6 - Carles Alena

[EdmondDantes]

I think Carles is an AM who can play CM (interior) but definitely not a winger.


I'm happy he got some minutes last night, he earned them.

 

[dostoevskij]

wow, got his first clasico minutes and during a game on the edge, who would have thought thAt in summer.
almost scored a goal was it not for a good carvajal block.

happy with his development!!!

 

[Arizona Scott]

To me he didn't look ready for the level of match yesterday. Some loose control and kind of got in the way instead of moving to open space. I want to see him in La Liga matches and see how he comes along, except for Real and Atletico, but not the CL if the tie result is in doubt. We have 4 better midfielders at the moment, 5 better if you consider Bob.

 

[Cule4life]

To me he didn't look ready for the level of match yesterday. Some loose control and kind of got in the way instead of moving to open space. I want to see him in La Liga matches and see how he comes along, except for Real and Atletico, but not the CL if the tie result is in doubt. We have 4 better midfielders at the moment, 5 better if you consider Bob.

No slack for a young player Alena playing out of position in his first clasico? Seems you used up all your slack for defending Rakitic

 

[Joan]

To me he didn't look ready for the level of match yesterday. Some loose control and kind of got in the way instead of moving to open space. I want to see him in La Liga matches and see how he comes along, except for Real and Atletico, but not the CL if the tie result is in doubt. We have 4 better midfielders at the moment, 5 better if you consider Bob.

Agreed. I wouldn't say much about the last match, it was a modest cameo. But if he's to be one of the first players to come off the bench, then we need to stop using 10 minutes, wrong side excuses. Some level (regarding basic stuff) has to be expected.

 

[Arizona Scott]

No slack for a young player Alena playing out of position in his first clasico? Seems you used up all your slack for defending Rakitic

You can get slack, and PT, in less important matches. I want to see him vs Bilbao and I want to see Rakitic and Vidal rest. But no he isn't close to the player of Bus, Arthur, Rakitic, Arturo, or other favorite whipping boy Coutinho. He just isn't, and played like a headless chicken with poor touches yesterday in the 15 minutes he got.

Of course he is a young player, so he played like expected. There may be time for the biggest leagues for him at Barca, just not yet.

Where is the slack for players Valverde stuck on the pitch for 200+ minutes in one weeks time and who also was part of major plays and goals?

 

[God Serena]

You can get slack, and PT, in less important matches. I want to see him vs Bilbao and I want to see Rakitic and Vidal rest. But no he isn't close to the player of Bus, Arthur, Rakitic, Arturo, or other favorite whipping boy Coutinho. He just isn't, and played like a headless chicken with poor touches yesterday in the 15 minutes he got.

Of course he is a young player, so he played like expected. There may be time for the biggest leagues for him at Barca, just not yet.

Where is the slack for players Valverde stuck on the pitch for 200+ minutes in one weeks time and who also was part of major plays and goals?

He's been much better than Coutinho has been, what are you smoking? Coutinho dribbles the ball directly into the defender every single time he gets the ball, I'm fairly certain even pre-Lucho Sergi Roberto was better than him.

 

[tacticvarium]

Wonder if some of the guys actually watched the game

 

[Cule4life]

But no he isn't close to the player of Bus, Arthur, Rakitic, Arturo, or other favorite whipping boy Coutinho.

Come on don't leave me hanging. Just say Alena is worse than Gomes was at Barca and call it a day

Your boner for Rakitic has lasted too long. Go see a doctor. Valverde would be jealous.

 

[Arizona Scott]

He's been much better than Coutinho has been, what are you smoking? Coutinho dribbles the ball directly into the defender every single time he gets the ball, I'm fairly certain even pre-Lucho Sergi Roberto was better than him.

Coutinho has been involved in a lot of plays the last few weeks that have resulted in goals or clear chances. Coutinho also continues to show really bad decision making and giving the ball up far too easily, and it is clear Dembele offers a lot more when paired with Suarez and Messi in the attack so no matter what he is not in the starting 11 when he are rested and healthy.

But everyone except myopic Barca fans who hate Coutinho or have their next crush on Alena know who is the better player right now.

Cule, I am sorry Rakitic stole your partner for a night and it still stings, this wasn't a Rakitic thread so clearly he is on your mind for you to bring it up.

