There’s been a lot of comment in the French football press since the winter transfer deadline closed, mostly about David Beckham’s move to PSG but also about some of the better French players moving to England – or more specifically to the Premier League.
However, it’s not as if the nPower Championship is without its fair share of French flair. Most of them aren’t household names – although one of them soon could be – but they’re having an undeniable impact on the second tier. Let’s take a look at the two French players who are currently near the top of the goalscoring charts.
Charlton Athletic striker Yann Kermogant started his career on our side of the Channel in 2009 when he signed for Leicester from Stade Reims. However, his career in the Midlands was over when he attempted to bluff Cardiff City goalkeeper David Marshall in the Championship playoff semi final in May 2010. In such a high pressure situation – whichever club won the shootout would have a chance of winning promotion to the Premier League along with the estimated £90m that goes along with it – Kermogant showed he was familiar with the psychology of one of the better players at Partypoker.fr/ when it was his turn to take the spot kick. His body language (known as a ‘tell’ in poker) indicated that he was going to blast the ball past Marshall, but at the last minute he attempted to bluff the Scottish goalkeeper by attempting a ‘Panenka’ but weakly chipped the ball into the Cardiff keeper’s hands. To be fair it could have gone either way, but you have to admire Kermogant’s brave decision to go all in even though his strategy didn’t work.
Having busted Leicester’s flush in such a dramatic way, Kermogant returned on loan to Arles-Avignon, but when former Foxes coach Chris Powell got the Charlton job, it meant a second chance in England that the Kermogant has embraced – he’s the leading French goalscorer in the Championship this season. Centre back Dorian Dervite – who had his promising career at Spurs ended by a long term injury that he’s now recovered from – and ex-Glasgow Rangers sriker Salim Kerkar complete Charlton’s French trio.
Ironically, it’s a French player that replaced Kermogant that’s arguably having the biggest impact in the Championship this season. Anthony Knockaert of Leicester City began his professional career in the French equivalent of League 1 only two seasons ago but has already represented Les Bleus at Under 20 and Under 21 level. It’s probably only be a matter of time before he reaches the next level and my guess is that if Leicester win promotion to the Premier League, Knockaert could be on his way to one of the big guns of English football – possibly as early as next Christmas. Outside of the Championship, he’s probably best known for his superb goal against Huddersfield earlier this season.
With a number of other high calibre French players featuring in the Championship – David N’gog, Bakary Sako and Gael Givet all have Premier League experience and many of the Gallic imports either are or have been French internationals at various levels – it shows how cosmopolitan English football has become over the past decade or so. Regardless of whether you think it’s a good idea or not (and let’s face it, French fans have to put up with Joey Barton and le Buzz about David Beckham), it looks as if French players are here to stay.
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