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Muriel - Fuck Yeah!

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“@RorySmithTimes: Weirdly necessary clarification: Liverpool looked at Muriel ages ago. Didnt say he's being considered as a replacement for Suarez. FFS...”
 
Antonio Di Natale knows a thing or three about scoring goals so when the Udinese captain stated recently that his team-mate Luis Muriel was set to become a “world-class player” within the next couple of years everyone should take notice.
This time last year the 22-year-old Muriel was manly leading the attack for doomed Lecce who but his stand-out performances encouraged Udinese to end any speculation that he would be loaned out again, having also spent a short spell at Udinese’s Spanish Watford, Granada – and 12 months later he has been one of the key figures as the Zebrette made a late charge to land a Europa League spot behind Fiorentina in fifth place.
Sharing the young Serie A player of the year award with Stephan El Shaarawy last season, as with the AC Milan striker the young Colombian has gone from strength to strength throughout this campaign.
Built like Emile Heskey but with the skills and natural talent that would do Cristiano Ronaldo proud, he has drawn comparisons with the original Ronaldo when he first arrived at Inter with his unerring ability to hit the target on the run.
Blistering pace can take the powerful frontman forward but when in a tight spot a piece of tricky on either foot or sharp turn can get him out of trouble and always with an eye for the opposition penalty area where needless to say he looks to unleash one of his pounding shots.
His time at struggling Lecce meant that he was left to take on opposition defences alone and he did so with some aplomb as AS Roma will testify to when he scored twice in a 4-2 defeat of Luis Enrique’s side, but this year alongside the veteran goal-king Di Natale he has had to become more of a team man and provider of chances.
Certainly the on-field demands of Di Natale coupled with the astute man management of coach Francesco Guidolin, who whipped the youngster into shape in pre-season to lean down some of that natural puppy fat, have been the keys to Muriel’s continued progress.
A hip problem sidelined him for two and a half months from the end of September to mid December but fifteen starts plus seven off the bench in the league produced a very positive return of a 11 goals including strikes in both encounters with Inter and a vital equalizer against Roma which started Udinese’s surge up the table on the back of just one defeat in 11 matches; and included an eight-game winning streak in the run-in.
Offering size and strength, he has looked tailor-made to combine with Di Natale’s jack-in-the-box approach inside the area, but although he does most of his work through the middle he can easily drift out wide to find space to turn and run at defenders.
Fittingly it was Muriel who scored the final goal of another fairytale season for the club from the Friuli region when he coolly finished off Inter in a 5-2 thumping at the San Siro which secured a European football.
Muriel’s breakthrough is another coup for Udinese’s South American scouting system which of course unearthed Alexis Sanchez who was sold to Barcelona for 26million euros.
The club have already upped the ante on their latest find, claiming he is worth 30m plus and if they do cash in this summer then they will do so safe in the knowledge that it was 1.5m euros well spent in bringing the raw youngster over to Europe from Colombian side Deportivo Cali in 2010.
In the meantime, Muriel will want to prove Di Natale’s prediction correct that the future is indeed bright for the exciting, young South American.
 
Watched this lad a few times last season.
He's the nuts.
Strong,quick and a lethal finisher.
 
2013%2f7%2fMuriel-Conversion.jpg

The 22-year old returned to the Stadio Friuli last summer after a successful loan spell with Lecce and picked up the Serie A Young Player of the Year award for 2012 along with Stephan El Shaarawy. In doing so he became the first Udinese player to receive the award since its inception in 1997 despite the aforementioned wealth of young stars that the Bianconeri have boasted.

Muriel is a rapid forward whose technique and ability on the ball has drawn comparisons to fellow South American and Serie A star Ronaldo. Indeed, up to now it seems bemusing that more concrete interest from across Europe - given the number of clubs that are seemingly in search of a striker - has not been lodged in the Colombian, despite his agents claims that his client is content in Udine.

Having made just 22 Serie A appearances last season, Muriel's goal tally of 11 was impressive. He netted 10 of those goals in just 15 starts, picking up 3 assists in the process and ended the season in fantastic fashion, scoring 5 goals in his last 6 appearances.

His strikes, unlike many young forwards trying to impress, came from a modest number of shots at goal (41). In turn, his chance conversion rate of 26.8% ranked a superb 9th of the 125 players in Europe's top 5 leagues to net 10 or more goals last season. That figure was way in advance of Serie A top scorer Edinson Cavani (18.6%) who has just joined PSG for the fourth highest transfer fee in history.

A shot accuracy of 43.9% is less impressive but still the equivalent of Ligue 1's leading marksman Zlatan Ibrahimovic last season, and when he did hit the target his powerful efforts proved unstoppable more often than not. Indeed, of the same 125 goalscorers only three were able to better Muriel's exceptional on target conversion rate of 61.1% - two places ahead of Lionel Messi in this regard.

It's clear that the Colombian's finishing is up to scratch but his game is much more than that of a goal poacher. He does very little of his work in the box, more often than not offering an electric outlet on the counter and his ability with the ball at his feet is aided by an impressive upper body strength as he's able to hold off or outmuscle opponents.

He can look to do it all himself at times, with only ten Serie A players embarking on more dribbles per game than the Udinese man (5.4), but having completed 2.3 per game on average he was way ahead of any teammate. Meanwhile, his WhoScored rating of 7.20 from last season was the fourth best at the club despite playing a bit part in the first half of the campaign. When you exclude substitute appearances that average rises to 7.44, which was only bettered by the offloaded Benatia last season.

In terms of weaknesses, Muriel could perhaps develop his work rate when it comes to his defensive contribution, having averaged just 0.6 tackles and 0.2 interceptions per game last season. Elsewhere he isn't particularly strong in terms of aerial duels but he's more of a second striker than a target man, so that much is understandable.

Although there is certainly room for improvement in his all round game, Muriel only turned 22 in April and this is clearly a player with a bright future. Where that future lies remains to be seen, but if Udinese's transfer policy is anything to go by, it may be away from the Stadio Friuli sooner rather than later.
Ignoring the comparisons with players, the conversion rate alone is pretty impressive.
 
In the same way that I became very excited after only 30 seconds viewing Coutinho on Youtube, this fella gives me wood etc..

I refuse to get excited again about him, however, until there is concrete mutha fucking evidence we are after him.
 
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