If anyone is destroying African football, it is African. I dont see what premiership has got to do with this.

I love premiereship and will continue to watch it, infact European football,

One thing most of us don't understand is that the EPL has paid their dues. They are not only the most popular league in Nigeria, but the whole world. Man U and Arsenal are amongst they most famous clubs in the world. If you ask most footballers especially in other parts of Europe, they wil tell u they wish to play in the prem. The EPL has pumped in millions in branding and development and are only reaping what they've sown. They werent lie this overnight.

I remember several years back it was Ajax that was the main team. Spanish and Seria A were the major leagues in the world; who thought about EPL ?

hollandis:

Premiership is so overrated because of the influence of the English press.The English press controls a world wide audience because they are simply ''english'' ,english being the most official language is not helping matters. We should ask ourselves [b]when last did england make it to the world cup semifinals or even lifted the UEFA cup?[/b]I think Its enough proof that the English league is poor.

If you witnessed the commentaries during the Nations cup, you will agree with me that ,the English commentators will protect everything English and the intergrity of their own,hence they went out of their way to support players like yakubu,Mikel,Kanu,Yobo and to a lesser extent Etuhu. Take the super eagles as a case example, the most celebrated players are non -premiership players ,Such names as Ikechukwu Uche(Spain),Obasi (Germany) and Osaze Odemwengie (Russia) just to mention a few.

Again during the Nations Cup,Shittu who himself is a premiership player ,proved that there are still many outstanding players in the premiership. By my analysis I am not in any way castigating players who play in the premiership,after all good players like Rooney and Giggs still play excellent football.My point is if a coach wants ''professional players'' and not ''local based players'' his eye must shift form the colourful and glamorous premiership to other league like spain and germany where excellent football is played.Afterall the much talked out premier players contributed to Nigeria's woeful outing at the concluded Nations Cup

EPL overrated ? Are you serious? If you have noticed, it was an English team that won the UCL two seasons ago. They were the finalist in 4 consecutive championship. In a season, two PL clubs were finalist and semi finalists.
English National Team is not a true reflectionof the prem. One of the reasons the EP clubs are the best in Europe is because they attract the best players all over the world,

Typical lazy post of the escapist African who sees everyone else as been responsible for his problems except himself? so many assumptions but little proven, an attempt to kill off a whole army of problems with a single silver bullet of an unproven hypothesis. A couple of questions for the poster:

1. Do all black sub saharan team consist only of players playing in the PL? please supply details of the Ivorian squad who I know to have a lot of players playing in the French league. Even our own team had players from Spain, Germany and France. Would you in the name of misplaced nationalism now enlarge the net of your hasty analysis to include these other leagues?

2. Must we play using these English PL players? if we really have developed our own leagues or youth system, shouldn't we be able to use local players as the Egyptians do (despite also using players in other leagues such as Zidan).

Your post has nothing to do with colonialism apart from that which exists in your imagination, it rather has more to do with a society of people unable to chart the best path for themselves by utilising the various synergies that exist within an increasingly globalised world where regional, national and ethnical barriers are increasingly being broken down and people are only interested in what serves up the "best" (depending on what your parameters are for defining what the best is).
Instead of always playing the victim card, it is time for Nigeria to learn how others have done it to synergise between their external exports and internal initiatives towards achieving success, the PL has come to stay, there is nothing anyone can do about it but I do recall Clemence Westerhof not using the likes of John Fashanu from the PL when he was the National coach. Nigerians should find out what works for them and stop complaining about what they have no control over, it is the easiest thing to do but the one that has no chance of resolving anything whatsoever.

^^^^ U av answered the poster!

We are the architect of our success or downfall as the case may be. What do you expect when we do not do what is right?
If the NFF or whichever body in charge does what is expected of them without sentiments and favoritism, then all our
complains will be no more. Let them get the right people to manage Nigerian football and you'll see the difference.

duduspace:

Typical lazy post of the escapist African who sees everyone else as been responsible for his problems except himself? so many assumptions but little proven, an attempt to kill off a whole army of problems with a single silver bullet of an unproven hypothesis. A couple of questions for the poster:

1. Do all black sub saharan team consist only of players playing in the PL? please supply details of the Ivorian squad who I know to have a lot of players playing in the French league. Even our own team had players from Spain, Germany and France. Would you in the name of misplaced nationalism now enlarge the net of your hasty analysis to include these other leagues?

2. Must we play using these English PL players? if we really have developed our own leagues or youth system, shouldn't we be able to use local players as the Egyptians do (despite also using players in other leagues such as Zidan).

