Jordan Ayew

[terrytini]

I'd like to make up my own mind if that's okay?

Are you going to base it on fact or fantasy?

 

It's funny how every professional football player under the age of 23 has "bags of potential" 

By definition every professional footballer under 23 has indeed got bags of potential......so ...? Why funny ?

And some go on to realise it to greater or lesser extent, and some don't, to greater or lesser extent.

And some fail at some times and places, and succeed at others, and vice versa.

Sometimes Clubs buy players who have good history, sometimes not. Sometimes the good ones fail and vice versa.

It really is an incredibly naive view of football to think that because a player has or hasn't impressed an observer in one particular time or place that he therefore can't have impressed a different observer or be capable of going on to do so.

[omariqy]

I've always said that the French league is most like ours in terms of speed of the game and what kind of players tend to do well.  The issue we have is we have no real leaders.  This needs to be addressed.

[Mantis]

Y'all posting in a troll thread.

[StefanAVFC]

Erm, some of us do actually watch football beyond "the best league in the world".

 

All I can say about this Ayew is £12m is a very expensive cover player for Gabby. 

 

From the Rolan thread, a player in the French league.

 

 

Anyone watch the froggy league give us a lowdown? What are his all important youtube credentials like? 

 

You're basically saying you don't watch French football here. Can't have changed much in 2 days.

 

Which is it?

[GENTLEMAN]

 

Erm, some of us do actually watch football beyond "the best league in the world".

 

All I can say about this Ayew is £12m is a very expensive cover player for Gabby. 

 

From the Rolan thread, a player in the French league.

 

 

Anyone watch the froggy league give us a lowdown? What are his all important youtube credentials like? 

 

You're basically saying you don't watch French football here. Can't have changed much in 2 days.

 

Which is it?

 

Fabian is that you!? 

[Mantis]

#Wobble

[Zatman]

People who watch French football say he's not very good and we've paid silly money.

People who don't watch French football say he's going to be the next Benteke.

 

Hmmmmmm !!

 

Amavi is of a higher standard but overrated.

 

You can tell Lambert's scouting team have gone with these signings. Never under his reign. 

 

Hello Paul

 

Luna and Tonev will tell you how great your scouting team was

[Mantis]

To be fair Lambert was decent with signings and I think players like Luna and Tonev were a product of spending restrictions which appear to no longer be as tight.

[bannedfromHandV]

£9-12m for Jordan Ayew LOL. Dear me. Sums up the sorry state the Premier League is in with it's false economy.

 

We've bought some tat so far at silly prices. At least is he's familiar with relegation battles. 

 

French laughing all the way to the bank at our expense (again). 

 

It looks like some people are happy with us spending big money on anybody with a foreign name.

I really think there should be a "Hall Of Shame" thread at the end of each season where comments like this are revisited to examine how wise. knowledgeable or otherwise they proved to be. I'll be storing up my rotten tomatoes to throw at this one just in case it turns out to be complete and utter bollocks.

 

And what if he's right? It's not popular to be pessimistic, but it'll bow to anyone who claims to know better, at this point. 

 

As it is, I think he'll be a decent signing for us, because I don't think he will be expected to be our main goal threat.

I really don't think it's worth spending too much time on such a poorly thought out and argued post but since you ask, let's have a go.

 

I'm not sure which bits you think might prove to be "right".

 

£9-12m for Jordan Ayew LOL.

 

No idea how the £12m crept in but it most likely stems from some sports journalists' inability to understand the GBP - Euro exchange rate.

 

Dear me. Sums up the sorry state the Premier League is in with it's false economy.

 

Don't really know what this means but I fail to see how the purchase of Jordan Ayew can be said to "sum up" the premier league

 

We've bought some tat so far at silly prices. At least is he's familiar with relegation battles. 

