FC Barcelona: Three hopes, one fear

Hope #3: That Jordi Alba can become the linchpin of the Barcelona defense.

For the past few seasons one of the names that has come up as a can’t miss prospect is Jordi Alba. The Barcelona left-back has steadily become one of the top defenders in the world thanks in part to his tactical defending and passing from the back. Now at 27 the question is if he can become the linchpin of the Barcelona defense.

As we will discuss with Messi later the Barcelona back four have a lot of miles on their legs. Center-backs Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique have been the rock for the Barcelona defense for years now and are very big reasons for the club’s success. But the dup are 32 and 29 respectively and have made a combined 407 appearances for the club.

Barcelona in the offseason seemed to understand that they needed to get younger. The club dropped Thomas Vermaelen (30), Dani Alves (33), and Adriano (31) and added youngsters Lucas Digne (22) and Samuel Umtiti (23). This perhaps may be a changing of the guard in the Barcelona. If it is look for Alba to play a prominent role in it.