It's not like watching Brazil

Martin Samuel

If the Barclays Premier League is the best in the world, as many, including Sir Alex Ferguson, have suggested, there remains a puzzling gap in its make-up, a void, the filling of which is surely the next step in the evolution of English football. Our elite clubs dominate Europe, the wealth generated by our domestic competition and its prominence throughout the world is unmatched: so where are the beautiful Brazilians?

The finest individual exponents of the game would surely want to play in the league that is on course to produce at least one European finalist for the fourth year running, perhaps two. Yet a rundown of the Brazil squad shows that of the 52 players most recently called up, only seven play in the Premier League and just two are strikers.

English football continues to attract the fringe players, the holding midfield players, the iffy defenders. The greats of the modern Brazilian game – Ronaldinho in his prime and latterly Kaká – talk of coming here only as a last hurrah, a final pay cheque, their best years long gone. Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, hankers after Ronaldinho, but he is chasing the name, not the footballer, as he did with the spent force that is Andriy Shevchenko. The time to sign the Brazilian was when Manchester United had the chance in 2003, and he chose Barcelona. The great ones always do.

Middlesbrough have recruited a Brazilian striker in Afonso Alves, who has eight caps, but already there are concerns. Elano, of Manchester City, capped 20 times, was initially a great success, but his influence has waned with the form of his club. Alex (12 caps) will only ever be a squad player at Chelsea, while it is too early to judge Gilberto (28 caps) at Tottenham Hotspur; but neither is a forward.

The potential success stories are the young, warrior types: Lucas Leiva (two caps) at Liverpool and Anderson (three) at Manchester United, just as Gilberto Silva (63), the only Brazil World Cup winner to make England his long-term home, was a crucial part of the invincible Arsenal team in 2003-04.

We used to blame the weather, but why? Kaká did not go to Milan for its warm winters. Germany is no suntrap, either, yet the Bundesliga has more Brazilians than the Premier League.

Even when a son of São Paulo does come to England, it is rarely a happy event. Think of Emerson, permanently on the missing list at Middlesbrough, or Júlio Baptista, desperate to get away from England’s most continental club, Arsenal.

So is it them or is it us? Do the Brazilians shy away from the competitive challenge of English football, or does an episode such as Martin Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo da Silva – a Brazilian by birth, remember – convince his countrymen that the only reason for a tricky ball-player to venture into the English league would be if he liked hospital food? And if Cristiano Ronaldo – Brazilian in spirit – also ends up turning his back on us, will we get the message?

Chant ‘England’? Never

In the San Siro last week, I thought I heard the Liverpool fans chant “England”. Just the once, mind, and long after the ground had cleared of Italian supporters. It seemed a fine gesture, though, an acknowledgement of the wider achievement of English football in Europe. It felt consistent that supporters who care so much for history would have a heightened sense of it.

Then the letters started arriving. Liverpool fans were chanting “Inter”, in recognition of the sportsmanship of their hosts, which was still a decent thing to do. Some of the contributors, however, were affronted by the misunderstanding. Liverpool supporters would never chant England, they said. They think nothing of England.

I accept that I misheard. I also overestimated the ability of club fans to see, briefly, the bigger picture. I forgot that we remain a petty, parochial nation that rarely sees farther than the end of our road. For a moment, I thought we were pretty cool. This will not happen again, don’t worry.