Modern Football Mavericks: Dani Alves
What is a Maverick?
A Maverick is an unorthodox or independent-minded person. In regards to Football, these individuals has gone against the rules set by clubs, organisations (e.g. F.A) and even those that fans expect any other player to follow. Some are loved and some are hated, and in this mini-series of posts, I will be looking at how they have become a Maverick and what this means for them on and off the pitch.
Name: Daniel Alves da Silva
D.O.B: 6th May 1983
Club: Barcelona
Career Information: Bahia (2001-02), Sevilla (2002-08), Barcelona (2008- Present).
Honours:
Club
Bahia
Campeonato Baiano 2001
Campeonato do Nordeste 2001, 2002
Sevilla
Club
Bahia
Campeonato Baiano 2001
Campeonato do Nordeste 2001, 2002
Sevilla
Copa del Rey 2006-07
Supercopa de Espana 2007
UEFA Cup 2005-06, 2006-07
UEFA Super Cup 2006
Barcelona
La Liga 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15
Supercopa de Espana 2007
UEFA Cup 2005-06, 2006-07
UEFA Super Cup 2006
Barcelona
La Liga 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15
Copa del Rey 2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15
Supercopa de Espana 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
Champions League 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15
UEFA Super Cup 2009, 2011, 2015
FIFA Club World Cup 2009, 2011
Country (Brazil)
Copa America 2007
FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, 2013
FIFA World Youth Championship 2003
Individual
La Liga's Best Defenders 2009
UEFA Cup Most Valuable Player 2006
UEFA Super Cup Man of the Match 2006
UEFA Team of the Year 2007, 2009, 2011
FIFA FIFPro World XI 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
European Sports Magazine Team of the Year 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
FIFA Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament 2013
La Liga Team of the Season 2014-15
The Dark Horse of Barca?
Born in Juazeiro, Brazil, Alves started out as a winger for his Father's organised Football team. Due to a lack of goals, Alves was switched to the right-back position, where he would make his name. He made his professional debut for Esporte Clube Bahia (simply known as Bahia) in 2001 and impressed so much that he landed himself a transfer (a loan deal for the first season) to Sevilla. Even before he was officially transferred as a Sevilla player, Alves commanded the right wing of the pitch and revolutionised the full-back's job by adding attacking elements to a position that is considered very defensive. This is something that a Maverick does, redefines their position to display their quality and this is what Alves has done. Surprisingly, in June 2006, Sevilla were going to sell Alves to Liverpool but the English side didn't match the £8 million fee set by Sevilla. After this, Alves signed a contract that extended his contract till 2012 (which we know didn't happen) and gained Spanish citizenship shortly after this. In August 2007, Alves wanted to go to Chelsea but Sevilla rejected three bids and stated that they were 'way below what was expected'. After a public debate with club president, Jose Maria del Nido, Alves decided to stay at the club.
On 2nd July 2008, Alves signed for Barcelona for an initial £23 million, plus £7 million performance-related add-ons, making him the most expensive defender at the time (with a buyout clause of €90 million). Becoming the expensive defender in the World adds Alves to a Maverick standard, as a lot of unique players move for big transfer fees. What is odd about Alves, and actually makes him one of the only players to do this, it that he has only moved twice (so far) in his career and has found a club where he has excelled and won everything he can. For the 2013-14 season, Alves wore the number 22 shirt, formerly owned by former team-mate Eric Abidal, who had offered to donate part of his liver to in order to treat Abidal's liver cancer, further adding him into the Maverick category due to his ability to care about others to the same extent as himself. On 6th June 2015, when Barcelona beat Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League Final at the Olympiastadion, Alves (along with Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Gerard Pique, Pedro Rodriguez & Sergio Busquets) became the only players to be a part of both Barcelona teams that won the treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League). Three days later, Alves signed a two-year contract with Barca, with an option of another year.
Alves, like a few Mavericks, has suffered racism but has dealt with it as best as he can without getting angry. In April 2014, Alves had a banana thrown at him from the Villarreal home section. He picked it up, ate it and commented after saying "We suffered this in Spain for sometime. You have to take it with a dose of humour. We aren't going to change things easily. If you don't give it importance, they don't achieve their objective". Team-mate Neymar then posted on social media a photo of him eating a banana and various other Footballers, including Samuel Eto'o (one of my favourite players) did the same thing in order to attract global awareness of the ugly issue of racism of Football. Alves said the person who threw it at him should be publicly ashamed and three days after the incident, a man was arrested in connection with the incident (Villarreal were then fined €12,000). Alves' desire to make the best of the situation shows his awareness of issues on and off the pitch is fantastic and it is brilliant that he uses his own experience to find the best solution for ugly situations.
