Throw away games - footballer

By Tom Bramwell Published 27 November, 2007

West Ham keeper sounds cross.

West Ham United goalkeeper Robert Green reckons the quality of England football would be higher if videogames didn't exist.

"We would have the best team if we could go into every household and throw away every PlayStation, Xbox and video game," he said, adding his thoughts (it says here) to the debate about what went wrong when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 last week.

"Other countries seem to bring on world-class players, countries like Argentina and Brazil where often it's football or nothing," he said. "In contrast we live in a country where we have choices and perhaps the will to do it, the need to escape your own situation, is not so clear."

A view, as the Guardian pointed out, probably not shared by his England pals Wayne Rooney, John Terry "and other gurning care-nowts [peddling] precisely such brain-rot to the bloated masses".

What do you reckon, bloated masses?

For a start, you probably reckon I shouldn't have put "brian-rot" when I first published this.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (78) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • daft #1 4 years ago

    Rob Green is over-rated.

  • Barry619 #2 4 years ago

    So he wants Pro Evo banned... but I noticed he said nothing about the hookers and cocaine...
    Edited by 1 at 27/11/07 @ 11:12

  • malteaserhead #3 4 years ago

    and as thick as pig shit.

    Poverty ftw!

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #4 4 years ago

    Yeah i agree with Rob who wants to live in a country that has Choices.



    Dick!

  • seasidebaz #5 4 years ago

    HELP I HAVE BRIAN ROT!!

    who is brian btw?

  • Zomoniac #6 4 years ago

    So France and Italy don't have games? And the rapid improvement of the Japanese team didn't really happen? We're crap because we don't have a good enough youth development system, have no depth to the squad and had an incompetent manager and the FA are clueless.

  • LOLLERS #7 4 years ago

    He's probably got a point.

    Did anyone watch 'Can Fat Teens Hunt?' on C4 last night?

  • Mr.Bergstrom #8 4 years ago

    Video games exist in all 16 countries that qualified for Euro 08

  • Feet #9 4 years ago

    Rob Green you have opened my eyes.

  • seasidebaz #10 4 years ago

    @Zomoniac: no its because we're fat.

  • aldo_14 #11 4 years ago

    Don't forget Holland, Germany, Spain and Portugal.

    Oh, and Scotland & Northern Ireland, which are more or less identical to England yet are currently punching well above their/our weight in international football.

  • Steroyd #12 4 years ago

    Will England players S.T.F.U.

    First Owen saying Croatia players wouldn't get in the England squad now this, bitter tears much?

    We're crap because we don't have a good enough youth development system, have no depth to the squad and had an incompetent manager and the FA are clueless.

    Quoted for the motherfucking truth.
    Edited by 1 at 27/11/07 @ 11:21

  • Hog-lumps #13 4 years ago

    Pah! Maybe if they spent less money employing expensive foreign players and more money/time training our own english players then we'd produce better teams....

  • seasidebaz #14 4 years ago

    hehe he didn't mention the wii...

    shame it would have made a great headline,

    "west ham keeper talks about fat people, crap and wii"

  • spadge #15 4 years ago

    What a cock.

    We've only ever won it once and that was 41 years ago. Am sure his comments will suit Sony who sponsor the Chumps League.

    Just imagine how excited EA would be had FIFA 66 been launched then. Think of the sales.

  • MBar #16 4 years ago

    He has a point, but it's a stupid point.

    I mean, God forbid we should do anything else other than play football.

  • Steroyd #17 4 years ago

    Pah! Maybe if they spent less money employing expensive foreign players and more money/time training our own english players then we'd produce better teams....

    Foreign players are CHEAPER that's why we're more likely to buy them, Darren Bent cost as much as Thierry Henry, Rosiscky cost half as much as Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand the £30m defender etc, it's ridiculous.

    Foreign players have raised the quality bar that our youngsters just aren't reaching and should reach if they're to be even close to considered the best in the world.

  • lambtron #18 4 years ago

    The reasons England are shit are myriad - zomomaniac has already pointed out the vast majority. Its also down to mentality somewhat, after all the Germans always seem to do well even when they have a team that isn't stellar (see last world cup and world cup before that).