Your post has nothing to do with colonialism apart from that which exists in your imagination, it rather has more to do with a society of people unable to chart the best path for themselves by utilising the various synergies that exist within an increasingly globalised world where regional, national and ethnical barriers are increasingly being broken down and people are only interested in what serves up the "best" (depending on what your parameters are for defining what the best is).
Instead of always playing the victim card, it is time for Nigeria to learn how others have done it to synergise between their external exports and internal initiatives towards achieving success, the PL has come to stay, there is nothing anyone can do about it but I do recall Clemence Westerhof not using the likes of John Fashanu from the PL when he was the National coach. Nigerians should find out what works for them and stop complaining about what they have no control over, it is the easiest thing to do but the one that has no chance of resolving anything whatsoever.

[size=13pt]I think it is important not to discard this very well-written analysis by the poster as shabby and superficial. The inference I'll draw from this is that the brand of football now peculiar to most Sub-saharan African Nations is modelled after the EPL irrespective of whether the players play there or not.

Each Nation then needs to look within and find what works best.

But then, again, not with a clueless coach and a bunch of hapless, overrated, egotistic, overpaid prima donnas.[/size]

[size=13pt]I think it is important not to discard this very well-written analysis by the poster as shabby and superficial. The inference I'll draw from this is that the brand of football now peculiar to most Sub-saharan African Nations is modelled after the EPL irrespective of whether the players play there or not.

Each Nation then needs to look within and find what works best.

But then, again, not with a clueless coach and a bunch of hapless, overrated, egotistic, overpaid prima donnas.[/size]
[quote][/quote]precise to the point.

Yes o,they destroy african football.

Yes o,they destroy african football.

@the poster

elegant,well articulated analysis devoid of any prejudice and fanatical jingoism!u are welcome to the Nigerian Football Analysis Hall of Fame.

Kudos!!!

duduspace:

Typical lazy post of the escapist African who sees everyone else as been responsible for his problems except himself? so many assumptions but little proven, an attempt to kill off a whole army of problems with a single silver bullet of an unproven hypothesis. A couple of questions for the poster:

1. Do all black sub saharan team consist only of players playing in the PL? please supply details of the Ivorian squad who I know to have a lot of players playing in the French league. Even our own team had players from Spain, Germany and France. Would you in the name of misplaced nationalism now enlarge the net of your hasty analysis to include these other leagues?

2. Must we play using these English PL players? if we really have developed our own leagues or youth system, shouldn't we be able to use local players as the Egyptians do (despite also using players in other leagues such as Zidan).

Your post has nothing to do with colonialism apart from that which exists in your imagination, it rather has more to do with a society of people unable to chart the best path for themselves by utilising the various synergies that exist within an increasingly globalised world where regional, national and ethnical barriers are increasingly being broken down and people are only interested in what serves up the "best" (depending on what your parameters are for defining what the best is).
Instead of always playing the victim card, it is time for Nigeria to learn how others have done it to synergise between their external exports and internal initiatives towards achieving success, the PL has come to stay, there is nothing anyone can do about it but I do recall Clemence Westerhof not using the likes of John Fashanu from the PL when he was the National coach. Nigerians should find out what works for them and stop complaining about what they have no control over, it is the easiest thing to do but the one that has no chance of resolving anything whatsoever.

im not too sure u read the analysis with open mind but u read hastily with bias.please sit down once again and read constructively before posting next time,ok?
thanks!

@poster, The English Premier League should not be blamed for the problems besieging African football.  Mates, I did not watch 95% of the matches of the just concluded African Nations Cup. I'm also disheartened that Egypt lifted the trophy once more So none of the six nations that will represent Africa at the World Cup could win the tournament? There is someting seriously wrong with African footie and the English Premier League should be left out of this. I'm going to be very specific, so I will talk about the sad state of Nigerian football.

