It was an unfortunate inevitability that I would end up having to do a player watch on one of our players when we had not won. Unfortunately today is the turn of Yann. If you aren't so keen on his match performance hopefully you will love the background.
Yann Kermorgant - Background
Yann Kermorgant, 31, born in Britanny, started is career as a youth player at Stade Rennais. At the age of 14 he suffered from Leukemia, which put a halt to his football development for four years. The effect this must have had on his career could not be underestimated as these are some of the key years for a footballer to develop and get scouted by potential clubs.
Yann went on to play at Grenoble and Stade Reims, where he became captain. He was then released at the end of the 08-09 season and went on trial at Leicester, and after a second trial was signed by the club. After a short term contract he ended up having it extended until 2012.
Kermorgant felt a lot pressure at Leicester, he said that he was having trouble settling in, especially apparently to life in Leicester which was unlike what he was used to. In 20 appearances he only managed to score one goal and what was to happen next is probably one of the most infamous parts of his career (and in my opinion a case of divine intervention for Charlton). He missed a penalty in the playoff semi finals, a game which I was watching with my father (a die hard Leicester supporter), the sheer cheek of the penalty, which could be compared to that Pirlo penalty against England in Euro2012, but the keeper didn't dive, resulted in a 2 minute long tirade of expletives from my father, and Leicester fans were furious. The penalty went on to be called the £90 million penalty miss, resulted in a song being made in his (dis)honour and he himself remarked that he felt he had become "the plague of Leicester"
Yann was sent on loan to Arles-Avignon 2 months later, and when he returned to the club he was told that he was a free agent.
Perhaps most importantly about Yann's time at Leicester was that he spent time playing along and being coached by a player coming to the end of his illustrious career as a player, one Chris Powell. Chris Powell, having become Charlton manager went on to sign Yann on a 2 year deal, apparently making it clear in no uncertain times that it would be necessary for him to change his attitude.
Yann became a Charlton favourite early on, linking up with Bradley Wright Phillips, a relationship that undoubtedly was instrumental in the winning of the League One title in the 2011-2012 season. He scored 12 goals in 32 appearances in that season, but he had so much more to offer than goals, his supporting and hold up play constantly being key in the Charlton tactics.
Yann is loved for his spirit, he never gives up and often takes a fair few nasty knocks as a consequence but keeps on playing. He frustrates opposition players (which resulted in a player getting sent off for grabbing him by the neck).
Two goals stand out as being amazing for me. One is the special goal against Hartlepool, a goal which almost defies logic in the last game of the 2011-12 season, and the other being the goal against Leicester, his former club, which must have felt like the best goal of his career.
Kermorgant vs Sheffield WednesdayYann started the game off as a lone man up front, a role that he has performed with great success recently. His role is two fold. One is to receive the long balls, which he aims to knock down to a player waiting along side him, the second is to receive balls along the floor, at which point he often holds the ball up, whilst Charlton players get forward and he then plays it off to one of them (often a wing player) who then puts a cross in.
Not content with playing as a deep lying forward, Yann was often looking to receive the ball in his own half, almost in a playmaker role, and then playing the balls out to the wings.
I noted that in the 12th minute he managed to hold the ball against 3 Wednesday players and play the ball off nicely, something he did again a couple of minutes later.
In the 23rd minute he got back perfectly, with great defensive pressure he won a throw in for the team in what was looking like a promising crossing situation for Wednesday.
One of my favourite things about him is his defensive play, I noticed at Watford towards the end he was playing as a defensive midfielder, looking to secure the win with his height. In a similar fashion on the 56th minute he made a clearance that Bruce Lee would have been proud of, flying into mid air and clearing the ball a good 40 yards.
Unfortunately although effective, he was persistently fouling the opposition's defenders resulting in numerous free kicks being given against him.
Perhaps the most impressive parts of the game for me was his link up play with Wagstaff, twice in 3 minutes he brought the ball down to Wagstaff who himself used great control and pace to get into a shooting position twice, narrowly missing.
Yann got booked deep into added time, the frustration clearly showing after the team went 2-1 down, for a shove which sent Miguel Llera flying when he refused to give the ball back, which was met by limited applause by the fans.
For the game, I will give Yann a 6. He has played better and we know he can play better, but still he managed to do his role effectively, although he was tiring towards the end, but the whole team were.
As a Charlton player... I would give Yann a 9. He is one of the most loved players at the club, and his persistence often against the odds make him a metaphor for Charlton, and for me a real hero.
But what do you think?
Comments
Worth a 7 at least for mugging off llera at the end
Top man
thought he played well yesterday but got away with that push at the end on Llera , he could have been sent off for raising his hands