Daniel Alves

[instinct]

If he can handle to sit often on the bench and fight for his place I would prefer him to stay if not he can go. He cant play 90 min without making any big mistakes he is too inconsistent not the guy anymore he was. One thing to keep on mind if montoya is the replacement than good luck because montoya is worse even dani alves in his current shape is way better and i am not getting the feeling that montoya has it to make it here.

I don't think that we should keep Alves as a benchwarmer. I don't know his exact salary but I believe that he is on massive wages and we shouldn't pay someone who often sits on the bench like 7m per year. It's even more ridiculous with Song.

Furthermore, I disagree with you in your thesis that Montoya is nowhere near Alves. IMO Montoya should be starting ahead of Dani in every match. He impressed me in the few minutes he played this season, e.g the match against Granada where he was one of the best players on the pitch. What I like about him is his timing. He is always available for a through-ball and he prefers low-crosses over high crosses, which is a huge benefit for our current squad.
Montoya is not worse than Carvajal, I think he is even better and Real took the risk to give Carvajal the starting spot (Ok, Arbeshit got injured but nvm) and in the last games he was really really good and he develops really well under Ancelotti.
Montoya just extended his contract and only got 90 minutes where he impressed me. Lucho should give him many more minutes, I think that Montoya is able to success Alves, maybe not next year but for sure in 2-3 years.

 

[Alarcón]

I knew serghei would bring up the City game. Yes, what he provided in that game offensively was massive, but not in 1 single game this season was he able to reproduce that kind of performance. 1 or 2 excellent games a season are not enough to justify a starting place in this team.

 

[serghei]

I knew serghei would bring up the City game. Yes, what he provided in that game offensively was massive, but not in 1 single game this season was he able to reproduce that kind of performance. 1 or 2 excellent games a season are not enough to justify a starting place in this team.

Games. Plural. And RM at home were he pretty much embarassed Ronaldo. And Atletico away (0-1), with 3 perfect crosses -- 75% of our actions in that game came after one of his crosses. We played 6 extremely important games this season. Dani was one of our best men in 4 of this 6 games. And I bet if we play against Atletico Madrid with the title in stake, he will deliver again. He is a big-game player. Except for the Copa del Rey final, where he made that big mistake which led to the 1-0 goal -- which a capable GK could have easily saved -- he has been excellent, or at least good.

 

[instinct]

It's not enough to be a ''big game player'' He made 2 fatal errors in the CdR final. He was shit defensively in the away match against Real. You cannot use a few examples to justify his numerous errors throughout the season. He was good in some matches, yes but it's not worth anything if he plays like shit vs smaller teams.

 

[serghei]

It's not enough to be a ''big game player'' He made 2 fatal errors in the CdR final. He was shit defensively in the away match against Real. You cannot use a few examples to justify his numerous errors throughout the season. He was good in some matches, yes but it's not worth anything if he plays like shit vs smaller teams.

You mean the game in which Neymar did no defensive work whatsoever and the game in which Mascherano, the central defender near his side was the worst blaugrana? No shit he was exposed. have Di Maria + Ronaldo against you and see what happens.

"but it's not worth anything if he plays like shit vs smaller teams" -- by that logic we should sell 75% of the team. He was bad when the entire team was bad. Valladolid and Valencia at home are the only 2 losses with Alves the starting RB in the league. The whole team was bad in those games, from Pique, to Alves, to even Messi.

Barcelona this season was poor in a lot of games against low-level teams in La Liga. And yet, people blame this only on Alves, when, in fact, we were the same (or even poorer) with Montoya instead of him.

 

[anguy]

Yeah, I don't get where this Montoya love comes from. The guy had like one good game, but was often pretty horrible, when he got he chance. The attack suffered and defense wasn't better than with Alves, when he was on. Montoya is more disciplined, but that's only because he doesn't have Dani's skills, he's unable to contribute much to the attack, so he stays back. Good wingers like Ronaldo would destroy him and if Barca plays with him as starter next season, it would be significant downgrade.

 

[serghei]

Yeah, I don't get where this Montoya love comes from. The guy had like one good game, but was often pretty horrible, when he got he chance. The attack suffered and defense wasn't better than with Alves, when he was on. Montoya is more disciplined, but that's only because he doesn't have Dani's skills, he's unable to contribute much to the attack, so he stays back. Good wingers like Ronaldo would destroy him and if Barca plays with him as starter next season, it would be significant downgrade.

I don't either. I mean, he's a pretty decent RB, who would be a starter for an EL team, like Sevilla or Valencia, but he isn't Alves.

Barcelona with Alves on --> 25 games, 22 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses --> Winning percentage: 84%
Barcelona with Alves off (Montoya on) --> 13 games, 8 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses --> Winning percentage: 61%

 

[DonAK]

Serghei got a massive mancrush on Dani Alves lol

 

[serghei]

Serghei got a massive mancrush on Dani Alves lol

Hmm, no, I don't. I've also criticized him in the past. But the amount of hate he gets on here is unbelievable. If I'm supposed to join the brigade of slamming Alves for no good reason, I'm sorry to dissapoint. I like Dani Alves.

