Is it worth buying African players?

With all the speculation about African players going off to play for their countries in the early months of every new year I have heard a lot of people say that it isn't worth buying them if they aren't going to be around for crucial months of the season. Others say that it can be worth buying them if they are good enough but it will be a dissapointment went they leave for their countries. My personal opinion is so long as they are playing well while they are here what does it matter when they go. What are your thoughts?

look at adebayor. scoring regularly for arsenal and his team didnt even qualify for the african nations so he is staying.yh i think it is worth it, they are good ball winners in the centre of the park and have great strength on the ball, if u choose the right one you could get a fantastic player who retains possesion well for your side

It's unfortunate but it's not every year and I wouldn't let it stop Liverpool purchasing a player from a top African nation because of it.

i dnt think so, yeh they may be physical and have the stamina to out run all others but when it comes down to it, its all about the football brain, and not many of them have that, simple as!

Silly debate IMO. It's like asking if it's worth buying a top class player who might be injured for a month every season and miss a few games.

its all about the football brain, and not many of them have that, simple as!

A very misinformed comment, I take it you haven't watched players like Yaya Toure, Sulley Muntari or Jay Jay Okocha, and are too young to remember the likes of George Weah. Let's not forget either there are players like Vieira, who whilst officially being French was actually born in Senegal. It is a very sweeping statement you have made there mate, and one that borders on being prejudicial, try engaging your brain before posting.

A very misinformed comment, I take it you haven't watched players like Yaya Toure, Sulley Muntari or Jay Jay Okocha, and are too young to remember the likes of George Weah. Let's not forget either there are players like Vieira, who whilst officially being French was actually born in Senegal. It is a very sweeping statement you have made there mate, and one that borders on being prejudicial, try engaging your brain before posting.

true there are alot of african players that are intellegent on the ball, even, dare i say it drogba has some moments of sublime football that require football brain.

true there are alot of african players that are intellegent on the ball, even, dare I say it drogba has some moments of sublime football that require football brain.

He's the prime example of an African player with a brilliant football mind! Much as we all hate him, he's still a f*cking amazing footballer!

If you're to buy any world class footballer, they are usually good enough to play for their country! If they're African, it's simply a sacrifice you have to make when making the decision!

He's the prime example of an African player with a brilliant football mind! Much as we all hate him, he's still a f*cking amazing footballer!

If you're to buy any world class footballer, they are usually good enough to play for their country! If they're African, it's simply a sacrifice you have to make when making the decision!

exactly. and as stated before they dont always go only if their team qualifies

For the under-educated:

Milla
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk_Jol6emqg

Weah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-GSUeJYtwc

Eusebio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE6fIA8BMa0

exactly. and as stated before they dont always go only if their team qualifies

Same again, if they're amazing footy players then they've probably helped their team into the championships!

im not being in any way prejudice, i am informed very well thank you, but i have an opinion which is valid, i would rather have a young european player, or to be honest top notch english if available rather then an african player. i agree there are some greats, but if you do look closely they are not great minded in football terms, all great african players learn there trade in either france or spain, so its the influence of those leagues that create players such as the toure brothers, drogba and okacha.

Apart from the fact that Yaya Toure learned his trade in Belgium, Ukraine & Greece and only moved on to Monaco then Barca once he was an established player?

Once again you are completely generalising, and once again in many cases you are wrong.

THERE IS NO NEED TO CARRY ON, WE ALL HAVE OPINIONS, in my case i dont think we need african players at liverpool, after all that was the question, not your consistant argueing with me.

THERE IS NO NEED TO CARRY ON, WE ALL HAVE OPINIONS

You're absolutely right, and my opinion is that you are a tit.

You have made a statement that is way off the mark, and then can't handle it when I state cases that don't fit in with your theory. Your problem, not mine.

For the under-educated:

Milla
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk_Jol6emqg

Weah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-GSUeJYtwc

Eusebio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE6fIA8BMa0

Eusebio was Portugese not African or was he like most French players Algerian or Senegalese (thts not meant to be racist)

Eusebio was born in Mozambique mate, so of African origin.

