The Double Standard of English Football
By: Corey | June 18th, 2008For awhile now we have been hearing about how Real Madrid is using all avenues possible, whether legitimate or not, to lure Cristiano Ronaldo form Manchester United. And we have also heard of the backlash from the Manchester United camp of Real being less the honorable business men. But the truth is Real has made no official approach for Ronaldo and have not contacted his agent about a move either. Any other information about a proposed offer is all heresay that the Spanish press drums up to sell papers, while the furor that Sir Alex Ferguson has to report Real to FIFA has been unsubstantiated as FIFA have declined to intervene citing a lack of evidence for any wrong doing.
Ramon Calderon has been incensed by the accusations leveled at his club, and he has denied any wrong doing vehemently. The fact that no official evidence has been presented to Calderon to show wrongdoing by the club says alot for his ability to deny these charges. With the English press so quick to villafy any team on the continent that wants to poach a player from the EPL, Real Madrid has suddenly been shed in a negative light once again, which is unfair and sadly misplaced. While I do not deny that many of the Spanish press have had a hand in using propoganda and twisting words to lure Ronaldo to Spain, Real as a club has yet to be identified with any wrong doing.
Recently Manchester United made a move that no one expected and that no one liked in Italy. Little was made of this ‘theft’ by Manchester United in the press because it is certainly not helping their case against defaming Real Madrid. They signed Roma prospect Davide Petrucci, who I have seen play in Roma’s junior division in vidoes and was very impressive. Now he will play for MU after a measly 200,000 euro trasnaction took place because the 15 year old boy was not under contract yet. Now while I do not deny that Real Madrid has poached a few youngsters themselves, it makes you wonder how Manchester United have a leg to stand on in this Ronaldo debate.
Bruno Conti, Roma’s technical director, had this to say about the matter:
“They complain about Ronaldo and then did the same thing with David,” an absolutely seething Conti told the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“His father Stefano has disappointed me. I will not be told any more lies. As for the boy, I wish him all the best in the world.”
So while MU fans and staff complain about Real’s aledged efforts to sign Ronaldo, MU goes right ahead and does a similar type move to what Real is being accussed of, and in some cases even worse because they got a player with great potential for peanuts. Although the scale is much different between a 15 year old prospect and a 23 year super star (although he is unproven to most of the world as of yet), the principle is still the same. “Do as I say but not as I do” should certainly not be what a club like Manchester United practice if they are going to attack other clubs for being interested in their players.
As a caviate I would also like to say that I dislike how Premiership clubs are operating with regards to stealing young talent from Spain’s youth academies. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and MU are all very guilty of robbin talent from many a Spanish team, and the latest bit of news is that 3 Atletico Madrid prospects are targets for the four teams. All are u-17 players, and I doubt they have contracts as of yet, so they will be slim pickings for the EPL clubs. Develop your own talent, oh I dont know, maybe English players, seeing as how your team cant even qualify for a major tournament anymore!
Category: Editorial/Opinion
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Comments
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How is offering a developing player a deal to play for Man. United equal to undermining a legally binding document like Ronaldo has?
I’d rather see Man. United develop English players but I really don’t see the problem with offering foregin players deals as well. I mean, there’s nothing stopping European teams from offering deals to English youth either. Also, at this point shouldn’t nationalism be thrown out the window? Nobody’s complaining about the number of dudes in the NBA from Europe are they?
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United States
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It has nothing to do with nationalism, its the fact that MU will avoid paying a hefty transfer fee for a player that will most likely develop into a great player. And it draws parallels with the Ronaldo situation because while Manchester United complains about Real using underhanded tactics to secure a player, they go and do the same with a 15 year old! ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ seems to be the motto of MU, as they cannot at one point complain about something that they participate in themselves, the hypocricy is awful.
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United States -
yeah! fuck manchester, hey fucken steal young players and the press does not say shit… they are unethical sons of a bich! where have all the good people gone…
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El Salvador -
I don’t think it is an English problem so much as it is a ManU problem. They stole Hargreaves from Bayern last year but of course they complain when one of their players might sign elsewhere.
