4 players who proved Barcelona fans wrong this season
There are quite a few reasons why a certain player might not seem impressive. It could be because of the team's formation, style and performance of other players in the team, or simply a temporary dip in form.
This becomes all the more tricky while playing for Barcelona, a team focused on playing with a lot of possession as well as short and quick passes. Needless to say, any new player takes a lot of time to adapt to this, many of whom fail to do it.
Even those who make the cut through are under constant scrutiny. That the margin of error is painfully narrow for the team, also reflects on the players. Even a slump over a short period of time could cause an uproar amongst the fans, who would be pretty impatient to get rid of the said player, claiming that his or her talent has just burned out. So here are four players who proved Barca fans wrong this season.
#4 Jordi Alba
Jordi Alba's so-called decline during Luis Enrique's final season in charge of the Blaugrana, i.e. during the 2016-2017 season. Towards the second half of that season, the coach played with a back line of three, dropping Alba to the bench. The reasons being cited are two.
Firstly, there was a lack of a specialist right-back. Enrique decided to play with three centre-backs to give the backline the much-needed stability. Secondly, Alba looked as ineffective in defence as in offence.
At any rate, one can assume that these tactics did not work out so well, considering how Barca ended the previous season.
Almost a year down the line, things seem to have changed and how! Jordi Alba is back to his brilliant best, collaborating with Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta in causing headaches to the opponents. The number of times he assisted Messi to score this season stands as a proof of this.
So, what happened?
Neymar happened. As much as the Brazilian added sheen and quality to the Barca frontline, his hold on the ball and the tricks up his sleeve meant that there were no quick passes and overlapping on the left wing. This inhibited Alba's runs down the wing and reduced his attacking impetus, for which he was renowned earlier.
Neymar's move to PSG hurt Barca in a lot of ways, but it liberated Alba to play his natural game and he could once again shuttle between defence and offence on the left wing. In addition, the 4-4-2 formation Valverde brought in, gave him further space up ahead.
An additional player in the midfield also contributes to the defensive stability, without too many changes at the back, the benefits of which were reaped by the team this year.