Martin Montoya

[KingMessi]

No. Why would it. If Montoya's screamer against Real Madrid hadnt hit the woodwork, Dani Alves would have been out by now.

Ah, so my guess was correct. Yeah, if he'd have scored that screamer, he'd be considered a prodigy and Alves would have been gone by now.

 

[Ursegor]

My main problem with him is that he's like Alba and that will never change. A classic tread of the mill fullback. Run up and down -> overlap -> get low cross in -> done. Fullbacks like Alves or Marcelo are different. They are basically midfielders and have a lot more to their game. Taking on defenders, linking up, passing ... That's why I'm not completely opposed to the Cuadrado signing, depending who will be signed as CB and whether Mathieu will come to replace Alba. Probably not with Lim taking over Valencia but one can hope. That would allow to form a back 3 and give Cuadrado lots of attacking freedom, reminiscent of Abidal-Puyol-Pique with Alves bombing up and down the right wing.

Montoya can become good in his own right once he improves his final ball and decision making but I very much doubt he will ever become that special fullback who will dominate the right flank. He doesn't have that profile.

 

[KingMessi]

Why you would want to replace Alba is just baffling to me. Why sell our best fullback?

 

[Ursegor]

Why you would want to replace Alba is just baffling to me. Why sell our best fullback?

I don't want to sell him. I want to sell Adriano. Then rotate Mathieu and Alba. Mathieu in big games where more height, muscle and defensive skills are required. Alba in other games.

 

[ebieymjunior]

My main problem with him is that he's like Alba and that will never change. A classic tread of the mill fullback. Run up and down -> overlap -> get low cross in -> done. Fullbacks like Alves or Marcelo are different. They are basically midfielders and have a lot more to their game. Taking on defenders, linking up, passing ... That's why I'm not completely opposed to the Cuadrado signing, depending who will be signed as CB and whether Mathieu will come to replace Alba. Probably not with Lim taking over Valencia but one can hope. That would allow to form a back 3 and give Cuadrado lots of attacking freedom, reminiscent of Abidal-Puyol-Pique with Alves bombing up and down the right wing.

Montoya can become good in his own right once he improves his final ball and decision making but I very much doubt he will ever become that special fullback who will dominate the right flank. He doesn't have that profile.

See the current defensive setup as the inverted of Pep's one. Montoya (later also Godswill) as more defensive ones and form a 3 man line with the CBs and Alba (later also Grimaldo) as wing backs.

I have no doubt in my mind that Montoya is something special and can become a really important player in the team, having played at CB, RB and LB myself. I'll just let you behold that with your own eyes.

 

[KingMessi]

I don't want to sell him. I want to sell Adriano. Then rotate Mathieu and Alba. Mathieu in big games where more height, muscle and defensive skills are required. Alba in other games.

Ok. For a second there, I thought you wanted to sell Alba. By the way, I don't know if we should sell Adriano. Despite the fact that he's Glassiano, he can fill in at rw, lw, rm, lm, lb, rb, cb (god forbid), etc. He's incredibly versatile, and I'd only sell him if we can get another jack of all trades type player.

 

[DonAndres]

My main problem with him is that he's like Alba and that will never change. A classic tread of the mill fullback. Run up and down -> overlap -> get low cross in -> done. Fullbacks like Alves or Marcelo are different. They are basically midfielders and have a lot more to their game. Taking on defenders, linking up, passing ... That's why I'm not completely opposed to the Cuadrado signing, depending who will be signed as CB and whether Mathieu will come to replace Alba. Probably not with Lim taking over Valencia but one can hope. That would allow to form a back 3 and give Cuadrado lots of attacking freedom, reminiscent of Abidal-Puyol-Pique with Alves bombing up and down the right wing.

Montoya can become good in his own right once he improves his final ball and decision making but I very much doubt he will ever become that special fullback who will dominate the right flank. He doesn't have that profile.

Well Montoya will never be able to match a prime Alves in terms of individual ability. However, I don't see that as a big problem. Do we really need Ferraris for fullbacks or is that just a romanticism of having had Alves in his prime on our team? Martin is the better fit for a defensive system (a defense is always reliant on the cohesion of player roles rather than just star individuals).

I like the fact that if Montoya/Alba became a pair, they'd be amazingly balanced supporting players. Both have a positive presence in defense (the latter moreso, with surprisingly great aerial ability as well) and both are great at linking up and supporting in attack when needed. Sure they don't have the wow-factor of an Alves/Marcelo type player but we don't need that much anyway.

Having solid, dependable, mobile fullbacks paves the way for focusing on more dynamic wingers as well (ala Neyboy and if he develops, Deulofeu/Adama). Back in 10/11 (Alves' best season for assists in La Liga) our attackers were a supporting player Pedro and a mobile forward in Villa. Neither of them were ball carriers or dribblers who were able to contribute much dynamic play to the game, therefore allowing Alves to take on that role and be a major outlet for us.

If we were to have dynamic wingers now, it'd be much better to have supporting fullbacks on either side of them to facilitate their jobs and add extra dimension rather than having an Alves who wants to be the main-man on the flank. We'd be balanced on both sides of the defense and able to attack from both in a flexible way. Having a team that's flexible and balanced all over is easier and better for us to achieve success with than try to replicate what we had in our Golden Era.

 

[ebieymjunior]

Ok. For a second there, I thought you wanted to sell Alba. By the way, I don't know if we should sell Adriano. Despite the fact that he's Glassiano, he can fill in at rw, lw, rm, lm, lb, rb, cb (god forbid), etc. He's incredibly versatile, and I'd only sell him if we can get another jack of all trades type player.

