El Pajarito: Federico Valverde

Doc wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:You’ll see it yourself. It takes time sometimes

If Valverde becomes the best b2b midfielder in the world, I would be happiest man to eat crow. Till then, he's basically a FIFA regen that is a bit buggy.

He's been a regular in his national side, way before this past weekend media explosion.

He is in the same boat as Vinicius, Rodrygo and Jovic. All talented youth, but no one knows if they'll make it at the highest level.

The last box to box midfielder we had was Khedira. It's really not a high ceiling to play for Madrid and to have energy running up and down. I do think he is wonderfully talented and he is not showing 20% he displayed as a young player but let's calm down.

He had a good game against Granada, ONE. This is nowhere near enough

He look solid against atleti, valverde always look good to me, cause you can tell he is genuine about playing for madrid and always plays to win, unlike vini, asensio,etc, who just wanna be youtube super stars and ending up midtable in a couple years.

The team needs more young players with valverde mentality, not fakers like vini, who fake cries cause he playing like shit and refuses to acknowledge it his fault, just go back to being humble kid that wanted to play instead of the self indulging in media hype, and ruined all of the big games last season and show no improvement this season.

Now that valverde is finally getting noticed years later, I hope he remains the same as before, and don't end up like the Spanish lads and vini, just start hogging and running with the ball into dead ends, 10 times a game like moron and turn around act they aren't the reason why the team is struggling.

What is more important to acknowledge IMO is not whether or not Valverde is emerging as a possible starter or not, is that he is a future possibility. Similarly so is Odegaard, Ceballos and Kubo. All three are making impressions this season away from club. Also under consideration will be De Beek, who rumors now say both Zidane and Perez agree to bring him in January. We can’t realistically predict if any if these will be future starters / answers (anymore than we can predict who will be the coach in a year or two), but I think we can acknowledge that all of them are doing well and can be future considerations.

This also speaks well for sending out young talents for development rather than the stunt growth that is happening with Rodrygo, Vinicius and likely Valverde.

Ceballos doesn't even start for Arsenal dude... he's a bench player. Kubo? I don't even understand this one.

Odegaard is the only very interesting one to me because, although very very early, he's playing like a star in La Liga.

And as Nick said, one good game doesn't constitute the emergence of a player. It's one good game.

I feel, and know, and I feel the wind, and the wind I feel knows, that Ernosto Feferico Vafverde will be the best player in the world.

Not only midfielder.

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Just to clarify with Ceballos, he has made 5 starts out a possible 8 in the PL. I would know, I watched them all unfortunately (Arsenal isn't exactly the best of watches but I like the guy). So he is not a sub but is an actual starter.

That being said, outside of the Burnley match, he really hasn't done much. Not outstanding nor shit, just, nothing worth really discussing. But he is pretty much Arsenal's most creative midfielder from a talent point of view though his stats would tell you otherwise.

Valverde suits what Zidane wants (a headless chicken covering every blade of grass a very cynical Doc says) than Ceballos ever did and would. He isn't the best at any fucking thing but I hope he goes from strength to strength as we really need these guys to step up big time.

Just to clarify what I was referring to. Ceballos has made a mark with Arsenal and is again part of the senior NT. He has had some notable moments and he is not a bench player. He is developing. Same with Kubo although he is a regular sub rather than a starter. That said not bad given his age. Sure Odegaard is further along than both of them. The point is all including Fede are developing plus I was adding De Beek in the mix as he he rumored to be here in January. All are possibilities in the future. Ceballos and probably Odegaard not with Zidane, but by the time these guys are ready, Zidane may not be the coach.

This conversation started by saying Fede was ready to be a starter and several disagreeing. I have said he is a future possibility, but so are the others.

Yeah, i havent been super impressed by Ceballos at Arsenal. he is not exactly setting up the league on fire. His biggest problem imo as a creative player is that he can't break down lines with passing. He is gonna drive the ball dribbling as far as he can and then lay it off to the near man. If i compare to Ødegaard for example, Ø's vision and passing is at another level. Ceballos is not coming back to Madrid to start at the level he is at...

According to what i have heard Zidane talk about in press conference, he now seems convinced that that football is now a game of transition. I dont think he has the players to quite push that vision, which makes his mercato even more hilarious but Valverde fits that. Pogba would have as well.

Doc wrote:Just to clarify with Ceballos, he has made 5 starts out a possible 8 in the PL. I would know, I watched them all unfortunately (Arsenal isn't exactly the best of watches but I like the guy). So he is not a sub but is an actual starter.

That being said, outside of the Burnley match, he really hasn't done much. Not outstanding nor shit, just, nothing worth really discussing. But he is pretty much Arsenal's most creative midfielder from a talent point of view though his stats would tell you otherwise.

Valverde suits what Zidane wants (a headless chicken covering every blade of grass a very cynical Doc says) than Ceballos ever did and would. He isn't the best at any fucking thing but I hope he goes from strength to strength as we really need these guys to step up big time.

Valverde hit some excellent through balls in the Granada game.

