English speakers who have played abroad

normanoffside · 07-07-2019 12:52am #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTyM2_YIWgQ

I was just watching up on old Videos and seen that Liam Brady still speaks fluent Italian after living there more Than 40 years ago.

Any other English speakers who adapted to other languages?

https://youtu.ber/XTyM2_YIWgQ

Francie Barrett · 07-07-2019 1:07am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4LJOVS6xxA

David Beckham a very obvious candidate to your list.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 07-07-2019 1:16am

I can't judge Brady's Italian, but Beckham is far from fluent.

Zaph · 07-07-2019 1:30am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dovfYaQoPoY

HalloweenJack · 07-07-2019 1:46am

Michael Robinson is a high profile commentator in Spain. Came to play for Osasuna and stayed on afterwards. Lots of Spaniards take the piss out of his accent and there is a rumour that he gets sent back to England every summer so as not to lose his English-tinged Spanish accent. It's actually pretty unfair because he speaks very well. He has a bit of an accent but its far less noticeable than other foreigners who speak Spanish.

Gareth Bale has had a lot of trouble learning Spanish. Apparently he won't even speak to his teammates in Spanish, despite having been at Madrid for six years now.

Morzadec · 07-07-2019 3:57am

It's good context to see Beckham's broken Spanish after 4 years at Madrid to imagine how hard it can be for non-English speakers coming to the Premier League for the first time.

It's never considered a factor at all, but some people find languages hard. I know Keita apparently has been struggling with English and has been cited as a reason for a mediocre first season. We don't consider it all but it must factor in, even if not on the ptich but into the general feeling of comfort in a new city. I'd love to hear more about how much of an issue it is, or stories about players who couldn't speak a word but excelled anyway

SEPT 23 1989 · 07-07-2019 7:57am

David Platt is fluent in Italian after his time playing over there

chopperbyrne · 07-07-2019 8:14am

Cascarino presumably knows French.

Owen Hargreaves with German too.

Linekar definitely has some Spanish and Japanese.

NIMAN · 07-07-2019 8:16am

Bale.

He knows how to ask "where's the golf course" in Spanish.

07-07-2019 8:24am

There’s also a culture issue, though that may not be as big an issue as it was. But I remember Luther Blissett complaining about not getting Rice Krispies. And Ian Rush and that famous “couldn’t settle in Italy, it was like living in a foreign country” line (though probably a joke by Dalglish, it fed into a certain stereotype of a footballer in the 80s)

sacamano · 07-07-2019 9:01am

A former player but worth mentioning considering he had to relearn the English language after spending a year in Holland.

gimli2112 · 07-07-2019 9:11am

John Charles was very successful in Italy in the 50s and 60s so much the fans voted him the greatest ever foreigner to play for them, in 1997. Take that Platini
I assume he learned the lingo, must have been some culture shock at least nowadays players can youtube Turin

Father Hernandez · 07-07-2019 9:26am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

There’s also a culture issue, though that may not be as big an issue as it was. But I remember Luther Blissett complaining about not getting Rice Krispies. And Ian Rush and that famous “couldn’t settle in Italy, it was like living in a foreign country” line (though probably a joke by Dalglish, it fed into a certain stereotype of a footballer in the 80s)

On Ian Rush, he never actually said that. It was Dalglish and picked up by the press incorrectly and then just stuck, never went away.

Captain Havoc · 07-07-2019 9:27am

The Joey Barton and Steve McClaren faux accents are quite normal. The process of aligning your accent with your interlocutors is known as accent accommodation.

NIMAN · 07-07-2019 9:52am

Fair play to Aldo and McGeady, they made the effort.

Especially McGeady, I grew up with a guy whose dad spoke Russian, apparently its a very hard language to learn.

fyfe79 · 07-07-2019 9:56am

Captain Havoc wrote: »

The Joey Barton and Steve McClaren faux accents are quite normal. The process of aligning your accent with your interlocutors is known as accent accommodation.

Yeah I always associated this as the first 'baby' step to learning another language, so I never found it as ridiculous as other people seemed to. In fairness, Barton's is fine but McLaren's is well OTT!

