Flashy defender departs for joke league to team up with his buddy Laudrup
Well, it seems that next season we won't have to worry about expecting the unexpected at the back. Chico Flores, he of the red Ferrari, three red cards and countless other unsavoury incidents, seems set to join up with Michael Laudrup at Lekhwiya in a move which is 100% not about advancing his football career. Good luck to him, but at his age I think it's impossible to argue he isn't just going for the money and an easy ride. Oh, and because he's chums with Laudrup.
The thing with Chico is that he is obviously a very talented footballer. What has become apparent in his two years here though is that the rashness in his game, his tendency to leave a gaping hole in the defence which either results in a goal for the opposition or a card for him as he scrambles to make up lost ground, is what has stopped him becoming an even better defender. It's sad that he can't curb this side of his game as if he could he'd be a top player indeed.
Thanks must go to Chico for being a part of a team which won the League Cup and stayed in the Premier League for two years, but I'm not sad to see him go and I'm intrigued to see who the club bring in to replace him. If rumours of Federico Fernandez are true that'd most definitely be an improvement, and I'm all up for a defender who doesn't have so many erratic tendencies.
There's a couple of phrases from music which ring true when talking about Chico. Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers once claimed when talking about bassists that lots were "all flash no smash" - and I think that's quite apt when describing the Spanish centre-back. The other is "all the gear no idea". Perhaps a little harsher, but his Ferrari and carefully groomed appearance are telling - if he put as much effort into ridding his football of it's shortfalls as he did into having the right haircut it's possible we wouldn't be selling him now.
So thank you Chico for your time here, but his departure doesn't worry me. Amat & Bartley give us just as much in my opinion, and I'm confident whoever the club bring in will be of a better standard than the man who's departing.