Football Special Report: Messi and Villa- The Winning Duo for Barcelona
Barcelona, right now, might be the best team in Europe, having the potential to beat any other club. However, there is something more than just being the best; they play the most beautiful football in the whole world. The free-style passing game, which was first introduced by the Dutch players in Barcelona’s squad, and later on, it flourished under Frank Rijkaard, is the art of Barcelona FC. There are many players in the Barcelona’s squad that help the team to maintain maximum possession, and exert maximum pressure on the opponents.
Lionel Messi, the best player in the World, is one of those players. He has helped his team to win many trophies, while last season he went on to score a record number of goals in the season. In addition, he is the current World Player of the Year, as he beat the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka to the crown.
However, there was one problem with Barcelona, i.e. they never had a player who would always score if he gets an open chance. Even last year, Barcelona missed almost three quarters of their chances created in their games. Previously, Samuel Etto had the duty to play the role of the centre-forward, but he was known for missing many opportunities. Therefore, last year, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was signed to provide an extra edge to the team. However, this proved to be a poor signing as Ibrahimovic failed too, to convert chances into goals. He was even worse than Etto, as he missed many open chances, when there was only goal-keeper to beat. This time around, Pep Guardiola has tried to improve his team’s scoring abilities by signing the prolific goal scorer, the Spanish striker, David Villa.
David Villa is known for his abilities to create and score a lot of goals. He was the top scorer in the Spanish La Liga in 2008-2009, while he has contributed a lot of goals in other seasons. Villa remained the top scorer in the Euro 2008 and the World Cup 2010, as the Spanish giants won both the tournaments. David Villa is quite a versatile player, who moves around the pitch and creates a lot of chances for other teammates as well.
Now, Messi was already in the squad and with the introduction of David Villa, the Barcelona’s squad has achieved a different level. The best player in the World and the best striker in the World (Villa is the best striker as he has been the top goal scorer in both of the major tournaments played in recent years), would complement each other during the games. Messi is also known for his creating abilities, so he would always be looking for Villa in the box. On the other hand, both these players can play on the forward flanks, so if they keep on switching their side, it would always cause troubles for the opposition defences. However, the real advantage of having these players in your team is that the goals would be plenty. Even Messi can miss some opportunities, but David Villa is a goal-scoring machine, and his percentages of hitting the target are very high indeed.
The real problem for Pep Guardiola would be to retain Ibrahimovic in his squad. If he plays Pedro, alongside these two big players, the advantage to Barcelona would be massive. Pedro is a similar style player, but he needs a little grooming and experience. Still, he is much better than Ibrahimovic, who has failed to develop any chemistry, with other players, during his one year stay at the Camp Nou. Pedro, on the other hand, has developed this chemistry, as he is also a product of Barcelona’s youth team, and has also played alongside Villa in the Spanish National team.
The next season for Barcelona is going to be even bigger than the previous two seasons, as there would be a lot of goals. There would also be a need for the other clubs to improve their defences, as Barcelona is going to be unstoppable in the upcoming La Liga season.
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