Carew for Baros looks a very good deal for Villa
John Carew is a striker whose late winners for Valencia in the Mestella have twice knocked Arsenal out of the Champs League. He also seemed to have a great knack for scoring goals against Real Madrid for Lyon in the Champs League (three to my memory). He is only 27 years old. He has immense physical presence, is good in the air, and has a cool finish in front of goal.
And so while the media were focusing on Villa signing Ashley Young for nearly £10m eariler this week - my focus was on the swap deal Martin O'Neill achieved in sending the stagnating Milan Baros to Gerard Houllier (reunion time for the ex-Pool pair) and in return gaining the big Norweigan striker.
For me this should prove to be a very effective and underrated signing. Carew has all the attributes to be an effective target-man holding up the ball and linking-up with the pace of Agbonlahor and Young coming in off the wings. He will also be a more dominating and pacier presence in possession than Villa's current centre-forward options - Juan Pablo Angel and Chris Sutton.
I have high hopes for John Carew in the Premiership and look forward to seeing how he adapts to the Premiership. I really think that very soon he will be making a good mark.
posted by T at 1/27/2007 09:25:00 am
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5 Comments:
Nice piece of robbery there in getting Carew. Though I don't think you can necessarily rely on him to be your number one goalscorer, he's been productive everywhere he's gone and offers more in his all around game.
1/27/2007 10:53 pm
T, I agree with you that Carew can be more effective for Villa then Baros. Agbonlahor and Carew looks like it could be a very exciting strikeforce.
What I was surprised by is Gerrard Houllier wanting to sign Baros. GH never really seemed to rate Baros when they both at Liverpool. It will be interesting to see how that move pans out.
1/30/2007 10:58 am
Baros DID score for Lyon to salvage a draw on his debut...interesting!!! I would have taken Carew as well....byt maybe Houllier wanted a younger mix...dunno...interesting post T!
2/01/2007 1:22 pm
Ashley Young and Carew are two potential signings - Young as a young up-n-coming playmaker, pace and ingenuity, for he and Hameur Bouazza stood out the most for Watford and I think Bouazza should be snapped up before the end of the season, if Watford go down.
In Carew, tall, strong, Drogba-like or Koller-like statuesque player, not necesarily a sharp eye for goal but a battler upfront who can be a target man for Agbonlahor or JPA.
Thing is of recent games, JPA has been less than impressive or productive, shots have been poor and his positioning likewise. I sense the Colombian, finances pending, could be on his way out shortly. In reverse, yes, Baros has scored already for Lyon who are uncharacteristically playing poorly at the moment, he is a good player depending how you utilise him, something which was not a feature at Villa Park.
RedsMan.
2/01/2007 10:28 pm
I didn't see the highlights of the Newcastle/Villa game on Wednesday but apparently Carew and Young had a great game.
Another January signing I'm looking forward to seeing is Julius Agahowa at Wigan. He has been touted for a few years as a very good up-and-coming striker and always thought it was a matter of time that he would leave Shaktar Donetsk for a higher profile league. I wonder if he still does his trademark multi-handstand celebration?!
2/03/2007 12:08 pm
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