by bigmick » Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:50 am
I watched Daniel Alves (who seems to prefer Danny these days) with some interest in the match against Chelsea, having heard how he as the one that got away etc. It's the first time I've ever really seen him play, and my brief impressions (which may be all total b0ll0cks as it's not easy to judge on one game) were as follows:
Defensively, he had a good tussle with Malouda on the few occasions the Chelsea man got forward. I wouldn't rate him as the best right back defensively I've seen by a long shot though, although he's got a bit of pace about him and seems strong enough. He did have a wee roll about on the deck at one point before springing to his feet and running around like a spring chicken, and what with all his gesticulating he seems to me to be a bit of a drama queen.
It didn't require any insight on my part though as I've heard about his reputation to see that it's when he goes over the half way line that he really comes to life. He's obviously not afraid of bursting beyond the play, as he almost got in second half. He also distributes it well. He had one blockbuster shot in the second half which nobody seemed particularly surprised about, and he put two absolutely World class crosses in during the final fifteen minutes. One of them the young kid they brought on up top should have been shot for not scoring from, and the second one fizzed accross the goal and missed everyone. I think (although I'm not sure) that the first one was with his right foot, the second was I'm fairly sure with his left.
Anyways, whoevers fault it was/is that we didn't sign him (and I know most people are of the opinion it is Rick parry's fault) almost certainly made a fairly big blunder based on that, even for 12 million quid or whatever it was.
The other bloke who really impressed me aside from the superstars who only flickered intermittently like harbour lights when viewed from a fishing boat, was (I think his name is) Yaya Toure who gave a monsterous performance in midfield. He would improve Man Utd's team out of all recognition, as would the holder Porto had when they played them.
Messi, although doing absolutely feck all illumiates the match from time to time with a mesmeric swerve or piece of control. Like an A list actor who's taken a bit part in his mates movie just as a favour, even when he's got no lines he kind of drifts into the scene and steals the show. A truly wonderful footballer.
"se e in una bottigla ed e bianco, e latte".