http://www.europe1.fr/sport/football/articles/polemique-apres-les-propos-de-willy-sagnol-sur-les-joueurs-africains-2279653

"There will be less African players at Bordeaux while i am the manager because i don't feel like having 12 guys on the squad that are gone every 2 years (referring the CAN)."

"The advantage (of African players) is that they're not expensive.  Typically, they are physical, ready for combat, and someone we can qualify as powerful.  But football is not just about that.  Football is also about technique, intelligence and discipline."

"You need everything.  Nordique players too because they have a great mentality.  Football is a mix, you need everything.  It's like France, it's a mix.  You need defenders, strikers, midfielders, speedsters, tall ones, short ones, technically gifted ones, etc."

Said this today.  Offensive or not?

Hmmm......

Is this offensive? The only part I find offensive is this;

Sagnol wrote:Typically, they are physical, ready for combat, and someone we can qualify as powerful. But football is not just about that. Football is also about technique, intelligence and discipline."

Well, that's just stupid.

Only thing that I saw offensive was the quip that Izzy quoted. While stereotypes have some level of truth to it, it doesn't mean players from Africa are complete ding bats who can't foster any footballing intelligence.

I mean, if that is the case, what the hell is defenders in the BPL excuse?

I don't think it's offensive at all. All he said is true and legit. I'm african btw and knowing Sagnol , I believe these are his real motivations.

Ferguson also didn't like Africans players too much.

izzy wrote:Hmmm......

Is this offensive? The only part I find offensive is this;

Sagnol wrote:Typically, they are physical, ready for combat, and someone we can qualify as powerful. But football is not just about that. Football is also about technique, intelligence and discipline."

Well, that's just stupid.

Depends of How he said it ? Reading something and hearing something can have 2 differents effects. Nothing there really and all africans players are not physically strong.

I'm guessing he's saying it because French clubs are known to sign a lot of African players, but he just doesn't want to.

If for example a Spanish coach said it, then yeh, it would definitely raise some eyebrows.

Bénin wrote:Depends of How he said it ? Reading something and hearing something can have 2 differents effects. Nothing there really and all africans players are not physically strong.

I don't think it would make much difference hearing it or reading it tbh.
It comes across that we don't typically have those football attributes (Intelligence, Technique and Discipline)

Sounds stupid to me.

He's annoyed because he's losing half his team to the CAN this year if the tournament is held (the 12 number he mentioned).  5-6 regulars.  Bordeaux immediately becomes relegation level in terms of talent for those months.

I don't like his profiling of African players although it's generally true.  But that's because of how the club's in France recruit, which is what he's getting at.  He doesn't control the youth recruiting methodology of his club.

He didn't slander anyone. He only brought out their good points. Not offensive from Sagnol so far, IMO. Plus, I'm pretty sure he is referring to all of Africa, not just Sub Saharan Africa if that's what some might be thinking.

Those comments are so racist, wouldn't look out of place in Serie A to be honest. Also players like Etoo, Sessegnon, Okocha etc are technically gifted and African so his comments are pure racist stereotypes.

EL Patron wrote:Those comments are so racist, wouldn't look out of place in Serie A to be honest. Also players like Etoo, Sessegnon, Okocha etc are technically gifted and African so his comments are pure racist stereotypes.

for tavecchio ?
we aren't racist ffs
how can we think badly about african players after having seen Weah , Eto'o , M'Boma etc  players not just technique, but also intelligence and discipline ( expecially Eto'o for me ) testimony about as these things said by Sagnol are idiot stereotypes

Drogba, Yaya, Okocha & Eto'o are about as technical as you can get.

izzy wrote:

Bénin wrote:Depends of How he said it ? Reading something and hearing something can have 2 differents effects. Nothing there really and all africans players are not physically strong.

I don't think it would make much difference hearing it or reading it tbh.
It comes across that we don't typically have those football attributes (Intelligence, Technique and Discipline)

Sounds stupid to me.

Yeah it sounds a bit a stupid , I agree.
I understand him being mad because he's losing some of his best players ( which could be a huge problem) but at the same time I'm pretty sure that Bordeaux much weaker with less africans players. Same goes for most clubs in Ligue 1.

these thing will always depends on perspective.

from how the person spoke meant it, to how the person listened take it.

Replace African with British. They and their league get consistently compared to donkeys here in GL.

I saw the video now...  of course, the article was sensationalist and, thus, not entirely accurate.  He started by saying he was angry that the African players had to leave for the CAN and that he wanted less on his team as a result.  Then, the reporter asked him what he would do to solve the situation.  He then went into the profiles and other nationalities.

His intent was to say that, due to CAN, Ligue 1 should expand its recruiting to encompass other places.  He is right that Ligue 1 spends a majority of its resources on Africa and ignores other places... like South America and Eastern Europe.

He was clumsy....  but his intent was to express his frustration that his team (Bordeaux) is so impacted by the CAN.

It wasn't racist, just clumsy.

There we go.

Sammy Kuffour should have a serious word with Willy.

Bénin wrote:I don't think it's offensive at all. All he said is true and legit. I'm african btw and knowing Sagnol , I believe these are his real motivations.

Ferguson also didn't like Africans players too much.

Art Morte wrote:

Bénin wrote:I don't think it's offensive at all. All he said is true and legit. I'm african btw and knowing Sagnol , I believe these are his real motivations.

Ferguson also didn't like Africans players too much.

*whistles*

Lord Awesome wrote:

Art Morte wrote:

Bénin wrote:I don't think it's offensive at all. All he said is true and legit. I'm african btw and knowing Sagnol , I believe these are his real motivations.

Ferguson also didn't like Africans players too much.

*whistles*

Didn't get it.

Art Morte wrote:
Didn't get it.

Lol I didn't expect someone to agree is all.

What he says is basically true. A huge part of African players, are players bought from Africa where they have gotten minimal training of the caliber that we've gotten in Europe in the younger ages. So the lack of technique and intelligence is more due to footballing education than it is a genetical problem. In Denmark the african players are just too fast most of the times, and they are cheap. But their technique and understanding of the ball in non-existant, and they'll only become good after a couple seasons in the squad.

Hapless_Hans wrote:Sammy Kuffour should have a serious word with Willy.

pfff

Thuram and Dessailly should knock some sense into the bigot. He probably votes for Le front national

Art Morte wrote:

Bénin wrote:I don't think it's offensive at all. All he said is true and legit. I'm african btw and knowing Sagnol , I believe these are his real motivations.

Ferguson also didn't like Africans players too much.