Copa America superstars in great form ahead of Copa America 2015 in Chile
Back when he was manager of Barcelona, Johan Cruyff used to have a theory about the season after a World Cup. He claimed such campaigns could throw up more surprises and unexpected results because of the effect of fatigue on the top players.
“Everyone in the squad who played in the World Cup - I think there’s about 13 of them,” Cruyff said at the time, “has been injured for a short or a long time. It can’t be coincidence.”
Yet, this season, we may have seen the converse - and it could be very good for the Copa America. Virtually all of South America’s top stars actually enjoyed a vigorous level of performance after Brazil 2014. Far from badly needing a break this summer, all of Leo Messi, Neymar, James Rodriguez and Alexis Sanchez look ready to take command of Chile.
That is, of course, one of the elements that always elevates a tournament. While the quality of the moments, matches and general story lines are essential, they all tend to be even better when they are fired by the finest talents.
It is actually difficult not to feel a little hard done by when a tournament just falls at the wrong time for the top players. The justifiable hope is that is not the case for Chile 2015.
Because of both the World Cup and simple coincidence, as Cruyff himself might put it, it does seem set up for all the stars to flourish. Take the finest of them all. Just under a year ago, it seemed like we had seen the best of Messi, and it didn’t look quite as devastating as it used to be.
Although the World Cup displayed he was still capable of individual feats of historic quality - the goal against Iran, the run and pass for Angel Di Maria against Switzerland - it was as if the cumulative fatigue that affected his physical condition meant they could only come at intervals. It seemed like Messi constantly had to spare his body for the most opportune moments, and judiciously decide when to strike.
That has undeniably changed. Messi’s camp have investigated his physical conditioning since Brazil, and it has had an exponential effect. Now, it is not just that he is back to the 2008-12 blur of energy, or that he no longer has to wait for opportune moments. It is that he is so completely involving himself in almost every aspect of the game.
He is now so thoroughly dominant. Most obviously, there’s the manner in which he is so productive again. The goal rate has shot up to 1.13 per game from 0.9 and his assists have gone to 0.47 from 0.36. That has come, however, while he is also playing far more passes - an average of 61.4 a game. He is no longer sparing himself at all. He is offering even more. Messi is both defining games and deciding them.
James Rodriguez is now inevitably doing more of the former due to the idiosyncratic politics of the Real Madrid line-up. He scores less (0.44 from 1.2) but assists more, and generally offers more key passes (2.7) than shots (1.8), when it has been the opposite with Colombia (2.5 key passes compared to 3.2 shots).
There was also the way a February foot fracture disrupted his campaign. For the Copa America, though, that two-month lay-off may have come at exactly the right time.
Given how good his World Cup was, there was the possibility that James would drop off. Instead, the two-month lay-off has possibly given him the required time off to resume his more advanced international role with relish.
There has arguably been a similar dynamic with Neymar. The notorious injury he suffered in Brazil’s quarter-final with Colombia ended his World Cup prematurely and curtailed his start to the campaign, but also means he is that bit fresher.
He has also moved up a level with his club. His scoring has drastically improved since the World Cup (0.67 from 0.35 per game), while he is so much more involved in Barca’s play, with 46.7 passes per game rather than 36.6.
Ironically, the same has happened to Alexis Sanchez since leaving Barca. He has become a central figure for Arsenal with 42 passes per game as opposed to 26.9, while he also plays far more key balls. Although his scoring has slightly dropped, the wonder is whether this can make Chile a more potent force as a whole.
Sanchez was obviously good at the World Cup, but there was still the feeling he was someway cowed by his time at Barca, that he had been relegated to one of the supporting cast rather than becoming the dominant star he always suggested he might be. It had an effect on the World Cup, too, given he still looked more of a finisher rather than the talent driving play. Now, we’ve seen more of the latter.
The hope is that we see the best of all of these players in Chile. It could well make, and settle, the Copa America.