The Age Factor: Most of our players are too old for comfort. I have always said that we need to go back to the drawing board to unearth very young talents and develop them for the future. The problem with Nigerian football is systemic. We have been fielding overaged players in our U-17 and U-20 squads for a long time. Has our deceitfulness really helped us? When these players get to Europe, they fizzle out after one or two seasons. Some of them manage to shine for a couple of years, but age soon catches up with them. Tell me, where are the likes of Peter Anosike [ prolific scorer at Japan 1993 ], Blessing Anyanwu [ Solid defender, Japan 1993 ], Gbenga Okunowo, Femi Opabunmi, Soga Sambo, Victor Brown, Temile Omonigho etc etc. We need to go back and relaunch the Principals Cup which draws footballing talent from our secondary schools. There are a lot of gifted players rotting away in our secondary schools. Our football clubs should also start recruiting players right from the secondary school. While I was in secondary school, I used to watch my school play against other secondary school football teams during the Aionian Games [ Schools like Abeokuta Grammar School, Remo Secondary School, Ibadan Grammar School, Victory College, Ikare, etc. ] and I saw a lot of talent on display. Why is it so hard for us to revive the principals cup and draw players from there for the U-17 and U-20 national teams?

Lack of commitment and Dedication on the part of our players: Most of the players in the present Super Chickens squad are not really committed to the cause of Nigeria. They value their clubs than playing for Nigeria. I will always single out Osaze Odemwingie for his absolute dedication when he's playing for Nigeria. Daniel Shittu is also dedicated to an extent. This present bunch of Eagles players lack the fighting spirit that we saw when the likes of Uche Okechukwu, Ben Iroha, Rasheed Yekini, Samson Siasia, Thomson Oliha, Friday Elahor, Moses Kpakor et al were playing for Nigeria. Then you'll see the likes of Ben Iroha coming from the defence to score goals. The 1994 Eagles Squad was also fitter and very technical. I've also observed that most of them have been quite very successful after ending their soccer careers.

Employing visionless and Technically Deficient Coaches: After Bonfrere Jo, we have not employed a coach or technical adviser that is worth talking about.  I know the blind guys at the Glass House in Abuja have a lot to contribute to this. Samson Siasia and Sunday Oliseh are two coaches that can achieve something if they coach the Super Eagles, but I know the NFF will not employ them because of their outspokeness and defiant stand on issues. The future of the Super Eagles looks very gloomy. We need to get a coach [ I feel we should emply a white coach who will do things his own way ] that will discover players from the grassroots and in the Nigerian league.  This coach will manage the Super Eagles and also act as a technical adviser to all the other National teams. I'm really thinking of Guus Hiddink or Jurgen Klinnsmann for this job.

Inept Nigerian Football Federation:  Seriously, I think we need to get rid of those guys at the Glass House. They are dragging Nigerian footie backwards all the time. We need to put people like Segun Odegabami, Mutiu Adepoju, Kojo Williams, Waidi Akanni, Mumuni Alao etc in charge of our football administration. There is too much corruption going on in the NFF and people are just there to make money. With what the former governor of Abia State [ Orji Uzor Kalu ] achieved with Enyimba FC of Aba, he should be on the board of the NFF He won't be going to the glass house to look for money because he's already made. Kalu just has a passion for football and he should be encouraged to fight for the chairmanship of the Nigerian Football Federation. We need to take drastic steps towards sanitizing the glass house. Cheers.

Tapping Into The Talent of The Nigerian Diaspora: We have a lot of teenagers in Europe and North America with Nigerian origin. They might not have been to Nigeria before but they've got Nigerian parents or one of their parents is Nigerian. Some of these youngsters are gifted and are being featured in the local newspapers daily. Some of them are still very young and are playing in the U -12, U-10 groups in the community leagues. Many of them will never play for the country of birth. We need to discover these talented kids and groom them for the Nigerian national team. One of them Stefano Chuka Okaka, who was born in Italy and has played for the Italian U-20 team has by signed by Fulham FC in the English Premiership. There are many like him in different parts of Europe who lie undiscovered. We need to find them and give them a chance to play for Nigeria.

We need practical solutions to move Nigerian footie forward and not mere talk. Cheers.

@ poster

An excellent analysis which I feel needs to be pondered on as a wholisitc approach to an overhaul of Nigerian and indeed African football.

Our football heroes past were very well groomed in our local leagues and developed their skills to the extent as to be appreciated by European league without having to sell their God given talnets for the almighty Pound a la giving up the "African flare".

It saddens me when I see boys in lagos running around talking about Man U and the likes,though I understand the reason it really isn't helping

@ poster: You've got a strong point. I won't entirely blame the EPL for African football woes but i must admit, it has contributed to the problems African football suffers.

