Chronicle.Messi and De Jong come out of the mud in Vallecas
Frenkie de Jong has exploded as a scorer since the start of the year.
In 24 days, he has scored four goals, two in the League, against Huesca and Elche, one in the Super Cup, against Real Sociedad, and another against Rayo, in the Cup. A series of goals that are added to the one he achieved against the San Sebastian at the beginning of December last year and that allow him, with several months still to go, far surpass the mark of two goals that he achieved as a Barça player last season.
He came to the club as a replacement for Sergio Busquets but, with the success he has been showing lately, he begins to remember
José Mari Bakero's
scoring nose
.
Bakero was one of the key figures in that Johan Cruyff Dream Team in which he shared a dressing room with
Ronald Koeman
.
And the current Barcelona coach took good note of the importance of the arrival from the second row that the Navarrese personified so well at Barça.
As a Barça player, he scored 94 goals in 339 official matches.
In most of the occasions, taking advantage of the spaces that the forwards opened to get up with danger from the medullary.
Just as De Jong has been doing lately as well.
“Frenkie has a lot of quality to help build and has also had to contribute more to the team in attack.
He helps us in the offensive part, he reaches the area and is at the right moment to score goals, "the coach praised him after the victory against Rayo, which earned him a place in the quarterfinals of the Cup.
In addition to scoring the final 1-2, De Jong sent a ball to the crossbar and saw another invalidated for offside.
Against Elche, in addition to scoring, he was in charge of giving
Riqui Puig
a perfect assist to
make it 0-2 on the scoreboard.
From a scoring point of view, his numbers already exceed those he signed with the Ajax first team.
Throughout his time in the elite with the ajacied team, he scored a total of six goals in 89 games.
As a Barcelona player, on the other hand, he already has seven in 69 games and is only one away from equaling his best mark: the eight goals scored with the Amsterdam team subsidiary.
In that case only in 46 duels, but the elite is another story.
Third way scorer
If he maintains his scoring performance in the next matches, he appears as a potential third-way scorer of the team in the absence of
Ansu Fati
who had a brilliant start to the season, with five goals, but who will be out due to injury until the beginning of March.
Ousmane Dembélé
, meanwhile, adds six, the same as
Martin Braithwaite
.
Antoine Griezmann
, despite everything, has nine and Messi is already leaving at 15. The former rojiblanco, whom
Ronald Koeman
has not tired of defending in recent months, is still far from showing that leadership in offensive tasks that he did gala at Atlético.
For now, despite his efforts, he is not accompanied by luck or success, although his was the assistance that allowed Messi to equalize the score against Rayo.
After a good pass, in this case, from De Jong himself.
The Dutchman feels very comfortable playing a little more ahead of what would have been expected at first.
Thus, he can exploit another of his virtues: excellent ball handling.
And Koeman, who has even relocated him as center back in times of need to get the ball played from behind, seems more than willing to keep him in a position that allows him to contribute a decisive grain of sand in attack.
Against Athletic, this Sunday, however, the Barça coach will not be able to count on
Sergio Busquets
to guard his back to his compatriot and to Pedri who has also established himself as a starter in the center of the field.
The one from Badia saw the fifth yellow in the League against Elche and will miss this match due to suspension.
Bosnian
Miralem Pjanic
is emerging as the most plausible option to take over as a defensive midfielder.
De Jong only looks at goal.
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