We've got two Americans....

Lemmy_kilmister

Lemmy_kilmister

Well-known member
Should we have another Brazilian?
Is it more beneficial to have a couple of players from same/similar countries? We had 3/4 Brazilians, a couple of Italians etc...is it better for player morale would you think?
 
It probably depends how foreign they are. Payero didn't speak English did he when he got here? If so, he might have felt quite isolated whereas someone that does speak English or if there is at least others that speak their language like all the Spanish speakers under Karanka then there are at least others that they can relate to until they learn the language a bit more. Muniz has already been in England a year so won't have as big a transition to make. Some times you do forget that they are people as well as footballers and settling in to a new town/country/language/lifestyle can be as important as what they do on the pitch.

I'd guess it would be far cheaper to have people on the staff or in the area to support than paying a professional footballer's wages to help another one settle in better.
 
Nano said:
It probably depends how foreign they are. Payero didn't speak English did he when he got here? If so, he might have felt quite isolated whereas someone that does speak English or if there is at least others that speak their language like all the Spanish speakers under Karanka then there are at least others that they can relate to until they learn the language a bit more. Muniz has already been in England a year so won't have as big a transition to make. Some times you do forget that they are people as well as footballers and settling in to a new town/country/language/lifestyle can be as important as what they do on the pitch.

I'd guess it would be far cheaper to have people on the staff or in the area to support than paying a professional footballer's wages to help another one settle in better.
Click to expand...
I was just about to post something similar about Payero - I think one of the reasons he wanted to be loaned back to Argentina was because he was feeling isolated.

Leo speaks Spanish and Portuguese so there's "someone" for Muniz on the staff, but I agree... Maybe if we want players like Payero to succeed, we should consider bringing family/friends over with them.
Footballers are on 5-15k a week here, how much would it cost to bring his best friend over on min. wage to be some kind of personal assistant? - Payero's brothers in the lower leagues in Brazil, bring him over too and let him join in with the training. A bit unorthodox, but it would help with the isolation.
 
Probably a language thing more than a culture one you'd think (plus of course nationalities who speak the same lingo tend to have a fair bit of cultural overlap too).

I mean I doubt an American needs another American to help them settle in over here. McGree seems to be doing ok without another Aussie.

Leo probably helped a bit with Payero, but it was probably like hanging around with your dad. Would've helped him massively if he'd had another Spanish speaker his own age to hang around with I'm sure.
 
Imagine Hoppe would be struggling with the language and culture without Stefan's input - mind you he's probably been teaching him about hotpot rather than parmos given his Manchester experience!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top