PostedMay 12, 2022, 1:32 p.m.
They are talked regarding in Germany, England and Portugal, but less internationally. Here are four players who are having a great season in all discretion.
In football, a small number of players take all the light. It is then time to present four footballers whose success goes too unnoticed.
paul sarabia
Pablo Sarabia was a player used to occupying the leading roles… and then he went to Paris Saint-Germain. On the side of the Parc des Princes, his playing time has decreased as much as his statistics. After two seasons spent in France finding himself barred by the stars of PSG, the Spaniard had to revive.
And instead of going into exile in any club, Sarabia made the original choice to join Sporting Portugal last summer, as part of a loan. A club that counts in Lusitania, a fashionable coach in the person of Ruben Amorim, a Champions League to play, no doubt, Pablo Sarabia went to Lisbon for the sports project. The Madrilenian recognizes it, he needed to feel like a footballer once more.
Nine months following his arrival, we can say that his gamble has paid off! The former Seville winger shines on the banks of the Tagus. In the league, he scored a whopping 14 goals and 7 assists, making him the top scorer of the “Leões” on the domestic scene. But Sarabia’s contribution does not only concern the stat sheets. On the pitch, his ability to occupy all attacking positions was praised by his coach.
Then remains a question, can Sarabia register in the long term with Sportinguistas? Unfortunately for them, no. The Spaniard still has two years of contract with PSG and, according to the latest rumors, Leonardo would even think of bringing him back to the Paris squad for next season.
Ivan Toney
Prior to this season, Ivan Toney had only played two Premier League appearances. To be even fully complete, he had only played ten minutes in English football’s top flight. It was during the 2015/2016 season, under the colors of Newcastle. “All I remember from that game is losing the ball and seeing United almost score. After that, I didn’t touch any more balls, ”jokes the striker today regarding one of his summary appearances.
Since then, times have changed a lot: for his first season in PL, the Anglo-Jamaican striker has 12 goals on the clock. It’s more than Jamie Vardy, Michail Antonio or even Gabriel Jesus, strikers confirmed across the Channel. So certainly, little-known scorers, we discover them every year in the Premier League. So why retain the case of Ivan Toney rather than another? Quite simply because the Brentford striker represents these success story specific to English football.
It’s simple, Toney has played in all four professional divisions in his country. At 17, he scoured the lawns of League Two with the jersey of Northampton, in the Midlands. For him, the click came when he was playing in Peterborough, in the third division. “My wife Katie was pregnant. I was not too bad financially but I said to myself: ‘I want my son to have the best possible life and I have to provide for my wife and for my parents’. It was like: ‘Ok, now is the time to get moving'”, he recalls in the pages of The Guardian.
Little by little, the striker rose through the ranks and now he walks the most beautiful lawns in the Kingdom. And then to speak of Toney is not only to speak of a goalscorer whose technique on penalties drives goalkeepers all over the country crazy (for Thomas Frank, the Norwich coach, Toney is simply the best in the world in this exercise), it’s also regarding Brentford’s flair in the transfer market. The “Bees” have been relying on the use of advanced statistics for their recruitment for several years. If in 2021 Brentford managed to join the Premier League for the first time in its history, it is largely thanks to its jealously guarded algorithms.
Taiwo Awoniyi
Once once more qualified for European competitions and supported by a growing following, Urs Fischer’s Union Berlin continues to live a daydream. A dream to which the Nigerian Taiwo Awoniyi is certainly no stranger. For the 24-year-old, his third season in the Bundesliga (the second with the Union) is a revelation. With 13 goals to his name, he is one of the seven best scorers in the Bundesliga (despite having been absent all January due to CAN).
Since arriving in Europe from Nigeria, Awoniyi has not had it easy. Poached by the Liverpool scouts in 2015, he left the Mersey having played exactly zero minutes under the orders of Jürgen Klopp. Paperwork problem. Football will take him to FSV Frankfurt, in German D2, before tasting the Eredivisie in the Nijmegen club. This will be followed by a stint in Mouscron, another at Gantoise, then a season in Mainz during the 2019/2020 season.
In Berlin, Awoniyi has found stability and a coach who appreciates him. “Having a coach take you aside, sit with you, tell you what he wants, what he expects of you and joke with you, work with you, that’s what a parent does with her child. Everything he did is what my father also did with me”, rejoiced the player earlier in the season, speaking of Urs Fischer.
For the Lucerne coach, keeping his striker will be a challenge. Several Premier League clubs are said to be interested in the player… who, according to his own words, dreams of returning to England.
Aaron Ramsdale
When Arsenal signed Aaron Ramsdale last summer, there was reason to be dubious. Granted, Bernd Leno had some reliability issues. But why go for the Sheffield United goalkeeper, a monster of reflexes but whose technique left something to be desired? At the start of last season, he was even a goalkeeper who cost more goals than he avoided, according to advanced statistics…
Today, criticism of this transfer has soared. The native of Chesterton has changed the destiny of several Premier League matches on his own since he wears the colors of the “Gunners”. Against Leicester for example, the Arsenal goalkeeper pulled off what Peter Scheichel called ‘the best save I’ve seen in years’. For his part, Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said earlier in the season that “Ramsdale was the best English goalkeeper at the moment”.
As well as shining in his nets, Ramsdale has become one of the darlings of the Emirates Stadium due to the exuberant celebrations following his saves, his heartfelt statements on the microphone and his gestures of defiance towards opposing fans. It remains to be seen whether Arsenal’s last bastion parades have convinced Gareth Southgate to offer him the post of chief goalkeeper for the ‘Three Lions’. For now, Jordan Pickford seems to have a few more yards ahead.
