With the Indonesia Liga 1 season approaching the quarter-time mark, FourFourTwo runs the rule over the league’s big four ex-English Premier League imports.
Michael Essien (Persib Bandung)
The news that this legend of Ghanaian and African football was coming to Indonesia was not only big news in itself, it suggested something seismic was happening in the country’s football scene.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid man is not your typical marquee signing however. He is an intelligent and efficient midfielder who helps to raise the level of those around him.
If fans want long-range rockets or Messi-like dribbles than the 34-year-old is not the man.
So far, it has been a little underwhelming. Essien has scored twice, looked good at times, looked a little lost at others, but overall has not really made a huge impact. And in these parts, that’s not quite enough.
Indonesian supporters and especially Persib fans like – no, they demand – foreign imports make a difference from the get-go. There are no honeymoon periods, even in Bali, and comments from club coach Djadang Nurdjaman, that Essien (and Carlton Cole) had taken time to adapt to the climate and conditions didn’t make much difference.
There has been more written about whether the player will stay for the full season than his exploits on the pitch and that is not a good sign.
Essien has yet to play a full 90 minutes but came very close against Borneo on May 20.
He came in for some criticism after that game from team manager Umuh Muchtar. The talkative official was not happy that Essien took a second-half penalty instead of the designated kicker.
Blasting the ball way up over the bar did not go down well, especially as Persib ending up conceding a late equaliser.
FourFourTwo Grade: C
Overall he hasn’t been bad. But for such a big name, not playing badly isn’t good enough.
Peter Odemwingie (Madura United)
The former English Premier League winger had dropped down the divisions in England and expectations were not the highest when he arrived in East Java.
Yet despite, or perhaps because, of that, he started scoring from the outset and has yet to stop. Five goals in seven appearances is impressive in any language.
There are a number of impressive aspects about the 35-year-old’s goalscoring exploits so far. He has found the target in five separate games – much better to have a forward who spreads his tally around than one who splurges for a while then falls silent – and has scored different kinds too.
There have been spectacular rockets from the edge of the area, headers and the speculative long-rangers that somehow bounce in. He has popped up all over the frontline to cause problems and even when he is not scoring, defenders are nervous.
In the recent 4-1 win over PS TNI, an impressive result, Odemwingie was immense. Not only did he create two goals and numerous chances, he also hit the woodwork with a free-kick that would have been a contender for goal of the season had it gone in.
He still popped up to score his fifth of the season, a strike that came from being in the right place at the right time. It was almost the perfect attacking display
FFT Grade: A
It is not just the goals, but the all-round performances. Could not have gone much better.
Carlton Cole (Persib Bandung)
Where to start when discussing the ex-England hitman? Cole, 33, does not look fit and does not look to be a good fit for the Persib style of play either, one that has not been exactly stylish so far this season.
He has played just 105 minutes of the first seven games of the season and has yet to score, has yet to even look like scoring. In the attacker’s defence, the service has not been there, but neither has the old Cole goal threat that West Ham United fans remember so well.
His days are surely numbered. He has started just one match so far this season, a 1-0 win over Persipura on May 7, and was withdrawn at the break.
The initial selection was, according to team manager Umuh, an attempt to show fans who had been wondering why Cole was not being picked, the reason why. The official went on to claim that playing with the striker was like playing with 10 men.
That was not the kind of comment any player likes to hear and for a high-profile import on relatively big-money in Southeast Asia, it suggests that Cole’s time in West Java is coming to an end.
Some transfers just don’t work and this is one of those. It is perhaps best for all concerned if it comes to a fairly amicable conclusion and all parties can get on with their lives.
FFT Grade: E
It is not just the lack of goals, but the all-round general situation. Could not have gone much worse.
Didier Zokora (Semen Padang)
Zokora was the last of the ex-English Premier League quartet to arrive as he landed in Indonesia late in April after the season had already kicked off.
The ex-Ivory Coast man has yet to really impress but the club claims he is still short of full fitness.
There have been criticisms of a lack of urgency and energy in his game, but at the age of 36, playing near the equator is not going to make this defensive midfielder a box-to-box kind of guy.
Like Essien, Zokora is not the kind of player to make massive headlines. His lack of goals is legendary. In 123 appearances for the Ivory Coast, he found the net not once, the same after three seasons each with Tottenham Hotspur and Sevilla. He just does not score.
More worrying is that the Sumatrans have been struggling and after a decent start to the season, one point from the last four games has fans concerned about relegation.
At best, it could be said that the midfielder has been fairly tidy in his early period while trying to adapt to his teammates and vice-versa. He is lucky that Semen Padang fans are not quite as demanding as their Persib cousins, but even so, performances will need to improve.
FFT Grade: C-minus
Still very early days, but he needs to exert more influence.
Source: Fourfourtwo