Not if but when for this United starlet
Previously when I spoke of him it was more a case of potentially but now I have no doubts in my mind that Kiko Macheda WILL be a star.
From the moment he burst onto the scene at United, firing in that late winner against Aston Villa there was always a buzz around Kiko. It helped that he repeated his heroics straight after against Sunderland but beyond this there is something about the boy that screams star quality.
On Wednesday when he came there was a buzz of excitement, there always is as Macheda has something in him that means at the tender age of 19 when he called on for the big occasions he always has a go and more often than not there is a result. During the summer he looked quality especially in the All Star game and on Wednesday night he showed he can perform against a higher level of opponent. His physicality was something different to Berbatov’s languid style and it proved to be a handful for Valencia with Cesar especially getting flustered by it.
At his age, intelligence isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of footballers. We are usually lauding them for physical attributes such as strength or speed but in Macheda we have a player showing signs of an extremely competent footballing brain already. Look at the runs he makes or how and when he drops to pick up the ball and you will see what I mean.
But if you are looking for a specific example look at our goal.
In that position many players in his boots will have only say the headlines and probably have gone for goal, nothing majorly wrong with that as he was entitled to but he realised Hernandez would likely have a better chance of scoring so played the ball across to his strike partner. Many will say he could have scored himself but the composure he showed to pick out Hernandez and how he did so was just as impressive. The ball meant Hernandez didn’t have to break stride and his first touch took him past the first defender leaving him to fire past Cesar.
As well as letting the nation know in some colourful terms after the final whistle, Darren Fletcher praised him for this in his post game interview too.
Add to his footballing ability, his now infamous self confidence and all the ingredients are there. The confidence is a necessity but in Macheda it isn’t an arrogance. When asked about concerns over cementing his place in the team by a Swedish TV channel he replied:
“No, because I know that the players ahead of me are much more experienced than me.”
A refreshing answer as he could easily get big headed with his achievements.
Macheda is getting a lot of playing time for a striker so young, more so than any in recent memory and it serves to show how highly he is thought of at the club. He is constantly improving yet is already so good at just 19.
Like I said it’s now more a case of when rather than if with Macheda.