River Plate
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 23 Jan 2022
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- River Plate
Hello, hardcore River Plate fan here. I was interested on seeing what you had to say about Álvarez. Initially I was planning on just lurking but I couldn't help myself and I wanted to provide some River fan perspective to some of your doubts.
1) First, I wanted to start by saying that it impossible to guess which Argie players will do well in Europe and which won't.
I've seen great Argie players that I was sure will do great in Europe and then flopped, and I've seen players that were mediocre down here and then went to Europe and became stars.
With that said, Julian is a freaking beast. He won us the league almost all by himself. Best player in South America by far. Getting the best player from South America is surely the safest best outside of Europe.
2) The loan thing. Like I said, Álvarez is about 70% of our team, so River is not desperate to sell him. In fact they don't want to sell him, specially so cheap. That's why originally the management said that they wouldn't enter in negotiations in regards to Álvarez. You want him? Pay the clause. But apparently River has a good relationship with the City Group and they got to a compromise where City would secure Álvarez for less than the clause, if they let him stay here in River, at least, until June.
3) I've seen some people mock the defending because of a few youtube clips. What did you expect? It is the highlights video of the best player in SA, of course the defending will look bad haha. Go watch a highlights video of Messi and he makes the defending of the best teams in the World look bad. You are mistaken if you think the defending here is a lot lower than what teams like Newcastle, Leeds or Villa present.
4) I've also seen some doubts about Julian only getting noticed now at 21. The thing is he started playing as a number 9 last year. Before that we had a pair of strikers that did a lot of great things for our squad, so Gallardo wasn't going to sub them for a 20 year old, no matter how good. That's why Álvarez switched between starter and sub for a couple year and never had the chance of trully playing as a striker. He played a lot as a winger and even midfielder. As soon as he was given the chance to play as a number 9, he exploded.
Álvarez is wonderkid the likes of Agüero and Tevez. There has always been buzz around him, is just that River has had a lot of good strikers recently blocking him. At age 11 he tried out for Real Madrid and scored 4 or 5 goals, Madrid wanted to keep him but legally couldn't because he was too young. He has also played at every level with the National Squad, including winning the Copa America with the major.
Hopefully this insight from a guy that has seen every Álvarez match helps. Cheers.
1) First, I wanted to start by saying that it impossible to guess which Argie players will do well in Europe and which won't.
I've seen great Argie players that I was sure will do great in Europe and then flopped, and I've seen players that were mediocre down here and then went to Europe and became stars.
With that said, Julian is a freaking beast. He won us the league almost all by himself. Best player in South America by far. Getting the best player from South America is surely the safest best outside of Europe.
2) The loan thing. Like I said, Álvarez is about 70% of our team, so River is not desperate to sell him. In fact they don't want to sell him, specially so cheap. That's why originally the management said that they wouldn't enter in negotiations in regards to Álvarez. You want him? Pay the clause. But apparently River has a good relationship with the City Group and they got to a compromise where City would secure Álvarez for less than the clause, if they let him stay here in River, at least, until June.
3) I've seen some people mock the defending because of a few youtube clips. What did you expect? It is the highlights video of the best player in SA, of course the defending will look bad haha. Go watch a highlights video of Messi and he makes the defending of the best teams in the World look bad. You are mistaken if you think the defending here is a lot lower than what teams like Newcastle, Leeds or Villa present.
4) I've also seen some doubts about Julian only getting noticed now at 21. The thing is he started playing as a number 9 last year. Before that we had a pair of strikers that did a lot of great things for our squad, so Gallardo wasn't going to sub them for a 20 year old, no matter how good. That's why Álvarez switched between starter and sub for a couple year and never had the chance of trully playing as a striker. He played a lot as a winger and even midfielder. As soon as he was given the chance to play as a number 9, he exploded.
Álvarez is wonderkid the likes of Agüero and Tevez. There has always been buzz around him, is just that River has had a lot of good strikers recently blocking him. At age 11 he tried out for Real Madrid and scored 4 or 5 goals, Madrid wanted to keep him but legally couldn't because he was too young. He has also played at every level with the National Squad, including winning the Copa America with the major.
Hopefully this insight from a guy that has seen every Álvarez match helps. Cheers.