Maradona37
Well-known member
It's not just about pace though - you can see the mind is still very sharp and working overtime, he's faster in his head than most people. And he's not slow when he starts running with the ball. It's more the longer recovery time from accumulation of injuries, and the time it takes to get back on top of his game. It has been quite noticeable to me that he is struggling to get back near the top of his game after the injury earlier in the tournament - very understandable, given the short turnaround of games.I think he can play the next world cup for sure. At 39 he will still probably be faster than prime Riquelme and Busquets.
It's just that as you get older it gets harder to recover and to keep up with younger players. No shame in it, it's just nature. However, he will always have a far better football brain than 99 percent of players. It's more about whether he feels he is fit enough and can contribute.
For two years from now, I lean more to the side of bringing him on with 20 minutes to go against tired legs. He can do so much damage with his passing and playmaking coming on fresh. However, we don't know what will happen in the next two years - maybe he will still be playing sensationally for his age, maybe he will get a bad injury. We just don't know.