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Jealousy - An English disease

I recall someone telling me many years ago that if an American sees someone driving a luxury car, he'll respond by saying 'One day I'd love to have one of those'. An Englishman's response would be 'Why should he have that?'.

I've noticed of late that this particularly English trait prevails. The recent spate of articles from the Telegraph, amongst others, suggests that our beloved English press are delighting in the possibility of Gareth Bale moving abroad. I'd go as far as to say that they are positively encouraging it to happen. Couple this with the negative reporting, focussing on Bale's supposed 'diving', and there is only one conclusion to be drawn.

The similarity to how Ronaldo was treated here prior to his departure for Spain is remarkable. Basically, the English press and English fans do not want superstars gracing the Premiership (unless of course said superstar plays for their favoured team). Now before anyone accuses me of hypocrisy, I will freely admit to an unhealthy jealousy myself as regards football. I like so many others, was happy to see the departure of Thierry Henry, Ronaldo and Drogba and I'd have preferred it if our tormentor Van Persie would have also moved abroad. But if we all succeed in driving these footballing greats out of English football, we'll end up with a very mediocre Premier League.

We can already see the results in the poor performances of English sides in European competition. Now whilst I don't give two hoots about how Chelsea, Arsenal etc. do in Europe, It is in no-one's interest to have a Premier League devoid of quality. If we (and the press) continue as we are doing then we will simply drive players like Gareth Bale away to a league where their skills will be appreciated. I say to the sports reporters of the Telegraph and others - Be careful what you wish for!

Written by ParkLane67

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Writer: ParkLane67

Date:Tuesday December 4 2012

Time: 8:54AM

Your Comments

ye miserable english gits!

TopSpur13

If a Spanish person saw you driving a nice car the first thing that they would want to do is key the car, so no, its not just an English problem its just that you only know England. The UK press are always having a pop at Spurs, we are the gutter press kicking biys and always have been. I ignore it as I know what they are like.

sidyid

Why am I up this early...?

TopSpur13

I'd rather him move abroad rather than join a city or united If he wanted out. But a new contract earlier this year, we finish fourth and no matter what anyone else wants we should make sure our best player is happy here. The lad is welsh in all honesty he probably won't play in any major international tournament so he needs the champions league and he is so important to us we have to give it to him.

TopSpur13

I think it's important to note that not one of the players you mentioned is English and as you noted some have/had a reputation for 'diving'. Journalists attack the foreign players and write what they believe will bring an approval from the masses. Foreign players dive, they stop the growth of young english talent blah blah blah. It's been that way for years now.

TopSpur13

Fair enough but I have to say I really hate to see diving, and would rather it went away from England. Hopefully Bale will get the message and tone it down after two yellow cards in a week, although I understand why he is theatrical, having seen some of the tackles that have actually caught him.

wiltshirespur

We need to qualify for the champions league = Problem delt with!!!

Don Coys

Know something? I really enjoyed the old first division before the arrival of all these foreign prima donnas. Greaves, Hoddle, Waddle and Gazza had plenty of skills to enjoy without the spitting, diving and price hikes we'ved had to endure. On crap pitches with medicine balls too. Sadly no turning back the clock and they will all follow the money.

Love totty

I like your nostalgia Love Totty. I think press and fan attitudes were also different in the olden times too. I used to love watching the greats of the time such as Best, Charlton, Moore etc. even if they did play for the opposition - but that was partly because I always believed we could beat them with our own greats such as Greaves, Gilzean, Mackay, Jones etc. As you say, there is sadly no turning back the clock, but let's not drive the talent out of the English game!

ParkLane67

Bale is going one way or the other, best just get used to it.

jimmy-yid

In response to the author saying '.....we'll end up with a very mediocre Premier League'. I'd say that, judging by results so far this season, we're already well on our way to having a mediocre PL. Take City and Chelsea out of the equation and there aren't many world Class players in our league. Obviously united have RVP and we have Bale but after that there is a real dearth of 'top' quality in our league.
We are on the cusp of a sea change in the PL and some 'to dare is to do' spirit in the January window we could cement ourselves firmly into the top three or four for the next decade. United, whilst having a decent squad, have relied on a mentality that sees an awful lot of teams beaten before setting foot on the field. They also have a manager who can get more from the team than the sum of their parts seem capable of, much like AVB has done with us since injuries took their toll.
Brave investment from our board could secure CL qualification, which would mean that selling our best players wouldn't need to happen. Sitting on the wallet in January would probably end up with us outside the CL places come the end of the season and in turn would see our best players courted by those in the competition. Unless we want to see the likes of Bale, Vertonghen, Dembele and maybe Caulker lured away for CL football, we must invest and invest well. Failure is not an option Mr Levy. COYS

thfc1882whl

I think Gareth will go when the time is right for him and his family and when he's achieved all he can at Spurs. I think if we progress he'll stay for a little longer, but if we start to go backwards then that maybe the catalyst for him to go. AVB needs to spend to keep the club moving forward and IMO moving at a slightly faster pace.

