World Cup’s five finest full-backs

Jordi Alba

Jordi Alba of Spain reacts during the warm up prior to an international friendly match between Spain and Bolivia

From one full-back who made the season his own to one who struggled with injuries this season. Barcelona’s Jordi Alba is widely recognised as one of the best left-backs in the world but injuries have limited him to just 15 league appearances.

Nevertheless the 312 performance points he accumulated in those matches represents a very healthy return over the course of a full season. Alba hasn’t played for Barcelona since mid April but he is used to playing at such a high standard. Alba was one of the stand-out performers for Spain in the 2012 European Championships and he will provide a strong attacking threat down the left hand side.

Alba’s passing was, as you would expect from a Barcelona player, very good with an 89% pass success rate and he even managed to weigh in with two assists this season. Having Alba missing for so much of this season was a big blow this season and whilst Adriano is a solid replacement he is not in the same league.

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Cesar Azpilicueta

Cesar Azpilicueta of Spain in action during a training session of the Spain National Team

However if Spain want a more defensive full-back they can do no worse than look at Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta. The right-back has been playing at left-back this season under Jose Mourinho and he has done a tremendous job at it.

Ashley Cole’s poor form earlier in the season saw Azpilicueta given his chance to shine and he took it with both hands. His attacking instincts were curbed as he looked to protect the space created by Eden Hazard and it is no surprise to see Azpilicueta do well in the defensive statistics.

Azpilicueta leads the clearances figures (165) and also does very well in interceptions (75) and tackles (74). Perhaps slightly concerning for Spain are his poor offensive stats; he hasn’t scored and he has created the fewest chances of our five as well as only winning seven take-ons. However he hasn’t made a single defensive error all season and he’s only picked up one yellow, if Spain need to tighten up he is the man to call.