Are German Players Allergic to England?

By Zain Alvi | 23rd February 2009

Are German Players Allergic to England? | read this item

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michael-ballack_980728 One cannot help but notice that when it comes to the German football players, not many of them fancy playing in the Premiership. I first started following the German Bundesliga around half a decade ago; the reason why I tuned in every single week to catch up with some Deutsch football was that I could never get to see enough German representation in the Premier League.

Ever since, a whole new set of players has emerged on the radar of Joachim Low as competition for national team places intensifies in the squad of last summer’s Euro 2008 finalists. Despite this strong emergence of this aforementioned young German talent on the international stage, however, we do not see too many of them playing outside their country. Granted, the Bundesliga can be a more exciting proposal for most of these players compared to the corrupted Serie A, or the predictable La Liga. Yet, how can these stars of the future completely overlook the most exciting league in the world – the Barclays Premier League?

Perhaps nobody knows the answer to that question. What seems more bizarre than anything else is that some of these promising players have actually regressed due to their decision to stick to the Bundesliga. For example, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger have always been great performers for the Deutsch on the international level. Yet, their partnership at Bayern has generated more flack than some of the entire Premier League squads combined.

Week in and week out I read stories about director of football Beckenbauer and general manager Hoeness coming out in the press and slamming either one of these guys for under performing. A few weeks ago, Podolski became forgotten altogether and his omission led to rumors that he would finally be playing in the Premier League for Manchester City or Everton. However, these rumors never quite materialized and in fact, in one of the most shocking developments, it was revealed that Podolski would be heading back to former club FC Cologne of all places. What a shame!

As for Schweinsteiger, he seems to have set an example for his fellow rising Germans to stick to the Bundesliga in perhaps an attempt to prove that the league still holds value and importance. While I realize that this year’s Bundesliga is arguably the most interesting and tight competition in the entire football world, with a different club occupying the top spot every single weekend, that certainly does not mean that the German League will be nearly as valuable and important as the Premier League any time soon.

Therefore, if Schweinsteiger decides to remain in Germany, it can only be hoped that some other upcoming stars, such as talismanic Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez, as well as brilliant full-backs Marcel Jansen (Hamburg) and Philip Lahm (Bayern Munich), decide instead to follow in the footsteps of the country’s most experienced stars, Didi Hamann and Michael Ballack, by giving England a try.

Discuss this article in the comments section below or head on over to the Premiership Talk Forum!

Pride Of Manchester says:

August 10, 2009 at 12:40 pm

Also, regarding the German style of play…

Goals scored last year -
La Liga – average 55 per team
Bundesliga – average 50 per team
Serie A – average 49 per team
Premiership – average 47 per team

Don’t belief the myths – even Serie A isn’t as bad it’s made out to be. Not that I’ll be rushing to watch many more games in Italy – it’s a third world country as far as policing goes.

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Pride Of Manchester says:

August 10, 2009 at 12:27 pm

I have a holiday home in Germany and watch a lot of German and Swiss football. I’ve been banging on for years how the Bundesliga is second only to the Premiership for entertainment and never understood why there’s virtually no Germans in England.

United have young keeper Ron-Robert Zieler although other German youngsters have come and gone without breaking into the first team. Owen “The English Patient” Hargreaves was obviously educated at Bayern and Jovan Kirovski was loaned to the Bundesliga to return to the Premiership with little impact.

Ballack (as unpopular in Germany as he is in England) is obviously world class and could make it in any league, but others just don’t travel. I’d guess it’s down to the language barrier for many or simply their self-interest in their own league. There are players from the Bundesliga who’ve enjoyed success though – Hamman, Klinsmann, Haselbank and Santa Cruz the most obvious.

Away from the usual media spin, look at the facts…
The average attendances last year…
Bundesliga – 41.446
Premier League – 35.341
La Liga – 28.323
Serie A – 24.562

And the biggest teams in Europe…
1) Real Madrid CF – 76.234
2) Manchester United – 75.691
3) Borussia Dortmund – 72.510
4) Bayern München – 69.000
5) FC Barcelona – 67.560
6) FC Schalke 04 – 61.274
7) Arsenal – 60.070
8) Celtic – 56.677
9) AC Milan – 56.642
10) Hamburg – 55.368

So that’s 4 German teams in the Top 10 (and there’s 6 more averaging 40,000 – 51,000 too).

Maybe they don’t see a need to change. They’re not exactly a nation who like to differ from the norm. Without wanting to sound too stereotypical, almost every restaurant boasts the same menu (Schnitzel, Cordon Bleu, Wurst and steak – I can imagine every ex-pat German missing home when reading that list) and to Swiss, Dutch and French they are looked upon as notoriously being a country of habit (why their traditional pubs don’t close down like in England).

Shame, as I’d love to see Lahm and Schweinsteiger at Old Trafford. Kahn would have been a brilliant replacement for Schmeichel and Matthäus, Ricken, Moeller and Sammer would have easily made the transition into United’s teams.

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- Iain says:
  
  April 8, 2010 at 5:56 am
  
  Just started a quiz at work – Can anyone name a team of German players who have played in the Premiership. We can name 5-6 at the moment. Need a full team
  
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mathis says:

March 2, 2009 at 1:06 pm

hey guys.
i am german and i have been thinking about the same topic. about two years ago or especially after the wc 06, i was hoping some players like schweinsteiger, lahm or podolski would take their opportunities and leave bundesliga to earn some experience in england and spain. this would also better the quality of nationalmannschaft, i thought.
but now, i gave up and i changed my mind. probably german players recognized that most of the german legendary players like e.g. beckenbauer, müller and sammer have had their best years in bundesliga and probably just became that popular because people could see them every week on tv and in the newspaper.
another reason could be that german players maybe like to know what comes up next and in germany, they know better than anywhere else how life is going on.
still i wouldn’t go that far and say that they are afraid of moving to england but that they probably just like to help bundesliga to go on the next stage and become at least thirdbest league in europe. although german people always complain about their country, they still like to live here.
my last aspect is the local value of bundesliga football in everyday’s life. playing in england would take them out of germany’s everyday press and jogi löw as well is mostly looking bundesliga matches of course.
hope this gave you some ideas…

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Zain Alvi says:

February 23, 2009 at 10:18 pm

Oh I just noticed your comment, Taylor. Thanks for dropping a line and it is good to see a variety of opinions here.

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Zain Alvi says:

February 23, 2009 at 10:17 pm

Really? I think the German style of play is actually very entertaining…I understand that in their biggest games off late (WC 2002 final, Euro 2008 final), they have played some of the most boring football but those performances are exceptions to the way the usually play.

In essence, if we are to judge the German style of play by a couple of their boring International displays, then why not judge the English style of play by the horrendous brand of football England puts on at the international stage.Since the English style of play is defined by the exciting nature of the league, I believe the German style should also be judged based on the Bundesliga, which for me is overall the most entertaining and aggressive league behind the Prem.

That’s my rationale behind wanting to see more Germans in the Prem but that’s just my opinion. I really appreciate your take on the issue though :)

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Taylor Fisher says:

February 23, 2009 at 10:15 pm

Interesting article Zain. It is quite surprising that there aren’t many German players in the Prem. They have such a great national team, it’s a wonder why we don’t see more of them playing in the best league.

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Brian Lofrumento says:

February 23, 2009 at 9:59 pm

Good article, Zain, but I can’t help but think that the German style of play would only hinder the Prem’s attacking and exciting play.

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