A lot of what I see in him reminds me of when I first saw Juan Carlos Valerón play. If he turns out like the Depor legend then he will be one hell of a player.
That's a great shout - can definitely see what you mean by this - the grace and elegance without necessarily the pace - but the vision is most definitely there - I really like the way he just stands with his foot on the balls - and is like - are you guys gonna make a run ....? Very JCV like!
And the constant head up running!!!!!!!!!!! (I have to say I was more excited about this boy than any of our other signings - even though I'm fully aware he won't make as significant an impact as some of the others - especially in the short term)
I know people slated him for his performance in the notts co but even in that game he played some lovely passes - especially later on in the game.. Was always looking for the straight ball for the diagonal run inside the full back... Delich!!!
Additionally, the pointing and closing space is a very interesting point - i have a theory that players who have the natural ability to read the play do so by being able to read cues to interpret how the play is going to evolve - usually people associate this with only the offensive side of the game. In the way we all comment on great vision because a player is able to identify a gap and thread a ball through the eye of a needle (See coutinho for further details
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But as Roy has expertly demonstrated above, this ability of players deemed to have 'vision' also results in them being very good at closing options/nicking the ball - i think this collection of 'intelligent' footballers makes playing a high press game much more viable - this almost inherent ability to be able to read the play gives them an advantage on closing down opposition because they can position themselves in places where the opposition player will turn into and/or play the ball into.. Potentially, what some of the coaches would refer to as controlling space to initiate a transition.
I personally believe that Barca's high press game is inextricably linked to having a set of very intelligent forwards who all individually have this 'game intelligence' - the number of times players like Messi and inniesta nick a ball from a player by putting their body where the player is going to turn is uncanny. I believe this is because they are aware that is the only option for that opposition player - this is because their 'game intelligence' allows them to process that information quicker than the opposition player in possession is able to..
We seem to be collecting a number of these player and long may it continue... But heck what do I know - I still believe Suso is the new Isco....
Ps: thoroughly recommend the brilliant OP by Prof on 'the system is king' thread - it outlines the underlying theory on why Luis Alberto is gonna win the Ballan d'Or