    Yes we are becoming increasingly obese but that is more down to diet than lack of activity (obviously exercise helps but any amount of exercise isn't going to make much difference if all you're chowing down on is MacDonalds and deep-fried mars bars).

  • TheSnotGoblin #19 4 years ago

    While what he said is technically true it's also quite retarded.

  • Mr_Bison #20 4 years ago

    Rob Green is a prat... a useless keeper.. and now we all know is stupid as a hamster cage!

    O.K if we we all really poor the football might be better...but the whole of european soccer must be in decline if Rob Prat was right... and that is not so....

    ****ing w**ker

  • sickpuppysoftware #21 4 years ago

    westhamlol

  • Riggers #22 4 years ago

    Er, I don't follow football, but...when was the last time England won anything important? Given how the red tops keep banging on about 1966, I'd say that England being a bit shit internationally predates videogames by some time...

    Maybe it has something to do with school playing fields being sold off, kids not being allowed out to play for the over-exaggerated fear of kiddie snatchers or raging traffic, or maybe because "we don't have a good enough youth development system, have no depth to the squad and had an incompetent manager and the FA are clueless", like that fella said.

    But no, let's just blame videogames instead.

  • peteb #23 4 years ago

    I love how these footballers say crap like that, but i bet they wouldn't turn down the chance to be on the cover of Fifa or PES...

  • speedjack #24 4 years ago

    I hate football. Always have.

    ...and I'd like to thank Nintendo and Microsoft for giving me 1,000 better things to do with my spare time.

  • krudster #25 4 years ago

    Damn those videogames for being so entertaining. If only we had no entertainment, we'd be out in the streets playing football.

  • Steroyd #26 4 years ago

    Maybe it has something to do with school playing fields being sold off, kids not being allowed out to play for the over-exaggerated fear of kiddie snatchers or raging traffic, or maybe because "we don't have a good enough youth development system, have no depth to the squad and had an incompetent manager and the FA are clueless", like that fella said.

    Brazillians play in streets, Croatians play in streets, practically every damn good team their kids play football in the streets.

    English kids play in full size frikken pitches that they're obviously too small to play in, so what do they naturally do? Kick the ball up the pitch as hard as they can, much like what England did in the Croatia match.

  • killyourtv #27 4 years ago

    i think ive heard it all now.

    united > england

  • Hog-lumps #28 4 years ago

    @Steroyd

    Point taken, although you cant deny that the greater amount of foreign nationals playing in the leagues will mean less oportunities available for english players to gain experience........

  • jaxon58 #29 4 years ago

    Crazy comments from Rob Green.

    So, does he reckon that when the first shot was coming in towards Scott Carson, that Scott thought to himself "The kids of today are playing too many video games, I best let this one in." No, he let it in because he wasn't good enough.

  • DonnieDarko333 #30 4 years ago

    what aload of rubbish, the England Team are shite and playing games certainly haven't made them worse.

    Perhaps they should concentrate more on the football and not with the fake showbiz life which stupidly comes with it.

    AND WHY OH WHY are they getting paid so much money?!!

    Jeez...i hate football!

  • Paolo_ray #31 4 years ago

    ... I'm reminded of the story of that really promising English player who gave up football because he wanted to get the highest gamerscore in the world.*




    *No I'm not because it didn't happen.

  • nederob #32 4 years ago

    Maybe we should close our schools too and just all play football. Yeah, that would make sense. /end of sarcasm

  • Toothball #33 4 years ago

    I'd already lost interest in sport long before I knew what games were. Although, I'd probably be an adventurer now if it wasn't for games.

  • Rpt81 #34 4 years ago

    Am sure his comments will suit Sony who sponsor the Chumps League.


    They'd probably only care if he played for a team decent enough to qualify for the Champions League.

  • Bumhug360 #35 4 years ago

    "So, does he reckon that when the first shot was coming in towards Scott Carson, that Scott thought to himself "The kids of today are playing too many video games, I best let this one in." No, he let it in because he wasn't good enough. "

    Think you will find he let it in because he couldnt remember if he needed to press the A button or the Y button

  • escapedape #36 4 years ago

    If we did what he said, where would the next Lewis Hamilton come from? Didn't he practice F1 circuits on a PS1/PS2 game?

    But no, video games can only be bad! Remember kids: everything in moderation.

    Except football, according to this fool.

