Álex Valle (loaned to Celtic)

[Ter Stature]

Yeah was a poor quality game, though to be fair Rangers put together a few nice moves. Raskin, Hagi and Cerny played well, But yes, our professional football is very poor.

Valle is wasted here though and didn't even start today (and Greg Taylor who played LB is an awful player) It's all 100mph here and if he has technical ability it wqon't be shown much. But it will make him physically stronger I think,

The commentator was talking about how Celtic had only conceded four goals all season. Not even trying to be mean mate, but the level must be super low when those defenders and midfielders are all little Chiellinis.

No idea why Flick loaned him out, way better than Martin on the ball and off.
Was good in the test games too.

 

[ZenI]

The commentator was talking about how Celtic had only conceded four goals all season. Not even trying to be mean mate, but the level must be super low when those defenders and midfielders are all little Chiellinis.

No idea why Flick loaned him out, way better than Martin on the ball and off.
Was good in the test games too.

Because Flick has some kind of cognitive disorder.

 

[Maradona37]

The commentator was talking about how Celtic had only conceded four goals all season. Not even trying to be mean mate, but the level must be super low when those defenders and midfielders are all little Chiellinis.

No idea why Flick loaned him out, way better than Martin on the ball and off.
Was good in the test games too.

don't worry about it mate - I don't even have much interest in Scottish football or the national team, though it would be nice if we were better. I lost interest in Rangers years ago due to all the bigoted nonsense between them and Celtic fans. Even when winning 3-0 today an idiot fan threw a coin at a Celtic player.

I understand what you mean though - the level is very low and Celtic are essentially flat track bullies who beat up on extremely poor Scottish teams then fail in Europe.

I am sure Valle will be back at Barca soon - Scottish football isn't really for him, he's better than that.

 

[Maradona37]

Blame Rodger’s, foolish game plan- they couldn’t play out of the back and allowed Johnston & CCV to turn the ball over

Valle came on late (0-1) but inability to develop any possession or attacking threat left them vulnerable on counter

Aye Rangers were pressing them at every opportunity. Hatate also gave the ball away so much which he usually doesn't do against the cannon fodder of the league.

Like you say this has nothing to do with Valle - the game was over really before he came on as Celtic were doing nothing. Cerny destroyed Taylor really on that side.

 

[Porque]

Scottish football is turd but if Valle ain't making it there then it says more about him than the league.

Plenty of technical players make it and especially if they have the advantages of being in an Old Firm side.

 

[Maradona37]

Plenty of technical players make it and especially if they have the advantages of being in an Old Firm side.

True, the league has seen players like Van Dijk, Frimpong and a few others play there in the last 10 years and subsquently step up to a much higher level. Tierney did well at Arsenal for a while too. And Wanyama at Spurs.

 

[FCBarca]

Aye Rangers were pressing them at every opportunity. Hatate also gave the ball away so much which he usually doesn't do against the cannon fodder of the league.

Like you say this has nothing to do with Valle - the game was over really before he came on as Celtic were doing nothing. Cerny destroyed Taylor really on that side.

CCV the biggest culprit, bizarre starting XI to not even consider Valle when he’s their best possession 2-way player much less defender. Ironic he’s been linked to Leverkusen as a Tah replacement but I can’t see it, the Yank can’t pass

And for an hour, no change from Rodgers - inexplicable

But agree, Scottish league is very lopsided - I understand the references from the past when belittling a league for lack of competition, most of Celtic’s opponents of late barely played football

 

[Maradona37]

CCV the biggest culprit, bizarre starting XI to not even consider Valle when he’s their best possession 2-way player much less defender. Ironic he’s been linked to Leverkusen as a Tah replacement but I can’t see it, the Yank can’t pass

And for an hour, no change from Rodgers - inexplicable

But agree, Scottish league is very lopsided - I understand the references from the past when belittling a league for lack of competition, most of Celtic’s opponents of late barely played football

CCV is quite average on the ball I think. He's more of a big brute battering ram, an old-school defender. Some may disagree but that is how I think of him - good defensively but a problem on the ball. Teams seem to target him for the press in Europe as well.

Yeah I thought it was strange Taylor was starting and not Valle too. Tbh I don't rate Rodgers as a coach anyway. I guess he went back to the old safe, dull 'tried and trusted British player' trope.

Yeah, the SPFL is a very poor league. Rangers are meant to be the second best team in it and they're poor. Whenever a team starts the season well they cannot sustain it and fall away (Hearts a few years ago, Aberdeen this season). Unfortunately Celtic have a stranglehold over the league. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy because they make CL money every season and it pulls them even further away. The money they have is peanuts for a big club in an elite league, but in Scottish football it is an absolute fortune and gives them a massive competitive advantage.

We get a tiny fraction from Sky and in TV money in general of what the Premier League gets. It's always gonna be a massive problem for Scottish football. It won't change, will just get worse. But I always find it funny to see Celtic brag about doing well in Scottish football because they're essentially a massive fish in a minsucule pond. If anything their hamstringing their domestic competition is why they cannot become a better team and improve in Europe.

Scottish football - and Celtic themselves - is caught in this loop. Same as a lot of smaller leagues around Europe as most fans only care about PL and La Liga and Serie A. Maybe Bundesliga at a push.

 

[khaled_a_d]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1875106067853795717

I wonder if Celtics would mind cutting the loan short

 

[FCBarca]

More a Taylor replacement

I don’t believe a recall is even possible even though I’d love it

 

[khaled_a_d]

A recall has to be mutually agreed. I see now that Taylor has an expiring contract, but if he isn't sold then Valle will be 3rd LB until the end of the season.
This is why I think there might be a chance to cut the loan if such scenario happens.

 

[Porque]

The thing with Valle is he would be great in possession but has a good chance that he would be exposed worse than Gerard Martin defensively.

I don't think he solves any of our problems under Flick.

Get him into a LaLiga loan next season. It's not easy being a Barca fullback. OK fullbacks like Bellerin who is LaLiga standard were absolute tosh here.

 

[FCBarca]

The thing with Valle is he would be great in possession but has a good chance that he would be exposed worse than Gerard Martin defensively.

I don't think he solves any of our problems under Flick.

Get him into a LaLiga loan next season. It's not easy being a Barca fullback. OK fullbacks like Bellerin who is LaLiga standard were absolute tosh here.

All true except for comparisons to Martin but unclear whether he would be a liability in defense at Barca yet or not - his only competitive audition under Flick was at RB where he played well but not his natural position

I don’t think the Bellerin comparison is a good parallel though since Hector was never known for being a defender and by the time he arrived at the senior team he lost his pace which was his greatest characteristic

I like Alex because his passing is very incisive and is the prototypical Barca FB overlapping the winger or as an inverted FB coming centrally to flood the midfield and maintain possession yet integral in attack

Defensively, even at Celtic, you don’t see much of it since Celtic steamroll most of their opponents and play in the other half majority of time

 

[khaled_a_d]

The thing with Valle is he would be great in possession but has a good chance that he would be exposed worse than Gerard Martin defensively.

I don't think he solves any of our problems under Flick.

Get him into a LaLiga loan next season. It's not easy being a Barca fullback. OK fullbacks like Bellerin who is LaLiga standard were absolute tosh here.

I am not fan of the lad and I think fans are having their usual La Masia sentiment toward him. I absolutely want a new LB signed next summer.

But Martin is just meh. I am ready to take a chance on Valle at this point.

All hypothetical though

 

[FCBarca]

Still a mystery to me why Alex never played at LB in pre-season