Anthony Sanneh: “let Them Sell Me”

A kicker article with the title above was printed today; no good news unfortunately:


It never was a intense relationship between Anthony Sanneh and 1.FC Nürnberg. But: the hope always existed that the purpose-relation until 2004 gets a happy end. Since Saturday it is – if at all – hardly existing.

It started with US national player Anthony Sanneh having a black day. In the offence he hardly had a scene, in the defence he made the deciding mistake and in the midfield he had easy passing mistakes on and on again. After a quarter hour a merciless whistling of the fans started whenever the 31 year old touched the ball. “From the beginning on I was a scape-goat here. They never liked me”, says the right footed player who came from Hertha to Nürnberg in 2001. Also his colleagues have no understanding for the attendance. “He didn’t have his best day. But it isn’t fair to attack him like that, he is a very important player for us”, stresses Sasa Ciric.

Coach Augenthaler sees this very differently. “I understand the attendance. After all Tony is no 20 year old anymore. Also I am incredibly disappointed. He didn’t realise anything of what we practised throughout the whole week”, says Augenthaler and refuses to support Sanneh for the first time.

This again is touching Sanneh bitterly and as hard as the whistles: “I was playing on a position I don’t like. I played though I was having problems with my back. And also if I wasn’t good, I always tried to give my best. In the summer they wanted to sell me. Let them do it”.

Short: Sanneh doesn’t feel well. Despite of his athletic body he is having a sensitive soul inside that’s having a negative effect on his performances. On the other hand: the US Boy earns his salary (900 K) with a profession in which only performance counts. And this didn’t always fit. And only because of that the attendance is whistling.

 

I can understand both sides in this quarrel:

Tony is not grown up in a soccer world and not familiar with the circumstances of playing in a soccer crazy nation. From his character he prefers to do his job and then he wants to be left alone and not deal with soccer matters otherwise - that's what any regular employee does, but it's unfortunately different in pro soccer. It is absolutely not the way that he doesn't want, the problem is just that he isn't the player Nürnberg wants him to be - they see that Tony is 31 years old, experienced and a top earner and so they demand that he is a top performer who leads the team; but that's not Tony: he is someone who is able to solve a task the coach is telling him, but he's not someone who can move the team to a higher level (as Aris correctly said in other words).

Berhalter has the very same problem in Cottbus btw. He also could be at least one level better in a team like e.g. Wolfsburg, but he's nobody who brings Cottbus a better quality of play, he's just playing on his team mates' level.

Tony of course also has the problem - as the article mentions - with being too sensitive. He takes the whistles very personal, but it has nothing to do with his person. The problem here of course is that this all rather pulls him down instead of saying "next week I'll show them what I can". The position argument is just a bad excuse IMO; in Berlin he always played as right mid, he just was moved to the defence when this was necessary. Since playing there in the NT Tony wants to be defender, if possible even defence organiser - but this proved to fail often enough, that's why he was moved back to right mid.

Coach Augenthaler is not to blame IMO. He really excused Tony so far, but at some time there has to be the point when the coach has to make him dig himself out of the hole.

 

Sanneh scored two this season, don't remember if one of them was a game winner.

The article was made after reading the kicker text as they exactly take their quotes and re-translate them. It's a bit difficult to translate, but my version 'let them sell me' is closer to reality than 'they should sell me'. He's saying it in the context, a bit like "in summer they wanted to sell me. Let them do it, I don't care/it's fine with me"

 

Almost any goal fór Nürnberg is a game winner

 

Your second part is right, but the first part doesn't really fit. As I said above: right mid is what he also played in Berlin and what he basically was thought to play; only since playing in the defence of the NT he wants to play defender - but he had enough chances on this position and this didn't turn out to be a good solution for Nürnberg. It's definitely not the case that he was playing an uncommon position as he sounds a little.

And playing for a team that always struggles... that's no surprise, he knew that when signing there. They are in the second year back in the league, it's quite clear that they have no chance to reach an UEFA Cup spot.

Also I wouldn't criticise coach Augenthaler too much. In a poll 75% of FCN fans wished to rather go back to 2.Bundesliga with him than hiring a new coach in a critical situation. Though Chris Courtney has a different opinion, I don't see major mistakes of Augenthaler (without thinking that he's close to being something like 'coach of the year').


@wu-tang beez: I think you're taking my posts a little too serious. I'm just critical - probably more critical than most people on the boards - but surely not aimed in a certain direction. I don't hate Tony, why should I? And if you're taking a closer look: Anthony is what the kicker-article says, nobody else calls him like that.