 

He has no way of knowing what what the actual prices are, he's just going on figures thrown around by journalists who know as little as we do. And to characterise professional footballers as "tat" isn't very illuminating is it? If there was any attempt at a serious analysis of the strengths/weaknesses of the players we have bought, there would be some point in paying attention to it but this is just using a silly and meaningless "boo" word. And I guess you could say of Benteke, "At least he is familiar with relegation battles." What does that prove?

 

French laughing all the way to the bank at our expense (again). 

 

No idea how this could ever be proved to be "right" It looks suspiciously like posting for effect.

 

It looks like some people are happy with us spending big money on anybody with a foreign name.

 

Would need some - any - context, evidence, that anyone is impressed in this way. I haven't read all through the thread but I haven't seen any posters displaying this sort of naivety. It's also just a matter of opinion if the fees rumoured in the press are "big money". £49m for Sterling is "big money". You could even say £32.5m for Benteke is "big money". But not the sums we are said to have paid for our transfers so far this window.

 

So which bits could be "right"? I just don't think a post like this deserves serious attention (apart from the rotten tomatoes episode next May).

It's okay, he probably bought him on football manager but he didn't work out ergo he's shite

[dounavilla]

Erm, some of us do actually watch football beyond "the best league in the world".

All I can say about this Ayew is £12m is a very expensive cover player for Gabby.

From the Rolan thread, a player in the French league.

Anyone watch the froggy league give us a lowdown? What are his all important youtube credentials like?

You're basically saying you don't watch French football here. Can't have changed much in 2 days.

Which is it?

Hahaha BUSTED !!!!

[Ponky]

Paddy Reilly apparently watches a lot of French football and apparently thinks he is worth the money so that'll do me for now.

[ThunderPower_14]

I'm not sure why people are so frustrated with the fees we're paying.

a) we're paying the going rate. It's 2015.

WE are paying the going rate, finally.

c) Ligue 1 >>> League 1

[GasGasGas]

If at £12m it is rather steep for a player who hasn't exactly pulled up trees in the world of football. We could easily be overpaying if he doesn't improve in any way.

 

At £7m it would be quite a good gamble and we can be all pleased if he develops similar to how Benteke did.

[mightysasquatch]

Erm, some of us do actually watch football beyond "the best league in the world".

All I can say about this Ayew is £12m is a very expensive cover player for Gabby.

From the Rolan thread, a player in the French league.

Anyone watch the froggy league give us a lowdown? What are his all important youtube credentials like?

You're basically saying you don't watch French football here. Can't have changed much in 2 days.

Which is it?

Hahaha BUSTED !!!!

To be fair he doesn't actually name the French league as the one he watches out the domestic game...just saying

[7392craig]

Erm, some of us do actually watch football beyond "the best league in the world".

All I can say about this Ayew is £12m is a very expensive cover player for Gabby.

From the Rolan thread, a player in the French league.

Anyone watch the froggy league give us a lowdown? What are his all important youtube credentials like?

You're basically saying you don't watch French football here. Can't have changed much in 2 days.

Which is it?

Hahaha BUSTED !!!!

To be fair he doesn't actually name the French league as the one he watches out the domestic game...just saying

Well yeah but it is insinuated

[dudevillaisnice]

Hmm..

The bad blood between Jordan Ayew (23 years, 31 games and 12 goals in L1 in 2014-2015 ) and FC Lorient. After an offer estimated at 12 million euros Aston Villa , the former player of Olympique Marseille Hake thought that would let him go to the Premier League, but its leaders show greedy and now require 17 million Aston Villa. Behavior that Ghanaian revolt .

" It's incomprehensible , they said I could go to 10 or 12 million , but now they ask for 10 million pounds but , more two million pounds bonus , making about 17 million euros! C eastern anything! I'm really upset , " Ayew told the daily L'Equipe.

Determined to join Aston Villa, Jordan Ayew will start a real tussle since account no longer train with FC Lorient . ( The 07/25/2015 , by Damien Da Silva )

http://news.maxifoot.fr/info-221413_150725/football.php

[dounavilla]

Benteke'esc.

