asha80:
i doubt that because if not dunga(who is very defensive conscious)would used alves not maicon as a starter during 2010 world cup and scolari(another defensive conscious man) would have stuck to alves in 2014 instead of bringing back maicon in the quarter finals and semi finals at a time alves was 29 and no injury and maicon was 34.

andrew444:


To me alves is better than maicon and to the footballing world.

But coach got players who they prefer,alves was never 29 when maicon is 34,maicon is only older than alves with just 2 years,alves will be 35 in may before the world cup and maicon will be 37 in july so you can see the age difference is just 2 years.

Since after maicon inter millan days he has been poor after he joined mancity,while old alves is still playing at the top at his age,so that will tell you alot.

Martz101:


he don't need Brazil to rate him when the world rates him high, is by far the best right back in the last decade

Martz101:


Bros Alves is far better than maicon defensively, and in modern football Right back and Left back are always flying up there, and for the fans your saw talking him down is normal, even some fans in Argentina talk messi down

asha80:
i think i made a mistake yes alves was was 30 yrs in 2014 but i was trying to prove was that alves was much younger than maicon and in 2014 maicon was pretty much fading while alves was still going strong but because a coach who was defensive minded preferred a maicon that was fading out to alves showed a weakness to alves game..i also think a defensive minded coach like mourinho might not fancy a peak alves...on the same vein an arsene wenger might prefer an alves to a maicon


please i have never said alves was not a world class right back but there was a weakness in a his game that might have actually solidified him for a role he plays. it is a bit like marcelo now for all his world class status the jury is still out there about his defensive abilities. even when mourinho was there he sometimes preferred a fabio coentrao to marcelo in the left back because of the kind of mentality mourinho has ..for eg people acknowledge that ronaldo de lima was a world class striker but he had a weakness in heading the ball..that oliver biehorff was much better in heading the ball than ronaldo de lima does not mean bierhoff was a better striker than ronaldo

ChrisKels:


Coming from someone who called a 20 year old Awaziem an overhyped player despite his obvious young age. People dey sha oo

Mickael2:


Is Lahm a leftback?

asha80:
most football players peak between the ages of 25 to 31

TheSuperNerd:
I agree that, generally, very talented young players will take time to peak and begin showing their monster forms in their mid-20s or a bit earlier. But I also still hold the opinion that certain players even at 18 or maybe 21 will still ruffle feathers using their precociousness to trump experience.

There are always exceptions to the rule Dad.... You know that.

Some players take time to mature and hit their peak levels between ages 25-30 or so... E.g. Drogba, Salah, Jorginho.... Etc

But some others at age 19, 20, 21 or even 22 will be at an already high level technically making giant leaps and making fine statements even before they reach ages 25-33.... E.g. Messi, CR7, Pele, Maradona, Neymar, Kanu... Etc

Icon4s:


But that is the age we chose to offload our players after gathering all the experience.

We easily call them tired old legs and be in a haste to push them out so as to bring in new kids and the cycle continues.And We keep trying to build endlessly.

This current team is young and growing in experience but when they have started gathering the experience we want to throw them out and start chasing some new kids all over again.

asha80:
hehe I do not what to bring up a controversial angle as per Nigerians in this argument

Icon4s:

E pass age cheating?

Icon4s:

E pass age cheating?

Supersunny2:




Spot on! Iwobi will come good in no distant time...

Icon4s:


I understand that fact of some exceptionally talented players breaking in early. But not every d!ck and Harry player that comes up next thing invite him, he is better than Musa, Simon, Onazi etc.

Team building is a gradual process and you don't flood the national team with green horns especially on the eve of a major tournament like the WC.

Icon4s:


I understand that fact of some exceptionally talented players breaking in early. But not every d!ck and Harry player that comes up next thing invite him, he is better than Musa, Simon, Onazi etc.

Team building is a gradual process and you don't flood the national team with green horns especially on the eve of a major tournament like the WC.

MetalJigsaw:
I go offer you some beer, bro

Truidstar:


Best post all week. Folks on here just want immediate dividends.

Truidstar:


Best post all week. Folks on here just want immediate dividends.

femianski:
kelechi starts!!

elyte89:



Likewise u too...so stop agitating for Cyril

andrew444:


Bros make pele go sit down,na so e dey taunt messi becos him no win world cup even maradona.

Na the same mumu pele say neymar better pass messi just because he is a biased brazillian.

Pele has no important club trophy, no be santos and new york cosmos him play? So him no see team like madrid that year? no be that time madrid dey win european cup any how? even in the so called santos he did not win the brazillian league,na top scorer he dey win up and down,make pele do sit down abeg,if na footballer him be this generation him go dey average abeg,world cup wey be like afcon that year,afcon even better pass am self,i can even give you a name of an egypt player that has won 3 afcon,how many team dey come wold cup then?

Wikipedia is there for me and you.

Icon4s:


I understand that fact of some exceptionally talented players breaking in early. But not every d!ck and Harry player that comes up next thing invite him, he is better than Musa, Simon, Onazi etc.

Team building is a gradual process and you don't flood the national team with green horns especially on the eve of a major tournament like the WC.

TheSuperNerd:
Loooollll.... Pele and Maradona will always taunt Messi and even CR7 naa... They are trying to protect their iconic places in the hall of fame in football history. Hahahahahahahahaha....

Truth is Both Messi and CR7 have joined them in that special league of god-like footballers so they must live with it.

But I must point out that Pele staying at Santos was purely a choice as it was the club of his dream from childhood. I have read his story in depth and I understand his decision to stick to Santos.
Pele was a god in his time and Santos were the most revered team on the planet back then because of Pele. They got annual invites to embark on tours to Europe to face some of the very best European sides to test the might of Pele against Europe's finest and guess what... Pele trumped them all for the most parts.
He starred against the great Italian serie A sides in yearly playing tours in the summer and also throughout a calendar year when the Brazilian league was either not in session or on break.
He also starred against the great sides of Spain, England, Germany and France. Pele and Santos went everywhere and played the best and they didn't win all games but they dominated almost all opponents like none other.
Pele excelled against The European big guns year in, year out when with Santos...the records are there. And this was even in the era when The Serie A had more battled hardened defenders than the ones of today. So give it to Pele... He was indeed King

TheSuperNerd:
No Chief... I am not for inviting every fine prospect just like that. Ours is a team on the rise and so far we have been able to establish some fine team chemistry and understanding. This is something we must keep building on.
Invites of new talented prospects will always be in the picture as there are players who can be added to make this team keep getting better but IT WOULD ALWAYS BE GRADUAL and NOT REACTIONARY.

@bolded... I perfectly understand that especially as this is WC season.

kingphilip:
if not for clearance, would have been an Iheanacho assist

Certitude:

Fine question sir

Mickael2:


defensively Maicon was way way better than Alves ever will be.