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Alen Halilović
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BBZ8800
Senior Member
Comments from Croatian forums about Halilovic after yesterday's game, because a lot of people here are following his every move.
Some people follow him because they like him a lot. Others are pissed with "new Messi" claims.
Anyway, some comments from his country after yesterday's match:
"He will be a good player."
"He isn't physically too strong but he will improve over time"
"Nice shot when he almost scored"
"He dribbles like Messi. It doesn't matter if he is a little selfish, that's ok"
"He was awesome yesterday"
"He is equally as good as Messi was in his age"
"A good game for Halil"
"He was good, but Elche is very poor"
"He was ok"
Bad comments:
"He learned speaking Spanish. That is very good. He played ok yesterday, he has improved slightly, maybe he will be better with a better bteam coach. But I have a feeling that he hasn't developed any chemistry with teammates and that he plays somehow without too much motivation and passion currently."
"This guy will relegate Barcelona B to a 3rd Division."
"He still needs to eat tons of spinach to turn into a useful player"
"Halilovic needs to learn that a football is collective sport, where you need to play both attack and defense.
Further, he lacks physical strength, stamina, playing and movement without a ball, positional play, passing...
He has tons of potential. But he will turn into a world class player only if he will fix problems in his head and if he will start to learn tactical things."
"There are too many similar players to Halilovic in Barca B. He reminds me of Deulofeu. He was equally technically talented, but extremely selfish and with poor decisions."
"He is just an average Barcelona B player. Technically good, but tactically and workrate=below average."
"He is physically so weak"
"He has a very good shot with a left foot, but he has a lot to learn/work on passing, looking where are his teammates when he has the ball, he needs to be less selfish.
He improved in this Season, he was even more selfish in the past. But he is still miles behind a first team level of football. He still has to learn for years even to be a squad player in Barcelona."
"He was invisible on the field, again."
"He tried a lot yesterday, but he won't play in Barca in the near future. He is so selfish, that is his biggest problem."
"Yes, he is selfish, he will have to remove that from his game. Barcelona is one of those teams where you aren't allowed to be selfish and they rely a lot on teamplay. I am not sure whether he will ever learn to adapt to Barca's style."
"I am not sure whether fans who say that he played well are joking or what? Halilovic is not good enough even for Barcelona B in this moment. Yes, he almost scored yesterday, but he lost 5-6 balls in a row for no reason after that. He is faaaar from a useful player currently."
"In some moments you can see that he is special and that he has a lot of talent, but then you can also see that he needs to work a lot in a lot of areas to improve. Most important, he needs to gain some weight, he is so weak in any 1 vs 1 duel with older defenders."
"I counted and wrote on a paper everything he did tonight. He played 30 minutes, he touched the ball 14 times.
-- he had 8 good shortpasses
-- he lost the ball 4 times after bad shortpasses/failed attempts of dribbling
-- he won one tackle in the defense
-- and he had a good shot which hit the post
His play was on a level of a 3rd division player. I am 47 years old, and I would have better stats if I played for Barcelona yesterday."
"Lucho is guilty for a Barca B failure. Ok, they lost Denis Suarez and Masip, but Lucho probably told to too many youngsters like Munir, Sandro that they are good enough for a 1st team, and now those kids bought that hype and they don't want to work hard in Barca B anymore, and thus they are stagnating in their development."
"He wasn't bad yesterday, but it was clear that he needs to gain some weight, and he also lacks some in-game intelligence. His positional play is bad. After a pass he often takes a wrong position. But if he will work hard, he can improve."
"He won't get a new chance too soon. He was unlucky with that shot"
People here, as you can see, are extremely polarized about Halilovic.
Almost everybody loves Modric, but with Halilovic it is something like 50:50.
Those who don't like him are annoyed by (insane) hype surrounding him, even though (they think) that he is just an average player.
Plus, he was arrogant a few times towards fans and media while he was playing in Dinamo, in Croatia.
Some people follow him because they like him a lot. Others are pissed with "new Messi" claims.
Anyway, some comments from his country after yesterday's match:
"He will be a good player."
