Jordi Alba

[BerkeleyBernie]

I'm not going to hold the first goal against him, even though he definitely should have done better... However, he wasn't sharp in attack, he sure got into some nice positions and was very lively, but his final ball was lacking tonight...

Are you kidding? He put a ball on Messi's feet that he blasted over the net. He laid a ball across the face of goal that no Barça player arrived in time to tap in.

This was a game in which Celtic didn't make any glaring errors, and luck went their way. It happens.

 

[FCBarca]

Inexcusable from Alba on the goal...Celtic had two corners and set pieces had to be the one thing Tito drilled into this team ahead of the encounter...He was playing zone and made zero effort to get onto the ball or shield against the oncoming Wanyama

Was fine going forward but probably could've done better on a couple of attacks where his final passes were to no one

One lapse in concentration and goal, he should know that better than anyone

 

[FCBarca]

This was a game in which Celtic didn't make any glaring errors, and luck went their way. It happens.

True, true

 

[Doobs]

Its pretty clear that Alba offers us more in attack than in defense..

 

[Flavia]

Inexcusable from Alba on the goal...Celtic had two corners and set pieces had to be the one thing Tito drilled into this team ahead of the encounter...He was playing zone and made zero effort to get onto the ball or shield against the oncoming Wanyama

What could he do? Wanyama has some 20 cm on Alba, not to mention he's a lot stronger. Not Jordi's fault. Song should be the one marking Wanyama.

 

[Alik]

What could he do? Wanyama has some 20 cm on Alba, not to mention he's a lot stronger. Not Jordi's fault. Song should be the one marking Wanyama.

Pretty much this. Maybe Alba could have put more effort, but I don't think so.

 

[abual3bed1]

Inexcusable from Alba on the goal...Celtic had two corners and set pieces had to be the one thing Tito drilled into this team ahead of the encounter...He was playing zone and made zero effort to get onto the ball or shield against the oncoming Wanyama

Was fine going forward but probably could've done better on a couple of attacks where his final passes were to no one

One lapse in concentration and goal, he should know that better than anyone

Are saying that Alba should've cleared that ball against the beast that is Wanyama who in one point of the match had Messi, Xavi and Inieasta on his back and the 3 of them together couldn't steal the ball from him, and you want Alba to jump higher or high enough to bother Wanyama??

That corner was another bad defending, why wasn't there anybody to cover the posts?? Song (the guy with the best physical attributes in FCB last night) was the one to mark Wanyama.

but I agree that he could've done better in some final passes, and he did well in 1 or 2 but missed alot other ones.

 

[estranged]

Are you kidding? He put a ball on Messi's feet that he blasted over the net. He laid a ball across the face of goal that no Barça player arrived in time to tap in.

Yea but all night he didn't seem focused, lost a few balls carelessly and his passing wasn't top notch either. He hadn't had a bad game for us until last night.

 

[xaviniesta]

why cant he be at near post clearing the corners? being the last man in the zonal marking means he often get caught in 1v1 like yesterday. i hope the coaching staff will understand this and will change it.

 

[FCBarca]

Are saying that Alba should've cleared that ball against the beast that is Wanyama who in one point of the match had Messi, Xavi and Inieasta on his back and the 3 of them together couldn't steal the ball from him, and you want Alba to jump higher or high enough to bother Wanyama??

When you don't have height, you either man up or play a zone...If it's zone, your duty is to protect your zone and be aware of oncoming players...Alba did neither...He stood there with no awareness of the approaching player and never leapt to go for the ball...If he had defended his position, Wanyama would've had to go over him more than he did to get to the ball and would've been whistled for the foul in all likelihood...It's inexcusable and Tito mentioned the error in the post match without singling Alba out

Jordi connected on one pass of note into the box and that was the one that Leo inexplicably roofed but there were two other great chances that he passed to no one in particular...It's not a criticism per se but he could've been better in that final ball...I'm more annoyed with that cavalier defending on the corner...Just 2 corners in the match and the team knew these were Celtic's best chances at scoring, focus has to be intensified in moments like those and I thought he blew it...I'm sure he got an earful about that

 

[xaviniesta]

When you don't have height, you either man up or play a zone...If it's zone, your duty is to protect your zone and be aware of oncoming players...Alba did neither...He stood there with no awareness of the approaching player and never leapt to go for the ball...If he had defended his position, Wanyama would've had to go over him more than he did to get to the ball and would've been whistled for the foul in all likelihood...It's inexcusable and Tito mentioned the error in the post match without singling Alba out

if i was wanyama, i would think watching barcas position during the corner that its really easy actually to score here. alba is the deepest man in zonal marking, i come with pace and bascily this midget has no chance at all. thats what i said earlier that it was a mess of tito more than alba.
alexis far post and alba near post would've been much better IMO it was very unbalanced as well, since ther was alexis, song and bartra covering the near post and only masch, alves and alba the far post.

 

[Plip]

Alba shouldn't have been anywhere near the back post, end of.

He doesn't have attributes to deal with back post defending against tall and physical teams such as Celtic. It should have been either of Song or Bartra, as they could have actually made the difference instead of being helplessly turned inside out by the sheer power of the player flying towards you.

Def Tito's mistake.

 

[abual3bed1]

I have to agree about Barca's positioning in corners and set-pieces in general, I mean like xaviniesta said, look at this:

look how Wanyama moved to the far post and Watt (I think it was him) kept moving in front of Valdes and both of them had Alba to cover them, the 169 cm left back to cover two giants. Right he could've gone for putting himself in a position where Wanyama should foul him, but that was a long shot to wait for the ref to decide wether you concede or get fouled. And look at Bartra way behind Samaras, Song and Alves left their men behind, this is actually embarrassing

Barca used man marking for this corner 6v5 in a corner with your tallest players are 2 183 cm players against a gang of giants. I also would have to take Alexis out of the 6 defenders we had in this corner as he was covering the near post, so it was basically 5v5 and that tells the whole story.

 

[xaviniesta]

barca have never used under pep or tito man marking in corners. did you mean zonal marking?

 

[abual3bed1]

barca have never used under pep or tito man marking in corners. did you mean zonal marking?

did I say man marking?? my bad.