whole season due to a serious knee injury, the alarm bells rang with the
sound of danger. The following results were highlighting disequilibrium in
the playing system with “holes” in the midfield that was putting defender
under extreme pressure & forcing them to be out of position. Goals were
being scored as if the opposition have opened the doors to the flood gates.
Defenders like Sergio Ramos were forced to stay back & Real lost attack
on the right side, Cannavaro & Pepe were seen out of position as they
had to defend in the centre & the loss of ball was common & lethal. This
lead to a string of losses that was only stopped by the Xmas break to allow
the Club to repair the damage, regroup & find a suitable substitute in the
Winter market.
The candidate was a young 22 year old Frenchmen from English Club
Portsmouth called LASSANA DIARRA, who some had labelled the new
“Makelele”, a label that can sink any youngster as the level set by the
original is high. The Spanish Club made the decision, took the chance &
invested 20M€ on this relatively unknown player to fill the big shoes of
Mahamadou & to bring back the equilibrium lost to the team: an awesome
task for such a big Club. However, Lassana knew this was a golden
opportunity & took the bull by the horns.
Since his arrival, the Frenchmen has not known a loss with his new Club.
His work is tireless, covering all the holes left by Ramos as he attacks or
covers defender Pepe when he decides to run up forward to try his luck.
The man recovers lost balls, stands firm as a wall when the opposition
attacks to cut then dry & when with the ball on his feet distributes in a
correct & orderly fashion that radiates confidence & security to the whole
team.
Lassana Diarra has become in a space of six weeks fundamental to the Real
Madrid setup, so much so that he has been chosen over Dutch team mate,
forward & new winter signing Huntelaar to take up the only available space
in the team for the Champions League competition. Gradually each week
this young Frenchman is shutting the mouths of those critical at the beginning,
winning over the fans, the Club & the Football experts.
With all the criticism fallen upon the Real Madrid Directives & their player
signing strategy this is a ray of light, this bet has turned out to be a winner.
Now Real Madrid has shortened the gap with its rival FC Barcelona from
12 points to 7 points in the local Championship thanks to their winning string
of victories. Lassana Diarra has something to do in all this, he has brought
back the stability & confidence into the Real Madrid team, that is not easy &
it illustrates that we are witnessing a quality player that will make a mark
on Real Madrid & World Football in the coming years.
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