Alves the Magician awaits Big Move
On a normal Sunday, the 7th of October 2007 to be precise, something extraordinary happened. No, I’m not referring to the unprecedented 8 Premier League games played on the Lord’s rest day, and the subsequent airing of a confusing MOTD 2 episode which bore much greater resemblance the normal Match of the Day programme (though if you’re interested, you can read about this phenomenon and the problems it posed to the BBC team here).
No, this wonder, this miracle, this extraordinary event, had the in-many-ways-unlikely (predictable outcome of the league, with a definitive top 4) and in-many-ways-likely (poor defences, great gulfs between the quality of top and bottom sides) setting of the Dutch Eredivisie. And what makes this event even more unbelievable is the fact that most football websites and journalists barely blinked, barely cast even a cursory glance towards the marvel.
In an otherwise bog-standard start to the league season (Feyenoord, PSV and Ajax fighting it out for the top spot, the latter two undefeated and the former top with 6 wins and 1 loss from the opening seven games), the man to break through the monotony, the golden boy of the moment, is none other than Alfonso Alves of Heerenveen.
Alfonso Alves of 11th-placed Heerenveen scored 7 goals (yes, seven!) in the club’s 9-0 romp against struggling Heracles. And whilst the defending might have been calamitous, we’re not talking about tap-ins either; his second goal, a Pirlo-style free-kick, was an absolute pearler. For anyone who’s interested, the other two goals were scored by ex-Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Gerald Sibon. Alves’ feat, a record for any major league in Europe, will surely not be repeated anytime soon.
The fact that Alves remained at Heerenveen during the close-season was itself a matter for surprise, especially given the rumoured interest from England, Italy and Spain. Heerenveen are an above-average Dutch side who often challenge for the UEFA Cup spots, but rarely offer anything extraordinary, other than the conveyor-belt of exceptional strikers who have passed through the club’s books: Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Klaas Van Huntelaar, Jon Dahl Tomasson, and a few more. Alves has changed all of that. Not only did Alves score some 34 league goals in just 31 games last season, a phenomenal record that is belittled by UEFA’s Golden Boot league-specific co-efficients, but he did so in some style, with many of his goals coming after Ronaldo (at Inter and Barca) style runs, and a few coming from direct free kicks.
When will Alves’ big move come? Alves is tall and strong, pacy and skillful and is evidently an excellent finisher. Arguments have been made about his age and his lack of experience in a top-class league (though we should remember that it is not as if Alves’ record in the Swedish is a poor one; Alves is clearly not a Rolando Bianchi one-season-wonder, nor a Mateja Kezman “one-league-wonder”).
In any case, Didier Drogba and Ruud Van Nistelrooy are both perfect examples of world-class strikers who did not play for a big club until they were well into their twenties, and who have excelled (in the case of the Ivorian, after having turned professional at 23!) in spite of their lack of previous experience in the “big leagues”. If Sunday’s showing is anything to go by, the move will come soon, though the big question is: which of the big clubs will sign up the lethal marksman?
Note: here’s the link to the highlights of the match.
Hugo, I don’t want to be a party pooper to your excitement but… there’s a good reason why “most football websites and journalists barely blinked, barely cast even a cursory glance towards the marvel”. No offense to our Dutch readers, but this kind of 9-0 scoreline could have only taken place in the Eredivisie, where sometimes teams who are under 3-0, forget there’s 30 minutes left in the game and simply give up.
Regarding Alves’s goals Sunday, I’m sorry to say but I’m not impressed. Absolutely embarassing Heracles defense on the 5th goal, 2 goals were tap-ins, one lucky bounce on the 1st goal, an almost own-goal on the 7th. Even on the free kick (which was nicely placed) the keeper was within 1 meter of the ball trajectory, but chose not to dive for some reason.
That being said, 34 goals in the 2006-07 season is no one-game accident, so in that light Afonso Alves should definitely get some attention (even though, like I said, the Eredivisie defenses are often a joke).
However, you cited examples such as Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Didier Drogba, but you mustn’t forget that both of these players attracted a lot of attention first and foremost in European competitions. Drogba became the object of many clubs’ desires while he was still at Marseille, by scoring in the UEFA Cup vs. Liverpool and Newcastle, and in the Champions League vs. Man Utd if I recall correctly. Same thing with Van Nistelrooy at PSV Eindhoven. Heerenveen is hardly a club which can get you European attention, that’s why big clubs often wait to see how these players perform against good teams (again, no offense intended to Dutch teams) before they sign them.
My guess is that if Alves is to become this great player in the future, he will do so by first moving to a bigger Dutch club, or to a smaller European club in England, or Spain. I frankly doubt the likes of Barcelona or Man Utd will be signing him in the immediate future (although there’s little doubt they are keeping him under close watch).
Marco – you are an excellent commentator and I enjoy your posts, but it is a bit silly, and a generalization, to write that “this kind of 9-0 scoreline could have only taken place in the Eredivisie”.
Manchester United 9 – 0 Ipswich, one Andrew Cole scoring 5 of the 9 goals.
And one should not forget Werder Bremen’s 8-1 victory over Arminia in the Bundesliga, as little as three weeks ago.
These matches may be rare but they are no means wholly unique to the Eredivisie, even if I would agree that Heracles’ defending was awful and that they had switched off entirely by the end.
Even still, to score 7 goals in a professional match in a top league (and let’s face it, the Eredevisie is in the top 10 leagues in Europe) is a feat worthy of media attention. And I disagree regarding the free kick… the placement was excellent and there was enough power for it to be pretty much unstoppable.
