Football tactics, formations, diagrams, chalkboards and graphs Home Match Analysis Chalkboards Players Graphs Lists General Articles 2009/10 Review Decade in Review World Cup 2010 ABOUT ZM ZM ELSEWHERE UPCOMING GLOSSARY DIAGRAMS COMMENTS BIBLIOGRAPHY TWITTER LIST LINKS CONTACT SUBSCRIBE Daniel Alves: more than a right­back SEARCH ZM January 21, 2011 Out for two weeks with a calf injury and locked in contract negotiations with Search Barcelona, now seems like a good time to assess the value of Daniel Alves. It’s long been a standard joke – or cliche, if you like – to say that an attacking full­ back is “more of a winger than a full­back.” That’s particularly been true of Brazilian ADVERT full­backs down the years – in recent times, most notably the combination of Cafu and Roberto Carlos, who started the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups in the full­ back positions for Brazil. Occasionally the mentality of these players has been exaggerated. In the 2002 This page requires tournament, for example, Cafu and Roberto Carlos were frequently cast as full­ Flash Player version backs, when in fact they were wing­backs. A small difference, granted, but the role 7.0.14 or higher. of a wing­back in a 3­5­2 is significantly different from a full­back in a 4­4­2. Whilst speeding forward to join the attack in that tournament, which Brazil won, they had not just the comfort of three centre­backs to keep things tight at the back, but also two holding midfielders. What looked a gung ho attitude was in actual fact not particularly attacking – five defensive­minded players were making sure Brazil weren’t caught out on the Daniel Alves counter – in basic numerical terms, no different to leaving a back four with one holding midfielder protecting them. Therefore, the wing­backs playing so high up the pitch was natural. They were literally more wingers than they were full­backs, because of the 3­4­1­2 formation. At club level, Cafu’s best season came when playing as a wing­back in a 3­4­1­2, Roberto Carlos’ best spell came first when Real Madrid played that same formation. Alves’ role Alves is slightly different. With the exception of when Sergio Busquets drops into the backline and Barcelona become a 3­4­ 3, as against Atletico earlier in the season, Alves is the right­back in a four­man defence. Even so, he plays ludicrously high up the pitch in some matches. The most obvious example was Barcelona’s 5­0 destruction of Sevilla, where he spent most of the game ahead of Barcelona’s midfielders, even when Barcelona lost the ball. The side was set up differently to accommodate Alves’ change in positioning – Lionel Messi and David Villa both played centrally, whilst Pedro was stationed wide on the left. There was no attacking player on the right, indicating that it was a deliberate move from Pep Guardiola, asking Alves to cover the entire right flank. It was the key feature of the game – he pushed Diego Capel so far back, practically forcing Sevilla into a back five, and Barcelona ran riot. The same thing happened against Espanyol. Alves’s presence in the attack can be backed up by statistics. In the group stage of the Champions League this season, he completed more passes in the attacking third of the pitch than any other player in the tournament, 276. To make it a fair comparison, breaking the numbers down into a ‘passes in the attacking third per game‘ stat still leaves Alves top, with 55.2 per match. Clearly, it’s helped by the fact he plays FOLLOW ZM in the best passing side in Europe, but it’s still astonishing that he tops that table considering his position on the pitch, rather than any of Barcelona’s actual forwards. That illustrates how much of the ball he sees in attacking positions, and how crucial he is to his side’s moves. His work rate is the main factor here, and there are those who believe that Alves is simply physically brilliant, with minimal technical ability. Even if that was the case, Alves’ combination of speed and stamina HTML in Header and Footer Demo This is page 1 of 4 mean he is almost impossible for any opposition player BIBLIOGRAPHY to track for 90 minutes, which is what makes him so dangerous, and so difficult to play against. It’s The passes Alves received against Panathinaikos in the first Champions League becoming increasingly common to see sides playing match this season (Chalkboard from TotalFootball iPhone App) left­backs on the left of midfield to try and stop him – see Valencia’s use of Jeremy Mathieu, or Inter’s use of Cristian Chivu. Late runs Alves’ particular attacking threat is his