If the Barclays Premier League is the best in the world, as many, including Sir Alex Ferguson, have suggested, there remains a puzzling gap in its make-up, a void, the filling of which is surely the next step in the evolution of English football. Our elite clubs dominate Europe, the wealth generated by our domestic competition and its prominence throughout the world is unmatched: so where are the beautiful Brazilians?
The finest individual exponents of the game would surely want to play in the league that is on course to produce at least one European finalist for the fourth year running, perhaps two. Yet a rundown of the Brazil squad shows that of the 52 players most recently called up, only seven play in the Premier League and just two are strikers.
English football continues to attract the fringe players, the holding midfield players, the iffy defenders. The greats of the modern Brazilian game – Ronaldinho in his prime and latterly Kaká – talk of coming here only as a last hurrah, a final pay cheque, their best years long gone. Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, hankers after Ronaldinho, but he is chasing the name, not the footballer, as he did with the spent force that is Andriy Shevchenko. The time to sign the Brazilian was when Manchester United had the chance in 2003, and he chose Barcelona. The great ones always do.
Middlesbrough have recruited a Brazilian striker in Afonso Alves, who has eight caps, but already there are concerns. Elano, of Manchester City, capped 20 times, was initially a great success, but his influence has waned with the form of his club. Alex (12 caps) will only ever be a squad player at Chelsea, while it is too early to judge Gilberto (28 caps) at Tottenham Hotspur; but neither is a forward.
Source:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ columnists/martin_samuel/article3564455.ece
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