Aaron Cresswell and Dale Jennings: Two Careers, Two Extremes
West Ham United's English left-back Aaron Cresswell, 25, is thriving in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Barnsley's English left-winger Dale Jennings, 22, is begging his body to keep up to the pace of League One.
When the two were at Tranmere Rovers, Jennings was projected to become a star, not Cresswell.
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From Prenton Park to the Allianz Arena
Dietmar Hamann played the 2002 FIFA World Cup final for Germany in Yokohama and won the 2005 UEFA Champions League final for Liverpool in Istanbul, so Birkenhead is a modest backdrop.
Travelling to Prenton Park to face Tranmere Rovers as a Milton Keynes Dons player in 2010, Hamann indirectly changed the life of a stranger—Jennings.
Scoring twice against MK Dons, Jennings pushed Tranmere Rovers to a 4-2 win.
Not only impressing Hamann, Jennings' dominant display was flagged by a Bayern Munich scout, seeking to find a diamond in the rough.
Investing against heavy odds, Bayern Munich have sanctioned obscure signings in the past.
Louis Ngwat-Mahop: Dragon Club Yaounde → Bayern Munich (18 years old; 2006).
Stefan Maierhofer: SV Langenrohr → Bayern Munich (22 years old; 2005).
Paolo Guerrero: Alianza Lima → Bayern Munich (18 years old; 2002).
Andrew Sinkala: Nchanga Rangers → Bayern Munich (20 years old; 1999).
Owen Hargreaves: Calgary Foothills → Bayern Munich (16 years old; 1997).
Having high upside as an 18-year-old and being a direct dribbler, Jennings possessed Franck Ribery-esque untapped potential in the eyes of then-Bayern Munich sporting director Christian Nerlinger.
When Ribery was 20 years old, he was a construction worker, moonlighting as a low-level footballer, per Raphael Honigstein at the Guardian.
Nerlinger offered Tranmere Rovers €566,700/£500,000 with bonuses possibly taking the fee to €2/£1.8 million for Jennings' signature.
However, Jennings held up the deal because he was anxious, worried and uncertain about moving abroad.
Unable to sway Jennings, Nerlinger rang up former Bayern Munich team-mate Hamann.
Nerlinger knew Hamann was more relatable to Jennings.
- Played against Jennings.
- Hamann won the UEFA Champions League for Liverpool when Jennings was in the Reds youth system aspiring to score goals at Anfield.
- A late-bloomer at undistinguished Wacker Munich, Hamann understands the pressures of jumping up several levels when he signed for super-club Bayern Munich.
- Hamann had experienced what it was like to be a foreigner having left Germany for England.
Per Hamann's autobiography:
"I sat down with Dale, who seemed a quiet, reserved sort of lad.
I explained to him that this was a great opportunity, not only to learn about football in the great Bayern [Munich] tradition in the way that I had, but to sample a new culture. I told him what a great thing it had been for me to come to England and see and try different things and that opportunities like this had to be grasped with both hands.
I said, "You need to get out there and make sure that you learn the language. A lot of English players struggle to settle abroad because they struggle with the language."
I reported back to Christian. Having seen the lad play and now talked to him, I felt that as long as Bayern could put a strong and stable support network around him to help him settle, then they [have] a prospect on their hands.
"
Signing on the dotted line, Jennings was now a Bayern Munich player, leaving then-Tranmere Rovers manager Les Parry flabbergasted.
"You'd really have to rack your brain to think of an [unknown] 18-year-old player from England who has been taken to one of the European giants like this," Parry said, per Andy Hunter at the Guardian. "It is a massive, massive move for Dale."
Bayern Munich were convinced by Jennings' talent, even turning a blind eye to his medical, which foreshadowed injury issues down the line.
It was a calculated risk that backfired.
"When I first went [to Bayern Munich] and took my medical they found a hernia and it put the move in doubt," Jennings said, per Ian Woodcock at BBC Sport. "The doctors said they could fix it but it made things difficult because I wanted to be out on the training pitch."
What was initially seen as a blip became a debilitating problem as Jennings' body routinely broke down.
Now Bayern Munich were investing additional money into Jennings' rehabilitation while his progression stalled.
"After the first [groin] operation I was just getting back to full fitness when it went again," Jennings said, per Nick Hilton at the Liverpool Echo. "I had to take another three months out and start all over."
Andries Jonker and his successor Mehmet Scholl couldn't get the best out of Jennings at Bayern Munich II.
