Well, well, well. After a group of, let’s be honest, insipid Player SBC’s, we finally have our first bonafide baller, 88 David Alaba!

But wait, there’s more.

As if to heighten our appetite for this Austrian anchor, they’ve only gone and made it a player pick SBC. That’s right, we’ve got twins. Not only are we going to unpack whether this SBC is worth doing in the first place, we’ll also cover which of the 2 you should pick!

Check out the cards! - Alaba 88 - Physical Version - Alaba 88 - Defending Version 

This delectable duo of dominant defensive demons do delight in the same upgrades to their Pace, Dribbling, Shooting and Passing however they diverge in the second and third most important stats for a defender (after pace obviously). One Alaba has the brains with 91 defending and 81 Physical, and One Alaba has the brawn with 87 Defending and 87 Physical.

Player Pick Alaba SBC Requirements

Here are the following SBC Requirements you’ll need to complete for the Alaba PP SBC:

#1 - Real Madrid

Real Madrid Players - Min 1

Min 86 OVR - Min 1

Squad Rating - Min 84

Reward - Small Gold Players Pack

#2 - La Liga

La Liga Players - Min 1

In Form - Min 1

Squad Rating - Min 85

Reward - Small Rare Mixed Players Pack

#3 - Top Form

In Form - Min 1

Squad Rating - Min 86

Reward - Premium Gold Players Pack

#4 - 87-Rated Squad

Min 88 OVR - Min 1

Squad Rating - Min 87

Reward - Rare Electrum Players Pack

Total Cost from scratch ~ 300K

Average Return From Packs ~ 25k

There’s no other way to put this. It’s expensive.

Not like “I’ll just nip to the cash machine” expensive, more like “I now need to take out a small mortgage at these hilariously increased rates, cheers Liz” expensive. 300k is comfortably 30% higher than the next most expensive SBC we’ve had this year.

It makes Alaba the 29th most expensive non Icon card in the game and only behind the multiple league Hero Lucio and the now permanently scarred Rudiger’s OTW in terms of defenders. Cost-wise, there is very little going for this SBC right now.

Player Pick Alaba SBC Analysis

However, let’s focus on the cards themselves. A +2 for both cards is paid for with -5 on Alaba’s shooting. This is a big problem for me as, with Alaba’s world renowned positional diversity, you are going to miss the shooting when moving him into the midfi…what?...none at all?...like not even left back? Ffs

As I was saying, losing the shooting is perfect for a card that can only play CB. With +2 in pace and passing boosting both cards above the magical 80 pace, and less magical but still important 90 short passing, being able to keep up with Haaland and play out of danger should now be even easier with this Alaba.

A +3 in Dribbling including a big +4 in Agility (more on that later), give him the best dribbling on a CB in the game. With reactions and ball control often touted as being very important stats for a defender, this could elevate Alaba to a level few other CB’s could touch.

Which One To Take?

However, we now reach a fork in the road. And I’m shocked I’ve managed to stop myself from saying this for this long. But we now reach a fork between the correct choice, and the idiots choice of Alaba. If you are taking the Defensive version of Alaba, I would also expect you like raisins in your cookies, think cheese and onion is the best flavour of crisp and think that Game Of Thrones season 8 was “just as good as the rest”.

The Physical option of Alaba is so easily the best choice for so many reasons. Firstly, you can use an Anchor and he becomes Lengthy. In order to do that with Defensive Alaba, you need to give him an Architect, that not only means he doesn’t get a pace boost, but you waste all those stats boosting his already insane passing!

Even aside from comparing lengths. PhysicAlaba just has more stats, plain and simple. He’s far better rounded. And, for a player who is 5’11, the +7 jumping is absolutely massive.

I cannot express this enough, please, for the love of all that is holy and good, take PhysicAlaba.

How Does He Compare?

Now that we’ve settled on which Alaba. We come to the question of should you Alaba.

At this point, I tend to like to compare the player in question with a selection of other players. The reality is, no one is like Alaba. Absolutely no one can touch his Passing and Dribbling as a CB outside of Icons. Outside of that, he’s a solid CB, good pace, decent defensive stats, but a little small. In fact, FUTBIN’s similar players feature displays this far better than I could write it.

Where you are planning to play Alaba is the biggest question to ask yourself. You could easily start in a 5 back and move this card into midfield. In midfield Alaba is in elite company. With over 80 pace, 85 passing, 83 dribbling and cracking defensive stats, very few players will be able to offer what he can at the base of a midfield.

84 stamina could let you down late in games however. Only Yaya, Marchisio and Valverde’s POTM and RTTK can really be compared to this card as a defensive midfielder. Leon Goretzka is there but more like a Guitar Tech rather than a part of the band.

Alaba has fantastic links in Real. Rudiger, Vinny, Valverde, Benzema, Mendy, Courtois, Modric etc. They all give that +1 and with a La Liga manager you have 2 chemistry on Alaba with no trouble whatsoever.

Austria, it’s fair to say, is slightly less forgiving for links. Laimer is a solid base gold card but needs a special to keep up. Arnautovic is fun but only when you’re eating a kebab at 3 in the morning after a night out. However La Liga is solid links wise and there’s a few Austrian managers to help edge you towards 3 chemistry.

Alaba Rulebreakers PP SBC - Cop or Flop?

With just 25% Upvotes, it’s fair to say the price has put a lot of you off. RTGenzo tried to find a way of making this SBC value for money…

I have, for my sins, completed this SBC. I’ve played 10 games with him, not enough I know. And I love him. But I had also just opened 50 x 2 player upgrade packs and had a club overflowing with fodder. Putting his silkiness on the ball, his ability to assume control of the ball defensively and his passing, his delightful passing, aside. From scratch, this SBC is about 100k too expensive.

If you have 100k+ of untradeable fodder in your club, then do this SBC, you won’t regret it. However we have to draw a line in the sand here at Cop or Flop, and that line is from scratch price. So…

Much like when I saw Michaelangelo’s David in Florence, this is an absolute work of art, but I cannot justify the price of entry.

SBC Rating – 5/10

FLOP

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