Sometimes there is more to my world than searching for the next fantasy footie bargain. (Sometimes.) Last week, I revealed my soft spot for Henri Camara and he proceeded to score on the weekend for Wigan. Today, I must reveal an even softer spot for another African striker, who won't be doing any (on the pitch) scoring for quite a while.Yakubu (7.6MM) is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The injury-prone Louis Saha (7.4MM) is left to lead the Everton line, but the bargain fantasy sleeper pick who may benefit the most in the long run is Victor Anichebe (5.4MM) if Saha also ends up on the physio's treatment table.
I expect Everton to look for reinforcements in the January transfer window, so we will keep a close eye on the developing situation and update you guys with any news. Surely Tim Cahill's short term value goes up just a bit as he should play just off the striker (Saha or Anichebe) in a 4-5-1. I can't imagine both Saha and Anichebe in the starting lineup.
Now let's get back to my soft spot for the 26-year old Yak. I started following Yakubu when he entered the football world at Maccabi Haifa in Israel - where he was managed by former Chelsea boss Avram Grant and teamed up with current Liverpool super-sub Yossi Benayoun... What a team.
Back then, a former teammate of mine in Israel, Benni, received an offer to go on trial with Haifa and joined up with the squad for pre-season training and friendly matches. A rugged 6 ft 2 central defender, Benni played a very controlled and methodical style, and had featured in Germany's third or fourth division before moving to Haifa. But the Haifa regulars were competitive and frankly, froze him out. They didn't speak to Benni at team meals. They ignored Benni during training. They rarely passed Benni the ball.
Except for one player: Yakubu. The Yak was pure class. While the rest of the team made Benni feel invisible, the young Nigerian striker sat with the trialist on the team bus, during meetings, and even at team meals. Despite the sport's competitive demands, he had a heart.
So, let's all wish the Yak a speedy recovery. Even rival Liverpool fans surely must agree.
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7 comments:
Poor Yak. I've always liked him as a player, even though he does play for Everton.
Nice story about the Yak. I kinda have a soft spot for most African players myself, since I lived in Algeria, Ghana and South Africa as a kid. Always nice to see them doing well at the highest level. Hopefully he'll be fit and ready to go for next season.
Nice to hear that about Yak. Comes across as a good guy on the pitch. Was loved at Pompey. Always gets a good reception whenever he's back at fratton no matter who he's playing for.
"Desperately seeking Zaki."
Anybody know anything? At all?? It's like he's completely disappeared off the face of the Earth. No news anywhere. (Yahoo, BBC, ESPN, Wigan homepage, Zaki homepage...) Trying to figure out my transfer for this week.
well said. always good to see players play with a smile on their face and Yakubu certainly fits that bill. you get the impression he'd be playing for free for some 3rd division Nigerian team if he'd never made it to the big time and still be having fun.
That story about Yak rocks! Its great to know a little about these guys, and being in the states, hearing about a "good" guy, instead of a dumb guy like Plax.
Shelby -
Right on. Yak is a great guy, I wish there were more stories of famous footballers like this one, maybe I'll post a Beckham piece at some point in the future. My mate works security for private planes at LAX and interacts with Beckham and the family weekly and has some interesting stories to share...
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