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Francisco Alcácer García
30 August 1993 (age 26)
Striker
La Historia
Villarreal fans feel the excitement teething though the beams of Estadio de la Cerámica. Villarreal have signed a record world class signing who happens to play for the national team!. Que pasa you might well be asking yourself?. Villarreal are known for signing strikers and turning them into Ballon d’or type strikers Forlan, Rossi to name a few. We don’t tend to go for well renowned attackers
Alcácer is already a prolific striker in his own right. To put it into context even people in my office know him and that never happens for Villarreal fans. His career hit the star lights when he went to Dortmund in 2018. He scored in his first game of the bench against Eintracht Frankfurt and went on to score 5 goals in his next 2 matches. Throughout the season he scored various hat-tricks and braces. I could list every single goal but you get the general idea. Villarreal have signed a goal fanatic, a Spanish national and a star.
Formation: How this changes us?
I must admit this was the biggest conundrum in our latest podcast. Why sign another attacker? Fran Nino is setting the Valley alight in his first game. Bacca waiting in the wings and Gerrard Moreno our main striker in good form.
For me it should be 433 the formation. I am aware this is against my stubborn British upbringing of 442. We have played 433 all season with the midfield secure in itself and Villarreal are not short of any goals. Signing Alcácer should not mean we change that and I think he will shine. For me Alcácer through the middle with Gerrard and Moi along the Left. We can then have Trigueros and Santi playing those killer through balls. Playing 442 forces Santi onto the wing when he is vital as a playmaker.
Debut match
Alcácer did what Alcácer does best- he scored on his debut against Osasuna. After a quality through ball from Manu he sprinted from arguably his own half Fernando Torres style. His first half was surprisingly quiet, why? For me it was the formation. His style is to latch onto through balls not as a standing striker. This is certainly not a manager criticism. Calleja got the tactics spot on for this one. Osasuna is a very physical side and counter attacking. It was always going to be a tough order. Through 433 he gets the service and can latch onto through balls. His next major contribution was earning a penalty. Samu came on turning it to 433 and it was evident how the play opened up. After sprinting onto a beautiful ball and then was bundled over.
General Verdict
A quality signing and will bring goals. Was he necessary? Not really and to be honest it will cause a few headaches for Calleja. In my opinion it was an opportunity too good to miss to sign him. Direct replacement for Toko and a record signing for the club. It also sticks a spanner in the works for Valencia CF which is always good. Happy to see him at the club just hope it doesn’t affect the form of our current crop of players.