HalloweenJack · 07-07-2019 11:30am

Culture plays a big part and its not restricted to footballers either. I've met plenty of people from English-speaking countries who are living and working abroad who have no interest in learning another language because "everyone speaks English". I imagine for a lot of them it might only be a temporary arrangement so they probably aren't too bothered because of that. Something similar probably goes through the minds of footballers.

Considering that you can get by in most places speaking English, if that's the language you grew up with, it's harder to motivate yourself to learn another language. There's a lot more emphasis placed on learning languages in other countries where English isn't spoken, especially in places like the Czech Republic or Finland where their languages are useless outside of the country. Even people who aren't 'good' at languages, have a decent level of English and probably a bit of German, Spanish or French in these countries.

Learning languages is difficult for anyone but I do feel that, culturally, bative English speakers, in general, are less motivated to learn another language.

BOHtox · 07-07-2019 12:03pm

fyfe79 wrote: »

Yeah I always associated this as the first 'baby' step to learning another language, so I never found it as ridiculous as other people seemed to. In fairness, Barton's is fine but McLaren's is well OTT!

I always thought Barton was takin the piss but McLaren's was legit, albeit ott.

JPA · 07-07-2019 12:55pm

Morzadec wrote: »

It's good context to see Beckham's broken Spanish after 4 years at Madrid to imagine how hard it can be for non-English speakers coming to the Premier League for the first time.

It's never considered a factor at all, but some people find languages hard. I know Keita apparently has been struggling with English and has been cited as a reason for a mediocre first season. We don't consider it all but it must factor in, even if not on the ptich but into the general feeling of comfort in a new city. I'd love to hear more about how much of an issue it is, or stories about players who couldn't speak a word but excelled anyway

I wouldn't have too much sympathy for a player after about 12 months. They could be getting lessons every day of the week as well as being surrounded by the language. The likes of Bale not speaking Spanish is actually a joke and taking the piss out of Real.

banie01 · 07-07-2019 1:01pm

NIMAN wrote: »

Fair play to Aldo and McGeady, they made the effort.

Especially McGeady, I grew up with a guy whose dad spoke Russian, apparently its a very hard language to learn.

It's awful saying this given the trouble a lot of N.I born players encounter still.

But I know that Russian was quite prevalent amongst a cohort up that way that subscribed to the auld Marxist-Leninist economic theory

I know quite a few lads released thanks to the GFA that speak quite a bit of Russian from the Soviet equivalent of Radio Free Europe in the 80's and early 90's a lot of them learnt by forced immersion.

Aidan went and plied his trade and plied it well.
Same with Aldo, the Spanish bloody loved him when he was there.

Blinky Plebum · 07-07-2019 1:11pm

JPA wrote: »

I wouldn't have too much sympathy for a player after about 12 months. They could be getting lessons every day of the week as well as being surrounded by the language. The likes of Bale not speaking Spanish is actually a joke and taking the piss out of Real.

I think it's a large part of the reason he's so unpopular over their and to be honest it's a perfectly justifiable reason, it's really disrespectful to the Spanish people that you don't at least make a proper effort to learn the language.I remember Steve McManaman saying they don't really mind if you're not good at speaking the language just that you at least try it and make a genuine effort to speak spanish.

ush · 07-07-2019 1:40pm

Patrick Walker

The above link from about the 1:05 minute mark. Patrick Walker

PARlance · 07-07-2019 1:43pm

Rooney still not fluent but reports from the States say he has mastered the basics.

ush · 07-07-2019 1:44pm

Roy Hodgson på svenska

Stuart Baxter på svenska (Current South African coach)

citytillidie · 07-07-2019 2:24pm

banie01 wrote: »

It's awful saying this given the trouble a lot of N.I born players encounter still.

But I know that Russian was quite prevalent amongst a cohort up that way that subscribed to the auld Marxist-Leninist economic theory

I know quite a few lads released thanks to the GFA that speak quite a bit of Russian from the Soviet equivalent of Radio Free Europe in the 80's and early 90's a lot of them learnt by forced immersion.

