I've mentioned in basically every post so far that he has good ball-striking. Also mentioned he's a good high presser who tirelessly works hard for the team out of possession...but if you rewatch every one of his goals last season, a big amount of them was in fact created for him, and all he had to do was run into empty space and receive the ball.
Also, when you make the point that he's often being used as a decoy runner for other players, doesn't that strengthen my point as well? His best attributes make him an ideal "decoy", but how many good players would be able to play that role for City?
There are so many players out there you could sign for a fraction of that 82 million with good ball striking, good pressing, good discipline, etc. all the attributes we've discussed. I never argued he wasn't a good player, I said he's nowhere near an 80 million player and you can find someone for much, much cheaper to do the things for your team that Alvarez does for City.
In my original post, I was talking about the bold part you've written, that goes beyond Alvarez, even if he can be use as an example.
I always felt that there is a very misguide notion that City is a place where you receive the ball with advantage tons of times.
It's not, it's a place that the scenario I've painted it's the more common, specially his first season, his goals mostly came from him after pressuring or arriving to second loose balls.
The scenario didn't changed that much his second one, but it's sthg that if your are not the main striker, or even being (like Erling) still it's a team that does not constantly put their strikers sin such situations, in fact it's a team that might put various players with other roles in the team in such positions after using their strikers as decoys.
Of course they will still score a lot, but their main idea it's to have the ball, sometimes in their own detriment when it comes to risk a bit more and put a player in clear advantge and be more direct.
In ocassion like I've said they complicate things for them. This remidns me when people went over the top with Erling (rightly to some extent) that he loosses constantly the ball when pressured, but the thing it's that Erling in those situatiosn is playing against his best traits.
It's sthg that happens because City pressures so much as a block upfront, that passes too much before risking it, so their forwards find themselvs between their own fellas and the rival's last line with little space to operate.
Erling can manages at least in such situations with his great rebound and box ability, but it's no secret that he'll suffer more in tight areas than running with space. Alvarez, not being Aguero, Foden or Tevez, also will struggle more in tight spaces or not fast receiving in his first attemp to the space.
Going back to Alvarez, that style it's the one that actually made Alvarez not receiving as many balls as any striker should on the situations you've painted and that actually lots of his goals came from sitruations far frorm that scenario.
Nonetheless, current Alvarez? even if being feed constantly in such style (let's say that this actually happens regurlarly in Aleti), I dunno how well he'll do, he looks quite less calm, confident, compose than his best self since some time.
His ball striking also looks a lot less effective, he's plñying rushed, tired and confuse (evrywhere, in the NT too). City in many ways does not help at all (the NT to some extent neither), but there is also a personal issue of him not being in best form, confuse or whatever.