SPUDMAN

They just understand the reality of modern football if Mark Zuckerberg buys Spurs before the summer Bale stays, he will also be joined by Willan, Moutinho, Isco, Modric, Soldado. It's just that simple as for odd generalizations about English people, I'm trying to cut down on that stuff same with those about "the blacks , Jews, Germans, ....

spurdon

Im of the opinion that the standard of football has leveled out a bit anyway, as players from "lesser" countries are producing better players. Player wise, only 2 guys look head and shoulders above the rest, Messi and Ronaldo. On the international stage, apart from Spain, no-one really stands out, whereas in the past you had the great Dutch, Brazilians, Germans ect. So either football isnt producing as much Zidane's or Romario's as they use to, or the rest of the world have simply caught up. Maybe the premiership is just a reflection of that. It seems the gap between say 3rd/4th and mid/lower table teams is closer than ever.

Guyver

Fans just want their associated club to do well ,& that means hoping your rivals don`t continuously get better players .
Losing Sol Campbell was bad because first it made Arsena ,stronger ,& at the same made us weaker .Nothing to with jealousy ,you just want your team to be the best .
IMO Lloris the best goalkeeper in the EPL ,not going to be good for us losing him to another EPL side .
As we get stronger & Arsenal & Liverpool weaken ,the gap narrows ,it`s being selfish ,not jealous .Great players are a rare commodity so the last thing you want is to see bale going to Chelsea who then goes & bites us in the arse .
Bales diving is a topic of conversation because he has recieved more bookings for diving than any other player .It`s embarassing & he should be forced to cut it out .
Bale is the one repeating himself about playing abroad ,so the press are just quoting him & spicing it up .
Bale is feeding the press & imo is better to stop diving & concentrate playing for Spurs ,& only Spurs .Little whispers can make loud noises & it`s not good to see others flirting with other clubs ,batting their eyelids .Had enough of Modric & harry last season ,so good riddance to them both
,br>Where do you think Barcelona want Bale to go ,Manchester United or Real madrid .It`s common sense

big cockeral

Yeah....it's not jealousy ParkLane, it is called socialism, of which there is far too much in England, and the rest of the UK.

lordjohnny

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11827/8308539/Fernando-Llorente-has-confirmed-he-intends-to-leave-Athletic-Bilbao-in-the-summer

what_sux

Would Bale leave for Spain because his diving will be appreciated in Spain? No. Will he leave to play for one of the three biggest clubs in the world? Yes. For me, the English top league has always been the one to watch, simply because of the style. I struggle to watch games from other league's. It's boring. We are not a big enough club to hold onto to Bale for most of his career, he is too good. Someday maybe we will be. If we get into the CL, we have him for a little longer.

asherthesmasher

The Telegraph seems to have a particular agenda to all this. They really were trying to create a story. Perhaps their Editor/Owner is and Arsenal fan?

Tactically Challenge

but WHY should he have the big gas-guzzling monstrosity to go around polluting OUR planet with ??.... Americans have no sense of propriety and just can't help being vulgar....

Viyyash-Ramosh

Not more dull Yank bashing please. If we'd been a little more like them and less like socialist Europe, we'd be a lot better off.

lordjohnny

You sure about that lordjohnny? I thought the idea of socialism is that people are treated more fairly, and avoid situations where 3% of the population own 90% of the wealth. What's the alternative, capitalism? I'm not sure that concept works either, when the obscenely wealthy of the world could solve many problems that exist, and choose not too out of greed, then I question the notion of whether "it works" or not.

Crissybwoy

The English aren't jealous, we just crave disappointment and don't wish success on others, there is a difference.

Crissybwoy

Are you winding me up Crissybwoy? I credit you with more intelligence than to put a case for socialism, and compound the error by retreading the Spartist nonsense about the 'obscenely wealthy'. Don't forget, in certain parts of the world, YOU are obscenely wealthy, and are you going to give away everything as a result?

lordjohnny

LJ, I'm not in favour of socialism, I just think that conceptually atm the world doesn't work as well as the wealthy would tell us. It's not about giving away everything, it's about redressing the balance a bit. In a world where footballers earn in a week what nurses earn in a few years, then maybe the world has it's priorities wrong. I'd never begrudge anyone wealth, but how many billions is too much, and why should governments pander to the wealthy to push through motions that don't benefit the people of that nation in the slightest? Monsanto springs to mind.

