Former English U21 Right-Back Shining at St. Mary's

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The Crystal Palace academy graduate right-back Nathaniel Clyne, now playing for Southampton, has been on the radar of bigger clubs recently. Will he move during the upcoming transfer window? Although it's been pure speculation, it has been rumored that Arsenal are among the frontrunners for the former English U-21 right-back's signature. Although he's normally been thought of as a more offensive minded right back, this season has proved his defensive abilities as well.

Nathaniel has played 12 Premier League matches this season at right-back for Southampton. During his first 5 matches this season, when on the pitch, Southampton did not concede until visiting Old Trafford in a 1:1 draw. Even more impressive, during his first 9 matches of the season, Southampton remained unbeaten. The remaining three games have seen different results though. The last two matches where Clyne featured resulted in losses for the St. Mary's club. The match Clyne last played in was against Villa, where he was subbed off in the 59th after an injury that has since kept him out of action. Before his injury and subsequent substitution, Clyne had assisted the lone Southampton goal that had seen the game level at 1. Southampton would gone on to lose 3:2 and since then have not won, drawing with Manchester City and Newcastle.

This is Clyne's second season with the club since leaving Crystal Palace where he played in more than 120 games for the club. Now, at 22, Clyne has established himself as a very talented right-back that not only likes to get forward and join the attack but performs his defensive duties just as well. He will have to knock Callum Chambers from the starting right-back position once he regains fitness, as the Southampton academy graduate has been sharp since filling in for Clyne.  

Importance of the Romanian Centerback

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9.5 million Euros is a lot of money. On the other hand, it's only about 10% of the transfer fee that Real Madrid paid Tottenham for Gareth Bale. When Chiriches was signed by Tottenham from Steaua Bukarest for that sum on August 30th, I'm sure I wasn't alone when I said "Who?!" Since then though, the Romanian national team centerback (22 caps) has more than impressed on the pitch. Unfortunately, the defender's time on the pitch has been limited to injuries, but this post will show his importance in the Europa League Group K winner's side in all competitions.

Before I even began any of this research, in the matches I watched, he stood out with his exceptional tackling ability, smart play, safe passing, and his presence overall. He does very well to keep possession and can start attacks as well. Once I took a look at his statistical impact on Tottenham, I realized he may have more importance in the side than previously thought. Here is what I found:

Chiriches has played 6 of the 14 Premier League matches this season since signing for Tottenham for 9.5 million from Bukarest. In those 6 matches, Tottenham won 3 of them, drawing 2 (United at home, Everton at Goodison Park), and losing 1 (Newcastle at home). During his time on the pitch, Tottenham had conceded only 4 goals. In the 8 matches he hadn't played, Tottenham won 3, lost 4 (including 0:6 Man City at the Etihad, and 0:5 at home to Liverpool), and drew 1. In those 8 matches, Tottenham conceded 17 goals. The only time Tottenham have conceded more than once in a match with Chiriches on the pitch was against United. Without Chiriches though, Tottenham have had three matches where they've conceded more than twice in 90 minutes.

His impact in Europa League play may go unnoticed as Tottenham disposed rather easily of all opponents in group play. However, in the 3 of the 6 group stage matches that Chiriches played, Tottenham won, without conceding once. In the other 3 group stage matches, Tottenham still won all 3 but only kept one clean sheet.

In the 2 League Cup matches thus far, with Chiriches on the pitch, Tottenham have only conceded once.

I think it's fair to say; despite the relatively low transfer fee (compared to recent inflation in the transfer market) Chiriches is worth every cent. He has really impressed in each match so far and the statistics show his importance in the side.

Gervinho Finally Playing for the Gunners?

Gervais Yao Kouassi, more commonly known as Gervinho, is a 24-year old Ivorian international who shot OSC Lille to the Ligue Une title last year with 15 goals and 11 assists. With his contract running out at the end of next year, Lille will make sure that they do not let the offensive all-rounder walk away for free. Arsenal seems to be the front-runners in signing the speedy, technically gifted forward.

He can play up top, right behind the forwards, or in the attacking midfield role, but is more successful as a winger, where he can often find himself one v. one against defenders using his speed and technial abilities. He started his professional footballing career in 2004 when he came to Belgium from the Ivory Coast in the youth system of KSK Beveren.  Beveren gave Gervinho his opportunity to make it as a professional footballer, like it has done for many Ivorians. Yaya Toure (Man City), Yapi Yapo (FC Basel), Arthur Boka (VfB Stuttgart), Romaric (FC Sevilla), Emmanuel Eboue (FC Arsenal) are some of the Ivorians that have came through the club to go on bigger clubs throughout Europe.

After a year in the youth system at Beveren, he would earn a spot in the first team and played with them for two years before his transfer to RC Lens for 650.000 Euros, where he would spend another two years. Add another zero to that transfer fee (6.500.000) and that is what OSC Lille had to pay for the young Ivorian at the time. He would prove that he is more than capable of playing at the highest level and even made the Ivorian national team, where he would play in the 2010 World Cup. 

His exposure at the World Cup expanded his opportunities to play football at an even higher level. Immediately, Gervinho was linked to Arsenal who has been trying to sign the attacker for several years now. This may be the summer they complete the deal, but he is worth 16.000.000 Euros, according to transfermarkt.de. He plays a lot like Thierry Henry does as a winger, receiving the ball by the sideline and using his sheer talent to force it in the middle where he can create mismatches to either shoot or make the final deadly pass for a goal.

