In his latest column for Tribalfootball.com, Valencia and Boca Juniors legend Dario Felman reviews Lisandro Martinez's first three months with Manchester United, Karim Benzema's Ballon d'Or triumph, Barcelona's Champions League collapse and much, much more...
ARGENTINE FOOTBALL SURPRISED BY LISANDRO'S INSTANT IMPACT AT MAN UNITED Yes, his impact has surprised me personally. He's a very fast footballer, he's a quick lad! He's very skilfull too.
To have played at River Plate… you have to be able to perform at a high level. Almost certainly, he will be selected for the first 23 players in the national Argentine squad. He's another player who can provide hope to the Argentina side regarding their chances in the World Cup.
Yes, Lisandro's growth has surprised Argentine Football in general. However, at the same time, it hasn't surprised me so much, personally, because I know that Argentinian players like Lisandro and Carlos Tevez are from humble barrios, where you learn everything you need to know about football on the street.
So, these types of players are toughened up and almost prepared when they become professional footballers. Add to that… their club's training the players with discipline and hard work and tactics; they then have the chance to become even better footballers.
I'M ENJOYING GATTUSO'S VALENCIA - HE'S GIVEN THEM PERSONALITY
As a player, Rino Gattuso was a winner despite his technical limits as a footballer. He was the 'boss' in midfield and also won the World Cup with Italy. As a manager, he shows the qualities he had as a player…he has a lot of personality, he knows how to get the best out of a limited team, which Valencia is in terms of age and experience. He's given to the team the personality that he has.
He's also signed Edinson Cavani, who has become a 'maestro' on the pitch for Valencia. Cavani symbolises a lot regarding his progress and impressive career. He will be coming up to his 4th World Cup soon, which means 16 years as an international for Uruguay! A young team like Valencia needed a demanding manager with personality and Cavani is very important for the Valencia squad in terms of personality, experience and presence on the pitch and in the dressing room too.
I like Gattuso's way of working, his work rate, his demanding nature. He is very sincere with the players and when he has something to say to them, he tells them to their face…which is how it should be. When they make mistakes, he challenges them. When they are successful, he congratulates them.
Gattuso knows the secret regarding how to make Valencia a great team again. I love his way of working. I'm not saying that Valencia will make Champions League places, but Gattuso has managed to get a team up and running with the few resources available…and given it personality too. The players make the most of their opportunities now, they run less than before but do more with the ball.
However, currently, they have more possession of the ball in the first half but they tend to lose it in the second half. So, at the moment, it's like there are two Valencias! The results speak for themselves.
COMPARING BRIGHTON MIDFIELDER ALEXIS MAC ALLISTER WITH HIS FATHER
Alexis Mac Allister, the son? There's quite a difference with his left-back 'Mac Allister' father, who played football for many years in Argentina and won titles at Boca Juniors.
Alexis, plays with clarity and simplicity and has a really great shot from just outside the box. He's a player that likes to play collectively, to help the team and has a lot of personality in dead ball situations… like corners and free-kicks.
When a team starts to underperform on the pitch, that's when Mac Allister lifts the team and creates space and helps defensively in recuperating the ball and is great on the attack too, with his shots on goal.
His father was left-footed but the son hits very well with the right. He's doing well in a good side and I believe he has a great future.
KARIM BENZEMA IS THE GREATEST STRIKER IN THE WORLD AND DESERVES THE BALLON d'OR
Yes, undoubtedly, Benzema deserves the Ballon D'Or as a player. He's won it for his constancy, for his ambition and for being undoubtedly the best player in his position and he's somebody who has won everything too, regarding titles. You just can't argue with that.
I think he has actually scored more goals for Real Madrid since Cristiano Ronaldo left! Benzema always played well. What happened is that, in the past, Benzema played for a team called "Cristiano Ronaldo" and now he plays for "Real Madrid!" Now, Real Madrid plays for Benzema. He's a phenomenon and an example to follow.
Without a doubt, he most certainly deserves the award. I would definitely put Benzema in the top ten all-time best strikers of La Liga, for sure. Apart from having proved that he is a great goal scorer, he's technically very good but he is not selfish. Normally, we strikers are egotists. My impression is that Benzema is ideal for the club he plays for. If you asked me who is the greatest striker in the world at the moment, I would say Benzema!
As a fellow striker, I would have loved to have played with Benzema because maybe I would have learnt more from him. I would have learnt how to defend more, which strikers did not do back in my day. I would have also learnt from him to maximize my full potential, I was very fast and I would have performed better with Benzema creating spaces for me and beating the opponent or me creating spaces for him to score. We would have complemented each other.
XAVI'S PROBLEMS AT BARCELONA ARE BOTH FOOTBALL AND POLITICAL
We thought that with Xavi in charge of the new formation of FC Barcelona (post-Leo Messi)…especially with the money that the Champions league brings to a club… that there was promise for the club despite Messi having left. Barcelona have a great team but they have had a lot of injuries in a short time, especially in defence…with key players like Gerard Piqué.
As a manager, Xavi is not a magician and he can't solve this problem with a magic wand. You just can't find an easy replacement for a player like Piqué. The substitutes for injured players are just not at the same level as the players they are temporarily replacing. A great club like Barça just cannot have a 'B' player being so below the level of an 'A' player. In contrast, Real Madrid can replace a key player with a player on the bench and their team continues to perform well.
Lots of teams are scoring against Barcelona when, before, it was more difficult to score against the Catalans. Before, Barcelona had Sergi Busquets and Piqué and the goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen all at their peak and that is just not the case right now. At the moment, Robert Lewandowski is holding thing together with all his goals. He's a truly impressive striker, a spectacular player. However, the younger players are still just teenagers and the balance of the team isn't right yet.
Getting knocked out of the Champions League means losing a lot of money and losing prestige too. They are having a bad patch with German teams in Europe. Xavi is not finding the right balance. He's doubtful about choosing Piqué and about choosing Jordi Alba too and Busquets as well. In the old days, those players were a given in terms of the first XI. My attitude is that you die with the players that have given you everything… you shouldn't doubt them.
I would prefer to talk about football but there seems to be something political going on here with salaries and so on. Politics shouldn't enter the dressing room. I don't see that Xavi has evolved the team in the way he was seeking. I do see him as long-term but if he doesn't win the league or Europa League then all of Xavi's achievements as a player will be forgotten and he will have to go. In football, your past glories count for nothing if you are not getting the results.
RACING CLUB WHIZKID GONZALO SOSA AND THE INTEREST OF REAL MADRID
Gonzalo Sosa is a really great player and skillful too. He plays with his head up, looking around and is always up for taking on players in a one-on-one situation. He knows how to dribble, whether it is going to the left or the right side of the midfield. He's always looking for the return pass, which is a sign of intelligence in football and interesting too.
He's not physically that strong but he defends the ball very well. He's a player that plays deep, looking to break lines with his passing and Gonzalo just does not conform with mere horizontal passes. He's a player with a lot of potential in terms of making it a higher level.
I understand that Real Madrid have been watching this lad for quite a while now. Perhaps not many people know that he had a serious cruciate ligament injury when he was 17 years old but he has recovered and is the "pearl" of Racing Club now. He's got quite a career ahead of him.
