Better but not the Best The English Premier League continues to attract good and notable players from all over the world. The appeal, allure and general attractiveness of the game in England has served as a magnet for some of the world’s best players. Additionally, the money has generally been good since the Premier League was conceived and adopted in 1992. The huge television money and the “just” allocation to all Premiership sides have ensured that even the weakest teams can afford to sign quality players. The debate about the real quality of some signings over the years has been questioned by critics. In some cases, the incoming players haven’t justified their large transfer fees while in others, certain managers have acted irrationally and desperately concerning transfers. Despite the continuous inflow of talent into England, there exists a recurring issue of the very best players and their reluctance to come to England. The Premier League has produced and attracted some greats but more often than not, they always move abroad to achieve more. It’s almost as if they can’t reach the zenith of their careers in England. It is on record that Cristiano Ronaldo remains the only Premiership player to have won the FIFA Balon Dor. He left England barely six months after winning the award. It was the same case for Arsenal’s greatest player, Thierry Henry. He left North London for Barcelona to fully realize his own dreams. Gareth Bale recently started flirting with greatness and he has also decided that true greatness lies outside the British Isles. In recent seasons, the English teams have dominated the European game and they might have totally eclipsed all of Europe if not for the brilliance of FC Barcelona. The Catalans have won three UEFA Champions League titles in the past seven seasons and they have had to overcome English opposition on each occasion. Nevertheless, the efforts of the English sides seem to be anchored on team ethic and managerial astuteness rather than individual brilliance. Manchester United won the UEFA title in 1999 and the FIFA award went to Rivaldo at Barcelona; Liverpool won in 2005 but none of the Istanbul heroes was considered for the top prize as Ronaldinho claimed the award. More recently, Chelsea overcame all the odds to win the title in 2012 and yet none of their players was considered good enough to be short listed, not to talk of winning the award. Another vital statistic is the absence of the game’s biggest stars in England. The dominant players in the world since 1992 haven’t considered it necessary to play in England in order to justify their greatness. In fact, they have achieved legendary status inspite of not playing in England. In a few cases, they came to England when they were truly past their prime after achieving greatness in other European cities such as Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich and Turin. Marco Van Basten (1992), Baggio (1993), Romario ( 1994), Weah (1995), Ronaldo de Lima ( 1996,1997 & 2002), Zidane ( 1998, 2000 & 2003), Rivaldo ( 1999), Figo ( 2001), Ronaldinho ( 2004 & 2005), Fabio Cannavaro ( 2006), Kaka ( 2007) and the current best player on the planet Lionel Messi ( 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) have not bothered to come to England to prove their abilities. Several other wonderful players like Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Samuel Eto’o, Raul Gonzalez, Paolo Maldini, Davor Suker, Gabriel Batistuta, Miroslav Klose, Inzaghi, Roberto Carlos, Daniel Alves, Javier Zanetti, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Ribery, Pavel Nedved and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have also established their undeniable abilities without coming to England. The English game remains the most viewed, viable and entertaining league in the world but based on the above reasons, it certainly doesn’t have the very best players. Connect on Twitter….. @fansturf
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 19:39:38 +0000
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