For one, a look at most African teams now would tell you a bit of the painful truth. The players that are fielded are not necessarily the best but those playing abroad and one does not need a prophet to tell that most well known African players, play in the EPL. Take a look at Egypt. 95% of their first team play not just in Egypt, but in Al Alhy. It would not be surprising that they are the best in Africa given that they all understand each other and they all play the same style. That's why they've been won the Nations cup. Let's turn heads and look at Nigeria's team: Yakubu, Shittu, Yobo, Mikel, Olofinjana and Etuhu all play in the EPL. Osaze plays in Russia, Kalu Uche and Nsofor in Spain, Taiye taiwo in France, Enyeama in Israel, different leagues with different styles of play: how does on expect them to form a synergy with so much difference?

Someone said old players are the bane of African football. I partly disagree. AC Milan's Last Victory in the UEFA Champions league came courtesy of a good number of old players. Italy's last world cup team featured a team that had it's average age at 31. Yet they won the world cup. If those old players could find a style of play that suits them, the youngest of teams will not defeat them, i tell you.

I'm an avid watcher of the Italian Serie A. I support an Italian club. I watch the league not because they spend too much money selling it to the world (cos they don't) but because tactically, they are probably the best league in Europe. And that was what made African football good to watch in the days gone by; great tactics. Not physical, run-and-shoot football or cross and nod game but a tactical game in which the game was not won by speed and muscle alone but by the power of the mind. So the person that has said that footbal has changed and the tactical style should be discarded should re examine his opinion. Why is the English national team crap? Everyone knows that once upon a time, England were one of the top challengers for the world cup but now they've fallen behing the likes of Brazil and Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and even Mexico and the Czech republic. IMO the united states played better football in the last confed cup than England did in the world cup qualifiers.

As for Nigerian league being about politics, well that's partly our fault. We left things to deteriorate to this extent without doing anything. How many of us have made concerted attempts to raise Nigerian football to a higher level. We have abandoned it to its fate and prefer to watch foreign leagues to the detriment of our local leagues. Yet we complain that the league is dry and not well packaged and all that.

Both sides have a point. The EPL (and pretty much Europen football) has a hand in African football's demise. The rest of the blame goes to us.

@poster: I love ur analysis. If half the total number of Nigerians could analyse like you do, I don't think we would be in the mess we're in now. More grease to your elbow.

Typical lazy post of the escapist African who sees everyone else as been responsible for his problems except himself? so many assumptions but little proven, an attempt to kill off a whole army of problems with a single silver bullet of an unproven hypothesis. A couple of questions for the poster:

1. Do all black sub saharan team consist only of players playing in the PL? please supply details of the Ivorian squad who I know to have a lot of players playing in the French league. Even our own team had players from Spain, Germany and France. Would you in the name of misplaced nationalism now enlarge the net of your hasty analysis to include these other leagues?

2. Must we play using these English PL players? if we really have developed our own leagues or youth system, shouldn't we be able to use local players as the Egyptians do (despite also using players in other leagues such as Zidan).

Your post has nothing to do with colonialism apart from that which exists in your imagination, it rather has more to do with a society of people unable to chart the best path for themselves by utilising the various synergies that exist within an increasingly globalised world where regional, national and ethnical barriers are increasingly being broken down and people are only interested in what serves up the "best" (depending on what your parameters are for defining what the best is).
Instead of always playing the victim card, it is time for Nigeria to learn how others have done it to synergise between their external exports and internal initiatives towards achieving success, the PL has come to stay, there is nothing anyone can do about it but I do recall Clemence Westerhof not using the likes of John Fashanu from the PL when he was the National coach. Nigerians should find out what works for them and stop complaining about what they have no control over, it is the easiest thing to do but the one that has no chance of resolving anything whatsoever.

I'm not sure you read beyond the title. Please go over the post again with a bit more patience

For one, a look at most African teams now would tell you a bit of the painful truth. The players that are fielded are not necessarily the best but those playing abroad and one does not need a prophet to tell that most well known African players, play in the EPL. Take a look at Egypt. 95% of their first team play not just in Egypt, but in Al Alhy. It would not be surprising that they are the best in Africa given that they all understand each other and they all play the same style. That's why they've been won the Nations cup. Let's turn heads and look at Nigeria's team: Yakubu, Shittu, Yobo, Mikel, Olofinjana and Etuhu all play in the EPL. Osaze plays in Russia, Kalu Uche and Nsofor in Spain, Taiye taiwo in France, Enyeama in Israel, different leagues with different styles of play: how does on expect them to form a synergy with so much difference?

Someone said old players are the bane of African football. I partly disagree. AC Milan's Last Victory in the UEFA Champions league came courtesy of a good number of old players. Italy's last world cup team featured a team that had it's average age at 31. Yet they won the world cup. If those old players could find a style of play that suits them, the youngest of teams will not defeat them, i tell you.

