunya, he bleeds blaugrana.
So let’s give it up for the newest member of the side, and wish him well.
P.S. Yes, I know what his last name is, and I don’t care that it isn’t all that uncommon in CataLand. I just can’t bring myself to type it sometimes.
