I picked out five from ‘my list’ last time, so let’s continue this theme of looking at where the next big names in world football will come from. Although this is rapidly descending into a ‘best new players for 2010’ that might turn up in your Sunday paper, which I apologise for.
Of course I should add the caveat here that these players are already very much established, this isn’t some scouting search for the best unsigned fourteen year-olds around. The players that I have included, to me at least, clearly have the ability to move up several levels again from where they are now, and the World Cup does offer the opportunity to make a star of someone overnight. Whatever did happen to Toto Schillaci?
I’ve discounted a fair number on the grounds that having watched them a few times (full games mind, none of your youtube carry on’s), nothing has stood out. Totally unfair really as I’m aware that you do need to see players over a sustained period to get a clear picture. And I’ll make no apologies for focussing on more attack minded players, for obvious reasons. If there are any players that you think are worth a mention, give me the lowdown via the e-mail link on the left, or add something on the comments and I’ll bear them in mind.
Obviously I want to take a balanced view so any objective opinions are welcome, and if a sentence sums up a full side, that’ll do for this pilgrim.
To give an example, I asked long term IBWM cohort ‘Il Duce’ to help fill in the blanks and do a bit of research on New Zealand. The brief; ‘are there any half decent players other than that kid from West Brom?’ The response more than did for me;
“They have a centre forward called Rory Fallon...................somewhere in Ireland, there’s a riderless horse”
Thanks for the insight, Duce!
Anyway, back to that list.
Nicolas Nkoulou (Cameroon) Age 20
Making something of a name for himself as the first choice centre back for his country, despite just turning 20. Some performances at the African Cup of nations did have a degree of ‘bambi on ice’ about them as Nkoulou’s lack of experience at that level was particularly apparent. However, this tough tackling and intelligent player is starting to find the defensive midfielder position to his liking at his club Monaco. A bit too young to pull up any trees at the World Cup, but a player destined to be at the top for a long time to come.
Gary Medel (Chile) Age 22
Why is it, in England we don’t give players nicknames like they do in South America? I’d enjoy Clive Tyldsley’s commentary if he was, every time Ashley Cole received a pass, to say ‘bastard’ or suchlike. Medel, goes by the moniker of ‘pitbull’, and it’s entirely due to his general Billy Bremnerness, as you would expect. Medel has been something of a shining star over at Boca this year and Sevilla, whose transfer policy fits in with this list, are keen to acquire his services. Not the tallest, and by no means particularly well filled out, Medel gives the impression he would crawl over broken glass for the cause though, just what you want to see at International level. Not just tackling though, the kid can score goals, as was witnessed with two strikes against River Plate in March’s superclassico.
Christian Eriksen (Denmark) Age 18
Thought by many of those ‘in the know’ types across Europe as ‘the’ one to watch, attacking midfielder/winger Eriksen only made his debut for Ajax in January and has received rave reviews since. Of course when someone this good emerges, they immediately become the ‘new’ whoever, and in young Christian’s homeland the comparisons are being made to Michael Laudrup. It also doesn’t take long for Real Madrid, Man Utd, Chelsea and Milan long to start sniffing round, which they have done.
Pablo Barrera (Mexico) Age 22
Barrera is the one that IBWM fancies the most to make an impact this year, on account of the fact that he really looks something special. I’ve really had to do my research on Mexico over the last couple of years, it’s not that easy to track down league games on the net, yet I was aware that there was a growing sense of confidence in the country that they were unearthing some real gems; Mexico won the under 17 World Championship in 2005. Hapless Swede Sven Goran Eriksson was originally appointed national coach to get the best of Mexico’s new golden generation, but the wheels quickly came off and qualification for South Africa was in doubt. I found myself getting so wrapped up in all things Mexican (not just the tequila, or the food) that at one point, this site could easily have been ‘In bed with Sven’. However that brings up massive amounts of some fairly predictable and nasty stuff when typed into Google, so you probably wouldn’t be here now. Phew!
The re-appointment of former player and Mexican national coach Javier Aguirre quickly got things back on track for ‘El Tri’ and here they are. As for Barrera, he’s rocket paced, skilful, one hell of a crosser and shoots from all angles, with fairly spectacular returns. Not that well known outside of the Americas (although Arsenal have been linked), Aguirre seems keen to hold Barrera back, usually unleashing him during the second half of games for maximum impact. You have been warned!
Javier Hernandez (Mexico) Age 22 (just)
When Alex Ferguson decided to spend £10m of Man Utd’s probably quite limited transfer budget on a 21 year old Mexican forward from Chivas of Guadalajara, it’s reasonable to say a few eyebrows were raised. Not from this correspondent though. Hernandez looks every inch the real deal and goes into the World Cup in real goalscoring form. 21 goals from 28 starts for his club and 7 plundered in 12 appearances for his country, gives an indication of what Hernandez does best. Watch this space.
Kwando Asamoah (Ghana) Age 21
A fine playmaker that, in Michael Essien’s absence, will be hugely relied on by his country over the next few weeks. Shouldn’t be a problem for Asamoah though, he is an absolute class act that has played superbly for Udinese this season and was one of the best performers at the African Cup of Nations. So much so that Milan and Juventus are only too keen to get their greasy little palms on young Kwando.
More up next time.
Comments welcome.
2 comments:
The only comment I can make is a purely selfish one but kind of hits home a bit... Where's the English 18-22 year olds that people are watching out for.... Certainly not at SA'10 that's for sure.... I have to say that we really will be relying on Dads Army...
It's a concern, but the new UEFA rules about developing players, and a distinct lack of cash at club level (City excepted) will help.
It's just coming at the right time. There's a lot of England's current squad 29 and over, but there isn't a huge raft of ready made internationals aged 20-29. That probably says more about the excesses of the last 10 years than anything.
What I expect to see after the World Cup, is a number of players fast tracked from the under 19's and under 21's. A little less risky because of the widened Euro's........but England could still make an arse of things qualifying for that......
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