    Never have been a fan of football myself, can't see myself ever being a fan. And I was too poor as a kid to have videogames, but also too tiny and ineffectual a player to be any good at footy. Go figure.
    Edited by 1 at 27/11/07 @ 11:56

  • Rpt81 #37 4 years ago

    Nah, Carson just figured that even Stevie Mac wouldn't be stupid enough to start a ranked match without auto-goalies switched on.
    Edited by 1 at 27/11/07 @ 11:51

  • Steroyd #38 4 years ago

    Point taken, although you cant deny that the greater amount of foreign nationals playing in the leagues will mean less oportunities available for english players to gain experience........

    If they're good enough they'll get grafted into the squad (Micha Richards, Agbonlahor, Bently, Young etc), if they're not yet ready they'll get get loaned out and see what they can do in lower leagues to gain experience.

    Man Utd is a good example Ferguson gave his youngsters mostly English a run out in the carling cup, couldn't even beat league 2 opposition at old Trafford if they're not that good at that moment in time why the hell should he risk putting them on the pitch against premiership opposition for the sake of youth development when the premiership crown is at stake?

    Our youth system is appalling you can only recruit youngsters from a certain radius of your club, youth matches are too few and far between so they're not competitive enough for youth development so the higher clubs HAVE to loan them out to proper leagues.

    I don't think it's right to dumb down the league just to give average english players a run out, what you could end up doing is dumbing the Premier league to championship level football which defeats the purpose of producing and measuring world class talent.

  • HyperShadow #39 4 years ago

    I was going to say that it would probably be true if we were the only country with video games, but were not, and it doesn't stop the Americans from dominating near enough every sport (that they invented).

    Also, Lewis Hamiliton did indeed play F1 onthe PS3 as Kimi Raikkonen to learn the tracks that he hadn't any experience of.

  • Darren #40 4 years ago

    The England football are rubbish because... well... they're just rubbish OK? Implying that playing video games is the reason England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 is a bit condescending not to mention stupid; does that mean anyone who plays games doesn't work hard enough (erm... OK... so I'm typing this out at work on my break but, erm... moving on... LOL )?

    Of course not as people play games during their spare time. All footballers have to do is play 90 minutes or sometimes 180 minutes of quality football per week and for that they get paid thousands. Other than morning training, they have a lot of free time to pursue hobbies, including gaming. Why we're not as good as other teams like Brazil is probably because we don't train as team as much so maybe that's the real root of the problem. I doubt England would play any better if videogames never existed, that's just an excuse and a poor one at that.

    Mind you, David James did go through a bad patch after confessing he was addicted to Tomb Raider but it's debatable whether he was ever any good in the first place! LOL

  • stampax #41 4 years ago

    So was too many computer games the reason he failed to collect the cross for Dawson's goal on Sunday?

  • malteaserhead #42 4 years ago

    :D

  • reality_cheque #43 4 years ago

    You could take away all the game consoles in the world and you still wouldn't get me running around a muddy field with fat-necked morons.

  • homerramone #44 4 years ago

    What a load of presumtious pish. It might seem odd to some, but there are those that not only dont like football.... I would go as far as saying HATE the damn thing.

  • NickJD #45 4 years ago

    I work out 5 days a week for 45 minutes a day and I enjoy playing video games. But most gamers I know are lazy weed smoking losers who would only go for a walk if it was to meet their dealer.

    Sorry guys but most of you are unfit drug addict losers, you may have a job and your own place, even a girlfriend. Doesn't stop you from being a loser.

  • reality_cheque #46 4 years ago

    NickJD, would you like a stepladder? That's an absolutely MASSIVE horse you're riding there.

  • asphaltcowboy #47 4 years ago

    So, football or death?

  • Rpt81 #48 4 years ago

    Wait a second there, fella. I'm no drug addict.

  • KingOfIceland #49 4 years ago

    Neither am I. I have however "met" many American potheads online

  • Lionheart #50 4 years ago

    The man plays for West Ham ffs

    His say in anything = nothing!!!

    :D

  • RichGL #51 4 years ago

    NickJD for gamers representative.

    He the MAN!

  • JACK_BURTON #52 4 years ago

    I used to work at Konami and I once saw T Henry play PES. One of the worlds best players was great at PES. So what went wrong there Mr Green? Oh sorry I forgot Henry is French not English......

