Our regular reader and Top Commenter Jerad left the following message on our facebook wall in reaction to our The Camp Nou must lift Barça into the semis article:
‘I’d like to Alexis score some goals. Why is nobody complaining about that? Everyone was ready to trade Villa when he went through a drought. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy, but he needs to start putting the ball in the net’
Interesting point of view, Jerad. I’m going to try my best to answer your doubts:
First, I feel Alexis has already scored a good amount of goals this season. Joining Barça for such a considerable amount (26MILLeu plus 11MILLeu in variables, obviously depending on which source you believe) instantly causes an added amount of pressure on your shoulders – which increases to an even higher level if you are an attacking player.
In the past, we have seen many expensive Number 9s fail at FC Barcelona: Ibrahimovic, Kodro, Sonny Anderson… Even the most talented, prolific goalscorer in the history of La Masia (Bojan Krkic) failed to convince the Camp Nou faithful that he had what it takes to take those all important goals when it most matters – No good scoring hat-tricks against Hospitalet in La Copa!
As for Villa, I would like to know where those doubters you mentioned will be hiding when he returns to form after his unfortunate knee injury. They clearly don’t understand what Guardiola’s formation works yet: At Barca, there is a certain Leo Messi who manages to grab over 50 goals per season. As a result, The
Little Argentinian Genius is the main focus of our team’s attack, with the responsibility to either score or give the final assist.
Guardiola has always highlighted he signed Alexis Sanchez because of his tireless work-rate. His defensive intensity is second to none in world football and has adapted to Pep’s formation quickly mainly because of learning from Pedro and Villa.
As for his attacking skills, it’s obvious El Niño Maravilla has enough skill, pace and aggressive nature to succeed at the Camp Nou. Despite battling with minor injuries for most part of the season (mainly due to inexperience), his goalscoring tally isn’t too bad: 11 goals and 3 assists in 33 matches.
While his stats could obviously be better, but let’s not forget it is Alexis’ first season at Barça and, unlike the ‘other’ unsuccessful strikers mentioned above, he is a master at his secondary task of keeping our attack flowing while defending every loose ball.
ALEXIS SANCHEZ: SCORE OR NOT, A GREAT SIGNING FOR BARÇA!!!!!!!!
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