Eljero Elia (Part 1, Pre Juventus)

Now you guys might have noticed ive been a little excited lately about Eljero's move to Juve and i reckon ive had around 200+ comments on the whole topic Anyway heres my 2 part series on the Eljero Elia story.

NOTE: This is from my perspective

Admiration for Hamburg

My admiration for Hamburg started around 2-3 years ago when i first saw them on tv and one particular player who i watched that caught my eye had me glued to the TV everytime HSV were on due to his strikers instinct, ability to bamboozle a defender and his classic approach to the forward role. This player was would u believe it due to his great form was soon linked to Juve. I was very excited at the prospect that my new hero could soon be wearing black and white. No his name was not Eljero Elia it was Mladen Petric. I kept on watching HSV to see him play and hopefully get more of a glimpse of possibly a future Juve star. Hamburg were flying at the time and were the unexpected risers of the Bundesliga due to great coaching and the forward combination of Ivica Olic (now at Bayern) and Mladen Petric as well as super sub Guerrero.




Elia's introduction

One time when i was watching Hamburg who were comfortably in the lead heading into the 80th minute a sub which saw a young player named Eljero Elia came on which caught my eye. His flamboyance and AWESOME haircut gave him a recognisable character and soon after watching a few of his performances i had a new hero. I wondered why i had never seen him before and how this talented player could fly under the rader so heavily. My admiration for HSV had gone up a level , particularly due to Elia and watching him just made me learn to love football.




However it wasnt a smooth ride for Elia in Germany.



Injuries and inconsistency had led to his demotion from the team and the purchase of Marcell Jansen (predominately a LB)from Bayern didnt help his push for first team selection as well as the fact Jansen was now playing LM due to the great form of the young and rising Dennis Aogo. Elia sought a move away from Germany with Liverpool, Juventus and Manchester United all expected to enquire for his services. His pricetag was set at 20M. A price seen to steep for clubs who saw the Dutchman as too injury prone and inconsistent. Despite his undeniable talent Elia never got the transfer he wanted to revitalise his career and was stuck at Hamburg for another term to play the super sub role. The partnership of Aogo/Jansen grew from strength to strength and had now moved on to influence the German national team.

Hamburg midfielder Eljero Elia has criticised his club for unnecessarily dragging out his injury agony.

Elia has undergone surgery in his native Holland on an ankle injury which has been troubling him for several months.

The Holland international feels he should have gone under the knife before Christmas but that he was prevented from doing so by his club, much to the 23-year-old's frustration.

"I was pushing to get treated in Holland before the winter, but the people in charge at HSV didn't want me to," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. "If they had allowed that, I would be fit again now."

To add insult to injury, Elia feels he has been abandoned by his club since the operation took place last Friday.

"Nobody has contacted me and that saddens me," he added.

Elia was stuck on the bench and the lack of game time was taking its toll on not only him physically but mentally. His call up to the Dutch national team due to a recent string of great games was seen as a major confidence boost for him and ever since he hasnt looked back. Being called on many occasions for International duty and was seen as a key member for the squad. Eventually even making his World Cup debut in South Africa 2010.







Post World Cup

After a great world cup Elia was lined up again by the same clubs who had previously wanted him the year before and it seemed his big money move was just around the corner. Hamburg had once again set a price tag that was too heavy for clubs, particularly Juventus & Liverpool.

'We do not want to lose Eljero Elia and we also have no need to sell him. He is a very important player of our team'


It seemed once again Elia was staying at Hamburg though the promises of former coach Martin Jol wernt lived up to in the past how he told Elia he would feature regularly for the club. New coaches came along and Elia was yet again promised the same things that if he stayed he would get regular gametime and play a major role in the squad. Elia later that season was nothing more than a luxury sub. The Aogo/Jansen partnership continued to work and Elia's anger grew, broken promises lead to frustration. Here is a young player who had not so long ago featured in a world cup final for a very successful Dutch NT and was soon after sitting on the bench for a mid table squad. His treatment at Hamburg was nothing less than pathetic.

After enduring a horrible season with Hamburg which was much like the previous one Elia is now linked again with a transfer and yet again would you believe it HSV slap on a massive price tag much to his disatisfaction Elia demands a transfer with Hamburg unwilling to give him up and promise him the same things as in the past. However 2 days left in the transfer market and the Elia/Hamburg relationship is finally broken, Juventus come in with an improved offer and give him a new beginning to a stalled career.



PART 2 coming soon

Well I am happy u got one player that u love her ) I wished Pandev joined us last yr ( well ....

good read +1

DeviAngel wrote:Well I am happy u got one player that u love her ) I wished Pandev joined us last yr ( well ....

good read +1

thanks devi thats a shame man, im sure theres more macedonian talent that could come along one day

Would love for him to do what he did to Hungary to either Milan or Inter

Cotes wrote:Would love for him to do what he did to Hungary to either Milan or Inter

Would b awesome. Hey ur from jamaica niceeee

Minchia Pasquale, I'm impressed.. You wrote this? Very good read. Respect gained as well. Though you forgot to mention in what we talked about in the other topic.

+1

sciacca wrote:Minchia Pasquale, I'm impressed.. You wrote this? Very good read. Respect gained as well. Though you forgot to mention in what we talked about in the other topic.

+1

thanks man , much appreciated. yeh i wrote it. home from school today and a little bored so thought id write it.

soz man too many topics to look through cant remember what it was we talked about. what was it again?