West Brom boss Steve Clarke moved to boost his up front options earlier this week with the acquisition of Swedish forward Markus Rosenberg on a three-year deal. The 29-year-old arrives at the Hawthorns on a Bosman after his contract with German side Werder Bremen expired earlier this summer and will add plenty of experience to the Baggies ranks, having plied his trade in three of Europe’s main leagues over the last few years:
Rosenberg’s fitness is clearly a major issue for his manager right now ahead of the new season, though. The Swede hasn’t trained since Euro 2012 and is some way behind his team mates – with the new season just over a week away, the Baggies boss warned it may take a little longer to get the forward up to speed:
Markus works hard for the team and his energy levels are fantastic. He joins us after a seven-week break, which is not ideal, so his energy levels are not fantastic at the moment. Playing in the Premier League, no matter where you’ve been, it’s a different league. And all the players we’ve brought in will take a little bit of time to adjust. Markus will take a bit of time physically to catch up with the rest. We’ll work him as hard as we feel necessary between now and the start of the season. But, if he’s not ready then, he’ll be ready when he is.
The Statistics
Rosenberg’s career began in his native country as part of the Malmo youth set-up at the age of five. Working his way through the ranks, he made his debut for the club in 2001 but failed to establish himself as a first-team regular, scoring four goals in 40 appearances over three seasons before moving on loan to Swedish outfit Halmstads. Over the course of a single campaign, the 6 foot 1 forward demonstrated his eye for goal with 14 strikes in 26 league matches seeing him finish the season as top scorer in the division but he again struggled at his parent club in the following campaign – 12 appearances harvested four goals before Ajax came calling in 2005-06 for a fee of €5.3m.
Beginning strongly in his new surroundings, Rosenberg was particularly successful when fielded as part of a front two. His first season produced 12 goals and seven assists in 31 appearances but the purchase of Klass-Jan Huntelaar saw his shifted out to the left flank and the goals and game time subsequently dried up – with only a couple of assists in nine games in the first half of the 2006-07 season, he moved to Werder Bremen in January 2007. Over three-and-a-half seasons with the Bundesliga club, Rosenberg played 90 league games, scoring 30 times and assisting 14, before a loan spell with Spanish side Racing Santander brought nine goals and an assist from 33 matches. Returning to Bremen last season, he struck up a strong partnership with former Chelsea man Claudio Pizarro and, over the course of 33 league games, scoring 10 and assisted five of his side’s 49 goals.
Rosenberg has featured for his country at Under 21 level nine times, scoring three goals, while his step up to the senior side has harvested six goals from 33 appearances.
The Prospects
Bearing in mind this is Clarke’s first managerial job, the jury may well be out on the Baggies boss until we get a better idea of his tactics and style of play. So far in pre-season, West Brom have utilised 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 but the latter system is far more suited to Rosenberg’s strength and aerial ability and role as a target man.
Certainly, in terms of attacking output, the midlands club can hardly do worse than last season; under Roy Hodgson they scored a mere 21 goals at home and over the course of the 2011/12 campaign, they racked up 45 goals – a tally worse than two of the relegated teams, with a reliance on defensive resilience steering them to top-flight safety. Clarke is keen to improve upon that home record in particular and revealed he plans to go on the offensive at the Hawthorns – a positive sign for Fantasy managers eyeing up the Baggies’ mid-price attacking assets.
In terms of price, Rosenberg is likely to come in around the 6.0 mark in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) – the same cost as Shane Long but 1.0 less than Peter Odemwingie, due to the fact that the Nigerian notched double figures (10) last term for the second season running. With the pair coming in at 8.0 and 7.7 in the Sky Sports game respectively, Rosenberg could offer a cheaper route into the Baggies forward line when his price is released in the next few days – considering Odemwingie has been mainly used out wide by Clarke in pre-season so far, the new boy could prove a decent differential if Clarke’s attacking intentions do, indeed, come to fruition.
Rosenberg’s lack of fitness affords us a chance to keep a safe distance initially, then, and assess his side’s form under their new boss as the season gets underway. Looking at the fixture schedule, it’s fair to say Clarke hasn’t been handed the easiest of starts – with home clashes against Merseyside pair Liverpool and Everton added to trips to Spurs and Fulham, a Hawthorns showdown with promoted Reading looks the only real enticing showdown over the first six Gameweeks before their schedule begins to ease a little.
Further Reference
Markus Rosenberg Wikipedia
Markus Rosenberg Statistics
Markus Rosenberg YouTube
