Signature move: Suso’s return to left

The first time I saw Suso play I thought he was a tactically stupid footballer. Always falls on the left, I thought, just double him and all its dangerousness goes up in smoke. My impressions were confirmed in the following months: the first Suso at Milan played very little, at the end was loaned to Genoa in the hope of enhancing it by giving it continuity. Choice decidedly apt.

With the Grifone shirt on, Suso managed to become familiar with Serie A and grew a lot. Six months of fire: from January to June 2016 he collected six goals and two assists in nineteen games, with a continuity that in Milan he had never had. The Rossoneri then decided to take it back at the end of the season, and from that moment onwards the Spaniard became one of the fundamental pillars of the team. 

The Suso’s return to left has therefore become an iconic move, an incessant repetition, a GIF that continues to loop in on the Rossoneri right wing. The Spaniard becomes articulated like those toys that we had as children, he pretends to be on body feints and occasionally aims at the bottom and puts it in the middle with the right. Although, in reality, it is with his left feet that he can do more harm. 

Difficulty coefficient: 7/10 

Can a simple return to the strong foot be considered difficult? Generally not, but of course that matters is the way this game is played. Suso in this reminiscent of Robben who in turn recalls Cerci, in an eternal return of similarities that ultimately leads to the same outcome: skipped opponent, defensive line evaded, shooting / assist for the companion. And repeat.

Aesthetics: 8/10

Seeing Suso reentering on the left is always a joy for the eyes: the Spanish is a healthy carrier of grace, his movements are never mechanical, it is sinuous and elusive, moves like a cat that passes through a railing without any difficulty, shrinking all of a sudden and then find its natural form again. Suso does the same with the left side of the opposing defenses.

What it looks like: A cat that passes in a narrow place

So the "what it looks like" comes as a result: usually the cats are the goalkeepers, but Suso can also be part of the feline category for his footsteps and its unpredictability. Did you notice? For years, the Spaniard has not cut his beard. This is because it works like a cat's whiskers, it serves to keep one's balance. And to make it lose the opponent on duty.

Soundtrack: Una cosa stupida

Stupid like my first impression on him, stupid as that banal, essential, taken for granted, repeated endlessly. Yet so effective, ruthless, paradoxically intelligent. And it's been like this for so many years, and then I do not even know if it will change.

Possibility of emulation: 9/10 

Let's be clear: practically all the southpaws are able to return to the left, so in the end everyone could emulate it. But everyone is likely to be technically stupid, as I said at the beginning. Because there are not many players able to get back on the left as Suso do, with that grace, with that incisiveness, with that way of making unpredictable a play so basically predictable.