"He isn't physically too strong but he will improve over time"
"Nice shot when he almost scored"
"He dribbles like Messi. It doesn't matter if he is a little selfish, that's ok"
"He was awesome yesterday"
"He is equally as good as Messi was in his age"
"A good game for Halil"
"He was good, but Elche is very poor"
"He was ok"
Bad comments:
"He learned speaking Spanish. That is very good. He played ok yesterday, he has improved slightly, maybe he will be better with a better bteam coach. But I have a feeling that he hasn't developed any chemistry with teammates and that he plays somehow without too much motivation and passion currently."
"This guy will relegate Barcelona B to a 3rd Division."
"He still needs to eat tons of spinach to turn into a useful player"
"Halilovic needs to learn that a football is collective sport, where you need to play both attack and defense.
Further, he lacks physical strength, stamina, playing and movement without a ball, positional play, passing...
He has tons of potential. But he will turn into a world class player only if he will fix problems in his head and if he will start to learn tactical things."
"There are too many similar players to Halilovic in Barca B. He reminds me of Deulofeu. He was equally technically talented, but extremely selfish and with poor decisions."
"He is just an average Barcelona B player. Technically good, but tactically and workrate=below average."
"He is physically so weak"
"He has a very good shot with a left foot, but he has a lot to learn/work on passing, looking where are his teammates when he has the ball, he needs to be less selfish.
He improved in this Season, he was even more selfish in the past. But he is still miles behind a first team level of football. He still has to learn for years even to be a squad player in Barcelona."
"He was invisible on the field, again."
"He tried a lot yesterday, but he won't play in Barca in the near future. He is so selfish, that is his biggest problem."
"Yes, he is selfish, he will have to remove that from his game. Barcelona is one of those teams where you aren't allowed to be selfish and they rely a lot on teamplay. I am not sure whether he will ever learn to adapt to Barca's style."
"I am not sure whether fans who say that he played well are joking or what? Halilovic is not good enough even for Barcelona B in this moment. Yes, he almost scored yesterday, but he lost 5-6 balls in a row for no reason after that. He is faaaar from a useful player currently."
"In some moments you can see that he is special and that he has a lot of talent, but then you can also see that he needs to work a lot in a lot of areas to improve. Most important, he needs to gain some weight, he is so weak in any 1 vs 1 duel with older defenders."
"I counted and wrote on a paper everything he did tonight. He played 30 minutes, he touched the ball 14 times.
-- he had 8 good shortpasses
-- he lost the ball 4 times after bad shortpasses/failed attempts of dribbling
-- he won one tackle in the defense
-- and he had a good shot which hit the post
His play was on a level of a 3rd division player. I am 47 years old, and I would have better stats if I played for Barcelona yesterday."
"Lucho is guilty for a Barca B failure. Ok, they lost Denis Suarez and Masip, but Lucho probably told to too many youngsters like Munir, Sandro that they are good enough for a 1st team, and now those kids bought that hype and they don't want to work hard in Barca B anymore, and thus they are stagnating in their development."
"He wasn't bad yesterday, but it was clear that he needs to gain some weight, and he also lacks some in-game intelligence. His positional play is bad. After a pass he often takes a wrong position. But if he will work hard, he can improve."
"He won't get a new chance too soon. He was unlucky with that shot"
People here, as you can see, are extremely polarized about Halilovic.
Almost everybody loves Modric, but with Halilovic it is something like 50:50.
Those who don't like him are annoyed by (insane) hype surrounding him, even though (they think) that he is just an average player.
Plus, he was arrogant a few times towards fans and media while he was playing in Dinamo, in Croatia.
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khaled_a_d
Senior Member
I didn't watch the game yesterday but I've watched him plenty with Barca B ,he is actually improving and probably the only player who is improving during the coarse of the current season (Ortolá ,Dongou improved at the beginning of the year)
He is turning into willing passer as the season goes,track back in defense more and play within the team,I actually like how he is improving
Alen has clear talent ,he can make it at Barcelona and can become a big name here,the talent is there and it is up to him to work hard to reach his potential .the flows in his game is fixable if he is a hard worker .all up to him tbh
BTW ,Cr7 was booed many times by Portuguese fans when he in the early 20's and was selfish too ,most superstars have character issues .we have been lucky that most of our superstars in the last few years were modest .we shouldn't expect that to continue
He is turning into willing passer as the season goes,track back in defense more and play within the team,I actually like how he is improving
Alen has clear talent ,he can make it at Barcelona and can become a big name here,the talent is there and it is up to him to work hard to reach his potential .the flows in his game is fixable if he is a hard worker .all up to him tbh
BTW ,Cr7 was booed many times by Portuguese fans when he in the early 20's and was selfish too ,most superstars have character issues .we have been lucky that most of our superstars in the last few years were modest .we shouldn't expect that to continue
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BBZ8800
Senior Member
Yes, he surely improved.
