Gabi Milito Back In Action

Fantastic news. Almost forgot we had him....

I just hope he returns to his previous form. Unfortunately with a lot of these long term injury cases the player is never quite the same again. Such a shame because he was a top class defender.

In other good news, for all those worried about the Yaya, here is some reassurance from the big man himself:

LINK

Thierry Henry with his hand???? I will only be happy if he wins Barca the Champions league final in Madrid with the same technique!!!

@Nic:
Gr8 to see Milito back in action but I agree that it'll be a long journey to his previous levels of fitness and form.

We've all seen a bit of Jonathan Dos Santos but there's this other guy Thiago as well. Whats the word on this guy? Does he have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Biscuits to stake a claim on the subs bench?

Thiago has been injured the last two months but he looks to have a great future. Of all the up-and-coming young players I think the biggest prospects are for Muniesa, Thiago and Gai Assulin. We will have to see if they are patient enough to wait for their chance at Barça or whether they will want to try their luck elsewhere.

Great news. I can only imagine how good this must have felt for Milito... He's fought a long fight to get back to this point, let's hope the rest is mostly a down-hill battle.

@Nic:

You mentioned Gai as one of the best prospects, yet don't you find it strange that he has hardly made any appearances (even in the Copa Del Ray) as compared to other youth players like Jonathan and Jeffren. Even Muniesa doesn't seem to be close to breaking into the subs.

If these players are not ready for this season, wouldn't it be better to send them on a brief loan spell in January with lower ranked teams in La Liga or other leagues so that they can experience competitive football on a regular basis.

Omerpk - Gai played in the first leg of the Copa against Cultural while Muniesa and Thiago made their first team debuts at the end of last season.
It is important to remember the ages of these players: you mention Johnathan (who is 19) and Jeffren (21), Gai and Thiago are both 18 and Muniesa is only 17 so they have plenty of time to develop. I'd rather they didn't go out on loan as I'm confident they can learn more at Barça where they get the chance to train with the best, they learn the Barça system/playing style and they remain under the watchful eye of Guardiola.

@Nic:
Yes the rationale of teaching these players the Barca system and being under the watchful eye of Pep and Co. makes sense. The part about training with the best also seems logical. You'll agree though that these 'promoted' youngsters have an almost impossible task of even making the bench at present so it must be quite frustrating to be a benchwarmer or training match player .

I was however only suggesting a short loan spell (half a season in the Jan window) because of the follwing reasons:

- give these guys a taste of real competitive football at another club which would be next to impossible in this brilliant Barca side

- if they could play in a different league such as EPL they'd be able to experience a very different playing style which could help them improve certain aspects of their own game.

However Pep and Co. probably know better so I'll just shut up on this issue for now...

I think if anything, youth players at Barca should take heart when they look at the brilliant Barca side. When they do, they will see many players that came up through the Barca system and take courage that they too have this chance. Indeed, it would seem the chances of going from youth team to first team are best at Barca.

Not to drone on, but the case of Iniesta is especially important to remember. He was in the sub-role for awhile. And when he did secure a starting role, he didn't attract much attention outside of the Barca faithful. Only last year did he seem to really "break-out" and get a lot of attention for being one of the best in the world. And he was 25. So, let's give the 18 and 19 year olds a bit of time... They're not all going to be like Messi and be stars straight away, but that doesn't mean they won't because stars.

*become