  • sharky_ob #53 4 years ago

    I think Pires was pretty handy at PES too. I remember seeing him and Henry playing it on a programme about free-running a couple of years ago.

  • Dan_LXIX #54 4 years ago

    I assume that this moron either sends back the money he gets from EA for having his name in the FIFA franchise, or isn't in it at all? I don't know because I'm not bothered about football, either for real or virtually.

  • gaselite #55 4 years ago

    "I used to work at Konami and I once saw T Henry play PES. One of the worlds best players was great at PES. So what went wrong there Mr Green? Oh sorry I forgot Henry is French not English......"

    Awesome.


    Hey, at least no one in the comments section is taking The Fiver seriously.

  • erp #56 4 years ago

    wuh? i'm speechless, really i am.

  • pinchofsalt #57 4 years ago


    I;d conment but my finfers are too fat fir my keybpard

  • Tomnd #58 4 years ago

    So he also wants us to have 'situations' in our lives that make us feel so depressed that football is the only way out!!

  • Hunam #59 4 years ago

    Wow, football is more important than every other job ever then?

  • jimbo118 #60 4 years ago

    Bumhug360:
    ''Think you will find he let it in because he couldnt remember if he needed to press the A button or the Y button ''

    hehe someone needs to edit the footage of Carson's blunder with Resi Evil 4/God of War etc style onscreen context sensitive button presses. L1+R1 f.e

  • flaming.elk #61 4 years ago

    In case no-one followed the link to the Guardian article, I think this is all you need to know about this guy:

    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=O2xqhDat_yw
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=O2xqhDat_yw
    [/link]

    I hate to type such things, but lol.

  • DB2k #62 4 years ago

    bloody git fouled Keano

  • JACK_BURTON #63 4 years ago

    I have just been given Mr Green some more thought. Is he talking about the generation playing football now or the future generation? If he is talking about today's players. He should keep his mouth shut because it reflects quite badly on him that he cannot get a place ahead of a known games playing keeper like David James. And if he is talking about future generations I would swear that my son (6) has better coordination due to playing games. He is also a good little player that plays for a semi pro under 7s side. Due to playing PES and FIFA he has learned a lot more about the rules of the game and finding space then me when I was the same age. I did not have a clue until I was a lot older!

  • Tim #64 4 years ago

    To paraphrase Colin Firth's character in the film 'Fever Pitch':

    "It's not the video games. It's the crapness."

  • wakka2k5 #65 4 years ago

    thats just stupid thats like saying we have no good doctors, engeneers or lawers because of videogames..comeon people, Im on my last year of a degree i have time to study play a game of footy a day and play videogames...
    Edited by 1 at 27/11/07 @ 15:12

  • Hypercube #66 4 years ago

    Ah, NickJD. I swear he's got to be someone's comedy fake identity. No one could be that much of a cockmongler in real life.

    Could they?

  • The_Inquisitor #67 4 years ago

    Football's important, but important enough to give up everything else to force people to play in the streets?

    If you're going to blame something, blame it on the lack of enough football training schools or the simple fact that land is being sold for housing development making green areas harder to access for kids, or why not blame society as a whole.

    Anyway, is that an admission from a permiership player that we have too few decent players in England and our main squad isn't up the task? I guess he wants the opportunity, but is he good enough? Probably not.

  • optimusprym8 #68 4 years ago

    45 minutes a day? Is that all? Pussy...

    Wonderful wide sweeping generalisations, probably writes for The Daily Mail

    Maybe it's also the fact that England press (and therefore people) is obsessed with off-the-pitch antics such as WAGs and coke-addled club stories that highlight how overpaid these idiots are. But then the country is fast becoming a load of people who think they deserve more than they do just because they've been born.

    It's football, who fucking cares. Not I

  • pigwhistler #69 4 years ago

    @NickJD - if God had meant for me to work out he'd have made me gay.

  • chrisjm #70 4 years ago

    optimusprym8: well said. +1

  • scouserfuller9 #71 4 years ago

    They've gotta come up with an excuse for playing poor in Europe and he obviously wants to leave all the football terms out of it and blame it on XBOX and Playstation. Maybe he left out Nintendo because he's sat at home playing his Wii or DS right now?!
    Anyhow his excuse is for the future of football and it was the present team that let the country down so you're excuse isn't gonna get you footie stars out of jail here Greenie!