Aidan went and plied his trade and plied it well.
Same with Aldo, the Spanish bloody loved him when he was there.

Who was NI born from those? McGeady was born in Scotland and Aldo on Merseyside

banie01 · 07-07-2019 6:09pm

citytillidie wrote: »

Who was NI born from those? McGeady was born in Scotland and Aldo on Merseyside

I'd thought McGeady was born in Donegal, my bad

And the reference to Aldo, is in relation to his command of Spanish after playing there not his place of birth.
Apologies for any lack of clarity on my part.

8-10 · 09-07-2019 5:41pm

Cillian Sheridan went around the place, Poland, Bulgaria etc. Eamon Zayed played in Greece, Malaysia. Not sure how much of the local language they spoke.

Steve Finnan and Ian Harte played a few seasons in La Liga and I recall the latter speaking Spanish alright.

There's an increasing amount of poaching young kids from England to continental teams. Jadon Sancho is at Dortmund, Reiss Nelson was at Hoffenheim and Monchengladbach tried to poach Rhian Brewster from Liverpool until they got angry and cancelled an arranged friendly. Germany is a place you can get by without knowing the language but I presume the likes of Sancho learn a bit being there for a few years.

inforfun · 10-07-2019 8:23am

Liam Kelly signed for Feyenoord from Reading, 3 year deal.
So lets see how his Dutch will go in about 6 months. Cause that is about the average a Scandinavian needs to do interviews in Dutch.

While a "normal" person might have an excuse of not having the time to go to school and learn the language (i dont agree with that but ok) a footballer has no excuse whatsoever.

gimli2112 · 10-07-2019 8:29am

inforfun wrote: »

While a "normal" person might have an excuse of not having the time to go to school and learn the language (i dont agree with that but ok) a footballer has no excuse whatsoever.

Not only the spare time they have from not playing fortnite or golf but their clubs would surely ensure they have the best teachers. I'm terrible at languages but even I would struggle to pick up the basics in that kind of environment.

I should also say accents could be a problem. I always laughed at Jan Molby's scouse accent. I got lost in Wales once and couldn't understand the locals.

inforfun · 10-07-2019 8:55am

They should go here https://www.reginacoeli.com/about-regina-coeli/the-nuns-of-vught.html

Many Dutch players and managers, the ones who cared, went there for 2 weeks after landing contracts in Spain or Italy.
You will not be perfect in 2 weeks but anyone who went there was able to do their "announcement" press conference in the local language.
probably the easiest way to start a career at a new club with with a bit of extra credit with the fans.

Bob Harris · 10-07-2019 9:24am

sugarman wrote: »

McGeady speaks decent Russian
Aldo is fluent in Spanish, I've seen a more recent clip of him speaking to the press

Aldo was nowhere near fluent in Spanish going by that interview. Anything he said in that interview was elementary. As someone else said, at least he made the effort and some players couldn't be arsed.

Antonio Valencia got a club award at United a few years back. He went up to collect the prize with an interpreter after about 10 years in England.

8-10 · 10-07-2019 11:41am

inforfun wrote: »

They should go here https://www.reginacoeli.com/about-regina-coeli/the-nuns-of-vught.html

Many Dutch players and managers, the ones who cared, went there for 2 weeks after landing contracts in Spain or Italy.
You will not be perfect in 2 weeks but anyone who went there was able to do their "announcement" press conference in the local language.
probably the easiest way to start a career at a new club with with a bit of extra credit with the fans.

:eek:

A grand a day!

inforfun · 10-07-2019 11:52am

They are really good.
If you can make Louis van Gaal, who didnt speak any language but Dutch, do his press presentations in German and Spanish when he signed up for Bayern and Barca in 3 weeks time, you know what you are doing.

osarusan · 10-07-2019 12:01pm

Bob Harris wrote: »

Antonio Valencia got a club award at United a few years back. He went up to collect the prize with an interpreter after about 10 years in England.

Aguero as well, I've only ever heard him speak in Spanish when interviewed.