 

[DonAK]

Hmm, no, I don't. I've also criticized him in the past. But the amount of hate he gets on here is unbelievable. If I'm supposed to join the brigade of slamming Alves for no good reason, I'm sorry to dissapoint. I like Dani Alves.

I don't think anyone hates him, it's just that he just doesn't work anymore. He leaves too much to be desired. He has had two average/mediocre seasons now and with his contract running out next year, it won't be a bad idea to sell him unless we get a complete bum as his replacement.

I can use the same logic and say the same about you to be honest. You hate Montoya, not everyone wants to jump on the same brigade as you.

As for the stats you posted above, it's as good as travelling on a donkey cart to work. Doesn't prove anything.

 

[serghei]

I don't think anyone hates him, it's just that he just doesn't work anymore. He leaves too much to be desired. He has had two average/mediocre seasons now and with his contract running out next year, it won't be a bad idea to sell him unless we get a complete bum as his replacement.

I can use the same logic and say the same about you to be honest. You hate Montoya, not everyone wants to jump on the same brigade as you.

As for the stats you posted above, it's as good as travelling on a donkey cart to work. Doesn't prove anything.

I don't hate Montoya. I've said he's a decent RB -- I give him that. I don't have a problem with him playing some games for Barcelona, but not as our starting RB. Alves is better than Montoya, and the stats prove it. Who says that Montoya > Alves doesn't have one single fact backing this claim, not goals, not assists, not crosses -- as a matter of fact, fcbarcelona.com has Alves with more than 6 good crosses executed per game (246 crosses in the area in 38 games) average, not anything.

If I hated Montoya I would have said he is worthless. I didn't say that. All I said is that he is decent, nothing more nothing less. And I don't see how anyone could contradict me on that. Montoya is a decent RB who could play some lesser games as a starting RB. And could potentially become better with time -- that's why we extended his contract in the first place (if he was 28 or smth he would've been long gone by now).

The thing is some hate Alves so much that they want him gone at the expense of weakening the team. That's my take on this subject.

"As for the stats you posted above, it's as good as travelling on a donkey cart to work. Doesn't prove anything". False. Those facts prove that we won a lot more games with Alves on this season, than with him off. Mathematics don't lie.

 

[1207]

Mathematics don't lie.

so Montoya is personal responsible when the team loses? i think that's bullshit

I'd keep Montoya and use him as a defensive RB. Let cuadrado be the offensive RB and then we'll see who'll be the best.
Montaoya is talented and should get a fair chance. Every 2 months 45 minutes isn't enough

 

[serghei]

so Montoya is personal responsible when the team loses? i think that's bullshit

I'd keep Montoya and use him as a defensive RB. Let cuadrado be the offensive RB and then we'll see who'll be the best.
Montaoya is talented and should get a fair chance. Every 2 months 45 minutes isn't enough

Well, I think it's a fact that his offensive contribution is weaker than Alves'. And I also think his defensive abilities are overrated on here. Alves is the starter, Montoya is the back up in this team. When Alves is on, we are more dangerous up front. Those are facts verified by numbers and statistics. If we deny the importance of statistics and other types of data, then we are all talking in vane.

 

[Alarcón]

Those facts prove that we won a lot more games with Alves on this season, than with him off. Mathematics don't lie.

But they don't prove that we won because of him. Montoya was often played in the wrong games, for example away to Sociedad together with the likes of Song who scored an own goal in that very game. It's the same as saying we're better without Messi because we won more games before he came back. If you can't interpret the stats correctly, they're worth nothing. And, again, arguing solely with statistics is just stupid. One thing they don't cover is positional play which is of utmost importance in any modern team and unfortunately Alves is out of position so many times it's not even funny anymore. Which statistics reveal that our central defender on the right is left alone most of the time because Dani doesn't even care to track back anymore, even in the last minute of the game? Which statistics show how many countless times Dani has initiated an opposing counter attack by losing the ball or making a bad pass? Exactly: none. That's why you have to actually see the games instead of merely looking at statistics.

Still, as you seem so obsessed with them, here are some facts for you: Montoya betters Dani in practically every aspect in defense and still has more assists than him despite having completed not even half the minutes that Dani has this season.

 

[serghei]

Still, as you seem so obsessed with them, here are some facts for you: Montoya betters Dani in practically every aspect in defense and still has more assists than him despite having completed not even half the minutes that Dani has this season.

I'm getting soooo tired of this man... OK. Montoya is a lot better than Alves. I'm looking forward to see him at the World Cup, playing for Spain. Oh, wait, he hasn't been selected. I wonder why...