Category Archives: Player profiles

The Canals of Alcaraz

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles, Reflections and tagged with , , , , , , ,

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In May of 2010 Wigan Athletic supporters were to hear that their club had made a ‘Bosman signing’ of a Paraguayan centre half from a club in Belgium. A month later, on June 10, Antolín Alcaraz was to make himself known on the world stage when he scored a headed goal against Italy in Cape Town. The 1-1 draw helped steer Paraguay into the World Cup quarter finals. But who was Alcaraz and how did he get into his national team despite never playing at senior level in his own country?

Aveiro is a prosperous coastal town in central Portugal. It is often called the  ‘Venice of Portugal’ because of its canals and boats. It aveiro3is home to SC Beira Mar whose crowds rarely reach five fugures. One of their claims to fame is that the great Eusebio played for them for a brief time in 1976. When the 21 year old Antolín Alcaraz joined them in January 2003 they were in the first division, although the club has oscillated between the first and second divisions since then. Alcaraz was to spend four years in Aveiro, cutting his teeth as a professional footballer, becoming Beira Mar’s defensive lynchpin and captain. He was to pick up the first of his 22 caps for Paraguay in his final season at the club.

Antolín Alcaraz comes from a humble background. He was raised in the south of Paraguay in San Roque González, a town of around 12,000 people, some 100 km from the capital Asuncion. After joining Racing Club of Argentina as a teenager he was snapped up by Fiorentina, but at a bad time since the ‘Viola’ were to be relegated to Italian lower leagues because of financial problems. He left, and after a trial with Palermo, headed for Aveiro.

Alcaraz was to leave Aveiro in July 2007 to move to another place famous for its canals, Bruges. Club Brugge were a more well known club than Beira Mar, having reached two European finals and won the Belgian league 13 times. During Alcaraz’ time in that beautiful city the club finished in the top three each year. In the 2008-09 season Alcaraz made six appearances for Club BrugesBrugge in the UEFA Cup, when they were knocked out in the group- phase, although overall they had only lost one match in the competition. He made seven appearances in 2009-10 in the newly formed Europa League. Brugge qualified through the group stage but were to be undone in extra time at Valencia.

Alcaraz has been a regular member of Paraguay’s side since the World Cup, his team reaching the final of the Copa America in 2011, beating Brazil on penalties in the quarter final.

Strangely enough the Leeds-Liverpool canal runs right next to the DW Stadium. It might lack the beauty of those in Aveiro and Bruges, but certainly played its part in the Industrial Revolution and today offers pleasant walks along its paths. Not that Antolin Alcaraz will be too concerned about that. He will be focusing on two things: helping Wigan Athletic avoid relegation and finding himself a new contract for vnext season at 30 years of age.

One has often felt that the best has been yet to come with Alcaraz. He has had his ups and downs with the club, including a controversial red card in December of 2011 for spitting at a Wolves player. He made 34 appearances in his first season, but only 25 in his second due to injury. However, his return to the team in April last year was crucial in providing a solid defensive backbone alongside Gary Caldwell and Maynor Figueroa . A defence that had been leaking like a sieve was to concede only 10 goals in the final 11 league games.

This has been a frustrating season for Antolín Alcaraz, with 6 months out through injury. However, once again his return to the team has stabilised the defence. His partnership with Paul Scharner promises to be something special. For once Wigan have height and pace in the centre of their defence. The way the two players have gelled in the Everton and Newcastle matches has been quite remarkable, given that Scharner had left Wigan when Alcaraz arrived in 2010.

There is no certainty that either Antolín Alcaraz or Paul Scharner will be at Wigan next season. At the moment they are both playing the best football of their Latics careers. If they can continue to do so until the end of the season it could mean Wigan achieving the double goal of Premier League survival and playing in the Europa League.

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Scharner – Nearing His Peak?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , , , ,

 

Great tackles are rarely as memorable as great goals, but some just stand out as exceptional. Half way through the first half  on Saturday a nice move by Reading led to a low cross coming to centre forward Pavel Podgrebnyak at the near post. The Russian looked certain to score until the long legs of Paul Scharner appeared out of nowhere to slide the ball to safety. A crucial moment in a tense first half, when the Royals had been getting on top.

Roberto Martinez had bravely changed his team’s shape for the Reading match, reverting to a flat back four and pushing Jean Beausejour into a left wing position. In the 40th minute a tall figure crossed the ball from that position and it took me a second or two to realize it was none other than Paul Scharner. It brought back mixed memories of the Austrian’s performances in a Latics shirt during his previous life at the club.

There have been a wealth of articles written on the eccentric central European.  His weird hairstyles, love of classical music and having his own personal  psychological coach place him apart from the average professional footballer. Interviewing him can be a challenge as this journalist found out.

