Kalau saja wasit tidak menganulir gol sah karena menganggap Alvaro Negredo off side maka striker Spanyol ini sudah mencetak tiga gol dalam tiga pertandingan. Sebuah penampilan yang membantah teori umum akan perlunya masa adaptasi bagi striker asing yang datang ke Liga Primer.
Gol terakhirnya adalah gol penting melawanl Hull City yang membuka jalan kemenangan bagi City dan membuat pemain dengan julukan ‘’Binatang Buas dari Vallecas”, gembira.
‘’Saya sangat gembira, tetapi apakah saya mencetak gol atau tidak itu tidak sepenting kemenangan bagi tim,’’ kata Negredo, ‘’Saya sangat senang bisa melakukannya tetapi sekarang kami harus terus bekerja untuk menang.’’
‘’Saya suka sepakbola Inggris. Ini seperti yang saya perkirakan --begitu banyak pergerakan, pemain begitu berkualitas mereka bisa menguasai bola dengan bagus, and harus terus berlari.’’
‘’Kami di Spanyol menyebutnya ‘’jalan raya untuk berlari’’ -- ketika lawan menguasai bola, banyak sekali perpindahan penguasaan bola dan sangat intens.’’
“Tetapi saya gembira, ini gaya bermain yang saya suka dan harapannya saya akan terus menjadi semakin baik.”
...penilaian Alvaro Negredo tentang sepakbola Inggris...
The 28-year old has had to demonstrate patience in his early days in Manchester as Edin Dzeko has started the season as Manuel Pellegrini’s first-choice for the ‘number 9’ role.
His 75 minutes on the pitch in England so far have come in increasingly lengthy substitute appearances - 10 minutes against Newcastle, 20 against Cardiff and 45 against Hull - but they’ve done more than enough to whet appetites in the stands, meaning it may not be too long until fans see their new man in action from the start.
With 17 goals in his last 16 appearances spread across Alvaro’s final games at Sevilla and his first at City, it’s fair to say that confidence is in ready supply.
“Of course it is hard being on the bench, but that’s how things are at the moment,” he reflected.
“The manager has decided that Edin will start, so all I can do to try to change that is to keep on working in training and be ready whenever he calls on me from the bench.
“He’s not said anything at all to me. He’s just said that Edin is playing from the start, so all I can do is work.
“I will never get used to being on the bench, obviously, but that is the same for everyone - we all want to play and only 11 can, and it’s up to the manager to decide.”
...Negredo on rotation...
Before the game against Hull, Alvaro could be seen reading the match day programme while laughing and joking on the pitch with fellow new recruit Stevan Jovetic, giving a rare public glimpse at how closely knit this group already are.
City’s four new summer signings have immediately ingratiated themselves into the dressing room dynamic at Carrington and at the Etihad Stadium, leaving Negredo eager to forecast exciting times ahead for the club.
“We have new players from all over Europe, but I have played with Jesus Navas for a long time and we understand each other very well, Fernandinho is a player of immense quality, and though Jovetic has been affected by injuries he is going to be a phenomenal player for the club.
“My feeling is that the quality here is very good.
“Everyone needs time, of course. There’s a new manager, several players have left and some new ones have arrived. It is normal that we will have to wait a bit to get to know each other.
“But at the moment we are doing things well and we just have to keep working.”
