It's nice to see you analyze, but it needs to be pointed out that you leave out things inbetween these timestamps. I will comment on these situations you bring up, though:
Let's analyse this video then:
1:45 = needlessly holds onto the ball, almost loses it in a dangerous position.
lol
2:08 = pass too far from right foot of Alena almost results in turnover.
no, he is helping Alena to progress the ball correctly, the opponents have 7 players defending on the left flank, he doesn't want the ball to go towards Alba.
2:15 = fires a pass into Alena which bounces to him when he has an incoming player, again could result in turnover in a pointless position.
if Alena was a shit player yes, but that pass is completely fine.
2:29 = Receives ball from Alena just to pass it directly back to him and then stand in front of him as he advances whilst not really advancing his own position, and without checking the space behind him.
a bit out of sync there, but come on. He had missed to check so correctly gave it back, then he just tried to get away.
2:39 = Awful hard pass to no one.
Yeah that was terrible, the first mistake of the video. A technical mis-hit I think.
3:15 = If this is the lofted pass you speak of it's not even a good one. It's too soft and hung in the air so doesn't result in an advantageous situation for Semedo who has the pace to get on the end of a more direct ball.
No, I had a timestamp to show what I meant. That pass was fine too though, not meant to be a pass into space but more to move the ball and the opponent.
3:28 = Weak pass nearly results in turnover. Recovers the ball but again passes and nearly results in a throw in.
Maybe the pass was slightly weak, but this was a pretty nice sequence nonetheless. He won it back after Alenas pass was touched, and then he found Semedo correctly. Semedo was lazy to take the space.
4:19 = Pointless dribble, lowers intensity and then passes the ball in a bouncing motion making it harder for the right back to gain an advantage on that side.
lol again. He keeps his head up looking for an option but it is tight, then he circulates the ball perfectly fine for Semedo. He could've found Alba in the beginning though.
4:39 = Is that a pass or a shot? either way it's poor.
He wanted Konrad to meet him there for a one-two. As he didn't, it wasn't succesful. I agree the mistake is Puigs there, sometimes he is too focused on his first intention and can't change his mind in situations like these. Near the penalty box in situations like this you need to play with some chance though, and this isn't the worst mistake a Barcelona player made this year....
5:05 = Maybe this is the lofted pass? The one to Dembele. If so, that is just a standard pass.
Nothing special, but a type of pass he makes very easily. Not all midfielders do. This is the one small part of his game that reminds me of Xavi.
5:10 = Good pass
yes, that's the one I was pointing towards.
All this whilst losing all aerial duels, physical battles etc.
Please point to the lost duels and battles. I saw none, but maybe I missed some? I saw a few times he won the ball by quickness and correct positioning though.
He's had good performances but this is actually a bad one when you analyse it properly.
As I said, this wasn't an exceptional performance, I was pointing to that single sequence. Another nice sequence was in between 1:45-2:08 btw, could be analyzed.
The big picture of that video is Puig and Alena completely dominating midfield and having nice space and time on the ball all the time, able to spot any run.