It doesn’t matter where they play, because Egypt has one the last 3 cups only means that they have a strong league and prepare well for a tournament, that’s it, Tunisia won in 2004 most of their players play in France, Belgium and Switzerland ok they had some home base players as well coupled with the 3 Brazilian who became Arabs overnight. Cameroun and Senegal the 4 years before that had all their players from Europe! So what's the problem AGE AGE AGE,  The AC Milan team that won the Champions League in 2007 concentrated only on winning in Europe that year because they knew they wouldn’t win it that’s why they rested all their players in the game prior to the game in Europe! Italy winning world, the team was matured enough to win and average age of 31 was the German team that won Euro 96, the same with the Greek team that won Euro 2004 the key here is that they have been together for a long time the average age of the Nigerian team would around the 40 years old mark!!! Who turns up at the training camp some days before a game, hardly playing for their clubs, having women in the team hotels before the games, I honestly believe Nigeria qualifying for this years world cup is doing more harm than good, because I believe Nigeria should be in the wilderness (cold turkey) then go back to and start from the grass root.

Harsh but in reality I saw Yakubu strolling around in Angola something he wouldn’t dare to do under David Moyes, Mikel Obi as well taking freekicks., and Kanu if am correct he was in the same group as Kliveurt, Seedof, Edgar David, the De Boer brothers Overmars etc I cant remember any of these players still in the international scene but Nigeria still holding unto deadwoods

Your post has nothing to do with colonialism apart from that which exists in your imagination, it rather has more to do with a society of people unable to chart the best path for themselves by utilising the various synergies that exist within an increasingly globalised world where regional, national and ethnical barriers are increasingly being broken down and people are only interested in what serves up the "best" (depending on what your parameters are for defining what the best is).

exactly!

when last did you went to see Nigerian League?

The point is EPL has destroyed whatever remains of Nigeria League and Nigerians fully supported this without understanding the impact of
globalisation.

The truth ONLY Nigerians can develop Nigeria League by proctecting what they have!

morpheus24:

@ poster

An excellent analysis which I feel needs to be pondered on as a wholisitc approach to an overhaul of Nigerian and indeed African football.

Our football heroes past were very well groomed in our local leagues and developed their skills to the extent as to be appreciated by European league without having to sell their God given talnets for the almighty Pound a la giving up the "African flare".

It saddens me when I see boys in lagos running around talking about Man U and the likes,though I understand the reason it really isn't helping

You have a point, but also notice that the Premiership has also
destroyed the soccer potential of young
English boys!!! lol! Look @ the premiership clubs, how
many english players do you see and
anyway the Premiership has been feeding some families and extended
families in Nigeria!!! We need more Nigerian's in the English
Premiership GO GET THAT POUND STERLING JO!!!

My friend. l stopped supporting Man United for this same reason. Finally, someon who understand the ins and outs of football. The more Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea fans we get in Nigeria, the more English football dominates our offices, the worse it will get for us.

ok, how do i start



-african football is based on possession and ball control, the truth is that that is the opposite of the premier league. thats why countries like spain and italy hardly call-up guys playing over there. they prefer peeps in their league

-as redman has pointed out (something i posted on another topic) we need to start looking for players of nigerian origin that were not born here. these guys are young (cos we will know their real age) and most of them are technically groomed from kindergarten and they will display that professionalism that is needed (osazie,shittu). we need more like them (agbonlahor,okaka,onouha ) and thousands of other nigerians.

-our present crop of players are lazy, as was pointed out, they hardly make runs to help out the person on the ball, they are always strollin, pompous,

-my own solution is to take affirmative action-place the super eagles directly under the office of the SGF (YEAH, AM NOT ON CRACK)

Though the poster made a good analysis of the present day Nigeria football, but I don't support the idea that the EPL has damaged Africa football. Taking Nigeria football has a critical example, we need to ask ourselves one simple question; are we actually developing football and other sports in Nigeria. If you blame the influence of EPL on Nigeria football, who will you blame for the failure of other sports in Nigeria. I hope you remember the last Olympic game and the number of gold and silver medals the Nigeria athlete won.
What we experience today in Nigeria football is a reflection of failure in the entire system. It is high time we stand up and face our problems and stop blaming others. We need to shun corruption and stop playing politics. Let competent hands be given the jobs to do. Let's look inward.
Let's develop our league and the people will support the local league. The EPL gained international recognition due to the level of development. Every genuine football lover will love to watch the EPL.

