There's been a lot of talk about how much Wayne Rooney has not been able to perform for England, but it seems the French have a problem of their own. It's not so much a problem as it is a curious case of a striker misfiring for his club team but putting the ball in the back of the net for his country.
It's not easy following behind the likes of Henry or Zidane, but when you wear the number 10 jersey for France, it is expected that you bring out the sort of performances that Zidane was able to conjure throughout his playing days. Benzema is no Zidane, but he is a formidable player in his own right, which makes it a bit troubling that he has not been able to get on the score sheet regularly for Real Madrid. When he was at Lyon, he was surrounded by lesser players and was still scoring goals by the loads. At Madrid, he is surrounded by fantastic players, both team and individual players, and Benzema has not been able to reproduce his France form for his club team.
With the national team, he is surrounded with equally fantastic players in the form of Nasri, Gourcuff and Ribery, and he seems to be up for the task. Perhaps language is an issue at Madrid, but if Karim does not learn the language quickly, he is bound to get replaced.
To be considered a Manchester United legend you most certainly have got to wear the number 7 shirt. You have to score amazing goals with ease, and you have to have an ego that cannot be easily knocked down. Cristiano Ronaldo meets all of these requirements, but more than that, he has a bag of tricks that can challenge even the world’s most technically gifted players.
Ronaldo is the rare type of player with his eyes solely fixed on the prize. His desire to win and be better than his contemporaries is unmatched in the game and has driven him to success. It has allowed him to be considered as Manchester’s greatest number 7.
Ronaldo started his playing career at CD Nacional, but he would not stay at the small Portuguese club for long. Two years after playing for Nacional, Ronaldo was scooped up by legendary Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon, the club that produced Luis Figo. He would go on and play for every single team in the Sporting system in his first year, including the first team. Ronaldo achieved his biggest feat at that time by scoring twice on his debut.
The Madeira born winger had been long scouted by the top clubs in Europe, especially by then Liverpool coach Gerard Houllier, before he got his chance to play against Manchester United in a pre-season game for Sporting Lisbon. The youngster took the chance to impress with aplomb. Such was his performance and ability in the game that Sir Alex Ferguson’s players including the highly regarded Roy Keane advised the manager to sign the untried winger for the storied Old Trafford club.
Ferguson knew other clubs were after the player, including his foe at Arsenal Arsene Wenger. When he signed for Manchester United, Ronaldo was a weak player with a set style of play, but under the tutelage of the master Ferguson, Ronaldo started showing other aspects of his game. The player had asked to keep the number 28 he wore at Sporting, but the Manchester United coach felt he would do better as the next installment in a long impressive line of number 7s in Manchester’s history.
His biggest improvement came in the form of his goal scoring. When the player discovered his scoring touch, he eclipsed the likes of David Beckham and George Best in United folklore. In 2008, the Portuguese wizard achieved the feat of scoring 42 goals in on season. It was the highest amount of goals scored by a winger in the history of the game. Ronaldo went on to collect every player award in the game, including world’s best player.
Though he is loved by the Manchester United fans, Ronaldo has not had an easy relationship with them. When he caused Wayne Rooney to get ejected in World Cup 2006, Ronaldo was jeered by his own fans when he returned to the Theatre of Dreams. He was able to get over that wall, but he made things worse by tempting the greedy fingers at Real Madrid. Fans were sure the player would jump ship, but he stayed and helped them win the Champions League and the Premier League. In the long run some fans may see Ronaldo as an enigma, but most will remember him as Manchester United’s best player ever.
Being a journey man is not always kindly looked upon in the world of soccer, but when a talented player is driven to move due to his ambitions to play for and with the best, you cannot fault him for being a flippant. Lassana has in the very same manner as Claude Makalele, proved that he is a player most teams cannot do without. He is not the biggest player on the field, but his industry makes up for his lack of size. His rise in profile has been rapid since the day he left Chelsea and no one can deny the positive affect he has on a team.
Diarra’s description as a journey man started as a young player when he joined Nantes as a child. The youngster was told by the people in charge at Nantes that he was too small and could not make it as a professional player. Determined to prove the world wrong, the hard headed midfielder headed to Le Mans to try his luck with a smaller club. There, he discovered that no one was interested in turning him into a professional player. The player himself has said that the people at Le Mans did not seem to care about him at all. So he left Le Mans to join his last French club Le Havre. While at Le Havre, the midfielder put in impressive performances in the defensive midfield position which caught the attention of the French under 21 manager.
Further stellar performances led the player into the thoughts of the bigger clubs. Chelsea, with Makelele getting past his best, jumped on the chance to sign the youngster from Le Havre in July 2005. the player was so impressive that the notoriously egotistical Jose Mourinho could not stop talking about him. Though he was doing well at Chelsea and getting his chances on the international level, Lassana could not get the playing time he wanted at Chelsea.
In 2007, Lassana made a decision that would have a major impact in his career. He joined Arsene Wenger’s supremely talented Gunners side. Though he had the ability to play at Arsenal, he was faced with the truth that there were other players at the club that were playing at the same level, and who were around the same age. Diarra could not displace Flamini or Denilson in the Arsenal team, although he was higher than Flamini on the French midfield pecking order. So he did what he does best and jumped ship to join Portsmouth.
At Portsmouth, the talented midfielder became a household name in a mid-level club. Diarra’s dynamism stunned the crowds and made him a favorite among the players. When he played, Portsmouth played their best games. His ability to control the midfield allowed players like Kranjcar to go forward and attack their opponents with full force.
Though he seemed happy at Portsmouth, Diarra would be on the move again. After then manager Redknapp left Portsmouth, Diarra was pursued by Spanish mega-giants Real Madrid. An offer from Madrid is tempting for any player, and the idea of controlling the midfield of the most successful team in Spanish history proved to be the ultimate inspiration. Diarra left Portsmouth and joined the talented whites in Spain.
Diarra’s career has been dictated by the player’s ambitions, and it’s easy to assume that he is still trying to get back at the people from Nantes for rejecting him, but he has proved that talent and desire can push a player to great heights.
