http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footb...ine-brahimi-scouting-report-liverpool-8003287
[article]When Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui was appointed FC Porto coach in the summer of 2014. it led to an influx of big names from La Liga.
Barcelona’s Cristian Tello and Atletico Madrid’s Oliver Torres were the headline names, but another Spanish-based player, Brahimi , outshone them all.
The Algerian settled immediately and was exceptional in his first six months at the Portuguese club, but perhaps
Brahimi’s mesmerising dribbling skills should not have taken people by surprise. In his final season in La Liga before switching to Porto he finished top of the “successful dribbles” statistics chart in Spain, ahead of Lionel Messi (164 to 143).
He immediately became Porto’s key creator, providing plentiful assists and scoring freely, as his tight control, jinking movements and lightning shifting of the ball into space saw him dazzle, both in Portugal and beyond.
In those initial months of his Porto career he weighed in with nine goals, several of a spectacular nature, including a memorable Champions League hat-trick against BATE Borisov.
Thanks to consistently thrilling displays at Granada and Porto in 2014, either side of equally fine performances for Algeria at the Brazil World Cup, Brahimi picked up the BBC African Footballer of the Year Award for 2014.
He appeared to have the world at his feet as he set off to compete in the 2015 African Cup of Nations. Unfortunately for Porto fans, that was as good as it got. He returned from the tournament in Equatorial Guinea looking jaded, and the goals dried up as his performance levels dropped significantly in what was a disappointing and trophyless finish to the season for the Dragons.
Considering the amount of non-stop football Brahimi had played over two years – including highly competitive tournaments in three continents – it was understandable that he was suffering from the effects of exhaustion. Nothing a proper rest over the close-season would not remedy was the general consensus. Indeed,
Porto were so convinced Brahimi would be the source of their next huge-money transfer windfall that the club increased his release clause to €60million euros.
So it has come as a major disappointment that Brahimi has singularly failed to hit the heights of last season.
FC Porto endured a torrid 2015/16, finishing a massive 15 points behind champions Benfica, and the jury is out as to whether Brahimi has contributed to the debacle, or is a victim of it. There were flashes of the magical skills, such as when scoring a goal-of-the-season contender against Tondela in November, but a petulant attitude was also on evidence.
He was publicly rebuked by new coach Jose Peseiro after angrily throwing his training jacket to the ground upon being substituted in the shock home defeat against Arouca in February.
And
under Peseiro he completed the 90 minutes in only five of 18 matches, as his standing has fallen from a former crowd favourite to a player many Porto fans question as regards his attitude.
Brahimi is a fabulously gifted player without doubt, but if he ends up at Liverpool , Jurgen Klopp will require all his famous motivational skills to get the best out of him.[/article]
