Season recap pt. III: Most improved player, a.k.a. “Uh, oh…”

By: Kevin | June 6th, 2009

This one is going to be a good’un, because first we have to establish parameters, and lord knows how you do that. Should they have been with the side last season, so that we have something to go on? No, because a player can improve withIN a season to become something spectacular.

And how do you really evaluate “most improved,” which is very different from “most valuable.” To me, you have to look at the effect that a player has, simply put, and the changes he has made in his game. For me, and I know that this is going to be contentious, that player is Eric “What? Red?” Abidal.

So. Why Abidal? Because last season, he went from being a player that everybody except me wanted to see on a rail out of town, to a critical part of our back line, as evinced by what happened during his 8-week injury stretch. He wasn’t quite the same when he came back, and got hosed on a couple of unfortunate red cards.

But his sideline-to-sideline range, pace, growing abilities to become part of the attack and freedom that he gives the defense, help make his case. He didn’t quite know what to do or how to do it last season, though he was very solid. Is it Guardiola? Possibly. But you could see the roaming freedom that the likes of Pique, Alves and Marquez had when Abidal was in. He also made The Yaya’s life a lot easier, and was a godsend to Iniesta for that little possession-controlling back pass, that Abidal always made himself available for.

Yes, there were lots of contenders. Pique went from a “Huh? Who? What?” member of the back line, to its best player, making critical save after critical save. Messi added passing to his bag of tricks, but let’s not kid ourselves: He was pretty spectacular already. Iniesta stepped out of the shadows, but he was always a great player. Thierry Henry was a very strong candidate, but really, all he did was become the player that he should have been from the outset of his tenure in the Blaugrana.

Iniesta was my second place, mostly because of the effect we see when he isn’t in the side. Xavi seems a little more unsettled, the midfield doesn’t flow as smoothly and the left side of the attack loses a bit of magic. You could almost declare it a draw, but we don’t do draws in these parts.

So it’s Abidal, for me. And when you all are done calling me a jackass, let’s hear your most improved players.

Ready….GO!

Next up, and the final round of the Season Recap before we start having fun with transfer rumors, will be MVP. I have a surprise for that one, as well. How ’bout that?