Who is he? Where does he play?
He is a Dutch midfielder currently playing in the EreDivisie with Vitesse Arnhem. He is a box-to-box central midfielder with great energy and he bears an uncanny resemblance to the much-hated teen-pop sensation Justin Bieber.
He's more popular than Bieber though?
He is, already a regular in Vitesse's side at the age of 20 having played 41 times over the past year, scoring 12 goals thanks to his Frank Lampard-esque ability to time runs into the box to perfection. He was integral to the Netherlands under-21 side that went to this summer's European Championship in Israel and has 1 cap in Louis Van Gaal's senior team. If that isn't enough, he was also named the 2012-2013 Dutch Football Talent of the Year.
Ah! Pretty good then?
Yes he is, but those smart souls at Vitesse knew that 3 years before us as he was handed his debut in the side aged 17 in April 2010. 3 years later he has clocked over 100 appearances in the engine room for the Vitas and is ready to move on. His ambition is justified too, he boasts an armory of long range and short range passing which allows him to spread raking diagonal balls to stretch play, or even thread clinical through balls to the striker, such is his remarkable vision.
His brilliant control and deft touch means he can spread a pass immediately too, vital for when he is pressed hard by the opposition. His passing ability is indicated by his 1223 completed passes over the course of last season, he very rarely wastes a ball or gives it away.
You make a very good sale...
He's not half bad off the ball either, able to mix it up (to borrow Sunday League terminology) in the midfield with a good tackle, he doesn't back away from the fight. Winning the ball back to distribute it with intelligent vision and reading of the game is his style, though he can just as easily spring into a run forward to move the ball into the attack, he is best deployed in a double pivot system with somebody who can minimise his defensive contribution.
If he's that good, won't he be moving to a major club?
Well.... it's funny you should ask that because, with all due respect to Vitesse, he is on the shopping list of that handsome old ragamuffin Jose Mourinho who has seemingly convinced multi-quasi-ultra-huge billionaire Roman Abramovich to reach behind his sofa to find that spare £8 million to agree a deal with Vitesse. The player will join subject to a medical and will be signed, in all probability, to become a long-term replacement for Frank Lampard. A deep midfielder who can easily move forward, Van Ginkel will add a fresher, younger dimension to Chelsea's aging midfield. He will have to work on his strength though, as this literature points out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Il6Gximnw
Showing posts with label Premier League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Premier League. Show all posts
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
THIAGO AlCANTARA
Who is he? Where does he play?
He is another off the Barcelona production line, the immensely gifted midfield graduate of the famed La Masia academy in Catalonia and potential heir to the aging Xavi. He is 22, has 3 caps for Spain despite being born in Italy and is hogging all the newspaper gossip column space as he seems on the verge of heading to Manchester United.
Leaving the sunny, success-laden Barcelona for Salford?!?
Yes, he may be mad but he also seems to be hugely ambitious, aiming to move to Manchester United in the search for more first team football after being limited to just 15 starts last season under Tito Vilanova. That has dropped his release clause from 90 million euros to 18 million euros as he appeared for less than 30 minutes in 60% of Barcelona's games last season. All work and no play makes Thiago a dull boy, clamoring for an apparent move to the Premier League champions.
What's Vilanova playing at?
He did have Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Busquets and co. at his disposal after all, Thiago faces a massive competition for places at Barcelona but he did manage 41 appearances under Pep Guardiola the year before, the year after winning the Under-21 European Championship with Spain and signing a new four year deal at the Nou Camp worth £30k a week. There is no doubting his potential or talent, just his misfortune at having to compete with a generation of phenomenally gifted players as he wants to break into Vincent Del Bosque's permanent plans ahead of next year's World Cup, he currently has 3 caps.
So Manchester United are giving him a way out?
Reportedly set to offer him an eye-watering £6.2 million a year, it certainly looks like David Moyes wants to make him his first significant import as Old Trafford boss. He will undoubtedly fill the troublesome central-midfield slot at the club in which Michael Carrick is the only established talent. Alcantara's genius in carrying the ball from deep, beating players or even dictating the tempo with smart, measured passes ahead of the defence will be a massive asset to Moyes's United, as it was to Spain's under-21s as they triumphed in this summer's European Championships in Israel.
What will they get for their money?
For a reported £17 million, they will get fine balance which allows his diminutive 5ft 7 inch frame to spin away from the more imposing players in the centre of the field. He can create chances with nimble footwork just as he can take them, as his hat-trick against Italy under-21s out in Israel showed. If Thiago does decide to move to Manchester, Barcelona will lose a hugely talented member of their squad and that is testament enough to his promise.
He is another off the Barcelona production line, the immensely gifted midfield graduate of the famed La Masia academy in Catalonia and potential heir to the aging Xavi. He is 22, has 3 caps for Spain despite being born in Italy and is hogging all the newspaper gossip column space as he seems on the verge of heading to Manchester United.
Leaving the sunny, success-laden Barcelona for Salford?!?
Yes, he may be mad but he also seems to be hugely ambitious, aiming to move to Manchester United in the search for more first team football after being limited to just 15 starts last season under Tito Vilanova. That has dropped his release clause from 90 million euros to 18 million euros as he appeared for less than 30 minutes in 60% of Barcelona's games last season. All work and no play makes Thiago a dull boy, clamoring for an apparent move to the Premier League champions.
