By Aditya Upaadhyay
Andre Ayew has begun life in the England on a very good note.
The Ghana international is already being talked about as another of Garry Monk’s many astute buys.
The 25 year old moved to England after a stellar few years at Marseille and is already one of the often mentioned recruits of the league after his inspiring first few outings.
The Ghanaian has come into a side that many believe has one of the solid midfield set ups in the league and already made it stronger with his all round performance.
His tenacity, off the ball movement, skill and his ability to bring his teammates into play while being afforded the least of spaces make him a constant menace to the opposition.
Ayew is often seen stitching short passes to help his team build play and dominate the proceedings in the middle of the park. So far he has completed 80% of the passes he has attempted in the league, a number that serves well for an attacking midfielder.
He began life in England with a goal against Chelsea, the defending champions and has capped it up with 2 more goals against Manchester United and Newcastle United since then.
He was in supreme form against Manchester United, where he scored the goal that started Swansea’s revival and then provided the inch perfect pass from outside his boot to set up Gomis for the winner. So far he averages close to 1.5 key passes per game and more than 3 shots per game. While he has been renowned for his dribbling abilities, Ayew, despite his physical approach to the game, is getting acclimatised to English football and has only completed 3 of the 9 take-ons he attempted. The same goes for his ability to hold on to the ball that he has been acclaimed for as he has been dispossessed at least on 2 occasions in the 4 games he has featured in.
He has been tenacious in his approach, averaging a tackle every 17 minutes. He has shown a tendency to plunge into harmless tackles often in the past to break the opposition’s move, and that could work well in his favour in BPL, a league renowned for its physical approach.
He might not be counted as one of the tall ones in the league, but Ayew has built up a reputation as a strong player in the air. As he adjusts more to the league, we could see Ayew develop as one of the top attacking midfielders in the league. His nimbleness with the ball and without it could well turn out to be troublesome to handle if he is afforded the time and space.
Of the 13 chances that have come his way, the midfielder tested the goalkeeper on 7 occasions. A chance conversion in excess of 23% complemented well by his ability to find his teammates in crucial space make him an attacking midfielder who will be discussed in-depth in every opposition’s tactical meeting.
Ayew, however, has some aspects of his game that he will need to work upon to develop as one of the influential midfielders in the league. His defensive record has been a spot of bother in the past and he will need to stay disciplined and on his feet to not disrupt the plans of his manager.
The stock of Garry Monk and Swansea has risen considerably over the last two years and Ayew alongside the likes of Sigurdsson, a resurgent Shelvey and Sung-Yueng could help write the brightest chapter in the club’s history.
Note- Swansea play Watford(A), Everton(H), Southampton(A), Tottenham(H) and Stoke(H) in the next five match days and Ayew could well prove to be your masterpiece in the fantasy league. At 7.2 million, the go to man of an up and coming Swansea team should be in your team for at least some time.