Watching Nicolas Anelka witnessing another game thrown away as only Manchester City can, it is the sheer blankness of his body language, the absolute emptiness in his expression that really make you wonder what goes on in his head. It says something about his maddening allure that people are still fascinated — after all, he has not given many clues in nearly 10 seasons as a professional.
Whether helping Real Madrid to win the Champions League, or exiled to the substitutes’ bench during the bluest of blue periods in his career when the homecoming to Paris Saint-Germain went septic, his face never cracks. Does he feel nothing? In his favoured mode of public communication — the impersonal electronics of his website — he promises that his emotionless persona is false.
‘OK, I don’t like to show my feelings to the world,†he writes, and you can almost see him tapping away in a little room on his own, ‘But what’s so bad about that?â€
In Whatever, a novel by Michel Houellebecq that enjoyed a huge cult following in France, the hero is a master of impassiveness and indifference. Anelka is another powerful symbol of the ‘whatever†generation. Could he re-establish himself in the France squad? Whatever. Might his talent deserve something more prestigious than a relegation scrap with a downcast, disorganised team? Whatever. Does it matter what people think of him? Whatever.
Even his solid friends, such as Juventus striker David Trezeguet, fail to get near to Anelka’s innermost thoughts.
‘Nico is a very special man,†says Trezeguet. ‘But he doesn’t talk too much and I never know how he feels, even though I am really close to him.â€
Some of Anelka’s teammates admire the way he refuses to play the image game, even if it has had a destructive effect on his career.
Had he not aggravated many of the clubs he has represented (refusing to train for Real Madrid and in the process inspiring the president to dub him ‘sick in the head†takes some beating), he might have been looking at a more prestigious challenge right now than carrying a Manchester City team trapped in a demoralising slump.
How much satisfaction does that bring to a player so highly coveted that he had been sold for a combined £58,5-million by the time he was 23? He works, he trains, he scores, he sees his teammates blow another lead, he emits the famous thousand-yard stare. (His agent brothers, meanwhile, are comfortable enough that Claude hangs out at the bar he owns in Miami while Didier tries to keep his fingers in football’s financial pie from his base in Madrid. Notice that they have not joined their sibling in the north of England.)
Communication should not be high on the list of prerequisites to be a successful footballer, but you cannot help feeling Anelka’s studied aloofness has impacted on his career.
Rewind four years to a chilly night at Wembley when France beat England 2-0. Anelka, who was denied a hat-trick of flabbergasting quality only by a referee’s mistake, had leapfrogged Thierry Henry and Trezeguet to become the hottest of the young France strikers at that time.
Today, he is light years away from an international recall, considering that relations with coach Jacques Santini are about as harmonious as the dealings between Ferguson and Magnier. So entrenched is the stand-off between these two complex French personalities, it is advisable not to mention one’s name in front of the other.
Mutual antipathy was confirmed when Santini offered Anelka a late call-up for a friendly against Yugoslavia in 2002 because injuries left him short of strikers. Anelka, peeved to have been left out in the first place, said merci, mais non merci (thank you, but no thank you). Both feeling insulted, they have not spoken since. Both insist that a grovelling apology might not be enough for reconciliation.
But a window of opportunity has presented itself. Djibril Cissé, the favourite to be an understudy for Henry and Trezeguet for Euro 2004, has been hit with a five-match international suspension after being sent off for kicking an opponent while playing for the under-21s and that effectively rules him out of the squad for Portugal.
To whom will Santini turn? The usual suspects include Steve Marlet (who has a better record for his country than an English audience would imagine), Sidney Govou of Lyon, Olivier Kapo of Auxerre, or — if he has a sensational second half of the season with Manchester United — maybe Louis Saha. But none of them possesses the calibre and experience of Anelka.
A group of his international teammates have led the call for ‘Nico†to be reinstated to the squad. Last week, L’Equipe reported that Anelka was interested, too.
‘Never say never,†he said. ‘It’s a possibility.â€
By his standards, that is a monumental comedown. Can Santini and Anelka agree to a secret meeting to thrash out their differences? Arsène Wenger, the manager who catapulted him into the big time at Arsenal, hopes so.
‘It’s sad his international career has gone backwards,†the Arsenal manager says. ‘It looks to me like he regrets a little the fact that he has closed the door [on international football]. Although he has a difficult relationship with Santini, if Santini feels Anelka is ready to talk, he will give him a chance.
”Otherwise it is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Anelka will be 25 this year, coming to the best period of his international career, so I don’t know why he should miss that. I would back him to be in the squad for Euro 2004.â€
An admirable 19 goals this season in a struggling team sends out its own message. City fans, however, are still not sure how to take Anelka —they are grateful for his goals but grumble about his demeanour — but Kevin Keegan is at pains to point out that his image is an irrelevance.
‘Some people think he doesn’t care because he doesn’t celebrate,†the City manager says.
‘I don’t care, as long as he keeps scoring. At the end of the day I ask myself three questions. Is he playing well? Yes. Is he scoring goals? Yes. Could he play better? Possibly. The more I see him in training, the more I feel there is more to come from him.â€
Oddly, the last time City won in the Premiership he was absent. The circumstances reeked of classic Anelka. The official ‘calf strain†excuse rang less true than the rumour that he was so deeply unenthused by the prospect of a team-building spot of clay-pigeon shooting and so steadfast in his refusal to join in that Keegan dropped him. Anelka went on a goalless run, but never hid and he is back in form with seven goals in as many games (just as well because few others have been chipping in).
After the clay-pigeon episode, the fact that he did not refuse to train, sulk for France, or seek a transfer —tactics used regularly during his time at Arsenal, Real Madrid and PSG — is evidence of what Wenger sees as a ‘new maturity†in Anelka.
Is it not about time he grew up? Is it not about time he stopped making enemies with coaches and presidents? Keegan sees positive signs. ‘I don’t hear anyone in the team say anything bad about Nicolas,†he says. ‘I don’t know where these stories come from that he’s unpopular. He isn’t.â€
Let’s just see if his popularity can stretch as far as Santini. —