Riera isn't getting any younger and Alex is the closest we have to him.
He plays football in a very simple way. Simple pass and move, always busting a gut to make himself available for a pass, high workrate and good on the ball. Still only 22 and he could be the DM to build the team around for years to come.
Quite agree, he is a ready replacement for Riera. I like his simple passing game, although he did try a couple of long range through the gap ones that if they had come off....and they nearly did, we would have been away with one on ones.
I think he has better vision than Roly playing higher also. He doesn't get to show it much and is hit and miss with his little back heels and through balls, but he is looking for them more than Roly is. I have this probably unfair perception of Roly as the individually skilled Dutch player, with Alex as the interplaying, pass and move Spanish styled player. Would love to see him get real license to box to box with Riera behind him, but it's been tried and seems to get too crowded with Mcg and Roly fairly narrow in front of him and the chemistry doesn't seem to work too well.
I dunno, I just feel that there is something potentially special there, that's not really gelling.