Sleeping Dragons

"Come not between the dragon and his wrath," William Shakespare, from King Lear. Simply epic deserves to be on a Hallmark card let alone in the finest library archives of the world. Today the dragon rest no more I have slept as the so said dragon and now I have come a new. A new segment gets its first cap on the blog if you can't tell my the title it is called Sleeping Dragons it does have similarities to other segments but it takes a look at players who have a glut of talent who have never unleash their rage upon the world for some reason or another. In a nutshell it is the guy who has the talent to be the best but just does not push on to become the best. This happens in all sports, its the guy you that makes you throw your overpriced meal at the your inexpensive television and say things that you definitely did not pick up at Sunday school if you get what I mean.

Name: Morten Gamst Pedersen

D/O/B: 09/08/1981 (age 27)

Place of Birth: Vadso, Finnmark, Norway

Height: 5'11 ft/inches

Position: Midfielder ( Left Winger)

Prefered Foot: Right

National Team: Norway

Caps:47

Club Teams: Norlid (1997-98), Polarstjernen (1998-99), Tromso (2000-04), Blackbrurn Rovers FC (2004-present)

What is Wrong Son?: My Coach left for a group of Mercenaries

I won't map out the course his career has taken or how he started life on the Artic circle in the wonderful Scandanavian nation of Norway or even how he is having sexual realtions with a super model, well who isn't. I am hear to talk about what has Morten in a literal tailspin, fans of the English Premiership have heard of this Norseman and know what he can do, the danger he posses, the opposition need not fear him only be weary though and that is something that concerns me. With Pedersen you never feel threatened only a bit weary don't get me wrong the lad is scary good but he is a sleeping dragon so something is wrong.

Well lets talk about the good times for Blackburn's infamous number 12. Morten joined the English side in 2003 to replace the Chelsea bound Damien Duff and since then has cemented himself as a Blackburn legend more or less. His passing range and accuracy is mythic if you are on the pitch he will find you, percise through balls set the likes of Roque Santa Cruz, well he use to set him up to a path to goal. The free kick is the the most lethal weapon the Viking bears. Gamst Pedersen has a very cultured left, his left foot has more culture in it than the Renaissance and the frightening thing is he is naturally right footed he was conditioned to become left dependant so that he can capitalize on the lack of left sided players on the planet. He has to be in the top ten of free kick takers on earth he can push the likes of Beckham and Juninho very hard in that department. He has put in some tidy shifts for his club sides very much a foot soldier type player but with the know how to become a general.

Now the cons his club form have only recent started to faded as recent as 2007 but before I hit that note with my bravado lets talk about his international career. Norway is a decent footballing nation with decent players that is the problem. Norway being in Europe has to deal with footballing monsters when it comes to qualifing for major competitons I need not name any I would think they are fairly well known. The make up of the Norweign team centers on a few highly skilled players likes of John Carew, John Arne Riise, Brede Hangeland and Pedersen himself these four are pretty much the fulcrum of the team with our hero left to orchestrate the symphony in the midfield solo with sparadic aid from a tracking Carew or an advancing Riise or a pine sore Daniel Braaten. Norway has not qualified for a FIFA competition in a while thank goodness because they put in some fairly pedestrian performances with Pedersen the most lively of the bunch along with Carew. Since Norway are not the most effective side Pedersen's preformances either do two things they either save them from painful mediocrity or condemns them to painful mediocrity, long gone are the days of Tore Andre Flo and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. With having the weight of a nation on his shoulders he has struggle to keep them above water well in his case the freezing fjords that is not a error it is an actual word google it. At Blackburn the kid was on fire with more tricks than the magic circle in his first couple of seasons but has started to capitulate only recently the passes are lacking accuracy and free kicks tend to fly past Zeus' face rather than the opposition's goalkeeper he has simply gone off the boil.

My educated guess on why the Nordic midfielder has not unleash his true potential is because the ambition of one Blackburn Rovers, no disrespect to the Lanchasire outfit but Blackburn's idea of success is a top eight finish and a Carling Cup semi final appearance not very lofty heights to aspire to so maybe the lads motivation may have fled to Oslo. I suspect the biggest culprit to Pederesen's dip in form is the flight of former manager Mark Hughes to the mercenaries of Manchester City. Although Graeme Souness originally signed him it was Sparky Hughes who got the best out of the man from Norega. Hughes loves the tough tackling style of play ironically not suited to Pedersen's game but it allowed him to run free around the pitch while others do the dirty work. Plus Hughes worshipped Pedersen publicly and a little tender loving care is all a footballer needs so the factor was there. Before I shoot off my mouth on how he can emerge from the flames to become a great another thing that has hindered him was the sale of David Bentley who I am not a big fan of but it must be said statistically he has played better with the England wide man there,they were a tag team Morty on the left and the Bent one on the right it worked well I think it did.

He may not have more tricks than a show pony but Morten is a throwback to the old days of football where passing was upon a pedestal and where men of his ilk where the big money transfers. He is really good but his loyalty to Rovers could be or shall be his demise, he is too good for Blackburn and even to good for his nation Norway that he can not change that he needs some luck with but he can ditch Blackburn, if he does and finds a team that has hunger and a need for a left footer with plenty of guile may be then he can wake up from his slumber.

Wyvern