Player Review

Hey there, welcome to my review of David Alaba. I picked him up for around 30K in the early access days and have been using him since then, playing around 30 games with him. I'm using the Shadow chemistry style and will cover his attributes individually, and in the end a small overview and a slight comparision with a few fullbacks I've used (Alba, Marcelo).

Pace - Even though his acceleration is not necessarily that high, the chemistry style does boost it up to 94, and his Sprint Speed to 96, coupled with quite acceptable agility, meaning his pace is fine. He will be able to keep up with nearly every winger without the ball and on the ball he's quite quick as well.

Shooting - He has very well-rounded shooting for a leftback. I've actually scored 3 goals with him as he usually stays on the edge of the box with corners, and opposing headers out landing in his feet gave him the opportunity to smash the ball from far out. His finishing in the box is surprisingly good as well, I play him on overlap and he can cut it and if you can get him onto that left foot, you've got a good chance of him putting the ball in the back of the net.

Passing - Very good. His crosses are pinpoint accurate, his short and long passing is basically faultless and his composure is solid, even when pressed. Countless times I've had Coman pass the ball back to Alaba in order to sprint away from his fullback and Alaba succesfully providing the long ball in the wide area. His FK's are quite accurate to say the least, but I haven't been able to score one as I continously fail to get good power behind it. Vision is not necessarily outstanding, but is definitely good enough.

Dribbling - Not the greatest mobility if you compare to other fullbacks, but it's definitely good enough at this period in the game. His turning speed is okay, nothing too special. His ballcontrol and dribbling however is very good in my experience, dribbling past wingers and fullbacks is a definite option and he will do so if controlled succesfully.

Defending - His defending is very good, and with that I want to give a special note to his defensive awareness. Despite the stat being only 80, he is always in the right place defensively and will be able to intercept the ball well. I've had absolutely good experiences with his tackling as well, both slide and stand. At this point in the game he is definitely amongst the top three gold leftbacks in terms of defending.

Physical - Alaba's physicality is quite decent. His stamina is good enough to keep him going for at least 90 minutes with him overlapping from time to time, but in extra time he might grow a little tired but it is not that bad considering his M/M workrates. If you tell him to stay back, which I've also tried, he won't have any problems lasting 120 minutes in the game. He wins many headers against a lot of different wingers, because of firstly his good jumping stat and secondly his height - he is taller than most wingers. In terms of strength, he is not the strongest but will definitely be able to hold onto the ball but will have a bit more difficulty pushing players off the ball, possibly also because of relatively low aggression. (He won't be like Valencia in previous FIFAs who just bullied basically every winger).

All in all, Alaba is a fantastic, affordable option at this moment in time with a 4 star weakfoot as one of the few top leftbacks (only Marcelo) who has a lot of good linking opportunities with Bayern players (Hernandez, Boateng, Goretzka) or other Bundesliga players (Akanji, Witsel). In comparison to other left backs, I think he is the best and most well-rounded options you've got right now alongside Alex Sandro (excluding available icons). Sandro offers more physicality and defending qualities, whilst Alaba is better offensively and has a 4-star weakfoot. In terms of other fullbacks, Marcelo doesn't have the stamina or defending qualities and Alba lacks the physical aspect, which is why I think Alaba is ahead of both of them.

Thank you for reading this review and have a good day!