20-12-2019, 03:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 20-12-2019, 03:21 PM by Strawberry Avenger.)
(19-12-2019, 08:56 PM)Alf Wrote:(19-12-2019, 03:56 PM)Sniffer Dog Wrote: Good signings from North Europe over the years:
Bohinen, Van Hooijdonk, Roy, Van Breukelen, Aas, Metgod, Majeski, Louis Jean, Haaland.
Good signings from South Europe over the years ?
Simply put I think that the Northern climate, environment & culture is way more similar to ours than the Southern one, and therefore breeds players who feel far more at home & familiar with the game over here.
I'm struggling to think of 1 good Southern European player?
Culture. If you've come from the sunny climes of another country to the current cold, rainy England, you must wonder what you've signed up for. No velvet continental football here. It's kick and rush, elbows and barging, push and shove. It's very physical. A 'man's game' according to Dave Basset. Add to that, leaving your family and culture behind... It's not surprising players struggle to adapt. That is compounded when you're younger.
A big part of any sport is mental toughness. And the best players have that. Roy Keane often said he wasn't the best player in the world. But boy, his will to win? (Though Forest let him go home to stop him getting home sick when he was young..>)
eg. This isn't the Portuguese league. It's not the Italian league.
I'd include Milo in that. He seemed to be robust and could play a bit too. It's a shame he had to leave the club. I don't think we saw enough of him and the other half of the promising CH duo. Benno (another good player, only £6 million Leicester payed for him...) is another. Between them they really imposed themselves on aerial balls into the box. It was so much more assured.
Loading up the 1st 11 with only Nottingham lads from England isn't going to happen. But the overwhelming amount of players from abroad that haven't worked out speaks for itself. The club must try harder to recruit and bring the right 'foreign' players in with the right mixture of mental toughness, athletic physicality for this league and 'can play a bit' too.
Culture. Forest have instilled the right culture in the Academy. Not just ability, but physicality, energy, mental toughness, belief to keep going and a will to win. Forest could seek inspiration from that culture in terms of players brought in from outside. i.e.. Do the players from outside match our own high standards of decency as individuals as well as packing ability and physicality. Will they be able to 'belief' on a cold, dark and wet night at the City Ground. Do they understand the weight of expectation from the City Ground faithful? Can they cope with that and exceed our expectations.
SA.
