There's squad rotation and then there's squad rotation

after witnessing wholesale changes by riijkard today and once again personnel in diff positions, i'm beginning to think he is losing the plot/losing control of the club. Scraping a win is understandable as no team plays brilliant every week but its the effort that is lacking. He is a top manager but with deco off holidaying during the week, ronnyd not wanting to train and etoo filming tv ads when he too should be training has left be a bit bamboozled. I can see a reall cull taking place in the summer - some big names to leave the club and probably a new coach - hopefully someone like scolari who would take no crap or juande ramos of sevilla.

Possibly coming to a club near u!:

Deco - linked with man utd,chelsea, lpool, inter
Etoo - linked with lpool
Ronnyd - linked with ac milan, chelsea
xavi - linked with man utd,chelsea
rafa marquez - chelsea, arsenal
e gudjohnsen - man utd


Busy summer ahead!!

So whats the team going to look like next season. I'd imagine dos Santos would be stepping up into the senior team but it would still be too early for Bojan Krcic, at least at the start of the season as he'll still be 16. If both Xavi and Deco go, then I'd imagine Sneijder is a definate, as would Torres if Eto'o leaves. Andrande is pretty much set but that means a holding midfielder will also be needed

so far from what i can see

Goalkeepers

Jorquera the backup keeper is due to leave the club and so valdes needs some competition, oscar ustari the young argentinian is very likely to be that guy, a solid keeper and a good prospect.

Defence

Looks definite that gio and silvinho will be leaving along with zambrotta (ac milan). Belletti signed a new deal and will stay as a backup for RB and oleguer will still be there, he can develop i reckon, a good CB. Puyol is the only definite starter back for next season. Abidal is likely to join for around £10m although that fee could be reduced with giuly moving in other direction. I too thought that andrade was a definite till there was some haggling on his price - the discrepency is as small as £1M! RIDICULOUS IMO! Dani alves has been linked for the RB spot but his fee is astronomical. Two players that have been linked of as of late are gabi milito and carlos diogo of zaragoza - both v solid players! If rafa marquez stays he could feature prominently in the holding midfielder role that he has played so well in.

Midfield

Motta will be leaving as is probably edmilson and xavi maybe aswell. For some reason barca seemed to have ruled out sneijder, not sure if that is a ploy. Iniesta will likely feature more next season but barca should definitely pick up 1 deep lying midfielder - the shortlist includes David albelda, momo sissoko, peter luccin, yaya toure. Albelda is probably most likely.

Attacking midfielders

Barca play with 3 assuming new manager sticks wid same formation. Deco is likely to be axed, gio dos santos is def coming through v nicely and should be in the squad. Arjen robben has been linked but he doesnt really fit the central role that is to be vacated, may mean ronnyd moving inside or more probably iniesta playing that role with xavi and a holding midfielder in support.

Strikers

Barca play with a lone striker - etoo is great in that role but he may leave, if that happens i can def see el nino filling that void and he could do rather well! A backup striker is needed badly as saviola is off and gudjohnsen will likely join man utd for £8m. With thet £8m i expect barca to sign rodrigo palacio - an argentine striker/ diego milito has also been linked.

Overview - ideally u would like a strong squad of 20 players

1. V valdes
2. O Ustari
3. Oleguer
4. J Belletti
5. C Puyol
6. G milito/ j andrade
7. E abidal
8. C diogo/ D Alves
9. R Marquez
10. Xavi
11. D albelda/ a holding midfielder
12. A iniesta
13. Ronnyd
14. L Messi
15. A robben/ an attacking midfielder
16. S Etoo/ F Torres
17. R Palacio/ D Milito
18. G Dos santos
19/20 - 2 wildcard players

Damn, thats a lot of shopping to be done

I heard about Ustari getting a deal done. Havent seen him in real, but heard of him through Footy manager (yep, you'll be hearing a lot of that from me) and hes one of the better keepers there

Unless Alves is signed, the fullback position looks quite weak, which will be made even worse if Zambrotta goes to AC.

How likely is Xavi's departure? I reckon Barca are best off getting rid of Deco sooner rather than later. Hes a good player but hes not going to get any better and with the departure of Edmilson, Motta and Silvinho the Brazilian mafia will really have taken a hit and if he goes too, Ronny D will be the sole remnant (might make him feel lonely but it will reduce the power of the cliques).

If thats dealt with, the only potential problem with be RonnyD vs Eto'o. I'd say keep Ronny cause it will be easier to get Torres to replace Eto'o than it will be to replace Ronny - the only person I can imagine is Cristiano Ronaldo and hes just signed that contract, so hes out of the question for now

Rafa Marquez would be a fantastic signing for Arsenal if it happens.

If Scolari is made manager then Barca should swap Ronny D with Kaka. I know that Kaka is a Real Madrid fan but the temptation of playing for Scolari could sway him towards the nou camp.

One thing is certain for me is that Barca should forget about signing Lampard. He is vastly overrated and could effect the balance of the side if they sign him.

I would also be against the idea of signing Robben. He is a selfish footballer and has an attitude problem. I would rather they signed Ricardo Queresma.

I know it did not work out for him in his first spell at the club but he was a bit raw then. I think he has improved significantly since then.

Wiy what's your take on Nani?

Looks like there is going to be many comings and goings at the nou camp in the summer.

Unlikely that Kaka will be going anywhere. Berlesconi has stated that it is his dream to have both Kaka and RonnyD both at AC so he wont let Kaka go.

I agree about Queresm and if Rijkaard leaves, then the stumbling block he imposed regarding Barca will have been removed as he said he wont play for Barca while Rijkaard is in charge

Daoud

I think realistically he is going to have to part with Kaka before he can have any chance of signing Ronny D.

Next year will be a big season for Dos santos.

nani looks like a top prospect, would love him at barca, probably best for him that he stays for a bit longer at sporting.

Calderon all but guaranteed the real m fans that he would either have kaka or c ronaldo playing for them next season, lets just say real m still havent given up hope of signing ronaldo! Kaka i would have thought was untouchable but he is constantly linked with real m and he will play for them one day and only conceivable way he could be allowed to leave is if ronnyd signed for AC which there is an outside chance this summer. Can u imagine that - kaka to real m for £45M THEN ronnyd to AC for £50m - crazy summer in store!

I agree about the quaresma remark - he would be far more suited than robben simply due to the fact that he is more versatile - play either flank but more importantly in the middle aswell but riijkard has to leave for that to happen and that is likely this season.

Daoud ur so right about the "brazilian mafia" - they are all remnants of sandro rossell's stint as vice president - he and laporta had a bitter falling out, which sways me into thinking that ronnyd could be the scapegoat with etoo becoming the leader, im not sure if he could handle that.

Monk ur right about lampard but it seems that laporta is swayed by his club form and a swap could occur with deco or xavi possibly moving to the bridge. Xavi's departure isnt set in stone but he is constantly being linked to man utd/chelsea and now even serie A sides.