Paul Dickov lauded Julian Alvarez for changing the game as a second-half substitute for Manchester City in their latest win against RB Leipzig.
The pundit explained during City’s full-time show on their YouTube channel how Alvarez made life difficult for the visitors at the Etihad Stadium after being deployed in the No.10 position.
After his side’s 3-2 victory, Pep Guardiola hailed the Argentine striker as a “special player” in and around the box.
Paul Dickov praises “fantastic” Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez in RB Leipzig win
The 23-year-old is having one hell of a season, with Micah Richards saying in October that he was the Sky Blues’ “best player” this campaign.
Owen Hargreaves also labelled the former River Plate forward as a “fabulous player”, while adding that he does not think he has ever seen him have a poor game.
Paul Dickov also reserved special praise for Julian Alvarez after Manchester City beat RB Leipzig on Tuesday night.
“I thought Alvarez was fantastic when he came on. The first-half, because we had Rico [Lewis] and Phil [Foden], didn’t we, playing as the sort of two [No.] 10’s as Shauny [Shaun Goater] said at half-time. But they stayed in that position”, Paul Dickov said on Manchester City’s full-time show.
He added, “When Alvarez came on, he literally played as the [No.] 10 in between the lines and it led Phil to roam a little more. They [RB Leipzig] didn’t know, as Stevie [Steve Howey] said there, I said it after, they didn’t know whether to come in and pick up Alvarez. If they did, the ball would go down the side to [Erling] Haaland.”
“As soon as Alvarez comes on, he picks up that pocket, slips it into Phil, slips it into Haaland, there you go, touch and finish. It’s a great finish.”
Julian Alvarez was a thorn in RB Leipzig’s side
Paul Dickov hit the nail on the head in his analysis of why Manchester City hitman Julian Alvarez was such a nuisance for RB Leipzig.
The World Cup winner took up smart positions in and around the penalty area and chose not to remain static at any point.
This caused a world of problems for RB Leipzig, especially when the treble-winner played slick one-two’s with his teammates to ghost into favourable shooting positions outside the box.
Ultimately, this lively moment led to Julian Alvarez finding acres of space inside the box to compose himself and fire the ball past Janis Blaswich to come up trumps as the matchwinner.
As Manchester City prepare to host Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, the versatile attacker may have earned himself a starting place after a stunning cameo against the German side.
