You have to prove it on the pitch. I don't dismiss his potential, but to say he hasn't yet proven his reliability for inclusion on a top team is not "hysterical"--rather it is obvious to most observers and his managers.
Yet... Since Spring 2019 - 4 short years - he's gotten 51 la liga apps, 23 ered, 20 CL, 8 Serie A, 7 Europa, a ton of cup matches, and the national team, including WC on top of it - well over 100 very competitive matches under a couple of very experience coaches (or experienced players who got to coach, in some cases.) All by 22. the idea that those stats suggest a player that "no" coach rates is simply willful distortion of reality. Is Dest a "must play" for a top club? Clearly and obviously not. Is he a "can and has played regularly for top clubs in important games?" Of course. Could he have plateaued? Sure. Could he mature into a more effective player? I believe so. I long ago suggested he was more useful further up the field. I think he will thrive in a team that plays a true, consistent 3-5-2/5-3-2 or even be moved to a touchline middie in a 4 or 3. Will he find that team with the right coach? I dunno. But I hope so.
what is his status .... again he was not in the 1 for ACM today versus Empoli. of course he is not on the CL squad either. Is he training anywhere these days?
Last know sighting... (via FB anyway) It's April 1 but the pic is from Grenada, I think. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/serginodestofficial/posts/pfbid02acRN3ChGUV2tEmpfWr2WwtQxUerpMNoniJKC9UcqKMpFbjvkQMpaHGvMGB8GQYEvl&show_text=true&width=500
Even though he is on loan one would think he is at least training with Milan reserves …. Or would Milan just pay the loan fees and tell him to go on a long vacation?
No idea. Decided to do a bit of dive to see what I could find - and there's not much. The couple-weeks-old Athletico news, his insta and FB are all up to USMNT duty but not beyond. I did find this from the Milan FB - not sure the actual date, but it's a recent post... freisland on the case! Otherwise the most recent I found was this: Union, CP and Hammers. https://www.football-espana.net/202...ir-quest-to-end-sergino-dest-saga-this-summer
Sports is one of the few aspects of life where nepotism, bias, class-allegiance, national pride, ethnic-loyalty, having the right contacts, and such don't play. If you're not good enough, it's obvious. No matter how those loyal to you for any reason try to deny it.
Dest will have to take a step back and go to a team that can afford to let him work through issues. Nothing wrong with that, but his lapses of judgement defensively were just too hard to ignore when on the field
Unless your sport is something like Track and Fields or Swimming everything is subjective. Wondo wasn't able to start in MLS, Tom Bradley was drafted in 6th round, Matt Turner wasn't. Messi's Argentinian club saved $20K refusing to provide him with medical treatment. Everything that you mentioned does matter, fvcking Jonathan Klinsman still starting in MLS.
This made me almost spit out my coffee! This kid truly is bad. He is bad. Hell, he didn‘t even start freshman year at Cal! Hell, did he actually have the grades for Cal? Hmm. It has become a common theme in Berlin now that the only reason JK took the Hertha job was to help his hapless son. Can u argue that? First thing he did on the job was fire the keeper coach who deemed Jon not good enough. Immediately tried to sign him and was told no. Had a good first few matches, and then he went back to press the issue. Making demands, sound familiar? Was told no. Team started losing, he lost any leverage he might have had and he just quit online. What a d**k. Keeper coach, one of the most respected and popular people at the club rehired shortly after that. Man, JK is such a scummy modern day politician playing to the emotional, ignorant mob. He went a long way on lack of talent, and propped his untalented son up for a long, long time. Of course a dysfunctional club like LA fell for it! Yet, people bashed Bardley for nepotism. This one encompasses every bad thing it is.
Potential Atletico interest but I don’t know how Barcelona is going to be able to register Carrasco https://www.sport.es/en/news/barca/...dest-to-be-part-of-the-carrasco-deal-85908157 Also talk to interest from Sevilla and Union Berlin if they make the Champions League. It’s been a lost season for Dest, but he will have suitors this summer and Barcelona are definitely financially incentivized to try and move him.
Interesting article relevant to Dest, but attacking fullbacks might be going out style https://www.espn.com/sports/soccer/...ity-others-abandoning-attacking-fullback-play This is sort of why I think Barcelona had interest in someone like Araujo as opposed to Dest. The Athletic did something similar a couple weeks ago on the evolution of Pep and how he’s basically playing with center backs as outside backs https://theathletic.com/4395427/2023/04/11/pep-guardiola-tactical-evolution/?amp=1
Dest v. Mex was a pretty perfect synopsis of his strengths and weaknesses. Looked fairly invisible most of the game, a bit worrying on D - tho not a disaster - and then a great dribbling run to open up the field. He is not going to work in every system, but he will work in some for sure.
Not to completely absolve him of any criticism, but that was a tough game to evaluate him in my mind. He drew a lot of attention from Mexico, and TBH, he didn't have a lot to work with around him there on the left side. I also think he is probably a much better player on the right. He did play pretty solid for the US in the WC, other than the one mistake against the Netherlands. I agree that he needs a very specific system to thrive in at this point, and maybe more importantly, a coach who is invested in him. Probably won't be able to find a good fit without dropping down a level. Dest's biggest problem in my mind is that his final product is not good. He really needs to play closer to the goal with less defensive responsibility. His dribbling and possession play borders on elite, but with little end product, that is a tough sell. In any event, it's critical he gets himself into a good spot for the upcoming season. If I were him, I'd look for a team that needs a player of his skill set and a coach that seems to really want him and wouldn't worry too much about club pedigree at this point.
maybe this has long since been discussed but with his skill and attacking mindset ... why has he not been used as a midfielder (for club and country) ? .... he reminds me a little of Zendejas in terms of pace, guile, and skill. If he is a liability at some level as a wingback/defender - why even put him there?
Maybe not good at finishing. I did remember he scored two goals in one of La Liga game, but when he was playing as right wing (Dembele’s spot), he missed few setters.
I actually thought he was a bit lucky in that he had a couple of what I thought were bad turnovers in the 2nd half against both Wales and Iran that led to some breaks but went unpunished. They were all from trying to dribble through too many defenders/create something. There's certainly a time and place for that; but, I think he got away with some poor decisions in those games that are generally glossed over because Wales/Iran didn't take advantage of them/others cleaned up his mess. There's no doubt though that he was a huge plus in helping the USA keep position better than in the past/and help build some attacks. But, for me, I'm not sure the soccer IQ/decision-making instincts are there. That could improve with more experience/reps; but, needs to be somewhere where he can get those reps.
And in Italy, nobody - not even Atalanta - will forgive frequent lapses in defensive judgement from anybody and he's at AC Milan. He's not good enough for them or Barca but he'll have offers and is still young enough to rebound to top level. It's time to move on.
Yeah, it seems like he's a tweener in the sense that he has the offensive goods to be a fullback on a top team but has more defensive lapses than they can put up with, and he's not as good offensively as true wingers on top teams. If you're Barca and have guys like Dembele, Fati, Torres, etc. as true wingers, why wouldn't you prefer them to Dest there?
Ability to attack from the back is a super-valuable thing. I doubt Alphonso Davies would be as successful as a winger.