Southeast Asia

How Would Indonesia’s Ezra Walian Fare in the Thai League?

By: , July 16, 2019 3:14 pm
Credit – Football Tribe Indonesia

Steven Danis

Football Tribe Indonesia

 

Indonesian striker Ezra Walian has been linked with a move to the Thai League this summer window.

The 21 years old was born and raised in Holland and is eligible to play for Indonesia through his father. Ezra came through at the world-class youth academy of Ajax Amsterdam and even featured for the Netherlands U17 team before declaring to play for Indonesia.

Standing in 185 centimeters Ezra has good positioning, good header, and strength to win aerial duels and physical battles.

Despite not playing in the Eredivisie, Ezra’s experience in Europe makes him one of the most exciting talents in the ASEAN region. He now plays for Almere City and spent last season on loan at RKC Waalwijk.

However, the Dutch club decided not to renew his contract this summer. He was previously linked with a move to Indonesian Liga 1 Champions Persija Jakarta, before spending time as a trialist at Tranmere Rovers. Now that he is linked with a move to the Thai League, here are the thoughts of Football Tribe Thailand’s Obb Deewajin and SEA Editor Gian Chansrichawla on what Ezra could expect if he does indeed make the move: 

Which team can be fit with Ezra right now? Which teams need new strikers, and which ones have ASEAN Quota slots available? 

Gian: Ezra will probably be appealing for many teams, as his physical stature is far superior than local strikers. Since he is young and has trained with Ajax, a highly respected club, I expect many of the league’s top teams to be after him. Buriram are working with their own young strikers Supachai and Suphanat, so I don’t think he will move there. Port need a striker but they have not shown any commitment to promoting young talents, and some really exciting young players are stuck on the bench there. If we are looking at the current top teams, I would say Muangthong United, Chiangrai, Bangkok United could be good destinations for him, although he might not be straight into the first team. If I were Ezra, I would pick Samut Prakan City FC - currently, they are second in the league, they use a local striker which he might be able to displace in the team, and most of their squad are U23 players who have improved a lot under a manager/sporting director who places a lot of faith in young players.

Obb: I agree with Gian here, Ezra would be a perfect fit with a club like Samut Prakan City who has a taste for fast and technically good attackers. Yet, I’d also like to add Chonburi FC to the conversation. The Sharks just recently lost main man Lukian to the J League and Ezra could be an interesting choice as a replacement. Having just released striker Patrick Cruz and left-winger Sithu Aung, Chonburi FC needs attacking reinforcement. Plus they just freed up two ASEAN quota spots and a foreign spot. And also have experience signing Indo-Dutch strikers, like Irfan Bachdim.

What are your personal thoughts about ASEAN strikers in the Thai League? Have they had a good impact so far for the clubs? 

Gian: I think ASEAN strikers in the Thai League could be very important going forward. Thailand have really struggled to produce strikers for a long time now, so most clubs register two forwards in their four available foreign quota slots. If they turn out to be good enough, ASEAN strikers could free up a slot and allow clubs to invest in foreigners in other positions and improve their game overall. No ASEAN striker has managed to stand out yet, but the half-European ASEAN players have done well, such as goalkeepers Dang Van Lam and Michael Falkesgaard, who have experience playing in Europe. 

Obb: With every ASEAN nation struggling to produce strikers in their own league - any decent talent tends to be somewhat overpriced. Hence why many Thai clubs prefer to recruit from the South American or European market instead. This means very few ASEAN strikers got the chance to prove themselves in T1.

Aung Thu, although not an out-and-out striker, was excellent for Police Tero last year but failed to shine at Muangthong United. Filipino target man Mark Hartmann was also quite good for Ubon United in the 1st leg of 2018 but was forced out of the starting XI due to the arrival of other foreign strikers since then. Javier Patino is probably the most prolific ASEAN striker to grace the T1, he was excellent in his first spell with Buriram United but now reduce to supporting role before and just recently moved to find game time at Ratchaburi FC. 

What are your thoughts about Ezra potential in Asia, after being raised in the Dutch League? More broadly, what are your thoughts on Indonesian players and their ability to feature in the Thai League? 

Gian: The Indonesian players that have come have struggled so far, but from what I understand, they are not the best players Indonesia has to offer. Unfortunately, Yanto Bansa doesn’t get a lot of time at Sukhothai, and there’s a similar problem with Igbonefo at PTT Rayong. However, having trained with Ajax, I think he has the potential to do very well. I think it’s hard to find capable strikers across the entire Southeast Asia region, so Indonesia have a gem on their hands if they can get Ezra scoring regularly. I think the Thai League could be a good step for him, and if he performs well, there are Japanese, Korean and even some European teams watching. ASEAN strikers are in high demand in Thailand, so I think the future looks good for him if he decides to move here.

Obb: It will be interesting to see how well Ezra perform at this year's SEA Games. Egy Maulana, Gian Zola and Osvaldo Haay are 3 exciting talent who is playing well under the guidance of Indra Sjafri. With Ezra up spearheading, that is a frightening front 4 full of pace and energy.