It's Kewell's time to leave England

Whether or not Harry Kewell remains at Liverpool after his contract expires in June, the news that a move to Italy or Spain may be among his options, set the pulse racing just a little.

Comments (54)  |  Your thoughts?

The World Game, relying on trusted sources, reported last Friday that there has been interest from three Serie A clubs, giants AC Milan and Juventus among them, as well as Valencia and Sevilla in Spain.

Reader response has been a mixture of mild excitement and scepticism. Could it be that Kewell, so debilitated by injury between June 2006 and February 2008, and his playing health perceived to be so uncertain, is a target for such elite clubs on the Continent?

I have no reason to doubt the facts of the TWG report but the more important point, to me, is whether or not Kewell should listen to such offers, irrespective of what might be dangled in front of him at Anfield.

I believe he should.

Kewell’s loyalty to Liverpool FC is well known, as is his stated preference and indeed determination to stay there. One can understand how he still wants to realise his childhood dreams and extend his career at the club that was his first love. One can also understand how he might feel he has a point or two to prove, given his lengthy absences (which were hardly his fault) and how his mental courage has been questioned by those who should have known better.

In my view Harry has nothing to prove to Liverpool.

When they got him, at a good price, he was already an established and match-winning star, wanted in equal measure by Arsenal and Manchester United. At one point Sir Alex Ferguson put a blank cheque on the table, only to be defied by Harry’s emotional attraction to Anfield.

Before the injuries set in, he had a splendid first season at Anfield, even allowing for the confused strategies of Gerard Houllier, who often used him in some kind of inside-right role.

In the 2005 World Clubs final against Sao Paulo, coming back from his first injury spell, Kewell was magnificent, man of the match, tearing apart and terrorising the Brazilians’ defensive siege. That was seven months after he hobbled off, a 20th minute casualty in the Champions League final against Milan in Istanbul, only to wake the next morning to derisory headlines questioning his spirit.

What poppycock that was.

Injuries are injuries and there is nobody that can be blamed for them, except perhaps when quacks are making the diagnosis and are put in charge of recuperation.

It is still a mystery why, when Harry first began to have sustained problems with his groin, he chose to jump on a plane to Munich and seek a second opinion from a German specialist.

Harry Kewell, whatever the reason and the circumstances of the care he was under, became victim to a horrid sequence of physical maladies. As destructive as that could have been to his spirit, or certainly to that of anyone else, in that time Kewell remained defiant, calm and resolute, his belief unshaken and his will to return as a complete player for Liverpool unbroken.

If Harry is now fit, as he claims he is, and notwithstanding that he still has to prove it, his capacity to fight and believe through that ghastly spell should be in the mix when Liverpool considers its offer to extend his stay. They will gain not just a good player but a serious fighter.

That said, I believe it’s time for Harry to move and move away from England.

Harry Kewell is the most talented footballer to have ever come out of Australia. His glorious technique, his facility to improvise, his sweet left foot, his brain, and his capacity to explode past defenders have been faculties that are rare among Europe’s elite even today, some time since Harry has been laid out with injury.

Does Liverpool have a left flanker like him? Does Arsenal? Does Chelsea, does Barcelona, does Milan, does Juventus?

Kewell, for all his wonders that we have so admired, has had a one dimensional career, a one dimensional opportunity so far to express his gifts. He is 29, still in his prime in terms of age, but can look back on a career with two clubs, both in England, buried in the intense hurly burly of a brand of football that is bereft of space and time, where creative players are forced to numb their sense of adventure and thought, for fear of being bruised.

One cannot help but be curious about what may have been had his career path been via Italy, Spain or Germany, maybe France, where it is still possible to put one’s foot on the ball, to think, to look around and make an impact using virtues other than speed, power and muscle.

Such a place, whether in Turin or Seville, will be more ideal for Harry Kewell, as it probably was in the first place.

This may be Harry’s time, and last chance, to make that monumental break, so we might learn how good he really is.

top

Join the Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: All submitted comments become the property of SBS. We reserve the right to edit and/or amend submitted comments. HTML tags other than paragraph, line break, bold or italics will be removed from your comment.