JamDav1982
Senior Member
He is left footed and a former left winger, nothing to say he can play right back.
Martin Montoya
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
He is left footed and a former left winger, nothing to say he can play right back.
e28makaveli
New member
Montaya is not Barca starting material. The quality is not there.
F
Frejsgodes
Guest
Damia 2.0
abual3bed1
New member
Too harsh. Not fair either.
darthvader7888
Banned
Yeah, he was awesome in that game. Imagine if he'd scored that shot that hit the crossbar.
Such a shame that as you said, it's looking unlikely that he'll show that level again.
ebieymjunior
Senior Member
Disagree, if you can show that level of play multiple times when you're young (which he did), it's just a matter of hard work and motivation to reach that level again (or higher). And more so for defenders.
JamDav1982
Senior Member
He never owned Ronaldo in that game at all, people over reacted because he was a young player that came in and did quite well.
It happens all the time.
ebieymjunior
Senior Member
Whether of not he "owned" Ronaldo is arguable (and I didn't watch enough of that game to give an opinion), but no one can deny that when used last year, he was really, really good, and that this year he's had a "drop of form", which could be caused by a number of factors, such as:
1. Thiago leaving because he felt he wasn't important enough to the club, and Montoya feeling the same and feeling like leaving and consequently not motivated to do his best
2. He's being forced to play in a way that doesn't suit him, i.e. more like Alves - attacking, instead of more like Abidal - defending, which suits him much better.
Selling Abidal didn't quite help as he had no-one to look to except for Alves (who doesn't play defensively - at least not much) - luckily Bartra has Puyol for that.
3. After 2 years, he's still not given the chance to play the regularly minutes fullback require to build their fitness - let Alves not play a while and then see how good he plays. You'll notice he always needs a few games to regain match fitness, which all fullbacks need.
Concerning attack: most "modern" fullbacks (Alves) like running up the pitch and providing the crosses, a few others (Abidal, Montoya, in some extent Adriano) prefer linking up with attackers and shoot themselves.
Not saying that he's an already established RB, but he can still be a world class Abidal-like fullback. You don't have to agree with me, but don't be surprised if Montoya-Alba becomes the new (inverted) Alves-Abidal.
Ghost
New member
No we didn't.
Sumlit
San Claudio Bravo
WADR, this is really grasping at straws.
He is a professional football player playing for the best football club in the world. If that is not motivation enough for him to go out and perform his very best, then he should consider a change of profession. Thiago leaving should have absolutely ZERO to do with Montoya. He is not a child, he is a grown man.
Montoya is not being forced to play like Alves. He is however being required to play like a fullback should play for FC Barcelona. If he cannot deliver the same offensive game as Alves, then he better play some lock down defense instead. So far, Montoya's defense has been entirely underwhelming. If he can neither deliver world class offense, nor world class defense, then he simply is not FC Barcelona material.
Montoya has been given plenty of chances. More than this, he has to earn. He is on pace to play more games and more minutes than last season. The rest cannot be just given to him, but he has to earn it with his own merit. To sit Alves, who is still better even at this point, just so that Montoya can gain fitness, is a huge detriment to the team and frankly, not the way a world class team should operates. Montoya has to earn his place over Alves, or anyone else for that matter.
I don't know where you're getting Montoya has the talent or the defensive skills to be like Abidal. He has shown absolutely nothing to merit that comparison.
He is a professional football player playing for the best football club in the world. If that is not motivation enough for him to go out and perform his very best, then he should consider a change of profession. Thiago leaving should have absolutely ZERO to do with Montoya. He is not a child, he is a grown man.
Montoya is not being forced to play like Alves. He is however being required to play like a fullback should play for FC Barcelona. If he cannot deliver the same offensive game as Alves, then he better play some lock down defense instead. So far, Montoya's defense has been entirely underwhelming. If he can neither deliver world class offense, nor world class defense, then he simply is not FC Barcelona material.
Montoya has been given plenty of chances. More than this, he has to earn. He is on pace to play more games and more minutes than last season. The rest cannot be just given to him, but he has to earn it with his own merit. To sit Alves, who is still better even at this point, just so that Montoya can gain fitness, is a huge detriment to the team and frankly, not the way a world class team should operates. Montoya has to earn his place over Alves, or anyone else for that matter.
I don't know where you're getting Montoya has the talent or the defensive skills to be like Abidal. He has shown absolutely nothing to merit that comparison.
JamDav1982
Senior Member
Abidal could play the way he did and cover for Alves going forward as he was as comfortable at left back as at centre back. That is what he brought to the team - the ability to more or less cover two positions - LB/CB.
