Englishmen Abroad..

 

The most famous Englishman abroad right now is probably this man.

 

         A few years ago it would've been one David Beckham. Go anywhere around the world and you would've been greeted with: ''Ahh, England?! David Beckham, Manchester United, yes?!''. (well maybe I'm being a bit stereotypical but you see my point). He still is one of the most famous names in world football, although less for his skill nowadays, more his legend. He was the last of the true English international superstars, having played for some the biggest names in world football, such as AC Milan & Real Madrid. Some of the more successful globe-trotting Englishmen were 

 

 Kevin Keegan: Hamburg (1977–1980)

Gary Lineker: Barcelona (1986-1989)

Glenn Hoddle: AS Monaco (1987-1991)

Chris Waddle: Olympique de Marseille (1989-1992

David Platt: Bari, Juventus & Sampdoria (1991-1998)

Paul Gascoigne: Lazio (1992-1995)

Steve McManaman: Real Madrid (1999-2003)

 

         After Beckham, this finished. No more transfers of top English talent from the Premier League to Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Liga Portuguesa, or Ligue 1. Just now and again the occasional movement of a decrepit player to the MLS, or a wasted PL youth talent popping up in Spain or Italy. Many of the best English players of the last decade (Gerrard, Rooney, Cole etc.) have been linked with the likes of Madrid, Barca & Milan, but these moves have never materialised.

 

How about some of the Englishmen that ARE on the continent right now?

 

• David Bentley - (once) Promising young wide midfielder who came through Arsenal youth, debuted at 18, loaned out to Norwich & Birmingham, injuries and ''personal problems'' hampered his early career. At the age of 20 handed in a transfer request as he wanted more football, and in Jan 2006, left on a permanent basis to Blackburn Rovers. After a good couple seasons scoring 13 goals with rovers he was sold for the quite large amount of £15million to Spurs in 2008. And from there his career pretty much nosedived; playing himself out of the team, and equally poor loans with injuries at Birmingham and (then Championship side) West Ham. Now is a 28 year old, unwanted by his club, on loan at the prestigious FC Rostov in the Russian Premier League who sit a princely 12th in the league, only a point off relegation. Well done Mr. Bentley.
• Michael Mancienne - 24 year old centre back who started off at Chelsea, given his pro contract at 18, but only made 4 appearances for them in the 5 years he was there. Despite spending two lengthy loan spells at QPR and Wolves, in which he made 114 appearances and gained plaudits from both sets of fans, he was never really in the picture for Chelsea (or England) which can only be attributed to the more experienced foreign imports at the club. The lad from Feltham took his future into his own hands and signed a 4 year contract with HSV Hamburg in May 2011, who for which he has only missed one game this season.  By all means, he's a class player; ex England under 21 captain, helped Wolves avoid relegation, and performing well in the top German league. Yet he is still an outcast to England, and the minds of most in this country.
• Joey Barton - Currently on loan at Marseille. I don't care whether he's doing well or not really. He's basically on exile from England here after multiple violent attacks committed during the last game of the 2011/12 Premier League season. He only made his first league start for them yesterday as he was on a quite lenient 12 match league ban for the aforesaid incidents. This isn't really the kind of person we want representing our nation on the continent, but, better there than here to be honest.
• Scott Carson - 28 year old keeper playing for Bursaspor in the Turkish Super Lig. Started his career with Leeds, moved to Liverpool (where he won the Champions League after a mighty two appearances) and didn't make much of an impact for either team. Two quite successful loan spells at Charlton and Aston Villa landed him a permanent move to West Brom in 2008, where he was largely untested (except for Boaz Myhill for a while) as the 1st team goalkeeper, and brief flirtations with the England setup. In 2011, the Turkish club came in with a £2m bid to secure his services and he's never looked back; there for nearly a year and a half now, he had a good 1st season, finishing runners up in the Turkish Cup and consistently performed well. Perhaps the only player in the small number of Englishmen abroad who is there because he's actually an alright player, not because of wasted youth, poor form, or one final wage slip.