1. the english premier league is entertaining. the nigerian premier league is not. the so called nigerian style of of football is quite brainless. it is a stereotype that english teams cannot pass or dribble or whatever because the game is quick. that is a fallacy of the highest order. if as a footballer you lack basic control and touch you wont get very far anywhere. maybe it's not to the level of a spanish or italian player where technique is respected more than athleticism but its even the crappest thug of a footballer like a chris morgan is way better on the ball than any of us here.

football is entertainment. if you're not entertaining, then people will find something that is. if the NPL wants more viewership then appeal to the imagination of Nigerians. It's like with music, Nigerian artistes are respected and successful because they are good. this is in spite of competition from foreign artistes.

2. i dont know where you got the idea that spanish players in the epl dont get called up. the likes of fabregas, torres and before they went back to spain arbeloa and alonso, were essential parts of the squads. and guess what, they play to the system. it's not the epl's fault that amodu has no system, that there is no off the ball movement or that they can't pass to each other. after all, even the likes of burnley and hull have a plan.

the Premiier league has not destroyed Nigeria football. Nigeria football was destroyed by our own government.
I remember when Nigeria football league was "Whoa" back in d days. when we had teams like Abiola babes,leventis,rangers,stores,calabar rovers and many others the league was very interesting back then i didnt know about English foot ball me and other kids in my neighbor hood, parents, would be glued to the tv watching Live matches on tv, and the entire city of Lagos would be glued to the tv,radio following the matches, our street would be as quiet as grave yard.it was so much fun back in d days i knew only Naija football stars who were legends in their own time and not the David Beckhams and co dat we av cum to kno now.
govt should hands off football in Nigeria ,it is the only way Nigeria league would be interesting, it was "fire" when Abiola,Iwuanyanwu and co had their hands on it. those from back in d dayz know wat i'm talkin about. you young guys dont know i guess you guys were wearing diapers back then or some of you weren't even born then.

the Premiier league has not destroyed Nigeria football. Nigeria football was destroyed by our own government.
I remember when Nigeria football league was "Whoa" back in d days. when we had teams like Abiola babes,leventis,rangers,stores,calabar rovers and many others the league was very interesting back then i didnt know about English foot ball me and other kids in my neighbor hood, parents, would be glued to the tv watching Live matches on tv, and the entire city of Lagos would be glued to the tv,radio following the matches, our street would be as quiet as grave yard.it was so much fun back in d days i knew only Naija football stars who were legends in their own time and not the David Beckhams and co dat we av cum to kno now.
govt should hands off football in Nigeria ,it is the only way Nigeria league would be interesting, it was "fire" when Abiola,Iwuanyanwu and co had their hands on it. those from back in d dayz know wat i'm talkin about. you young guys dont know i guess you guys were wearing diapers back then or some of you weren't even born then.

IN DEFENCE OF MY POST - English Premier League has destroyed African football


Thanks for the responses to my post. Many have shed more light on the subject, a few only heat which will hopefully be dispelled in the light of more coolly dispassionate evaluation. So here goes.

EPL Clubs are Successful in European competitions so the league can’t be that bad.-


They have had their successes, but they are still behind the Spanish and Italian leagues. EPL teams have won the champions league thrice, 99, 05 and 08. Spain 6 times, 92, 98, 00, 02, 06 and 09. Serie A 4 times, 94, 96, 03 and 07. But the champions league because the wealthy clubs who dominate it buy players from across the globe, does not reflect the average strength of their domestic leagues in a way that the Europa (formerly UEFA) cup does, seeing that the poorer clubs who compete in the lower continental competition have to rely more on local talent than their richer Champions league peers. The performance of EPL clubs in this more egalitarian competition reflecting the true strength in depth of the various European leagues is putting mildly, woeful. Teams below the top four in the premier league are regularly taken as light refreshment by clubs from the most obscure reaches of Eastern Europe let alone Spain or Italy.

The likes of Everton, Middlesbrough, and Fulham who even more than the top 4 play a distinctly English style are regularly ripped apart by continental teams occupying the same position as them in the local food chain.

Going back to the top sides it is true that they have a fairly good record in this competition playing a recognisably English game; pace, power and pure physical strength, but against the best ball playing sides in Europe, they rarely win by the devil may care forward-whatever-the-situation style that is the signature of the premiership.

