Saturday, March 08, 2008
England's problems of not coming close or actually winning a major continental or global football competition the past decade, and more recently the failure to even qualify for one, is actually down to one thing. There has been very little English footballers plying their trade outside of England itself.
Look at the past few years. Who has actually dared to enter the other top European leagues? One that would pop into Real Madrid fans would be former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman. He was England's left winger at his prime, and moved to Real on a free transfer. Another Englishman who ventured overseas is striker Michael Owen, also from Liverpool to Real. His first and only season with Real saw him score around 16 odd goals, with most as substitutes appearance, as he had to fight it out with the likes of Raul Gonzalez, Fernando Morientes and Ronaldo for a first team place. Nonetheless, he could be considered a success there as well.
Another player that actually started from overseas is English midfielder Owen Hargreaves. He started as a Bayern Munich trainee and has gone on to win several German Bundesliga titles and a Champions League winners medal during his time at the German outfit. He moved to Manchester United during the last summer transfer window. An Englishman who failed overseas is defender Jonathan Woodgate. Signed by, as usual, Real Madrid, he didn't make his debut till 12 months later after being sidelined by injury. During his debut, he scored an own goal and got sent off. Soon after, he moved back to England with Middlesbrough. He is now with Tottenham Hotspur.
Now let's look at the other major countries. Firstly, France. They have the most number of players playing outside of the French Ligue One. Thierry Henry played in England and is now plying his trade in Spain. Former regular goalkeeper Fabien Barthez played for English side Manchester United. Lilian Thuram had spells overseas in Italy and Spain. Patrick Vieira played in England and more recently Italy. Claude Makelele had successful spells with Spanish giants Real Madrid and English giants Chelsea. David Trezeguet is playing for Italian side Juventus, while Nicolas Anelka has played in so many foreign countries, one that also includes Turkey.
Secondly, Netherlands. Ruud van Nistelrooy plys his trade for Real Madrid, after doing so in the past for Manchester United. Wesley Sneijder also plays for Real Madrid. Arjen Robben is another example, after joining from Chelsea. Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie plays in England for respective clubs Liverpool and Arsenal. Ryan Babel also plays for Liverpool. Clarence Seedorf plays for Italian giants AC Milan.
Thirdly, Brazil. Almost their whole team plays outside of the country. Dida, Kaka, Ronaldo, Adriano and Maicon are contracted to Italian teams. Lucio and Ze Roberto plays for German giants Bayern Munich. Robinho and Juninho plays for their respective Spanish and French clubs. Fourthly, Argentina. Similarly, almost every international plays in a foreign league.
Granted, the countries mentioned above doesn't have a local league that has the standard matching of those of the English Premiership, Italian Serie A or Spanish La Liga. Granted, the English Premiership is one of the best leagues in the world. But the point I'm trying to mention is that for every player that plys their trade in a differing league to one another, they would add that something else and that something special another team-mate might not have in the international front for their country. Thus, the successes of Brazil and Argentina. Although Italy and Spain has a small amount of players playing outside of their own country, it is still a considerable number compared to those of the English players.
So I generally feel that more English players should go overseas to play. Micah Richards might have the chance with Inter Milan or Juventus, find out more about the style the Italians play. The young players like Scott Carson, Joe Hart, Tom Huddlestone, Aaron Lennon, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young should go overseas if the top clubs want them. Only this way, can England really improve. And win the World Cup!!!
Bye~!
my thoughts at 6:36 pm