  • monkie_king #72 4 years ago

    JACK_BURTON: "a semi pro under 7s side"

    semi-professional 6-year-olds? o_O

  • smurphs #73 4 years ago

    semi pro under 7s side

    does that mean he gets paid something??!! Maybe they give out free videogames or something... :-)

  • firefly #74 4 years ago

    Well his perspective is valid but the way I choose to look at it the reason why the kids of today are so crap at video games is because they're all wasting their time with football!

    I mean back before we had rubbish like the Premiership games were rock hard - not to mention you couldn't just save and come back when you felt like it. Even 10 years ago you had real epics that felt like an achievement to play. What do the kids play these days? Mini games this, Nintendogs that. None of them have the stamina to play a real game through to the end and it's all football's fault!

  • Ryze #75 4 years ago

    OH, WE'RE SHIT AT FOOTY AS A NATIONAL TEAM - BAN FILMS, BAN BOOKS, BAN THE INTERNET!!!!

    ANYTHING BUT THE REAL ISSUES.

    Typical.

  • Fab4 #76 4 years ago

    Just another example of idiotic thinking in football. Here, Robert...do they have video games in Italy?

  • alan_stealth #77 4 years ago

    this is why footballers should stick to the already fairly demanding task for them of kicking a ball.i hate when someone gets on their high horse about video games, but at least when politicians do you can appreciate they are actually educated people who are in a poistition to. Footballers are hardly the social conscious of the world, they're living is made on the backs of ridicoulous advertising sponsorship deals, so this guy needs to learn to shut it.
    God I hate sport, but I especially hate "enlightened" sports stars. He should quit football and represent his county as an MP I don't think. GO back to your coke, high class hookers and binge drinking you waste of human life.

  • Intera #78 4 years ago

    I've got an idea.... why don't the footballers keep their opinions to themselves and go back to kicking a ball around for £100,000 a week?

    Even with no games consoles, I sincerely doubt England would have the best team in the world. Time to just accept it guys.

    Signed,

    A Scotsman.

    (up yeh)

  • jachap #79 4 years ago

    I know some people who both play real football and enjoy playing video game football. They also like talking about football. Some of them like reading magazines about football just so they can find out what real footballers they can buy for their video game football squad they are managing.

    They like football (in all its myriad forms) so much they'll even watch women playing it on the TV. Their misogynistic quips certainly spice up that activity!

    My point being: videogames do not stop them playing the sport.

    As for me: its not the fault of videogames that personally I don't enjoy the wet, muddy, humiliating, altogether a lot like PE aspect of football as much as sitting on a sofa, playing some pretend soldier games or, indeed, videogame football. That is my fault. My own, lazy fault.

    I am utterly atrocious at football and having played it - with my dad being all overly competitive on the touchline - from the age of six and a half weeks would have probably improved my ability somewhat, by rote if nothing else. I'd probably be a bit fitter, too.

    However, I don't think I'd be in the England team by now -or ever. I don't think I would have played against Croatia. And I don't think I would have scored a hat trick in the final twenty minutes that would have made everyone in the country feel less soul-suckingly bad about the entire sport.

    And, on top of that, EA hype it may have been, but I'm sure I read an interview with down to earth potato/man Wayne Rooney where he said he played Fifa quite regularly. Surely that very fact undermines the point that the right reverend Rob Green is making.

    Here is some satire to undermine him more:

    If he's saying that without Playstations we'd be inherently more technically skilled at football as a nation - he's being very silly indeed.
    If he's saying that without Playstations we'd be slightly fitter as a nation... he's undoubtedly a bit right but, at the same time as we rid the world of consoles, we should probably get rid of cars, too. And the television. And the NHS, because health care prolongs the life of fatties who play too many games. And roads, which make it easier for fatties to get games. And houses.

    If we had to climb into a tree at night to sleep, we'd be fitter and, therefore, better at football, that facet of our evolution we really can't do without!

    In conclusion, Rob Green says lets all be monkeys again! We were fitter back in the day!

    Edited for tiredness related spelling holocaust.
    Edited by 3 at 29/11/07 @ 02:10