What's Vilanova playing at?
He did have Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Busquets and co. at his disposal after all, Thiago faces a massive competition for places at Barcelona but he did manage 41 appearances under Pep Guardiola the year before, the year after winning the Under-21 European Championship with Spain and signing a new four year deal at the Nou Camp worth £30k a week. There is no doubting his potential or talent, just his misfortune at having to compete with a generation of phenomenally gifted players as he wants to break into Vincent Del Bosque's permanent plans ahead of next year's World Cup, he currently has 3 caps.
So Manchester United are giving him a way out?
Reportedly set to offer him an eye-watering £6.2 million a year, it certainly looks like David Moyes wants to make him his first significant import as Old Trafford boss. He will undoubtedly fill the troublesome central-midfield slot at the club in which Michael Carrick is the only established talent. Alcantara's genius in carrying the ball from deep, beating players or even dictating the tempo with smart, measured passes ahead of the defence will be a massive asset to Moyes's United, as it was to Spain's under-21s as they triumphed in this summer's European Championships in Israel.
What will they get for their money?
For a reported £17 million, they will get fine balance which allows his diminutive 5ft 7 inch frame to spin away from the more imposing players in the centre of the field. He can create chances with nimble footwork just as he can take them, as his hat-trick against Italy under-21s out in Israel showed. If Thiago does decide to move to Manchester, Barcelona will lose a hugely talented member of their squad and that is testament enough to his promise.
ANDREAS CORNELIUS
Who is he? Where does he play?
He is a big strapping striker who plays for FC Copenhagen in Denmark, or at least he did do until Premier League newboys Cardiff City swooped in, to borrow newspaper parlance, with huge mechanical eagle arms and took the 20 year old to Wales.
Big striker? In what sense?
Vertically of course, he stands at an imposing 6ft 4 inches and is inevitably brilliant in the air, in last season's Europa League only 4 strikers, from 56 teams, won more aerial duels than Cornelius, how's that for a niche stat? For a more prevalent statistic, how about the 18 goals he scored in the Danish Superliga last time out, which made him the league's top scorer.
All from headers we guess?
Apart from operating with his head virtually in the clouds, Cornelius is actually rather good on the ground, nimble and technical with his back to goal in linking the play, the Danish forward isn't afraid to dribble at defenders. He also has a powerful left foot shot, making him a prime target to become Malky Mackay's first signing as he prepares for life in the Premier League with Cardiff.
A good move all round then?
For Cornelius yes, after he expressed his delight in completing a move just days after graduating from university over the weekend. The 20 year old effusively said "There were opportunities for me this summer and I had to think about what was the right thing to do, the correct step for me to take in terms of my career,"
"I was impressed by what the club is trying to do, the fact it has reached the Premier League and that it has a passionate fan base supporting it."
Cornelius will also get a prime chance to stake his claim for a spot for Denmark after breaking into their national side last year, so far he has 7 caps and 1 goal for Morten Olsen's side.
What are the finances involved?
£8 million!! Significant when you consider that is the biggest transfer fee received for a single player by a Danish Superliga club, so Cardiff and Mackay must have seen something good in him. It's a five year deal, so expect to see some big, physical, potent striking from the Scandinavian over the next half-decade in the Premier League.
Here's what he can do................
He is a big strapping striker who plays for FC Copenhagen in Denmark, or at least he did do until Premier League newboys Cardiff City swooped in, to borrow newspaper parlance, with huge mechanical eagle arms and took the 20 year old to Wales.
Big striker? In what sense?
Vertically of course, he stands at an imposing 6ft 4 inches and is inevitably brilliant in the air, in last season's Europa League only 4 strikers, from 56 teams, won more aerial duels than Cornelius, how's that for a niche stat? For a more prevalent statistic, how about the 18 goals he scored in the Danish Superliga last time out, which made him the league's top scorer.
All from headers we guess?
Apart from operating with his head virtually in the clouds, Cornelius is actually rather good on the ground, nimble and technical with his back to goal in linking the play, the Danish forward isn't afraid to dribble at defenders. He also has a powerful left foot shot, making him a prime target to become Malky Mackay's first signing as he prepares for life in the Premier League with Cardiff.
A good move all round then?
For Cornelius yes, after he expressed his delight in completing a move just days after graduating from university over the weekend. The 20 year old effusively said "There were opportunities for me this summer and I had to think about what was the right thing to do, the correct step for me to take in terms of my career,"
"I was impressed by what the club is trying to do, the fact it has reached the Premier League and that it has a passionate fan base supporting it."
Cornelius will also get a prime chance to stake his claim for a spot for Denmark after breaking into their national side last year, so far he has 7 caps and 1 goal for Morten Olsen's side.
What are the finances involved?
£8 million!! Significant when you consider that is the biggest transfer fee received for a single player by a Danish Superliga club, so Cardiff and Mackay must have seen something good in him. It's a five year deal, so expect to see some big, physical, potent striking from the Scandinavian over the next half-decade in the Premier League.
Here's what he can do................
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