Marcus Edwards shows what Tottenham and the Premier League missed out on
Marcus Edwards shows what Tottenham and the Premier League missed out on. “If some other player had done that, we would have been talking about it for a very long period,” Antonio Adan, the goalkeeper for Sporting CP, stated.
They had been discussing it for some time.
Magic, according to the Record. O Jogo aimed for “artistic” in his use of words. A Bola termed it “transcendent,” the moment when 39,899 people sprang up in disbelief but relief upon seeing a Maradona in their midst.
Ludicrous
It’s the kind of thing where the people watching become witnesses, are taken in, and can’t help but talk about it afterward. Each successive section becomes more ludicrous: Why the heck not?! He still hasn’t done it, has he?! No way could he do it, right?
He was ultimately unsuccessful. At least not by a tally. Which, paradoxically, could have improved things. It’s not quite as good, but you get the idea. To the extent that it was art, it served no practical purpose and became art for its own sake.
And then, all of a sudden, it was all everybody could speak about. Perhaps the best way to describe it is as transcendent; it was bigger than this arena and the game itself, bigger than the goal never scored.
The people inside could feel it, and by now you’ve undoubtedly seen the effects yourself. They called Marcus Edwards “Mini Messi” when he was a boy from the island of Madeira.
An uproar ensued this week when Sporting’s match against Tottenham Hotspur saw Edwards demonstrate a deft flick of the wrist and lightning-quick feet, both of which he used to great effect.
Heck
However, this was not the case. Instead of a standard, hearty round of applause, this was more like an “oh,” “ah,” and “what the heck” from the crowd as they stood with gaping lips to show their approval.
You see him there and you think, “he can’t get out of there,” and then he does, according to one report. It’s like, ‘You see him race for the ball and you think, ‘he can’t reach that,’ and he reaches it.
Edwards scooped up the ball in the middle of the field, pivoted, and beat Eric Dier twice, first to one side and then back past him to the other, beyond Ivan Perisic as well, hips flying.
After passing to Francisco Trincao and receiving the ball back, he dribbled past Cristian Romero and into a promising scoring position before missing from five yards out.
The ball was poked toward the goal from an extremely close range, but it missed the target despite hitting Hugo Lloris twice.
Adan exclaimed, “He almost scored a historic golazo,” and then he laughed as he pictured it again. That moment was one of those times when you just have to chuckle.
Furthermore, it wasn’t limited to a single instance. Not only the attention he received for a short period of time; maintaining that level of popularity is difficult.
Game
Edwards was outstanding throughout the match, just as he had been in the first game week, a 3-0 victory away at Eintracht Frankfurt, in which he contributed to all three goals and three assists.
But this was different because it was a League Cup game against Gillingham, the club he’d joined when he was eight years old but for whom he’d only played fifteen minutes.
The player he had beaten twice had really begun his career in Portugal; Dier’s mother had gotten a job here in preparation for Euro 2004, which is why the entire family had relocated here.
They knew Edwards was unique even as a child. The fight to have him signed to his first professional contract, larger than anything they had ever offered a young player, was no easy feat. It appeared they could lose him for a while, and that idea worried them enough. This youngster had star potential.
Edwards was given the nickname “Mini Messi” for a good reason. He is only 5 feet 6 inches tall but incredibly skillful, particularly with his left foot.
Remember that former manager Mauricio Pochettino made an effort to deflect attention away from himself and the weight of that obligation.
Statements
It was as though he realized the second the words left his mouth that they might not have been the wisest choice.
Pochettino has claimed that “his qualities… it’s merely looks, his body, and the manner that he plays” are reminiscent of early Messi. Edwards made his debut the next day, September 2016, at the tender age of 17. He never returned to the Spurs lineup.
A loan to Norwich lasted for the duration of one game. Spending a full year in Rotterdam. Then he moved to Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal, where his professional career began, playing 85 games and scoring 20 goals over two and a half seasons before Sporting paid £7.5 million to join him in January.
Sporting’s head coach Ruben Amorim beamed, “We made good business,” this week. It’s only natural that people are starting to wonder maybe Spurs didn’t do it.
He’s got a lot of talent, enough to be a top player, a great player, but now it’s up to him to construct his future. He’s a really bright prospect. Pochettino remarked this before his first and only professional game, which also happened to be his last for Spurs.
Pochettino later said there were problems with authority and behavior and an injury. Some have said that Edwards is a loner who isn’t always as connected with others as they’d want, and this was mirrored by some who worked with him in Lisbon. It wasn’t just about the player, but the person, too.
Remarks
That is always the case. If it was clear then from the reactions of those around him, it is still clear now. And how could it be any other way? It’s like we’re machines, and we have to go out there and perform what fans and journalists want us to do,” Adan remarked of his colleague on Tuesday night. “That human touch is often overlooked.”
That’s permanent; it never really goes away. It took him some time to settle in Portugal, but Amorim says he’s now settled in.
Lisbon is not London, and that difference has an effect, yet he’s talented anyway. He has plenty of room to improve and could perhaps even make the England squad.
He merely needs to narrow his attention to the task at hand, which in this case is training. It’s not simply the games that make up football; it’s also the off-field activities. I have a lot of faith in him; he has many potentials.
Edwards denied ever considering this possibility when asked about it on Tuesday night.
Then why does he say he wants to play for England? After seeing this English kid who had moved abroad rip apart his former squad, he exclaimed, “Yeah, it would be good,” Soon, others were echoing his sentiment. They pondered the possibilities of what could have happened.
The relentless little ant, who is not just about attacking inspiration but also provides everything in defensive tasks, possesses “talent, class, and tons of magic,” as A Bola put it. Worth millions of dollars, this show was incredible.
Hugo Lloris had a front-row seat. Edwards was about to score what would have been the best goal of the season, but he didn’t even know how; he prevented it.
Declarations
“He’s more mature now, he’s 23 years old, and he has the same quality we saw a few years ago when he was working with the first team,” said Lloris. He fits in perfectly with the type of team we’re looking for. If he keeps going like this, he’s going places.
Adan replied, “Different,” when asked to characterize him.
Moreover, he said, “Marcus provides us that ability to go past people, to change a game, to take people on, to burst through lines. He has excellent speed and ball control, and his self-assurance has never been higher. He’s joined a supportive community that will help him flourish.
We’re a young bunch, and some folks are helping him integrate more fully.
A lot of effort is being put in by him as well. He engages in frequent conversation with us, a sign of his contentment on the field. Your behavior in the field indicates how people act in their daily lives. And I believe he has found contentment at this point. The manager believes in him and is willing to give him a chance to explore these new approaches.
Someone was grinning. And he comes close to netting a goal that would go down in history as a golazo. It was great; we had fun and were fortunate to have Marcus on our team.
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