"Under Jonker we were hitting long balls so it was more difficult last year," Jennings said, per Tony Mayger at the Munich Eye. "[Scholl] just told me to keep working hard and take my chance when it comes...I've not come here to sit on the bench."
Jonker was cordial towards Jennings but unwilling to build the team around him.
Scholl's philosophy aligned with Jennings, though he was on the outer looking in.
"[Jonker] signed me because he liked me, and I played with that in mind," Jennings said, per Chris Dunlavy at the Football League Paper. "Scholl replaced Jonker as manager and he wasn't really having me."
Struggling to effectively multi-task training and German lessons, Jennings lagged behind in development.
Did Bayern Munich carry out a Wonderlic cognitive ability test on Jennings? Maybe not.
It could have acted as a barometer alerting Bayern Munich to Jennings needing more teaching assistance—people learn in different ways at different paces.
Not everyone is Pep Guardiola.
The intensive German course Bayern Munich fast-tracked Jennings on was not suited to him.
"Speak English," was effectively what was told to Jennings.
"I think some of the staff still look at me a bit differently because I have been here two years and not learned [German]," Jennings said, per Simon Jones at the Daily Mail. "I took German lessons but I was never the best at school and found it difficult."
You can imagine the multi-lingual players/staff at Bayern Munich thinking: "We learn your language, why can't you adapt?"
Maybe that was the reason why several Bayern Munich players gave Jennings the cold shoulder, except one senior player.
"In the changing room [Philipp Lahm] made me feel welcome," Jennings said, per Simon Hart at the Independent. "Whereas some other players didn't really."
When you are in power, your character is judged by how you treat people who are subservient to you.
Lahm's moment of kindness highlights his class.
Scoring two goals and providing one assist in 36 games for Bayern Munich II indicated Jennings didn't have a future in the Regionalliga Bayern, never mind the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich's venture in Jennings cost the club a six-figure deficit.
"With a year left I thought it was best to move on," Jennings said, per BBC Sport. "I was feeling a bit homesick and to be fair [Bayern Munich] said what mattered most was my happiness."
The Quiet Achiever
When then-Tranmere Rovers chairman Peter Johnson was trying to put a spin on how the club was run, Cresswell and Jennings were used as facts.
"I am delighted to report a profit for the year of £207,323," Johnson said, per Nick Hilton at the Liverpool Echo. "Thanks in no small part to the sales of Jennings to Bayern Munich and Cresswell to Ipswich Town, emphasising the importance of [our] youth development scheme."
The way then-Ipswich Town manager Paul Jewell described Cresswell encapsulates the gritty left-back's rise from nothingness.
"[Cresswell] might not get people off their seats but he's a decent player," Jewell said, per BBC Radio Suffolk (h/t BBC Sport). "We've bought potential."
Regardless of Jewell's unostentatious assessment of Cresswell, he was in the middle of a tribunal ruling.
Ipswich Town were ordered to pay €274,929/£240,000 up front with add-ons potentially taking the final transfer fee to €595,681/£520,000, per BBC Sport.
Cresswell transitioned into one of the top left-backs in the Championship:
Unlike Jennings, whose career has been interrupted by injuries, Cresswell is extremely fit, as pointed out by West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce.
"[Cresswell] played three seasons for Ipswich Town at 40-plus games. He did the same for Tranmere Rovers," Allardyce said, per Darren Lewis at the Daily Mirror. "We only have 38 games in the Premier League. But he is Mr Dependable, not only in terms of his performances but his reliability."
Self-effacing by nature, Cresswell attributes his run to luck.
"I like to play as many games as I can," Cresswell said, per Simon Hart at the Independent. "Touch wood, I haven't had any injuries as of yet."
Post-Bayern Munich, Jennings' body continues to hinder his career, according to Barnsley manager Lee Johnson.
"You can't play for me if you can't run. I am not saying [Jennings] can't run, but at the moment, he's got to do a little bit more," Johnson said, per Leon Wobschall at the Yorkshire Post. "It is not his fault because at the moment he is showing a really good attitude and trying hard."
While Jennings is still unfit, Cresswell has been named West Ham United's Hammer of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year and the Signing of the Season.
Why didn't Hamann and Bayern Munich notice Cresswell?
That MK Dons game was one of the three league games Cresswell missed that season.
"Couldn't of wished for a better first season @whufc_official #COYI pic.twitter.com/BST3xE8UdQ
— Aaron cresswell (@Aaron_Cresswell) May 7, 2015"
When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com.
