Ok – glad to get that pun out of the way, now we can start talking about our latest signing without too many bad jokes sprinkled in gratuitously. If you are still unsure about how his name is pronounced, “thy” is pronounced like “tea” – or if your mum has an interest in Taiwanese dramas, the “ti” sound in “WA MENG TI, WA MENG TI”. Ok now we can finally get it out of the way. Let’s dive into what an amazing signing this is.
Goalscoring Record – The Inevitable Richi Comparison
When bringing in a striker, usually the first thing that people check is how many goals the striker is going to bring. Lennart Thy comes in with huge expectations. After all, he is replacing Richairo Zivkovic, who struck 15 goals in 19 games for us last season. Richi was also a big-game player, scoring in games against Tampines, Albirex, Jeonbuk, Kitchee, and of course, in the Singapore Cup final. Many questioned Richi’s departure when it was announced, but I guess we can’t say that we didn’t see it coming. In my preview article last year, I mentioned that the short-term nature of the deal (1 year) might see Richi use us as a stepping stone to bigger clubs, and it seems that might have been what happened.
So yes, that happened.
It is interesting to note though, that Richi arrived on our shores off the back of a season in the Eredivisie, which allows us to draw an apples-to-apples comparison with Lennart. Richi had one season with Emmen where he was a regular starter, and contributed 6 goals in all competitions. Lennart comes to us also as a regular starter with his PEC Zwolle side, but with a very impressive 13 goals from 32 games in all competitions.
It’s not an exact science of course, but you’d think someone who can plunder 13 goals for a mid-table side in a much more challenging league than the SPL should be able to get goals galore in Singapore. Not that the goal record matters that much imo – but I wrote enough about this in last year’s Richi article, so make sure to check that out for a detailed analysis for why it’s really OK if your incoming striker doesn’t have a great goalscoring record in a tougher league.
We’re definitely gonna miss Richi’s goals, and his great off-the-pitch personality, but the evidence suggests that Thy is more than capable of filling his shoes.
Thy No Spring Chicken – But Will He Rule The Roost?
Writing about chicken past midnight is always a bad idea – especially when you have Netflix’s Korean Fried Chicken Rhapsody playing in the background. (I usually write articles while watching something else, like football, or Netflix or sometimes random music videos, which may explain my scattergun approach to writing). Hmm I am hungry.
I’ve seen some people have reservations about Lennart’s age. Some idiot online even said he was gonna be the next Jermaine Pennant. I don’t wish to be harsh but I think if you’re too lazy to do your own research on a player, then maybe you should keep your opinion to yourself. Which is a nice way of saying – if you volunteer your organs to be donated when you pass on, please indicate to the hospital that you don’t wish to donate your brain. Please. It’s one thing to wonder if Lennart will do well, it’s another to write him off even before he’s kicked a ball.
(I swear donation of organs is somewhat related to Lennart Thy – this to come later).
I would like to assure people reading this that I don’t think his age will be a huge concern. When I first heard rumours of his signing about 2 months ago, I could barely contain my excitement and I was watching all sorts of highlights on Youtube. There weren’t many compilations so I had to search up PEC Zwolle’s individual game highlights to see what kind of player we were getting.
And the conclusion? He really really doesn’t play like a man his age. He presses people like a man possessed, and he never gives up on a lost cause – just look at Exhibit A here.
The way he chases what looks to be a lost cause, nips in to steal the ball, and then drives with purpose into the box is impressive enough. But then he only goes and finishes with his weaker left foot. Just amazing.
Of his 13 goals last season, 8 of them were scored with his left foot. This two-footedness will make him that much more difficult to predict when he’s on the ball, and I think SPL defenders are in for a tough time.
I also leave you with these comments from Ranko, which back up what I have seen from highlights.
Heart of Gold
Of course, there’s no telling whether this is just something nice that Badri is saying about our newest signing – dressing room dynamics aren’t always easy for external observers. However, Lennart Thy has a truly unique story which prompted me to title this section “Heart of Gold”.
Without knowing much about the procedures involved, he signed up to become a stem cell donor, and eventually that ended up saving the life of someone in America many miles away. It was an entirely selfless act because he had to take some time out of his season to do this literally draining activity. He was eventually awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award, and also prompted 20,000 people signing up to be stem cell donors. Read more about it here.
Conclusion
I think the only reservations about Lennart Thy have to do with his age. Everything else looks perfect. If you look at Bart Ramselaar, he’s come in the supposed prime of his career, but he’s had a bad injury that perhaps dissuaded some European clubs from going in for him. How about Lennart? His last major injury was way back in 2012.
We have to be realistic about the SPL’s draw. I think this self-designed triangle applies to our signings.
If someone was still young, scores a bucketload of goals and has a good injury record – I would be asking why the flying fountain is the guy here?
I have a very good feeling about this signing. The club is likely to give him a bit of a break before throwing him into a long season, considering that he was playing in the Eredivisie only 2 weeks ago, but I can’t wait to see him start.
Written by Eddy Hirono
Picture credit – Lion City Sailors
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