Few days ago, when a potential heir of Dani Alves's position joined to our rival team, many of us became disappointed.
Dani Alves is in his last year of contact. Things make worst that we have a transfer ban in next summer. Right now, not renewing will be one of the possibly worst mistake. But there's factor too - Alves's wage and demand. Dani is club legend. His wage demand will be high and that's natural. He'll also ask a lengthy contact at least of 3 year and that's logical too. He will be 32 by May. At this age, many club will still want him. But one year later, he will be 33. For professional footballers, a year is huge time. What I know about current board, they aren't good at negotiation, even with it's own player too. He still world's one of the best right back. We still need him, at least one more season.
Now, when it's come to find his successor, it's a bit difficult. Back in 2006-07-08, whenever I watched Sevilla, I wished if Alves played for barca! But in 2015, when I watch other teams, I don't feel like that for any of RBs. Though I've personal choices, that different issue.
As I've not feeling for any RBs like Alves's Sevilla days, I go through [whoscored.com](whoscored.com) to search for next potential RB. I limited my search to La Liga and those who played more than 15 matches. All statistics upto Valencia-Villarreal match of round 29.
Compare among - Dani Alves(Barca), Juanfran(Atletico), Daniel Carvajal(Real Madrid), Mario Gaspar(Villarreal), Coke(Sevilla), Nyom(Granada).
Reason to choose them: Dani Alves - Parameter for any RB in barca, Carvajal - Arguably most promising RB right of La Liga right now, Juanfran - One of the pillar of Simione's system, Mario - One of the most consistent RB for two seasons, Coke - Barca usually buys a lot of Sevilla players(Same goes for Valencia too, but they've a new owner now), Nyom - Was rumored in summer.
Overall rating: The First thing stuck me, at whoscored rating Dani Alves is still the RB of the season. Only Juanfran(Deportivo) has more rating than him).
| Attribute | Dani Alves | Carvajal | Juanfran | Mario | Coke | Nyom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 31 | 23 | 30 | 24 | 28 | 26 |
| Overall Rating | 7.22 | 7.2 | 6.86 | 7.19 | 7.05 | 7.00 |
| Application | 20 | 21 | 27 | 23 | 17 | 25 |
| Attribute | Dani Alves | Carvajal | Juanfran | Mario | Coke | Nyom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Tackles | 82 | 67 | 64 | 76 | 38 | 76 |
| Dribbled Past | 27 | 20 | 22 | 16 | 17 | 10 |
| Interception | 30 | 46 | 33 | 56 | 45 | 50 |
| Fauls committed | 36 | 29 | 24 | 21 | 45 | 50 |
| Yellow Cards | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Clearances | 18 | 38 | 28 | 71 | 31 | 71 |
| Passes Blocked | 31 | 19 | 23 | 44 | 18 | 25 |
| Crosses Blocked | 11 | 9 | 15 | 21 | 4 | 12 |
| Shots Blocked | 4 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Attribute | Dani Alves | Carvajal | Juanfran | Mario | Coke | Nyom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shots from Outside box | 10 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 5 |
| Shots from Penalty Area | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 4 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Successful Dribbles | 11 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 26 |
| Dispossessed | 18 | 5 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 11 |
| Unsuccessful Touches(Bad control) | 18 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 16 | 6 |
| Aerial Won | 19 | 17 | 12 | 24 | 26 | 29 |
| Aerial Lost | 18 | 25 | 15 | 19 | 27 | 11 |
| Attribute | Dani Alves | Carvajal | Juanfran | Mario | Coke | Nyom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Passes | 1316 | 943 | 930 | 894 | 508 | 746 |
| Accurate Long Ball | 50 | 19 | 45 | 40 | 16 | 41 |
| Accurate Short Passes | 1113 | 803 | 678 | 609 | 508 | 526 |
| Key Passes Total | 24 | 22 | 24 | 13 | 12 | 10 |
| Key Passes Long | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Assist | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Of 3 assists of Alves 2 came from cross, 1 through ball, All 3 are cross from Juanfran, none cross from Carvajal.
Passing is where Dani Alves is still GOD. And that's the reason we still need him. Notable that, those teams forwards are better, their RBs key passes are better. Alves's long ball are better than any one. Nyom and Mario has 9 and 10 less accurate long balls respectively. Where Carvajal and Coke have more than 30 less long balls than Alves.
Offensively, Nyom is a beast on Aerial. His control is also better among all. Alves's bad control cost us 3 point against Malaga. Carvajal has least number of dispossessed, Mario and Nyom are second and third least respectively and Alves has most(which is what shows his decline). In term of dribbles(which should not be a measurement for a defender), Nyom has most dribbles.
Defensively, Mario posses better than any other. He is perfect as a neutralizer of an offensive LB. He has most clearances, most passes and crosses blocked, most interception, least dribbled past, third most tackles(12 less than first - Alves).
Overall, My choice still the old man - Alves. Mario and Nyom can be very good options according to the manager's choice. Between this two, my pick - Mario, a balance with Alba would lead another pair like Alves-Abidal but this time upside down.
Note: Many photos were taken before Valencia - Villarreal match. I added this match while writing the post.
Note 2: I only count La Liga RBs. I've plan for doing overall RBs in the future.
Edit: typos