Montoya is nothing like that and wont get by on just being a defensively sound full back with nothing else to show going forward or helping cover the CBs.
The Barcelona full backs will almost always be covering two positions - winger/full back or centre back/full back.
Montoya has not shown yet he can do that.
ebieymjunior
Senior Member
Your points are fair, not going to argue with you. I think you got me wrong, or I didn't express myself correctly.
First of all, I didn't say those we're the reasons he's been playing "worse" this season, cause honestly I don't see why people say so, except for his bad crosses.
1. Again, not saying this is the reason, but it might be playing a factor in motivation (not only for Montoya, but other La Masia players as well) if the first team coach doesn't trust young players (I experienced it first hand), you can't expect them to give it their all for so long and still not getting their chances.
However he's played a lot this year, and I think he's shown, along with Bartra, that he's one of the best defenders Barca will have. Whether you'd want to admit that is another matter.
2. A fullback is a fullback, and his first priority is to defend, which Montoya does really well (deny however you want), and I bet you if you play him in CB everyone will be amazed (I hope Tata tries it out in friendlies - Puyol was a RB when he was younger, and they tend to do well when converted to CB). Going forward is also not one of Montoya's weaknesses (cause every La Masia defender should be able to do so) and he's assisted a number of goals this year because of that. I do however believe he should be working on his crosses, but that's just training.
There is a sense of "Barca fullbacks must always go forward" nowadays, but that's exactly the reason why the defense has been suffering. I'd say play Alves and Adriano (who's defending sometimes can be suspicious like one of the goals scored by Real Sociedad Saturday) or Montoya and Alba, and let one go forward and the other remain at defense (I think it's clear that Barca, under Pep, mostly played 3-4-3, with a fullback acting as a CB and the other going forward, nowadays it's more of a 2-5-3 at times, and that leaves the defense open).
3. Yes, chances given, but if he plays well let him continue, which was not the case. And I agree you have to earn your position, but frankly even Bartra earned it over the likes of Pique and Mascherano, but even then he wasn't playing as much as he "deserved" to. Alves played badly for some time this year (again, you'll probably deny this to forward your case), and he still got to play or worse, Adriano (who is a far worse defender - not offensive help - than Montoya) played in RB, while he's mainly the LB cover.
I remember a match when Tata was shouting because of Montoya's cross, but he was playing really sound defensively. Why not tell him to stay back and let the other fullback go forward or let him go through the middle. I bet you if Montoya and Alba play together, which doesn't happen enough, Barca'd be good on defense and offense.
Finally, playing regulars in and out, even if they under-perform in several matches (that's been the case for most defenders, and more so for Pique), leads to complacency (you say they should earn it, but that goes for the regulars as well). It also leads to injuries and ultimately to the downfall of the team. Again, Pique is a very good example. Pique was playing very bad last year and people wanted him out. I said then, that he just needs competition and rest, and some on here laughed at the idea. Come this year and Bartra performs well and guess what? Pique does well too! Coincidence? I'd say no. Let there be a fair competition between them and keep everything fresh. Martino's rotations were really good at the end of last year, but for some reason, it's been lacking lately, while defensive rotation has not been good to begin with.
When you don't trust young players, you create a gap between the older and younger players and that turns against you the next few years. You tend to forget that the players (from the least to the greatest) is what makes the club, whether you're Barcelona or a third devision team. No need to be all "this is Barcelona, we deserve better youth" cause then there's no evolution. Players can only play so much years before ageing, look at Puyol, who everyone wishes could play forever. And even the established players started out shaky (even Xavi and Iniesta, who people didn't really notice until they were older). Barcelona is the best because they teach and motivate really talented players to be the best, not because they are already the best when they start out. That's why I like Puyol's attitude, cause at least he's willing to teach Bartra some things, and that's why Pep, who had the guts to trust young players and punish complacent ones is the best coach Barcelona has ever had. And that's why Eusebio should be replaced as fast as possible.
Sorry for the long post. You most likely won't agree with me on most points (if not all), but that's just my 2 cents.
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CatalinR10
Senior Member
Barca needs world class players as first starters. I don't care if he showed that he had potential in some game long time ago. We need players who deliver constantly. As a second option I don't mind in the team but as a starter , he has no chance. I admire his speed and strenght but he doesn't have great technique or good decision making.
Semi-Neutral
Sir Alupp Heynrguson
You act like those are things set at a permanent level that can't be developed. Both of them, decision making especially, become better with experience and don't have anything to do with fitness or ability.
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