We call it a tile. And a beautiful one. The kind that comes at the wrong time and really bruises the corner of your nose. While everything seemed to be going well, AS Monaco and its supporters deplored the injury of their regulator Aleksandr Golovin this week. Victim of a sprained ankle in training, the Russian will undoubtedly miss the end of the season and will leave a void at the heart of the game. A sector where he shines and displays his class since the start of this 2023/24 financial year. In 25 matches, the 27-year-old scored six goals and slipped as many offerings to his partners. Figures which make him the most decisive player in the squad with Takumi Minamino, also involved in twelve goals (7 goals, 5 assists).
“He knows how to choose the right call and give the ball at the right time”
No medical report has been communicated by the club and it is always difficult to give a precise convalescence duration for this type of injury. Failing to be verbose, coach Adi Hütter was transparent on Friday regarding the absence of the player and Ismail Jakobs, injured in the knee. “They will probably be out until the end of the season, but we don’t know exactly. Maybe one of them will be available for a match.” A hard blow, obviously. Arriving on the Rock in 2018, Golovin took time to gain momentum but delivered a successful season last year and followed up perfectly during the current exercise. The master of the game is the Tsar and it is obvious. “He’s the one who sets the team’s tempo, judges Benjamin Nivet, former Troyes playmaker who became a consultant for Prime Video. I like his ability to often make the right choice. Play with one touch, fix and shift another player… It’s a strength that not everyone has. He knows how to choose the right call and give the ball at the right time.” And thus create enormous differences.
A new weapon in his game
But his scores should not be limited to that. To understand its importance, you must also take the time to look at its movements. How number 17 behaves when he doesn’t have the ball. On the move, always. Driven by the idea of getting it back by coming to harass and scratch at the opponent’s feet. “He has an impressive volume of play, admires the former Trojan number 10. He has a real ability to recover the balls. That’s where he impressed me, in a less visible area. It’s a facet of his game which I did not see at this level I remember the match in Marseille (2-2), when Monaco was inferior. He found himself playing in number 6-8-10 and he was enormous. !” At the end of March, the boy with 47 caps with Sbornaya was the sixth Ligue 1 player to cover the most distance per match (11.6km on average). More than any other Monegasque.
And now who to replace him?
“We know that he is important for us, he can unlock a match on his own and works a lot, recognizes Denis Zakaria. But the players who will replace him will be able to do this job.” There is no shortage of equipment. Neither does talent. “Akliouche, Ben Seghir, Minamino, Nivet list. It will depend in which configuration Hütter plays. They are the ones who will lead the game from now on. And defend, Akliouche also knows how to do it. But Golovin is Mr. Plus. The ranking is often decides in the money-time, that’s where the big players are decisive.
