09.04.2007 11:28
Thuram cementing strong partnership
Lilian Thuram has begun to cement a strong defensive partnership with captain Carles Puyol after four consecutive La Liga starts. Saturday’s appearance against Zaragoza marked 360 minutes in the last four games for the French international.
Thuram is the fourth most regular defender this season after Carles Puyol, Gianluca Zambrotta and
Rafa Márquez with a total of 1633 minutes played so far in La Liga, starting 14 games, in two of
which he was substituted and during which he’s picked up just two yellow cards –
against Deportivo and Llevant.
Adaptation
Although Thuram is more used to the Italian defensive game, he’s come to adapt his game
to the more offensive tactics at Barca, which demand a more advanced defensive line, after a few
early teething troubles and has come to accept the responsibility given to him by Frank Rijkaard in
either a 3-4-3 system or as a conventional centre half in a four-man defence.
Puyol partnership
Frank Rijkaard seems to have found the ideal centre half pairing with Puyol and Thuram
providing the perfect blend of strength, positioning and experience - the two have played 11 games
together and of those the team have only lost twice, at Santiago Bernabeu and on Saturday against
Zaragoza.
Injuries mar first season
Injuries have provided the biggest obstacle to Thuram’s progress this season, having forced
him to miss a total of six games. Last Dember 21st, he was forced off after just 60 minutes of the
game against Atletico Madrid with a torn thigh muscle and was out for a total of 5 weeks. He
re-appeared again on 21st January against Nastic, but he again broke down, this time with a calf
injury that ruled him out for a further month.