When I started to write up the achievements for this post on Dani Alves, I wondered if Alves could even be considered for this niche group of Footballers. True, he doesn't have any high profile antics that have caught the media's eye (except from his numerous public agreements with Barcelona President, Josep Bartomeu, about leaving the club when his contract runs out) but he, in my opinion, is the dark horse of the current European champions, Barcelona, due to his lighting personality and sometimes over-the-top aggression towards important matches. He is a great leader among some of the best Superstars in Football and deserves to be credited as a Maverick, even if he isn't the first one to spring to mind.
Supercopa de Espana 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
Champions League 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15
UEFA Super Cup 2009, 2011, 2015
FIFA Club World Cup 2009, 2011
Country (Brazil)
Copa America 2007
FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, 2013
FIFA World Youth Championship 2003
Individual
La Liga's Best Defenders 2009
UEFA Cup Most Valuable Player 2006
UEFA Super Cup Man of the Match 2006
UEFA Team of the Year 2007, 2009, 2011
FIFA FIFPro World XI 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
European Sports Magazine Team of the Year 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
FIFA Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament 2013
La Liga Team of the Season 2014-15
The Dark Horse of Barca?
Born in Juazeiro, Brazil, Alves started out as a winger for his Father's organised Football team. Due to a lack of goals, Alves was switched to the right-back position, where he would make his name. He made his professional debut for Esporte Clube Bahia (simply known as Bahia) in 2001 and impressed so much that he landed himself a transfer (a loan deal for the first season) to Sevilla. Even before he was officially transferred as a Sevilla player, Alves commanded the right wing of the pitch and revolutionised the full-back's job by adding attacking elements to a position that is considered very defensive. This is something that a Maverick does, redefines their position to display their quality and this is what Alves has done. Surprisingly, in June 2006, Sevilla were going to sell Alves to Liverpool but the English side didn't match the £8 million fee set by Sevilla. After this, Alves signed a contract that extended his contract till 2012 (which we know didn't happen) and gained Spanish citizenship shortly after this. In August 2007, Alves wanted to go to Chelsea but Sevilla rejected three bids and stated that they were 'way below what was expected'. After a public debate with club president, Jose Maria del Nido, Alves decided to stay at the club.
On 2nd July 2008, Alves signed for Barcelona for an initial £23 million, plus £7 million performance-related add-ons, making him the most expensive defender at the time (with a buyout clause of €90 million). Becoming the expensive defender in the World adds Alves to a Maverick standard, as a lot of unique players move for big transfer fees. What is odd about Alves, and actually makes him one of the only players to do this, it that he has only moved twice (so far) in his career and has found a club where he has excelled and won everything he can. For the 2013-14 season, Alves wore the number 22 shirt, formerly owned by former team-mate Eric Abidal, who had offered to donate part of his liver to in order to treat Abidal's liver cancer, further adding him into the Maverick category due to his ability to care about others to the same extent as himself. On 6th June 2015, when Barcelona beat Juventus 3-1 in the Champions League Final at the Olympiastadion, Alves (along with Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Gerard Pique, Pedro Rodriguez & Sergio Busquets) became the only players to be a part of both Barcelona teams that won the treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League). Three days later, Alves signed a two-year contract with Barca, with an option of another year.
Alves, like a few Mavericks, has suffered racism but has dealt with it as best as he can without getting angry. In April 2014, Alves had a banana thrown at him from the Villarreal home section. He picked it up, ate it and commented after saying "We suffered this in Spain for sometime. You have to take it with a dose of humour. We aren't going to change things easily. If you don't give it importance, they don't achieve their objective". Team-mate Neymar then posted on social media a photo of him eating a banana and various other Footballers, including Samuel Eto'o (one of my favourite players) did the same thing in order to attract global awareness of the ugly issue of racism of Football. Alves said the person who threw it at him should be publicly ashamed and three days after the incident, a man was arrested in connection with the incident (Villarreal were then fined €12,000). Alves' desire to make the best of the situation shows his awareness of issues on and off the pitch is fantastic and it is brilliant that he uses his own experience to find the best solution for ugly situations.
When I started to write up the achievements for this post on Dani Alves, I wondered if Alves could even be considered for this niche group of Footballers. True, he doesn't have any high profile antics that have caught the media's eye (except from his numerous public agreements with Barcelona President, Josep Bartomeu, about leaving the club when his contract runs out) but he, in my opinion, is the dark horse of the current European champions, Barcelona, due to his lighting personality and sometimes over-the-top aggression towards important matches. He is a great leader among some of the best Superstars in Football and deserves to be credited as a Maverick, even if he isn't the first one to spring to mind.
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