3 - Alejandro Balde

Both Xavi and Cancelo are perfect for the new inverted role our LB plays. Balde has no place and position in this team anymore.
 
Flick's words very clearly alluded to Balde's problems mainly being of the mental sort. Granted, he seems to have a pretty low ceiling both in terms of technical traits and especially the way he reads the game and in decision making, but perhaps this incident is the kick in the ass he needed to get out of his comfort zone, work his balls off and actually try to better himself somehow?

I'm probably being way too naive here, but a tiny part of me believes and certainly hopes this will be the case, because there's no denying that he has shown glimpses of talent that could make him our starter for the next decade or more, even if it is a few years ago now.
 
Some players with questionable mentality need a wake up call. I do not agree at all that all of a sudden we need to sell players who used to be starters and now are not at crap prices. No, feck that, they are expected to be unhappy about this new order in the team and work their asses off to convince Flick.

So, teams hoping to get out players for cheap should fuck off and buy someplace else. Our merchandise is premiere type.

You want Balde on loan? Fine. 5-10m for a 1 year loan and 60m buy option.
 
I hope Balde understood Flick's philosophy, the "100 perzent for Barca" mindset.

There are no starters and reserves. This system rewards driven players, fit and training hard. Nobody is untouchable in this squad.
 
Both fullbacks offered little last season and looked way too comfortable despite being mediocre. A La Masia kid who doesn't play that position by default instantly looking like an improvement is very damning.
 
Trickykid said:
Flick's words very clearly alluded to Balde's problems mainly being of the mental sort. Granted, he seems to have a pretty low ceiling both in terms of technical traits and especially the way he reads the game and in decision making, but perhaps this incident is the kick in the ass he needed to get out of his comfort zone, work his balls off and actually try to better himself somehow?

I'm probably being way too naive here, but a tiny part of me believes and certainly hopes this will be the case, because there's no denying that he has shown glimpses of talent that could make him our starter for the next decade or more, even if it is a few years ago now.
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He seemed gifted at first for his age, but he's put in like 1 decent cross in 2 years. You cant claim to be talented yet never show it, especially going forward. We already knew he wasnt great in defense.

Cancelo coming last season was a 5x improvement.
 
Flick gave him enough leeway at first due to his age and expected a lot more out of him by this point in Flick's tenure but that obviously never happened.

Both fullback positions felt like they were never fully locked down. Kounde had some great highs but god awful lows, and he didn't have that middle ground portion of "He was okay but not bad or he wasn't great but he wasn't a disaster" levels. It was either locked in and pretty good or he was atrocious, and last season showed that a lot.

Balde was just far too predictable. He couldn't cross and just didn't have that creativity nor vision with the ball at his feet. It's why Cancelo came in; despite being ropy defensively was significantly better with the ball.
 
Staying would be the worst choice for him. He's currently the 3rd LB in the team. How often does he think he'll get playing time? In his age, he needs to play. Let's see if his decision making off the pitch is as wrong as on it. Flick was honest with him, rest lies in his hands.
 
The pity with him is that his weaknesses should be possible to train easily. If training sessions are not enough, he needs to put in extra shifts to work on his crossing and passing in the final third like others work on their free kicks and penalties.

If I was him I'd watch Jordi Alba videos.
 
Danie7 said:
The pity with him is that his weaknesses should be possible to train easily. If training sessions are not enough, he needs to put in extra shifts to work on his crossing and passing in the final third like others work on their free kicks and penalties.

If I was him I'd watch Jordi Alba videos.
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Dude can't use his right foot to save his life, that's not something you can "train easily" - at his age you either "have it" or you don't...
 
mc_lovin said:
Still completely indifferent if he leaves or not. He definitely has some value for us if he stays.
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If we're signing a good LCB who can also play LB before the window closes we should let Balde know - he probably won't even make the bench in a couple of weeks than.
 
Danie7 said:
The pity with him is that his weaknesses should be possible to train easily. If training sessions are not enough, he needs to put in extra shifts to work on his crossing and passing in the final third like others work on their free kicks and penalties.

If I was him I'd watch Jordi Alba videos.
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Maybe all of this will wake him up a little, but I doubt it. He’s just a very phlegmatic type of person, and I get the feeling he only does what he absolutely has to.
 
Loki said:
Staying would be the worst choice for him. He's currently the 3rd LB in the team. How often does he think he'll get playing time? In his age, he needs to play. Let's see if his decision making off the pitch is as wrong as on it. Flick was honest with him, rest lies in his hands.
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I don't think Flick asked him to stay just to "wipe the bench". That'd be a total asshole move.

If he trains well, he'll get minutes.
 
Windhook said:
I don't think Flick asked him to stay just to "wipe the bench". That'd be a total asshole move.

If he trains well, he'll get minutes.
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Yeah, but the whole issue is that he doesn't train well, and that's why Flick told him he can't expect minutes in the 1st place.
 
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