Happy Birthday Ernesto Valverde: 5 reasons why the current Barca coach deserves props for his role

#3 Manipulating a gameplan without Neymar and improving Jordi Alba's involvement in the game

Jordi Alba has been lethal since Ernesto Valverde has taken over. Messi and Alba form a dangerous and killer partnership.

One of the biggest things that Valverde had to deal with was Neymar's move to PSG. It put an end to one of the most feared, most coveted trios in Europe. This left a huge void at the left-wing spot, a role which belonged to Neymar. Barcelona did bring Deulofeu back but he played right-wing. Dembele too was new to the team and he also favored the right-side. Thus came another of Valverde's unconventional yet brilliant plans.

He used a 4-4-2 formation with Suarez and Messi upfront while Jordi Alba ran up front through the left side while attacking. This made the front three -- Alba, Suarez, Messi while attacking. He also used Dembele in the right-wing when using the 4-3-3 formation but, after his injury, it became tough and he used the 4-4-2 often.

Another thing that Valverde tried was to deploy Messi at the false-9 spot. He played with Suarez as left inside-forward who moved in from the left when Alba arrived. He rotated between Andre Gomes, Denis Suarez, Sergi Roberto, Aleix Vidal, in the right wing, seeing Messi's exploits as false-9.

While many doubted Barcelona's attacks without Neymar, Valverde came up with good gameplans, whether it be Messi as false-9, Suarez on the left-side and most importantly Jordi Alba's attacking contributions being multiplied. Jordi Alba is the best left-back in the world currently, doesn't seem to run out of gas, doesn't seem to run out of form too. Thank you for turning Alba into a beast gaffer and also thank you for helping us forget Neymar.