1 - Victor Valdes

[Flavia]

no player is bigger than the club. Get that in your head.

While I like VV but he has made his decision and I bet you if he continue for another season his performance will drop cuz of lack of motivation. Didn't occur to you that his amazing performance this season based on World Cup selection to be the main GK and to get a good contract from teams like city? his performance before was mediocre.

If we don't sign Ter Stegan he might sign for another club and risk losing him or buying him expensive in the future.

Valdes mediocre.. Geezus.

Players can come and go and they know the Barcelona football club is more important than any individual. We do expect players to want to be part of Barcelona and if they do not want to be part of it, then the door is open for them going elsewhere. Valdes gave to this club some years even though he was an average keeper for many years (minus few seasons), the club didn't opt to sign a new keeper to compete with him and always wanted him to be their main keeper. He won so many trophies could've been won with him or without him. So he should be more thankful not the other way around.

You should also be more thankful. Valdes was instrumental in all the 3 CL finals he played. His zamora trophies records are not by chance, either. He is the best gk of Barça history.

 

[Duke]

Valdes mediocre.. Geezus.

are you serious? few years back majority if not all Cules wanted him out. If you joined Barcelona as a fan after 2010 I will understand why you think VV is world class. He has improved his game the past few years though I admit.

 

[Duke]

Valdes mediocre.. Geezus.


You should also be more thankful. Valdes was instrumental in all the 3 CL finals he played. His zamora trophies records are not by chance, either. He is the best gk of Barça history.

when you have the best team in history dominating position, any goalkeeper will shine. At some games he barely touched the ball cuz the way we used to dominate under Guardiola. like I said, those trophies would have won with or WITHOUT him.

 

[Flavia]

are you serious? few years back majority if not all Cules wanted him out. If you joined Barcelona as a fan after 2010 I will understand why you think VV is world class. He has improved his game the past few years though I admit.

There are always cules who wants a certain player out. Many are just now recognizing Valdes' value to this club. He always has his occasionals brain farts, but all gks do. And no, I follow Barça since before the gaspart days. I remember a bit of the dream team with Pep.

 

[Flavia]

when you have the best team in history dominating position, any goalkeeper will shine. At some games he barely touched the ball cuz the way we used to dominate under Guardiola. like I said, those trophies would have won with or WITHOUT him.

CL finals, especially the 2006 one, beg to differ. If not for VV denying Henry many times, that CL wouldn't have been won.

 

[FiReFTW]

The thing is valdes had more brain farts than ur usual keeper does, then again he was a pretty good keeper overall aswell during his years here, brain farts or not, he saves us a few times and proved that he is a very good keeper, alltho he didn't have the chance to prove that in every game ( since like Duke said, against alot of teams we dominated so much he didn't have much work to do, but that doesn't mean he was bad, it just means he didn't have the chance to prove himself in those matches, but he did in other ones ). Overall he was a good keeper for sure, his biggest advantage were reflexes and 1 on 1, and his biggest disadvantage was high balls/crosses and alot of brain farts. Overall I would give him 7/10, very good grade overall. About 9 is reserved for legends in the history of soccer, 8 close to that status, over 9 pretty much doesn't exist.

 

[Duke]

CL finals, especially the 2006 one, beg to differ. If not for VV denying Henry many times, that CL wouldn't have been won.

It was one crucial save, yes we are all thankful for it but don't be naive thinking he is the only keeper in the world who could stop Henry's shot. Lets not go there comparing his performance every game. Type "Valdes worst keeper" in Youtube and you will find more than dozen videos on the subject,not like I agree with the opinions on the those videos. lets not divert the discussion here.

 

[Kerrybai]

The thing is valdes had more brain farts than ur usual keeper does, then again he was a pretty good keeper overall aswell during his years here, brain farts or not, he saves us a few times and proved that he is a very good keeper, alltho he didn't have the chance to prove that in every game ( since like Duke said, against alot of teams we dominated so much he didn't have much work to do, but that doesn't mean he was bad, it just means he didn't have the chance to prove himself in those matches, but he did in other ones ). Overall he was a good keeper for sure, his biggest advantage were reflexes and 1 on 1, and his biggest disadvantage was high balls/crosses and alot of brain farts. Overall I would give him 7/10, very good grade overall. About 9 is reserved for legends in the history of soccer, 8 close to that status, over 9 pretty much doesn't exist.

