Ansu Fati has potential to do great things, gushes Quique Setien
Barcelona's new boss Quique Setien has praised Ansu Fati after the forward’s performance in the win over Levante. The La Liga giants walked away with a 2-1 win despite looking second best for large parts of the second half with the teenager netting the first brace of his burgeoning Barcelona career.
The 17-year-old became the youngest player to score a brace in the La Liga in the 21st century, breaking Juanmi Jimenez’s previous record. It also means that Fati has now taken his tally for the season up to five and with Luis Suarez injured, his contribution becomes all the more important. The win also meant that Barcelona have now closed to gap between them and Real Madrid to three points.
This saw Quique Setien lavish Fati with praise and the former Real Betis boss even admitted that the teenager has stepped up in the absence of Suarez. He also added that while the 17-year-old has a long way to go before he hits his prime, his potential to grow is there for everyone to see and Fati’s hard work on the field will eventually pay off.
"I think that Ansu is a boy that is emerging, that we all know that has great potential You have to understand that you have to give him peace of mind and confidence to exploit what he has inside. Apart from the two goals, what I give credit is the work he has done in defence. He has worked hard. He has given us solutions," head coach Setien said in his post-match conference.
Fati’s two goals in the first half did give Barcelona the lead going into the break but the La Liga giants made hard work of the second half, giving Levante a chance in the game. The visitors went close a couple of times before they eventually found a way past Marc Andre-Ter Stegen in goal via a late Ruben Rochina goal. Setien even admitted that his side need to find a way to be more consistent over two halves and would need to dominate teams even more.
"I am happy with many things, but not with everything. We have given up too many shots. We made a very good first half, I think we could score more goals. We lost a little control in the second half and conceded too much. But it was a good job by the team,” he added.