[KSV]

Tell them to get ****. we are already paying overs for him

[Villan81]

so a fee wasnt agreed then?

[tomsky_11]

£9-12m for Jordan Ayew LOL. Dear me. Sums up the sorry state the Premier League is in with it's false economy.

We've bought some tat so far at silly prices. At least is he's familiar with relegation battles.

French laughing all the way to the bank at our expense (again).

It looks like some people are happy with us spending big money on anybody with a foreign name.

What makes you think that Gueye, Amavi and Ayew are tat?

Genuinely wish to know.

Firstly, it is now being reported the fee is around €10m which is around £7m. This piece has been posted before but is written by Gary Al-Smith. Apparently a very knowledgable guy on African football and footballers plying their trade around the world. So not all people who watch French football think hes shit. He seems pretty raw to me. Has talent but needs to be finessed.

http://www.myjoyonline.com/sports/2015/July-24th/al-smith-what-aston-villa-get-from-12m-jordan-ayew.php

They’ll tell you he’s not worth £12 million.

When they do, politely remind them that even Raheem Sterling cost £49 million.

And that’s not just guff: it’s because both Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ayew have bags of potential, and clubs pay for potential as much as they pay for proven quality.

In today’s crazy football transfer market, Aston Villa’s quest to replace Christian Benteke - who departed to Liverpool this week – with the Ghanaian is a great move for club and player.

CLICK TO READ: Lorient accept Villa bid for Jordan Ayew

The versatile forward was a member of the Ghana squad at last summer's World Cup finals and helped his nation reach the final of the Africa Nations Cup in January.

Ayew's agent, Mark McKay, also told ESPN on Friday that the offer was confirmed, while Joy Sports sources also said Jordan is getting ready to fly to Enlgand for more negotiations and, possibly, a medical "in the next 24 to 48 hours".

But what does the 23 year old have to offer?

Upbringing

In 1995, two years after Abedi Pele won the Uefa Champions League with Marseille, legendary Ghanaian broadcaster Kwabena Yeboah had a one-on-one with the maestro.

It was in that interview that Abedi publicly gave his thoughts on the possible footballing futures of his three sons – Rahim, Andre and Jordan. He spoke about Rahim, then Andre before finishing with Jordan.

“I know they are young, but Jordan’s control with the ball interests me a lot.”

Kwabena asked the obvious question: which of the three would be Abedi’s heir?

After laughing a bit, the great man said: “I wish they will all be great, but Jordan looks like he will be very good.”

Maybe it was because from early on Jordan showed a preference for shooting at goal. Or maybe because he hung around the goal area more than Andre, who didn't like football that much, anyway.

Whatever it was, that was the beginning of Jordan’s path as a striker.

Development

While his brother made his tournament debut for Ghana at the 2008 African Cup, Jordan was still waiting for his chance at Marseille, too.

The forward made his debut in 2009 and scored 14 goals in 111 league matches for Marseille (above, pictured with Andre). He managed four goals in 23 matches for them in European competitions.

In that time, he won the French league title in 2010 with OM as well as the League Cup in 2010, 2011 and 2012. But he was far from an integral member.

After eight years of bit-part roles, he moved to Sochaux in 2013 and spent six months there. But his five goals in 17 matches could not prevent the club from relegation from the top flight.

Years down the line, all indications were showing that it was Andre who will Abedi’s heir. Not Jordan.

But as respected African football coach (we can call him that, can't we?) Claude LeRoy told me at the World Cup: "Jordan will make you forget Asamoah Gyan very soon. Just give him four years - and plenty patience."

Strengths

Jordan can play across the striking divide. His ability to cut in and link up with midfielders behind him and forwards near him make him versatile.

But his style has evolved since 2012, when he was most suited to playing as a central striker. Marseille’s key man Andre-Pierre Gignac that year got injured, giving Jordan a chance to own the position. While his seven goals in 19 starts were not stellar, it gave a glimpse of what he had to offer.

