An eye-catching statistic to emerge from Barcelona’s convincing Copa del Rey victory over Athletic Bilbao was the identity of the player who had the most touches of the ball.
It was not, despite his sensational performance, Lionel Messi. Nor was it all-action midfielder Ivan Rakitic, or even ball-playing central defender Gerard Pique.
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Instead, the man with more touches than anyone else was in fact Dani Alves – and by quite a significant margin, with his final total of 107 well ahead of next-best Messi at 90. That was not a one-off: in another of Barca’s biggest games of the season, the Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich, Alves again came out on top, with 74 touches to Messi’s 73 (although he was beaten by Bayern’s Xabi Alonso, with 106).
Numbers only tell part of the story, of course, but Alves’ contribution can also be measured in a far more direct manner because in both games he produced an outstanding attacking burst to provide an assist to his close friend Messi – something he has done more than any other player since the two of them first teamed up in 2008.
No other right back in world football, surely, could exert such an influence over a game, especially considering the depth of talent playing alongside him.
But Alves is no ordinary right-back, with his phenomenal levels of energy – which show no sign of diminishing despite recently celebrating his 32nd birthday – allowing him to effectively play as a right winger whilst also carrying out defensive work when required.
This season, Alves has become even more important to Barca due to a modification in their playing style, which has seen the emphasis taken away from their old reliance upon monopolising possession in midfield, largely achieved through Xavi and Andres Iniesta’s metronomic passing.
Instead, Barca now focus on getting the ball as quickly and as often as possible to their two most dangerous creative players, wingers Messi and Neymar. That approach puts an enormous burden on the two full-backs, Alves and equally hyperactive Jordi Alba, who are expected to provide continual attacking support to their more illustrious team-mates, ensuring they don’t become isolated and keeping the opposing defence ‘honest’, creating more space inside.
Alba has done it well, but Alves has been simply brilliant, overturning the notion that he is in decline. Now, his below-par performances last season, when he was regularly chastised for delivering a string of pointless crosses, look like the consequence of playing in a team lacking any better ideas rather than a personal failing.
Taking Alves’ importance into account, then, how bizarre it is that Barca appear to be happy to let him walk away for nothing when his contract expires later this month. It becomes outright incompetence when you consider the additional fact that they can’t even sign anyone to replace him due to an ongoing transfer ban from FIFA.
Barca are allowing one of the world’s best right-backs, a player who perfectly suits their system and who combines brilliantly with Messi, to leave without being replaced. It is truly extraordinary.
Sure, his wage demands are higher than a right-back in his thirties would normally expect to command. But Alves is no normal player – he is absolutely fundamental to Barca, and letting him leave would be a huge mistake.