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United States -
uhh the kid was allowed to transfer because he asked Roma if they would offer him a contract when he turned 17 and they didn’t give a definate yes. In going to Manchester, he was just trying to ensure a future for himself and as a bonus his dad was given a job as a groundsman. Manchester United just jumped when Roma failed to do so, now if Roma had said yea they would offer him a contract, only then would it be the same as Madrid and Ronaldo.
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United States -
Roma did offer him a contract elle, the same type of contract as every other youth player at Roma is offered because being 15, even with supreme potential, he is still just one of many young prodigies in their cantera. Are we at a point in football were 15 year olds can begin holding out for better contracts and such?
Manchester United offered him a much more lucrative deal and Roma would not match that because they dont believe in getting into specialized contracts and higher wages for 15 year olds. MU was cut throat in its dealing as Roma does not have money to spend on 15 year olds (or the groundskeeper job for his father pffff), and signed him for a measly 200,000 euros right under Roma’s nose. The fact is, teams should not have to sign their best 15 year olds to high paying, long term contracts to protect agaisnt foreign teams stealing them away.
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United States -
The way I see it, United offered a contract and Petrucci jumped at the chance because Roma was wavering, simple as that.
I’d have to build a flowchart timeline of all the shit that Real has done trying to unsettle Ronaldo, which has clearly worked.
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United States -
I’d love to see a flowchart timeline like that. Meanwhile also make one for the Owen Hargreaves case, if you could. Also, i’d appreciate if you could research a little on Jaap Stam and write about him, i really would love to know more about his career. I’m sadly ignorant about it.
On as separate topic altogether, i wonder why Rooney joined Man U. Oh yes, it was a natural progression for him as it was a larger club, he felt it had a greater history and he could achieve more than with Everton. Man U had no hand in the transfer whatsoever, it was all Rooney. I really feel I should respect his opinions whether i agree with them or not.
But with Ronaldo, it’s a totally different case. Who cares what he has done for Man Utd, he should have no opinion of his own. We should force him to stay no matter what he wants. We know what’s best for him!! Stupid irritating Real is using unprecedented arrogant tactics which i’ve never ever seen used before anywhere and unsettling him. How abominable and despicable!!Posted from
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Hahah Nihit exactly. The fact of the matter is no one denies Real has used some pressure in the past to get a target, it is the way of the big European club. But what bothers me is 1. The things claimed to have been done by Real were not and 2. MU is infallable in their transfer dealings.
Horse shit nobobomo. They also offered his deadbeat father a job and they offered to pay for Petrucci to fly back to Italy whenever he wanted. Thats more then just a simple youth contract.
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United States -
If United has done all that then fair play to you guys, but it’s still not the same. Honestly if United waited until they could outspend Roma for his professional signature, they would just give a titanic contract so big that his dad wouldn’t have to work period, let alone get a groundskeeper job for United. I think that gets filed under “it is the way of the big European club” doesn’t it?
Regardless, Petrucci got offered some terms, then accepted them. United got a bid from Real for Ronaldo, and said “No”. Then Real unleashed a constant stream of media aimed at unsettling him until we got to where we are now. See the difference?
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United States -
Well put Nihit. They do the exact same thing in stealing players from other “smaller clubs” but when it comes to one of their own they get all up in arms about it and call it “under-hand tactics”
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United States -
Look this happens all the time. ManU is no saint with Hargreaves, Jaap Stam and RVN to name a few. There are guidelines in Italy and Spain about professional contracts and what can be offered. I hope UEFA modifies the rules and makes it a more even playing field so that the youth are not stolen by the clubs with more money. I feel sorry for the kid, cuz I don’t think he will get a chance at United. If he would have stayed at Roma, he would have had more of a chance. But that’s football.
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United States -
thats where your wrong, Real did not release any media. Besides comments like “he is a good player but he is not for sale” or “I like him but I cant have him”, there was nothing from Real. A bunch of true statements does not mean Real is trying to persuade Ronaldo to come here. Any “media blitz” you were told of by the British press to persuade Ronaldo to come to Spain was all drummed up by Marca, AS, Sport etc. for the sake of selling newspapers, while the British press drummed up the “illegalness” of the approach to sell newspapers. Its a vicious business but people must seperate clubs from unsubstantiated rumors.
