Alves: Barça would be nothing without Guardiola

Dani Alves has said Barcelona would be "nothing" without Pep Guardiola, as the coach ponders whether to renew his contract at Camp Nou. "I think that Guardiola will sign again because without him we're nothing," declared the Brazil international. "Without him we'd lose our anchor and we'd drift away. Guardiola has given us stability." Guardiola's contract with the Catalans is up at the end of the season, but he sparked concerns within the club last weekend by saying he still needed more time to decide his future. Alves added: "If he decides not to stay on it wouldn't be a betrayal of Barça. You need a happy medium in life. If he goes, everything he's done for the club will remain." Barcelona are currently ten points behind arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, and Alves was critical of the club's performances. "The gap is perhaps a bit overstated but we must have made some mistakes to be where we are," he told reporters. "We've played badly in patches away from home. "We've lacked balance when pushing forward. But there's still time to improve. We have to take the Valencia match as an example." Barcelona ran out 5-1 winners at home to third-placed Valencia on Sunday.