GunnerDude wrote:Bergkamp-Genius wrote:GunnerDude wrote:Juan wrote:If it turns out that Cesc wants out I'll be gutted.
However I don't think he'd be ahead of Xavi or Iniesta, so I think he'll be around for a couple of seasons yet.
At the moment it's Balague writing in AS - I think it was Boomer who pointed out that neither were particularly credible sources.
Until I see a shot of Cesc holding a Barcelona shirt I think it's best to ignore the speculation.
He will start games for them without a doubt.
Barca fans are already dreaming of a team that looks like this
Valdes
Alves - Pique - Puyol - Abidal
Busi - Xavi
Messi - Cesc - Iniesta
Villa
So dont kid yourself.
So where is Ibrahimovich going to play ?...Villa tends to play just off the striker, usually coming from the left side....So i think it's more likely the front three would be Messi from the right Ibra in the middle Villa from the left with xavi and iniesta behind them..
Off what striker? He is the main striker for Valencia

Yes he can play on the left but so can Iniesta/Pedro.
Its well know thay Barca are not happy with Ibrah's input this season and with Henry gone, the arrival of Villa, the emergance Pedro and Bojan, they have too many players to accomodate. Hence the reason they are trying to get rid of Ibrah.
One this is certain, they will all get 30+games to play in.
I think he plays as the main striker for Valencia now out of necessity because they are light on the ground for quality strikers due to resources, or lack of them, but he was at his best when he plays off a more traditional centre forward as when Morientes was at Valencia and when he plays off Torres for Spain..
Who says they are trying to get rid of Ibra, personally i would never have bought him, but i would be shocked after spending so much on him if they didn't give him at least another season, he is just the type of player Villa would work well off.
From what i can see Villa is a replacement for Henry and on the whole Henry was played from the left, unless they were desperate for a central striker..
I'm aware that Barca like to rotate their large selection of midfield and attacking players, so they all get more than a few games and sometimes play slightly different positions to their norm. But you were suggesting that Cesc would slot straight in to what would be regarded as their strongest 11 and that most certainly is not nailed on.
Cesc is not a defensive midfielder, he can't play up front and he can't play wide, so he is going to be limited to playing in one of the two midfield slots behind the strikers which when fit are normally taken by Xavi, Iniesta or sometimes even Messi, with Busquets or even keita another option, at the moment Cesc would just be like them another option and whether he would get 20 games or 30 it's not going to be quite the same as running the show at Arsenal...and as long as xavi is around thats how it will be...