There is an argument that there will never be a season quite like the English Premier League’s 2011-2012 season. In the final game of the season Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero scored a goal in the 95th minute to give City their first title in decades. It was a moment that is etched in history forever. In his first season of the club Aguero proved he was worth every penny after transferring from Spain’s Atletico Madrid.
Aguero’s contribution late in May of that season was planned out before he even made the move to England. In fact, Manchester City was one of the revolutionaries of the game when they created a “relocation team.” In short, this team would ensure, when a player made the move to City, they would have everything accommodated for.
How did this revolutionize the game? Because City acknowledged what many other clubs still have difficulty grasping: a player’s adaptation to a new country, league, style of play and etc. is imperative.
Look at it this way, unlike any other sport, soccer has a massive global flavor. When a player is traded in the NBA, he has a 28 out of 29 chance he will end up in the same country, and even if he ends up in Toronto, the city is a place similar to the American culture.
Soccer, however, could have a player change everything. Young Argentine players will be in for a culture shock going from Buenos Aires to London. Manchester City knew that, and when Aguero arrived in Manchester, a player that spent all his life in the Spanish speaking countries of Argentina and Spain was given an English tutor. On top of that, the relocation team took care of finding him a house, school for his kids and a car. Bottom line, all Aguero had to do was worry about adapting on the pitch.
That’s where Paul Pogba comes in. The Frenchman broke the transfer record when he moved from Turin back to City’s rivals Manchester United, a global powerhouse in the sport. Putting it nicely, he hasn’t had the greatest of seasons and fans are beginning to turn on him less than a year into his United playing days.
A shame, really, considering he’s coming from a different style of the game playing in Italy than in England. United had this problem before when the team gave up on stars Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria, and sold them a year after signing them to big deals from France and Spain respectively.
Yes, it is a shame that those players are playing to their potential, but there is still a massive issue with the lack of patience clubs posses. A year is nowhere near enough time for a player to find his true footing on a team. Does a worker know everything after one year on the job? Do freshman in college not struggle in their first months at school? Of course, there will be adaptation struggles and the added pressure for some players to find a house or school for their kids on top of the pressure to perform would make any sane man crack.
That’s a big reason Barcelona have done so well in recent years. Their talented team follows a one year rule, meaning that a player won’t be judged on his true value to the club until after he’s been with the team for one year. It is thanks to their patience that depth like Arda Turan have blossomed on the bench for the Catalan side.
Yet Pogba is still mocked by fans and pundits alike. Any misplaced pass or game without a goal (which, he’s a natural defensive midfielder, mind you) sparks massive reaction. If the team isn’t careful, the pressure out on Pogba will be too much for a young midfielder to overcome, and United is certainly not the only team who face this issue.
Yes, Pogba isn’t having the greatest of years, but he’s also been in England for a year. If given time to adapt, the man of a thousand haircuts and dabs could use that trademark dabbing goal celebration a lot more often.
