For a player who is now the wrong side of thirty, it is strange that only now Scott Parker is really being noticed and picking up the accolades he deserves. Whilst it may be normal in Serie A for players to only reach their peak in their latter years, in England being over thirty means you are officially past it – just ask Frank Lampard, after a couple of bad games the media were treating him like a dead man walking – yet Parker has only now blossomed into a top class player – or so it would seem.
Whilst it cannot be denied that Parker is in brilliant form, and has been for the last couple of seasons, he has not gone from being a mediocre player to a winner of the player of the year award over-night. At Charlton the midfielder was hailed as one of the best prospects in English football and enjoyed a good spell at the club, making a name for himself before an ill-fated transfer across London to Chelsea.
This move is something that can be attributed as a key factor in Parker’s career stalling and was a classic example of one step forward two steps back. At Chelsea, Parker lost none of his ability, yet struggled to find a way into a team who had the best midfield in Europe at the time. No matter who you are, it would have been nigh on impossible to replace either Makelele or Lampard in the heart of Chelsea’s team, thus Parker’s opportunities were limited.
Despite winning the young player of the year award in 2003-2004, Parker struggled at the West London club, and this compounded with a metatarsal injury met he dropped off the radar for most people. It was after his transfer to Newcastle that Parker really started to rebuild his career, and having lost none of his talent he easily became a vital player for Newcastle, and showed he was captain material to boot.
Media and pundit attention was slowly falling back onto Parker, and he was beginning to get the respect he deserved, yet it took another couple of seasons before people really sat up and took notice of the player when he was the shining light in an otherwise awful season for West Ham. Much like Joe Cole, the skipper led by example both on and off the field, and could not have done more or played better than he did during their final season in the Premier League before relegation.
He’s been outstanding for Spurs this season. He was outstanding last season for West Ham too, the only player in their team that looked like he belonged in the PL. He always seemed too good for Newcastle or West Ham, it’s strange that it’s taken until now for him to move to a bigger club at the right end of the table.
He should have been capped a lot more for England too.
What a signing he’s been. The only player to come near the great Roy Keane since his retirement. He is a driving force and lifts everyone in the squad. Oh how fergie, VB and arsene would have loved to get him if they had known he would hit the form of his life. All this talk of potential title winners is a little farfetched but i do believe with the experience of Parker, King, Brad, VDV and the skill and pace of the rest of the squad why the hell not?