Watching the Champions League Final, from a British perspective, it was hard to deny a sense of patriotic pride in seeing Gareth Bale stretch every sinew of his neck to head in Angel Di Maria’s deflected shot, then to pull away and sprint towards the cheering Real fans. Bale, the one-hundred-million-man, had done in one season what many thought would take him a whole career to achieve in cementing himself as a Real Madrid legend. At the heart of the decisive goals in both the Champions League Final and the Copa Del Rey Final – in which he ran half the length of the pitch, around Marc Bartra, to poke the ball into the Barcelona net (a feat which earned him the nickname ‘Gareth Bolt’) – the Welshman has become arguably the most successful Brit to ever wear the all-white of Madrid
From his humble beginnings as a left-back for Southampton, Bale earned himself a transfer to Tottenham after snubbing both Manchester United and Arsenal in favour of what he thought would result in more game time. However, Tottenham, then under Juande Ramos, struggled for form and Bale was left out of the side for the majority of the season. It was Harry Redknapp who gave him his chance though, for which Bale rewarded his manager with sterling performances in Europe. Last season, the Welsh starlet’s progression was so fast that he had quickly and obviously outgrown Tottenham, who had themselves previously let go of Rafael Van Der Vaart and Luka Modric already. A move to Real Madrid was on the cards and the only question afterwards was for how much Tottenham would sell for.
With this in mind, we might look at Bale as an anomaly – a player destined for far greater than most – in a league of British players that do not tend to move to the continent. Though, the question must be asked as to why this does not happen more often. Notably, since the turn of the 21 Century, Michael Owen and David Beckham have both played for Real Madrid (the latter having also played for AC Milan and Paris Saint Germain), though these two players could also join Bale in category of exceptional players who outgrow their former club and make a move to the Spanish Giants. Joey Barton and Joe Cole have both had successful spells in French football, while Jermaine Pennant had a short and unflattering spell with Real Zaragoza. Though, these players have since been mentioned nowhere near the England international squad and therefore, could ultimately be said to have backfired. Aiden McGeady could be held up as the only good, but not world-class, footballer to have made a successful move abroad and still be considered for his national side.
There seems to be a fear for British players to make a move away. For one reason, it could be that they believe they will fall from the radar of their international manager. Some may suggest that mid-table clubs in the Premier League pay better than the mid-table clubs of European leagues. However, I would suggest that those very same mid-table clubs in leagues such as the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and La Liga simply cannot offer the sort of competitive football that we, as Brits, are so used to and that that is why our home-grown talent does not look to express itself in foreign leagues.
Serie A – with clubs such as Fiorentina, Lazio, Napoli, Roma, Inter and AC Milan battling it out for European places – might suggest that they have a similarly competitive platform to the English league, but Juventus have walked away with the Italian title for the past three years in a row. Yes, players may learn a great deal from playing in any of the above teams in Italy and in turn improve the pedigree of our national side. But from a players perspective, unless they play for Juventus then they might as well play for Tottenham, Everton, Liverpool or Arsenal. Players such as Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have all been tempted by moves away, but have all stayed due to the performance of their club in Europe.
The answer is that, unless a player is as talented as Gareth Bale and plays for a side with no prospect of winning the Premier League, they simply will not move abroad, no matter how much we might like to see them succeed.
The post Why more Players Don’t Do a Bale appeared first on Live4Soccer Blog - Football News, Views and Opinions.
