¿Qué Querés Que Te Diga?: September 2010

Fans of the beautiful game are presently gifted with an embarrassment of riches. Barcelona is playing the most attractive brand of football seen in ages. The Spanish national team is trying its best to emulate the style, and the results have been very good, although they have not yet exhibited the mesmerizing qualities of the Catalan club. Argentina and Brazil lavish praise on the Spanish style and seek to return to their own roots of aesthetically-conscious success.

With Argentina and Spain set to face off tomorrow, it will be interesting to see what new Argentine head man Sergio Batista brings to the table. Batista is a product of outstanding Argentinos Juniors and River Plate teams of the 1980s. He knew little other than success and his run of good fortune extended into a 2008 Olympic Gold Medal for his squad. Batista is known to be more pragmatic, but may experiment with an extremely aggressive 4-3-3 formation. He has recalled Andres D'Alessandro, a tactically pleasing left-winger who has been shut out of the national team since his idiotic performance in the waning moments of the 2004 Copa America final.

But it is Spain that has the world's attention right now. And rightly so. Many are wondering just how impressive La Furia's run can be. The European Championships are only two years away and the men in red had no problem dispatching Liechtenstein earlier this week. Fernando Torres looks to be back in form, while David Villa equaled Raul's all-time record of 44 goals for Spain. I've taken a while to get around to it, but it is El Guaje who is the focus of this article. Tomorrow, he will probably break Raul's record. Today, he gets a tribute from me.

What makes David Villa the world's most important player? Part of it is his humble roots. Though Villa played for Sporting Gijon and trained in Langreo, he adamantly reminds fans that his roots lie firmly in the small mining town of Tuilla, where his father worked underground. Villa's father encouraged the young Asturian through a childhood injury; though naturally right footed, Villa became functionally ambidextrous because his father helped him practiced with his left while the right leg was in a cast. Villa continued to move up the ranks despite the bafflement of some coaches. Much like many fans today, who look at the 5'9" 152 pound Villa in amazement, these trainers did not see anything special from a physical standpoint.

But Pepe Acebal summed it up best when he noted Villa's greatest strength: footballing instinct. Instinct is what leads Villa, who supposedly has no speed, to blow by defenders. Instinct allows a player without a signature move to use his footwork to make defenders look stupid. Villa is conditioned to make all the right moves. He doesn't even have to think about it. Few players are so fluid with the ball. Villa scores goals of both great effort and great skill. He scores goals of great significance. Luis Aragones made the fateful decision to make Villa the centerpiece of his attack for Euro 2008, relegating the legendary (but not nearly as productive) Raul to spectator status. The move has paid off in spades. Villa has shown the world the quality that many in Spain already knew to be commonplace. Villa lead Spain to the 2008 Euro Championship. In Spain's string of 1-0 wins during the World Cup, it was Villa who did the lion's share of the damage, before Iniesta finished off the tournament.

I read an article some months ago that compared tennis' Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in an interesting light. Essentially, it said, men want to be Nadal but they want to play tennis like Federer. Nadal is a force of nature, using a brutally strong swing and an indefatigable motor to overwhelm opponents. Federer is highly technical, fearless, and aggressive, destroying foes not with force but with precision. The comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is obvious. But David Villa takes cues from both players. He has Nadal's effort and Federer's courage. Men want to be David Villa and play like him.

Villa is quite simply the best player for aspiring forwards to emulate. Most people are similarly un-blessed with an imposing physique or blinding speed. But practice, effort, concentration, and conditioning can go a long way to making up for any physical limitations. Vigorously studying the game can help to develop the reflexes and intuition necessary to make the leap to higher levels of football. And if a player career does not come to fruition, one can always enter the coaching ranks having been well prepared.

There is a bar dedicated to Villa in Tuilla. There is a tribute song from Los Berrones. There is the reaction of the Argentine public to his arrival.
David Villa is the greatest player in the history of Spain. Everything he does from this point on will only increase his margin. In the word's of Villa's hero, Quini, Villa is "a phenomenon, the best in Europe." Fuerza Guaje!!