Daniel Alves

[darthvader7888]

I was pleased with his crosses in this match. But he was defensively suspect again though Malaga's attack couldn't capitalize on it. He got caught out of position in the same way like in match against sociedad. I don't know if this is due to tactics, his slow pace or something else. I'm not being a hater but if we have to play both Alba and Alves as two attacking fullbacks they have to be pacey enough to track back or tactics should be different like only one of them should be further up the pitch at a time etc. else we should only play one of them at a time. We cant sacrifice our defense just to accommodate him

To be fair, using Alba and Alves at the same time makes our attack that much better. And it's worked out pretty well when we used Pique and Puyol along with them.

IMO, the problem is when we go for Alba-Pique-Mascherano-Alves. Then we have 2 attacking fullbacks plus a CB who's not an actual CB. IMO, we just can't rely on Mascherano when we have 2 attacking fullbacks.

 

[Stric]

Well he's still having trouble keeping focus and is too complacent. True he had a couple of assists, kudos to him for that, but 3 minutes after his first assist to Pedro he missed a 4 yard pass which resulted in Malaga catching us on the back foot and scoring, he also did the same a few more timed and we were helpless. The clumsy fouls when he has no chance of getting the ball doesn't help us either. I'd still much prefer Montoya defensively, true Dani is more of an attacking threat, but with Monty on the right flank Alba can penetrate down the right more often.

+1. Either go with Alba or Alves, not both at the same time. At the moment the best option is Montoya+Alba IMO.

I agree completely. I know it's our style to attack and all, but we can't afford having 8 attacking outfield players. That's just pushing it too far. Especially not when every opposing team will most likely exclusively use counterattacks to score against us. Alba can use his pace to make up for his attacking workrate, but Alves can't. Or maybe he can, but he doesn't.

It's true that the Alba+Alves combo works better with Pique+Puyol than with Mascherano instead of either of them, but it's still risky.

And since Alba has been so stupidly good since his arrival, I'd usually opt for giving him as much freedom to attack as we can afford, which would usually necessitate having more defensive stability on the right flank.

 

[Garrus]

I said to myself a week ago, If dani doesn't return to his former self, We can kiss the champions league goodbye, Montoya is a great player all around, But he can't compete against Europe's elites, Not yet anyway, And he definitively can't offer the things alves can, He's been integral to our success over these years, And it feels under appreciated by many.

 

[darthvader7888]

I said to myself a week ago, If dani doesn't return to his former self, We can kiss the champions league goodbye, Montoya is a great player all around, But he can't compete against Europe's elites, Not yet anyway, And he definitively can't offer the things alves can, He's been integral to our success over these years, And it feels under appreciated by many.

Well, good thing Alves is getting back on form
Btw, didn't he use to own Ronaldo in the clasicos? This is perfect timing

 

[Garrus]

Well, good thing Alves is getting back on form
Btw, didn't he use to own Ronaldo in the clasicos? This is perfect timing

Exactly!.
Dani had ronaldo in his right pocket for 2 and a half years, But things started going down hell for alves ever since that 3-1 classico.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

alves has had a tough run this season, but his offensive contributions and telepathic link with messi can not be dismissed. when he is on form, he is the best right back in the world. the divorce caught up with him (understandable as that can rip you apart from the inside) and when he did start hitting a bit of form he got a streak of small injuries that nagged his progress. im confident he will be back to his best when we get down to business for trophies.

 

[Garrus]

He'll never truly return to his best, He lost a good chunk of speed, And it's one of the reason why ronaldo had the upper hand on him for quite a while, And made his right side the favorite target for most teams, It wasn't that bad 2 years ago.
But yeah, As long he has that telepathic connection with messi, The trophies will keep rolling.

 

[messi_xavi_iniesta]

His main concern against powerfull teams has to be defending and not attacking like a fool.

 

[abual3bed1]

His main concern against powerfull teams has to be defending and not attacking like a fool.

People seem to forget that Dani owned Penaldo only 4 months ago. He's been out of form, but he's the best RB when he's focused and Dani is intelligent enough to know when to defend and when to push forward.

 

[Darko]

great game,tore the Osasuna defence apart

 

[footyfan]

The red card meant he had way too much space to exploit on the right as Barca overloaded the centre with Pedro moving in. Good game.

 

[jiopi]

He's slowly returning in form. Great game.

 

[Deco 20]

The beast of seasons past

 

[Meitux]

yeah little by little he plays better

 

[Cule4life]

I was pleased with him today but i still think he isn't trying 100% these days. Slacks off many times