Ravenbarber

With the addition of only two players, I believe Barcelona could finally put to rest the debate that has been going around (and even graced the cover of Newsweek) of whether they are the best team ever. The two additions, with one or two more for the subs bench (I would personally keep Bojan), are both defenders, but absolutely dynamic ones and they would help Barca immeasurably to become as close to perfect as a football team can become.
Fábio Coentrão from Benfica would finally deliver the full attacking potential from Left Back that Barca have only flirted with with the players at their disposal, while his addition and the width it would create will push Villa slightly more inward toward a more, natural central position. Villa would still have space to cut in with his left foot but he wouldn’t be so far left as to be in no man’s land essentially, where he has found himself for most of the season and that has made his game a lot more predictable than it ought to be.
Messi will of course resume his incredibly successful false nine role, linking up with Xavi and Iniesta and helping to maintain position, but with Villa playing a little more centrally, the Argentinean would be even more potent with his little slide-rule passes that should find Villa in the space where he is likely to do more damage. As Villa has unselfishly shown all season, he wouldn’t be in Messi’s way if the latter partakes in his mazy dribbles towards the goal area, even if the Spaniard was more centrally placed. As we know, Villa can play wide left, and will still help out Coentrão on that side if defensive cover is needed, but having him stationed too wide, as if that is his nominal position, became a weakness for Barca later on in the season, especially as fatigue became a factor and Villa couldn’t move centrally quick enough, or beat the one or two players he’d need to from his position as effectively as he had earlier in the season. That’s why Guardiola alternated him in a right-wing/central position in the final. Villa looked far more dangerous. For me Villa remains a fundamental cog in the machine of Barca because of his work ethic and team spirit, and would definitely remain in Barca if you wanted a fantasy Barca XI. For me he is even more fundamental than Eto’o was, even if his job has been more difficult and thankless due to Messi’s full transition to a central role.
Thiago Silva would be perfect for Barca because he can patrol one or two players’ zones almost on his own, and the cover he provides would give the full back on his side far more peace of mind when they bomb forward, as they would for most of the game. He is a high intensity player and would relish this almost unfair amount of responsibility tasked on him. Of course, he would have two immense players in Busquets and Pique to sweep along with at the back. Busquets in particular might have to play slightly deeper so that he becomes part of what would look like a de facto back three at most times, but that could also help him because he would be even more difficult to mark by the trequartistas in the 4-2-3-1’s that opposing teams would inevitably have to play against Barca to mark him.
People keep talking about Guiseppe Rossi and Alexis Sanchez as the players Barca would require to become even more formidable, but for my money, these defenders, who just so happen to be out there and probably in their prime at the moment when Barca are flirting with this “Best Of All Time” mantle, would be perfect compliments to this difficult-to-assimilate-to system.
I’d reckon you’d get Silva for about €50 million from AC Milan, and that would almost be a bargain for a player that Goal.com has called the best defender since Franco Baresi, whereas Coentrão would cost maybe half that and I believe would prefer to play for Barca rather than Real Madrid, who are targeting him at the moment. Perhaps Bojan might have to be sold after all. My belief is that Madrid, despite having the ever-improving Marcelo in their squad, are only going after Coentrão to keep him out of Barca’s hands, because Mourinho knows what it would mean if Barca actually caught a clue and went out for Coentrão. Alves and Coentrão in the same team would be an impossible nightmare for most teams to cope with, before even thinking about the Messi/Iniesta/Xavia triumvirate.
These two players would ensure that the Catalans finally have the players to fulfil Gaurdiola’s vision to its absolute completion.

14.06.2011