He is trying to get more balls lately, and he is passing more than in the past.
But he has questionable physical skills, plus too much hype how he is the new Messi will only make him harm.
Fans, media and a coach need to tell him where he has to improve if he wants to succeed.
Hype about being a new Messi, for nothing, after one good dribble and 2 lost balls afterwards, won't help him in development.
One-two good dribbles are good only for Youtube videos and for younger fans who care only about fancy dribbles and who don't care too much about other (equally important) aspects of the game.
He is trying to get more balls lately, and he is passing more than in the past.
But he has questionable physical skills, plus too much hype how he is the new Messi will only make him harm.
Fans, media and a coach need to tell him where he has to improve if he wants to succeed.
Hype about being a new Messi, for nothing, after one good dribble and 2 lost balls afterwards, won't help him in development.
One-two good dribbles are good only for Youtube videos and for younger fans who care only about fancy dribbles and who don't care too much about other (equally important) aspects of the game.
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Blaugrana Bull
HiiiPoWeR
Put him next to better teammates and Alen will produce. Take that one game when he played alongside Suarez against some youth team from Indonesia. They had so many good moments where Alen's passing set up Suarez.
Messi is also better when he got guys next to him who are willing to play quick 1-2s around the box, make deep runs to provide a target for through balls or drag defenders to open up space between the lines.
Our B team is a mess right now. There is a reason that the best player by far is Adama who relies on his individual skills more than any other player. I think the difficult situation is a big reason why Alen plays below his standards.
Messi is also better when he got guys next to him who are willing to play quick 1-2s around the box, make deep runs to provide a target for through balls or drag defenders to open up space between the lines.
Our B team is a mess right now. There is a reason that the best player by far is Adama who relies on his individual skills more than any other player. I think the difficult situation is a big reason why Alen plays below his standards.
KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
+100
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
Media/fan hype are not avoidable ,any good young prospect will get that sort of hype .what coaches tells him to do is something we don't know but both Lucho and Eusebio were players in club like FCB and was teammates of some all time great (lucho himself was gr8 player ) and I doubt they are just telling him you are gr8 keep it this way .
His lack of physical abilities isn't concern at this age ,most teen players are weak but he need to get stronger with time .his flaws are the fixable type ,most stars had those weakness when they were young .what separates players is how hard they are working to achieve their full potential
L
linetty
Guest
It's not that easy to bulk up when you're that small, you might need good genes to grow naturally
BBZ8800
Senior Member
Ok.
Anyway, Blaugrana Bull asked me yesterday on chat during a match why am I bashing all young players on every opportunity.
I replied that I don't hate all of our young players. For example, I do like Samper and Munir.
But I don't like/don't have too much faith in Deulo, Halilovic and Adama.
Because these 3 share the same flaws and same mistakes which I don't like.
1. Deulofeu:
-- extremely selfish
-- he makes wrong decisions in key moments (he dribbles sometimes when he needed to pass the ball etc. Or he dribbles past 2 opponents, and then, instead of passing the ball to a teammate, he continues with dribbles and he ruins everything good what he had done in that action)
-- he doesn't work enough in building up of actions (for example, I like more Pedro's type of attackers, they work much more even when we have the ball and when we don't have the ball). With Deulo, Halil and Adama, when they receive the pass, our action is more or less dead and finished. They will either dribble and score, or dribble and lose the ball eventually. So, too many times, for my taste, when they do receive the pass, our action is finished. On the other hand, when you give the ball to Pedro (or even Messi), they will maybe shoot, maybe dribble, maybe pass the ball back. The action doesn't have to end when they receive the pass
Anyway, I don't know if you remember, but Van Gaal was talking about that and he said that this is the reason why Riquelme failed at Barca.
Our style was always to have 50-100 passes in each action.
You receive a pass, and if you don't have better options, you pass the ball back to some of teammates.
