Can http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Barcelona-c39078 – La Liga Debate
Barcelona are blessed with a multitude of attacking talents unmatched in the world. The Camp Nou outfit is regarded as the best teams of this generation and easily makes the list of best club teams ever. They recently added UEFA Champions League trophy and
La Liga crown to their growing list of honours and will be looking to improve on this tally in the last six months of the campaign.
Earning a mainstay in such a team is without a doubt one of the toughest feats to accomplish. Dutch international Ibrahim Afellay finds himself in just the situation.
The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/PSV-c40281 Eindhoven captain joined the Catalan giants for a fee of 3 million Euros, going on to make 29 competitive appearances in his short stay. He added to the teams cause with two sublime goals. His first came against relegation threatened UD Almeria
in Copa del Rey and he followed it up with a goal against a resurgent Malaga CF on the last match day.
The Moroccan-Dutch professional footballer has the ability to play either as a winger or an attacking midfielder. He rose to prominence in the Dutch Eredivisie, replacing the outgoing duo of Johann Vogel and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mark-van-Bommel-c24148 at the club. Afellay shined for
PSV and earned a call up to the national team with Marco van Basten. He was a regular substitute for the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Netherlands-c753 national football team as they made their way to 2010 FIFA World Cup final.
His appearances for Oranje and Rood-Witten earned him the interest of La Liga titans, Barcelona. He has made a decent impact in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011, usually coming off the bench to add fresh legs and sizzling pace to the Blaugrana attack. In the previous season, he had
plenty of first team action and it has been fun for him. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pedro-c29582, filling in for the
Spanish international on the right wing.
The 25-year-old has had a decent six-month opening spell at Camp Nou and will be looking to improve on his outings in the coming campaign. Contrary to his wishes, it looks more likely that he will have a subdued role for the La Liga winners.
As it stands, David Villa, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 and Pedro are Pep Guardiola’s preferred starting attackers. The trio forms a devastating partnership as they scored goals for fun, completing the league and European cup double in the process. Should an injury befall
any of the aforementioned players, new signing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexis-Sánchez-c4979 is more than likely to be brought in. The Chilean winger arrived at Camp Nou following a mammoth 37.5 million Euros fee and Guardiola would want him to play.
Addition of Sanchez has hampered Afellay’s chances of cementing a place in the starting eleven. The former Udinese player can play anywhere in attack and favours the left wing. With Messi’s selection being a no-brainer, the wings are left up for grabs and
Sanchez would make one berth his own.
Afellay will get a chance to start for Blaugrana if the favoured starters are unavailable. The Dutch attacker does not stand a chance otherwise. However, he should put his head down and work if he is to earn minutes on the pitch. Guardiola likes hard work
as much as he admires talent. Work for a berth rather sulk on the bench, that’s the least Afellay can do.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are the writer’s own and in no way represent bettor.com’s official editorial policy
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