I think that you need to take a look at what your saying, you are making some very sweeping generalisations in your posts regarding African footballers. To say that "not many of them have footballing brains" is a massive insult, and EddieC was correct when he said that it was bordering on prejudicial.

As for the question itself, obviously we would all love to see 11 Liverpool born and bred local lads running out for our club each week, but that is jsut not going to happen in todays game. I personally think that there should be some sort of limit on the number of foriegn players allowed in a match day squad, but i do not care in the slightest where the foriegn players come from as long as they are good enough to pull on the shirt and have the right attitude when wearing it.

I dnt think so, yeh they may be physical and have the stamina to out run all others but when it comes down to it, its all about the football brain, and not many of them have that, simple as!

im not being in any way prejudice, I am informed very well thank you, but I have an opinion which is valid, I would rather have a young european player, or to be honest top notch english if available rather then an african player. I agree there are some greats, but if you do look closely they are not great minded in football terms, all great african players learn there trade in either france or spain, so its the influence of those leagues that create players such as the toure brothers, drogba and okacha.

Would you like to explain why being from Africa means you don't have or can't develop a football brain as well as a player from any other part of the globe?

In my experience anyone who starts a sentence with "im not being in any way prejudice...but" (sic) invariably is prejudiced.  I totally disagree with EddieC that this borders on the prejudicial.  In my opinion you statements are blatantly racist as they suggest that somehow someone from Africa is not generally capable of having a football brain as well an anyone else.

The only way to overcome racism is to challenge it which I will do whenever I come across it.  I'm not an administrator but if I was you'd be binned now you ars*hole.

 

I dnt think so, yeh they may be physical and have the stamina to out run all others but when it comes down to it, its all about the football brain, and not many of them have that, simple as!

Tell me why not    Already excellent examples of African footballers been quoted by EddieC.  No matter what league you play in, you are influenced and adapt to that particular country/league.  :

Silly question Drogba will still get more goals than Kuyt and Vorronin and maybe even Crouch put together and thats with missing half the season with injuruies and African Nations.

Silly question Drogba will still get more goals than Kuyt and Vorronin and maybe even Crouch put together and thats with missing half the season with injuruies and African Nations.

You could be right there.  I'd have Drogba any day of the week.

There is not a problem in signing a player of any nationality,The problem lies with F.I.F.A and E.U.F.A. who have allowed the countries to demand clubs release players for meaningless friendlies and competitions This is a way for F.I.F.A and E.U F.A. to have control of clubs.I still recall when England would play friendlies on a Wednesday and would include a couple of local players to boost the gate.

you have all made points which i never disagreed with, i just would like someone with the skill and talent to bring us that title we all crave. i just think that some of our previous african players have not done it at the level liverpool fans expect. e.g diouf, salf diao, sissoko recently

You're right, our recent African signings haven't been good enough, but that doesn't justify a statement like 'African players don't have good footballing brains'
 
Anyway we'll leave it there now, as you seem to have retracted your previous statement (I think?)

yep, ok at the time probably not the best thing to say on a quick harsh thought i had, just came out.

This is a stupid debate

If they are good enough for Liverpool then it dosent matter were they are from and as for the African Nations ....imagine Torres was from Nigeria for arguments sake and we had to cope without him for about a month every few years . I think its safe to say we would all still have him !

If we were to sign Samuel Eto'o in January ........im sure everybody would be over the moon !

Therefore maybe this thread should be 'is it worth signing sh*t african players like Diao?' , in that case no.

I wouldnt call it a stupid debate.

I agree that its still worth to buy african players who are good enough for Liverpool, but there might arise a problem if you had several african players in your squad. Take a look at Chelsea. Every january they risk loosing Drogba, Kalou, Essien and Obi Mikel. That is a pretty heavy loss, so the fact that many african players are away on national duty in january is not totally irrelevant.
Maybe it should be called "How big a disadvantage is it that african players may be away in January?", but I think everybody understands the topic, so who cares about the name.

