Food For Thought: Is David Villa A Hero Or A Fool?

Has David Villa Made The Right Decision?

Valencia star and world's best striker David Villa announced on Tuesday that he plans to stay on at the Mestalla beyond the summer. In no uncertain terms did the 27-year-old delineate his intension to carry on playing for the club he joined in the summer of 2005 and has developed so massively and astoundingly over the years.

Of course, the Spanish international was honest enough to admit that he did consider moving (to Real Madrid and FC Barcelona) but eventually decided to do whatever Valencia asked him to. And Valencia asked him to stay. And he is staying.

In his entire club football career El Guaje has not anything, anything of note that is. He has won the Copa del Rey - once with Real Zaragoza in 2004 and then with Valencia in 2008 - but for a player of Villa's class it is almost a crime if he cannot show his grandchildren the medals and the silverware later on.

Staying on at Valencia isn't going to win Villa anything except the Copa del Rey and perhaps by a long shot the Europa League. To many he might appear to be a fool: after all, when the Real Madrids and the FC Barcelonas come calling, you should never refuse them.

Only, David Villa isn't one of these so-called mercenaries who would ditch their clubs in the twinkling of an eye. No, this isn't to say that the miner’s kid is holy and saintly - if you needed to see someone holy and saintly, you would better go to a temple or the church rather than watch foul-mouthed rags-to-riches footballers with next to nothing education - but David Villa has a certain humility and loyalty that very few footballers possess these days.

Valencia isn't David Villa's club and will never be - it is Sporting de Gijon that is Villa's love-club and it will always remain that way although Villa has never played in the top division for Gijon and will probably never do - but having climbed up the ladder from the lowest rungs Villa has developed a sense of humility and a no-arrogance attitude.

David The Goliath | Small But Huge

Six years ago no one knew that there was a David Villa: now he is the best in the world. It was at Valencia that the Tuilla-born came into the limelight and although his departure from the Mestalla would have been and would still be understandable, the fact that he is staying and not fighting with the Valencia men-in-suits to move out is laudable.

Many would perceive David Villa as a fool as he could have taken a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo's book, toyed with the media and forced his way out of the Mestalla. And he does deserve to move out of a club that has willingly cut off the branch it was sitting upon so admirably at the start of the century.

But for those who are still left with some sense, however foolish and ridiculous that sense might be, can only marvel at Villa's humility and down-to-earth attitude. To them, David Villa is a hero, the perfect embodiment of a true footballing hero, both on the pitch and off it.

Is The Serie A Still Attractive?

Once upon a time the Serie A used to be the best and most attractive league in the world as footballers would flock to play in the Italian top flight. There was glamour, there was money, there was everything a footballer could possibly want. Now of course, the Premier League and La Liga have captured the market but if Italian coach Marcello Lippi is to be believed, then Italian football still retains its attraction for world class footballers.

The 2006 World Cup winner hails Diego and Lucio's arrival to the Serie A and insists that Calcio still remains great. He charts the trajectory of Kaka's career, saying that Kaka first came to Italy and has only now gone to Spain.

Diego The Great | The New Face Of Serie A

Which is true and makes sense but there can be no denial that the Serie A has fallen behind. The argument among football fans all over the world is whether La Liga or the Premier League is the best league in the world; Serie A comes a distant third.

The reasons are many: Calciopoli, financial problems, racism, hooliganism, negative image created by the non-Italian media and unfounded abstract myth being the most obvious. It would be hard to argue that there is no problem in the Serie A and that in terms of attracting TV viewers it does not possess the same power as the Premier League or the Spanish Primera Division.

But the Serie A cannot be dismissed yet.

True, two of the biggest stars in the league Kaka and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have left for Spain but there are still a number of big name players in the Italian top flight, such as Samuel Eto'o, Maicon, Diego, Alessandro del Piero, Ronaldinho (although a couple of them are past their prime); and there are quite a number of really talented young players such as Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Alexandre Pato who certainly have the mentality and the calibre to become great players.

Subhankar Mondal