One day Robinho is on his way to Barcelona, the next day he is at Manchester City for life. One day he is seriously mooting flying to the Camp Nou, the next day he is inviting fellow South Americans to the Eastlands.
Amidst this uncertainty, what is certain is that Robinho will leave Manchester City. For all tall talks of the Brazilian joining the Premier League side not for money but to win silverware, no one doubts that he will move away. Maybe in January, maybe in the summer, maybe in 2011... but he will definitely leave the City of Manchester Stadium.
But will he leave for Barcelona, the club who are reportedly so keen on signing the former Real Madrid Galactico that they would launch a bid in January? And should Barca sign him at all?
There is no footballing reason why Barcelona should not sign the 25-year-old. Since his days at Santos, Robinho has been billed as the 'New Pele' and although he has yet to justify that tag, his talent is precarious and skills unconfined. Ever since his debut for Real Madrid against Cadiz in 2005 when Spanish sports daily, AS declared "And God created Robinho!" (and He also created Titus Bramble, Peter Crouch and Emmanuel Adebayor), the Brazilian international has been earmarked for success and has been considered a true gift of football.
The Old 'New Pele'
Last season Robinho was not at his scintillating best for Man City, yet he was one of the Top 50 players in the world. In his three years at the Bernabeu he had not been very consistent but there had been occasions like the run-in to Madrid's championship triumph in 2006-2007 and again in 2007-2008 when he looked perhaps as good as Lionel Messi and the common consensus is that he can only improve.
And at Barcelona he will certainly improve. If Robinho's footballing talent makes him impossible to resist even by a coach who can afford to get rid of the second best striker in Europe and still retain the best team on the planet, his playing style could see him waltz into Barcelona's 4-3-3 formation.
Robinho's most preferred position is just behind the striker but at Madrid he did play quite well out wide and shouldn't have much problem in starting in the left channel at Camp Nou and then drifting in. He is not a prolific goalscorer like Thierry Henry but his playmaking and linking-up qualities are perhaps more pronounced, and would perfectly compliment the unalloyed genius of Lionel Messi and the subtle technique of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a three-pronged attack. Henry, for all his galactic performance in 2008-2009, took one whole year to settle into that inside-left channel and although sensational last season, the Frenchman has got perhaps only one or two of his best years left in him.
It's not that Robinho is the only option on the left for Barcelona; it's that he is the most viable at the moment. As splendid and fascinating a player Juan Mata is, he is still young and a protege and although David Silva could prove to be more effective than the Brazilian and is certainly more versatile, him leaving Valencia anytime soon doesn't look very feasible.
So Dark The Con Of Robinho
But Robinho comes with strings attached. As tenacious and riveting his awkwardly mesmerizing talent is, the Brazilian has earned the reputation of being 'a party-animal'. He departed Real Madrid under a cloud of accusations: erstwhile president Ramon Calderon insisted that Robinho had been in tears to leave after he realised that he was being used as a cheap bargaining chip in the Cristiano Ronaldo deal and former sporting director Predrag Mijatovic frequently complained of the Brazilian smelling of booze at training.
Robinho's hunger for off-pitch parties rivals his appetite for on-pitch success and at Barcelona this cannot be ignored. Guardiola imposes fines for arriving late for training and for missing breakfast with the team, and given Robinho's track record he could lose half his weekly salary on fines alone.
Robinho held Santos to ransom to move to Real Madrid and forced himself out of Madrid for Man City; if he indeed joins Barcelona he would be forcing himself out of Eastlands, as City have no discernible reason to dispose of their most prized asset. It is clear that for one reason or the other the 25-year-old has left his old clubs on a bad note.
Yet Robinho retains the benefit of the doubt. Santos made it hard for him not to do anything other than force his way through, Madrid were more a circus and less a civilised institution during Calderon's last months in power and Manchester City were not his first choice - Chelsea were.
As Pele once said, "This boy needs some serious counselling." And perhaps Guardiola could be his counsellor.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق