Soccer Portal

The recent events surrounding the death of Gary Speed were tragic, it is not for us to surmise what happened in his life to bring it to such an untimely and unfortunate end, but the whole affair is sad for football fans everywhere.  Many tributes were paid at the time, phrases such as, ‘model professional’, ‘consummate professional’, and from Sir Alex Ferguson, ‘true and honest professional’.  There is a constant theme, in the eyes of all who knew, played and worked with him, Speed was someone to be held in the highest esteem.

‘Model professionals’, how many of today’s players are worthy of that description?  These types of men are stand out players, those who inspire team-mates and give younger members of the squad something to aspire to.  They are the ones who provide a ‘role model’ to thousands of youngsters around the world so there is a lot of responsibility placed on sometimes young shoulders.  Onerous as it may be, it is a critical part of being a professional footballer, the world is a small place with global communication, people watch your every move including your off field activities.

As well as the stories of the majority of players involved in charity work, community projects and other good causes, there are also regular mentions of indiscretions and misdemeanours by players.  The drinking and gambling culture of yesteryear seems to have gone in the main; however there are still sex scandals, assaults, drink drive arrests, and players in the news for all the wrong reasons.  Players have far too much spare time, (and money), is the cry, but has the modern game created a beast in the wrong doers or is it a general decline in Society’s standards?  There are a lot of unsung heroes who when reaching the limelight are tremendous ambassadors for the game and fortunately, the players who attract negative headlines are in the minority.  Like it or not though, footballers are held to a higher standard as a focal point of the sport and as such wield much influence.

‘Galacticos’, or Mercenaries?

‘Galacticos', I am including all, ‘Superstars’, not just the top players at Real Madrid.  To stay with Madrid though, Cristiano Ronaldo has set La Liga alight since his arrival from Manchester United, scoring a club record 53 goals in 2010-2011, and vying with Lionel Messi as the best player on the planet.  Ronaldo apparently became the best paid footballer in the world when he left England for Spain; the £80 million offered to Manchester United was too tempting for the Premier League club to resist and a new ‘Galactico’ was born.  Both he and Messi are held in the highest regard and spoken about whenever there is a discussion about the top players globally.  They are the flair players, they are the most famous players in the world, when Ronaldo winked as Rooney was getting sent off against Portugal at the 2006 World Cup, the United fans were torn in their loyalty and millions of people had an opinion about him.  Rooney said at the time, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but am disappointed he chose to get involved."  The fans probably thought the same thing; Ronaldo was to last 3 more years at Old Trafford before seizing the opportunity to move to Spain.  The,’Merry Go Round‘, of years gone by of star players moving between the top clubs in Europe for record amounts seems to have diminished, recent times have seen an influx of foreign players into the cash rich Premier League.

The magician from Argentina

Messi is a different kettle of fish from Ronaldo, moving to Europe with his family when he was 13 years old; Barcelona was his first club in the mainstream of European football.  He progressed through the junior ranks at the Camp Nou and made his full debut at 17.  A true, ‘Superstar’, who along with David Beckham and Ronaldo; is probably one of the most famous footballers in the World, has helped Barcelona to numerous titles and honours.  He found time in 2007 to set up the Leo Messi Foundation to support access to education and healthcare for vulnerable children and in 2010 was appointed a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.  Look no further for a role model you would be happy for your kids to take after.

The Etihad Project

A variety of top players have made the journey across Europe to Manchester where City have assembled a squad anyone would be proud of.  The question is, are they here for the glory or the cash?  When the, ‘project’, started, Robinho arrived to an apparently huge pay packet in a fanfare of trumpets signalling the beginning of a new era.  He had a good first season then fell off during the second year.  He fell down the pecking order and stated that as he wanted game time in the World Cup year of 2010, he needed to move away.  He hadn’t spent that long at the club and chose a different option than to work hard, win his place back and cement his place in the hearts of the fans, how many replica shirts were consigned to dish cloth duties as a result?

Carlos Tevez – enigmatic genius or whinger?

No football fan needs a potted history of Tevez’s career in England.  Suffice to say it has been a catalogue of fantastic play including the scoring of some great goals, against what could be seen as posturing, money grabbing and aggravation.  He has recently been dealt with at an internal disciplinary hearing at Manchester City, where he was found to have committed breaches of contract resulting in a fine and suspension.  The love affair seems to have ended, and his future has been in doubt ever since.  Not a good end to his, ‘illustrious’ career in the North West, no doubting he is a great player, he does however seem to attract a lot of negative publicity and media attention for non footballing reasons.

The current crop of players at Manchester City have gelled and are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, recent elimination from the Champions League may be seen as just an irritant for the owners at the moment.  Next season will be the acid test for the squad to hit the heights again both domestically and additionally European wide for the investment to continue towards the goal of scooping the biggest prize in club football.

One Club Servants

The record for most appearances for one club sits with John Trollope for Swindon. 770 games between 1960 and 1980; he was awarded the MBE to cap his football career.  There is one player still going at the moment, Ryan Giggs OBE.  600 plus appearances over a 20 year period for Manchester United, his personal copybook was blotted by the news about the super-injunction and subsequent revelations about his private life.  Role model for youngsters?  On the pitch; a fantastic servant for club and country; off the pitch, up for debate.

There is a list of players across Europe who fall into the, ‘long servants’, category.  Raul at Real Madrid, (until his final flourish at Schalke), Carlos Puyol at Barcelona, and Francesco Totti at Roma.  Domestic titles, Champions League and World Cup winners among them, all great players in their own right, the more cynical among us would say it is easier to stay at a successful club.  As a counter argument, I remember Matt Le Tissier before he was a pundit, a loyal servant at Southampton, one of the most gifted midfielders of his generation.  Speculation was always rife that he was wanted by the bigger, more successful clubs; he chose to stay on the South Coast where he won no major club trophies and gained only 8 England caps.  It was obviously not the promise of honours that kept him there, he could have moved to one of the more high profile clubs to win things or gain more international caps.  He chose not to and achieved hero status.  That is what you call loyalty; no wonder the Saints fans called him, ‘Le God’.

I have just picked out just a few; all fans will have their memories of such players for their favourite clubs.  Has the era of such loyalty and long service passed us by?

Leaders of men

Every team needs a strong captain.  The person who drives the team on and leads by example, thereby taking the philosophy of great managers across the white line on to the field.  A classic example is Manchester United since the mid 80’s.  A procession of  Captain Fantastic’s, Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, and Nemanja Vidic.  The club achieved a record breaking 19th title last year, 12 of these have been since the inception of the Premier League in 1992-1993, and 7 out of their 11 FA Cup wins have come during this period of leadership by some of the greatest players in their, (or anyone else’s), history.

There are others, Steven Gerrard, John Terry and others too numerous to mention.  It is no coincidence that Tottenham are up there challenging this year after the addition of Scott Parker last summer.  Harry Redknapp discussed new players with the club chairman during the transfer window telling him, “Scott Parker is what we need at this football club. He'll make a difference to this club and this team."  Jermaine Defoe recently stated that Parker is the type of player the club have needed for years, it’s not just youngsters who admire footballers, fellow professionals do to.

Parker himself recently stated, “I am more than happy to do whatever I can to help the team win. If that means me and the two centre-halves trying to defend, while the two full-backs attack, it might not be ideal, but we do what we have to do.”  No airs, no graces, just a top man doing a great job.

It’s all about Attitude

Compare the comments and general attitude of Scott Parker with Nicklas Bendtner the Arsenal striker currently on loan at Sunderland.  His views angered many people early in the year when he said, “The biggest thing I miss because of football is that I really, really love to go on a skiing holiday but as long as I have my career, I can’t do that because of the risk of being injured.”  This was one way of justifying the huge wages he and lots of fellow professionals get for playing the game they love.  Sympathy for the sacrifices he has to make, I don’t think so, come on Mr Bendtner, get in the real world.

So there you see the difference in the attitude of footballers.  Luckily, the likes of Robinho, Tevez and Bendtner, (and others), are outweighed by the sheer number of hard working professionals who although not the flamboyant skill player, love the game they play, make a massive contribution to their team’s efforts and performances, and are a credit to the industry.  You still see youngsters, (and grown ups of all shapes and sizes), wearing shirts with their favourite player’s name on the back.  With all the trials and tribulations affecting some of today’s players, there is still room for good old fashioned hero worship.  It keeps the sport alive and bearing the mantle, The Greatest Game in the World.’