Culture shock causes failure
Culture shock causes failure
By Tim Vickery
When Hernan Crespo cries depression then the Premiership has to reach for the valium.
His sadness goes some way to explain why South Americans, so decisive in other European leagues, have struggled to make the same impact in England.
Back at Stamford Bridge, the Argentine striker has revealed that he came close to quitting the game during his first spell at Chelsea.
His reasons had little to do with football and plenty to do with the sense of isolation that he felt away from the club.
To an astonishing degree he was left to his own devices in a country where he was unable to speak the language.
His most feared opponents were everyday encounters with the electrician who was coming round, the voice from the phone company on the other end of the line or the mechanic who was sorting out his car.
Crespo has scored more goals in World Cup qualifying than any other Argentine. He has been a consistent marksman in Italian club football. He may not be a great centre-forward but he is undoubtedly a very good one.
Chelsea bought Crespo the footballer - at massive expense - but forgot Crespo the human being. And because they failed to take care of him off the field, he was not in the right frame of mind to produce the goods on the field.
Crespo's tale is all too typical of the experience of South American players in England.
Soon after Juan Pablo Angel joined Aston Villa his wife fell ill. He was astonished at the lack of support he received from the club. Agustin Delgado complained that he was never made to feel welcome at Southampton.
This is much more than mere homesickness.
In each case the player concerned had come to England after a successful spell in another country; Crespo in Italy, Angel in Argentina and Delgado in Mexico. In each case, though, the Latin players had been playing in other Latin countries.
But adapting to life in England is much more complicated.
We tend to take Anglo-Saxon notions of personal independence for granted but it is an alien concept to many South Americans.
They are used to helping and being helped out and can feel utterly lost when removed from their support structure.
If Premiership clubs want to get the best out of their South American acquisitions it is vital that they understand this process and put in place measures to ensure that the players are not left isolated.
Sometimes players bring their extended family over.
It can cause as many problems as it solves - they too may struggle to integrate and it ends up giving the player something else to worry about.
Clubs often fix up a language teacher but this can be a dry and difficult relationship for people who, in many cases, have little formal education.
Elsewhere in Europe an important role is carried out by those South American players already based in the country.
The new man immediately finds himself part of a ready-made community who show him the ropes and ease his adaptation. This is much more difficult in England.
Work permit restrictions make it much harder for players to come in. There are hardly enough around to form a welcoming committee.
Perhaps more use could be made of ordinary South American citizens who are making their living in England. With their experience they can teach survival skills to a new arrival, while keeping him in touch with his native culture.
Maybe then instead of Crespo the depression clinics would be full of opposing defenders.
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