3 - Alejandro Balde
- Thread starter FC433
- Start date
Richard.H
Senior Member
Hopefully this is a true quote for Xavi. Defense matters far more than offense in close CL ties.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Balde much be quicker at this point
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
You are correct sir. Look at Chelsea.. They won CL with a very mediocre team. They had good defense.
Xavi knows winning CL playing "naive" offensive football ain't happening.
CL is about small edges and if you leak easy goals in defense, you will never win it.. and that's been our biggest leak lately. DEfending, team defense.
xXKonan
Senior Member
The last time Alba was actually an elite defender was probably 2014/15 and 2015/16.
Since then he's gotten worse and in the last couple of years he's been a collisional joke in that aspect and he's been covering it up with his attacking threat. Part of it is him getting older and the other part is him not really giving a shit anymore about it and I'm actually glad this fool is finally getting punished by the coaches for it.
Can't go into these knockout matches with an LB who no longer can win most of his 1v1 duels in the air or in the ground and leaves the left side far to open and isn't willing to put any real effort into correcting it.
Since then he's gotten worse and in the last couple of years he's been a collisional joke in that aspect and he's been covering it up with his attacking threat. Part of it is him getting older and the other part is him not really giving a shit anymore about it and I'm actually glad this fool is finally getting punished by the coaches for it.
Can't go into these knockout matches with an LB who no longer can win most of his 1v1 duels in the air or in the ground and leaves the left side far to open and isn't willing to put any real effort into correcting it.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Yeah, that's a good point. Basically, just a way to smoke him out. Alonso is probably even worse in defense. At least in terms of counters.
But I assume Xavi would play Alonso almost as a midfielder and have back three of Kounde, Araujo, Christensen/Garcia etc.
So his defending wouldn't be that much of an issue r
Joan
Well-known member
He trained under Aragones, Pep, Rijkaard, and del Bosque. Yet, the guy he only saw snoring by the sidelines when he faced LaLiga minions had most influence on his coaching career.
Stunning.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
It's amazing what you can do while you are asleep. Coach Barca.
The task of too easy for Valverde. He was never demanded enough.
Gnidrologist
Senior Member
He debuted in '99. Must have enjoyed Van Gaal too.
Birdy
Senior Member
Now you triggered me!
Alba was NEVER EVER an even decent defender, let alone an elite one. He was always horrible in even the basics, and if you look at his stats he always sat on the lower end of the spectrum in defending metrics for fullbacks.
Whenever he would mask his flaws with his speed, the next moment was exposed in collapsing in easy defensive duties
xXKonan
Senior Member
He was actually really solid defensively during that period under Lucho and stayed fit.
But you won't see me give two shits about him. Guy lived off his linkup and connection with Messi, and became a totally liability in Knock out matches in the CL by being the first player to shit his pants as soon as the ball is kicked. It's amazing how it took this long for a coach to come along and say "Wow he's a pile of shit defensively and his flaws at the back outweigh what he can bring going forward at this point".
Teams figured out that they're better off exploiting him than our right side most of the time. Far too easy to beat him in the air and easier to punk in 1v1 duels and easier to get into his head as well and can exploit his careless positioning on the counter as well.
Just me or has he been mostly invisible the past few games?
It isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's doing his job fine and he's solid without making mistakes or being exposed by the opponent, but at the same time not setting the world ablaze.
His problem has been his consistency past few years, lots of ups and downs. But now he's playing like a 27 year old average Liga player, only difference is the guy is only 18 and has a lot to learn. Think it's good that he can go a bit under the radar with Pedri and Gavi stealing all of the youngster spotlight.
It isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's doing his job fine and he's solid without making mistakes or being exposed by the opponent, but at the same time not setting the world ablaze.
His problem has been his consistency past few years, lots of ups and downs. But now he's playing like a 27 year old average Liga player, only difference is the guy is only 18 and has a lot to learn. Think it's good that he can go a bit under the radar with Pedri and Gavi stealing all of the youngster spotlight.
That's exactly how I saw it. Invisible.
Would not go so far as to say he plays like a seasoned La Liga player. It's that he wasn't tested properly.
Home of Barca Fans
