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5 left-backs who tried but failed to become Jordi Alba's heir at Barca

Tribuna.com

 have gone on for years, with Barca failing to find the right man for the role. 

Here are the players the Blaugrana have tried in that left-back role without success:

After 46 games for Barca, it became clear that 

 may have no future at a club like Barca, based on his performances. He was sold to Everton in 2018 for €20m. 

never had a look at by Barcelona before being moved on by the club in 2020. Barca received €11m to let him go. He made only one first-team appearance. 

 was another left-back tried out by Barca before he was allowed to leave the club as a free agent. He featured only four times for Barca. 

Firpo barely figured under Barca previous managers. He was offloaded in 2019 for €20m after playing 41 games. He never really gained the confidence of the fans. 

The new kid on the block is Alex Balde. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's Alba heir either as Barca coaches (

 included) don't rate him. The Spanish left-back has only played 6 times for the first team. 

Who would you recommend to be Alba's heir?

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you are very correct,  Lucas digne cucurella are very very good but they were not giving chance no playing time

Bola Ayanda

Dont compare their current team with Barca. They are not at the level needed to play for Barca. Balde is injured. Balde had some chances and lacks to much in defence now. He is still a young player and will improve with time. Barca need o really good leftback now not in a few years.

Zawiuz

That’s not true Lucas Digne , Cucurella they been always good and they still good on there clubs but Alex Baldé he is a young player the club don’t give him a chance to prouve himself yet

KING BAH.  BARCELONA ( MESSI )

Well said boss! I also think a certain style of play limits their expression…. If Barcelona can play fully attacking football like Liverpool and Bayern, I believe Balde will definitely be a beast in that position.

Smith Snyder

Its clear you dont know what you are talking about. Having a certain style of play meen it requiers a certain type of players. Xavis style would never suit Emerson Royal at all since he is to defenciveminded and Xavis style requiers an offenciveminded player. Eden Hazard have constantly floped in Real Madrid because he isnt the type of player they need in their style of play. If every player play like they want to play there wouldnt be a team playingstyle at all just 11 individuals running around doing their own thing with no style or tactics what so ever and they wouldnt win anything then. There is a reason not all players can play in all clubs and do well. Reason is that certain players suit certain playingstyles but not other playingstyles.

Thats a load of crap. Hazard is a completle flop. 1 goal his first season is proof of that. Benched game after game when hes not injured. Coutinho didnt suit the playstyle at all and thats why he never performed at high level expected. Frenkie De Jong isnt going anywhere at all. Its just media rumors nothing more. You dont buy players and change how they play. You buy players that suits your style. All the players Barca wants to offload are either not good enough or doesnt suit Barca playstyle. Before you say anything again learn how things work because you are wrong in everything you say.

Well i just have 2 questions for you.
How many years have you studdied to earn coaching licence and how many years of coaching experience do you have?

That dont say you know. I have 2.5 years suddying and 5 years experience working as coach. That meens i know what i talk about you dont. All coaches makes misstakes. Barca 14 games without loss and climbing from 9 to 2 in La Liga shows that Xavi knows what hes doing.

They can’t play like alba at their first season we have to trust them first and give them playing time but you can’t know someone value in a position by testing him 1 to 3 games 
Let’s think wise

Abdoukadir Sillah

Olushola Emma

Technically, you could say they were not successful in upstaging Alba because of Alba's qualities, the preference of the coaches, and his brilliant On-field relationship with Messi. 
The only person I'll exempt is Balde, at least he's still in the club and he has a chance like any other incoming LB competitor. 
Digne is the main stay of Everton's defense, and so is Cucurella at Getafe who I consider a real threat in LB that we missed out on.

BarcaFOREVER

We can’t call them failures if we didn’t give them the room to prove themselves. 

If you don’t sit for an exam, you can’t fail. 

No school will publish the names of failed students if they didn’t conduct or allow the students sit for the exams. 

So, technically they didn’t fail.

Simon Stanley

I get what you're saying. They are not failures. Of course. They're doing well in their respective clubs. But the thing is Alba was too good for anyone to upstage or take his place. 
It is the attempted displacement of Alba by all these players mentioned that has been largely unsuccessful. Doesn't mean the players are themselves unsuccessful.

Kingsley please what’s your basis for this conclusions? 

No offense but, I think you’re being a bit biased and unrealistic with your assessments and conclusions on this topic. 

First, you can’t really say that they failed to replace Alba when they were not given enough opportunity to make a case for themselves. 

Secondly, most of these players you’ve mentioned had more than enough quality to replace Alba.  But at the time couldn’t get enough game time because of Alba’s form and he was also preferred by the coaches. 


Judge by the impact they made on the field covering for an Injured Alba. 

We’ve seen how players like Digne and Cucurrela improved and where excellent players when they’ve left Barca and got enough playing time.  

Balde was also playing well till he got injured and hasn’t been featured by Xavi ever since.  

What I’m trying to say is that, Non of these players should be called a failure. Because they weren’t given the opportunity to fully express their talents.

Player		G
Alexander Sørloth	Villarreal	23
Artem Dovbyk	Girona	21
Jude Bellingham	Real Madrid	19
Robert Lewandowski	Barcelona	18
Antoine Griezmann	Atletico Madrid	16

5 left-backs who tried but failed to become Jordi Alba's heir at Barca

Lucas Digne

Marc Cucurella

Miranda

Junior Firpo

Alex Balde

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