The Redemption of Nicolas Anelka

By: Laurie | January 2nd, 2008

At one point, Nicolas Anelka was considered one of the most promising young players ever to come out of France. But that was awhile ago.

He’s now twenty-eight years old and has switched teams seven times, frequently leaving frustrated fans and management in his wake. He was not selected for France’s 2006 World Cup team, even after Djibril Cisse broke his leg. The British tabloids have nicknamed him “The Incredible Sulk,” or just “Le Sulk.”

It would be easy to write off Anelka as just another wasted talent who never quite reached his potential. Easy, and wrong. Because Nicolas Anelka is undergoing an amazing career resurgence that seems to have one main cause: He’s grown up.

Amazing in a footballer, no?

He’s dumped the brothers/managers who were leading him to put money ahead of performance. He’s found stability by converting to Islam. He’s gotten married. And he’s worked his butt off at Bolton, throwing everything into a team a lot of star players would consider beneath them.

That work got the attention of France coach Raymond Domenech, who gave Nico another chance for France. Anelka responded by scoring key goals in several must-win Euro qualifiers. He has slowly managed to work his way back into the starting lineup and become a fan favorite.

A French restaurant has even named a burger after him. Heavy on the pepper.

Anelka has been one of my favorite players for awhile now. I love his style of play — the way he toys with defenders before blasting past them, a lot like Thierry Henry in his prime. For the past year I’ve been watching the transfer windows, hoping he’ll get one last shot at a Champions League team. Last winter and summer the rumors were flying, but in the end Anelka’s reputation seemed to keep the big deals from being signed.

So he kept plugging away at Bolton, scoring ten goals so far this season and almost single-handedly keeping them out of the relegation zone. (This is even more impressive when you consider that he doesn’t take penalties.)

And now it seems that managers are finally realizing that this transformation is for real. Rumors are strongly linking him to Chelsea as a key player who can help them get through the African Cup of Nations in the absence of Didier Drogba. And if not Chelsea, there’s a chance of Manchester United, Liverpool or Man City.

It wasn’t so long ago, watching Anelka play, that I thought, “I’ll bet this guy burned ants with a magnifying glass as a child.” Now I watch him before France games, calmly giving advice to the young up-and-comers like Samir Nasri, and I think,

“I’ll bet he could teach them a lot about how to manage their careers. And about how not to.”

Allez, Nico!

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Category: England, English Premier League, Europe, World Football

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Daryl

Err! For some reason I find spat-in food even less apetising than poisoned food. There must be something wrong with my survival instincts.

Maybe Anelka and El-Hadji Diouf could open a restaurant together?
Laurie

I think that even in his worst, most petulant days, poisoning would have been beyond him.

He probably would have just spat on it. ;-)
Daryl

Has a burger ever looked less apetising than when held out be Anelka with that look on his face? He seems to be saying "I've poisoned this, now eat it and suffer."

I was never a fan of Anelka's attitude, especially not after the way he left Arsenal for Real Madrid and invented the millionaire's strike. But agree that he's really put the effort in at Bolton and hasn't done too much agitating for a move, despite the Trotters' struggles this season. Would be great to see this new less sulky, more mature Anelka get another go at a big team.