Sergi Roberto: From the bench to the spotlight
The Masia graduate had been struggling to find continuous minutes during the last few seasons in a very stacked midfield. Sergi Roberto had to witness from the bench how some of his fellow Masia-graduates were minutes in big matches for both the older team or for other teams. The lack of minutes made him understandably frustrated. But the cold reality was that he wasn’t talented enough to earn playing time. During his years with the older team, he’s had to fight for minutes in a midfield which contained the likes of Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, Ivan Rakitic, Thiago, Busquets, Mascherano, Rafinha and Jonathan Dos Santos. Different managers would try him in different positions to see exactly where they could fit him in but it was no use. Most fans felt as is he was not talented and skillful enough to wear that blaugrana jersey and had been demanding his departure. Many of his friends recommended him to take up some of the offers from other teams who promised him more minutes. But year after year, he refused. He had been with the club since he was a child and his life dream had been to play with the Catalan side. Despite considering leaving the club in the summer of 2015, he decided to stay. And what a brilliant decision that was.
It’s as if he was part of a scientific experiment in the summer that rejuvenated his whole career. As if he went to wizard and asked for a potion that would turn him into an elite midfielder. Or, the most logical one, began to work and work and work every day during the player’s holidays and came back to training sharper than ever. Luis Enrique began to notice his improvement and began playing him more and more during the preseason friendlies. With Dani Alves being recalled up again for the Brazilian National Team and Douglas picking up an injury, the right back position seemed scarce. It was in the match against Manchester United in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California where Enrique tried his luck with Sergi at right back.
Being a midfielder, he had little to no experience as an outside back. It seemed quite desperate from Lucho to try him in such a position. However, it was a brilliant gamble. As the games progressed, his confidence grew more and more. Soon enough, he began recognizing the position and started to feel at home on the right flank. But when the pre season was over, it seemed as if Enrique’s experiment had come to its end. That was until Dani Alves picked up an injury early on in the season and was out for several weeks. Enrique look to his bench to find a replacement for the Brazilian but found himself in trouble. He had loaned out Montoya to Inter, Douglas was still injured, Adriano was battling injuries and Aleix Vidal couldn’t play until January. Who would he play? Who else? Sergi Roberto.
Roberto played his heart out for the next couple of weeks against the likes of Atletico Madrid, Malaga and AS Roma among others. The youngster caught the eyes of many culés all across the world with his brilliant performances. Although he was not as offensive as Dani, he was a secure defender who loved to take runs up and down the flank when needed. Unfortunately, it seemed as if his moment of fame had reached its end. It was midnight and Sergi Roberto’s Cinderella story was over and he had to return back to the bench to make room for the recovered Dani Alves.
His hard work and sparkling performances were not ignored by his manager. Luis Enrique continued to find a spot for him in the lineup where it was in the midfield or in his new home at RB. An injured Andres Iniesta meant more minutes for Roberto who didn’t blow his chances. He continued to shine with his terrific runs, extraordinary hussle on defense and magisterial assists including a heel pass to Luis Suarez against Getafe.
With Ivan Rakitic making a possible return against Real Madrid, Sergi Roberto’s pretense in El Clasico isn’t guaranteed. However, there is a high chance that Luis Enrique will reward him for his terrific season buy adding him to the starting 11 for the biggest match of the season.
Whether or not he is a starter for el Clasico, there is no doubt that Sergi Roberto will continue to contribute to his teams success all through the season. With the absence of Rafinha due to a season long injury, he is now responsible to fill in that role as “super substitute” when needed. Funny to think that a player who’s future at his boyhood team was uncertain less than 5 months ago is now a key member of a team competing for yet another treble.
Congrats Sergi Roberto and keep hustling for more !
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