Barton's French Crusade

       
        The French League has, it appears, become a somewhat 'rejuvenate your career' stop off for many British players over the last few years. Joey Barton completed a loan move from QPR to Marseille before the transfer window closed this week and he will be eager to prove a point immediately . He will of course want to show his current, and surely insane employees, that he can still cut the mustard. Personally though, I see Marseille as a disaster waiting to happen, poor Tyrone Mears realised the hard way that it is no place for the average player and Barton will realise this too in less he can prove, which I doubt he will, that he is in fact the world class player he believes he is. Anyone Premiership midfielder can put on a Fleetwood Town jersey and look like Bryan Robson, but spend 90 minutes in the Stade Velodrome, scrutinised by a notoriously demanding set of fans and then we will see if Barton really can hack it. My guess is not, perhaps he will go for the tried and tested, kicking out at a young French debutant before lighting up in the changing room (having swapped Marlboro for some nice thin French cigars, you know he's a stylish man) and waiting for the first victim to arrive. Then again he could turn a leaf, he could return a hero, take Joe Cole for instance, reinvented, released into the No.10 role Harry Redknapp still dreams about in his sleep, to then take his bow...back on the Liverpool bench.

Barton's 'Cantona Kung Fu' style kick didn't go down so well in France.

Whilst I have to reluctantly admit that there have been times in the past when Barton's performances have impressed or maybe better put 'surprised' me , his temperament has actually come to ruin his career. When for example Rooney have been punished for his temperament, on the greatest of stages, there is always a common theme in the aftermath, remorse. Rooney has repeatedly had to apologise for his actions but apologise he does and though not every ones favourite you can hint that his apology is honest. With Barton however I don't believe this is the case, you never truly feel his apology is a genuine one, in fact you can almost see Barton making amends for his actions through gritted teeth, the wording always tinged with excuse and external factors out of his control. Ask him one on one down the pub ( or one of his art galleries he tends to visit to encourage a sophisticated image) if he thinks Tevez and Aguero deserved everything they got and I'm sure his answer would be yes. You can only do so much with a player like Barton, his temperament has come to overshadow every other part of his game and once this happens there is little hope of winning any kind of respect back. 

To get away with a fierce temperament you have to be a genius, Cantona and Zidane committed some atrocities on the football field in their time but it's part of their make up, part of what makes them great. Cantona, Barton is not, more the elder brother of Lee Cattlemore. How long Barton can last on croissants and coffee will be interesting, I expect to see him back by Christmas. He has long been infuriated by referees in this country, in France petty decisions are pulled up even more so.

That the French league has become a feeder league and will continue to be ( do not expect Paris St. Germain to end happily ever after) should not discredit the style and technique honed there, which is spot on. Though we wish to see more British players breaking through into the starting eleven at the major clubs in England, who can blame managers going in for players from France, getting an absolute bargain and receiving a player ready to slot straight in and dictate the midfield with relative ease. Cabaye was outstanding at periods last season for Newcastle and Hazard is looking like a candidate for signing of the season already. 

Tony Cascarino has said of playing abroad for Marseille and Nancy in France, "It's one of the best experiences I have had and I think that it helped me greatly, not only as a footballer but as a person. I think if you want to develop yourself as a player then moving to a foreign league has got to be the best way to do this" and his fantastic autobiography, which is well worth a read, reflects this. With this in mind is it not perhaps better to encourage young British players to seek loan moves abroad to improve the parts of their game which European Leagues preach far better then our own? A player like Josh McEachran, shipped off to Middlesborough for the season, will benefit from the intensity and physicality of the Championship. But if he wants to ever break into the Chelsea side he needs to match the Hazard's and the Mata's in technique and flair. A move to France would do well to aid this cause. There is clearly lessons to be learnt for older players abroad too, Cascarino was no spring chicken when he moved to France and neither is Barton. However Barton will have to leave all his opinions behind him. There can be no expectations to walk in and be handed the armband, no expectations to even slot straight in the side. Bad attitude Marseille will not tolerate. 

The truth is that the French League is nowhere near the standard of the Premier League competitively. It has provided some sublime players for the Premier League, Hazard, Cabaye and co. but there is the reality, provided. The French League is becoming a feeder League, with players outgrowing it's lack of competitiveness. Still the French league does not get enough credit, I for one have only just started to notice how many fantastic players are moving to England from France. Perhaps English clubs need to reassess it's usefulness, send youngsters to France where they will actually start games but alongside players which are equally as good as any they would play with in England. Cole may be the older of the two but he would have learnt a thing or two from the magician that is Hazard.

In contrast any British player moving in the opposite direction conjures up only one word in my mind, desperation. That is until a positive trend is established, until younger players go to France to improve their game. Expect Michael Owen to take the plunge, holding aloft a Monaco shirt having missed out on the British deadline for transfers because nobody wanted a player motivated by money. And Barton has now acknowledged nobody in the Premier League will go near him either, so he will set sail, the brave courageous warrior, into unknown waters. Only time will tell if he can in fact rejuvenate his career and earn a recall to the Premier League.

So is the French league beginning to catch up with what have long been regarded the superior European leagues? Will it always be halted by the poaching of it's best players? Or could Paris St Germain's change in fortunes inspire wealthy owners to invest and create a revolution in France?

Your reading and comments are appreciated and I'm interested to gain your opinions.