Good evening Blues
I´m a red who lives in Colombia. Decided to register and leave my two cents on your new big man at the back.
I´ve been living in Colombia for a number of years. Not a huge fan of the league here as I don´t tend to have the time to take in the weekend games and the quality can be a bit iffy, but always enjoy watching the Colombian teams play their midweek games in the Sudamericana and the Libertadores.
I have been keeping an eye on Mina since I first saw him for Santa Fe a few years back, where I would say he was their star man as they fought their way to the Copa Sudamericana, their only ever continental title. The season in south america can be a real slog and the continental campaigns take a lot to win as it involves so many games and so much travel. The big lad at the back was the main reason I kept an eye on Santa Fe´s run as he seemed to have the package; big, strong, agile, and quite fast. One of those defenders who always seemed to find a way to get his leg to a ball. He´s more than capable on the ball too. I know he was really highly rated in Brazil and if I´m not mistaken, it was only an injury that kept him from winning a Libertadores with Palmeiras. I was intrigued to see how he´d get on at Barca but it seems he never had a chance with Valverde, especially keeping in mind the bureaucratic issues.
Since he came in to the national side, he´s looked more than comfortable and scored a thumping header to equalise late on against Uruguay in the qualifiers. Obviously he showed a lot of what he´s about at the World Cup; committed defending and a huge threat on set pieces. He couldn´t have been 100% fit so there´s definitely more to come from him. To be honest I think he´s tailor-made for the premier league although he may well take a while to settle in. Keep the faith in him even if he has a mare or two in his first season. Think even though the price was good value for Barca given what they paid, it could well turn out to be a great bit of business for you´s. Guaranteed to score a few big goals (hopefully he´ll save them for the games against the Mancs and the London teams!). Also he should find it easier to setlle in given that the north west is fasty becoming the centre of the latino footballing universe.
Anyway, I just wanted to leave you my impressions on a footballer who I reckon you´s will take to your hearts. Hopefully it will be a season to remember for football on Merseyside.
