Former Nigeria defender, Taribo West, has taken a swipe at the present set of footballers saying they give so little to the game, despite earning megabucks.
The 1998 UEFA Cup winner said it was a shame that despite the fact that players of his era didn’t earn as much as players are doing now, their abilities stood them above the present generation of players.
“In my time, if Cristiano Ronaldo was playing, he will hardly see action. Even if he did, he won’t score as regularly as he is doing now. A player like Phil Jagielka offends me with his play and he is an England international. I love Gerrard Pique but he should be played in the middle. I will score 20 goals through his position if I were a striker,” Taribo said.
“There was no money during the era of Albert Onyeawuna and Emmanuel Okalla but these men did very well. Finidi George, Emmanuel Amuneke, Sunday Oliseh and Celestine Babayaro only had abilities. We made money but not as Cristiano Ronaldo and co are making now, but we were good.
“In my generation, it was only Nwankwo Kanu and Austin Okocha, who made money. We had big names because of our abilities. Okocha joined Paris Saint Germain for N17m and when Kanu joined Arsenal, God’s favour was also upon him,” the former AC Milan centre-back added.
The Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games gold medalist also slammed Nigerian players for their attitude towards the game, saying he could still perform better than some of them, despite having left the game for close to a decade.
He said, “If you train me for three months, my left leg will be better than a lot of defenders in the present Super Eagles squad. In Europe, the likes of Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott do nothing but earn big bucks. It’s a global thing.”