The supreme playmaker, the ultimate midfield maestro, the heart-beat of La Barca...
Every touch sublime, every turn an art, every pass an opportunity...
And every time I play, I just wanna forget my defensive instincts and just become the conductor, with the field as my stage and my team-mates as my orchestra. Unfortunately, I lack the opportunity and the ability. So I try to emulate another one of my footballing heroes - Alessandro Nesta. Hahahaha...
Age has not been kind to me physically with 2 injury ravaged ankles although I long to play with the enthusiasm of a 16 year old, the stamina of a 24 year old and the brains of a 30 year old. One out of 3 ain't that bad eh? No prizes for guessing which of the 3.
Standing at only 1.70m & weighing in at 66kg, what exactly makes Xavi stand out above the rest? - It's his vision and composure on the ball. No other midfielder exudes such a class post-Zidane. His awareness is simply superb, picking out team-mates almost instinctively, whether it's for Barca or La Rojas. That is why those 2 teams often struggle for ideas whenever he's unavailable.. such is his influence.
Sigh... Perhaps in 8 years time when I qualify to play for the veterans I may just get an opportunity to perform like Xavi. Until then, I have another 8 years to fine-tune my abilities!!!
It's never too late!
ReplyDelete"Education is the key. Players have had 10 or 12 years here. When you arrive at Barça the first thing they teach you is: think. Think, think, think. Quickly. [Xavi starts doing the actions, looking around himself.] Lift your head up, move, see, think. Look before you get the ball. If you're getting this pass, look to see if that guy is free. Pum. First time. Look at [Sergio] Busquets – the best midfielder there is playing one-touch. He doesn't need more. He controls, looks and passes in one touch. Some need two or three and, given how fast the game is, that's too slow. Alves, one touch. Iniesta, one touch. Messi, one touch. Piqué, one touch. Busi [Busquets], me … seven or eight players with one touch. Fast. In fact, [the youth coach] Charly [Rexach] always used to say: a mig toc. Half a touch."
It's hard to play like him when you don't get a chance to prove yourself. Maybe I'm just too established a central defender or keeper for the manager to consider me in another role. Hahaha..
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