The sincerity of Planes, who resists Barça thanks to his job in the offices, evokes the stratospheric numbers of Leo Messi and Luis Suárez and the not inconsiderable contribution of Antoine Griezmann. He also portrays the meager contribution of today’s striker, marked by the injury of Ansu Fati, the long-term absence of Ousmane Dembélé, doubts with Luuk de Jong and the veteranity of Kun Agüero. All these asterisks had to be offset by the irruption of Memphis Depay, heir to Dorsal 9 and, on paper, a solvent attacker to motivate the parish in the post-Messi era. Despite arriving free of charge, the Dutchman was presented with star honors at the Camp Nou and made an excellent impression on the pre-season friendlies and the first official matches. However, when the calendar has steeped, its performance has plummeted. He has not scored since the end of August, when he scored a great goal in the victory against Getafe (2-1). His last two Barça goals have been a penalty (Llevant and Valencia).
“He is physically out and needs to rest,” they say from St. John Despin, where it is observed that Memphis is a victim of the calendar and the difficulties of adapting to collective needs. While Koeman was his main defender, the striker has yet to find a way to be decisive. He accuses the lack of an established pattern in attack (from direct play against Granada to positional attempts in Cadiz or Wanda) and the doubts of the technicians with the system. He has made reference in a trident, of ram with Luuk de Jong in a 3-5-2 and of left end. In the classic, as in the match against Dinamo, he played in the band, where he signed another discreet performance. Lucas Vázquez, who is not a defender, was unable to overflow and lost a total of 16 balls. One of them, in the 32nd minute, was Alaba’s goal and showed his little defensive style: Madrid’s score reached the area of Ter Stegen without anyone chasing him.
An unusual burden in his career
Memphis has started the 12 official league games between the league and the Champions League and has only stopped playing 15 minutes on Dinamo Day. The burden is considerable. First of all, because there is no other player in the squad who has played as much as him. But also because not even the person involved is used to having so much trouble at the beginning of the season. This is shown by their numbers at Olympique de Lyon. Last season he did not complete six of the first nine league games, although it is true that he came from a knee injury. The three previous courses in France also did not have the prominence that Koeman is now giving it. “In Lyon he used to play more at the top, but he has never been a regular player. He was a great striker for Lyon, but Barça is something else. Memphis cannot lead an attack that Messi has had in recent years,” said Antoine. Donnarieix, journalist of So Foot. Time and companies will tell if the Dutchman finds a way to sharpen his fangs at the Camp Nou. At the moment, the lion is rather moix.
