I spoke with South American football expert, the Legendinho,
Tim Vickery on Friday evening about Wigan ’s Mauro
Boselli, who has flopped in sensational fashion since his arrival, back in the summer of 2010.
He arrived at the DW Stadium with an impressive record, having scored 32 goals in 57 appearances for Estudiantes, his capture looked to have
ended the Latics search, for a genuine out and out finisher.
Mauro Boselli |
Tipped by many to shine in Europe , unfortunately he looks set to join the exhaustive list of expensive foreign imports, who have flattered to deceive in Europe .
Tim recalled a time when he was contacted on a regular basis
by European clubs seeking his advice on the Argentine, including an unnamed Premier League
coach: “I was contacted by a certain premier league coach for advice.His agent was busy going around with DVD’s cut to make him look like the great
Gabriel Batistuta. I just told him to keep hold of his money.”
In order to ensure progression, Latics manager Roberto Martinez
was keen to add a finisher to his squad and took the gamble. “He is a front to
goal finisher, a penalty box poacher,” Tim added.
With 49 goals in 92 appearances for Estudiantes it was clear
that during his development in Argentina ,
he knew his way to goal. During his purple patch, Boselli had the best midfield
on the continent at the time behind him, including Juan Sebastian Veron and
feasted on the service he received.
Tim explained why his signing was doomed from the start: “It was clear when he arrived that he was out of his comfort
zone, away from that midfield, and in a league where the defenders are quicker,
stronger and better, and he struggled.”
If you take away his goals, Boselli offers little else to any teamteam, he has no
genuine pace, at under six foot he cannot be used as a target man either and his work rate leaves a lot to be desired.
His only strike for the Latics came in a League Cup tie
against Swansea City .
Following a string of woeful performances where his confidence plummeted, and
he was quickly shipped out to Italian side Genoa ,
where he similarly struggled with only one goal in six appearances.
This season has seen him return to Estudiantes and his found
his scoring touch once again, with 11 goals to date, including a strike on the
weekend, but the fountain of knowledge on South American football does not think he will ever flourish in England:
“He is very much the definition of ‘money down a rat hole,’
but if he does return to England
he might do better, he could hardly do worse though.
He does have the ability to sniff out the chances in the
penalty area, but as a Premier League centre forward he hasn’t got a hope.”
Franco Di Santo |
It is clear that why he has failed at Wigan is down to ability and lack of it. The current Latics squad includes four South American's, including fellow countryman Franco Di Santo so it cannot be a case of loneliness.
It is clear that it has just not worked out for Boselli and
Wigan, be rest assured that the Latics will look to cut their loses with him
come the summer, rather than give a second chance. This would allow everyone to
move on quickly and forget the man labbled by the fans as the worst signing in
the club’s history.
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