Scharner joined Latics in January 2006, when I was living in Vienna and regularly watching one of his previous clubs, FK Austria, in the Bundesliga. Although popular in Norway, through his excellent performances for Brann of Bergen, he was by no means a hero  in his home country. In 2003 he had to move on from FK Austria after refusing to come on  as a substitute to play in right midfield at the behest of manager of the time, Jurgen Low. At the time he stated that “The coach and I discussed where I can help the team the most, but the coach always uses me elsewhere. I already played in seven different positions.”

In 2006 Scharner’s criticism of the Austrian FA led to national team coach, Josef Hickersberger, saying that  Scharner would never play for Austria again as long as he was in charge. After Hickersberger left Scharner returned to the national side. However, in  August 2012  another skirmish with authority led to the chairman of the Austrian FA saying that the player would never play for Austria again, no matter who the  coach was.

Paul Scharner’s made his Latics debut that January 2006, coming off the bench to head a winner against Arsenal that was to be instrumental in Latics reaching the League Cup final. Fans were not quite sure if he had been brought in to bolster an ailing centre of defence or to put some muscle into midfield. Some 16 months later his well taken goal at Bramall Lane on the last day of the season, helped to keep Latics up and put Sheffield United down. He was to make 145 appearances, in  a variety of positions, before leaving in the summer of 2010.

So which is the real Paul Scharner? The one who  Roberto Martinez describes as  a model professional  who he has welcomed back to Wigan with open arms, or the rebel who clashes with coaches and FA officials in his home country? Moreover is he willing to play in a central defensive position, week on week? Reports suggest that his move to West Bromwich was only finalized after Roberto Di Matteo agreed to play him in his preferred midfield position.

Paul Scharner has made a welcome return to Wigan at an opportune moment. He has already helped shore up a wobbly defence and made a “man of the match” performance for me at Reading. He has always been a very capable central defender, although it has not been his favourite position. Wigan are well stocked for midfield players and Scharner knows it. He is now 32, but in excellent physical shape. He  could go on for at least another couple of years as a Premier League central defender.

Has Paul Scharner already reached his peak or is it yet to come? Like anything else with the big Austrian it depends on his state of mind. Scharner would be well advised to forget his attacking forays and concentrate on defence. He has the experience, technique and positional sense to be an outstanding central defender. It is not too late for him to reach his peak.

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Di Santo comes into his own

Posted by Ned in Player profiles and tagged with , , , , , , ,

A bit unusual at first, Roberto Martinez’s strategy in the transfer market has become quite familiar. He likes to shop in Scotland and Spain — markets he knows well and can compete with financially. He’s not afraid to dip into lower divisions, and values a season-long loan from a top club to boost competition for places in the squad. He is astute in his timing, snapping up players like Victor Moses and Nouha Dicko at cut rate prices when their clubs were in financial need. His buys normally fall in one of three brackets: young, upcoming but unproven; players who have fallen to the fringes and want to re-establish their careers; or foreign players seeking a stage on which to earn a move to a bigger club.

The policy has yielded strong results. Signing two young central midfielders from Hamilton Academicals and moulding them into a Premier League partnership that out-tackled and out-passed the midfields of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool last season borders on genius. Ali Al-Habsi, a reserve at neighboring Bolton, has been nothing short of outstanding. And Shaun Maloney, rescued from a hiccuping career for Celtic, has been revitalised in blue and white stripes after a slow start. But of all his success stories in the market — and there are plenty more — one signing stands out as an exception to his regular policy.

Franco Di Santo arrived from Chelsea for 2 million pounds on deadline day at the beginning of the 2010-2011 campaign. The Argentine had been plucked from Chilean outfit Audax Italiano in 2008 after a decent scoring record in the Chilean League, the South American Copa Libertadores (Champions League equivalent), and the Copa Sudamericana (Europa League equivalent). Having failed to break into the first team, Di Santo spent time on loan at Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn, but finished it with a desperate strike rate of 1 in 23 appearances, having been stuck out on the wing in a kick and rush system that clearly would not have suited him.

The move was surprising because Latics had never before shopped directly from a top four club. Scott Sinclair had come in on loan the year before and it was largely assumed that Franco would follow the same path. The fact that Wigan bought him outright, at a bargain 2 million price, was taken by many to mean that Chelsea simply didn’t rate him. The consensus around the league, and in the media, was that he didn’t have the finishing to cut it in the Premier League.

His transformation has been a joy to watch, but didn’t happen over night. Indeed, the goals took a long time to come. In his first season with the club, Franco was largely starved of service. In hindsight, it is not surprising that he, along with Mauro Boselli and Jason Scotland before him, struggled to score when flanked by Charles N’Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega — players who more often than not wanted to finish the move themselves.