Some other lesser known outcasts

• Ahmad Benali - 20 year old Mancunian central/attacking midfielder, currently playing for Serie B side Brescia (and recently internationally for Libya!). One of the many talents at Manchester City who stagnated under the much maligned management of reserves coach (MCFC play their youth in reserve games)  Andy Welsh, who is thankfully now gone in place of Attilio Lombardo. Having played with Ahmad at lunchtimes in my old school, I know he's a quality lad, even better player, and Manchester City through and through, I wish the best for him.
• Jonny Rowell - Promising midfielder at Newcastle United under 16's, snapped up by Hartlepool United after successful trials but was all downhill from there. After having spent time in the Belgian third division, he moved on a free transfer to 2nd division Belgian side Waasland-Beveren. Wouldn't be too impressed by that. 
• Temitope Obadeyi - 23 year old striker who was unsuccessful at Bolton, after many loan spells, now plays in the Portuguese 1st division for Rio Ave FC. Went to primary school with Daniel Sturridge, fair to say Sturridge is better off right now.
• Javan Vidal - Another Mancunian, the 23 year old right back Vidal was one of the better crop of youngsters at Manchester City a few years ago, some decent performances on loan at Grimsby, Gillingham & Aberdeen but failed to make it at City like so many have in the past 5 years. Up until 2 months ago he was playing for Greek side Pantelikos on a 6 month trial period. He is now a free agent. Sums it up.

So why are most of the English players abroad now failed youth, outcasts and those at the end of their career? Is the physical nature we had many years ago a quality now mirrored by all modern footballers? Most footballers nowadays are perfect physical specimens. Look at Balotelli's celebration after scoring his second against Germany in the Euros. That image of pure muscular perfection will stick in my mind forever.

 Cristiano Ronaldo. Massive twat. Brilliant footballer. The reason he's as good as he is? Work. The guy's a machine. He's the kind of player that's first into training, last out etc. Look at this celebration and 'witness the fitness'...

      To consistently perform at the top level of European football nowadays, you have to be at peak fitness. From things I've watched and read, this seemed to be England's main advantage over opponents. They could run further, jump higher, and tackle harder. Everyone can do this now! Why would you need to buy an overrated, overpriced English player when you could get an equally gifted player from the continent at a fraction of the price?

     For example, Jay Rodriguez. Moved from Burnley to Southampton for seven million pounds. He scored 15 goals in 31 games the previous season for Burnley, in the second division of English football. Not bad, now has scored only once in eight games for the Saints. Compare that to Buruk Yilmaz. Turkish striker playing for Galatasaray, moved from Trabzonspor this summer for five million euros. Last season, in the top Turkish league, he scored THIRTY-THREE goals in THIRTY-FOUR matches. Now, is on 7 league goals in 11 games for Gala and 5 in 5 in the Champions League!. Forget comparing him to Jay bloody Rodriguez, why on earth was he not seriously wanted by anyone outside the Super Lig?! Yes, maybe its an unfair comparison; Yilmaz is 3 years older, was playing in a better team, so was bound to score more goals. But, his ability to score just as prolifically in Europe aswell makes you wonder why on earth he went for so cheap to another Turkish side considering he had just signed a new contract and broke Trabzonspor's all time scoring record.

     Michu. Swansea's talisman. The Spanish attacking mid bought for only £2million from Rayo Vallecano this summer, a team in which he scored 15 goals from midfield - the highest of any other mid in La Liga that season. Now on 7 goals for Swansea in 12 matches whilst playing as a centre forward. Considering the likes of United were in for him, and the prices paid for players in the Premier League currently, two million is nothing. If he was English I reckon he'd be worth around £25million.

