It would be quite easy to label Emmanuel Rivière as one of Ligue 1’s most frustrating talents, but at 24 years old, it is far too early to rule him out of future greatness. The AS Monaco striker is on the verge of sealing a reported €8 million move to Newcastle United, becoming the next member of the French revolution at St James’ Park. Then it is up to Alan Pardew to make sure the Rivière doesn’t run dry this season.
Rivière spent four years in Saint-Etienne’s youth academy before making his first-team debut in 2009. It was no ordinary debut as Les Verts were taking on fierce rivals Lyon at the Stade Gerland. With 18 minutes to go, Rivière came on for Kevin Mirallas and partnered Bafetimbi Gomis upfront as the away side drew 1-1.
He played another seven games that season, coming off the bench for all of them, and he would score his first professional league goal against Le Havre in May of that year. Not even Rivière could imagine what was about to happen next.
Gomis was sold to Lyon that summer and Rivière was thrust into the starting line-up as a young 19-year-old. Injuries to Kevin Mirallas and Ilan meant that he ended up playing 30 games for Saint-Etienne that season.
At first he struggled to find his feet, only finding the net once before the turn of the year, but after the winter break he scored five goals in nine games and Rivière’s promise was there to see.
It looked like he had the whole package: tall, but not huge, fast along the ground and skill with the ball at his feet. He was also showing that he could finish in front of goal.
However, as has consistently happened throughout his career, just when you think you are about to get the best out of the striker, he goes cold and inconsistent. After scoring at the Stade Gerland in the Rhone derby, he failed to build on that wonderous moment and then went seven games without a goal.
That is the story of his career: when you think you are about to get the best out of the player, he hits a brick wall and looks like a shadow of the player who promises so much.
In his second season at Saint-Etienne he impressed at times, and again finished with eight goals. Les Verts were hoping for some sort of improvement, but it never really came. He still showed his raw abilities: pace, power, that dynamic spark, but just not on a consistent enough basis.
Toulouse made an €8 million bid, and Saint-Etienne accepted. After being listed as part of our inaugural #Le50 list, injuries plagued his two-year spell. Nine goals in 44 games for Le Téfécé just wasn’t good enough and when Monaco, down in Ligue 2, offered €4 million, Toulouse were quick to accept.
That move summed up the player perfectly: failure to live up to expectations and taking a move down a level for half the price he was worth two years previously.
Ligue 2 seemed to suit him fairly well; in 14 games he scored four times as Monaco won promotion, averaging a goal every 147 minutes. Obviously with the backing of Dmitry Rybolovlev the superstars arrived at Monaco, and the arrival of Radamel Falcao was set to condemn Rivière to the bench once again.
However, the French striker started the season in wonderful form. Whenever Ranieri played two upfront, Rivière used the attention of Falcao to find space in behind and used his attributes to perfection; after just four games he had five goals and it was all set to be his best season ever.
Then the inevitable happened, and the goals dried up. There was a spell in November where Rivière started seven games on the trot; he scored twice, so that by December he had eight league goals.
Eight goals in 19 games is a decent record, but only when you build upon it. After the January break he started nine of the 19 games left in the season, but only scored twice.
Over the whole season, Rivière averaged a goal every 175 minutes, a record of one in two, which is great for a striker in any league. However, when you break it down that statistic can lose its shine.
From weeks 1 to 19 he averaged a goal every 112 minutes; in the second half of the season that average jumped to 426 minutes between goals. What it boils down to is that when Rivière is on, he can be a superb and devastating player, but when he’s down and off his game, he can be almost invisible.
Newcastle United will be getting a hard-working player, someone who is quick, agile and able to score all manner of goals. His strike against Marseille at the Stade Velodrome perfectly showcases everything that is wonderful about Rivière.
He makes a superb run across the defence, his first touch eliminates the highly regarded Nicolas N’Koulou, then his pace beats Lucas Mendes before he calmly knocks it past Steve Mandanda.
That is the level of ability that Rivière possesses. The only problem is that it is something that you don’t see on a regular basis.
At just 24 years old, there is still time for Rivière to blossom into a very dangerous striker, and perhaps the Premier League and Newcastle United is the perfect place for him to settle and develop.
He is not someone on whom you want to pin all your attacking hopes and dreams, but if he can build up a relationship with a more prolific strike-partner and the wonderful Remy Cabella, then it could just work.
The price of €8 million seems a lot for an inconsistent Ligue 1 forward, but that’s mostly from a French point of view; around £6 million is peanuts for the Premier League, and Rivière has shown enough over the early part of his career to suggest that he could just be worth the gamble.