6 - Carles Alena
- Thread starter raki
- Start date
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Not sure what Tottenham would do with Alena?
Has Alena shown anything? With Puig I can understand the hype, but Alena is just as mediocre as it gets.
clemente
New member
He's shown a lot in his younger years, was dragging B team from midfield all by himself, of course you haven't seen anything if you only started to watch barca last year.
You know, you can drag Barca B without being anything special. I havent seen a single performance where I thought, yeah, hes brilliant. And he needs to be brilliant as an attacking midfielder. Asensio for example was banging in screamers for a while, but I never thought he looked special.
Edit: And you got personal quite fast.
Edit: And you got personal quite fast.
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
It is clear that he doesn't have much future here unfortunately, he will be 22 at start of next year so not a prospect anymore. I doubt he will be able to have that S.Roberto turnaround but you never knows.
If Spurs are interested I would let him go.
Alena looked better than Puig with B team tbf. Puig barely played in 1st team (official games) to make a conclusion he is better talent for 1st team football. May be he would, but didn't warrant that yet
If Spurs are interested I would let him go.
Alena looked better than Puig with B team tbf. Puig barely played in 1st team (official games) to make a conclusion he is better talent for 1st team football. May be he would, but didn't warrant that yet
For me Alena looked like a more solid footaller - especially physically. But I think you can spot talent in little touches and scenes not necessarily in performance. Thats why I had a pretty good feeling with Arthur and Frenkie from day one. Arthur for example already convinced me on his first few preseason games with us despite doing nothing insane (bar that Tottenham screamer). With Frenkie you could immediately spot his talent when you saw him move with the ball. In comparison when Alena runs with the ball it looks a bit painstaking (if that makes any sense).
Puig is technical brilliance, but he seriously lacks in physicality. Thats what will make or break him. For a CM/AM role I think Iniesta is the benchmark - Puig needs to be as tenacious and hard working as him.
BBZ8800
Senior Member
Alena is the only Barca B player in whom I had faith after Thiago.
In younger years, he seemed as if he doesn't have any flaws.
1. His technique was very good
2. His physique was very good
3. He had a nice IQ
4. He was quite brave and a leader.
He looked as a future captain (the same as Xavi Simmons).
But today it seems that he is a weaker version of Roberto: Jack of all trades, master of none.
He is not an attacker.
We don't need a Cam.
For a midfielder he is meh and average defensively.
In terms of skills, the same.
He is good in everything, but not a world class in anything.
Passing=losing too many balls.
Scoring=ok, but not good enough to be an attacker.
Dribbling=average.
Pace=ok, but poor to be a winger.
Defending=meh.
He could turn into some Rafinha, Gabri or a weaker version of Roberto.
An eternal 5th choice as a midfielder and an option for some other positions.
But that way, our fans will start to whine when he will be 25 or 26 with posts=why is a coach giving minutes to Alena (who can't improve), when he could have given his minutes to a new flavor of the Month (insert some new 19 years old La Masia kid from 2024)?
So, unless if he will improve a lot soon, he is finished.
And he will start to be hated in a few years.
In younger years, he seemed as if he doesn't have any flaws.
1. His technique was very good
2. His physique was very good
3. He had a nice IQ
4. He was quite brave and a leader.
He looked as a future captain (the same as Xavi Simmons).
But today it seems that he is a weaker version of Roberto: Jack of all trades, master of none.
He is not an attacker.
We don't need a Cam.
For a midfielder he is meh and average defensively.
In terms of skills, the same.
He is good in everything, but not a world class in anything.
Passing=losing too many balls.
Scoring=ok, but not good enough to be an attacker.
Dribbling=average.
Pace=ok, but poor to be a winger.
Defending=meh.
He could turn into some Rafinha, Gabri or a weaker version of Roberto.
An eternal 5th choice as a midfielder and an option for some other positions.
But that way, our fans will start to whine when he will be 25 or 26 with posts=why is a coach giving minutes to Alena (who can't improve), when he could have given his minutes to a new flavor of the Month (insert some new 19 years old La Masia kid from 2024)?
So, unless if he will improve a lot soon, he is finished.
And he will start to be hated in a few years.
Last edited:
Raketa10
Senior Member
IMHO it would benefit all sides to part our ways. Alena might prove himself elsewhere but I sincerely doubt he'll do that here considering our current roster. It's maybe wiser to finally give some playing time to Puig. There is a very high probability that none of the two will be good enough for Barca but if I had to bet on one player I would rather bet on Puig. He excels at ball control and passing but he also has one big flaw and that's his physique. On the other side Alena has no significant flaws but he excels at absolutely nothing.
Alena is some kind of a hybrid between Rafinha and Roberto but not in a good way. He is not fast, he sometimes looks sluggish with the ball, his passing is far from perfect and his goal scoring abilities are far from a world class CAM. His defending is also very questionable. Another problem is his preferred position on the pitch. He is definitely not a winger, he is also not a CM player and we don't play with a CAM. He basically has the same problem Fabregas had but unfortunately he is a much worse player than Cesc was at his age.
I also had high hopes for Alena but his development hit the wall two years ago. Maybe that's not even his fault because he didn't play as much as he had to during that time but unfortunately it is what it is. The dumbest for all sides would be to accept status quo and let him rot on the stands. We need to sell him, loan him or sell him with buyback but something needs to be done in January or he'll end up being worse than Denis.
Last edited:
fergus90
Senior Member
I'm not really sure Alena can be blamed, but at the same time neither can the management. Sometimes a player coming through and being successful can be timing and factors such as the strength of their position when they are at the age to break through.
If it was 2015,2016 I think Alena would have been given chances to experience top level football more and improve his development as a player. Timing and luck would have it that Arthur was available and De Jong came to the forefront as an elite midfielder at the same time Alena was ready to play first team football.
I do think there is a good footballer in there, but for the sake of utilising his potential and making the most of his own career, he should find himself a new club.
If it was 2015,2016 I think Alena would have been given chances to experience top level football more and improve his development as a player. Timing and luck would have it that Arthur was available and De Jong came to the forefront as an elite midfielder at the same time Alena was ready to play first team football.
I do think there is a good footballer in there, but for the sake of utilising his potential and making the most of his own career, he should find himself a new club.
Lapi
Member
Good point.
He should have had played instead of Andre Gomes and would have been much better, but he's still not a regular Barca-starter material.
serghei
Senior Member
Good enough as a squad player, but not as a starter for me. He's not finished. Having good squad players is important too. Not everyone should be a starter.
soul24rage
Senior Member
He should be sold with a buy back clause or loaned out for like 1.5 season in Jan. 2020 transfer window.
Home of Barca Fans
