I would like to talk about Confederation
of African Football (CAF) players in the Premier league last season and how they
fared individually. As we know, the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) had a
significant impact on some of their performances and appearances in the latter
half of the season. Yaya Toure was
probably affected the most by it and may have made a bigger impact for City had
there been no AFCON. As for his brother
Kolo, he was a bit part player at best who barely made the bench and won’t be
at City next season.
Senegalese players were not able
to participate in the AFCON due to Senegal's ban. Ironically, in spite of this,
Demba Ba had a superb first half of the season with Newcastle, scoring 13
league goals in 20 matches. However, he only scored 2 in 14 after transferring
to Chelsea. As for his fellow countryman
Papiss Cisse, he struggled to live up to his billing and made no major impact
at Tyneside.
West Ham's Mohamed Diame had a
fairly good season. So much so that he
was linked to Arsenal at one stage. He highlighted
his talent via a well taken goal against leaders Manchester United. His teammate
Guy Demel also had a fairly good season in defence as they both guided West Ham
to mid-table safety. As for Chamakh, on
loan from Arsenal, he had a season to forget.
Of course, Chelsea's Moses and Mikel triumphed at the AFCON with Nigeria
but didn't have much influence in the league with the Blues.
Sessegnon’s influence on
Sunderland's survival can’t be overlooked.
He occasionally shined during Fletcher and Graham's periods of inconsistency, while
fellow Egyptian teammate Ahmed El-Mohamady, enjoyed a terrific season on loan
to Hull City. He helped them secure
Premier league football next season while also winning the club's player of the
year award.
Ameobi had the usual “lack of
goals” season that we expect of him, while Cheikh Tiote underperformed before
and after AFCON. Tottenham's Assou-Ekotto and Adebayor also had a terrible
season compared to their usual standards; the first struggling with injuries
and squad competition, where as the latter scored 5 league goals compared to 17
the season before. On the other side of
London, Adel Taarabt had a dire season with QPR as they got relegated and Arsenal's
Diaby had an injury plagued season.
Gervinho had a very stop-start
season. I would be surprised if he manages to keep his place on Arsenal's bench
next season. Aside from Youssouf
Mulumbu’s antics against West Ham when he picked the ball up and aimed a shot
at Gary O’Neill, he had a reasonable season of sorts. In summary, some may stay and
some may leave come August. But overall,
the CAF contingent will be a force to be reckoned with.
