Facundo Buonanotte has another chance to prove he can become a “top player” after the attacking midfielder was named in the Argentina squad for next week’s internationals.
Buonanotte was a injury replacement for his nation’s last set of World Cup qualifiers in October, and was twice an unused substitute. But he clearly impressed enough and has received a call-up to the initial squad this time and he will hope to feature when the world champions play Paraguay and Peru.
The second of those matches begins at midnight UK time on Wednesday, November 20, meaning there’s a quick turnaround for Buonanotte to fly back and get himself ready to start for Leicester City against Chelsea, which is the early kick-off on Saturday, November 23. However, the last time he took such a journey, he showed no signs of fatigue, scoring as City beat Southampton 3-2.
At the time, Cooper challenged Buonanotte to show he could be a “top player” by coping with the quick turnaround. Now, he’s done it once, the same will be expected again.
“For anyone who wants to become a top player, the international schedule is something they have to get used to,” Cooper said. “For Facundo, it’s a great opportunity for him to show what he can do. That’s his little challenge for Saturday.”
While he shrugs off the comparisons, City have seen why Buonanotte is likened to Lionel Messi, the teenager brilliant in the way he weaves around opposition defenders. City will hope that another week alongside the game’s greatest player will rub off on the Brighton loanee.
“Even watching Messi train is a privilege,” Buonanotte told the Telegraph recently. “His movement and the way he gets into space is the main thing. Football is not an easy game but he makes it look that way.”
15-year-old in travelling party to Old Trafford
While City’s Under-21s lost to Northampton in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy this week, they have had some decent results of late, not least last Friday, when they beat Aston Villa 3-1 in Premier League 2. In that match, two young players scored their first goals for the development squad: 16-year-old deep-lying midfielder Louis Page and 15-year-old winger Jeremy Monga.
For anybody who has followed the exploits of the Under-21s this season, Monga’s name will not be new. He is one of the stand-out prospects for the club and is involved in the England youth set-up, and it’s easy to see why with his exceptional dribbling ability.
City, naturally, are very keen to keep him and it seems that part of the plan is to show him his path to the first team. And so, despite his age, Monga was picked to travel with the senior squad to Manchester United for the Carabao Cup tie last week, so that he could get a taste for the first-team set-up. At the rate he’s progressing, it doesn’t feel like it will be long before he’s getting himself in the squad for real.
Coady elected by fellow pros
If you’ve heard Conor Coady speak during one of his many appearances on BBC Radio 5 Live over the past year or so, you will understand why he might be so respected by his fellow professionals. Indeed, he’s now been elected to the PFA players’ board.
Acting as “the voice of the changing room”, the players’ board includes two players each from the Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, and WSL. For the Premier League, Coady and Spurs left-back Ben Davies have been elected.
The phrase coined by the Birch thanks to Cooper’s dad
The game’s gone. It’s become one of the defining phrases of modern English football, one that neatly sums up the developments and trends that have moved the sport away from its roots and one that represents a yearning for how things used to be.
But did you know that the phrase was not only coined 30 years ago, but by City’s own Alan Birchenall? The Guardian’s The Knowledge column has uncovered that the first recorded use of “the game’s gone” was by the Birch during a half-time address to City supporters for a 2-2 draw with Coventry back in 1994. The City icon was particularly peeved there had been two red cards, one for each side, during the first period, which he’d deemed to be a little soft.
The Birch said: “It’s a bloody joke. The game’s gone. We’ll end up with four players on each side. It’s about contact, for Christ’s sake.”
But the intrigue around the story doesn’t end there. Because the referee who sent off Jimmy Willis and Gary Gillespie? One Keith Cooper, dad of current City boss Steve.
Leave a Reply