David Alaba

[Edwin]

What do you guys think of him at left back, long term?

Defensively he's been suspect actually and a couple of times he's gotten away with risky last ditch challenges in the box and I think he'll have a torrid time against tough opposition, but it's mostly due to his lack of positioning , and one tends to forget he is only 19. He will learn and get better, there's no doubt about that. It's a question of whether we can afford to have a LB learning the trade.

It's his offensive work along side Ribery and his harrying of opponents that has impressed me and he's also shown he can whip in a pretty good cross when given the opportunity.

All in all, I like what I've seen.

[Tigerheart]

I have said it in another thread not long ago. I think against strong offensive players he might be exposed. Apart from that so far it was quite ok what we saw from him. At least good enough to give him a chance.

[filo]

I think he is the best we've got as a left-back. Contento, Pranjic, Luiz Gustavo and all the players that have passed on that position (Badstuber included) were not as good as Alaba.

With time and confidence, he will get better against stronger rivals.

Not to mention that he was already playing as a left-back v Germany on the Eurocup qualifiers and he did a good job v Müller. So, why not a good job v others like Reus.

[filo]

Here's a very good article about David Alaba