The Aguero anti-climax does not befit a glittering career
As the man responsible for perhaps the Premier League’s most climactic moment, the anti-climax of Sergio Aguero retiring is devastating.
It is easy to hear Sergio Aguero’s name and immediately be transported back to May 13, 2012. For most Manchester City fans, that is almost certainly what happens every time.
His Premier League title-winning goal against Queens Park Rangers was the rarest of things: a moment that took the cliché away. It really did feel like a script that couldn’t be written.
The frenetic, panicked nature of the Etihad Stadium on that afternoon, which for the most part perfectly summed up the pain and anguish of Manchester City’s pre-takeover guise as the unluckiest of nearly men, made that minute of indescribable euphoria all the sweeter.
But it isn’t just the meaning of the goal that makes it so special. It is Aguero himself, and the fact that the ball happened to fall to the only man who could have scored it given the pressure and the desperation in the eyes which were fixated upon him.
There are seconds left. This is it. Now or never. Nobody is thinking straight in that situation; everything is rushed, everything is quick. But as Nigel de Jong brings the ball out of midfield with every QPR player in front of him, City are trying to be calm and steady. When the ball reaches Mario Balotelli, who falls to the ground and slides the ball through for the only Premier League assist of his career as part of a one-two with Aguero, the Argentine is already on his toes, ready and cool as ice.
So many players would have snatched at the shot through a crowd of defenders, one of whom lunges desperately in an attempt to win the ball, but not Aguero. He steadies himself and takes it in his stride, around the impetuous challenge, before slamming home.
And then came the chaos.
Beyond the pandemonium and what it meant, that goal demonstrated perfectly why Aguero always stood out ahead of so many. He was lethal in the box, precisely because he was able to shut everything out and focus – while, of course, possessing the technique to match.
Such a lethal combination is rare, even in an elite striker. Rare, and now gone. Aguero stood on a podium at Camp Nou, home of Barcelona, in floods of tears on Thursday morning, announcing his decision to retire aged 33, just weeks after leaving the pitch innocuously in a draw with Alaves. He’d complained about chest pains and breathing issues. After being sent for checks, the ominous reality gradually became clear. Heart problems have been a central focus in football since Christian Eriksen collapsed at Euro 2020, but it is hard not to feel robbed by a cruel twist of fate.
Aguero stood out against all stereotypes and doubts; in 2011, City were told £38m was a hefty fee to pay for a player with neither a stellar goal record at Atletico Madrid nor prior Premier League experience. Tired generalisations about needing time to acclimatise to the rigour of English football were raised. Roberto Mancini, manager at the time, summoned him in the second half on his debut against Swansea. He scored twice and set up another goal for David Silva. By the end of September, he’d scored seven goals in just five games.
There was never a spell when he looked like slowing down in 10 years in Manchester. He became City’s all-time top goalscorer and departed in the summer fourth on the Premier League’s overall list with 184 and the best minutes-to-goals ratio. Only injuries, of which there were a few, stopped him challenging Alan Shearer’s record of 260.
It became so easy to take him for granted. But for all the numbers and unerring consistency, he left Manchester City in the summer with a bit of a whimper. Pep Guardiola, who seemed genuinely upset as he sobbed and told Sky Sports that “we cannot replace him”, phased Aguero out long before then and implemented a system with no pure striker. The decision to part was the club’s. Aguero was given a nice send-off, full of videos, messages and chants from the stands, not too dissimilar to what is likely to follow in the coming days and weeks, but it felt flat. The occasion didn’t match his achievements, because he didn’t go out on his terms.
His pace had gone, as had the consistency because game time suffered, and the move to Barcelona soon descended into disaster. No sooner had he arrived, there were registration issues because of the club’s finances, which then bit hardest when Lionel Messi, his best friend and undoubtedly a key reason for the move, was forced to leave because his contract could not be renewed. Barcelona will have looked across in envy at Aguero, even though Neymar, Messi and Luis Suarez were in place for his peak years, but by the time they finally came together, both were in decline. Once he was allowed to play, he picked up an injury that kept him out for months, and then the final sight of him on a football pitch was him trudging down the tunnel. Nobody thought this would be happening so soon afterwards.
This is a sad ending to one of the greatest modern careers. Aguero never seemed like anything other than an unassuming, ultra professional footballer who gave his life to the game. His time has been cut short so unfairly; for somebody responsible for the greatest climactic moment in Premier League history, it will always feel wrong that his 18 years of service petered out with such little fanfare.
