Yeah We Know

After the AEK game DiMaria gave a brief interview to Argentinean radio "La Red" in which he stated that despite being very happy with the group, he has desires to move to another league. While in the past i have criticized DiMaria for statements such as these, i can no longer criticize him for it.
It's clear that DiMaria is at another level, and while there's nothing wrong for Benfica to have players of Dimaria's level(and we have a few) the reality of these days is that the Portuguese league isn't exactly known as one of the most competitive ones. It's understandable for a young player, with tons of potential, to want to get to the highest level possible, and that level is not the Portuguese league.
Then there's the financial aspect of it, while Benfica might be on the way to a healthy financial recuperation, the wages that other clubs offer throughout Europe, are out of range for Benfica's current situation.


So, there's nothing wrong for DiMaria to have these types of statements, but what bothers me, is the fact that ever since the chatter started about him making the jump, the Argentinean has shown a clear break in performance quality, something that in my opinion is the result of a lack of focus. The couple bad outings DiMaria had up until the Olhanense game, which culminated with him picking up a straight red on a foolish play, was the last straw for the fan base, and he didn't escape the usual jeers during the warm up for the AEK game.

Don't get me wrong, i think DiMaria is a tremendous talent, it took me a whole 2 minutes to realize that after seeing him play for the first time, but there's still a level of immaturity to his game(normal for his age).
The fact that he practically carried the team during the AEK game is evident of his superstar talent, and despite being directly involved in both goals, he was also the player whose ball loss originated the AEK goal. There's a DiMaria we all love, and there's a DiMaria which sends everyone over the edge. I have no illusions that Benfica will negotiate DiMaria at the end of the season, but in the meantime, he needs to re-focus on the team, and give his all to help the team. His time and deal will come, and his jump will happen, but right now Benfica should be the only thing he should worry about.

The fact that he will be out tomorrow's important game, and the reason why, will not be forgotten by fans, and although he somewhat reconciled with the fans on Thursday, he will need to show a lot more, and do a lot more to help the team, from here on out, if he is to be remembered by the Benfica faithful when he departs at the end of this season.