Gyan


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garydon

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/nov/21/asamoah-gyan-sunderland-everton

There is a good chance Asamoah Gyan will be celebrating more than just his 25th birthday tomorrow. Having scored four goals in his past three appearances for Sunderland, including an excellent strike in Sunday's victory at Chelsea, the Ghanaian will be confident of finding the net against Everton. That would further endear him to fans and make it seem even more improbable that there was a time when supporters, not Sunderland's, wanted to kill him. But there was.

Steve Bruce made Gyan Sunderland's record signing in the summer when he bought him for £13m from French club Rennes but, if the size of the fee and expectations placed any burden on the striker, it cannot have been more onerous than the pressure he endured during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. Ghana, as hosts, were considered one of the favourites to win but they laboured through the group stages, during which Gyan squandered a slew of chances. He was particularly wasteful during the 1-0 win over the minnows Namibia, so much so that he received death threats from enraged fans. One small group of extremist supporters descended on his family home to harass his mother, prompting the striker and his elder brother, Baffour, a midfielder who spent a decade playing in eastern Europe before returning to Ghana where he now turns out for Asante Kotoko, to vow to quit playing for the national team unless the abuse ceased. Ghana's then manager, Claude Le Roy, warned fans that if they hounded Gyan out they would be losing a player destined to be one of the game's greats. "People should have patience with Asamoah, he is a very young striker and looking at him objectively I can say that his pedigree is not far off Samuel Eto'o or Didier Drogba," said Le Roy.

That was not the first time such predictions had been made. Gyan has been tipped for the top ever since he scored for Ghana on his debut as a 17-year-old in 2003. It was against Somalia in the first preliminary round of World Cup qualifying – which usually only small fry have to contest – showing how low Ghana's football fortunes had sunk. Gyan has played a prominent role in his country's rise from the nadir to unprecedented heights, yet all along his mental fortitude has been tested as his achievements have been pockmarked by mishaps.

In 2006 he became the first Ghanaian to score in the World Cup finals, his goal in the 2-0 win over the Czech Republic after 70 seconds turning out to be the fastest of that tournament. However he missed a penalty in that match and in the second-round defeat against Brazil he was sent off after earning a second yellow card for a preposterous dive. Last summer, of course, he excelled in South Africa but will forever be remembered for missing the penalty against Uruguay that would have propelled an African country into the semi-final for the first time. But he demonstrated great dignity and steel in the aftermath of that miss – not least when he volunteered to take the first penalty in the subsequent shoot-out, and scored.

It seems that, as may be divined from the slinky dance with which he celebrates goals, this is an upbeat man who does not dwell on the down-side of life. Earlier this year he provided entertaining proof of that when he released a hit single, 'African Girls', with Ghana's leading hiplife star, Castro the Destroyer. Gyan appears gurning and gyrating in the video to the song, which intriguingly rejoices that "African Girls, they be sweet, sexy like cheese." For all his confidence, however, and despite the powerful, clever and selfless running and distribution that, as Le Roy indicated, is indeed reminiscent of Drogba, there remains a suspicion that too often Gyan's composure deserts him in front of goal. He scored three times at the last World Cup but hit more shots off target than any other player in the tournament. Last season his haul of 13 goals for mid-table Rennes was commendable but his chance conversion rate was 16%, among the worst rates of any forward in the league. There is no doubt he has been doing well but, if age – and perhaps the experience of working with Darren Bent? – can help him improve his finishing, his best is yet to come. There could be a lot more celebratory dancing in Sunderland.
 
Suggests that he's not usually this good - bugger.

Aye. Write him off and get shot.

The number of chances haven to be taken by a lone striker in a team that played Ghana played in the WC makes those stats pretty much incomparable with those of the likes of Klose etc. He shone for Ghana, one of the best teams of the tournament attacking-wise, has been nominated for the Ballon D'or, as African footballer of the year, and has something like 5 goals in 4 starts for us. I'd rather judge on that final statistic. Not since watchin Phillips for us have I seen a striker with such conviction each time he is in front of goal (Bent included)... It's almost expected from me that he'll tuck it away with confidence.

Here's hoping that he fulfils the initial potential he's showing and that a partnership with Bent can blossom. 13 goals for a mid-table team is very good (his record at Rennes) - if he can supplement that to the goals Bent gets then we'll do pretty well.

Nothing but positives can be taken from his performances so far.
 
A tail of two strikers

1 Greasey haired pikey that beats up girls and attacks innocent people on a night out, then uses his money to buy them off.
2 Committed Christian, from humble beginnings who thanks God every day for his good fortune.

I know which one I perfer in my team
 
Aye. Write him off and get shot.

