Football Sport

A striker’s unusual rise

Written by Leanne Lu

This article first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2012 issue of World Gaming magazine.

There is an unexpected name amongst the top three Premier League goal scorers so far this season. Demba Ba, a French-born Senegalese striker who joined Newcastle United on a free transfer last summer, finds himself in the company of none other than Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie. A genuine contender for the Premier League’s Golden Boot, Ba is snapping at the heels of van Persie, the famous Arsenal striker who hit his peak this season. But who is Demba Ba? How could a little-known player like him provide the struggling Magpies with serious European ambitions?

As predicted by World Gaming magazine on our website wgm8.com, Manchester United was surprisingly beaten by Newcastle this January. The scoreline was 3-0, with Demba Ba scoring first for the home team. That sublime goal demonstrated a host of attributes strikers yearn for: technique, vision, acceleration and decisiveness. Usually quick to react, there was nothing United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard could do to save the goal. After the game, Demba Ba returned to Africa for the Cup of Nations tournament. The loss of both Ba and Ivorian midfielder Cheick Tioté made Newcastle United the club most affected by the Cup of Nations. They struggled to find the net and this cost them a few points.

In the recent winter transfer window, Demba Ba’s name was linked to some big clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool. In the end, the Senegalese striker stayed in Newcastle. But with his goal-scoring rate, it won’t be a surprise if during the summer a top club brings the money required to test Mike Ashley, the tight-fisted Magpie chairman.

The success of Demba Ba is unusual. He was a journeyman from a young age, playing for several small clubs in lower divisions in France and Belgium. Ba had a trial at English club Watford but was turned down. When he was only 20 years old, he had a nasty collision, suffering a career-threatening injury that caused double fractures in his tibia and fibula. He had another setback when Stoke City, a middle ranked Premier League team, pulled out of signing him at the very last minute, as Ba’s medical did not satisfy City manager Tony Pulis. Pulis was quoted as saying “Ba is a ticking bomb”.

Instead of Stoke City, it was West Ham United, a club then under relegation threat, which signed him in January 2011 on a pay-as-you-play basis, because of the risk of injury. After so much bad luck and disappointment, his move to West Ham was a life-changing event. Ba’s seven goals in 12 games couldn’t save West Ham from relegation, but it did see him picked up by Magpie manager Alan Pardew last summer.

After the £35 million move of striker Andy Carroll to Liverpool, the Magpies had been struggling to find a proven replacement. In an act of sweet revenge against the team that had rejected him, the “ticking bomb” Ba scored a hat-trick against Stoke City, now wearing the number 19 Newcastle United shirt. Newcastle’s striker problems were forgotten, with Bosman player Ba scoring more goals than Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll combined, two of the most expensive strikers in the EPL.

Like Didier Drogba at his peak, Ba has a physical edge and lighting speed. As a result, he can find his feet in the flank, play like the centre forward he was born to be, or hide behind a lone striker just like Sergio Agüero does for Manchester City. Ba regards centre forward as his best position, and that is where he plays for Newcastle.

Alan Pardew, a surprising successor to the well-respected Chris Hughton, is now leading a “French revolution”at Newcastle. He has recruited several influential French-speaking players like Gabriel Obertan and Yohan Cabaye, with the latter now being the playmaker of the team. These players were added to a squad that already included Francophones Cheick Tioté and Ben Arfa. This season, half of the Magpie dressing room speaks French. This obviously helped Demba Ba to settle down quickly, although the main reason behind his phenomenal performance is the simple fact that he has remained injury free. Left knee injury issues caused by the double fractures early in his career previously hampered Ba’s talent. After landing in England, Ba turned the page and injuries have become a thing of the past.

The rise of Newcastle United this season is like Ba’s career: from struggling to shining.