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Nigerian attacker Peter Odemwingie has been rumored with moves to the English Premier League for some time. Last year, he was prominently linked with Fulham, though he would stay another season in Moscow, remaining one of Lokomotiv’s most recognizable players.
Now, Odemwingie’s finally set to move, this time to West Brom. He still has visa issues to work out, but he should be fine. Once in England, he could prove a good complement to Roman Bednar in attack – two very different players who, in combination, should offer Roberto di Matteo a number of options.
Odemwingie’s a either very overrated or underrated, depending on how you look at him. He has typically been the best player on his teams though he is not good enough to carry a squad. As such, he usually gets compared to top players for other teams, but he is truly more of a complementary player. He would be at his best working off a dominant number nine or having a midfielder general with whom he can build attacks, but he’s rarely had either for club or country. And, unfortunately, he will have neither at West Brom.
While it’s a good move for the club, I’m not sure where Odemwingie is at in his like where this would make sense. This isn’t just a case of somebody not wanting to play in Russia. Odemwingie’s a Russian citizen. He may feel like now, at 29-years-old, he’s at the time to try the Premier League, but he could see himself in the Championship within ten months.
Maybe the wages are good – no idea. I’m not high on Odemwingie’s chances of making an impact.
- Luciano Spalletti is right to think Zenit should have had more. When I looked at the last decade’s worth of numbers, a 1-0 home win usually portends to a club going through; however, Zenit had a chance to put this tie away, and between this performance and the preceding round’s 1-0 aggregate victory over Romania’s Unirea Urziceni, I’m wondering if I’m over-estimating Zenit’s chances in Champions League.
- Jean Fernandez retains hope but rues Auxerre’s failure to get an away goal. He has Vyacheslav Malafeev to thank for that.
- The best review of the day I found, from Martyn Herman at Reuters Africa.
- Martin Jol wanted more from Ajax’s match in Kyiv. I can see where he’s coming from, but a 1-1 draw, even if you played half-an-hour up a man, is a good result.
- Pravds is celebrating Russian goal scorers Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Roman Pavlyuchenko.
- The headline says it all in Copenhagen. They were drowning, and now they have a chance to survive. Metaphors, people.
- Cup-tied and suspended, Anthony Annan will not be happy next Tuesday.
- Stale Salbakken is relieved his team scored in Norway. I suppose this is news because he could have said he was disappointed.
- Nils Arne Eggen is not concerned about conceding the away goal to Copenhagen. See? That’s news.
- Pavel Hapal says Zilina focused on attacking in the second half. Coaches are apt to say stuff like that, but if true, it’s rather gutsy to got-for-it rather than being happy taking a 0-0 draw back home.
- Jozef Chovanec says suspensions and mistakes cost Sparta Praha. Yeah.
Of course he is.
Legendary Dutch defender/midfielder Ronald Koeman wants to move to Aston Villa, and with coaching stops at PSV, Benifica and Ajax he certainly has a pedigree. That in addition to being a truly classic player and Villa could do worse, right?
Remembering the state of Valencia at the end of Koeman’s reign there, I’m not so sure. Well, Villa could hire me. That would be worse, but I might be the only person less capable to getting my players to defend than Koeman was when he left Valencia.
It had gotten comic for Los Che. Anytime you knew they needed to stop a goal, Koeman’s group would give one up (and look clueless in doing so). This probably was still a bit present after Unai Emery took over, but there was a big drop in goals allowed the next year, and one of the more talented teams in Spanish fútbol actually looked capable of playing a complete match.
I would be a bit surprised if Villa went in this direction, but if they did, I would send my sympathies to the ticket holders at Villa Park. If watching Aston Villa becomes anywhere near as frustrating as watching Valencia was, I would anticipate a rash of self-inflict baldness as the Villans pull their own hair out.
OK, not my best line.
Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel has extended his deal with Liverpool through the summer of 2014, it was announced today. Skrtel’s previous deal ran until the summer of 2012.
Skrtel had always been on the edge of Rafa Benítez’s teams though, in my opinion, he’s been their second-best central defender over the last two years. He’s been troubled by injuries, missing most of last season with a foot problem, but the main road block to more playing time has been allegiance to Jamie Carragher, with Sami Hyypiä then Daniel Agger (rightly) getting time before Skrtel.
It looks like Carragher is unlike to find his deserved place under Roy Hodgson, as the England international started Liverpool’s season opener. But to Hodgson’s credit, he found a place in the starting lineup for Skrtel by moving Agger to left back. Whether that is viable long-term man management (will Agger want to play there) or the best formation is questionable, but in the near-term it gets Skrtel in the team, something that should have been happening before.