On virtually all occasions when the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Man U play the best continental sides they churn out results not by playing but by stopping their opponents from doing so. Ten men behind the ball and hit them on the break, betraying their real, not hyped confidence in their technique. Whenever Man U, the best EPL team by a stretch have overreached and tried to play the top teams from Italy and Spain toe to toe, pass for pass, they have been crushed. Against the Madrid of Redondo and Raul in 2000, and Zidane and Ronaldo in 2003, the Milan of Kaka and Pirlo in 2007 and the Barca of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi last season.

The only high profile match against sophisticated opposition this by far and away greatest team in England have won in Europe was the semi against Barca in 2008, when Ferguson – red faced with embarrassment instructed his players to betray their legacy and hunker down behind the ball and park the bus in front of goal. It was in a bid to redeem themselves against the same opposition the next season that carried away by the hype and hysteria of the excitable English media, prematurely declaring them the team of the century before a divine Barcelona team had lit up what remained of it with football so celestial it could have lit up the farthest reaches of heaven. Their hearts filed with conceit, ears ringing with easy praise they were ambushed and sacked in Rome by a Barcelona whose intricate passing and poetic play they opposed with about as much wit and conviction as a set of traffic cones facing a mid summer flash flood.



But at least the EPL teams are still up there among the top so it can’t be affecting our players that much -




Yes they are not among the worst, probably just below the best, so surely this proves the point that the EPL has not damaged African football as much as I asserted. I’m afraid it does nothing of the sort.

I am talking of our national team and international football is very different from club football, because the requirements for success in international football are more naturally cultivated in the ball playing technically adroit climes of Italy and Spain or even Holland Portugal and France than the EPL. What do I mean by this?

Club footballers spend long amounts of time together. months during the season, pre-season training and for the big clubs, money spinning tours. This facilitates the long term blending of the players into a whole more effective than the sum of their respective parts which with the right (if negative) tactics and led by seasoned managers, Mourinho and Benitez form a cohesive if uncreative, functional if not fluent and rugged but not rymythic mechanical unit capable of grinding down the best on their day.

However this style demands, like a well drilled infantry unit would require long hours of training with the same people day after day, playing match after match, in other words suitable mainly for club football – the day job. However international footballers spend comparatively far less time together - a few intermittent friendlies and a couple of weeks together before the start of major tournaments with players from different clubs playing in different countries with different styles. Hence the urgent need at this level for personal skill, ability on the ball and the intuition, invention and innovation that can’t be coached into players that is an expression more of who they are than what you can ever want them to be. It needs players who have the innate skill to cope with pressure when on the ball retaining the presence and clarity of mind to create something out of nothing. individual brilliance not mere collective competence. A dashing and mobile Tank commander not just a resilient but stationary infantry one. International tournaments demand élan, dash, innovation on your feet, thinking outside the box. These are attributes more likely to be found in ball playing countries than England with its collective ethos.

That’s why Brazilians like Rivaldo and Ronaldo can have a poor domestic season then come the summer walk away with the world cup as they did in 2002, Zinedine Zidane and the likes of Pirlo have mediocre years with their clubs then inspire their countries to glory in the world cup finals. Did Maradona win anything domestically in Italy in1986, Romario won the world cup in 94 off the back of a 4-0 crushing of his club Barcelona in that years Champions league. In the same vein players like Gerard, Lampard and Rooney set their domestic seasons alight then flop at the world cup. Fish out of water

We are Africans and need to be true our natural style or native advantage. In the 80’s and 90’s the North Africans dominated the African club competitions, Al Ahly, Zamalek etc. because their leagues were better organised and funded reflecting their relatively superior levels of technical, cultural and industrial organisation. However in the same period, come the international tournaments, World cups Olympics and Nations cup, black African teams like Cameroun, Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal came into their own. Because their natural advantage, ball skills, individual creativity and personal fluency were better suited to international football, where they provided questions the best sides in the world occasionally struggled to answer. The North Africans on the other hand tended to flop at the major international tournaments because they play an imitation version of the North European game, Sweden or Denmark with Arabic names.

Now we have Egypt winning 3 nation cups in a row overcoming teams like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroun with embarrassing ease. My brothers something somewhere is very wrong

Our culture is not Anglo Saxon (English) infact while we might speak the same language as them our way of life (expressive, individualistic, accepting and celebrating not ostracising and isolating the eccentric who alone in sports win great things) is more akin to the Portuguese, French and Italians than the English. In England only the rich, such as celebrities are allowed to be themselves. The lower classes must be seen not heard as a drab, uniform mass, rugged and collective with no individual expression or views contrary to established ones. Obey orders do as you are told while doffing your cap to your betters who alone know best. Keep yourself to your self – hence the drink problem – since most lower class people can only be themselves when they’re not - drunk. A society defined by its isolated geography and insular history. It has worked for them in many fields, such as industry and defensive war, read, Waterloo, Yorks drift and Dunkirk, but not sports where individual expression is the key to success.

