Daily Archives: December 12, 2012

Michu: The Premier League’s Signing of the Season

  By O-Posts Team | December 12, 2012 - 19:50 | , , , ,
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Michael Laudrup has enjoyed a fantastic start as Swansea City manager this season, with the Swans currently lying in eighth in the league. One player in particular has played his part for his team, a man who’s name on the back of his shirt sounds more like a Pokemon than one of this season’s most prolific goal scorers – Michu.

Michu, full name Miguel Perez Cuesta, has scored 12 goals in 16 Premier League games, after his £2.2 million transfer from Spanish club Rayo Vallecano and is undoubtedly one of the ‘bargain buys’ of the season.

At 6ft tall and with a sweet left foot, it took only 8 minutes for Michu to make an impression on the league with a left footed strike from 25 yards out which QPR keeper Robert Green should really have dealt with. However, this was only a sign of things to come from the Spaniard, as he curled a fantastic left footed strike from the edge of the box past Robert Green again.

With a willingness to make runs that cut open defences, his interlinking play with the likes of Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge has seen him get on the end of great passes from the wide men which have led to attempts on goal which more often than not the big man converts.

As well as scoring goals, Michu has played prominent roles in moves that have led to goals for Swansea this season, whether it be flick-on’s or through balls. He is similar to Everton’s talismanic Fellani in that he is not shy of getting stuck into a challenge to win the ball back for his team, lay it off to a team mate, and then he sets of on his probing runs to get into a position in which to score. His height and aerial ability with headed goals against Reading and Newcastle this season is another of his impressive qualities alongside a knack of making intelligent runs despite a lack of out and out pace.

Arguably Michu’s most significant performance of his young Swansea career so far was his two late goals that beat Arsenal at the Emirates. The first involving a one-two with Nathan Dyer which led to Michu scything through the centre of Arsenal’s poor defence to calmly curl it past the Arsenal keeper.

The second of his late goals against the Gunners came from Carl Jenkinson being put under pressure by the tenacity of Nathan Dyer, and the ball falling to Michu just inside the Arsenal half, who traveled with the ball up toward Szczesny, showing great composure in a one-on-one situation, slowing down to pick his spot and then fire it past the keeper with his left foot. Composure of which a number of strikers wished they could display in similar situations.

Described as being ‘typically Spanish’ with regards to his excellent technique, Michu has attracted the attention of ‘so called’ ‘bigger’ clubs such as Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.Swansea manager Laudrup has been quick to state that he is not looking to sell his top scorer in the January transfer period. £30 million is the price tag that has been slapped on the 26 year old, and Vicente del Bosque, head coach of the Spanish national team is reportedly keeping an eye on the Swansea man with the possibility of an international call up.

It is certainly fair to say that Michu has made a fantastic start to the season in his first year in the Premier League and if he stays fit and keeps being supplied the crosses and passes he has been so far by his creative team mates, then there is no reason why he cannot be up there with the likes of Robin Van Persie, Luis Suarez or Demba Ba in the ‘Golden Boot’ stakes come the end of the season having led Swansea to a top half finish or even a Europa League spot.

 

Written by Khiam Barry

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Igor Denisov: Should Arsenal go after the Zenit icon?

  By O-Posts Team | December 12, 2012 - 18:05 | , , , , , , ,
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From Vyacheslav Malafeev to Alexander Kerzhakov, Zenit Saint Petersburg have somewhat of a golden generation on their hands. And midfield lynchpin Igor Denisov is no different. The 28 year old one club man has been showing Russia and Europe just what he is made of for a number of years now, but without ever landing that big money move to one of Europe’s so called giants.

But he doesn’t need it. With Zenit Denisov has been ridiculously successful, winning the Russian Premier League 3 times, and winning not only the 2008 UEFA Cup, but the UEFA Super Cup to go along with it, in the glorious summer of 2010 for Russian football.

Controversy has never been away from being at Denisov’s side however. As recent as September this year he decided to remove himself from the Zenit team, a situation that hasn’t been long resolved, and training ground punch ups and previous refusals to play for the national team haven’t helped his ever growing ‘bad boy’ image. To counteract that however, he has become a Zenit icon, and has been at the forefront for everything that his beloved hometown club have done right.

Already 28 years old, it may come as a bit of a surprise, that only in the last few years, Denisov’s name has been bouncing about Europe’s headlines. That’s not until you see what results Zenit had previously achieved in Europe however. Until shocking Europe by claiming the 2008 UEFA Cup, Zenit were somewhat of an unknown quantity. Having only ever qualified for the knockout stages of Europe’s secondary competition, and until the autumn of 2008 never qualified for the Champions League, football fans outside of Russia rarely got the opportunity to feast their eyes on Zenit high tempo eye catching way playing style, and players such as Andrey Arshavin, who has subsequently turned into the most famous footballer from Eastern Europe, never got their chance to show their mettle.

Zenit’s big break was just waiting around the corner however. In the 2007/2008 UEFA Cup, Zenit, as per usual, managed to qualify for the knockout stages, and that didn’t raise too many eyebrows. But those eyebrows were about to be raised to their limits, as Zenit went on to win their first ever European trophy, completely destroying German giants Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich along the way. And one man was catching the attention even more than the others. Denisov, whose position sees him providing that vital link between defence and attack, found himself managing to get in the right place at the right time more often than not.

That goal against Glasgow Rangers in the final, 18 minutes from time, sent Denisov into Zenit folklore until the end of time, no matter what happens in the remaining of his playing days. His winning goal sent Zenit to their Zenith, but this wasn’t the first time he had caught the headlines. Away to Bayer Leverkusen, he slotted in Zenit’s fourth goal in a quite wonderful 4-1 victory, the first time the Russian side really announced themselves as an emerging European force.

