Surprise
packets
Nick Bidwell selects the key players for
some of this season’s unexpected successes
There was never any chance of the
Venezuelan winger feeling alienated
on swapping Italian side Udinese for
the La Liga new boys in the summer.
An example of the frenetic player
merry-go-round that is the football
network set up by the Pozzo family- comprising Udinese, Granada in
Spain and Premier League Watford - the 26-year-old is now in his third
spell with Granada and has already
switched clubs an incredible 15
times in his professional career.
Clearly delighted to be back
on familiar turf, he has proved to
be one of the key components in
Granada’s emergence this term as
shock pacesetters. He gave a five-
star display in the Andalusians’
impressive 2-0 home victory over
Barcelona in September, a game in
which he left opposition full-backs
Nelson Semedo and Sergi Roberto
dazed, confused and defeated.
The career of the 24-year-old
Lisbon-born wide-man comes
in two distinct phases.
First, there was his development
path in the UK, where he featured
for the academy teams at Millwall,
Arsenal, Chelsea, Birmingham City
and Tottenham Hotspur before
enjoying some success in England’s
lower leagues with Coventry City
and Plymouth Argyle. And then,
following a move back to his
homeland last summer, his first taste
of top-flight football with newly
promoted overachievers Famalicao.
Normally lining up on the right
flank, but equally at home on the
left or as an inside-forward, he is
tricky and imaginative, particularly
dangerous when driving forward
from deep positions. He also knows
how to finish, notably with a fine
goal in Famalicao’s stunning 2-1
win at Sporting in September.Darwin
MACHIS
GRANADA
Ruben
LAMEIRAS
FAMALICAO
2
1