Crissybwoy

In your capitalist world our nation (and the USA) spend hundreds of billions every year on weaponry over some mythical media-invented war on terror, maybe the billions would be better spent adapting our tanks so they can fire food and clothes for those that can't help themselves, just a thought,

Crissybwoy

Redistribution? Nah, we have too much of it already in this country in the form of taxation and dependency culture. As for Monsanto, previous generations would have appauded the science of doubling crop yield with half the available land. These days eco-loons who think they know better wish to keep the world's poorest starving so long as they can satisfy their self-indulgent conscience, from the safety of their nice safe plentiful world. They should be shot.

lordjohnny

It's a lovely thought Crissybwoy, to get rid of all weaponry, and no-one could disagree. However, such a utopia is still a pipe-dream.

lordjohnny

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/feb/12/uknews.pollution1 .....God bless Monsanto then, lest we forget this is the same company that started out making 'Agent Orange'. They should be roundly applauded for forcing their GM food on a world where IBS, wheat allergies and cancer is healthily breaking new levels.

Crissybwoy

Is that AVB at PSG VS Porto?

what_sux

definately what_sux. Moutinho anynone?

noone

If an Irishman saw someone in a big fancy car he would definately begrudge him ownership of it - unless he got it through dodgy deals and flaunting rules and regulations, in which case the Irishman would admire his cute-whoreism and vote for him in the next election...

Slurms McKenzie

...The Irishman would then be shocked and outraged when the elected cute-whore feathers his own nest with dodgy deals and flaunts rules and regulations and then buys an even bigger flashier car. The outraged Irishman would then demand the cute-whore run for President!

Slurms McKenzie

Why do people think Bale will move abroad. He strikes me as a family man and just become a dad. Now correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't his family, his parents any brothers and sisters, aunties and so forth want to see their grand child, nephew, niece and so forth grow up. I am about to become a gran next year and I wouldn't want my son moving abroad so soon. Of course if he wanted to I would give him my blessing but I certainly would prefer he didn't especially in the first few years which are so precious before the children go to school. It would be a big step imo for Bale to leave his family and move abroad so soon. maybe in two or three years but surely not yet. I suppose the only thing is he is rich enough to pay for his family to visit regular so maybe it wouldn't make much difference but I just hope he decides to stay put for another two seasons at least and settle down being a parent and concentrate on helping us achieve things at the lane. Lets hope we get the players to match his ambition and we can secure CL footy to keep him interested. He seems like a good guy and grounded and I think he loves playing for us so lets hope he doesn't read the media rubbish.

thfan

p.s jealousy isn't a cultural thing, it's a state of mind, doesn't matter what nationality you are, if there is jealousy in the mind it will manifest.

thfan

+1 thfan, its a human thing.

Guyver

Why do some people spend time posting on football web sites when they don't want to discuss football? Weird must be banned from conservative home and Musnet. If I try really hard I maybe able to get my pathological fixation with Socialism into every sentence. Mean while back on Vital spurs. Bale is currently reaping what he has sown and must try and stay on his feet!

spurdon

Spurdon if we only discussed football most of the posters would leave!

Slurms McKenzie

Worst article ever written ,shame on you

big cockeral

if its not capitalism it must be socialism blah blah... the FACT is that human history has only ever gone forward when wealth has progressively been distributed more and more equally... I'm not talking about a decasde here or there which will 'prove' to the nay-sayers it aint true, but over the decades spanning hundreds of yrs since the Industrial Revolutiion and before, Mankind has only shown true development when more of us became empowered thru access to more wealth, which thus distributed more equally from the hugely powerful Elites to the majority....FACT..... also USA debt/GDP ratio is actually HIGHER than that of the more 'socialist' European Union, also another fact.

Viyyash-Ramosh

That's because, Viyyash, the US has installed a socialist president for another four years. Oops, have I upset the resident village idiot from Spurs Forum, who's deigned to come over and spill his brains. For all of you who exclusively use this site, if you scroll back up to the top, next to where it says Spurs Home you have Spurs Forum, and I've tried it recently, and it is unintentionally hilarious, if you like winding up po-faced gits who talk half an inch of sense to fifty yards of drivel.

lordjohnny

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