But there have been several turning points in the past year for young Franco. He started last season with a couple spectacular — if slightly fortunate deflected — strikes, which did his confidence a world of good. Then, in December, Roberto switched to the current tactical system employing wing-backs rather than wing-ers. The switch did more than change the shape of the team. It transformed the way the team attacked. Instead of the right-footed winger on the left, cutting in to shoot, we started seeing the wing-backs, left-footer on left and right-footer on right, bomb forward and launch crosses into the box. The higher number of crosses resulted in higher number of chances for the centre-forward, and Franco has benefited — as have Arouna Koné and Mauro Boselli in their appearances this season. The strike rate per minute on pitch of all three strikers if you include league and cup matches this season, is higher than any Latics striker in the Roberto Martinez era. They are the top three.

The third and most recent catalyst, was the most recent tactical switch following Victor Moses departure and Arouna Koné’s arrival. Di Santo now has a strike partner, whose threat has freed up space for his clever running, and two of Di Santo’s three strikes this season have been assisted by the Ivorian. Di Santo now has service, confidence, and space — and his finishing has been been top class.

If he can keep up this level of finishing, there is nothing to stop Di Santo’s progress. His technique is excellent, he has pace and strength, excellent work rate, fantastic hold up play and is an intelligent passer of the ball. But it is more than his attributes on the pitch that catch the eye. Sometimes, when players take the step down from a larger club, their egos get in the way. When you watch Di Santo play, his enthusiasm is clear, and his body language is that of a man proud to play for the club. His enthusiasm is infectious, and no doubt an important element in the dressing room. Martinez likes to speak about bringing in not only the right talent, but the right personalities. In Franco, he has a winner who also seems a genuinely nice guy happy to be there.

As with many young prospects before him, this has not happened overnight. The club is only now starting to reap the benefits of the striker’s steep learning curve. But it has been a joy to watch his come into his own — long may it continue. At Wigan Athletic.

Bend it like Beausejour

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , , , , , ,

Some say he looks a little pudgy. Others complain he doesn’t have the speed to take on defenders. That Birmingham would not have let him go if he were that good. Something of an international journeyman, he has played for ten clubs in a space of ten years, spanning six different countries. Why then did Roberto Martinez continue to pursue Jean Beausejour, following the 2010 World Cup, until finally signing him in January 2012?

After just 15 minutes had gone at Sunderland last Saturday, a sublime cross came over from the left wing that Arouna Kone should have buried to put Latics 1-0 in front. It was the kind of precision pass that David Beckham might have provided in his heyday, curling away from the goalkeeper with pinpoint accuracy. Pure artistry. Neither player is the type to run down the wing and beat a defender for speed. But both somehow are able to get in pinpoint crosses from the tightest of situations, an ability that few players possess. Although Beausejour only joined Latics in January, he led the squad for assists last season.

Let’s not forget his defensive qualities either. Forming a strong partnership with Maynor Figueroa on the left hand side of the defence he provides key defensive cover. Ask Theo Walcott what it is like having Beausejour trail you – the Chilean rendered him totally ineffective in the memorable 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium in April. Beausejour is not elegant, but is a complete player, the classic wing back – able to defend and create goals.

Jean André Emanuel Beausejour Coliqueo was born in Santiago in June 1984, of a Haitian father and mother from the indigenous Mapuche ethnic group. Beausejour remains a hero with the downtrodden Mapuche people. He started his professional career playing for leading Chilean club, Universidad Católica in 2002 before moving to provincial Concepción where he played for a year. Within the following three years he’d serve stints at Servette of Geneva, Grêmio of Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Gent of Belgium. After returning to Chile for a couple of years he spent the 2009-2010 year playing for Club America, Mexico City’s biggest club.

Beausejour has made 40 plus appearances for Chile, playing under flamboyant Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa for almost three years. Not only did he score the winning goal against Honduras that helped Chile to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2010 World Cup, but he was to play in a classic Bielsa system that had three central defenders and two wing backs. In November 2011, he and four other players were suspended by Chile FA for 10 matches after arriving in “poor physical” condition, allegedly drunk, before a World Cup qualifying match against Uruguay.

Given Beausejour’s career record of lack of continuity at any one particular club and his suspension from the Chilean national team it was therefore a calculated gamble taken by Roberto Martinez to bring him to Wigan from Birmingham City. However, Beausejour has become a key player in the tactical system adopted by Roberto Martinez. His start to the current season has been marred by a niggling injury but he remains one of the players whose name would be penciled in first on the team sheet. He is 5 ft 11 inches tall and physically strong, not easily deterred.

Jean Beausejour has certainly settled into the Wigan Athletic lineup. A team player, he is solid in defence. When Latics have the ball he is always available, hugging the touchline, stretching the opposition defence. He rarely loses the ball and has a few tricks up his sleeve with quick footwork. His crosses can create havoc in even the best of defences, whether from open play or set pieces. Given his technique one might expect him to more often take direct shots on goal, especially from free kicks. He has proved an excellent signing up to this point and one hopes that his years of wanderlust are over. At 28 years old he is nearing the peak of his career. The best is yet to come, especially if he is encouraged to go for goal from free kicks.