Messi is too good to play in England
During the winter of his discontent with Luis Enrique at Barcelona, speculation was rife that Lionel Messi might be looking for a move to the Premier League as he dropped hints of his dissatisfaction. Since the New Year, though, he has been resurgent, driving forward with the old verve, reading his team-mates’ runs into space and delivering perfectly weighted passes into their paths. The ease with which he nutmegged the English champions’ players, the whirling movement of his colleagues and the fouls he invited suggest that in peak form playing in England would be no test at all. A lucrative encore before retirement perhaps, but going at his peak would be a betrayal of his talent.
Hart has thrived on the biggest stage this season
A dozen times Joe Hart saved City with excellent reflexes to block close range from Neymar, Luis Suarez, Messi and Ivan Rakitic. His positional sense is better than ever and his ability to thwart attackers in one-on-ones is improving all the time. It takes nerve to stay on your feet, especially when faced with an attacking trio all of whom who can shoot early with virtually no backlift. He stood his ground with remarkable assurance, spread himself to make an intimidatingly large obstacle, kept his side in the game until Sergio Agüero missed the penalty and spared them humiliation either side of that miss.
Joe Hart stops Lionel Messi
Joe Hart's saves in red, and the one that beat him in yellow
Nasri is his own worst enemy
You can almost hear Arsenal fans and, indeed Didier Deschamps, echoing, Ernest Bevin’s response when someone opined that Herbert Morrison was his own worst enemy, “not while I’m alive, he ain’t”. But for all his gifts as a player – his clever exploitation of space, vision, excellent dribbling and good finishing, his petulance threatens to undermine his talents. Just as a lazy full-back will eventually dive in and go to ground rather than staying on his feet when a winger attacks him relentlessly, a lazy midfielder will do what Nasri did to Neymar, hack him across the shins instead of harrying him. No wonder he was substituted at half-time.
Samir Nasri is cautioned for a reckless kick across Neymar
• Barcelona vs Manchester City: as it happened
Suarez's sacrifice is worth it
Since Pep Guardiola took over as Barcelona manager in 2008 the club has bought three prolific centre-forwards – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa and Luis Suárez – and each of them have found they have had to adapt to the system which uses them as much as decoys as an actual threat. If it seems a waste of Suárez to encourage him to spin behind the full-backs, preoccupy the centre-backs with darts down the inside-forwards channels and draw fouls, it is a hugely effective ploy and a sacrifice that benefits the team. Without his diagonal run that cut across Messi and took a marker with him, Ivan Rakitic would not have had the freedom he had to score the opener.
Luis Suarez is fouled by Yaya Toure
Neymar deserves more credit
Neymar, like Inrahimovic, is hugely underrated in England where he is perceived as a 'show pony' or, in Ron Atkinson’s famous designation, ‘an amusement arcade’. But the flicks and tricks are far from pointless, he uses them to work angles. Like Messi he knows that putting the ball through a player is just as effective as going down the sides and however much a defender is anticipating the nutmeg, it is very difficult instinctively to close the legs because it would be giving the attacker an invitation and a head start to sprint inside or outside. Add in to that the timing of his runs into the box, his ball control and his growing team awareness and you have a player that is far better than he is given credit for in England.
Neymar is pulled back by Samir Nasri
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét