Whenever you’re a striker fighting for more minutes in a squad, getting almost a full game and not being able to score is not ideal. Obviously managers understand that other than Erling Haaland no other striker in the world can be expected to score in every outing. Santi Gimenez got a chance to play extended minutes as a starter in Feyenoord’s Europa League game. That’s actually back to back starts from Gimenez, something that we had yet to see this season. Ironically enough he wasn’t able to find the back of the net in any of his two most recent outings as a starter. Is this something that Gimenez should be worried about?
Not Everything Is About Goals
When he was scoring he wasn’t getting as many minutes as he’s gotten over the last week. When you play at that number 9 spot the number of goals that you score is certainly important, but they don’t necessarily tell the whole story. In fact, just recently Tato Martino basically minimized the importance of Santi Gimenez’s goals saying that scoring a penalty kick wouldn’t necessarily move a player ahead in his mind.
What can’t be denied about Santi’s recent play is that he’s put in a ton of effort, and he fights for every ball. That type of sacrifice is essentially the bare minimum that you can do as a striker. His presence has opened up chances for some of his teammates like we saw in Feyenoord’s first goal of the match this Thursday. As we mentioned it’s certainly preferable to have your number 9 scoring at will, but there’s real value to Gimenez’s play over the last two games. In that aspect he’s seemingly helped his case for more minutes since that defensive pressure that he can provide from the number 9 spot is not necessarily something that the team gets from Danilo.
What’s The Real Concern With Santi Gimenez?
Gimenez still looks sort of slow when compared to everyone around him. It’s unrealistic at this point to expect him to be a speedster. Maybe though what he’ll need to do is bulk up a bit to be able to be even more of a menace to opposing defenders. In Liga MX just his height alone was enough to be able to compete physically with some of the top LigaMX defenders. Even within league play in the Netherlands he doesn’t look that out of place.
We said it after the Lazio game though when you put him into a higher level of competition within European soccer he still looks like he plays at a different speed. We’re not necessarily saying that he can be Haaland or prime Cristiano Ronaldo, but the next step in his development could be to bulk up physically, and potentially find a burst of speed. At his age this should be something that he can still develop.
Is He Going To Miss The World Cup?
At this point Santi Gimenez’s best chance to make the World Cup roster for Mexico runs through Raul Jimenez. The two are actually similar forwards, and taking both of them may not be ideal. Perhaps the fact that Rogelio Funes Mori can provide a different skill set at the position is the reason why he’ll make the team. The twin came back in Rayados’ game last night against Cruz Azul, and he looked good; he provided a bit of a spark for his team. Henry Martin on the other hand destroyed the Puebla back line. Henry Martin and Funes Mori seem to be locks at this point. Santi Gimenez’s chance to make the roster depends on Raul Jimenez’s health!
