City’s Aguero
Firing On All Cylinders
Personal information
Full name: Sergio Leonel Aguero Del Castillo
Date of birth: 2 June 1988
Age: 26
Place of birth: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height: 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position: Striker
Club information
Current team: Manchester City
Number: 16
Youth career
1997–2003: Independiente
Senior career
2003–2006: Independiente 54 Appearances, 23 goals
2006–2011: Atletico Madrid 234 Appearances, 101 goals
2011– Manchester City 139 Appearances, 92 goals
National team
2004: Argentina U17 5 Appearances, 3 goals
2005–2007: Argentina U20 7 Appearances, 6 goals
2008: Argentina Olympic 5 Appearances, 2 goals
2006– Argentina 59 Appearances, 22 goals
Sergio Aguero
is a man on fire at the moment. Leading the Premier League standings with 12
goals and coming off a stunning Champions League performance Last Tuesday
evening. Aguero’s hat-trick propelled Manchester City to a 3-2 victory over
Bayern Munich—a win that kept the English club’s flagging hopes of qualifying
for the knockout rounds of the Champions League very much alive.
With 10
minutes remaining at the Etihad Stadium, City’s European dream looked to be on
the verge of another premature end, with Bayern 2-1 up and looking comfortable
despite having been reduced to 10 men after just 20 minutes. That was before
Aguero, who had already scored once from the penalty spot, twice took advantage
of defensive mistakes to turn the game on its head, staring down Manuel
Neuer—almost unanimously regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world—and
beating him twice, in one of the most clinical attacking performances you could
wish to see. Aguero already has 17 goals for his club this season, a record
that compares favourably with every striker in Europe besides Cristiano
Ronaldo, who is operating in another goalscoring stratosphere at the moment.
The Argentine has 12 goals from 10 starts in the Premier League (he came on as
a substitute in each of City’s opening two games), a rate that leaves him on
course to score 38 goals over the course of the campaign. Last season’s Premier
League top scorer, Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, scored 31 (albeit from only 33
appearances).
Capable with
his left foot and his right, despite his lack of height, his manager, Manuel
Pellegrini, also seems comfortable playing Aguero as a lone striker. That is a
measure of his talent; an all-round package that few other strikers in the game
currently have. Bayern saw for themselves his clinical ability in front of
goal, even if both late chances came from defensive mistakes. And the German
giants must be kicking themselves having declined the opportunity to buy Aguero
back when he was a 17-year-old playing for Independiente.
At the age of
nine Aguero joined Independiente, the team he always supported, after showing
great promise in several small-town teams. A few years later, but much earlier
than expected, he would fulfil another dream: making his debut in the top
division. He was 15 years, one month and three days old when Oscar Ruggeri, by
then Independiente’s coach, sent him on as a replacement for Emanuel Rivas with
21 minutes left in a game against San Lorenzo. Thus, Aguero broke Maradona’s
record and became the youngest footballer to play an official game in the
Argentine top division. Even though seven months would go by before he would
start a game with the team, Aguero had already showed great promise and
appeared to be an Argentine football icon in the making. By 2005, the offers
from Europe started arriving and he was transferred to Atletico Madrid for
around 23 million euros. Aguero proved his class with consistent displays at
Atletico and his partnership with Uruguay’s Diego Forlan was dynamite for the
capital city club with his pace, power and finishing ability making him a real
handful for any defender. However, his love affair with the club came to an end
in June 2011 when he asked for a transfer and joined the big spending
Manchester City project the following month for a fee of around 39 million
pounds. Aguero did not disappoint as he came off the bench to make his Premier
League debut against Swansea, scoring twice and assisting another. It certainly
wasn’t the shabbiest of introductions from the Argentine and Aguero would go on
to score 30 goals in all competitions for City in his maiden campaign. Of all
the strikes, however, there was none more important than his 94th-minute goal
against QPR on the final day of the season, which clinched Manchester City
their first top-flight title in 44 years and immortalised the Argentine in the
club’s history. He has since established himself as one of the most prolific
goalscorers in Premier League history, and doesn’t look like slowing down
anytime soon.
Some things don’t really change. Much of Aguero’s game is based on a remarkable
ability to loiter just outside the defence’s range of vision before launching
himself into the thick of the action. But the 26-year-old is now more than
capable of getting involved in the action in any way his team requires, whether
that means dropping deeper to get the ball in dangerous passing areas or
playing on the shoulder of the last man.
Sergio
Aguero’s brilliance means flawed Manchester City remain a European threat.
Having revived City’s evaporating European ambitions, Aguero will now be
pivotal to what they go on to achieve over the remainder of the season. It
remains to be seen if Aguero can propel City to a successful title defence,
with Chelsea already looking almost unstoppable. In Europe, however, they are
already back from the dead. If they can beat Roma next week—and assuming CSKA
Moscow don’t cause a remarkable upset against Bayern—they will be into the
knockout stages. That is no foregone conclusion, but it remains eminently
achievable. From that point, every team will have to respect City and their
most lethal of forwards. After all,
City have now beaten Bayern three times in the last three seasons, something
few other teams can boast. City may still have grave weaknesses in other areas
of the pitch, but Aguero’s direct, strong, cool-headed presence will always
give them a puncher’s chance in any fight.