Sparky’s Column

The season is well underway and the League is taking shape in the way you would have expected.

The season is well underway and the League is taking shape in the way you would have expected. There is one exception to that with Al Wasl sitting at the top of the summit. The Dubai outfit have been very astute in their signing of one Francisco Javier Yeste Navarro from Athletic Bilbao. He is known as 'Yeste' to his friends and he has made plenty of those at Al Wasl. When you look at the player's pedigree then it comes as no surprise he has been a success. He spent 11 years playing in Spain's top flight and made the Spanish squad in the 2003-4 season. His record of over 400 games with Bilbao speaks volumes and is exactly the type of player to raise the bar in the UAE.

I was at the Sharjah v Al Shabab game on Sunday night and one player who caught the eye was Villaneuva. He is your typical South American player - small in stature but it is exactly this low centre of gravity that gives him the advantage on the pitch. He sits in the traditional number 10 position for Al Shabab just behind the main striker. Once Sharjah were reduced to 10 men he had even more time and space to dictate the play. So far this season he has been in great form with a goal every two games. I think the Pro-League will give the former Blackburn man chance to shine this season.

One player who has been significantly quieter this season is Bianno. The Brazilian was critised in some quarters last week, including an article in the press saying he had lost his goal-scoring touch. I don't know if he read the article or they pinned it to his locker but Bianno's magic touch returned in Round 6. A goal either side of half time put Al Nasr to the sword and sent the journo's who had criticised Bianno scuttling for the nearest stockists of humble pie.

It's not just the ex-pats that have been showing form in recent weeks. Ahmed Khalil is undoubtedly the star of the future for the UAE. He will have a busy time in the next few months with the UAE national squads as they aim for London 2012 and the Gulf Cup respectively. It is also good to see his brother Faisal making his way back into the Al Ahli side and returning to the form of two years ago before a horror injury ruled him out for the entirety of last season.