I wouldnt call it a stupid debate.

I agree that its still worth to buy african players who are good enough for Liverpool, but there might arise a problem if you had several african players in your squad. Take a look at Chelsea. Every january they risk loosing Drogba, Kalou, Essien and Obi Mikel. That is a pretty heavy loss, so the fact that many african players are away on national duty in january is not totally irrelevant.
Maybe it should be called "How big a disadvantage is it that african players may be away in January?", but I think everybody understands the topic, so who cares about the name.

Very true. Another team that seems to suffer as much as chelsea from this competition is portsmouth who have a number of african players

Well, I wouldn't mind Eto'o

I think there has to be considerations given to this factor, good thread Curse even though someone can not read your point and tried to give it a very different light.  We are alright at the moment, but if we did have influential African players then it would be an idea to try and limit the number of players in the squad.  But like most clubs we are all starving for tallent and it is a hard one. 

I dnt think so, yeh they may be physical and have the stamina to out run all others but when it comes down to it, its all about the football brain, and not many of them have that, simple as!

This has to be the dumbest uninformed comment I have ever read in this forum. So illiterate.

im not being in any way prejudice, I am informed very well thank you, but I have an opinion which is valid, I would rather have a young european player, or to be honest top notch english if available rather then an african player. I agree there are some greats, but if you do look closely they are not great minded in football terms, all great african players learn there trade in either france or spain, so its the influence of those leagues that create players such as the toure brothers, drogba and okacha.

Racist piece of dog poop!

I think some african players like Eto'o,Drogba, Yaya Toure, Essien, Zakora and the like are worth signing. It really does not matter if a player is from Europe, Asia or Africa.What matters is the ability and quality to perform on the highest stage.

I think some african players like Eto'o,Drogba, Yaya Toure, Essien, Zakora and the like are worth signing. It really does not matter if a player is from Europe, Asia or Africa.What matters is the ability and quality to perform on the highest stage.

For a single player, ability and quality count of course, but on .tv, sissoko (african himself) points out the things that points against you when you are a team with many african players. Like we have mentioned earlier in the thread. So; in this sense it matters if the player is from africa.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N158260080103-1420.htm

Strange comments going on here when at the start of the season I seem to remember loads of posts crying out for us to buy Samuel Eto. Including me !

A very misinformed comment, I take it you haven't watched players like Yaya Toure, Sulley Muntari or Jay Jay Okocha, and are too young to remember the likes of George Weah. Let's not forget either there are players like Vieira, who whilst officially being French was actually born in Senegal. It is a very sweeping statement you have made there mate, and one that borders on being prejudicial, try engaging your brain before posting.

Well, I have to agree with you a bit, but also some of this "African Players Will Rule" rubbish needs to be looked at. Pele said an African team would win the World CUp by 2000 and how woeful he was. In fact, African teams were rubbish at the last world cup. Rubbish. Ghana got to the 2nd round and were hammered by a disinterested Brazil, the sort of team you imagine would have been exposed by a hungry African side. Now there is all this hype over South Africa, and I'll hazard a bet that there won't be an African team in the semis there either.

If we're talking individual talent, yes. No matter where they are from, if they have the talent sign them, if not, on ya bike. There is no need to bring in race to football. Its talent and only talent.

I'll hazard a bet that there won't be an African team in the semis there either.

Now that is a daring bet!

Now there is all this hype over South Africa, and I'll hazard a bet that there won't be an African team in the semis there either.

To be honest...as things stand you might be right...we'll have to look for progress in this year's AFCON...

I have to say though that a lot of the African junior squads are very promising...so we'll just have to wait and see...

I'm convinced that the African will produced a dozen or so new world-class player in the next 3-4 years.

Why?

Many African kids, just like Brazilians ... still play their footy in the street, a football ball is still seen as a treasure and as a Brazilian once said to me about footballs...

"give the ball some respect and love, and the ball will respect and love you in return"

(swap the word "ball" for PSP, Xbox or Playstation in Europe...)