We are ourselves as a people. Think back to your school days. The brilliant acada type who could not toast was admired for his strengths and not mocked for his weaknesses, the fine boy who could toast a corpse to life, but struggled to find the name Caesar in the book called Caesar was still celebrated for his talent with women separated from whatever criticism there was of his poor academic record.

People were not cloned; they were allowed to be individuals. It was the same on the football field. That has changed; we look at the EPL and see nothing wrong with our national team playing like them. But that is not who we are.

England rarely win the world cup, yet we think that by playing like an okrika hand me down version of them of them we will.

Of course we will. When hell freezes over.


The Slow fluent Brazzilian type play belongs to the past football has developed beyond that -




Rubbish. Spain 2008, best international tournament in at least 2 decades. Small, skilful players won that not big mechanical and aggressive ones


Not All African players play in the premiership -




True but some of the key ones do Kolo Toure, Drogba, and Kalou for Ivory Coast, Geremi, for Chellsea, Mikel, Martins, Aiyegbeni for Nigeria.

More importantly however the model we have choswen, which the premier league obsessed fans demand is the premier league style. For those who were of age in the 90’s when Nigeria were sweeping all before them, the TV showed Dutch football, Brazillian football, French and Italian footballour style was a mixture of the Dutch style with native skill. Our players cant beat a man, Mikel obi the wrost example of the malaise, nudges forward with trepidation then immediately turns back as if he dropped his wallet. They don’t play with the intelligent, patient possession football that won us the Nations cup in 94, Olympics in 2000 and took us to 3 consecutive world cup finals and the second round of 2 of them.


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Your post has nothing to do with colonialism apart from that which exists in your imagination, it rather has more to do with a society of people unable to chart the best path for themselves by utilising the various synergies that exist within an increasingly globalised world where regional, national and ethnical barriers are increasingly being broken down and people are only interested in what serves up the "best" (depending on what your parameters are for defining what the best is).


Er, I thnk I have already proved the EPl is not the best, if we define the best as winning things if you need further proof, pls tell me when the English league apart from 66 has produced the crux of any world cup winning team. In 82 it was the Italian lague that supplied the winners, in 86, italy, Maradona, 90, Italy Bremmer, Klinsman and Matheus all played in Italy, in 94, it was Spain Bebeto and Romario, 98, Italy again – Zinedine Zidane, 2002 Spain and Italy, Ronaldo and Rivaldo, 2006 – Italy all the way


Oute - "Instead of always playing the victim card, it is time for Nigeria to learn how others have done it to synergise between their external exports and internal initiatives towards achieving success, the PL has come to stay, there is nothing anyone can do about it but I do recall Clemence Westerhof not using the likes of John Fashanu from the PL when he was the National coach. Nigerians should find out what works for them and stop complaining about what they have no control over, it is the easiest thing to do but the one that has no chance of resolving anything whatsoever."



To find a solution, you first have to identify the problem which Is what I have just tried to do. People who bleat about others playing the victim card tend do so until they become victims themselves. Accepting that you are victim of circumstances is the first step to overcoming victimhood and liberating themselves. We are a poor country in a world where people in England spend more on Chocolate than we do on our health budget. Pretending not to be a victim when you are is not courage, it is the equivalent of an impotent man planning for his children’s education, when a fertility clinic might be a more prudent choice of expenditure

To escape a problem (being a victim) is the first step to ending it.

We must join hands together to fight against colonism.because we are facin out our african traditn.if u are not informed u are deformed.

The English premiership has improved a great deal. In the 90s, it was Italian, Dutch and Spanish football dominating Europe, no one ever thought about EPL. But today, EPL has greatly improved and has surpassed all others. Thats why players will always want to play in EPL, call it colonialism or whatever. Just as Basketball is dominted by NBA, EPL is trying ( but not as dominant as Bball, ) to dominate football world wide.

To tell you the truth, we really don't have fantastic players in the premiership. What is Mikel playing? Kanu has retired, Yak is not in form, John Utaka has not played in a long time. Cote D'voire you would say were favotite to win the Nation's cup because of the stars they had, but they failed woefully. I cant blame this failure to the prem. , it was a technical problem. Simple as that.

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