Is this the summer where Gervinho will find himself wearing the Gunners jersey?

Player to Watch: Mamadou Sakho

On March 8, 2011, I had previously posted that Mamadou Sakho had renewed his contract at French Ligue Une side Paris Saint-Germain until the summer of 2014. The 21-year old centerback who played a total of 50 matches for PSG and 4 for the French National Team this year, has been rumored to be on the shortlist of many English clubs including Arsenal, Tottenham, and Liverpool.

In the previous post regarding Sakho, I had mentioned that his current market value was at 13.500.000 Euros, which was a team-high. Roughly three months later, his stock has risen 2.500.000 to see him at 16.000.000 currently, which makes him more than 3.000.000 Euros higher than second best Nene. The Parisian club may beg to differ with transfermarkt.de's assessment, as he could be coined invaluable to the team. Playing in 4358 minutes for Paris this year, made him the third most used player in the squad, only several minutes behind Christophe Jallet and Nene.

The left-footed centerback that has played for France's national team at every level starting with U16, is now pushing his way into the regular line-up for Les Bleus at the senior level. He more than likely could also see his way to England in this summer's transfer window, as many Premier League clubs have confirmed interest in the experienced youngster (150 total matches for PSG). As previously stated, his contract runs out in 2014, but PSG will surely look to cash in on him before his contract runs out... the question is when?

Player to Watch: Alexander Merkel

"What’s happened over the last few weeks hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s a wonderful experience." The 19 year-old German midfielder currently at AC Milan in Italy, Alexander Merkel, is this week's player to watch. At only 19 years of age he has already experienced a lot for someone his age.

He made his professional debut in December of last year with AC Milan in their defeat to Ajax Amsterdam. A month later he scored his first goal against Bari in a Coppa Italia match. He is under contract at the Italian club until the summer of 2013. Merkel has appeared in 17 matches so far with I Rossoneri starting in 13 of them and is on pursuit of his first trophy which would be the Serie A title if they can hold on to the two point lead they have on inter-city rivals Inter Milan.

The youngster featured in Germany's U-19 national team in November and has shown a lot of promise and talent since then. His abilities on the ball allow him to play central midfield but can also push up into a more attacking role. He is considered the new blond German angel and may be the future of a very talented German side. With very little experience at the time, he will only continue to grow and mature into a better player, and this makes him a player to watch. At the moment, his market value according to transfermarkt.de is at €3,000,000. Within the next several months and certainly as time passes by, this number will only increase.
                                                         

Spurs Sign Bale to New Deal

Gareth Bale, a 21-year old left midfielder for the Tottenham Hotspurs in the English Premier League, has signed a new 4 and-a-half year deal with the club. Bale's market value is currently around €25 million, which has more than tripled in the last year and a half. He is currently the second highest valued player on the team behind only Luka Modric who is only €3 million more than Bale.

So far this season for the Spurs he has played 24 Premier League matches and has managed to score 7 goals and also assist on 2 additional goals. In only 7 UEFA Champions League matches he has scored 4 goals and assisted on 4 more. To say the least, he has been instrumental in Tottenham's success so far this year. Bale said in an interview after the contract extension was announced, "I am enjoying my football at Tottenham. I want us to keep going forward as a team and hopefully we can achieve big things." Tottenham has not only qualified for the Champions League this year but they have made it far enough to become one of the final eight clubs left in the competition. In the Premier League, they are currently in 5th place only 2 points behind 4th place Chelsea and 7 points ahead of 6th place Liverpool, however with 9 games remaining... anything can happen.

The contract extension was announced only days after some sources said that Spanish club FC Barcelona was willing to spend more than €40 million for the left midfielder who Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said is "one of the top left-sided players in the world, he is really an amazing talent and can only get better." It is reported that he will be making £68,000 a week to stay at the club.

New York Red Bulls Win Season Opener

Red Bull New York's 18 year-old super striker Juan Agudelo finds back of the net in the 70th minute to lift the Red Bulls over the Seattle Sounders in the opening match of the 2011 season. Agudelo was played a ball down the middle of the field by Teemu Tainio and then shouldered away a Sounders defender before slotting the ball with the outside of his right foot past Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Beginning in the first several minutes of the game, the Red Bulls were off to a great start with many good chances to score and most of the possession for the first half. In the 8th minute, Juan Agudelo was played into the box where he attempted to turn the ball but was taken down by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, which resulted in the official pointing to the spot for a penalty kick. Thierry Henry stepped up to take the penalty however former US international keeper Kasey Keller made a great save on the shot that went to his right. The Red Bulls saw several other good opportunities to score, however could not manage to put the ball in the back of the net before the half. Seattle could be considered lucky to have made it to half-time in the Red Bull Arena in a scoreless game.

New York came out in the second half more focused on the attack and it was obvious that the Sounders would have been more than happy with a single point against the Red Bulls. It was just a matter of time before Kasey Keller would be beaten and then it was a pretty easy final twenty minutes for the Red Bulls to hold on to the 1:0 lead.

Red Bull New York started with the following line-up:

Sutton

Marquez - Ream - Miller

Solli - Richards [Borman (93)] - Ballouchy [Tchani (68)] - Tainio (A) - Lindpere

Henry - Agudelo (G)