Give him a run of 10-15 games in the Starting XI to see what he's made off. If he plays like shit ship him off, if not great, he can stay.
A random question: what if we lose a tonshit of points during that time, and get into a lose-lose situation:
1. we will lose our advantage in La liga
2. Denis will end as average squad player as always
So, we lost La liga and a player didn't turn into anything.
If that happen, guess what, fans like you will then have ideas: oh, now let's do the same with Samper, xx, yy, zz etc.
We can't have tests in every single season and lose titles after titles to get 1 decent after 5 years, and even then you'll ruin even that player with new tests in every single seasom.
This is why young players are getting 10-20 minutes, cup matches, preseason friendlies and similar.
I could understand a risk with playing Alena RIGHT NOW for 10-15 matches (even though, we are not in a desperate situation that there aren't any other options).
Alena has a high potential and he is showing a lot of leadership abilities in a lot of areas.
So, there are some pros for those who want throw him in a fire right now (I wouldn't though).
On the other hand, risking our whole season for testing a player of Denis's quality and potential is beyond crazy and totally suicidal.
A club and club's results and longterm future is always more important than any single player (even if his name is Messi).
Now, add Denis into the maths:
1. on one hand: a whole club and 20 player's, their effort, their attempt to win a title, their attempt to play all the time etc
2. a single player, Denis, who is among 3-4 least used players both under Lucho and Valverde
Hmm, no need to call Sherlock for the answer then.
Guys like him, 100s of players before him and 100s of similar players after him will be getting 10-20-45 minutes and copa matches here and there. Plus, a coach sees him everyday in training (never forget that part).
If he would have been such a gem on trainings (crazy skills, crazy vision, a gem of a player), someone (outside of fans on Barca's forum) would have already spotted it.
Edu Polo wrote that MD article so there's probably truth to it.
Denis is such a huge unknown to me, he will have some games where he looks pretty good and some games he doesn't look great and not what we need. Given that his age has a lot to do with it but something doesn't feel right when it comes to Denis behind the scenes though.
There were strong rumors Gomes was going to be shipped out this summer and apparently failed to impress Valverde during training and was put off to the side like Arda earlier on this season and Denis having a better role. however as the season goes on Gomes became more prominent while Denis role started to evaporate.
This isn't the first time this has happened however it was like last season where Gomes was a prominent player while Denis was in and out and at some point Lucho lost some trust in him. makes me wonder is Denis not doing well in training?
I'm not buying that dumb theory we are doing this because of Mendes. Something obviously is happening behind the scenes that makes it look like Denis might not be good enough in training sessions the way Valverde would want and perhaps Gomes is doing what Valverde wants.
I was writing about that.
I don't think that his problem is professionalism or a bad behavior.
On trainings, you can see player's skills way better than during 20 minutes where he touches the ball 3-4 times.
Valverde sees him every day in everything. First touch, passes, crosses, finishing, vision, 1 vs 1 attacking and defensive duels, his mental strength, bravery, movement.
Again, between crazy-conspiracy theories why a player is at the bottom of a pecking order under 2 coaches in a row, I will always pick an answer: coaches who see him every day for a few hours and who have seen 1000s of hours of Denis, Denis with the ball, Denis without the ball and Denis in all kind of onfield situations, probably just decided: meh, he has some skills, but overall just not up to Barca's standards.