I agree, it's really vital to have someone like him/Keita/Abidal.
We should definitely keep him for another season, and promote Ié next year. He can play at fullback (it think both), CB and DM as well.

 

[serghei]

My main problem with him is that he's like Alba and that will never change. A classic tread of the mill fullback. Run up and down -> overlap -> get low cross in -> done. Fullbacks like Alves or Marcelo are different. They are basically midfielders and have a lot more to their game. Taking on defenders, linking up, passing ... That's why I'm not completely opposed to the Cuadrado signing, depending who will be signed as CB and whether Mathieu will come to replace Alba. Probably not with Lim taking over Valencia but one can hope. That would allow to form a back 3 and give Cuadrado lots of attacking freedom, reminiscent of Abidal-Puyol-Pique with Alves bombing up and down the right wing.

Montoya can become good in his own right once he improves his final ball and decision making but I very much doubt he will ever become that special fullback who will dominate the right flank. He doesn't have that profile.

I agree with this 90%. Montoya is similar to Alba, only weaker. And Alba can not be our offensive fullback, he just exploits spaces, he doesn't create them like Alves does. Alba and Cuadrado could work, if we keep Alexis or bring in a RW that tracks back and a world class CB that can cover the right side whenever Cuadrado is caught up front.

That being said, I would never sell Alba and Mathieu can be a good backup, but not a starter for me.

I'd rather have a 3-4-3 on the attack with Pique, Benatia and Marquinhos/Bartra. Mathieu would be 31 soon and will take one year to adapt. And he can be slow.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

Alba is Spain's attacking fullback though, and he does it pretty well. Not to mention linking-up takes some time to develop, Montoya will make progress in that area especially under Lucho, sure he might not ever reach Dani's ability but he's a pretty good RB, and with how few of them are out on the market these days...

 

[serghei]

Alba is Spain's attacking fullback though, and he does it pretty well. Not to mention linking-up takes some time to develop, Montoya will make progress in that area especially under Lucho, sure he might not ever reach Dani's ability but he's a pretty good RB, and with how few of them are out on the market these days...

IMO, his offensive contribution with Spain NT is blown out of proportions. He has actions, sure, but he doesn't stay up front to participate on the build up play. He still does those up and down runs, which are the mark of a balanced RB who takes up and exploits space only when he has the opportunity to do that. Alves and Marcelo are different, they have the flair and skill to create space through their own actions. They are creative players, whereas fullbacks like Jordi Alba are more speculative.

 

[serghei]

@DonAndres, the are balanced supporting players, true. But we still face parked buses in 95% of the time we play. We rarely need conservative players, because we are not a conservative team, but rather one that attacks with all forces. What is the point of having balanced fullbacks, when most of our games are very unbalanced, with us having 80% of the ball and the opponent having like three shots the whole game.

So, Alba - Montoya does no look like a good pair to go and unlock teams with -- which, make no mistake, is what we'll have to do in the vast majority of the games we'll play next season. I'd rather buy a RB that can participate in the build up play, trying to provide the extra firepower that sometimes makes the difference.

 

[Cule4life]

@DonAndres, the are balanced supporting players, true. But we still face parked buses in 95% of the time we play. We rarely need conservative players, because we are not a conservative team, but rather one that attacks with all forces. What is the point of having balanced fullbacks, when most of our games are very unbalanced, with us having 80% of the ball and the opponent having like three shots the whole game.

So, Alba - Montoya does no look like a good pair to go and unlock teams with -- which, make no mistake, is what we'll have to do in the vast majority of the games we'll play next season. I'd rather buy a RB that can participate in the build up play, trying to provide the extra firepower that sometimes makes the difference.

Are you saying this just to gloss over the fact that Pique has to defend for Alves all the time? Even if we get Thiago Silva its hard to be in two places at once when your FB is in the oppositions penalty box....

Fanboyism to a whole new level...

 

[Irish_Cules]

@DonAndres, the are balanced supporting players, true. But we still face parked buses in 95% of the time we play. We rarely need conservative players, because we are not a conservative team, but rather one that attacks with all forces. What is the point of having balanced fullbacks, when most of our games are very unbalanced, with us having 80% of the ball and the opponent having like three shots the whole game.

So, Alba - Montoya does no look like a good pair to go and unlock teams with -- which, make no mistake, is what we'll have to do in the vast majority of the games we'll play next season. I'd rather buy a RB that can participate in the build up play, trying to provide the extra firepower that sometimes makes the difference.

When Pep's team was at its best it had Abidal at left back who was much more limited that Montoya is in attack. That extra firepower is pointless if we concede every game.

People seem to have this idea that Pep's Barca were all out free flowing all out attacking football that didn't care about defence. It was not that at all. Pep is quite a pragmatic manager...holding onto the ball is almost as much a defensive strategy as it is an attacking one.

 

[serghei]

When Pep's team was at its best it had Abidal at left back who was much more limited that Montoya is in attack. That extra firepower is pointless if we concede every game.

People seem to have this idea that Pep's Barca were all out free flowing all out attacking football that didn't care about defence. It was not that at all. Pep is quite a pragmatic manager...holding onto the ball is almost as much a defensive strategy as it is an attacking one.

But we don't concede every game. We have the 2nd best defence in the league, conceded only 7 goals more than Atletico. And that with a bad CB pair for most of the time. If we buy a world class CB, we will rock. The RB must be offensive-minded IMO, and if we sell Alves, I'd take Cuadrado.