The number of chances haven to be taken by a lone striker in a team that played Ghana played in the WC makes those stats pretty much incomparable with those of the likes of Klose etc. He shone for Ghana, one of the best teams of the tournament attacking-wise, has been nominated for the Ballon D'or, as African footballer of the year, and has something like 5 goals in 4 starts for us. I'd rather judge on that final statistic. Not since watchin Phillips for us have I seen a striker with such conviction each time he is in front of goal (Bent included)... It's almost expected from me that he'll tuck it away with confidence.

Here's hoping that he fulfils the initial potential he's showing and that a partnership with Bent can blossom. 13 goals for a mid-table team is very good (his record at Rennes) - if he can supplement that to the goals Bent gets then we'll do pretty well.

Nothing but positives can be taken from his performances so far.

I'm not writing him off at all mate, I couldn't be happier with him. However, this report suggests that he's not normally as clinical, I hope it's wrong.
 
Suggests that he's not usually this good - bugger.
My thoughts too, he's not shown he's a poor finisher yet like couldn't have been more calmer for the Tottenham and Chelsea goals.
 
My thoughts too, he's not shown he's a poor finisher yet like couldn't have been more calmer for the Tottenham and Chelsea goals.

true, he always looked like he was gonna put those two chances away, didnt seem in doubt.

Having said that if he misses a bucket load on monday but notches the winner in a 1-0 victory who cares:cool:
 
I'm not writing him off at all mate, I couldn't be happier with him. However, this report suggests that he's not normally as clinical, I hope it's wrong.

Statistics like that are for accountants. They don't take into account at all how good the "chance" really is. Gyan is clinical. I guarantee that stat from the article is just reflecting the fact that he likes to take a speculative shot several times a game, which I don't object to at all. It sure beats our history (before he got here) of getting the ball in decent scoring positions and gifting possession (and a counterattack) to the opposition with a horrendous pass.

Trust me, Gyan is so clinical they should make him wear surgical gloves. :cool:
 
Statistics like that are for accountants. They don't take into account at all how good the "chance" really is. Gyan is clinical. I guarantee that stat from the article is just reflecting the fact that he likes to take a speculative shot several times a game, which I don't object to at all. It sure beats our history (before he got here) of getting the ball in decent scoring positions and gifting possession (and a counterattack) to the opposition with a horrendous pass.

Trust me, Gyan is so clinical they should make him wear surgical gloves. :cool:

Exactly! I've watched Ghana at the WC and I don't remember Gyan missing one on ones with the keeper. He had some long range efforts, curling shots from the edge of the box, hit the post once, headers from some distance etc. He was their only striker and needed to test the keeper any time he had a slight opportunity.
 
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I love the way people on here have decided he's a great finisher after 4 starts, people get slaughtered (and rightly so) for claiming someone is shit after 4 starts as they haven't given him a chance. His record over the years suggests he's not as good at scoring as his early form for us has been but we can't really make a proper judgement on him yet. Just as I would expect people to give him time if he'd been poor to prove how good he is then the same can be said about someone who starts like a house on fire
 
I love the way people on here have decided he's a great finisher after 4 starts, people get slaughtered (and rightly so) for claiming someone is shit after 4 starts as they haven't given him a chance. His record over the years suggests he's not as good at scoring as his early form for us has been but we can't really make a proper judgement on him yet. Just as I would expect people to give him time if he'd been poor to prove how good he is then the same can be said about someone who starts like a house on fire

Aye, god forbid we should start liking a player too early.
 
I love the way people on here have decided he's a great finisher after 4 starts, people get slaughtered (and rightly so) for claiming someone is shit after 4 starts as they haven't given him a chance. His record over the years suggests he's not as good at scoring as his early form for us has been but we can't really make a proper judgement on him yet. Just as I would expect people to give him time if he'd been poor to prove how good he is then the same can be said about someone who starts like a house on fire

:lol::lol:
 
I'm not writing him off at all mate, I couldn't be happier with him. However, this report suggests that he's not normally as clinical, I hope it's wrong.

I don't mind a striker that misses chances if they bring more to the team than just the goals they score & Gyan certainly does that. As well as his workrate he looks to me to be the most creative forward we've had in quite some time.
 
I'm not writing him off at all mate, I couldn't be happier with him. However, this report suggests that he's not normally as clinical, I hope it's wrong.

Somtimes a player moves around and then finds a club where his type of ability just clicks and he go's on to be a gudun. Maybe up til now he has not found that club.
 
I'm not writing him off at all mate, I couldn't be happier with him. However, this report suggests that he's not normally as clinical, I hope it's wrong.

I heard before he joined that he's a player who blows hot and cold.

tbh if he plays 35-40 games in the form he's in at the moment, then he's up there with Drogba and we'l never hang onto him.

All we need from him to get a good return is to have him play like that 15 times a season or so.

...aye his 31st ;)

:lol:
 
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