I think with footballers, especially those who are world class, there's going to be more accommodation of their laziness with hiring interpreters and that.

Much more so than non-footballers obviously.

Slightly off-topic, I remember reading an interview with Fernando Torres about his English lessons at Liverpool. His teacher had him calling up local real estate agents, car dealers, etc, making inquiries about buying stuff, just to get genuine practice with the language.

w/s/p/c/ · 10-07-2019 12:36pm

Steve "El Macca" McManaman speaks fluent Spanish as far as I know.

There was a video of him on YouTube somewhere being interviewed on the equivalent of Spanish Sky Sports news and he sounded ok!

Not an English speaker, but Trapattoni famously going nuts in German at a press conference is a good example of a football figure adapting to a foreign language, he sounded like he was at one of those bad rallies in Germany in the 1930's!!

The Good Ole Boys · 10-07-2019 12:47pm

Maybe not the same, but Irish man Tony Galvin could speak Russian. He play for ireland and in the euro 88 against USSR.

Moghead · 10-07-2019 12:53pm

inforfun wrote: »

Liam Kelly signed for Feyenoord from Reading, 3 year deal.
So lets see how his Dutch will go in about 6 months. Cause that is about the average a Scandinavian needs to do interviews in Dutch.

While a "normal" person might have an excuse of not having the time to go to school and learn the language (i dont agree with that but ok) a footballer has no excuse whatsoever.

Are Scandinavian languages similar to Dutch? Is that a reason why a lot of Scandinavian players have played in the Netherlands?

Bob Harris · 10-07-2019 12:58pm

w/s/p/c/ wrote: »

Steve "El Macca" McManaman speaks fluent Spanish as far as I know.

There was a video of him on YouTube somewhere being interviewed on the equivalent of Spanish Sky Sports news and he sounded ok!

He was in Madrid in 2010 for the CL final and asked if he wanted to be interviewed in English or Spanish and chose English. I reckon after 4 years there though as a player he could get by.

10-07-2019 1:01pm

Captain Havoc wrote: »

The Joey Barton and Steve McClaren faux accents are quite normal. The process of aligning your accent with your interlocutors is known as accent accommodation.

Explains my Templeogue accent, even though I have moved back to Cork:)

yabadabado · 10-07-2019 1:11pm

The Good Ole Boys wrote: »

Maybe not the same, but Irish man Tony Galvin could speak Russian. He play for ireland and in the euro 88 against USSR.

He studied Russian in college before he became a pro footballer.

inforfun · 10-07-2019 1:49pm

Moghead wrote: »

Are Scandinavian languages similar to Dutch? Is that a reason why a lot of Scandinavian players have played in the Netherlands?

Wouldnt call them similar. They just seem to be good at picking up languages. The Swedes most of all.

Reason why a lot of them come over is probably a financial one. Eredivisie is a step up for them under any circumstance and so they are easier to convince than South-Americans of Southern Europeans.
Clubs probably like the fact there is no drama to expect from them as well.
Not many Swedes that comes with 14 agents and 7 managers all expecting to be paid.

Agent Coulson · 10-07-2019 4:29pm

Lineker picked up passable Spanish and Japanese I think.

normanoffside · 12-07-2019 11:00pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Lineker picked up passable Spanish and Japanese I think.

Not sure about his Japanese but linekar still has very good Spanish as seen by his documentaries in Argentina.
I assume at the time of living there his Spanish was excellent.

w/s/p/c/ wrote: »

Steve "El Macca" McManaman speaks fluent Spanish as far as I know.

There was a video of him on YouTube somewhere being interviewed on the equivalent of Spanish Sky Sports news and he sounded ok!

Macca still does regular ‘pundit spots’ on Mexican Premier league shows.
I lived in Spain when he payed in Madrid and he was always willing to do interviews in Spanish (contrary to what another poster here has said). While it was not perfect it was always very good. The Real fans loved him and called him ‘El caballero Ingles’ (The english gentleman). He was voted most likeable player something like 3 years in a row by Real fans.

Another player I would see on telly around that time was Vinny Samways. He was playing for Las Palmas and was completely assimilated and sounded like a local. I think he went back there (after a brief stint in the championship) to retire.