Well of course he has more brain farts. There are not many keepers out there who play so much with the ball at their feet.

I believe Valdes wants to go because he wants to prove his critics wrong and I'm completely with him on that. He's been a great keeper for many years yet even many of his own fans don't give him credit. The nature of our style creates 2 problems for him.
1. He has the ball at his feet a lot which results in more mistakes and thus a lot of criticism.
2. Our style of play means he doesn't face as much shots as many other keepers and as a result people discredit his Zamora trophies citing our possession game as the reason for his great goal conceded per game record.

He plays in a team of superstars but doesn't get the recognition as a superstar. His decision to leave makes perfect sense and I wish him the best.

P.S. The one criticism which is fair is that he is poor at commanding his box, however this problem is again compounded by his team-mates as they are generally short leaving him exposed more often than not.

 

[Flavia]

It was one crucial save, yes we are all thankful for it but don't be naive thinking he is the only keeper in the world who could stop Henry's shot. Lets not go there comparing his performance every game. Type "Valdes worst keeper" in Youtube and you will find more than dozen videos on the subject,not like I agree with the opinions on the those videos. lets not divert the discussion here.

It wasn't just one crucial save. He denied Henry more than once. But people tend to forget things. Arsenal would've won that game, if not for VV. Simple as that. If you search youtube hate videos, you can find videos of blunders for most gk's.
He has his flaws, like any player. Still, he is the best gk Barça ever had.

Well of course he has more brain farts. There are not many keepers out there who play so much with the ball at their feet.


I believe Valdes wants to go because he wants to prove his critics wrong and I'm completely with him on that. He's been a great keeper for many years yet even many of his own fans don't give him credit. The nature of our style creates 2 problems for him.
1. He has the ball at his feet a lot which results in more mistakes and thus a lot of criticism.
2. Our style of play means he doesn't face as much shots as many other keepers and as a result people discredit his Zamora trophies citing our possession game as the reason for his great goal conceded per game record.


He plays in a team of superstars but doesn't get the recognition as a superstar. His decision to leave makes perfect sense and I wish him the best.


P.S. The one criticism which is fair is that he is poor at commanding his box, however this problem is again compounded by his team-mates as they are generally short leaving him exposed more often than not.

Indeed.

 

[FCBarca]

The trolls are out in force

 

[Galning]

"Few years back people wanted Valdés out"... when was this? 2005?

 

[Poor_Sunyol]

I did, I have to admit. However, he managed to sort out his stupid mistakes.

 

[Butaan4barca]

Valdes is a fucking legend and he deserves to be treated with respect fromthe club.

+1

 

[ceefoo]

All players make mistakes, but when it's a goalkeeper it's highlighted more because it usually results in a goal.

To say Valdes has been mediocre for a lot of the time is very disrespectful and inaccurate.

Being FC Barcelona GK is probably the most demanding of any club, because he is not only expected to keep out goals, but also to be a footballer and play the ball like an outfield player.
NO other club, puts these demands on their GK. So when Valdes misplaces a pass, to an opposing player and the opposing team scores as a result, he gets unfairly ridiculed. The club places huge pressure on him to distribute the ball accordingly and constantly puts him in perilous scenarios because the way we play. Some of the Barca faithful take for granted what Valdes is expected to do and what a difficult job he has. This may be in part why he is leaving our club.
Put any other GK in Barca's goal and I guarantee he will make at least as many of these type of errors, if not more.

VV is one of the best GK's with the ball at his feet and imo could even play as an outfield player (at a certain level), if required. His One vs One's are up there with some of the all-time greats, and his ability to stay alert when he hardly has anything to do in the game and pull off a great save when we have so much domination is all the more impressive.

He does have his faults; claiming high crosses being one of them. But when there are only 2 six-footers in the entire team and only one of them can head a ball, it's no-wonder that he feels he has to come out and punch or catch, even though it's a gamble.

There's a saying that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. I hope this isn't the case, because it means the club will suffer. But it will give me reason to say: I told you so!

:valdes: = LEGEND

 

[FC B]

I'm not exaggerating calling him a living legend of Barca.