QUOTE(matt85 @ Apr 17 2007, 04:31 PM)
I don't get it why people hates Anelka.
If you want people with purely bad attitude, just look at the English players. Look at Dennis Wise, Robbie Savage and Joey Barton; the way they play and commit their tackles; they thought they were playing rugby instead. English players are the ones mostly quarell in the tunnel before and after games, go watch replays if you guys don't believe. All the projected images on players are done by the media; coverups and superlatives. Scholes wouldn't even shake some players hands, and some players were ridiculed for not doing so. What good lord media the land of the Queen has !
Read the thread title, it says, "off the pitch".
There is a reason why they labeled Anelka, "The sulk". A lot of it can be attributed to his agent, his very own brother.
QUOTE
Anelka started out at Paris Saint-Germain as a youth player. In November 1996, at the age of 17, he joined English club Arsenal for a fee of £500,000, under newly appointed Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger. His first team opportunities were limited in the 1996-97 season, but in the 1997-98 season he broke into the first team, after a long-term injury to striker Ian Wright. Anelka was a key player in Arsenal's "The Double" win, of both Premier League championship and FA Cup trophy that season. Anelka scored the second goal in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Newcastle United in that season's FA Cup final.
A player with exceptional pace and finishing ability, he won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award in the 1998-99 season, but Arsenal failed to defend their Premiership title and made little progress in the UEFA Champions League. In addition, Anelka made it clear he wanted a better salary than the one Arsenal were offering him. Rumors of his older brothers, who were his agents, galvanizing his career decisions also emerged as the star was renowned for his temperaments with his clubs, forcing him to be left with the unenviable nickname of the Incredible Sulk.[3] He was eventually transferred to Spanish giants Real Madrid in the summer of 1999, for £22.3m. In all he made 90 appearances for Arsenal (including 17 as a substitute), scoring 28 goals and establishing himself as a top class striker.
Anelka spent just one season at Real Madrid, and played in the side that won the UEFA Champions League final, beating Valencia 3-0. However, his form was remarkably worse than it had been at Arsenal - scoring only four goals in 29 appearances - and his inability to mix with his teammates (with the exception of good friend Steve McManaman) as well as to cope with media attention led to him leaving in the summer of 2000. He began his second spell at Paris St-Germain, in a transfer deal worth £20 million.
After one season at Paris St-Germain, Anelka returned to the English Premiership, signing a one-year loan deal with Liverpool. He failed to hold down a regular first team place and manager Gérard Houllier decided not to offer him a permanent deal after the end of the season. Nevertheless, he placed 96th in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop. Anelka opted to join newly promoted Manchester City and the £12 million fee paid by manager Kevin Keegan was a club record.
In his three seasons at Manchester City, although scoring freely, the addition of Anelka to the club's squad hardly made a drastic difference to its playing fortunes. They finished ninth in 2002-03 season, 16th in 2003-04 season and midway through the 2004-05 season they were looking set for a mid-table finish at best. There was increasing speculation as to whether Anelka was going to be transferred to a bigger club.
On January 27, 2005, the speculation ended when Manchester City announced that it had agreed a £7 million fee for Anelka's transfer to Turkish team Fenerbahçe. Anelka helped the Turkish club win the league title in 2005. In August of that same year, there was considerable speculation in the press that Anelka was being courted by Newcastle United for a return to English football, although the transfer never came about. Anelka stayed on at the Turkish club where he played with them in the UEFA Champions League, but they finished bottom of their group. They also fell short in the title race in 2006, as rivals Galatasaray won the title on the season's final day.
During the summer transfer window of 2006, press reports once again linked Anelka with a return to English football. Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was allegedly willing to either pay £8.2 million to bring the striker to Fratton Park, or take him on a season long loan. However, Bolton Wanderers swooped in and on August 25 2006, manager Sam Allardyce announced that he had signed Anelka on a four year deal for a club record of £8m. This brought his total combined transfer fees to approximately £69.8 million.
Anelka took time to settle in at Bolton, and took until 25 November 2006 to score his first goal for the club. Ironically this came in the form of a brace against Arsenal, the club that introduced him to the Premiership. In this game against Arsenal at the Reebok Stadium, he managed to score a goal in both the first and second halves of the game. The first goal,was quite remarkable, winning November's Goal of the Month award on Match of the Day.
Anelka celebrates his goals by making a butterfly sign. Interlocking his two hands and creating a flicking movement, On the 30 December 2006 Anelka Revealed to English paper The Daily Mail that the celebration was "something between me and my friends in France"[4] it is thus assumed a celebration he wishes to keep personal.
On December 23, 2006 Anelka scored two goals against his former club Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium.
On January 22, 2007 Anelka stated on French Network Telefoot and on ITV.COM/SPORT that he would happily leave Bolton Wanderers for a return to former club Arsenal.[5]
source: wikipedia
This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 17 2007, 04:36 PM 
Apr 17 2007, 03:51 PM, updated 19y ago
Quote
Why Rooney? Why Bellamy? 
0.0823sec
0.84
6 queries
GZIP Disabled