POKERKING · 13-07-2019 11:07am

osarusan wrote: »

Aguero as well, I've only ever heard him speak in Spanish when interviewed.

I think with footballers, especially those who are world class, there's going to be more accommodation of their laziness with hiring interpreters and that.

Much more so than non-footballers obviously.

Slightly off-topic, I remember reading an interview with Fernando Torres about his English lessons at Liverpool. His teacher had him calling up local real estate agents, car dealers, etc, making inquiries about buying stuff, just to get genuine practice with the language.

Aguero speaks English well as did tevez during his time but both used it as a reason not to do interviews with the press for fear of a slight mistake been magnified. Just easier to say “no english” and go about ur life without been destroyed by a journalist.

Bob Harris · 13-07-2019 12:11pm

normanoffside wrote: »

Not sure about his Japanese but linekar still has very good Spanish as seen by his documentaries in Argentina.
I assume at the time of living there his Spanish was excellent.

Macca still does regular ‘pundit spots’ on Mexican Premier league shows.
I lived in Spain when he payed in Madrid and he was always willing to do interviews in Spanish (contrary to what another poster here has said). While it was not perfect it was always very good. The Real fans loved him and called him ‘El caballero Ingles’ (The english gentleman). He was voted most likeable player something like 3 years in a row by Real fans.

Another player I would see on telly around that time was Vinny Samways. He was playing for Las Palmas and was completely assimilated and sounded like a local. I think he went back there (after a brief stint in the championship) to retire.

The video I saw of him was in 2010 which was 5/6 years after he'd left so logically he was a bit rusty and given the choice chose English.

TFBubendorfer · 13-07-2019 12:26pm

POKERKING wrote: »

Aguero speaks English well as did tevez during his time but both used it as a reason not to do interviews with the press for fear of a slight mistake been magnified. Just easier to say “no english” and go about ur life without been destroyed by a journalist.

Aguero is perfectly happy to chat with fans in English and it's definitely not bad, so the interpreters at interviews must be due to him not trusting the English media. Not so sure about Tevez though, I don't think he ever managed to get past the absolute basics.

In general, people in other countries do appreciatem it if someone makes an effort to at least learn some of the local language, and it really doesn't have to be perfect. On the other hand, someone living there for 6 years and cannot be bothered, like Bale, that tends to go down like a lead balloon. It is utterly disrespectful.

el_gaucho · 13-07-2019 1:39pm

Thanks for posting this. During the Trap era I was always curious about whether he could really speak Italian or not. Obviously he can, even after all these years.

It’s not only English speaker who don’t make the effort though, Italians for example don’t have great culture of learning languages. Trap deserves great credit in my opinion for learning English at his age, and German before that.

Language apart, I don’t think Brady gets enough credit here for his achievements in Italy. They were the glory days of the Seria A when it was the toughest league in the world and he won it twice. And he probably would have one more if he hadn’t been forced out by the signing of Platini.

Mars Bar · 13-07-2019 1:43pm

el_gaucho wrote: »

Thanks for posting this. During the Trap era I was always curious about whether he could really speak Italian or not. Obviously he can, even after all these years.

But he is Italian isn't he?!

el_gaucho · 13-07-2019 2:05pm

Mars Bar wrote: »

But he is Italian isn't he?!

Trap is Italian, but Brady is from Dublin. If you listen to the interview, and you can hear a bit of the Dublin accent come through ðŸ˜

Mars Bar · 13-07-2019 2:11pm

el_gaucho wrote: »

Trap is Italian, but Brady is from Dublin. If you listen to the interview, and you can hear a bit of the Dublin accent come through ðŸ˜

Oh your were talking about Brady? That makes more sense!

Skid X · 13-07-2019 2:31pm

Tony Woodcock was an England International who played for Arsenal and Nottingham Forest in the 70s and 80s

He transferred to Cologne and stayed in Germany after he retired, he speaks German as his first language now

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/where-are-they-now-tony-woodcock-1603025.html

English speakers who have played abroad

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