Also assist for Hazard's goal.

So I definitely wouldn't call him a headless chicken

headless chicken ? main thing zidane praises the guy for is how he moves and makes intelligent runs, thing that doesn’t impress me as much as his fabulous technique. he can become what Kroos should be imo if he polishes his skills. he can keep the ball, he can play 1 touch, he can dribble past players at pace or in tight spaces and has a hell of a shot even if he hasn’t scored yet and has an engine that allows him to run for days

he’s the kind of mid that we should target in order to have a competitive, functional team

should he and Odegaard develop accordingly this season and the next one, we are set for a decade in midfield as I believe they complement each other perfectly. both have the stamina and technique to be a wonderful midfield pairing. just give them outlets in the front 3 that can benefit from their qualities and capitalize on them.

I also like Brahim for the right wing. he’s agressive, always willing to run at defenders and can use both feet. he’s special but needs time. Don’t trust Vini and Rodrygo and as such I’d keep an eye on Arsenal’s Martinelli who I feel might be Brazil’s next star

Again, it's one game. Don't exaggerate, nor underrate as is the case with Nick and Sports. Recognize what these kids (all of them Valverde, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Brahim, Militao, Odriozola, Mendy, De Beek, Odegaard, Ceballos, Kubo, Achraf) are. They are potentials. They all will have some good moments and some bad times. At end of day we want to see them develop. If and when they do, on a consistent basis, then can they properly be assessed as to whether they are an answer or not.

I did say "a very cynical Doc" as it was me being very cynical. That being said, it is 1 game. One solitary game. When he has at least 20+ games under his belt with performances like that, sure. But 1 game is not enough at all for any praise outside of that 1 game.

Evidently, Federico is in a nice situation right now. He is getting traction, getting minutes, developing, starting to explicitly show his arsenal more, etc. Pay attention folks, because i get proven right, then he is the future of the midfield.

Zidane's recent quote on Fede being a "modern player" says it all.

Apparently these are new rules, but Valverdes red card will carry over to La Liga, he will miss the game vs Sevilla.

Not only that but since it was a direct red he might miss more games.

It had to be done, but it comes at a cost.

Perucho21 wrote:Apparently these are new rules, but Valverdes red card will carry over to La Liga, he will miss the game vs Sevilla.

Not only that but since it was a direct red he might miss more games.

It had to be done, but it comes at a cost.

Big cost. If this is the case, Valverde did a moronic thing. You don't jeopardize La Liga for a supercup... like ever.

That was a nasty challenge too. I could see 3-5 games.

it wasnt a nasty challenge at all, he never endangered Morata. He clipped him good but did it cleanly. e will get a single game and that's it. Modric is playing good recently so we should be able to cope for a game without him lol

He swung and scissored from behind.  First swinging from his left then his right foot.  That's as nasty as it gets...  Morata can't see him to defend himself.  Lucky Valverde didn't land on his ankles given how he went about it. If he had just tripped him without swinging his leg (nevermind both), then it would have been fine.

The suspension should be heavy and deservedly so.

I am bit more confident in our midfield without Val-green considering the form they are in, regardless losing Fede is indeed a big loss, and if he misses more games it'll be more damaging. We play sevilla and atletico in la liga in the next 3 games, sevilla is confirmed, and losing him for atletico will be huge.

The only silver lining is that players like Hazard should be back around that time.

Let's hope his sacrifice is not in vain.

He wont be missing more than a game. It was a cynical foul but not one that deserves more than a game ban.

Fede suspended for just one game

Either Valverde is such a great tackler that he knew exactly when to time that behind the back challenge or Sports has a real point in saying he got lucky it didn't catch Morata's ankle.

With that being said, 1 game suspension and all is well in the world.

Out 1 month with injury

When it rains it pours

Love how dedicated this guy is, our future captain

God bless fede for his athleticism but I long for the day that he can finally play LCM and be given the opportunity to cultivate his ability to dictate play from the Kroos zone. Was watching some highlights of Uruguay vs Peru recently and it reminded me of what i've always felt: I don't like seeing Fede play as a right centre midfielder or right midfielder. When he does that it feels like he is being used to make up for our weaknesses in attack, midfield, and defense on that side of the pitch, but he's being used in a bit of a brutish and work horse sort of way.

Truth be told, Fede isn't particularly nimble in tight spaces and he is nowhere near as refined as the elite like Kroos or Modric when it comes to turning and dribbling in tight spaces and he looks a bit awkward on the right more often than not to me, but when given an opportunity on the LCM zone like with Solari or with Tabarez at the NT sometimes, we can see more Schweinsteigerish sort of variety the way I see it. I'd actually prefer to see him less in advanced/in between the lines/final third spaces, because again, he's really been used as a jack of all trades the last few seasons on the right side because it is so abysmal and because I think his technical limitations are just all the more apparent on the right, while his full arsenal is not being developed/seen.





Camavinga and Fede are good but we still need another B2B sort of midfielder with good attacking variety and physicality.