Julian Alvarez: Strengths and weaknesses of the new Thomas Mueller

Our January transfer window has been dominated by Julian Alvarez, who is reportedly very close to signing a deal for 18.5m Euros. People say that he is the next Sergio Aguero, but i think that all of those pre-mature comparisons are nothing but just a fantasy at this point of time. Alvarez has a lot to prove before we can think of comparing him to the legend. In fact, if you look at his strengths and weaknesses he resembles more of a young Thomas Mueller

Strengths

Intrestingly, Alvarez is known for his crossing ability, which is not considered a key Pep Guardiola attribute. The conversation would have ended here, but there are other extremely strong skill sets that complement his crossing. He has a fantastic work rate and is very good at playing those key passes in the final third. Those cutting edge through balls are said to his speciality. Also, dribbling and taking his man one on one is said to be something that frightens defenders when facing Alvarez.

Pep sets up his team in such a way that the attacking players always find themselves in one on one situations. So, if we can have someone who is a good dribbler as well as a finisher, that would take us onto an almost invincible level. Alvarez is as ruthless a finisher as you can get in world football. I feel that finishing is something that is very difficult to coach and it depends on the instincts of the player.

Weaknesses

One predominant weakness of Alvarez is said to be his Aerial duels, but that would have been one of Pep’s least worries when looking at Alvarez’s Scouting report. One of the other areas he has to improve on is his positional play and his versatility. He has played across various positions in his career, but Pep demands an unimaginable level of versatility from his players. So, there is a bit of a learning curve for Alvarez to go through, but he could really be turned into one of the best strikers in the world like his country man Aguero.

This an other feather in the cap of City’s scouting department. We have unearthed an absolute monster of a player. A little bit of polishing under Pep and Alvarez is ready to explode onto the big scene and take England by storm.