Is Tim Cahill too loyal for his own good?
Roar Guru
By dasilva, 31 Jan 2009 dasilva is a Roar Guru
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When Tim Cahill was nominated for the Ballon d’Or, Arsene Wenger was asked about his opinion of the nomination. He immediately praised him as a player and noted how he admires his football intelligence.
I’m quite sure an Arsene Wenger would love to have a Tim Cahill in his team. The idea will have Socceroos fans drooling at the notion that one of our players is playing at one of the best clubs in the world, training with a master manager like Wenger, and playing regular Champions League football.
Tim Cahill may also improve his game, improve his first touch, and technical skills.
Alas, it will never happen.
Tim Cahill is one of the old breed of footballers. He is staunchly loyal to David Moyes and Everton. He continually praises Moyes, saying he is the manager that put faith in him and plucked him from obscurity in the English Championship. And he deserves to return the faith.
He recognises that he could easily run out his contract and make a move to a bigger club, but then says: “Why would I want to? Everton is the best club in the world.”
Damn, if you cut him, he probably bleeds out blue.
Sometimes, though, I just want Cahill to be bit of a bastard and show some disloyalty to the club that made him famous, in the same way as Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United. Throw a tantrum, make your ambitions clear as day, revel in the praise of managers like Arsene Wenger, upset your own fans, refuse to sign a contract, and then get picked up by the big four and play at the highest level.
Maybe if he does that, he will lose some respect from those who admire his loyalty. But we will quickly forgive him when he’s playing regular Champions League football and when he brings that experience to the Socceroos.
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dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 3:07am | Report comment
Interesting editing, although changes my meaning of the article perhaps for the good
This wasn’t meant to be a serious criticism of Tim cahill
It was meant to be about how I really admire Tim Cahill as a player and for his behaviour off the field. However the fact that I was a fan of him meant that I wanted to him to reach the highest levels as possible eg Arsenal or another big 4 club. However for him to do that means that he has to start acting as a jerk. SO there was a conflict about part of me wanted him to succeed as far as possible to whether he should lose some of his qualities that make me care how far he goes in the first place. Great bloke for everton vs not so great bloke for Arsenal
However it was probably to convoluted and complicated and that editing made this article a bit more coherent but unfortunately a bit more critical (which I didn’t intended)
Scott B said | January 31st 2009 @ 3:13am | Report comment
Please … give the guy a break.
He’s played in an FA Cup final for Millwall, thats success
He’s scored the first goal in a world cup for Australia.
Im pretty sure he’s happy with his football career. Therefore , why move.
Im not sure when his contract runs out, but couldnt one assume that he “if it goes his way” would move from Everton to a Wollongong A-League team?
dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 3:30am | Report comment
Scott B
Like I said before I didn’t meant this article to have such a serious critical tone and meant it to be a bit more comical. I didn’t really pull it off to be honest.
It doesn’t bother me if he stays on with everton but it will be awesome if he ever moves to Arsenal.
About the contract- yeah wollongong or any other A-league clubs is probably what is going to happen after his everton career is finish. His contract is until 2012. probably too old for Arsenal or any big club to want to poach. However his comments about run out his contract and sign to a big club was last year when he was just sign a new 5 year deal.
Scott B said | January 31st 2009 @ 3:38am | Report comment
When I started to write my comment your first response wasnt there
dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 3:48am | Report comment
No worries
I think it’s just good learning experience for me to write my arguments and ideas in a more clear way.
Steve Kaless said | January 31st 2009 @ 3:55am | Report comment
I think a move for Cahill to Arsenal would be a bad one. They Arsenal midfield is jam packed and I don’t he’d get nearly as much game time. Also, who is to say he’d get Champions League football next year with the Gunners. I also see him as a different player to the type they want at Arsenal.
Stay where you are Tim, everything is going just fine.
dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 4:07am | Report comment
Yeah the champions league football is not a given for Arsenal seeing how well they are going this year.
However Arsene wenger is a clear fan of Cahill. We may not see a spot for him in his team chock filled with superstars midfielders but I have a feeling if Cahill moves there he will get some game time to prove his worth.
When he was nominated for the Ballon d’or and Arsene was asked about it. He immediately praised Tim Cahill about his qualities. He could have praised anyone else from that list including Arsenal’s own players like Cesc Fabregas but for some reason he decided Cahill was the man to talk up. During that time Arsenal was heavily reliant on Henry to score goals and other players weren’t contributing that much to the goals at that time. It was seen that a player like Cahill who could make late runs from midfield and score regular goals could support Henry and relieve their overreliance on Henry for goals.
Recently Arsene complimented about Tim cahill and his goal against his team.
I seriously believe that if Tim Cahill wasn’t so cost prohibitive (buying key players with 5 years left in there contract while publicly very loyal to the club is always expensive) Arsene Wenger would have bought cahill by now.
Sam said | January 31st 2009 @ 7:25am | Report comment
Da Silva
Cahill is a special player who always scores important goals for underdog sides against more fancied rivals. Would he go better or worse in a powerhouse side like Arsenal or Man Utd? I think when he retires is when we will really appreciate what a great player he was for both Everton and Australia.
Dave said | January 31st 2009 @ 8:06am | Report comment
Cahill is exactly the type of player you want when the game is tight and low scoring. How many times does he score the first goal to break the game open or a late equaliser? Plenty.
When ever Cahill is in the Socceroos line up l always believe we have a chance no matter who we are playing.
He is true gem in a footballing world of roughies. He is totally commited to the cause and doesnt know what it is to be beaten…a more fearless player with his added quality, you will not see eg his first goal vs Qatar at Suncorp in 2008 was technically brilliant, an incredibly difficult skill made to look mundane…priceless.
His ability to win headers against bigger players makes him ever dangerous and finally his verstailty and willingness to play where ever for the good of the team makes him a coaches dream.
Stay where you are Tim and, if not already, you will become an Everton immortal.
dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 8:31am | Report comment
Sam
Lucas Neill was known as a rather industrious hacker full back for Australia. His was forge from playing at Millwall. When he moved to Blackburn he was notorious for dodgy tackles and breaking the legs of Jamie Carragher.
However under Guus Hiddink he turned into a cultured center back. Removed his recklessness during challenges, great at defending as well as good at distributing the ball from the back and starting off attacks. Only when playing with Guus he was then linked to Barcelona. We saw a different side of Lucas Neill and different abilities from him when playing for a different coach.
Yeah it does seems like Cahill is a player more suited to the underdogs and fighting teams. However you don’t really know if it’s more of the team moulding their player into their images or the other way around. If Cahill moved to an Arsenal could there be a similar transformation and that you see more diverse range of skills he doesn’t show that commonly when he plays for Everton. It’s hard to tell but it’s a type of scenario that makes me curious.