   Look at Henderson, Downing, Jones, Milner, and the typical, Andy Carroll. An estimated cost of around £115million pounds between them. I'm not saying they're not good (although some are shocking) but simply not worth that money.

    So it's not just that English players aren't as good anymore, it's also the over inflated prices we charge for them. So don't expect the trend to change. If anything, with the ever increasing money in the Premier League, expect English talent to stagnate even further.

Cheers for reading,

The Burnage Blue

 
 

 

 

75% Tax, 100% Bad.. (For French Football, That Is)

Meet François Hollande.
He's the newly elected (well, in May) President of France. His approval grew amongst the French public after backing many policies which made him very popular at the time of his election: such as the withdrawal of French troops present in Afghanistan by the end of 2012, supporting same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBT couples, and his, erm, aggressive approach towards achieving a 0% deficit of GDP by 2017. He seemed nice. Yet recently his popularity has nosedived spectacularly...but that is not my issue, THIS IS A FOOTBALL BLOG! Well I think it is, I haven't made my mind up yet tbh

      The 'aggressive' approach I alluded to earlier has led to a quite significant step in reducing the deficit coming in to play. Earlier last month, a new tax was passed for all in France who earn over €1,000,000 a year. At a rate of 75%. That's huge. Many welcome it; y'know, ''Vive la révolution'', tax the rich and all that.. Makes sense. But, when politics is being talked about, football is *usually* irrelevant. And when something happens in our respective countries, regarding the way they are run, we sometimes forget footballers generally (don't get me started on the way footballers get off criminal charges in the PL..) abide by all the same laws we do.

     Lets be honest, the French Ligue 1 is not the best league in the world. Last night in fact, I conducted a very democratic survey on my twitter, regarding the quality of French football:

 ''QUICK QUESTION if you watch a lot of Euro football: where would you rank French Ligue1 in terms of depth/quality to rest of Europe?''

100% of responses agreed that it is very low down in the ranking of European top leagues. Replies included:

''@Omiclops: Just above Portugal''

''@joshscho9636:  5/6th''

''@JimmyGrimble10: They produce phenomenal young talent, but the play is very poor and slow''

''@SaifRubbani: ...don't rate it highly, nowhere near Premier League, Serie A or La Liga''

And my personal favourite:

''@McEverz: whats french football, lol''

     The results (although as poorly represented as a PCC election... trololol) are as conclusive as can be expected; not only do those who watch it  think its relatively poor, but that out of 400odd people on my mainly football orientated twitter, only FIVE people had an opinion on it.

     Yes, they have a few class teams, with many quality players. But in terms of money they aren't exactly raking in the TV rights cash (which is everything in football now..). They've simply not got the international exposure that England, Spain and Italy have. They have, although, been gradually increasing their global appeal/publicity over the past few years. Not least with the help of the FFP-flaunting, financial powerhouse that is Paris Saint-Germain buying some of the best players in the world and offering them substantial salaries to attract them there. Players such as Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Pastore and the man of the moment, the minor deity, that is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

      It is no secret that the promise of large wages are one of the biggest draws for established stars in bigger leagues to come to France, if not THE biggest. This tax will massively impact the top levels of french football.  The clubs will simply not be able to pay the money needed to drag these players in. Not even PSG. The top income tax rates in England, Spain, Germany & Italy range between 43 and 52%, currently in France, it is 41%. French league president Frederic Thiriez says, in extreme, but justified words:

''It would be the death of french football''

      And when you take into account that this will affect an estimated 130 players, possibly creating a mass exodus of players steamrolled by the disgustingly greedy agents that cause so many problems nowadays, leaving Ligue 1 even more bereft of top world talent than it already is... then what happens? The TV deals will go. The sponsorships will go. The money coming into the league will go.

      Forget the footballers, even if they get this tax, they'll still be on at least £200,000 a year... I don't feel sorry for them. If you do you're a muppet. But who's the forgotten equation in all of this big money talk? Once again, the fans. If these players go, can you really expect any others to come in? The league will dry up. The young talent will leave at a faster rate than it already does. And pretty soon, these fans will be experiencing a level of football that those poor people in Stoke do..

