Monday, November 19, 2012

Should Chicharito start?



The debate has been raging after the loss to Norwich and some self-proclaimed hardcore fans are now calling for Fergie's head. It looks like they lost theirs themselves.

Now coming back to my point should a player like Chicharito start? I would say no and here's why...

To be a footballer you need a good mix of two skills - mental and physical. You need to have the skills to dribble/tackle etc. and the mental skills to read a game and position yourself at the right place at the right time. A mix of both is what makes complete footballer. Having them in the right mix separates the Messis' and the Ronaldos' from the rest.

Again some are acquired skills which come with practice and some are inborn.

So what sets the 5'9" striker apart from the rest? Is it his physical strength or skill? Or is his mind with the ability to read a game? In my opinion it's the latter that he reads games so well. He is above average when it comes to skill but there are many with above average skill and that's not what makes him what he is.

He seems to be the kind who takes time to read games(though there maybe exceptions like the 1st minute goal against Chelsea) and in my opinion his best place when a game starts is on the bench. That may sound bizarre but him being my favorite player in the line-up I have always noticed the intensity with which he watches games. He's not the type who's just ready when warming up, he's the type who's reading every move of the enemy from afar and when called to fire all cylinders he seldom disappoints.

It somehow seems to me that he reads games from a holistic perspective, more like looking at the forest and finding the anomalies rather than getting in and looking for holes which would be tougher. Once he's read a game he seems to know what to do to take a man-marking or zonal defender out of position and such a strategy results in either him scoring or providing a teammate with a scoring opportunity.

So he's the kind of player who would thrive if he's allowed to watch the game for a while and then told - here your turn now - go for the kill.

You must also notice his success against teams that have a very rigid strategy. That is again his ability to find a flaw in the system that he can exploit. Of course it could be the manager or coach that is spotting this flaw and asking his to just carry orders out but again I haven't seem someone since Ole Solskjaer do something so often and with such a high success rate. So it has to something about the player too.

I have been hearing rumors of him being sold due to Uniteds excess in his department - personally I would say that would be a big mistake by United and hoping they don't do that. The only other player who seems to be matching him in this aspect of the game as of today is Edin Dzeko.

Cheers to the Little Pea.

Related Reading :

Javier Hernandez should not be used in the United Starting XI : Link here


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