 

[Arizona Scott]

...Just say Alena is worse than Gomes was at Barca

Nah I am far more hopeful Alena could have a place in the main rotation than Gomes, I don't ever want to see Gomes in a Barca shirt but I hope he keeps impressing some in the EPL so someone takes him for what he cost.
But Alena was bad in his spot duty in the Classico, if you didn't think so you didn't watch. I want to see him get regular La Liga games and continue to prove his stuff there before putting him back in a situation like Weds. That is all.

 

[God Serena]

Coutinho has been involved in a lot of plays the last few weeks that have resulted in goals or clear chances. Coutinho also continues to show really bad decision making and giving the ball up far too easily, and it is clear Dembele offers a lot more when paired with Suarez and Messi in the attack so no matter what he is not in the starting 11 when he are rested and healthy.

But everyone except myopic Barca fans who hate Coutinho or have their next crush on Alena know who is the better player right now.

Cule, I am sorry Rakitic stole your partner for a night and it still stings, this wasn't a Rakitic thread so clearly he is on your mind for you to bring it up.

Coutinho literally costs us goals by dribbling straight into defenders and watching them counter to score. Happened in the 2-0 against Sevilla. At least with Alena we have someone who knows how to... pass. The entire world could say Coutinho is the better player but I'd take Alena over him in a heartbeat. Coutinho shouldn't even stay beyond this summer, while Alena has starter potential.

Sure, his performance against Real Madrid wasn't anything special, but if you're really expecting a kid to do anything at all in his first handful of games as a first team player being played out of position as a late game sub against our biggest historic rivals, you're not really tempering your expectations properly.

 

[Arizona Scott]

Coutinho literally costs us goals by dribbling straight into defenders and watching them counter to score. Happened in the 2-0 against Sevilla. At least with Alena we have someone who knows how to... pass. The entire world could say Coutinho is the better player but I'd take Alena over him in a heartbeat. Coutinho shouldn't even stay beyond this summer, while Alena has starter potential.

Sure, his performance against Real Madrid wasn't anything special, but if you're really expecting a kid to do anything at all in his first handful of games as a first team player being played out of position as a late game sub against our biggest historic rivals, you're not really tempering your expectations properly.

I agree with pretty much everything you said there (except your preference between these two players in big moments, but I certainly can see merit in your position).

Coutinho's over dribbling is toxic. But he has scored the two penalties (one Messi created and the other I think Denis created) and been a key part between link play between Messi and Suarez that has led to goals and clear chances since Dembele went down. We have performed overall well in January, have a bigger gap in La Liga than we started and in the CDR semis.

No question we need more from him and fewer giveaways, its frustrating. I do think the other players (Messi, Suarez) have a lot more empathy for him than the fans, I think they know he wants to produce, but also the fragility of performing well in a playmaking/goal creating capacity and how pressing too hard doesn't help, creating and scoring goals is really, really hard at their level. Taking risks is critical for playmakers but he needs to get much better judgement about it. The kind of judgement he showed last spring and Brazil. His time is running out I think.

I cam imagine for all of us (fans, players) it isn't too soon for Dembele to get back.

 

[EdmondDantes]

Alena is our only hope of fielding a remotely balanced midfield with Arthur's injury.

And since he impressed in his first (?) start in the league last week, I hope he's given plenty, plenty of minutes. We need at least one CM (Busquets doesn't count since he's a pivot) who can play football.

Look at City's midfield... David Silva / Bernardo Silva/ de Bruyne

Even if Carles is more of an AM than a CM.

 

[FCBfan22]

Alena is our only hope of fielding a remotely balanced midfield with Arthur's injury.

And since he impressed in his first (?) start in the league last week, I hope he's given plenty, plenty of minutes. We need at least one CM (Busquets doesn't count since he's a pivot) who can play football.

Look at City's midfield... David Silva / Bernardo Silva/ de Bruyne

Even if Carles is more of an AM than a CM.

Yup, we need a trio of an attacking midfielder, a B2B midfielder and a DM. We should go with Alena or Cou and 2 of Raki, Busi and Vidal. But, we will most likely play all 3 and Leo will again need to drop back to Narnia to create something.