2009.02.22 14:04:45

Ghana's victory at the African Youth Championships was hardly a surprise considering the nations pedigree at youth tournaments for the last 15 years. And it was a true delight to see Ransford Osei once again star, showing his lethal combination of pace, power and effortlessly crisp finishing. The latter is of particular interest, Osei seems to be blessed with the same arctic coolness in front of goal that has made Samuel Eto'o arguably the world best player. Osei was simply superb at the last World U20 championships and looks to have pressed on with his footballing development since that tournament. Osei is by no means the only great prospect in the Ghana youth team. Fellow striker Sadick Adams is also a wonderful talent as is Real Madrid based right back Dan Opare, but Osei definitely looks to be something special. The road to stardom is long and fraught with difficulty, but hopes are high for Osei.

Ransford | Osei | Ghana

2008.12.08 22:54:30

The shocking boos dispensed by the arsenal faithful at the emirates toward Emmanuel Eboue have stunned football fans of all clubs across the UK. It is something which is largely unheard off in the English games. Almost all other clubs have had episodes where fans have been unhappy with players. The Toon army and Jean Alain Boumsong as well as the Man city supports and Joey Barton (the "your not fit to wear the shirt" saga. But the treatment metted out to Eboue is distinct and is undeniably something which is only really found at the Emirates.

The latter stadium has long been associated with fans booing their own players. Alex Song suffered terribly before his loan move to Charlton. He came back harder, better and is now an established player. The emirates crowd seem to have developed a culture of periodically treating some of their own players with such contempt. The reason behind this is unclear. Certainly the demographic at the emirates is not like that of many other clubs. The emirates has been very much populated by fans who have fallen in love with the Arsenal of Wenger, the free flowing football playing team that has been such a joy to watch over the last ten years. They are the fans who dont actually know what 1-0 to the Arsenal means, they just chant it because others do. This may mean that they do not have the loyalty to their players in times of strife that other more long suffering fans have.

Whatever the reason, one thing should be made exceptionally clear to the Arsenal fans who decided this was a good idea. Emmanuel Eboue is an EXCELLENT player who has NEVER been out of Wenger plans since he made that astounding impact in the run to the Champions League final. He has started when fit and has been a key component in many of Arsenals successes (which have been sparse in recent times ). Wenger rarely makes mistakes on players and his faith in Eboue has been ignored by the Gunners faithful who seem to have made him the scapegoat for the lack of trophies at the Emirates. Suffice to say that i have no doubt the Eboue will come back harder, better...just as Alex Song did.

But the emirates crowd need to examine themselves more urgently. Emmanuel Adebayor was a figure of fun and derision for much of his early career at Arsenal. He showed his quality under a distinct lack of support from the Arsenal fans who shortly after began chanting "A-DE-BA-YOR" when he began scoring at will. They wonder why he showed no loyalty in intimating interest at AC Milans advances, what fickle loyalty have the Emirates fans shown they possess?

This sorry affair will leave many questions lingering in the minds of all football fans.

Eboue | Arsenal

2008.10.06 15:17:46

Despite feeling a little sorry for Everton over their departure from the UEFA cup this season (and their dificult start to the Premier League Season), one can only marvel at the team that Standard Liege have put out in this seasons Champions League qualifiers and UEFA Cup.

Pushing Liverpool all the way, removing a strong team like Everton, and no doubt scaring every other competing team in this years UEFA competition, Liege are that most beautiful of things in Football: the team that is made up of players nobody really knew about before but everyone will recognise in years to come...like Ajax in the mid nineties and the Lyon team of the early to mid 2000's.

Crucial in Lieges success has been its Trio of African stars. Senegalese rock Mohamed Sarr has been simply sublime in all European competition, this season. Aerially he is dominant and has shown great game reading skills in dealing with attacks on the ground.

Nigerian-American Oguchi Onyewu has been similarly impressive. His stay at Fulham was surprisingly short, but he is demonstrating what an atheltic talent he is

Up front, the engimatic Dieudonne Mbokani has been a magnificent sole striker for the Belgian outfit. Though ably supported by the likes of Dalmat, Witsel and co, Mbokani skill and pace have enabled him to torment defences even when so support has been available.

Suffice to say, it would not be surprising to see Liege reach the latter stages of the UEFA cup this year

UEFA Cup