For Ghana, where Asamoah Gyan has been the undisputed champion upfront, Ayew has had to learn to play behind the strikers, or drift out wide.

And he’s grown into the role as well.

It’s very difficult to get the ball off him when he’s in full flight. And his link up play can be great, too.

For a club like Villa who aren’t always blessed with the best midfielders, a striker who takes the ball from deep and runs at defenders is a must.

Jordan is exactly that.

In the last few years, he’s excelled at holding on to the ball, running at the opposition and, often, getting fouls for his team in vital areas.

It also helps that he shoots with both feet.

Weakness

Jordan is a bit of jack of all trades and master of none. You cannot really point to one outstanding attribute.

Aerial ability? Decent.

Speed? Very decent.

Passing? Very decent.

Vision? Decent.

Scoring? More than decent, but not lethal.

Better than Benteke? No.

Can he be Benteke in two seasons? Absolutely.

This is where the patience of Villa fans will be tested. Which brings us to his attitude.

Attitude

Jordan is used to adversity.

The Ayew family has as many haters as lovers, but they are incredibly mentally tough. None of the men have dealt with pressure as nonchalantly as Jordan.

You boo? He goes on with it.

You call him names? He pretends as if he hasn’t heard.

You praise him? He says thanks and gets on with it.

Racist abuse? “I come onto the pitch to play football. If it is the colour of my skin you see instead of the football I play, that’s your problem. And you need help for that,” he said in 2013.

Of course, all these may be good attributes that show he has a tough exterior, but it can be dangerous because sometimes Jordan can be notoriously obstinate.

He is the kind of player who’ll give you a blinding 90 minutes, score one with his right foot, nutmeg two defenders, score another header and then totally lose his temper and get sent off in regulation time.

Aston Villa have got the full package.

We love to hate him

Come to Ghana. You’ll get plenty newspaper clippings and TV footage and radio phone-in programs that prove it.

Jordan loves to sag his shorts. His underpants are constantly on display and it annoys a lot of fans. But, as usual, he just gets on with it.

Surprisingly, the bulk of the hate has come from his own people, in Ghana. Jordan has been called everything under the sun from lazy, sulky, entitled, to selfish, individualistic and churlish.

At different points in his career, all these words have been true; however, it is what has made him what he is.

In the meantime, he develops.

Work ethic

The number one reason why everyone is sure of his potential is that Jordan works hard. At Marseille, he was regularly last to leave training, working on one thing or other.

Same thing at Lorient last season, and for the first time at this level, he hit double figures.

It may be that Aston Villa, with a climate not as high-pressure as Marseille but at par with Lorient, will be the perfect place for this troubled genius.

In summary, Jordan has pace, scores goals, good in the air and can be moody. That sounds like Benteke’s CV when Villa first signed him.

Look how he turned out.

For £12m, Jordan is a great piece of business for Tim Sherwood.

JORDAN'S STATS

Stats from last season seem to back most of this up.

More shots per game than any of our players. Goal every 218 mins vs Benteke every 183 mins.

Equal or better in the air than our midfield and forwards (except Benteke and Sanchez).

Dribble success (55%) similar to gabby (54%) but Ayew attempts twice as many. Worse % success than Gil, Grealish, Delph. Better than N'Zogbia (shock!)

Decent passing at 80%. Gabby at 75%, Benteke 67%. N'Zog 81%. Most of our midfield and defence between 80% and 90%. 1.2 key passes per 90 mins about average for us, better than Gabby and N'Zog.

Gets fouled a lot (2.4 times per 90) more than anyone at Villa bar Grealish (4.3 per 90) as article suggests.

One significant negative, which seems to contradict the article, is his possession stats. He is dispossessed (when not dribbling) 4.3 times per 90 and has 4 "bad touches" per 90. These stats are a fair bit worse than our worse last season - Grealish and N'Zog were around 2.6 bad touches and 3.4 times dispossessed per 90.