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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- Arsene Wenger, Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo, football, Manchester United, Socceroos, Tim Cahill
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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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January 31st 2009 @ 8:32am
Luke W said | January 31st 2009 @ 8:32am | Report comment
Good article. However your example that Cahill should become more disloyal like Cristiano Ronaldo is a bit off the mark. If Cahill did make the move to a big four club it would be in the same style as Dimitar Berbatov to Man U. He flat out refused to play for Tottenham again. I don’t see Cahill doing the same thing because as you mentioned he is extremely loyal.
Hypothetically however, if Cahill was to move to a big four club, I would like to see him go to Liverpool. They have built well over the last few seasons, and they are one more great player away from EPL success.
January 31st 2009 @ 8:38am
dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Luke W
Yeah good point
After all Cristiano Ronaldo is still a Manchester Utd Player and never got his desired transfer.
January 31st 2009 @ 10:38am
Rob said | January 31st 2009 @ 10:38am | Report comment
Luke,
If there was one club that he could move to that would ensure he was hated by Everton fans forever, decried from the rooftops of every Evertonian building in Liverpool, it would be Liverpool FC. For that reason alone, Cahill would never, ever, move across town.
For him to move to a big club, he’d have to go to somewhere like Arsenal or Chelsea, but definitely not Liverpool.
January 31st 2009 @ 10:50am
Luke W said | January 31st 2009 @ 10:50am | Report comment
Rob,
I never considered the rivalry between the two clubs, so fair enough. Taking Liverpool out of the equation, Arsenal is probably the next best fit for Cahill. I don’t see Cahill fitting in at either Chelsea or Man U.
Hopefully Everton can continue to make strides in the EPL and give Cahill some UCL experience, but if they can’t I would like to see Cahill move to Aston Villa. They have some exciting young players with pace and skill and I think Cahill would fit in well with their system and take them to the next level.
January 31st 2009 @ 11:21am
Koala Bear said | January 31st 2009 @ 11:21am | Report comment
Timmy Cahill, is too smart and will stay put at a club that appreciates him .. Kewell, Viduka, lured over by reading their own press and found that the grass is not always greener over the other side of the fence… He’s a great player for us, but not a world class player and best suited at Everton who will soon enough make the UCL .. Moving to the super clubs he would be sitting on the bench more often than not .. Timmy’s not that loyal he left Millwall for greener pasture and it paid off … However, this time he knows that to impress in the big clubs he needs to bide his time and wait for the right moment to move, if ever it does come, at the right time for him …
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KB
January 31st 2009 @ 11:37am
dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 11:37am | Report comment
KB
yes he did leave millwall
I don’t think that has much impact to his loyalty. To expect a player to stay loyal to a club in the second division when a EPL club wants you to be a regular player for them. Not a single player in modern professional football would have stayed on.
He is a very loyal player relative to other players in modern footballs. Lesser loyal players would have took the bait from Arsene Wenger and demanded a transfer. After all for anyone who plays Football Manager you would know managers don’t praise players for no reason. It’s often to soften them up before a transfer attempt.
January 31st 2009 @ 12:12pm
Koala Bear said | January 31st 2009 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
Arsene Wenger, only wants him as his first reserve not in a staring XI .. A bit of advise for Timmy take the Accolade, enjoy it, and wait for the offer you can’t refuse $$$$$$ .. Timmy’s now 29 (?) he has come to the peak of his career and will start to decline down the track with injuries sustained .. We are seeing evidence of it now.. btw I love him to death….
~~~~~~~~
KB
January 31st 2009 @ 12:29pm
jimbo said | January 31st 2009 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
Good point KB,
further evidence being players like Viduka, Kewell and Aloisi who went to bigger clubs and got paid more to sit on the substitiutes bench or play reserve team football.
Cahill would be a part timer at Le Arse and have trouble overcoming the majority French Arsenal team. His style doesn’t suit their “I’m a pansy, don’t kick me I can do fancy tricks with the ball” style of play.
January 31st 2009 @ 12:40pm
Koala Bear said | January 31st 2009 @ 12:40pm | Report comment
Jimbo,
off to the CRSL now to throw in a line…. back later…
“Le Arse” … anywhere near St Kilda..?.
~~~~~~~~~
KB
January 31st 2009 @ 1:14pm
dasilva said | January 31st 2009 @ 1:14pm | Report comment
I’m not too sure Jimbo
Kewell was initially a success until injuries crippled him in Liverpool. People forget that he was a star signing for liverpool with a lot of hype. Kewell was just unfortunate. Who will say that if he stayed at leeds he wouldn’t have gotten the same injuries.
Viduka
I’ll say the exact opposite. He’s probably the most underachieving man in Australian football due to lack of ambitions. I’m not going to bash the dukes as he is a fantastic player and there is more to life then a career. He has chosen to stay in the comforts of england for the sake of his family instead of accepting offers to play for clubs like Valencia, Roma etc. Also clubs in England offer far greater wages then the continental clubs and Dukes chose the money offer. Fair enough if that’s his priorities in life but for the footballing prospective he should have moved to the continent and been playing champions league football. Instead he is playing for clubs that are relegation battlers in the EPL.
Dukes is my favorite player but even I recognise he underachieve due to lack of ambition.