late sprints in behind the opposition defence, to meet a pass from a centre­left position in midfield, generally from Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta. Here, he almost offers the threat a fast centre­forward would, with pace in behind running onto balls over the top. For all their attacking endeavours, it was rare to see Cafu or Roberto Carlos do this kind of thing – generally they’d simply run down the touchline to stretch the play before crossing the ball (or shooting from a ridiculous angle) – Alves offers a more direct threat. GOOGLE ADS mean he is almost impossible for any opposition player BIBLIOGRAPHY to track for 90 minutes, which is what makes him so dangerous, and so difficult to play against. It’s The passes Alves received against Panathinaikos in the first Champions League becoming increasingly common to see sides playing match this season (Chalkboard from TotalFootball iPhone App) left­backs on the left of midfield to try and stop him – see Valencia’s use of Jeremy Mathieu, or Inter’s use of Cristian Chivu. Late runs Alves’ particular attacking threat is his late sprints in behind the opposition defence, to meet a pass from a centre­left position in midfield, generally from Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta. Here, he almost offers the threat a fast centre­forward would, with pace in behind running onto balls over the top. For all their attacking endeavours, it was rare to see Cafu or Defensive qualitiesRoberto Carlos do this kind of thing – generally they’d simply run down the touchline to stretch the play before crossing the ball (or shooting from a ridiculous angle) – Alves offers a more direct threat. What Alves also offers Barcelona – frequently overlooked by many – is a good defensive presence on the right. As with all GOOGLE ADS attacking full­backs, there’s a natural assumption that the player is not good defensively, but Alves’ game has improved Compared to the traditional pacey centre­forward run to meet a ball over the top, Alves’ darts in from the right are more immeasurably in this respect in recent years. favourable for five separate reasons. One could put forward the old argument that a top­class defender should not be sliding around and performing last­ditch 1. It means the man playing the pass is hitting a diagonal ball, rather than a straight ball – there’s more margin for error, a blocks – a top­class defender should anticipate danger and pre­emptively stop it. That misses the point, though – as Alves greater area the pass can be played into to reach the player. Misplaced straight balls will simply run through to the is often told to play very high up the pitch on the right, he’s inevitably going to be dashing back and arriving just in time to goalkeeper. get a block in. His incredible pace means he often gets in challenges other defenders would have been too sluggish to 2.attempt, whilst he’s actually very good at anticipating opposition attacks when he’s in a position to do so. The video below It means Alves can be at top speed whilst breaking past the defence. Alves often has twenty metres to build up speed before reaching theshows his defensive skills well. offside line, making it difficult for defenders to turn and catch up with him Before watching that, though, consider that the most important thing Alves gives Barcelona in a defensive sense is his before he reaches the ball. Strikers in a central position, on the other brilliant ability to press for the entire game. Look out for him charging 40 yards up the pitch to close Joan Capdevilla down hand, have to either bend their runs to stay onside, or start in a very deep on 0:42 – it may be on the edge of the opponent’s penalty area, but that is still defending. position to be able to run full pelt. 3. Alves can see the player making the pass and the flight of the ball in his natural run, and therefore doesn’t have to break his stride to look over his shoulder to see where the ball is. Alves' classic run around the back of the defence, usually from a Xavi or Iniesta pass 4. Controlling the ball in midair is easier when it is arriving slightly from the side than when it’s coming directly over your head and you’re running onto it. 5. It’s on the blind side of the defence. They’re all looking towards their right where the ball is coming from, whilst Alves is sneaking in behind on their left. For a classic example, try this pass from Xavi to Alves, finished by Messi:Defensive qualities What Alves also offers Barcelona – frequently overlooked by many – is a good defensive presence on the right.