The position in the Barcelona attack alongside Leo Messi is a slot that every attacking player in the world dreams of being in, but it also entails enormous pressure, which in many cases caused the strikers, even from the world top, to fall apart under him. Not every attacking player who has come to Barcelona in the last 15 years has been as successful as Neymar, Luis Suarez and Samuel Eto’o. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paco Alcácer, Malcolm, Kevin Prince Boateng, David Villa at certain times and now Osman Dembele and Antoine Griezmann, have been and are being criticized throughout their tenure at Barcelona for failing to keep up with the pace and high expectations set for them in Catalonia.
Contrary to most of the names written above, Martin Braithwaite did not come to Barcelona with a star aura, quite the contrary. The Danish national team striker, who will meet the Israeli team tonight (Thursday, 19:00) in the first round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, is considered anonymous for the average fan, and when his name first emerged as a candidate for the striker position in Barcelona, quite a few people raised an eyebrow.
The circumstances under which the Danish striker arrived in Barcelona are known to everyone. The injuries of Osman Dembele and Luis Suarez allowed him to make a huge leap last January and land at the Camp Nou at the age of 28 from Little Malagans, with his resume serving terms at clubs far from the top of Europe such as Toulouse, Middlesbrough and Bordeaux.
Unlike the stars that Barcelona has raised over the years in the tens and even hundreds of millions of euros, the critics did not absorb Raytheve for not living up to expectations, in his case they came even before he stepped on the pitch as a Barcelona player. Quite a few media people and fans saw him as a band-aid, as Boateng was, and questioned his ability to help Kika Stein’s team.
Despite the not-so-simple starting point, it can be said that unlike Boateng or Malcolm for example, his role as a complementary and egoless player in the star-studded squad, Bright White is successfully fulfilling. “I work hard now so it will pay off for me when we return. Now there is a respite, I see it as an advantage. I know that there is no one who trains and works like me, when we return I will be ready in all respects, “he said Breith White During the forced corona break last season, not long after joining the team.
The hard work has not helped Breit White make an impact in the crucial parts of last season under Stein, but his strong character is what helped him become a legitimate rotation player for Ronald Koeman this season. True, it is very likely that in the summer he will no longer wear the Blaugrana uniform, as part of the revolution expected under new president Juan Laporta, but in relation to the expectations and criticisms that aired with his purchase and even after his first half of the season, it is not unreasonable to say the Dane’s name Barcelona people and its fans in the future.
In 47 appearances so far at the club, in all settings (most as a substitute and when he did not complete 90 minutes), the striker found the net 8 times and also added 4 assists, with all but one goal coming this season. The sweetest and most significant of all fell at the start of the current month, when his conquest in overtime completed a big turnaround against Sevilla at the Camp Nou and sent the Catalans to the Copa del Rey final, at the end of a mad drama. With his positive mood and momentum in Spain, the 28-year-old striker will come to Bloomfield to continue the momentum in the international window as well, at our expense.
“There is no doubt that Zahavi is better than Breit White”
We will get to the statement above, but if we already make comparisons to Zahavi, who in quite a few places in his career has taken on the role of leader, Braithwaite has also proven throughout his career that he knows how to fill this box. In all the teams he played for, especially in Toulouse, he was defined as an “inspiring leader”, and very involved in the community, when in one of his seasons in the French team he even decided to donate 1,000 euros to charity for every goal he scored.
This character is also brought on by the Brethren to the national team. The striker, who in 2012, when he was 20, received an offer to represent the team of Guyana (the country where his father was born), refused and a year later already had his debut summons to the Danish team, just before leaving the local league and moving to Toulouse.
Braithwaite managed to record 46 appearances in the national uniform, including in the last World Cup, and scored 7 goals. The Barcelona striker arrives at the game against Israel as the senior attacking player in the Scandinavian squad, along with Yusuf Paulsen from Leipzig, and the fact that he has been receiving minutes in almost every league game in recent times can encourage his coach, Caspar Homeland, Who in the recent past expressed concern about his lack of minutes in Barcelona: “He must play more, otherwise he will get out of the rhythm and it will be problematic for him. If the situation continues, it could also create problems for us. ” Since the same things were said in November, Braithwaite has managed to increase the amount of his minutes in Spain and is expected to open in Bloomfield as well, hoping to express the same leadership spirit that the people of Toulouse have spoken of.
And what about the comparison of the owners of Betar Jerusalem, Moshe is celebrating, Who only three weeks ago, after the Israeli team’s number 7 won another pair in the PSV Eindhoven uniform, decided that “there is no doubt that Zahavi is better than Britwhite”? If you look at the numbers of the two, there is no doubt that the Eindhoven striker is much more impressive in the national team arena, but while he and his teammates still hope to qualify for a major tournament, Braithwaite was an integral part of the Scandinavians’ qualification to the last World Cup quarterfinals. From second place in the early house, without a loss.
So true, the bunch next to the Danish striker is much stronger than the one that surrounds Zahavi, but it should be remembered that Braithwaite has many shares as someone considered part of the skeleton that led the Danish team’s comeback to the center of the stage, after not qualifying for the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016. The same skeleton, who will play in the summer at Euros, is the one who is expected to lead Denmark to Qatar in 2022 as well, and his mission begins on the grass at Bloomfield. Messi’s partner in the attack in Catalonia will try to prevent Willy Rotensteiner and his players a big surprise already at the start of the campaign, and along the way, maybe even respond to Celebrate’s claim.
