Gabriel Obertan produced the goal of the opening Premier League weekend by sprinting full-out before a fabulous Roy of the Rovers’ style cross to Georginio Wijnaldum, who despatched a header into the top corner of The Gallowgate End goal. He and Newcastle United were back.
The Angel Gabriel had rescued Newcastle’s season a year ago with their first Premier League winner of the season at home to Leicester in October before playing a key role in wins over Man City in The League Cup plus Spurs and Liverpool.
An abiding image of Sergio Aguero waiting for Man of the Match Obertan in the tunnel at The Etihad to exchange shirts shows how far this star was in the ascendancy.
Cruelly, he pulled up injured against Liverpool and couldn’t build on a terrific start to the season in which he’d also set up Newcastle’s first goal of 2014/5 against Gillingham in the Capital One Cup and played terrifically in the win in the same competition at Crystal Palace.
He returned for a handful of games at the end of the season yet Newcastle’s record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses in the 16 games with him in the team was a stark contrast to many losing records in a relegation-threatened season.
Yet now he’s back fully-fit with a new manager who believes in him, Steve McClaren, raring to go and looking to pick up where he left off last season and finally fulfil his awesome potential.
A graduate of the famed Clairefontaine Academy in France, which has produced some of the finest footballers of the last generation from Zinedine Zidane to Thierry Henry (and Newcastle favourite Hatem Ben Arfa), Obertan’s football pedigree is the equal of any.
No less a judge than Sir Alex Ferguson plucked him from Bordeaux at 20 charging him with the Herculean task of filling Cristiano Ronaldo’s boots at Old Trafford when he left for Madrid.
Despite signs of early promise – The Telegraph’s esteemed writer Henry Winter tweeted in 2009:
“Frustrating night for Man U v Besiktas but Ferguson looks to have bought a real gem in Gabriel Obertan, a pacey French musketeer…”
– after one Champions League display, consistency on the biggest stage in English football proved beyond him amid injuries.
Alan Pardew brought him to Newcastle for £3.5M and he was a revelation playing in a fast, exciting attacking team that went unbeaten for 11 games at the start of the 2011/12 season.
Pardew regularly remarked that Obertan was so fast on the break that leaving him on the halfway line meant teams couldn’t afford to push up front as much due to the threat of his pace.
Steve McClaren is already a big fan, so important to a confidence player like Obertan, saying after the Southampton draw:
“We played Gabby in a wide position and he was effective there.
“He nullified the Southampton right-back, (Cedric) Soares, getting forward, so he did a job last week, not just defensively but in attack, too.
“He created the second goal and that’s what he is capable of.
“When I see him in training and the games in pre-season at times, he is a terrific talent – so quick and so strong, and a Premier League player.”
Against Swansea tomorrow, Obertan is likely to start the game on the left-wing against a team he enjoyed success against last year; setting up Papiss Cisse’s first goal at The Liberty Stadium and hopes to become the permanent fixture in the side his talent warrants.
With Cisse, and especially new Serbian signing Aleksandar Mitrovic, thriving off crosses, Obertan’s delivery will be a potent weapon to The Magpies’ arsenal as the season progresses.
Staying fit is half the battle as with all quicksilver players, he’s only a hamstring injury away from a spell on the sidelines, yet with conditioning coach Steve Black on board, he and Rolando Aarons will have a better chance of an injury-free season.
Seven years ago, Obertan scored past Joe Hart when France U21s beat England U21s 2-0 and Newcastle fans will be hoping the French flier can keep hitting the heights in England and fulfil his vast promise under Steve McClaren.
