Well, I was looking at these videos , on youtube...of one Thiago Alcantara. I might be a little late in spotting it but the resemblance is uncanny. Yes , a cliche.
What i am talking about is the resemblance between Thiago and "Sir" Xavi-as I like to call him for the wizardry he does on the pitch (off the pitch the stuff with Fabregas, shatters the bubble). As i was watching Thiago do all the 'managing midfield' thing for Spain U-21 against England U-21, I can't help but enjoy the simplicity with which he does all that. He is controlling the midfield, with the same arrogance -no arrogance is negative -with that flair, that absolute calm and coolness, in that casual way as if he is just running around , no ball at his feet and the England team looks like they have no clue. The ball possession is like 70 30 to Spain, like the Barcelona matches, Spain don't give the ball away, its not like England is not putting pressure on them but Spain (Now I am talking about the whole team in general)has that same calm ball control thing which the Spain WC team had and the Barcelona we know shows, be it 5 guys on one guy still that guy will get the ball out of that ditch and pass it coolly. That's the Barcelona way , that's the Spanish way at it has become.
Well coming back to Thiago , for such a young age the coolness he shows is amazing. He plays exactly like Xavi in terms of ball control, guile, calmness and midfield control (like the maestro Xavi) and yes he has the got some of that Xavi's god given Vision too . Its just blows your mind . At one point or actually twice I started laughing at the helplessness of the England team and Villareal team (another video) on being beaten/tricked by Thiago and that too so simply, no brazilian tricks - just the right positioning and touch , the basics thats all .
My point is talking about Thiago is just this : Imagine, if Barcelona keeps doing this , preaching Cruyff's system, and producing a couple of Xavis every generation i.e. passing on that secret recipe from Xavi to Xavi to produce another one , then just Imagine possibilities and the future of Barcelona .
Now there's Xavi , then came Iniesta and then came Thiago Alcantara !
