Re: Sergio Aguero
EXCELLENT ARTICLE By Henry Winter,
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero is simply irreplaceable, a goalscorer of bounty and beauty
Argentina forward is an irresistible package as a predator, from the burst of pace, to the balance, two‑footedness and technique, strength of mind and body and nervelessness Sergio Aguero is arguably City's second greatest ever player behind the peerless Colin Bell
Predator: Sergio Aguero of Manchester City has the finshing skills of Romario
Sergio Agüero will always be the history man at Manchester City, always revered as the player who stopped the clock running on the 44-year wait for the title at 93:20 of that momentous game against QPR in 2012. Fast forward two years, and Agüero is even more a man on a mission, inspiring City when others labour to find fitness or optimum form.
Accolades such as “club’s greatest” are difficult to bestow on a footballer still at work yet it is not straying into the realms of hyperbole to place Agüero in the same distinguished City company as Colin Bell, Billy Meredith, Franny Lee, Mike Summerbee, Mike Doyle, Alan Oakes, Eric Brook, Neil Young, Tommy Johnson, Bert Trautmann, Peter Doherty, Frank Swift, Joe Corrigan and Dennis Tueart among eminent others.
Judging by his goals and ability to deliver at the moments of most pressure and significance, whether against QPR or against Bayern Munich last Tuesday, a case of genuine substance can increasingly be presented for Agüero at some point to be placed close behind Bell as City’s finest. Longevity of duty grants a greater lustre. Bell served City as a player for 13 years, scoring 155 times in 500 appearances, attacking so elegantly from midfield. He could have contributed even more but for the debilitating after-effects of that Martin Buchan challenge in the Manchester derby in 1975.
Those never privileged to have witnessed Bell in his playing pomp will inevitably veer towards hailing the modern embodiment of City dreams, namely Agüero. Any balanced view of both players must surely conclude that it will take slightly longer for ‘Kun’ to be mentioned in the same hushed breath as the ‘King of the Kippax’, the thoroughbred ‘Nijinsky’.
Just as Bell’s mastery of the art of gliding across divot-strewn fields to score will always be acclaimed, Agüero’s current prowess must also be loudly proclaimed. Many qualities make the 26-year-old an irresistible package as a predator, from the burst of pace, to the balance, two‑footedness and technique, from the strength of mind and body to resist challenges and that formidable nervelessness when confronted with an onrushing goalkeeper of the calibre of Manuel Neuer.
Incidents of simulation involving Agüero are rare indeed; when fouled, he tries to keep going, to continue his journey towards goal. Even when that voyage was abruptly halted by the Bayern defender, Mehdi Benatia, the prostrate Agüero still tried to swing his right foot towards the ball. He still exacted justice from the penalty spot. He makes a great role model for City’s younger players, showing that honesty and persistence can be rewarded even in such a selfish industry.
One particular theme running through Agüero’s golden season has been a willingness to “fight ’til the end” in the words of the City faithful. After the September draw with Arsenal, Agüero said “we must keep fighting”. The following month, after victory over Aston Villa, the Argentine enthused that “we never give up”. After Tuesday’s remarkable hat-trick against Bayern Munich, Agüero simply observed: “always, always fight ’til the end”.
City fans, many of whom queued through the night to get his recent book, adore Agüero so deeply for so much. They love his dedication and capacity for being in the right place at the right time in the defining moments of games and season. They also worship Agüero for never giving up.
One shudders to think of the impact on City’s season should he fall lame.
He is irreplaceable. Signed in 2011 for £38 million from Atlético Madrid, Agüero makes his 100th Premier League appearance against Southampton today, hunting his 65th goal. Phenomenal stats. Only Alan Shearer (79) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (68) scored more in reaching their centuries.
His numbers are breathtaking. In 41 other games for City, Agüero has scored 28 times, making it 92 from 140 appearances in all competitions.
Towards the end of next season, injuries permitting, he could be in City’s top 10 (entry point is Frank Roberts’s 130), with Brook, the pre-war outside-left, still over the horizon on 177, a prolific feat recognised in a Moss Side thoroughfare being named in his honour. If Agüero ever eclipses that, he will get more than a road. He will be in line for Estádio Sergio.
