The old football adage goes that a week is a long time in football, so just imagine what a difference a couple of seasons can make.
Five years ago in May 2009, Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich splashed out a then-record transfer fee of over €30 million on a 23-year-old Stuttgart striker named Mario Gomez. The Bundesliga rising star had enjoyed an impressive scoring record during his six seasons with Stuttgart, and Bayern believed him to be the man to bring more trophies to the Allianz Arena.
After a stuttering start followed by great success in front of goal, Gomez ultimately fell from grace at Bayern as new signing Mario Mandzukic supplanted him. Gomez was then signed by Fiorentina for a reported €20 million. The move was supposed to be the jump-start to his flagging career in a desperate bid to force his way back into the German national team’s plans, where he had been in the wilderness since finishing as joint-top scorer at the EURO 2012 tournament.
Yet, shortly after signing with the Viola in a move that appeared to be great for both the player and club, he was once more struck down by injury. Despite netting a brace in his first appearance for Vincenzo Montella’s men, Gomez was again relegated to the infirmary for lengthy spells that saw him net an unimpressive four goals in his debut season with Serie A.
Fiorentina fans were surely gnashing their teeth in frustration as the team’s other key striker, Giuseppe Rossi, also finds himself on the treatment table, thus leaving the team without their two main attacking options for both domestic and continental campaigns.
Gomez is now in his second season with the club and desperate to prove his critics wrong to avoid being placed in the dreaded “flop” category.
Fiorentina have not started their season off on the right foot and currently boast one of the worst-performing attack in the league with just two goals netted in their first five fixtures. This is highly disappointing especially given their good showings in pre-season, during which Gomez himself appeared to be finding his footing and confidence again in front of goal with solid performances.
Yet, he is dangerously close to be branded a “waste of money,” regardless of his injury woes. A recent Germany call-up exposed his rustiness as he missed three clear chances against Argentina, which saw the Germans at the losing end of the Angel di Maria show.
Given that the Viola have won just one of their games thus far, the pressure is growing on Gomez. The German has been sidelined again but has assured that he will find his best form soon as statistics, unfortunately for him, couldn’t care less about his injuries. And hopefully for the sake of the team, and indeed the player himself, his words will not ring through as hollow promises, but rather a harbingers of goals to come.
Football is quite fickle thing and can have an astonishingly short memory. Should Gomez not be able to come good on his promises, suffice it to say, his situation will best be described by the common Latin phrase: Tempus fugit (“time flies”).
And, to be brutally honest, if he disappoints this time around, no one will remember the exploits that saw him branded as one of the world’s top strikers… something that, given his miserable form, must seem like a lifetime ago.
Follow Michelle Bonsu on Twitter: @MichelleB289
