The New Boys on the Block - How will they Fit in?

We’ve now had a glimpse of the five new boys, albeit David and Enoh for the U21s. On Jol’s own admission Stanislav Manolev will be used as cover for Sascha Riether and Chris David is ‘one for the future’, but can we expect the other three to be regular features?

Here is a quick trot through their CVs -

Cameroonian Eyong Enoh joined on a loan deal with an option of a permanent move to England should he impress. Bought through Ajax Amsterdam’s feeder club Ajax Cape Town his impressive displays for the South African club over two seasons led to a permanent move to the Dutch giants. Enoh has decent experience at international level, with 27 caps and 2 goals for Cameroon and will bring some extra steel to the middle of the park alongside the energetic and hard-tackling Steve Sidwell. Enoh is limited player technically, but what he lacks for in ability he readily makes up for in girt, determination and work rate – Enoh is a hard tackler and will provide an extra defensive shield to Hughes, Hangeland and Senderos at centre-back. Nicknamed the Pitbull in Holland, we can expect some steely performances from Eyong.

Ghanian Emmanuel Frimpong joined from North London club Arsenal on loan. Highly-rated by Arsene Wenger and the staff, he was a starter at the start of the 2011/2012 season drawing praise from the French manager calling him a “fighter and a winner” – a loan move to Premiership basement boys Wolverhampton Wanderers in January materialised and the youngster slotted in to the midfield with ease, putting in a host of impressive performances before a cruciate knee injury (the second of his career) meant that he returned to Arsenal after making 5 appearances. Frimpong has since had a loan spell at Charlton Athletic in the nPower Championship. Similar to Enoh, Frimpong is known for his combative and aggressive nature – an astute tackler who possesses pace, power and strength he will add to the depth in the midfield. Although I had expected him to be more of a 'holding mid-fielder' then we saw against Norwich.

Urby Emanuelson joined from Italian giants AC Milan on a 5 month loan deal, unlike Manolev and Enoh there is no option for Fulham to permanently acquire the versatile Dutch international. Emanuelson is known for his versatility and started his career at Ajax (a team mate of Enoh and a certain Luis Suarez) as a left back, before Martin Jol converted him to a left winger, Emanuelson possesses great pace and technical ability. Equally adept at playing as a left winger or as a number 10 his quick feet and flair create opportunities for the strikers. His low centre of gravity means that he is quick over short distances and can twist and turn past defenders. Has made 20 appearances for Milan this season.

They will certainly bolster our midfield options. The interesting question is how Jol will use them. Will they be our midfield or used in rotation with existing squad players? I reckon we will see Enoh and Urby as fixtures with Sidwell, Frimpong, Kara and Bryan fighting for the other spot(s).

This gives Jol the flexibility of playing different systems dependent on the opposition and whether home or away. And just as importantly, by definition, forcing (?) Berba up top.

 

And of course I forgot Diarra, who was back in training last week.

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I reckon we missed him quite badly over the poor run in November/December. Let's hope he's fully recovered this time.

 

Agreed about Diarra. He oozes quality. Love the word oozes, had to fit it in somehow.

 

And I also forgot Simon Davies who has been in full training for a couple weeks now and has two U21 games under his belt.

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How could have forgotten 'Digger' - the man who has more wodges of ooze than most.