It is not simply the bounty of goals but their beauty. Agüero is a professor emeritus in the fine art of deception when it comes to eluding defenders, changing gear up or down, usually up, to race away, finding the space and finish, a characteristic celebrated in the derby last season when he sprinted away from Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck before drilling the ball into the roof of David de Gea’s net.
He scores all types of goals, from a 25-yarder on his debut against Swansea City, to a seemingly impossible angled strike way out on the right against Liverpool and that trademark drive and finish as when collecting Mario Balotelli’s pass to score that goal against QPR.
As Southampton’s Ronald Koeman remarked on Friday, and Manuel Pellegrini’s predecessor Roberto Mancini frequently noted, Agüero resembles Romario, the squat Brazilian World Cup-winner of 1994. Similar ice in the veins marked Agüero’s Romario-style second against Bayern, covering the ground so quickly, applying two touches with his right to guide the ball into the area and one left-footed to place it past Neuer. For the third, two touches with his left, and then a right-footed finish defeated Neuer. Even with Rafinha trying to foul him, Agüero’s single-mindedness paid off. It was pure Romario.
Agüero also echoes Gerd Müller when it comes to volleying, athletically scoring left-footed past De Gea and right-footed past Wojciech Szczesny in recent seasons. The legendary German would have admired Agüero’s poacher reflexes. On the opening weekend of this season at St James’ Park, the Argentine darted away from his compatriot Fabricio Coloccini, shooting left-footed but denied by Tim Krul. Nobody reacts quicker. Agüero was instantly on to the loose ball, placing it right-footed past Krul. He is deadly.
Agüero has been a marvel this season, rescuing City in difficult moments, playing the best football of his career in England, seemingly free from the niggling injuries that hampered last season, scoring 17 goals in 18 matches in all competitions.
The hunger underpinning Agüero’s career dates back to those early days growing up in rudimentary accommodation in the Los Eucaliptos district of Buenos Aires where the loo was little more than a latrine. The acceleration has come this season, partly being liberated from injuries, but he does seem on this mission.
As Krul discovered, Agüero launched himself into the season off the back of a disappointing World Cup; although Argentina reached the final at Maracana, Agüero was never fully fit, came on for Ezequiel Lavezzi at half‑time, was soon cautioned for a foul on Bastian Schweinsteiger, missed a couple of chances, should have been sent off for splitting open Schweinsteiger’s cheek in extra time and then watched aghast as Mario Götze won the trophy for Germany. It was Agüero’s eighth World Cup game (five in Brazil, three in South Africa) without scoring. That’s poor for a player of his quality.
Neuer looms large in his vision. Agüero faced him twice in September, scoring after 20 minutes in a friendly against Germany in Berlin and then having a fruitless 16 minutes in City’s Champions League loss at the Allianz Arena.
Agüero has a point to prove, not least in the Champions League. It was really only against Bayern, finally, that he imposed his talents on heavyweight opponents for City, failing against Barcelona and Bayern last season, although scoring against Real Madrid in 2012. Agüero has a mantra that “goals only count if they win the game”. They certainly counted against Bayern.
The recurring nightmare for City fans is a fear of Agüero succumbing to injury. With Alvaro Negredo gone, Edin Dzeko out of form and Stevan Jovetic yet to convince fully (and needing a run of games) there is a legitimate argument for City investing in January, yet this current system, with Agüero up top on his own, seems to be working.
Give him the ball, release him swiftly (as Frank Lampard and Jovetic did against Bayern) and he will wreak damage.
Agüero does not provide many assists, although he does seek out David Silva (noticeably with one glorious back-heel against West Ham) and it is hard to see who partners him best since Negredo has left. Or before that, Tévez. Could Isco complement Agüero? Longer term, could the Nigerian teenager Kelechi Iheanacho mature and dovetail with him?
Many questions. Stars such as Agüero always provoke speculation in the media about their future, yet City have the funds to satisfy his financial demands. He recently signed a contract extension and talks regularly of his happiness at the club and with living in Cheshire, although he must miss his son. He does not get hassled in public as he would elsewhere. He does not seem to possess the nomadic DNA of individuals such as Tévez.
Agüero is special. City are right to celebrate him. Pellegrini is not the type for emotional responses but even he gave Agüero an affectionate tap on the cheek when substituting him and then at the final whistle on Tuesday.
Agüero is the main man for all reasons.
