The Art of Alexia Putellas
As the goal goes in and the shirt comes off, the Greatest of All Time seals her return, indefinitely. It’s not a feat to take lightly, the trophy cabinet of Alexia Putellas. The Spanish captain has become a figure of the game in her own right. A player of expectational skill and variety, Putellas has changed the landscape of the game, both at home in Barcelona and around the world, like no other. She, in many ways, has become the face of women’s football. I usually title these pieces around a word to encapsulate the player, but there is no one word to describe her. This just simple is: ‘The Art of Alexia Putellas.’
The signal of the Spanish is the ability to dance around the ball. To putt the ball from one foot to the other and back again before the opponent has even realised you are moving. It’s a skill Putellas has not just used but perfected in the tightness of the midfield. Opponents have realised that the power comes from the midfield, from Putellas, and try to minimise her power through marking her out. This is where the skill excels. This “putting”, as if this was a round of golf, allows for the trick of sight. The ability to maintain the ball in these increasingly tight spaces, by interchanging feet on the ball, means Putellas is always one step ahead. She is not affected by the lack of space, instead excels in the struggle to be smarter. From left to right, and back again, without much thought or consideration, Putellas is aware of how the simplest of movements and touches can help her advance on the ball, with ease and precision.
It’s seen time and time again in Putellas’ game but something of note is the switch in play. In a recent Nation’s League match against Italy, Putellas receives the ball in space in plenty of space from the backline. She is quickly closed down by her Italian counterpart. Before she can be dispossessed, Putellas switches the ball from her dominate left foot, to right, as she changes the position of her body to follow. Now, once again in space, Putellas can drive across the pitch before making the pass further into midfield. The simple one touch over to her right foot not only allows her to pull away from the Italian opponent but changes the direction of her body. In this, she has created room for herself to pass the ball back to her left side and make the accurate pass, without any pressure.
An incredible independent player, Putellas is also an incredible connective player too. Her ability to connect and communicate with her teammates not only advances the play of the team, but makes the one touch football possible. Whether it be further back in her own half or advancing towards and into the box, Putellas manages to find her teammates like she is a SatNav, and her journey ends in a goal. It was something seen best with Jenni Hermoso. Whether it’s a ball that splits the defence centrally, or one that is sent over from the wings, Putellas has this insane ability to know and understand where Hermoso is without much effort. There’s years of evidence I could choose from her but there is one that stands out in recent times more than any other. Against Switzerland in the Nations League, Putellas assisted Hermoso for a goal without even looking for her. Putellas received the ball out wide from Ona Batlle, just inside of the box. Two Swiss players on her, she balls out wide again away from them, and down the edge of the box. Without looking, she sends the ball back in towards the centre, where the ball misses Salma Paralluelo but connects perfectly with Hermoso for the goal. Timed and executed to perfection, Putellas finds Hermoso with undeniable ease and accuracy, passing upwards of five opposition players in the move. Years of playing together would be the obvious answer to why this happens but I also believe Putellas has such a wide knowledge of the game that means she connects well with teammates and understands what they need from her.
For a central midfielder, Alexia Putellas puts away goals like a striker. In the all of the 20211/22 season, Putellas scored 34 goals in all competitions for Barcelona. Nothing has become more synonymously with that season, than that night at the Camp Nou against Real Madrid, with that goal, and that celebration. Putellas, on her less favoured right side, outdoes Ivana Andres with ease, dumbing her from Camp Nou all the way back to the Santiago Bernabéu, pulling herself seamlessly into space. Caroline Graham Hansen then delivers the ball to Putellas’ feet in said space with ease, allowing the Catalonian to use the space in front of her with ease. Driving into the box, Andres eventually catches up and Putellas finds herself double marked, but the newfound lack of space is no pressure for the captain. Making the shot between the defenders from the right side, Putellas’ shot trickles into the net after touching the fingertips of the ‘keeper, but it didn’t matter. Nothing was stopping Putellas from scoring in her home, in the derby game.
This is the poetry, art, of football in its purest form. It starts with Putellas leaving Andres for dust. The one-two to make sure she can receive the ball without even a threat of interception means Putellas is off to the races. There is a split second where the ball pulls away from Putellas as she paces from her right to her left foot, but she controls it in a split second and continues down the flank. She takes being double marked as an invitation, not a threat. She makes the shot when it seems like she shouldn’t, splitting the defenders in two, chancing after a ball that was always going to reach the net. This combination of quick, continuous decisions encompasses Putellas as a player. Nothing is overthought or overdone. Everything is in action as soon as the decision is made and means she doesn’t only encompass the Barcelona style that she learnt as a kid, she has made it a modern and adaptable style that has no limitations or boundaries. It has become her own, a style that Pina and López have learnt in her wake and are now adapting to make their own too. That is what makes the Art of Putellas. Her undeniable and consistent adaption across seasons, teams, and games. Nothing is ever one dimensional, it is constantly evolving to allow Putellas to continue to be the best she can be. Even coming back from her ACL, Putellas has never settled for what she dud yesterday, but is making the most for tomorrow.
It’s probably time to talk about the goal I referenced at the start. A historic moment that sealed the historic quadruple, nothing said ‘The Art of Alexia Putellas’ like the goal against Olympique Lyonnaise in San Mamés in the UEFA Women’s Champion’s League final. From the pass from Batlle to Clàudia Pina, sending her off down the wing, Putellas gains space in the box, drifting away from her marker. Esmee Brugts takes up the space in front of Christine Endler, with both Salma Bacha and Wendie Renard marking her, leaving Putellas metres away from the near post, unmarked. With Ellie Carpenter marking Pina directly in front of her, there is more than enough space for Pina to make the assisting pace to Putellas with ease. Putellas strikes it first time, over Endler’s grasp and the rest is history.
The goal is intrinsically Putellas in style, form, and art because it is a direct combination of everything that defines her game. From pulling into space to allow herself the best shot on goal, to the first time shot, Putellas has singlehandedly encompassed everything aspect of her game and what she has learnt in her career in one historic goal. Ending with the bow that has become something of a symbol of history around the player, Putellas reminded everyone how exceptional she is, and what she looks like at her best. Commentary said it was written in the stars, now it is written in the history books.
Even in Madrid, in El Clásico, her name is chanted like a God. ‘Alexia, Alexia, Alexia,’ as if it isn’t a rivalry game taking place. The Queen, La Reina, retook her rightful place at the top after the terrors of injuries took her away from the pitch. Her name has been etched into the history books with a flourish and a finish. The Art of Alexia Putellas will not only be part of the history books, but will be carried down by every young girl, Cule or not, that learns to play in her path. Adaption and style are the pillars of the game and Alexia Putellas has made it an art form. That’s a real f****** legacy, to leave.