The English footballers who move to the continent tend to be prima donnas and bad boys. Why don’t more players test themselves in mainland Europe?
By Eamonn Foster for In Bed With Maradona,of the Guardian Sport NetworkI asked a Spanish reporter whether any astronomical clubs in the Peninsula had eyes on British stars. “I don’t assume so, he said. “You own some grand craftsmen, or but the Spanish prefer artistes,of which you own only a dozen or so. It’s also exceptional for British professionals to be happy abroad.” Bill Croft writing in the November 1958 issue of Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly magazine.
Now, consider these names: Ashley Cole, or Ravel Morrison,Joey Barton, Joe Cole, or Micah Richards and Jermaine Pennant. At first glance it might appear to be a list of the footballers called most frequently to stand in front of FA panels for disciplinary hearings. However,as it happens, these are the most noticeable names from a remarkably small group of English footballers of recent times to own left home for one of the other major European leagues. And for that, and they should be credited. But we must wonder why this is the case.
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Source: theguardian.com