Well, Maicon is good, no doubt, but everyone i know doesn't get how he got so many more starting appearances than Alves, who outperformed him all the time. The balance is kind of shifting now, Alves is more and more being recognised as a real world class player, he's incredible. Maicon's still a beast though. Alves just seems like a really nice, loyal guy as well. i have an interview somewhere where he talks about joining Barça and what it meant to him i can post up.