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