Leon Osman
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon Osman | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder / Right winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Everton | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
Leon Osman (born 17 May 1981 in Billinge Higher End, Wigan) is an English football player currently playing for Everton. Amongst Everton fans, he is affectionately known as "Leon Bossman".
Biography
Osman has a fully Turkish background[1] and grew up in Skelmersdale and Huyton, attending Up Holland High School and Winstanley College.[2] He joined the Everton Academy and was part of the team that won the 1998 FA Youth Cup. Following the cup victory Osman sustained a knee injury which kept him from playing for a year.
Senior playing career
Osman was loaned to Carlisle United in October 2002. This was a successful period for him and he was awarded Player of the Year by the club. He returned to Everton in January 2003 and scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over the reserve side of Manchester United.
He was granted a one year extension to his contract in the summer of 2003, but failed to break into the first team until the end of the 2003–04 season. Instead, he was again loaned out, this time to Derby County. He had an integral role in Derby's successful bid to avoid relegation, and manager George Burley tried to buy him from Everton. Osman was highly regarded at Derby after some heroic performances including one in a 4-2 league win over rivals Nottingham Forest.
After returning from Derby with three games remaining in Everton's season, manager David Moyes gave Osman his first start, aged 23, against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Osman took his chance and scored within 3 minutes of his debut.
Osman became a first team regular in 2004–05 playing on the right wing of a 4-1-4-1 formation. He finished the season with seven goals including two in a game against Aston Villa.
In the 2005/06 season Moyes at first preferred his new signing Simon Davies to Leon but in time he re-established himself in the team and put Davies down the pecking order. Osman scored a late equalising goal against Millwall in the FA Cup to force a replay which Everton won. Also this season Leon played in a wider variety of positions. He played on both wings, in the centre and also played off James Beattie after the sale of Marcus Bent.
Osman started the 2006/07 season in brilliant form. This prompted manager David Moyes to back the midfielder for a call up to Steve McClaren's England squad. McClaren was present at the Blackburn vs Everton match in which Osman put in a man of the match performance.
His start to the 2007-08 season began with two goals in consecutive wins against Wigan Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur. His appearance in the starting 11 for Everton is threatened by the arrival of South African loan-signing Steven Pienaar. Both players play diminutive roles but are considered to possess excellent close control and touch, with Pienaar already contributing a game-clinching goal at home to Middlesbrough.
Osman scored the second goal in Everton's 3-1 UEFA Cup Group Stage win over Larissa of Greece on 25 October 2007 at Goodison Park, striking Steven Pienaar's flick into the net from 22 yards and helping Everton to the top of the group. He subsequently won the Everton Goal of the Season Award for this superb strike. Osman then followed this with a goal against Norwegian opposition SK Brann to set up a 2-0 1st leg lead on 13 February 2008. He then scored against Wigan in a 4-0 victory.[3]
Leon Osman scored both goals in Everton's 2-0 win over Fulham on the final day of the season to secure Everton 5th place in the Premier League for 08/09. The following season Osman captained Everton for the first time in the 4-0 Carling Cup victory away at Hull City. He marked the occasion by scoring a goal in the second half to take the score to 4-0 and cap off Everton's victory.
Personal life
Osman's younger brother, Carl Osman, was also a former Everton Youth player, and now plays for Northern Premier League team, Kendal Town.
- Leon is married to Jenny.
References
- ^ Profil on transfermarkt.de
- ^ Barton, Laura (23 November 2009). "Lady Ashton went to my school". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7972797.stm
External links
- Leon Osman at Soccerbase