But Riquelme couldn't play that style.
He was an Amc, but he had the same "flaw" as Deulo, Halil or Adama:
= when he received the pass, he was always looking for "a killer pass" or for a shot on Goal
-- sometimes a killer pass worked, but more often he was just ruining most of our actions with his "rushed decisions".
In that sense, I don't like these 3 guys. The way how they currently pay, is not suited for Barca's style.
Not to mention that older defenders will figure out their tricks after 3 matches.
Let's go further:
2. Halilovic:
-- selfish
-- the same as Deulo, when you give him the ball, action "ends" too often after that
-- he doesn't participate too much in build up play (even though he has much improved in this area, he was much worse one year ago)
-- also, he has/had somewhat wrong attitude in the past
3. Adam:
-- very, very selfish
-- the same story, when he gets the ball, it is either a shot on goal, or lost ball. Our action is dead when he gets the ball (people will now say how he has a lot of assists, but you do get a point what I want to say). He played the same way yesterday.
-- also, he doesn't participate that much in build up (like Pedro or Messi). He just stands and waits for the ball.
On the other hand, Samper is much "smarter" player.
Munir, imo, also. He works much more off the ball. And even though Munir is not technically as gifted as these 3 guys, he works much more, and somehow "fits" into our system much better.
That's it.
I don't "hate" all players. It is just that these 3 guys share some similar serious flaws, and I have huge doubts whether they can fix those flaws that easily.
Because those are not minor flaws. They are just that "kind" of players (like Riquelme). Also, they remind me always on Quaresma while he was young.
Extremely talented, but with similar huge flaws, and he never turned into as good player as he could have been.
Quaresma, some Barca clips:
I remember some coaches saying about him:
-- when he has the ball, and when he does a fancy dribble and cross, you have a feeling that he is the best player in the world
-- but in other 89 minutes, he just don't do anything for the team
-- plus, too often instead of looking for a simple solution or simple pass, he continues with dribbles, or gets into worse position than in the first place and then he lose the ball
(Very similar to Deulofeu, for example. And with Halilovic and Adama in some points)
Queresma never managed to "fix" those problems.
He is 32 today, and still play equally as "dumb" with horrible decisions in some moments as when he was 18 or 20.
He is that kind of a player, and coaches couldn't fix that.
This is why I don't have too much faith in Deulo, Halil and Adama either.
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Alen vs Elche comp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNFrqbihyIE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNFrqbihyIE
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
Riquelme was 23 when he joined Barca ,that is totally different story than players 21 and younger .at that age you starting to enter your prime not just a prospect
I think we have played many direct ball b4 Pep,I actually remember your post about how we played more direct football,but Riquelme was a pure playmaker ,he didn't help the defense or has done anything else .there is a reason that no big club tried to get him
I am not sure you get my point,I am not saying that those weakness will just disappear suddenly ,but I think players mentality and hardworking is the one who make the player overcome this weakness
Robben was extremely selfish,ditched twice by Chelsea and RM but the guy kept working and he is playing his best football at the age of 20.Cr7 was selfish too and he worked things out ,same with Messi who wasn't 1% of the playmaker he is right now when he was 21
I think players motor/motivation to work is underrated aspect in football .being a gem rat with more dedication to succeed makes the world of difference ,that is the difference between becoming Balotelli and Drogba .this is something that fans don't know about ,if you aren't working to correct your flaws it won't fix itself
I think we have played many direct ball b4 Pep,I actually remember your post about how we played more direct football,but Riquelme was a pure playmaker ,he didn't help the defense or has done anything else .there is a reason that no big club tried to get him
I am not sure you get my point,I am not saying that those weakness will just disappear suddenly ,but I think players mentality and hardworking is the one who make the player overcome this weakness
Robben was extremely selfish,ditched twice by Chelsea and RM but the guy kept working and he is playing his best football at the age of 20.Cr7 was selfish too and he worked things out ,same with Messi who wasn't 1% of the playmaker he is right now when he was 21
I think players motor/motivation to work is underrated aspect in football .being a gem rat with more dedication to succeed makes the world of difference ,that is the difference between becoming Balotelli and Drogba .this is something that fans don't know about ,if you aren't working to correct your flaws it won't fix itself
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