I don’t see United or Barcelona signing Alves; but an up-and-coming “big club”, like Man City, is a possibility. And Valencia could have done a lot worse than Alves if they were looking for a new striker, rather than Zigic. Perhaps he is not destined for absolute stardom, but he certainly deserves commendation, and a spot at a better club than Heerenveen.
A small comment about your otherwise pertinent remarks regarding European exposure: I can’t find anything about Drogba scoring against United (you may well be right though), but he certainly had a massive role in the run to the UEFA Cup final and scored against Liverpool and Newcastle. But considering the current debates about the quality of the UEFA Cup (and bear in mind the leakiness of any Newcastle defence
, it’s not THAT big a step to say that Alves’ form, and the manner of his goalscoring, is a big enough indicator, and that he does not need to prove himself in Europe’s rejected competition. Drogba and Van Nistelrooy had still built their reputations on their goals at domestic level, in supposedly “weak” leagues, and had then gone on to cement said reputations in European competition.
Those scores do happen quite a bit in Eredivise. 2 examples which come to mind are when Ajax won 8-1 this season, and AZ Alkmaar also won 8-1 last seaon.
As for Alves, I don’t think he is that good at all. He scores 7 goals in a match (Heracles are a shite but that is really good), and expects to be playing in the Champions League, thats stupid. He has definitely NOT proved himself yet.
can anybody post a link to see the video of the goals?
This guy IS a scoring machine, but, he does play in the Eredevisie lol. I believe he would be an average to above average player in either England or Spain. I do think he will be a hot transfer in the next market opening.
It’s not so much a generalization Hugo, when it happens regularly year in year out. Unfortunately I could not find a website which outlines a record of these “freak” matches, but there is no denying that the Eredivisie has a pretty bad reputation for that kind of thing, I’m not making anything up: it does happen quite often.
On the free kick we’re going to have to agree to disagree, because albeit the shot was good, IMHO I still think it was weak goalkeeping.
Like I said, from my part I am willing to give much more credit to the fact Alves scored 34 goals last season, because it would be very hard to label that a freak occurrence. That’s the kind of thing that ‘big clubs’ take a lot more seriously than 7 goals in one game against a team of nobodys (again, no offense to our Dutch readers).
Regarding Drogba, my memory is shaky. It may very well be that he didn’t score against United, but I distinctly remember he had a very impressive hat-trick in the Champions League at some point (while he was still with Marseille)… maybe against Partizan but I could be mistaken. He might have scored against Real Madrid that same year too…
P.S. It’s funny that you keep mentioning Zigic in the negative… what did he ever do to you?
The bit at the end of the post… where it says “here’s the link”… that’s where the video is
Zigic… I don’t dislike him in particular, I just think it was an absurd purchase by Valencia and the wrong move for the player. He should have waited for an offer which suited him down to the ground, at a UEFA Cup club (is Zigic really Champions League material?) where he would be guaranteed a start most of the time. But hey, perhaps Villa will get injured and Zigic will come in and set the world alight. Who knows.
Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree about Alves’ worth… though I tell you one thing, when Ronaldo was strutting his stuff at the Camp Nou, the standard of defending was a lot lower than it is now!
Oh and I’m pretty sure the Drogba hat-trick was against Partizan
Anyway, this will be an interesting “one to watch” for the future.
And Nerazurri… what about the 34 goals last season? And the just under 1 in 2 goalscoring ratio in Sweden? That is precisely the point I was making; the seven goals should make people stand up and watch, but all of his credentials are superb!
A player to watch is eduardo da silva at arsenal he had a record of 34 goals in 32 games in the croatian league.
So if he can make in the premiership you will know if alfonso alves can make it in either england, spain or italy
The free kick looked easily stoppable to me. The goaltender was looking into the sun perhaps? Watching the video clip earlier in the week, my impression was shite defending. You have to give him credit for taking advantage but he got 7 goals because of the defense, which is just dreadful.
if you want to know the club that is trying to snatch him up go to sky sports and on to the Liverpool page?? im sure you will find a little article that you could have used?
Hugo,
I have to join the majority here and just point you at last season’s Eredivisie match table. Quickly counted I saw more than 25 games with 6 goals or more, not to mention the numerous 4-0 and 4-1 games.
As Liverpool_Fan mentioned, there is also a reference on the personal blog of Alves:
“RAFAEL BENITEZ is tracking Brazilian striker Afonso Alves as he contemplates another spending spree in the January transfer window.” Liverpool Daily Post 10 October 2007, by Ian Doyle.
http://afonso9.wordpress.com/
But Hugo, the best quote about his goal-scoring prowess comes from Senhor Alves:
“Tenho orgasmo quando faço gol bonito!“
Why hasn’t anyone bought Rafeal Van Der Vat yet
Haha… I hadn’t read that Amoia quote!
Do you guys really think Pool will bid for Alves? In which case, Crouch’s Liverpool career is really done for.
And Kramster – over the summer, Valencia had numerous bids rejected for Van der Vaart. He will move to a huge club one day, me thinks. Superb talent.
Who the fuck is Rafeal Van Der Vat? Van der vaart, you mean? He’s not playing for some village team, you know. HSV is a big and ambicious club, and they certainly won’t be bullied into selling every time someone feels like it. And Hugo, Valencia had only ONE bid, but it was automatically rejected. Why? Because Hamburg don’t have to sell anyone if they don’t want to. Just look at the list of the world’s richest clubs. You’ll find HSV at number 16 or so. And that’s something, right? Watch out, the Hanseats are coming!
its obvious crouch is gone in january but as i Liverpool fan i will always respect him and be thankful for the amazing goals he scored