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United States -
I am not defending ManUtd or Real here..both clubs are wrong…but to compare these two cases is like comparing apples and oranges..both are fruits but not the same one…Everyone knows that English clubs have an advantage over Spanish and Italian clubs because of the rules there…ManUtd are just using that fact…don’t blame them ..blame UEFA or Europe laws…but in the Ronaldo matter you gotta admit Corey..Marca and AS are Real Madrid…I hope their main offices are not in the Bernabeau!
..give Manchester 100 million pounds they’ll take it ..as Manchester gave 30 million for Rooney (Nihit) ..end of storyPosted from
United States -
Now that the tournament is over for Mr. Ronaldo, the speculation may finally be settled.
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United States -
I’m surprised no one mentioned Spanish law in this: the reason EPL teams are able to sign young Spanish players (Cesc Fabregas is the perfect example) is that it’s legal for them to do so in England before they’re 17 while it’s not legal in Spain until they are 17. I don’t know if this is true in the Petrucci case because I don’t know about Italian sporting law, but I imagine it’s more similar to Spain’s than to England’s.
One way to solve most of these issues, including the Cronaldo case, is to disallow the buying and selling of contracts…I don’t necessarily think that the American system is better, but there is almost never a case where a club can be said to be “tapping up” a player here.
If Real wants Cronaldo, let them offer ManU a lot of money and then ManU can pout all they want about things being unfair because they’re going to lose Cronaldo to a club willing to pay him more. Blah blah, what a bunch of bullshit. Transfer fees are hardly important to the financial stability of clubs like ManU, so they should just chill out, have a conversation with Cronaldo about how he’s going to be staying put unless he wants to void his contract and end up owing the team a gazillion dollars and never being allowed to play in a FIFA-overseen competition again. Seems fairly simple, what with him being a professional athlete and all. Yet FIFA’s rules allow for all this stupid crap to happen because there are no salary caps to keep rich clubs from dominating poor clubs and no transfer caps. And in the modern age, you have to accept an €50million+ offer or you’re an idiot.
So I blame FIFA for all this because they aren’t willing to actually make laws that benefit the game and not the exG-14 clubs.
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United States -
Also, I agree with Mat that, like Sport and El Mundo Deportivo for Barcelona, Marca and AS are the club’s unofficial mouthpieces. I’d go so far as to say they’re far less independent than Sport and EMD — it’s been proven in the past that Marca editors call the Bernabeu to make sure they run the proper stories (that was some time ago, to be honest, like in the late 80s, if memory serves) and I would be very, very surprised if all the remnants of that sort of thing were gone (and for the record I don’t think there’s a Marca-Bernabeu direct line, just that the paper listens to the club rather than actually getting involved in journalistic endeavors)
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United States -
Thank you for the great editorial on the EPL. I’m a Liverpool fan, but don’t agree with big clubs who have their own academies, yet they poach other clubs’ kids. Now the defenders of these clubs always say it’s legal, but you are the ones just hungry for more trophies to brag about, you don’t care if the kid on the pitch is a United boy thru and thru. Danny Welbeck is the type of youth player you should want to see live the dream and make it to the 1st team, he’s a Manchester boy, but with signings like Tevez and possibly other big names bandied about like Benzema, that kid may not get the chance to shine. Build from within England, show the world you actually have talented English lads.
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United States -
Well we Real fans have the same feelings Gino, we see our academy products as some of the best in the world, and its often proven when they play in La Liga and are solid professionals. But they are often pushed out in favor of expensive imports or domestic revelations, which is not always the most financially sound thing to do but it is a very consistent and easy way to keep guarenteeing a certain degree of success. The game is globalized like most of the other sports in the US now, so an influx of foreigners shouldnt be a suprise.
Its also valid to point out that to many clubs these days have the burden of fans who expect them to win every game and thus the tought of throwing a Dani Parejo or Alberto Bueno on to the field for any game becomes a huge risk. And that is to bad, but thats what the commercilization has done to the game.
Posted from
United States
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