So it's really not an overstatement, when you think about it.. Thiriez is right.

(But if this means that Lavezzi, Ibra, Pastore, Silva etc. can maybe make their way to the Etihad.... Then I may not be so arsed!)

Cheers for reading,

The Burnage Blue


Btw, it also means the utter bellend Barton will get a healthy pay cut. Like to see how many Nietzsche or Smiths quotes he can find to express his anger then. Knob.

A Pound A Minute..

 (picture found via @adamkeyworth )

           No, ladies & gentleman, this is NOT photoshopped (sadly). This is a genuine matchday home ticket for Arsenal VS Tottenham Hotspur in the Barclay's Premier League. For £94.50. Over a pound a minute of a football match.

            This picture came up on my twitter feed yesterday evening, and, to be honest, I wasn't surprised. This is the club that have their cheapest season ticket priced at £985! The same club that have the most expensive possible price in the league at £126!  The same club that only last month charged the most expensive standard price for a Premier League game in history at £65...

             I have no idea what band/bracket/category etc. that this ticket is in, I'm sure people will point out to me that this is a top band, or category A match, or whatever. The thing is, it should NEVER have been allowed to get to this stage in the first place.. It's sickening.

              Football (to my knowledge) is a sport that was created BY, and existed FOR the working class of Britain. Nearly every club has a long history stretching to the 1800's. Generations of supporters stretching over decades. Dedicated supporters whether it be from birth, or by choice make each club individual. These supporters (mostly) have carried their clubs through highs and lows; financial difficulties, years of poor performances etc.. It is no secret, that without the fans, a football club is nothing.

               Yet, over the past 10-20 years, many football clubs have regarded the situation conversely: that we are nothing without them. And to this end, it means they can treat us as such. The average football fan is being priced out of their own support in favour of richer people with more disposable income. I'm not saying that if you're wealthy you automatically aren't a 'diehard' supporter because that's not true. But what is true is that the unwavering support of regular fans is being taken for granted, as these clubs continually raise prices (WELL above the rate of inflation) year on year expecting that fans will pay up without a thought. I know many friends that used to have seasontickets to Manchester City but haven't been able to afford to take their whole families every year, and City have the 2nd cheapest season tickets in the league at £275! Compare that to Arsenal..

            I'm probably just going on, but its an issue that's becoming more and more apparent all the time. And finally there is a concerted effort to highlight this issue and stop it damaging the sport, the lifestyle we grew up with. You may have seen the hashtag #amf or #againstmodernfootball on twitter. It's been used pretty widely over the past 2 months in regards to ticket pricing, seating/standing at games, foreign ownership.. the list goes on. It's a movement that's been started by the people behind 'STAND - The Fanzine Against Modern Football', which is exactly what it says.

         So far they've made 2 issues of this fanzine, and its been welcomed by almost everyone who's encountered it. I've bought it, just like many others, and it details everything I've mentioned in this post and much more (to a far better standard than I could hope to!). Considering the only publicity the publication has received is via the social networks in which many of us moan about modern football, it has been a massive success. Their Twitter is simply @standamf follow them. Also, please look on their website http://www.standamf.com/ to find out more on how you could get involved, for more news about the movement, and to buy the magazine yourself. Considering the prices we are forced to pay to watch our teams, £2 an issue isn't bad hey?

Thanks for reading my 1st proper post and I hope the standard gets better!

Cheers,

The Burnage Blue

This Is It

I'm starting this part out of boredom, curiosity, and to try and make sense of some of the thoughts going around my head.. I don't know whats going to be written so you definitely shouldn't. Expect mostly football, music, lifestyle, stupidly opinionated rants.. nothing too pretentious (hopefully).
Cheers,
Nick.
The Burnage blue