THE BACKPAGE | THE NEXT BIG THING! Part Two
dmcdonagh
2011-04-21
In this week’s Backpage, Darren Cross looks at more young stars to keep an eye on in the real world, and in FIFA…
While Mario Gotze, Ryo Miyaichi and Christian Eriksen from last week’s Backpage all undoubtedly have huge futures ahead of them, their potential – and their transfer value – is dwarfed by new Brazil star Neymar, arguably one of the most exciting young players on the planet.
With a price tag of around £30 million, the 19-year-old Santos striker is apparently being courted by a number of football’s richest clubs and has been heavily linked with a summer move to the Premier League, specifically Chelsea. If you caught any of Brazil’s recent friendly against Scotland then you’ll know why the tricky forward is in such high demand, but if not check this out and you’ll soon see what all the hype is about: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReWUoxv5408&feature=related
Fortunately for FIFA players, Neymar is just as good in the game as he is in real life, but will cost you a lot less. You can pick him up in the first season and throw him straight into your team where you’ll immediately notice his pace, balance and dribbling skills. He lacks a bit of strength and stamina, but he’ll improve quickly with games so snap him up early and you’ll have a top player on your hands after a season or two.
Sticking with strikers – I’m addicted to signing goal scorers in Career Mode – another player whose hype almost equals Neymar’s is Udinese powerhouse Alexis Sanchez. If you caught any of Chile’s games at last summer’s World Cup then you’ll already have seen glimpses of what Sanchez can do. So did a whole bunch of scouts, who have tracked the 22-year-old all season and watched him help his club over achieve in Italy’s Serie A.
A stocky, powerful, explosive player, Sanchez brings matches to life with sudden bursts of pace and quick changes in direction, either from wide or when played as an out-and-out striker. He knows how to find the back of the net too, look: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgYJ5bsejGw
As you’d expect, all of those attributes are there in-game. I use Udinese online a fair bit and Sanchez has plenty of tools to cause even the best defenders problems, so he won’t let you down in Career mode.
Finally, take a look at this:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zai4r5dU9kQ&feature=related
Labelled by the French and Belgian media as ‘Half Ronaldo, Half Messi’ 20-year-old Lille and Belgium forward Eden Hazard is going to be a star, there’s no doubt about it.
Although he doesn’t usually play as far up the pitch as Messi or Ronaldo – Hazard mostly operates from the wing, or in an attacking midfield position – it’s easy to see why he’s being compared to them both; he’s got pace, tricks, imagination and a huge amount of intelligence on the ball.
What he’s missing at the moment is a better record in front of goal, but that will no doubt come in time and it’s likely to be at a stadium near you – Hazard is constantly linked with a move to the Prem.
For now he remains with French league leaders Lille, but you can sign him up straight away in FIFA and you’d be wise to do so, as Hazard has bags of potential and improves very rapidly.
Have fun building your new team of wonderkids, and thanks for reading.
See you next week,
Darren