UEFA Champions League play-offs start today. Two teams that should get out of group play are featured: Tottenham, Zenit.
- Auxerre captain Benoit Pedretti, ahead of the Ligue 1 side’s Champions League playoff against Zenit St. Petersburg, says his side was not designed to play Champions League football. Perhaps if they were goin up against a different club he would feel differently.
- Dinamo Kiev’s Ayila Yussuf has reason to be confident ahead of his club’s playoff with Ajax. The Dutch runners-up barely go out of the last round, matched against Greek club PAOK.
- Heurelho Gomes is eager to get back into Champions League. The Brazilian goalkeeper was in the competition with PSV but has yet to help Spurs to their first appearance.
- No shock that Russian sources see Zenit as a clear favorite. One piece of news from the item: Zenit’s injury-free.
- The artificial pitch could end Ledley King’s career, says Harry Redknapp, who won’t risk his captain on Tuesday. Well, if it would end his career, yeah. I think sitting him would be advisable.
- As UEFA.com notes, the Spurs-Young Boys tie guarantees one debutante in group play.
- No Italian team has ever won in Weser Stadium. Not good news for Sampdoria, visiting Werder Bremen.
- We’ll see how Bremen do without Mesut Özil. He might not play, with a move to Real Madrid approaching, though it seems Madrid’s trying to low-ball Bremen. Since when does Real Madrid pinch-pennies.
- Roy Hodgson’s supposedly pursuing Dynamo Kyiv’s Artem Milevskiy. Where’s the mony coming from? The number this report his: €16 million. The Milevskiy news is coupled with speculation that long-time Loko attack Peter Odemwingie could be moving to Greece. Tear.
- This Tottenham-Young Boys preview isn’t that helpful, but at least it mentions the financial stakes.
- Thomas Schaaf vaguely alludes to Özil not lpaying for fear of cup-tying the player.
- Anthony Annan’s been trying to move for a while. His agent won’t let us forget it.
- A group stage appearance would be worth 100 million kroner to FC Copenhagen. Too bad their in 1.5 billion worth of debt. Kroner debt.
- Sparta Praha coach determined to end long drought without Champions League.
Greece international Angelos Charisteas is moving from Nurnberg to Ligue 1’s Arles-Avignon. No fee was disclosed.
The forward had failed to make an impact of late in Germany, though his style of play could provide an interesting option in Ligue 1. Odds are this move less consequential, more oddity. Charisteas’s travels will always be of note after his contributions to Greece’s 2004 European titleists.
Arles remain amongst the most likely to be relegated.
The Guardian has the following quote from Stoke City manager Tony Pulis:
“The news is as good as we could have expected in the circumstances. We were obviously very concerned about the extent of the damage. But the tests have shown only minor ligament damage. We will assess Kenwyne’s progress over the next few days so it is hard to say how long he will be out. We are talking days, though, not weeks or months.”
Jones left Saturday’s match at Wolves after Jody Craddock took him out from behind. Pulis attributed the team’s dip in mood to the injury.
Thankfully, the £8 million buy looks to be okay.
I couldn’t find a video to Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth.
And you just don’t find many kids named Harvey anymore.ken
The Guardian has an update on the prospective sale of Blackburn Rovers to Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed. Teh club has released a statement confirming talks are both ongoing and positive. Ali Syed has said that a memorandum of understanding has been entered into ascribing an exclusive four-week negotiating window. The businessman says he is intent on completing the transaction before the transfer window closes so that he can get Sam Allardyce money to improve the club.
Doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me, this transfer window goal. Blackburn’s not going to acquire engouh talent in two weeks to make them a contender for Europe, and they seem unlikely to be drawn into a relegation battle, now that we’ve seen how bad some of the Premier League clubs are. Buying can wait.
While looking up information on Zenit St. Petersburg, this came up in one of my feeds.
FIFA has a piece this morning highlighting some new faces that a.) played roles in last weeks friendlies, and/or b.) look to play roles as competitive matches (i.e., Euro 2012 qualifying) loom. Soom of the players featured:
- Neymar, Brazil, part of a “calculated gamble” by Mano Menezes (really?), scoring on his debut,
- Paulo Henrique Ganso, Brazil, showed he could be a “standout for years to come.” Both were very impressive.
- Mario Balotelli, Italy, made his debut, called-in by Cesare Prandelli and paired with Antonio Cassano.