Denisov celebrating his goal in the UEFA Cup final against Rangers.

It wasn’t just his goals that were proving to be vital though. The Russians’ thrilling counterattacking football was exhilarating for all to watch, but it was all too easy to admire only talents such as Arshavin and Pavel Pogrebynak upfront. Denisov himself was the vital cog in Zenit’s well oiled machine, breaking down the opponent’s attack, and within a split second managing to start a lightning quick counterattack, which often ended in the ball finding its way up into the back of the opponent’s net.

Controversy was soon to arrive for the Zenit hardman, however. After mysteriously being left out of Russia’s original squad for Euro 2008 by then coach Guus Hiddink, he was then called up as an emergency backup, following an injury crisis in the squad. For many, this would be an opportunity that would be jumped upon, but not for Denisov. He curtly declined the invitation, seen by many, as getting his revenge on Hiddink for the not originally selecting him in the first place. Russia still went on to become the success story of the tournament, reaching the semi finals and impressing everyone with their fluid pacy football, but since then, Denisov has eventually decided to commit himself to his national team.

Making his debut in World Cup qualifying against Germany in late 2008, he has gone on to become an integral part of the national team set up, and this year, new coach Fabio Capello took it upon himself to award the captain’s armband to the Zenit midfield dynamo, but after recent events, for many he is not worthy of such a role.

Zenit may well be his beloved hometown club, but this hasn’t exactly prevented him from causing more than just a spot of trouble. Only two years ago, fisticuffs between himself and one of Zenit’s coaching staff Vladislav Radimov was on the verge of breaking out, after the midfielder didn’t like what he heard at training.

But worse was yet to come. In just the September of this year, following on from Zenit’s mind boggling transfer coups of Hulk and Axel Witsel, Denisov decided to take a stand. Taking a dislike to the amount of money that Zenit’s new stars would get paid, he refused to play for the club after asking to have his own contract, which was already handsome enough, improved even more. Zenit politely turned down his proposal and the Russian champions found themselves without their midfield lynchpin for a full 2 months, and in the process, Zenit made a disastrous start to their Champions League campaign, a start that was to prove unfix-able  It maybe slightly unfair to shift all of the blame upon Denisov’s shoulders, but it’s not rocket science, that the situation hardly helped the Russians plight.

Having been made to give a public apology, Zenit got their man back, and ever since then, results have picked up, and it’s come as no surprise. Without him, Zenit lacked grind and bite in their midfield, and too many counterattacks broke down. But now the Saint Petersburg outfit have found their groove again, and it is all mainly down to one man.

And yet still Europe’s giants have been reluctant to come chasing. Liverpool had been rumoured to be sniffing around as have fellow English outfit Arsenal, but with Denisov already being 28, it seems more than likely that he will find himself joining the sparsely populated club of players who have dedicated their footballing careers to just the one club – providing he can keep himself out of any more trouble that is.

 

Written by Shaun Nicolaides

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Frank Lampard: Is his time at Chelsea coming to an end?

  By O-Posts Team | December 12, 2012 - 15:13 | , , , ,
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English football has seen few players as talented and effective as Frank Lampard. Since joining Chelsea in 2001, Lampard has slowly become somewhat of an institution at Chelsea. However, this season rumours surrounding Lampard’s future have been more rampant than ever with many expecting Lampard to leave the blues soon. So is it time for Lampard to move on or does he have a few more years left?

Unquestionably, Lampard has been a huge factor in Chelsea’s success over the last eleven years, with the central midfielder joining the club while it was on the up, but nowhere near the dizzy heights that they have reached in the past few years. Lampard cost Chelsea £11 million to sign from West Ham, and it seems incredible to think now, but at the time many were unsure about whether Lampard was worth the fee. However, after it initially took him a while to settle in, Lampard began to prove he was worth every penny.

The arrival of Roman Abramovich in 2003 could have potentially left Lampard in turmoil with the likes of Juan Sebastian Veron, Geremi, Joe Cole, Claude Makelele and Scott Parker all threatening to take Lampard’s place. Instead, Lampard began to massively improve, especially from a goalscoring perspective.

The 2003/04 season was the first of nine seasons (and counting) where Lampard’s goal tally finished in double figures. Without doubt, Lampard was one of Chelsea’s key players in their back to back league title wins of 2005 and 2006. His excellence for Chelsea was honoured with Lampard only losing out to Ronaldinho in the 2005 Ballon D’Or.

The following seasons have seen yet more success for the Chelsea and England man, with Lampard continuing to be an integral part of Chelsea’s team. With Lampard approaching one decade as a Chelsea player many began referring to Lampard, Petr Cech, John Terry and Didier Drogba as the ‘’backbone’’ of Chelsea’s squad despite various managers arriving and then leaving. Lampard has been an ideal servant for any club showing loyalty, quality and consistency. He achieved legend status at Stamford Bridge many years ago.

So with Lampard getting injured more and more regularly and with the likes of Oscar, Eden Hazard, Victor Moses and Juan Mata constantly improving, is it time for Lampard to move on? To be honest, he has had better days, but I think that Lampard should stay at Chelsea for a short while longer at least, and maybe try to adapt his way of playing to prolong his career at the top level, much like Francesco Totti and Ryan Giggs have. The younger players at Chelsea could and should look at Lampard for guidance and inspiration, something a lot of them appear to need.

Ultimately, the decision goes to Lampard, but I think he deserves some more time at the top level. LA Galaxy may have something to say about that however, especially now that Beckham has gone.

 

Written by Joshua Sodergren

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