When Alba chooses to retire, will he be considered the best left back in Barcelona history?

When the 36-year-old Alba chooses to retire, countless fans will have a question in their minds. Is he considered the number one left back in the history of Barcelona? There have actually been a lot of controversies and discussions about Alba.

When he first came to Barcelona, ​​he could only play as a substitute, with Adriano starting. However, the latter has a vitreous constitution because he was injured repeatedly. In the end, Alba successfully took over and became the starter.

However, during Enrique's coaching period, Alba was once again taken over by the team coach, who would rather play a three-center-back formation than use Alba, who is strong in offense and weak in defense.

But if you look closely at the number one left back in Barcelona's history, even though Alba's physical strength is not the strongest, his number of assists and championship honors give him an advantage.

Coupled with the natural tacit understanding between him and Messi, Alba has become one of the best representatives of Barcelona's left-backs, and has also made countless fans believe that he is the number one left-back in Barcelona's history.

Alba's off-the-ball movement is extremely smart and he has an excellent sense of rhythm. On the one hand, he can put on the ball in time, and on the other hand, he is a good passer. More importantly, he knows how to pause and observe before passing the ball, and can send timely inverted triangle passes.

Being in a team like Barcelona that advocates offense will further enhance Alba's status and fully unleash his offensive characteristics.

Although he has been criticized by fans for his poor defense, Alba actually has speed, and at the same time he has a strong sense of responsibility on the defensive end and a strong awareness of protecting the back point.

Despite his lack of height during the game, Alba had some good defensive shots. Just like this time, the opponent passed the ball to the back point on the left. Alba won the first point with a header and successfully reached the control of his teammates.

In this defense again, Alba quickly chased back and then got stuck in position, protecting the space left by the central defender.

Regarding defense, Alba actually has his own characteristics, and it is not that he does not understand defense at all. His defensive awareness and skills are still online.

Alba's biggest problem is actually related to Barcelona's style of play. Because of Barcelona's offensive style of play, the left back is easily left alone when defending. The opponent uses long passes to hit Alba, and then grabs the second position. Once Barcelona's left center back cannot stand up, big trouble will occur, and Alba's point becomes a Achilles' heel.

This is also an important reason why Barcelona suffered consecutive humiliations in the Champions League knockout rounds in those years (including a 2-0 reversal by Atletico Madrid in the 2015-16 season, 0-3 Roma in the 2017-18 season, and 0-4 Liverpool in the 2018-19 season). Those defeats caused Alba's reputation to plummet, and it was also one of the reasons why he was taken down by the team as the main player and kicked out in the future.

However, as Messi's best partner at left back, Alba has left too many wonderful moments in Barcelona. Perhaps Abidal is a better left back, but in Barcelona, ​​which advocates offense, Alba will have his indelible achievements.

Even if he retires, the memories of Alba will still be a topic that countless Barcelona fans talk about.