Sylvain Distin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sylvain Distin
Sylvain distin2.jpg
Sylvain Distin (2007)
Personnel
birthday December 16, 1977
place of birth Bagnolet ,  France
size 191 cm
position defender
Juniors
Years station
1992-1997 Paris Saint-Germain
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1997-1998 US Joué-lès-Tours 32 (4)
1998-1999 FC Tours 26 (3)
1999-2000 FC Gueugnon 32 (1)
2000-2002 Paris Saint-Germain 28 (1)
2001-2002 →  Newcastle United  (Loan) 28 (0)
2002-2007 Manchester City 178 (5)
2007-2009 Portsmouth FC 77 (0)
2009-2015 Everton FC 174 (2)
2015-2016 Bournemouth AFC 12 (0)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: end of season 2015/16

Sylvain Distin (born December 16, 1977 in Bagnolet , France ) is a French football player . At over 1.90 meters tall, physically robust and mostly deployed in the defense center in the course of his career, he surprisingly won the league cup with the French second division club FC Gueugnon in 2000 , before it was won over the capital club Paris Saint-Germain in September 2001 the English Premier League drew. Distin made a name for himself there as a long-standing regular player at Manchester City, especially from 2002, and won the FA Cup in 2008 with Portsmouth FC .

Player career

France

Sylvain Distin was trained from 1992 in the youth department of the French capital club Paris Saint-Germain . The promotion to the professional team of "PSG" was later denied him and since 1997 no guarantee could be opened for him regarding his perspective as a professional footballer, he moved to the amateur league CFA to US Joué-lès-Tours. After only one season, he left the club again and was hired by city rivals FC Tours . There, too, he was able to assert himself immediately and with consistently good performances he recommended himself for his first professional contract.

The second division club FC Gueugnon , based in Burgundy and trained by Alex Dupont at the time , signed the talented defender. Distin was immediately a regular player, had the club's third highest number of appearances in the 1999/2000 season and surprisingly won the first trophy of his professional career with the French League Cup . He defeated his ex-club from Paris in the final and showed himself to be physically very present on the defensive in the 2-0 win. When PSG then signaled that they would be happy to bring Distin back, Distin did not hesitate and switched to the first-class Ligue 1 . The team of Philippe Bergeroo needed especially reinforcement on the right side and although Distin felt alien to the center-back position, he henceforth also showed strength in offensive actions on the outside. He made his debut on July 28, 2000 in the top French division against Racing Strasbourg (3-1), scored his first (and only) goal in Ligue 1 against Girondins Bordeaux and played ten Champions League games .

The fact that Distin's second attempt to establish himself permanently in the first team of PSG also failed, was also due to the new coach Luis Fernández , who swept the scepter from December 2000. Fernández built the defensive formations on a five-man chain and changed the line-up frequently. When the Argentine Gabriel Heinze was finally signed at the beginning of the season, the rumors of Distin's imminent departure to England increased. The last missions followed in the context of the UI Cup , but initially they only agreed on a loan deal. The choice fell on Newcastle United , where Distin's team-mate Laurent Robert had already stayed.

England

From September 2001 Distin was in the ranks of the "Magpies", made his debut as a substitute shortly before the end in the home win against Manchester United and was immediately part of the expanded squad. In 20 league games of the 2001/02 season, the left-footed player was in the starting line-up, mostly occupied the position of left full-back and, despite his size, impressed with great speed. In addition, he made a name for himself with his long throw-ins in the opposing penalty area.

After the end of the one-year loan period, he moved permanently to the English Premier League, although the choice in the summer of 2002 fell on Manchester City instead of Newcastle United. In addition to the willingness to pay a transfer fee of four million pounds, a decisive factor was that Distin was primarily used for central defense by the “Citizens”. When he arrived there, he was in good shape right away, was a regular player with 34 Premier League games and, in addition to his athletic advantages, also demonstrated technical skills and strengths in the development game. The next clue for his rapid rise in English club football was the promotion to team captain in the subsequent 2003/04 season by coach Kevin Keegan and together with Irishman Richard Dunne , he increasingly formed one of the best central defenders in the Premier League. The 2006/07 season was Distin's final season for Manchester City. He was again in 43 competitive games for Manchester City on the field and left the club after his contract expired and a total of 206 appearances and six goals.

New employer was the league competitor FC Portsmouth , whose coach Harry Redknapp Distin described as "the best free transfer of the season". From then on, the physically robust Sol Campbell acted at Distin's side in central defense and both made sure that “Pompey” remained clean in 19 competitive games. Although he did not score his own goal in his 45 missions, he also took part in offensive actions. In addition, he won the FA Cup in 2008 - votes that demanded consideration in the French national team , however, went unheard. After the sudden departure of coach Redknapp at the end of October 2008, Distin lost his previously good form and was a bit unsettled under his successor Tony Adams before he stabilized again under the third coach of the 2008/09 season, Paul Hart , and ultimately not a minute in the Premier League missed.

Shortly after the start of the 2009/10 season and three days before the end of the summer transfer period, Distin moved to league rivals FC Everton . There he was primarily supposed to replace Joleon Lescott, who had migrated to Manchester City , and coach David Moyes attached additional importance to the fact that the new central defender was left-footed. He found his way into a new team again without any difficulties getting used to it and with calm and serenity and was - with the exception of an injury break due to thigh complaints - a regular at the "Toffees". Despite increasing competition, he defended his place in the 2010/11 season and scored another Premier League goal on January 16, 2011 against Liverpool after three seasons without a league goal.

In the 2011/12 season Distin reached the semi-finals with Everton in the FA Cup , but in which he made a serious mistake against city rivals Liverpool FC with a failed back pass, which in turn enabled Luis Suárez to score (final score 1: 2). Nevertheless, he was awarded the club's best player and signed a new one-year contract before the end of the season. The respective extension by a further year was repeated in 2013 and 2014 and although with John Stones a new talent emerged in his position, he was "set" in the defense center at the side of Phil Jagielka until the end of the 2013/14 season. He made a humorous contribution in May 2014 when he announced his resignation after a total of 0 international matches for France .

In the 2014/15 season, the now 37-year-old Distin finally lost his regular place and was only used once in the league. After five seasons he then moved to the Premier League, the AFC Bournemouth .

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Portraits d'anciens du PSG: Lionel Letizi, Déhu, Distin" (PSGMAG.NET)
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-85291-648-0 , pp. 115 .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-85291-651-0 , pp. 118 .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-85291-660-2 , pp. 110 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-85291-662-6 , pp. 113 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4 , pp. 113 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007-08 . Mainstream Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3 , pp. 110 .
  8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008-09 . Mainstream Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8 , pp. 124 .
  9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009-10 . Mainstream Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0 , pp. 120 .
  10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010-11 . Mainstream Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0 , pp. 120 f .
  11. ↑ "Distin humourously retires from international football on Twitter ... without a single cap" (Independent.ie)
  12. ↑ Sylvain Distin: Bournemouth sign 37-year-old ex-Everton defender (BBC Sport)
personal data
SURNAME Distin, Sylvain
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH Bagnolet , France