West Brom are making their presence felt and raising eyebrows across Europe with their sensational bids going in left, right and centre for elite talents. Frankly, it has made our writers at The 4th Offical a little tizzy, trying to wrap our heads around the general direction of how the 2nd last day of the transfer window has panned out – and agitated, in anticipation of what lies in wait tomorrow.
While the £15million bid of Ignacio Camacho teeters and totters, remaining in balance, JD of The 4th Official, wraps up his shift for the day with a comprehensive report on the strengths and the weaknesses of the 26-year-old battling Spaniard.
Strengths
Hard-as-nails Ignacio Camacho plays with all the gritted-teeth obstinacy of a South American, than your typical stylish poise of a Spaniard. High-voltage, in-your-face, and thunderous in the tackle and dominant in the air, the Malaga man, has around him an air of invincibility. His tendency to always be on the front foot sees him snuff out many attacks through his timely interceptions and blocks. His front-footedness also set the tempo of midfield play, ensuring calm and assuredness beneath his underlying brutality.
Not the one for falling back when hit on the counter, like most defensive midfielders, he likes to engage and destroy an attacking move at the first opportunity. Has a knack for driving the ball out from defence and unsettling his opposite number with his sheer power and determination on the ball, he has displayed verticality about his play, even though he doesn’t try the venturesome passes as often as he could out of responsibility of the limitations of those around him.
While he plays with the knife between his teeth, and a heady head full of rushing blood, the backbone of his defensive play is his uncanny anticipation with or without the ball. His knowledge how to use his body in cul de sacs allows him to draw fouls upon himself at will – a cheeky, cheeky customer. Besides being deployed as a defensive midfielder, he has shown a great engine when asked to play the box-to-box role in Malaga.
Weaknesses
Yellow may be Camacho’s favourite colour, as he draws so many of those from the referee with his impassioned tackle-and-three-quarters. Won’t be surprised if the Malagan man models his game around the infamous Spaniard, Andoni Goikoetxea, named the Butcher of Bilbao who broke Diego Maradona into two. He sure is susceptible to the red mist El Gigante let himself be taken by, in his storied career.
Being hailed as a midfield destroyer, he does not, as mentioned, let himself ping the Hollywood passes, that he has shown a few glimpses of – which has raised eyebrows, as a telling reminder that he may flourish in a team that takes a bit of defensive burden off of him.
Verdict
If The Baggies bag Camacho, they’d have one of the best, if not the best defensive midfielders in the league. And for the quoted price of 15 million GBP, it’d be a beast of a deal.