- Yann Mvila, France, was the teams “outstanding player” in a defensive midfield role, and
- Loic Remy, France, showed flashes of “a bright future at international level.”
- Joe Hart, England, was highlighted for his promotion to the first choice spot,
- Kieran Gibbs, England, was called “impressive” on his debut, and
- Adam Johnson, England, was called by Fabio Capello part of “the future of England.”
- Vincent Aboubakar, Cameroon, scored against Poland. The 18-year-old Valenciennes striker would be a much-needed player for the Indomitable Lions should he settle with the national team.
- Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Ghana, played 90 minutes against South Africa but has been on a radar for a while now, part of Ghana’s already-emerged generation of young talent.
- Christian Eriksen, Denmark, was highlighted for making it into Morten Olsen’s team.
- Moreno Costano, Switzerland, is a 22-year-old striker scored the winnder in his debut for Ottmat Hitzfeld against Austria.
- Omar Gonzalez, United States, gets a mention, as does
- Elias Hernandez, Mexico, for his debut against Spain.
- For Spain (who played Mexico), Jesus Navas and Pedro are highlighted. It’s difficult to find unknowns amongst the Spanish internationals.
- Jeremain Lens, the Netherlands, got his debut in a 1-1 draw with Ukraine.
- Abel Hernandez, Uruguay, scored in his overdue debut. Just what Uruguay needs – another potentially elite striker.
- Roman Shirokov, Russia, was back in the team after a two year absence.
- For Sweden, Olo Toivonen and Emir Bajrami made debuts, each scoring in a win over Scotland.
There are some players on this list I’ve never seen. Of those I have, Abel Hernandez and Vincent Aboubakar are the ones that interest me most. Not saying those are the best of the lot. Those two are the ones I’m most interested in tracking.
The critics all agree. My latest offering at World Soccer Reader is a hit.
Just listen to the enthusiasm:
“wow we have Soccer fan fiction now…” – Steve
“…all in all a fine piece of ‘wondering out loud’.” – VillaFan
“This is hilarious. I loved it.” – Kevin McCauley
“I see what you did there.” – Stoehrst
“Live Avatar, but with more story, less blue people.” – A comment I wish somebody would leave
Here are the highlights of a piece written from one year in the future, after Bob Bradley has completed his first year at Aston Villa.
On Bradley’s first move as manager at Villa:
Four days later, James Milner was sold to Manchester City, giving Bradley a minor war chest and a void in midfield, a combination that justified bringing in Mike. Michael Bradley, Bob’s son, had played for him with the MetroStars and on the United States men’s national team. Why not with Aston Villa? Tolerantly absorbing the cries from critics who said the signing was a symptom of paternal myopia, Villa agreed to give £8 million to Borussia Monchengladbach for Mike.
On Bradley’s formation:
Started by the supporters, the quip would eventually be heard amongst lower management: Villa had gone across an ocean to get their new manager and found the only man in the world who loved 4-4-2 more than Martin O’Neill.
On the Carling Cup final:
In the final, Villa’s luck boomeranged, losing 5-1 to their arch rivals, a result apologists rationalized as Villa’s fourth-or-fifth-choice squad facing a “B-plus” opponent.
On Europa League:
In the first leg of Villa’s two-legged, knockout round tie against Club Brugge, Bradley mistakenly started central defender Richard Dunne, hampered while recovering from a knee injury. Brugge would exploit Dunne for a goal and earn a draw at Villa Park. In Belgium, Bradley would inexplicably start midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker, who had performed poorly in the first leg. An early Reo-Coker giveaway gifted midfielder Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe a goal.
It’s a long piece that walks through the highlights of an Aston Villa 2010-11 season managed by Bob Bradley. You can read the whole piece, Bob Bradley and Aston Villa: If the U.S. Men’s National Team Coach Succeeded Martin O’Neill, at World Soccer Reader, where I publish every Monday.
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About Richard Farley Richard (me) is a writer and broadcaster in San Diego, California who spends most of his time analyzing The Beautiful Game. This site, his "personal" blog, serves as a scratch pad and content aggregator for the other places he publishes (listed alphabetically).
Most readily, he (I) serves as Soccer Editor at SB Nation and host of the EPL Talk and Major League Soccer Talk podcasts. If you are have inquiries regarding appearances or possible work, please contact me at richardfarley aht gmail dot com.
You can also follow Richard through his iTunes stream or via Twitter ... and now, Facebook.
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